An unintended mile post

 

Every one came over to the house this morning for our Rabbit hunt. We went into the field behind the hack tower and began our drive. Yogi took a perch on the fence line while Puddy rode with Tami. We had not gone very far, and a Jack broke cover in the fence and choose to run across the open field towards the house. Yogi had landed almost on a post almost right on top of him, so when he made his run for it, she was right there. I thought well that one is a waste! I didn't take in to account Yogi's state of mind. She hasn't caught anything for at least a week. She has helped, but has not been the initial aggressor. I was yelling and rooting her on for all I was worth, but even so I could not believe that she was right on the Jacks butt and closing. (I have paced a Jack at 45 MPH) The Jack tried to turn inside her, but she was too close and too determined. She reached out a long leg and had him. They were jumping and flopping. Puddy by that time had caught up and slammed into his head.

I took the opportunity to take a picture, that was not in a bush.

I gave each a chunk of Jack front leg as a reward for their catch. Each went off a bit to eat their food, and I bagged the rabbit.

As you can see, there was nothing for the rabbit to hide in, but the open field chases are the hardest of all pursuits.

We went back into the field and continued on our way. We had not covered much ground when Yogi again took off after a Rabbit. Puddy was a bit slow on the uptake. Yogi made a feint at the rabbit, but it dodged her. She turned around as Puddy also made a feint at the rabbit. Yogi had gotten up a bit and did a wingover from about 10 feet and the scream of the rabbit told us that she had scored again.

 When we got there I was surprised to see that Puddy was off to the side watching. The reason became quite clear, as Yogi had grabbed the rabbit by the head.

I gave Yogi a chunk of front leg, and and number two was in the bag, and we were still withing 200 yards of the fence around the house.

I decided that I wanted for Puddy to catch one, so we decided to continue. We really had just started,  and George was really getting into it.

We continued on for a bit and Yogi decided to go off hunting on her own. I tried to get her to come to the perch, but she wanted me to follow her, and it just doesn't work that way. We left her  and soon Puddy took off after a close Jack and grabbed him in the butt. Unfortunately her pardner was goofing off a hundred yards back and she got kicked off. She was a bit grumpy about that. We continued on, and Yogi decided to shadow us. I was just explaining to George that Harris' were the only Hawk that I was aware of that could see a sitting rabbit, when Puddy flashed off my perch and slammed into the ground not more than 15 feet in front of us. I was quite surprised to see a Jack come bolting out of the dust cloud and beat feet out of the area. Yogi tried, but had been too much out of position. Yogi was still trying to be independent, and we jumped another Jack, and again Puddy grabbed one in the butt after a heroic effort, but her hold was too tenuous to keep him. Yogi had had enough, and rejoined us as we began our circle back towards the house.

We topped over the hill leaving Tara, Karen, Grace and Isabel pestering a hapless Bull Snake. Yogi could not resist a 200 yard slip at a fleeing rabbit. It of course was unsuccessful. We finally caught up with her, and she regained her perch. As we started up a small rise, a Jack busted in front of us, and Puddy gave chase. She made a shot at the rabbit and missed, Yogi did not. This one didn't have a hawk on its head for a short period of time, so Puddy filled the position.

  I managed to kill the Jack, and Yogi accepted her chunk of meat and retired to the nearest bush to eat it.

I have to admit, I was quite surprised that Yogi had caught three Jacks in one outing and was doing it with a fairly substantial chunk of meat in her crop. I had never had a hawk that I caught three head of game with in the same day, so when I held up the trophy tail for the picture, I was pretty much in awe of this hawk.

Puddy however was getting frustrated and did not want to give the Jack up. She was doing her best to ignore the chunk of rabbit that I was offering, so I picked her up with the whole thing and again gave her the meat. She couldn't hold both, so I was able to  put her on the ground and go clean the rabbit.

Karen needed to go get the mail, so she headed off for the house, and the rest of the field was anxious to visit an old turn of the century homestead down by the creek. We were close so we headed that way.

