Like most journeys the possibility of problems always exist. The further north we went the worse the weather was. The weekend was forecast for rain and wind. Lots of wind!
I took both Jessie and Yogi with us even though neither was either willing or able to hunt yet. We did pretty good this time. The only thing that we ( I ) forgot was my electronic varmint call, and the thumb drive with the hawking videos that I wanted to show. I finally found a varmint call in Riley,Or. Our intention was to leave a day early and do a bit of night hunting for Coyotes around Bend,Or.
The wind and rain came up as we started on Hwy 20 East. I had Yogi in a Giant hood and Jessie was sitting unhooded on a portable perch on the bed of the fifth wheel. When we got to the spot that we were going to camp, I discovered that the "Escape window" by the bed had escaped somewhere along the road there. The window blinds were fairly seriously destroyed. I went in expecting to see a totally deranged Peregrine Falcon. Even though there was a lot of water all over the computer, TV and bed, Jessie just seemed to want to know if I had anything to eat.
It was still raining, and I was trying to get the fifth wheel set up. I closed the door to the truck and only later found that I had locked the keys in the truck. God, I love being an old fart. At one time my mind was as sharp as one gets, now it is just an adventure.
The key that I had hidden somewhere in the frame of the truck, either no longer exists, or I have forgotten where I hid it. Same result however. We did get lucky in that Karen had kept her phone in her pocket. We had a comfortable place to stay out of the rain while we waited for the AAA guy to unlock the truck. One good aspect of this misfortune was that I didn't have to worry about locking the keys in again, as Karen thoughtfully reminded me every time I got out of it.
It was simple to get into the truck. The guy just took a wedge, drove it into the top of the door, and then took a wire and pushed the unlock button. I am going to have to include a wedge in my camping stuff I guess.
I found that it did not matter that I had left my Varmint call at home, as there either were no Coyotes in that area, or I did not fool anyone with the call that I purchased at Riley.
The falconry meets are designed to give all the falconers in the state a chance to meet, hunt, and mingle. It is supposed to be accompanied by a business meeting as well.
Karen had gotten roped into hosting the meet although it was five and half hours away from us.( At one time I didn't mind the fact that she could never say no. Now it seems to be a bit different.) The club furnishes the main course for the evening dinner. We will normally have between 40 and 60 people attending. She asked me for ideas. This is the main fund raiser for the club for the year, so I suggested Burgers, and as a bonus I agreed to cook sourdough pancakes for breakfasts. So after we had made a trip to Costco to buy supplies, we went to Home Depot to buy some plastic and Gorilla tape. A half roll of tape later we were waterproof again.
A former apprentice brought his Harris hawk to the meet as well, so we went off to see if there were any Rabbits around. Yogi hunts well with other Harris's so that would give her some incentive to get with the program. We found an area that had not been overrun with other falconers, but the Sage was waist high and so thick that there were tunnels rather than trails. We did jump a couple of Jacks, and I swear that I heard a rabbit squeal for a short time after Yogi went in the cover after it. If so she lost it just as fast as she caught it. We went on for a bit, with Ron in the bottom of a little gully, and I had kept the high ground. His bird started a Bunny, but it cut back giving Yogi a chance at it. This squeal was short as well, but it only stopped because the Rabbit died just as fast as she touched it. That girl has some big strong toes. For a change Yogi got all the food that she could hold.
Our dinner went quite well. George Meadows, Tami's sisters husband, helped me with the grilling of hamburgers, and we had food on the table in short time. Everyone brought some item to accompany the meal, so we had lots, mostly in the form of Carbs, but what the heck- everyone needs a sugar high once and a while.
Our meet place was at the county fairgrounds, so we had a kitchen and a nice room for our meeting. They were also renting one of the other halls for a Mexican wedding reception, so along with colorful dresses, we had a whole passel of little kids running amok. I put Yogi in the giant hood and Jessie back in on the kitchen table for safety. I have a chunk of carpet that I use for her portable perch, and at night she goes on the table, and in transit she is on the bed. I apparently was in a hurry when I did so.
I do not know where this towel came from, but it went into the garbage after she finally gave it up. Bored hawks are a lot like bored kids. They generally find something to get into.
I had to give her a stuffed Bunny that we had found somewhere, to get the towel. I then gave her some Rabbit to eat in exchange for that. So in essence both of my birds got a Rabbit at the meet.
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