Road Trip and steep learning curve.

John and I have been planning a trip to the top of the Oregon Canyon Mountains for at least two years. One thing or another always seems to get in the way. We had originally planned to make the trip on Tuesday when the weather was a lot better, but Karen had an appointment available at the last minute to see about her new friend - the Shingles. It appears to be a mild case, but that term is relative. We decided to go Wed even though it promised to rain.

The lighting was miserable so the pictures left a bit to be desired. It was also a "draw" Deer tag area, and the hunt was still on. The road to the top was pretty nasty and the Deer hunters had polished the tops of a lot of the rocks in the road.

The wind was a bit raw at the top so it didn't take us all that long to enjoy the view and start back down.

You can faintly see Coyote Lake

When we got back home, I picked up Hope for her hunt. The day before she had managed to grab two Jacks at Tami's field, but couldn't hold on. They both pulled her off in the Grease wood bushes. She had weighed 940 or so. She had flown well and had no hesitation at all. I had introduced her to the Tee perch, and she had become fairly used to it. She was a bit confused as to who had the food, trying to land on John several times. We eventually ran all the Jacks up the bare hillside, so we quit with her only getting tidbits as food.

This morning I weighed her and she had dropped to the 920 weight range. The weather is due to deteriorate, so I decided to fly her here at the house. She barely missed a Bunny that "squirted" through a Sage Bush leaving her with twigs in her feet. She had several flights on Jacks out in the Sage by the house, but was unable to connect. I crossed over the runway to the field North of the house and she finally managed to catch a Jack about 70 yards away from me. I was concerned as to whether or not she would be able to keep it, and was disappointed to see it pull away from her as I arrived. That is always a critical point with the young hawks. They generally manage the catch as the Jack plows into a Sage bush. The Jack is almost always caught by the butt. The rabbit then tries to pull loose by dragging the Hawk through the Bush. All it takes is a "wild eyed, heavy breather" coming up on the other side to spur the Jack to make one final effort to get away. I may have to try to stay far enough back to see if she can consolidate her hold. I fed her a bit of back bone that I had cut most of the meat off of for tidbits. I will take her out again in the morning and see if we can do better.

Her speed still impresses me. She is fast, and pretty darn good for a young hawk just trying to catch stuff.  In the first half of a introduction to a Tee perch, she rides it well, and better still comes back to it from where ever she ends up after a chase to continue hunting. She will take a tidbit if offered, but that isn't what she is looking for. Today it wasn't necessary for me to call her after a chase. When I begin walking away, she comes and lands on the tee without me calling.