Somehow I forgot to take any pictures, but the shack was a "Soddy". I was more interested in seeing if I could find some of the Bunnies that had to live there. We soon found one and Puddy really slammed into the Greasewood after him, but missed. We were a bit behind time, since we had been in the field for about three hours at that time, so we headed home.

I didn't want to carry the birds on the fist, so we were still technically hunting, and they were riding on their perches. The road curved around a small rise with a bit of rubble on the top, and without warning, Yogi again took off the perch after a close flushing Jack, and slammed into his head before he had covered more than 20 feet. Puddy again honored the kill, and stayed back. We didn't take a picture of the forth one for what ever reason. I gave Yogi another chunk of meat and gave the Jack to George for his own consumption later.

I decided that enough was enough and we fed the girls the rest of their meal, and made our way home.

Every one went home, and I started chunking up Jacks for the girls winter molt food. Even with giving an entire rabbit away, taking two meals worth off of one of the rabbits, I ended up with 14 meals off the remainder, and enough parts and pieces for tidbits and rewards for the next hunting day.

After Karen came back and I finished my food chores, we drove over to the ranch to fly Tara's bird Sheila.

There are a lot of Sparrows around the house so we began our quest. Sheila has not yet caught her first head of wild game, and after her last outing were quite hopeful.

The wind was whipping by this time, and while it posed no problem for her, it did make her want to fly into the wind and stay high either in the trees on the barn. The resident tiercel Kestrel seems to be a bit cranky about sharing hunting areas with her and has been a problem for us. He slammed her into the barn, bruising her leg the last time, and was doing his best to do so again.

At first she wasn't showing much in the way of interest in hunting, but soon decided to get into the game. We went to the Greasewood patch below the barn and managed to pin some of the numerous Sparrows in there. She took a stand on the Hay stack out of the wind, and Tami, George and I began pushing some Sparrows at her. She gave chase to one and just barely missed catching him before he took refuge in a bush. She returned to the fence line, and Tami pushed it out, and again she was hot on his tail, putting him into another bush. This time she gave chase on foot. He managed to elude her and since she had tried so hard, and we were out of Sparrows in the Greasewood, I decided that a bag would be in order.

Tara put her on one of the fence posts and I rustled in the bushes and somehow a bagged Sparrow made a break for it. She was after it with a passion. The Sparrow was doing its best out across the open pasture and she was right on its butt. She made a grab for it, but missed. She recovered and grabbed it after another 10 yards. All the time that little rascal of a wild tiercel was doing his best to interfere. Tara and George went to run interference. Before they could get there the scamp tagged her on the ground, and she picked up the Sparrow and made a break for the fence. She landed on one of the fence posts, while the wild one was making repeated shots at her. She flew again and closer to me and the Greasewood patch. She landed on a post just at the edge of the field, and the little bastard flew down and knocked her off the post. She got up and flew past me to the middle of the Greasewood and ran into the bush with her prise.

 Tara picked her up from the bush and gave her a safe spot to eat her catch.

 We of course felt compelled to celebrate our adventures with a small libation.

I am quite pleased with the way that Tara has brought this little bird along. She handles well, and it is only a matter of time before she is catching wild game. The zeal with which both she and George pursue falconry is very satisfying. Both are going to be good falconers.

Karen and I dragged our tired butts home and put them in the hot tub where we could sooth some of the aches and pains away.

Karen and I loaded Jessie in the car and drove over to Tami's to see if Jessie was going to be interested in Ducks this morning. She has steadfastly refused to catch a duck for some days and is getting thinner, but losing none of her resolve to not catch one. She seems to go through a two week period of this kind of behavior every year, but it is generally later in the season when she does. :-/

Tami's sister, Tara, and her fiance George are down from the Portland area. Both are interested in falconry, and Tara is in her first full year of a falconry apprenticeship.

