Still hunting

 It appears as though life is back to normal again. I just returned from another successful hunting trip here at the house. Hope added number nine to the bag this morning. It didn't even get a chance to run. She snatched it out of the Sage where it was hiding.

I believe that I have mentioned before that Jack Rabbits have several methods of escaping predators! One of them is hiding. Normally most Raptors such as Goshawks and Redtails are unable to see inanimate objects. Harris Hawks are different. The first Harris that I had, (80's) caught a Pheasant, her first. She picked it out of the grass where it was hiding. The next time we went hunting she flew off just because she was impatient. Then she did a wing over into the Sage. When I got there, she was trying to grab a quart brown beer bottle shining in the sun. Obviously, the color and shape resembled a Pheasant. She was quite perplexed when her grab only solicited a clink rather than a fight.

I have had it happen often enough that that I have slowed down and walk a few steps, pause, and then continue on. I don't know how many times that I have had Rabbits flush behind me, so I now walk a lot slower. I don't cover as much ground but then I don't have to.

This field is the one by the house. I haven't hunted it for at least a week perhaps more. So, the Rabbits have had a chance to relax and resume their natural life. I try to spread out the hunting pressure as much as I can. If pushed hard enough they will abandon their territory. I have been checking lots of spots, with only a few holding enough Rabbits to hunt.

I am now running into a problem that I have not had to deal with in several years- My hawk freezer is full! I have a friend that likes to hunt Coyotes. He had been cutting off the hind legs of the Coyotes and chunking it up to a good size that would make a meal for a Hawk. While it is not a preferred meal, Hope does quite well on it.

Today Hope had gone on a long flight that covered about 200 yards at a running Jack that had out maneuvered her and returned to the fist. I stopped, preparing to begin walking, when she flashed off to my right and slammed into a Jack that was hiding in a bush. The Jack was bucking like a bronco carrying them both a couple of feet in the air. I broke the Rabbits neck, and she started looking for her tidbits. I was a bit behind as I expected her to be a bit more possessive. I was more than a bit surprised, as she was more into the program than I expected. So, I gave her tidbits, she gobbled them down and I managed to give her a front leg from a previous catch, and I moved off to gut the Rabbit. She flew to where I was trying to do so, carrying her front leg as if that wasn't enough. With her pressing me for more I managed to leave another knife in the field. I sympathized with the Indians who also apparently had a similar problem with leaving tools and arrow heads in the brush.

The weather is holding, only dropping to the low 30's and sunshine during the day. I intend to take advantage of every day that I can.

The pup is doing better every day. I have been slowing her down enough that we can hunt in the same field at least. She is so smart and fun to have. So far, she isn't such a problem that Hope cannot prevail, with the goal of her being a help.

At last, the Rabbits are back

 It's been a long eight years. The winter of 2018 was an unusual winter. A normal snowfall for this area is at most 4 or 5 inches of snow that lasts perhaps 3 or 4 days. Yes, it gets cold- I have experienced 25 below zero, perhaps a bit more over the years. This particular winter, around Thanksgiving we were blessed with 18 inches of snow. It's normal for a snow to melt within a week of falling. This time it sleeted and got cold! It all froze into a heavy crust that didn't go away for about a month. The Deer and Antelope in large numbers, were limping from the frozen crust that cut their legs. A large group of Antelope overnighted at the creek below the house, and it was alarming how many of them were limping. We lost enough Deer and Antelope that Oregon Fish and Wildlife curtailed the Deer and Antelope tags for several years. The Jacks apparently starved to death.

It's been a rough eight years! One the things that I have been critical of is having a Hawk that just sits! We- Falconers, call that type of "Falconer," Pet keepers! It's a shame to have a Hawk that never gets to fly and just sits in a cage. How ever I had no choice. Each year I would go out checking for places that held Rabbits, Nothing! So, for eight years I would take her weight down to hunting weight (that would take at least a month to get her weight back down) then spend a couple of weeks checking fields for a sustainable population that was never there. I was afraid to kill even one as that might slow the recovery even more. 

