A friend from the Rail Road had come down to help me get a generator set up for emergencies, so we hopped in the truck and drove over to the ranch. After I got the truck stopped, I looked over and there was a young dumb one just 15 yards away, watching us to see what was going on. I eased out, ignoring the Jack and hoping that he would continue to sit there. I got Hope released from her leash, and picked her out of her box. I looked up, and found that it had moved. Not all that far, so I tossed Hope in his direction. The Jack ran, and Hope totally surprised, followed and took a shot at him, but he ducked and stalled her out. I remember thinking CRAP! this was all I needed, an overweight Hawk that is going to waste the trend that we had begun with the last hunt by giving her free rein with a whole Jack to eat.
You see, just like every thing else, success breeds success. Falconry is built on positive reinforcement. Success gives confidence, and success only comes with a Hawk that knows that she can catch anything and will not take no for an answer. That frame of mind comes from the falconer making sure that the Hawk has all the odds stacked against the prey. A fat Hawk normally will not put forth the effort needed to catch a Jack. With almost any other hawk I would have bagged the trip, but Hope isn't acting like any other Hawk that I have handled, so I decided to give it a try. What the hell, I needed the exercise any way.
After she missed the Jack I turned and started across the field. She soon landed on the Tee perch, and we continued up the little rise in the ground. She peeled off back the way that we had come and made a fairly long flight after a Jack that had slipped out behind us. When she returned, she flew right in front of Dick, much to his amazement, and landed on the Tee perch. We walked a few yards more when she again took off in pursuit. I was surprised to see how far the slip actually was. She flew about 150 yards before she slammed into the brush, and a faint scream wafted back to my amazed ears.
I ran as fast as my old butt would take me, flushing another Jack as I ran. Dick thought that was the one that she had chased, but I knew better.
I was pleased to see that she still had the Jack, and then could see that she had a foot in his neck as well. He wasn't going any where. I killed him as soon as I could get my dropped jaw closed, and drug him into the open.
I pulled a front leg off and gave it to her as a distraction. After I gutted it, I again gave the Jack back to her. Hell if she is going to hunt that hard weighing 945, I darn sure am not going to get stingy on her. This calls for a celebration.
She began eating on the neck, where I had pulled a bit of skin off when I killed it. Fine with me. I let her eat until she had severed the muscle surrounding the neck, then slipped a Walmart plastic bag over the rest of the Jack, and put it in my vest. I let her eat most of the head, and then began giving her the tidbits that I had prepared since they wouldn't last for another two days. Its nice that she will eat from the fingers without risking said fingers. She also eats nicely from my little cup.
I am having a bit of trouble with my back, so I soon got tired of standing around waiting for her to finally finish the head. I picked her and her head up and made my way back to the truck.
Since this is the dump, there are some benefits to hunting there besides lots of rabbits. Ahh, life is good!
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