We all loaded up and went to the barn with the idea of hunting some of the Ducks that hang around that are. They were there, so we put Jessie in the air, and she almost forgot her self and caught one, but it did a kamikaze dive into a really nasty bit of barn yard drainage, and she wisely declined.
She flew for quite a long time ignoring every Duck that we flushed, finally taking her rest on a far hay stack. I swung the lure for her, but she ignored that as well. Finally it became clear to me that she had no intention of coming, so I walked back behind the barn and out of her sight. That was entirely too much for her and she had to come see where I had gone. I walked back out and swung the lure for her, and she waited an appropriate amount of time before she deigned to land on the lure. She however did her best to carry it as far away as she could, but a board fence foiled her plans. She is such a Diva! spelled with a B of course.

We went back to Tami's and George saw a Coyote cross the field below the house. He got his rifle, and killed his first ever Coyote at about 220 yards. Since he was using his 300 Weatherby there was nothing left to skin.

Karen and I took her home, and the rest followed. We picked up Yogi and Pud and since Karen decided to do some house work, all loaded in the car to find a Rabbit field. Grace, Reuben, and Spike (Tara's son) came with us. I wanted to try another location, and after one dry patch of Sage, I bumped a Jack just feet off the road at the Pillars of Rome. I decided that we could do worse, so we all piled out and began our hunt. Yogi, who has been getting a lot more independent, took off up the hill on the other side of the road. At first we thought she had seen something, but it soon became obvious that the group of people might be a little large for her. She would not come to us and as soon as we caught up, she would fly on. I finally decided that I was going to put a transmitter on her so that I could eventually find her if she chose to not hunt with us. Once done we headed down the hill and left her to her own devices. She soon tired of that and began hunting with us.

We hadn't got very far into the field when a Jack jumped close and Puddy grabbed it in the butt. Yogi flared high and arrowed down through the bush and onto his head.

 I broke the brush apart enough to drag them into the open so that I could kill the Jack and get them off so that I could clean the Jack.

 I apparently managed to lose the light colored line that you can see hanging out of my bag, which was the leash and swivel needed to secure the birds when we were finished. I am not sure if I can find the right bush again, but I may try. I am getting very short on swivels.

After they finished their rewards, we went on through the field. We did get a few more chases, and Puddy did manage to pull a patch of fur out of another ones butt, but a low hanging branch knocked her off. There were a couple of close calls with the local Pheasant population, but nothing stuck.

After covering the entire field, ( about an hour) we gave it up and went on home. I found another leash and put the girls in the weathering area to put over their crop.

Tami, and Tara went on home to see if Tara's Kestrel was ready to fly. Karen and I went over to help out with that.

I am sorry to say that I didn't take a camera along, so I have no pictures yet. She is a nice little bird and is well trained and cared for. Tara is in the process of trying to get her entered on game. We started out of the house and she gave chase to some Sparrows by the barn. The resident male Kestrel is still hanging around the ranch, and of course he had to but in and make things as difficult as he could. Sheila ignored him for the most part. At first she was a bit hesitant to get really down into the brush with the Sparrows, but after finding and pinning a bunch in some Greasewood, ( The wild male actually helped with that as he was circling around overhead) She began really putting some effort into her attempts at them. At that point I decided that it was time to make sure that she caught one, so I attempted to plant a Sparrow in one of the bushes, but he busted out and she missed her chance at him. I had another and planted it at the edge of the field so that it would be forced out over the open and out of the Greasewood. She gave chase and lost it in a bunch of Willows by the barn. We got her up there and I kicked it out of the bush. It made a dash for the barn with her right behind. The tiercel made a shot at both of them, perhaps hitting her. The Sparrow was running around the wall of the barn on foot. Tara got her on the fist, and managed to get her to see the Sparrow. She took off after it again and it beat it for the Willow again. The Kestrel was in the bush and the Sparrow was trying to keep as much bush between them as possible. They did about 5 or 6 circles around and through the bush, finally Sheila cut him off and managed to catch him on the ground.

It was a great training exercise for the little bird. Hopefully she will have learned that she has to get in and get down and dirty while at it, and she has to push.