I even tried to hunt her or at least exercise her on a Drone. She would just sit there and wait until the time was right then grab the lure. Apparently, I wasn't smart enough to figure out how any of this would either give her some exercise or be fun for her. I decided it wasn't worth the effort and, just built a 24 by 10 mew's that was big enough for her to fly around and get at least a little exercise. She is now 10 years old

Last year in a four-mile hunt ( checked, with an app that measures steps) to check the viability of hunting I managed to turn up one Rabbit. I was afraid that its name might be either Adam or Eve, so I chickened out.

Now at last, the Rabbits have returned. So far, we have killed 6 Jacks, but the important part is, we  are seeing 10 or more Rabbits, while actually catching one on each of the last 6 days that I have hunted.

Today we actually caught two. The first flight today resulted is her catching one, but it got away from her before I was able to get to her. At 82 my ability to run is severely limited. 

Hope severely stone bruised her right foot in her early life and today her right rear talon stays completely folded against the bottom of her right foot. She has learned to compensate and if given the chance grabs them by the head, so that they can't pull off. When Rabbits were plentiful, she might catch two or three before she managed to hold one of them. Their normal escape mechanism was to run through a Sage as part of their escape plane. If she grabbed the biggest target (its' butt) then they could scrape the Hawk off with the Sage. After a bit she began to head hunt. Now however there are a lot of "Young" Jacks out there and they are sometimes not strong enough to scrape her off. Or she is just determined to hold on. Her last two kills have been butt grabs. With both of them when I got there, she was lying on her side with a large branch of the Sage between her legs and the Rabbit in her left foot. It has the look of a "wreck" more than a catch.

Jack Rabbits are reputed to have a two acre "Home range". They of course know every bush and "get away" place in there. They either make or find tunnels in the large Sage that they use as escape tunnels that they can run through, the Coyotes and Hawks get scraped off, or at least it delays their pursuit. When Hope hits one her wings are of course splayed out and her feet hit first. When she hits one like that you can hear the crash from hundred yards or more away. In that case the only target is the Butt, and if she does connect, the wings and the grip of one foot is what holds the Rabbit. It's amazing to me that she can hold a large Jack with one foot while she waits for me to arrive with my tongue hanging out from exhaustion.

I have been afraid that I would not be agile enough to actually be able to hunt her when they di arrive, but it appears that I am not done quite yet, and happy times are here again!

My partner in Crime! When I arrive on the scene, I have to dispatch

the Rabbit, then find my phone. This one was fully adult.

The pictures below are of our

last hunt

                                                                I give her tidbits in a cup

                                                             to give her something else and

                                                             then a nice juicy chunk of meat

                                                             so that I can clean the Rabbit.

You should be able to click on each picture to view it in large format for easier viewing. 

This is my exercise program as well as my entertainment. Its good to be active again.

A reflection on growing old

 As you might have noticed my posts have dwindled to nothing in the last few years. Primarily because I have had little to nothing that was worthy of my time to write and yours to read. I admit that it has caused quite a bit of reflection and query on my part. While I like to "give my opinion" when given the chance, I rightly decided that the value of that exercise had dwindled to an end. It has caused me some consternation as I imagine it has of all that found themselves old quite suddenly. This is my attempt to put to words what and why was the cause and effects, of it. 

I am well aware that some may consider this to be whining and all I really needed to do is "get off my ass, and get with the project." I assure you its not that simple. It has been a cascade of unrelated events that has brought me to the realization - that I have grown old. Now that I finally understand it, I am a bit more accepting of the situation.

The first step began with my decision to get my left knee replaced "before I got too old". It took a lot longer to talk the VA into doing the surgery than it should have. Then it took 11 months to recover enough that I could walk without concern. They did a good job and I now have about 800 miles on that leg.

One of the reasons that I chose that time was that the Jack Rabbits that I depended on to hunt with my Hawk, had crashed. So missing a fall season was no big deal. That condition has persisted for 8 years. There still aren't any Jacks here. So instead of out every other day walking anywhere from 2 to 4 miles in the Sage, I am sitting on my ass, and learning to like it.

