Time to stop!

In reality, the year 2019 is over. Christmas is just around the corner. Hibernation is pretty high on my list of things to do. The year has been pretty good overall. It has probably been the least active year of my life. I didn't go fishing even one time, and my flying has taken a back seat to every thing I have done. The only thing that remained the same was my Hawking, yet even that suffered from loss of my normal joy of life. Yet I have persisted.

I went hawking again yesterday, and drove to the only other spot that used to have enough Jacks to make the 100 mile round trip worth while. The area is high Sage, with lots of thick Sage as well as Lava outcrops, and it is rare indeed to get a clear shot at a Jack. This is the spot that Hope injured her foot at the end of last years hunt. Normally it also holds an abundance of Bunnies that break up the hunt, by supplying a shot of excitement to the normal long slips on Jacks. However I have seen none of these little dynamo's in the last two times I have hunted there. We put in three miles of exercise yesterday in an attempt to bring a Jack home for the freezer. Hope could not close the deal however, and we came home empty handed.

After a long night of considering the risks and rewards of continuing pursuit of the dwindling numbers of Jack Rabbits, I decided this morning that it was time to give it up for the year and hope that this next one will have a few more Jacks in it. Other areas do have more Jacks, but I seem to be down to one tract of Sage within 50 miles, that holds enough Jacks to make it worthwhile to drive there. So this morning when I picked up Hope from her perch in the Shop, I gave her the first food this season that she didn't catch.

Dec 8th

Well the snow has all melted, but I seem to have gone into hibernation mode. Truth is I am more than a bit spoiled. Hope's aversion to cold and wet snow, and my unwillingness to show her what happens to Hawks that don't hunt, seems to have given me the excuse that I need to sit in front of the TV and wait for spring. However the TV and politicians in general piss me off enough that there is no comfort in that exercise either.

Then there are a couple of friends that keep sending me pictures of their hawks with dead Rabbits that also contribute to my general feeling of worthlessness. I took Hope out here at the house, the day before yesterday and while we did jump four Jacks over 3.5 miles of slogging, nothing came of it.

The clouds are heavy with moisture and lowering over the desert, so If I am going to hunt at all, I needed to get my butt out there.

I am down to one field that I can hunt, and I hesitate to hit it too hard. There just isn't that many places close enough to drive to, that hold Rabbits. The one here at the Ranch is too muddy to get to, so that leaves Arock, and it is a 50 mile round trip.

The snow has laid down most of the weeds that covered the fields there, and that to me was an improvement. I had hoped to find a Jack in some of the open stuff with the thought that we could get it over pretty quickly with the right slip. Eventually she took off after a Jack that was at the limit of my ability to see her, and of course missed. She came up on a Sage bush, acting as though he might still be there. I began walking towards her. She took off again, and made a shot in the Sage, but again came back up on a Sage. I walked to her and she took her place on the Tee. I looked around to see where the jack might have taken refuge, and decided to go to a clump of rocks that would give us a vantage point. He held his nerve until we had passed the bush he was hiding in and then made his break behind us, up the hill. It didn't matter,  he was too close and she burned him down within 30 yards.

She had caught him by the front shoulder, and he was stretched out with his legs between hers and pushing for all he was worth.  She was lying on her back and had torn most of his shoulder skin off. I grabbed his head and tried to take a picture, but I was too close and the damn camera would not snap. I considered taking the time to crush the camera with a rock, as it is always a pain in the butt every time I try to use it. I Killed the Jack for her and gave her the cup of tidbits, then a chunk of Coyote to hold her till I could get some meat off the Rabbit.

I was ready with the Jacks head when she finished her appetizer, and we walked back to the car. I have an app on my phone that measures the distance and the time to walk it. The time showed 18 minutes total walking time. Did that shame me some over my laziness- yes, but I will get over it.