A strange and disquieting day

We loaded up and made the trip to Tami's to hunt both sets of hawks. I have been carrying my rifle with me for the numerous Coyotes that are running all over. This morning one ran across the drive into the ranch and into the Sage across the road. I stopped the truck and got out and waited. He stopped about 200 yards out. I took the shot, but it was far enough out that I of course lost the picture in the scope, so I didn't know for sure whether I got him or not. Karen didn't see him when I shot. I was sure that I could not have missed, so we drove down there and looked. We couldn't find him, but jumped a couple of Jacks while looking.

We went on, picking up Tami, and drove to the barn to try for some Ducks with Jessie. There was a pile of mixed Ducks on the pond below the barn, so I put Jessie in the air. She took a good pitch over us, but seemed more interested in flying than catching. We gave her several chances at Ducks, and she ignored them all. I finally called her down to the lure and she went into the box to wait for the Harris' to hunt.

I had managed to leave the Tee perches at home, so we all drove back over to the house to get them. When we were coming back I decided to see if the Jacks were in numbers enough to warrant hunting them where the Coyote had been. I thought that we could hunt and I could renew my search for the Coyote. We managed to jump two or three Jacks, but not enough to interest me, so we headed back to the truck. Yogi and Pud took off after a Jack that ran up the hill. Puddy came with us, but Yogi stayed. On the way back our path dissected where the Coyote was lying. We went on to the truck, but Yogi had not joined us. We could see her on the ground and she was hopping around, but refused to even come to the proffered lure. I drove down there and could see her hopping around with her wings out. As I closed the distance I could see that on her flight back, she had seen the Coyote and she was now attacking the thankfully deceased Coyote. She would feint, strike, then fly off and turn to do it again. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that she had apparently had some personal encounters with Coyotes when she was in the wild. She is the strangest bird.

We then loaded up and went back to the barn to hunt in the field that we had found so many Jacks before. We carried the hawks across to the field beginning to eliminate interference from a Red Shouldered Hawk that seems to think he owns all of that area.

 Yogi did not want to be carried and was bateing continuously. We finally got close to the gate to the field, and I told Tami to turn her loose. There was the remains of a little overflow pond that was drying up by the road, and Yogi crashed into the water. Tami didn't know what to do about it and was as surprised as I was. I said that maybe she was thirsty, and walked back to see what was going on. She was running around and footing at something in the pond. I asked if there were minnows in the pond, and Tami replied that there was. I walked to the side that she was on, and tried to get her to get on the fist before she decided to bathe. I flushed the minnow and she quickly caught it and ate it, before I could get a picture. That's a new one for me.

 
We found a few Jacks and they gave chase, sometimes hard and sometimes not. We were not seeing the numbers that I would have liked and so we were trying different areas and seemed to find that the rabbits were choosing the more open areas to hide in. Puddy flashed off my perch and slammed into something on the ground in front of us. When I got there it was a Jack and she was on its head. It wasn't fighting, because it was already dead. I gave her a prepared chunk of meat and took the Jack to check it out. The eyes were clear and not clouded over at all, but the Jack was dead before she got it. No visible evidence of anything wrong, nose and coat were fine. I buried it and we went on.

After a couple more chases that were infuriatingly close, they flew after a Jack that slipped them both, and they took perches on some of the Sage. They both declined to come, and then I saw Puddy again take off and looked like she was chasing something on the ground. We went over there and she had found another dead one. Same appearance as the other. The fur was warm from the sun, but very tough to peel, and the flesh underneath was cool. I gave the birds some chunks of meat, and we left. I am puzzled and a bit spooked. I guess I will have to find somewhere else to hunt.

Puddy gets the hint

Wednesday when we last flew, Puddy was heavy and was not doing her job. Thursday I weighed Yogi and found that she was down enough to go hawking again. I decided that I would see if I could put some weight on her rather than fly her. I knew that we would not be able to hunt again until Sat. morning. So I took Yogi out and fed her a bunch of Rabbit and some of Jessie's Duck. Puddy got nothing at all.

