Nov 24th

 Last Sunday I went to Burns to help Connie clean her garage. I took Hope along so that I could also go hunting with Pat. Unfortunately the wind was howling ( only a bit of an exaggeration ) . There were quite a few Jacks in the field, and they almost all flushed a long way off.  Hope always went after them, Pat and Chilli were off somewhere else and it basically turned into my version of a cluster ****. 

Chilli was able to take advantage of a miss by Hope to snare the one Jack that gave us a close, decent flush. So, with Chilli getting a rabbit, I picked up all my marbles and went to clean the garage. Hope was carrying plenty of extra weight so she wasn't hurting for food. I hate hunting in the wind, it just adds another dimension of difficulty, and I try to avoid flying in wind that is in the teens. Harris hawks are just not suited to that type of flight.

Yesterday was also pretty crappy, so I didn't hunt then either. Today however was better and it was time to get out and catch some food.

The temperature was in the teens this morning with very little wind. I noticed a week or so ago that the rabbits seemed to be a little thicker close to the house early, so I put on some long johns and we tried the field by the house. I have taken quite a few of the residents there, but hadn't hunted it for a couple of weeks. We only found one Jack in there this time and he gave her the slip, so I came back in the yard and out the other side to hunt along the runway.

We weren't seeing much there either, but I was committed this time. I walked a big circle and she chased two Jacks, that were able to avoid her. Both were long slips and she was unsuccessful with both of them. I began to think I was going to have to get in the car and try some distant pastures, when one jumped at the edge of an opening, close to us. She nailed him in about 15 yards.

I was too busy taking care of the rabbit to take pictures, so we did our "Hero shot" after we got back home.

I wish you all a happy and safe Thanksgiving!