Decisions

I have kept Jessie on the kite in an attempt to get her in really good condition. I am at the point in my life where quality is worth more than quantity. We could go over to the ranch and kill ducks most any time, and while I have a limited number of days that I will hunt. A head count is not what I am after. After all if Jess catches a Duck it will be two or three days before I can fly her again, as I don't eat the Ducks, they are all hers. Too many calories in most ducks to just slough it off right away. If I am only going to be flying ponds, then she doesn't need all that much conditioning, since the flights all take place in a limited area. However Creeks and ditches are a different story. Something always goes gunny bag and it is up and down until they wear us both out. The ducks dive in the creek, then she has to wait for the old guy to catch up, then it is dive back in at another spot. Besides "long winging" is a spectator sport for the most part. It is best that she have the stamina to make it worth watching.

It will matter little how high I get her to go for the lure. She has a height burned into her mind already due to my impatience and unwillingness to wait for a higher pitch, but at least she will be strong enough to hunt without stress. She will normally fly as long as she can, then go sit down on the hill side somewhere and recover enough to do it all over again.

I have brought her weight up to the point of insubordination, 880 grams at this time. So she is building muscle each time she flies. Today I put the lure up to 400 feet. It took her two minutes to grab the lure. At least one of those she was playing in the wind at 75 feet. The wind was blowing about 15 MPH or a bit more. It was strong enough that the kite could hold her off the ground. She finally let go after dangling over the ground for a minute or more. She lit on the ground and I called her to the fist for her food.

The wind this morning was dead calm. I checked the weather and it stated that we would have a 9-10 MPH wind about 12 to 3 o'clock. It came up at one, so I wasted no time getting the kite in the air.

I may go for Ducks tomorrow, if the wind doesn't blow. It is about time anyway.

Yogi

I have decided that I will quit flying Yogi, at least for a while, perhaps for the rest of the year. There is little around the house or even close to the house to warrant even trying. About the nearest is abut a 100 mile round trip to get to where there are enough rabbits to even try hunting. Then there is the matter of my bone spur. 

As you know I have been cutting her way way back on her food. Sunday I had driven out to the rabbit field, and she did little to nothing to make the trip worth while. I fed her nothing and took her home. I did not fly her Monday, and Tuesday morning we had a storm coming in. It was raining here at the house. I checked the radar weather and it appeared that I could have a reasonable chance of not getting both of us wet for at least a little while.  I drove into Jordan Valley to get some gas, then back tracked to the field. While there is a reasonable number of Rabbits there, they are staying in shoulder high Sage.

We walked for at least two hours, with her not really making any serious or effective shots at Jacks. Now if she was smart enough to be really serious we could have caught a Jack and I would have been happy. As it was she just wasted my time, and pain. I worry about the possible damage that I am doing to my foot with the bone spur, and quite frankly I am not willing to chance doing possible damage to it for no reward or reason. So I will look for a breeding project for her.