This morning Yogi weighed in at 1039, Puddy at 835, Jessie at 830. After we got our chores done, we went over to Tami's to give Jessie a shot at the Mallards that have been feeding in the flooded field right in front of their house. After that we intended to try a new spot behind the Lake where I generally hunt Jessie.

The Ducks were still there and I turned Jessie loose behind Tami's. There were Ducks on the ditch behind the house, but I had almost every one in front to mark Jessie if I could not get there in time to see the flight. I will save you the suspense. That was a mistake, I hope to never make that one again. I should have flushed the ducks on the ditch. Jessie had taken a really nice pitch, and I decided to ignore a sure thing and flush all those Mallards.

The only problem with that is that the field was flooded, not that deep, but still wet. Now a Mallard is no pushover on the ground. Jessie once broke her leg hitting a Mallard Drake, so when she catches one, she grabs it rather than hitting it. The smaller Ducks she hits, so there is rarely a fight.

I finally realized what Jessie was seeing from the air, when she pulled up from her stoop and began trying to herd them off of the water. They were having none of it, splashing back in time and time again. She could never get one to a point that she could carry it to dry ground, and finally got tired enough to set down. I recalled her to the lure.

We took the girls out of the truck in an area that we had scouted last week. We had seen 9 Jacks along the road, the only problem was that the cover was primarily Greasewood. It was fairly small and there were gaps in it, so I thought to try it to see if it was viable to hunt. We walked for a bit and a Jack jumped in front of us, and Puddy burned it down in her old style, and Yogi helped.

 Puddy had grabbed it right in the butt, and was drug deeply into the Greasewood. It took both Tami and I to get her clear of the nasty stuff, and I was finally able to drag them free.

I gave them both a front leg, and although they went through the motions, neither really put all that much effort to catch another one. Both birds are OK, and we will most likely hunt here at the house tomorrow.

Yogi carries the load

YOGI AND PUDDY

Karen and I picked up Tami and Reuben at their house and headed out to the field that we found the last time the girls flew.

We waded out to the field and began our walk. The first rabbit that flushed Yogi pulled hair, but it managed to get away from her. Puddy is still on welfare and waiting for Yogi to catch one so that she can join in.

 Its rather peculiar that this year Puddy really putS on the weight and Yogi loses when fed the same amount. Puddy is a bit fat, but she does help with the kills. Yogi could get along without her, but Pud will turn on sometime soon. I am just going to have to turn a few of her screws a bit tighter. Last year she caught three times the rabbits that Yogi did. Not so this year. With today's totals Yogi has 7 more kills than Puddy.

The next rabbit that jumped Yogi burned down so fast that she overshot it. Puddy made a shot, and the rabbit ducked behind a bush, and tried to freeze. He didn't take into account that Yogi had turned for another shot and was not fooled at all. Yogi grabbed him where he was hiding, and Puddy grabbed him in the head. When I got there Yogi was pulled up tight to one end of the bush, and Puddy was on the other side. Reuben and I had to break the Sage bush apart to get Yogi free.

This was the view that Karen had.

 The other side of the bush

 I finally got the both on the same side and got things sorted out. I gave each a front leg to eat while I cleaned the rabbit. Reuben helped and used his knife, so that I wouldn't cut myself again. :-) I need all the help that I can get. Between hawk talons and my own klutziness , my hands are a mess. Oh well, I at least haven't started drooling yet.

We stood around a bit waiting for the girls to finish their meals, and get their minds around the idea of chasing some more rabbits. After a bit of time I thought they might be ready to hunt again. We picked  them up and started off again. They watched a couple of rabbits run off without any response, then Yogi remembered that she hadn't had enough rabbit and could hold a bit more. She gave chase and missed one that ran up a bit of a hill. She sat on a bush, and did not seem to want to come back. We had seen a rabbit run out of that area and assumed that it had been the one that she was chasing. She showed no indication that she was going to leave the area at all, even though we had gone quite a ways from her. Finally she was so far back that I either needed to get her to come or go get her. We were watching and trying to get her to come to us, when she started her "There is a damn rabbit hiding here" call, and Puddy immediately started her way. Before she could get there Yogi took off and dove into the ground about 15 feet in front of her. Two rabbits busted out and ran off, but she didn't get up again. Tami thought that she saw some dust where she had gone in to the brush, so I did my best imitation of a sprint where she had gone down. Puddy had gone to the ground but not where Yogi was. When I arrived I found Yogi with both feet on a Jack's head.  