Another detriment to my physical conditioning is what is called a frozen shoulder, which eventually resulted in one of the attach points of my bicep disconnecting from the elbow. Allowing the bicep to bunch up. That has occurred to both arm's, eliminating my ability to do any weight training, thus limiting my ability to maintain any conditioning that is so precious at any age. This covers the physical causes.

Suddenly last year I no longer had any desire to fly my plane! I would make plans to fly the next day, yet go outside in the morning, stick my finger up in the air and decide that it was too windy. I could not understand or explain. I just didn't want to roll the plane out. After coming out here to the Rock House, I have flown that plane into places that if a glitch had occurred I would have never been able to get out, without even a bit of hesitation. Now the slightest breeze was too big of a risk. I once flew from Deming, New Mexico to Truth or Consequences at 35 miles per hour. I landed across the runway without getting off the pavement. Now a breeze that doesn't even register, stops me. It just wasn't fun anymore. The one thing that got me through "Man o Pause", no longer interested me. 

At the age of 18 I had been selected to attend Helicopter training at Fort Rucker Alabama. My father had requested that I get on with growing up- somewhere else. The army drug their feet and I felt enough pressure that I told them to either take me or forget about it. Of course they didn't care. I instead went to Michigan with an older brother. Over the years that missed opportunity haunted me. It took me till I was 56 years old before I got to learn to fly. Now I could give a shit less?? It didn't make sense. 

Yesterday I watched a You Tube vid that told about the 5 or 6 things that happened when one reached 80 . There was a lot that applied to me. It was mostly an attitude change.

In my early 70's I basically dropped out of the one thing that had been my passion. I stopped interacting with the Falconry community.  Since 1978 I devoted myself to the legalization of falconry. I surrounded myself with other falconers as devoted to the cause as I was. Lots of trips to Portland to testify to the wildlife board. With a lot of friends and hard work we prevailed. Then sometime in my 70's I decided that it was time for me to step back. I was content to do so.

Then one by one all of the people that had formed what was my life died. Very few of the old guard survived. I no longer knew any of the next generation. All of my family died as well. I am now the only member of what was my family, still alive! The phone doesn't ring anymore. The people that I valued are gone.  I felt lost and alone for most of a year. I have acclimated since. I am still alone, but it now doesn't matter that much. I have my childhood sweetheart and she is enough!

So now because I am afraid to stress my arms that much, the left one cramps if I put too much strain on it. My exercise program is on hold. I am left with walking the runway when the weather allows, a few squats, but that is not enough. At 81 I can lose more condition than I can build up! The cruelest blow is the lack of game. I am afraid to kill a Jack Rabbit since the death of even one rabbit could slow the recovery even longer. Even I cannot force my self to walk over hill and dale without a hawk on my fist.

While even to me this sounds a bit like whining, the betrayal that cuts the most is the continuing loss and refusal of the Rabbit population to recover. I find that quite amusing actually.

I am doing what I can to at least adjust to advancing age and eventual loss of being able to live this far from "civilization". To say the least Social Services are non-existent here. To counter I have purchased a Tesla model Y. Basically a computerized car. The biggest boon to that is that the car style may be outdated, but not the function. Every time there is an update or improvement to Tesla's, mine gets the update as well. Full self driving is the feature that I want and will need. As of now, I can get in the car, tell the AI feature (Groc) to take me to Safeway in Burns Oregon, and it will do so, parking in front of the store. Likewise anywhere at all. Hospital visits for Brenda and I are a piece of cake. In other words as long as I can remember where I want to go, this car will take me and bring me home. 

I have a charger in my garage, and there are now enough commercial chargers that I can go where ever I want. I now have 15,000 mile on the car for a cost of 922.00 a savings of more than$1500. Where the car really shines is in high traffic areas, and freeways. With 6 cameras its awareness is far superior to mine.

It is my intention to keep on keeping on as long as I can, and however I can, but it gets easier to sit every day.