The first phase of course is to establish that Jack Rabbits are to be the preferred prey. That is done of course by feeding them off of Jacks. Then it is necessary to show them that they can catch Jacks. That can be done by using a "Make Hawk", or if one is not available, a bagged Rabbit. That of course is hard to arrange. You can use a tame rabbit that is sort of the same color, but that still doesn't teach them that you really need to burn hard to catch the real ones. I prefer to wound them with a 22, if I don't have a "Make Hawk".
My first experience with Harris's was Babe and Fritz, offspring of the first breeding pair of Harris Hawks in Oregon. Babe was an over achiever of the species. Fritz wasn't all that bad either, and as a pair they were a unstoppable. When we started them we flushed Jacks and they chased what appeared to be hard, but they weren't catching them, so after a week of trying they quit. So did I, only it was their food that stopped. We would take them out, jump three Jacks, and if they didn't try, we took them home until the next day. After four or five days Fritz was too weak to fly, so I turned loose a bagged Pigeon for him so that he could regain some strength. We took Babe out hunting however as she still appeared to be strong enough to fly. She caught the first Jack that jumped. After that there was no question of not trying, and they went on to become a legend in my own mind, and I am sure anyone else who ever saw her fly.
So this is normal, and expected. I had hoped that we were past that phase when she caught her first one, since the effort required by her to do that, is what I am searching for. Now as I mentioned she has performed better than expected at a higher weight than expected. While I am willing to keep her as heavy as she can perform, its not mandatory. I am perfectly willing to "starve her till her eyes bug out" if necessary. Hopefully it will not come to that.
I talked Karen into coming with me today. All this has been killing her. She wants to go hawking so bad, but just does not have the stamina to do so. The area that I hunted today has a road right up the middle of it and most of the flights would be visible from the car. She was also able to get a bit of video of her flying. Since she was going to be in the car following, we could bring the dogs as well, and I could analyze the plus and minus of attempting to hunt with the Brits. They of course voted in favor of the idea, but I wasn't all that sure.
It seemed quite hot although it was only in the 70's, but uphill carrying way too much stuff had me sweating like a pig. Her first flight for a Jack was the best, but he ducked out the other side of a Sage as she crashed into the front of it.
I walked about a mile ( seemed like it anyway) up the slope with Jacks going left right and in front. She would chase, but most of the time looping around to me after deciding that she couldn't catch them. She was hot, and it was apparent that a catch was unlikely, so I stopped at a lava lump to let her sit and let the dogs run. I had forgotten my squirt bottle, so I put some water in my hand with a tidbit, so that she would get a little bit of water at least. The dogs had a grand time running all over, and she paid them no mind at all.
I decided that it just wasn't happening and she needed to lose a bit of weight. I decided to walk back to where we started allowing the dogs free rein to see if they could be a positive in the hunt. It was a bit odd in that the rabbits seemed to prefer the North side of the road. There was little evidence that they had been eating any of the grasses and Sage on the South side of the road, while the North was chewed all up. I crossed over after a bit and started getting into Jacks again. One hid from the dogs and she got a chance at him, but she was at a disadvantage and couldn't make up the distance in the turn. Most of them were flushing a lot further out with the dogs than without. I had paused on a lava ridge watching the dogs working the area in front of me, when Brick went on point. I was pretty sure that Bunnies were in the areas near these rocks, and sure enough this one lost his nerve, and busted. Hope tried to take him from the side, but he tried harder than her and she missed.
This phase as I said is perfectly normal and will soon pass. Hope still has traits that please me to no end. I still hold fast to the belief that she will be well worth watching soon.
https://vimeo.com/184925621 (password) owyheeflyer
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