Puddy was standing off, as Yogi obviously had the head and there wasn't any where to grab. They are very good that way. I know I have mentioned it before, but if one has the rabbit in the butt, the other will take the head. However if the catching Hawk has the rabbit by the head, the other will not go in at all.

I was finally able to untangle her and stretch the rabbits neck and put him out of his misery. Yogi got another leg and Puddy got nothing.

I believe that I have told you how big and strong Yogi is before. Here if you will notice that Yogi having grabbed the Jack by the head with both feet has popped one of his eyeballs out. Quite a grip indeed.

After she ate that leg, we went on and made one more circle back to the gate to exit the field. I really wanted Puddy to catch something, and felt that two front legs might slow Yogi down enough that Puddy might be able to catch one on her own. Well that was just wishful thinking, she was still not trying very hard.

We came upon evidence that we were not the only ones using this field for a food source. An Eagle had eaten his dinner in the top of this Sage bush.

We were walking back to the fence to to leave the field, when another Jack jumped and Yogi gave chase.

She pulled hair out of another one. This bird this year has finally come into her own. She caught two Jacks, ate two full front legs and pulled hair out of two more Jack Rabbits. Her understanding and cunning in finding hiding game is unparallelled compared to any other hawk that I have ever flown.

JESSIE

Jess has been surprisingly indifferent about killing anything this year. She did catch a Duck opening day, but since then has not been motivated to duplicate that feat again. I have kept her way down in weight compared to years past, hoping that her behavior would be a bit better. As I have said before, she is a bit cranky and independent in her thinking normally.

I flew her yesterday at the Lake a bit earlier than normal, and unfortunately did not find much more than a bunch of Coots on it. I gave her  some Starling on the lure, and rather than come to the fist for the rest of her meal she elected to fly off and make another circle of the pond before she came back down to the lure and more food. I decided that I would fly her again today and raise her weight a bit to see if that would help. I really couldn't have gone much lower than the weight that she was carrying.

I rolled out the plane this afternood to check on locations of the ducks, and found that the ditch was almost empty and the only place that was holding any ducks at all was the lake.

At 6 PM we picked up Grace and went to the Lake. I put her in the air and we walked up on the Lake. I was surprised to find that a flock of about 40 Wigeon had arrived from points North and were sitting on the Lake. It took some doing, but I finally got them off far enough of the water that she could slam one into the ground. She made a short throw up and grabbed him.

He was not dead, so I clipped her up and tried to give her the head so that she could kill it. She didn't like that, and proceeded to kill my hand. Karen tried to put the telemetry receiver between us and ended up being the recipient of the other foot. I then had to release her, which meant that I got it again. Have I mentioned that Jessie is a bit cranky?  I finally got things straightened out and her back on the duck, but not before we were both leaking quite a bit. Stupidity and masochistic tendencies are a big help in this sport, at least as I practice it.

Catch up

Jasper's house

 John and I got busy and put Jasper's house up in a permanent and better location. He often sits on and I suspect spends the nights, sitting inside the wind sock on the Hack tower. I had thought to put the house on the tower, but with a Barn Owl using it to nest in, I felt that he would do better just a bit further away.

John left this morning for points East. He wanted to get home in time to vote. As is usual it was sad to see him go, he is the perfect guest, or rather part of the family. The dogs, cats and neighbors love him. He just fits in. 

HARRIS HAWKS

After John left, I loaded up the Harris' to meet Tami at the ranch. Since our old places don't seem to have the Rabbits that we like for hunting, we need to find others to fill in the gaps. Rosie has been seeing quite a few on the East side of the barns. It was pretty cold this morning and we were all a bit overdressed. Reuben who went with us really piled on the clothes, and "long johns". I am not sure how he did, but I, just with a coat and vest had a full stink going by the time we finished.

Our beginning was not promising at all. There is so much water all over that we had to walk from the barn. We got a hundred or so yards from the barn and the girls were following along nicely. Rosie had to go wrangle the horses in so that they could ride, and Yogi got spooked at the quad. She flew back to the trees around the barn, and wouldn't come back. There is a juvenile Red Shoulder Hawk living there and she was screaming her head off at her, and Yogi was cussing her back. Puddy finally came to us out in the field, but Yogi wasn't going to move. After Rosie got the horses in and settled I went back to get Yogi. She finally came to me and we walked all the way back again to try to hunt in the grease wood. We jumped a Bunny, but he was able to give them the slip with ease.

The Coyotes are in evidence every where. We saw three while on our hunt. A lot of the area where we were forced to walk because of the irrigation water, was either very rocky or mostly devoid of cover. Puddy as usual was a bit high and Yogi a bit lower than I wanted. We saw a few Jacks but they were flushing way ahead of us. Finally we topped over a hill and started down into a wash with some rim rock on both sides. Yogi took off from the perch heading towards a rock jack and after a Jack that was hiding behind it. Yogi missed her first grab, but Puddy did not and caught it right under the barb wire fence. Yogi went in to help, but didn't get straightened out in time to keep it from breaking away from Puddy. He left a very large patch of hair behind, and a very grumpy Puddy Tat. This was the first Jack that she has actually managed to put enough effort into that she got her feet on it first, and she was damned well not happy about losing him.

We went down into the wash, and soon jumped a Jack, that both girls tried for, but the Greasewood was very think. I don't like to hunt in that stuff as it is dangerous and nasty at best, but we were getting desperate.

  As we got into the deep nasty stuff, we jumped a Jack that both birds missed, but Yogi wasn't ready to give up, and went back to the rim rock where the Jack had last avoided her. I told Tami that I hated to back track, as I was pretty beat and hot at the time. I forced myself to go back, as Yogi is rarely wrong when she does that.

We got close and the Jack bolted. Yogi made a shot at him, but Puddy managed to get her feet on him first. Yogi slammed into him as well, grabbing him by the head and cutting off his screams. I gave them each a front leg to eat, and Reuben and I cleaned the Jack and put him in my bag. I also took off my coat and stuffed it between my vest and the bag.

Puddy decided that she liked the Rim rock and soon took a perch on it so that she could see better. She was also getting a bit independent as the leg that I had given her was pretty big. We ran a few more Bunnies, but the holes were too thick and the cover too dense.

 Yogi doing a bit of prospecting.

 You can just see her tail.

Finally we came out of the Greasewood and into a lot better cover. The Jacks liked it as well as we began to finally jump a few of them. It had been pretty sparse for a much longer time than I liked. Unfortunately the legs that I had given each one had hit bottom, and we had been at it for about 2.5 hours. They were getting tired. They finally began to perk up a bit as we kept jumping rabbits and they were getting up closer to us all the time. Finally one jumped about 20 yards in front of us, and it was too much, Yogi managed to get her talons into his butt and Puddy joined in before the dust had a chance to even start.

 I secured the Jack, and then managed to get enough room to break its neck.

  I offered Yogi another front leg, and she stepped off the rabbit. We had to give Puddy a hind leg to get her off so that Reuben and I could clean this one. Tami secured Puddy and after Yogi finished her leg, I also gave her a hind leg to eat while we made our way back to the ranch and the truck.

In that one field, we found what we had been looking for. There were plenty of rabbits and the cover was such that the birds had a good chance to catch something. Reuben estimated we walked four miles, and from the way I was leaving drag marks in the dirt, he could have been right. It was worth it though.

Oct 6th Opening Duck and general all around fun.

PUD AND YOGI

This morning we decided to hunt here at the house, since we weren't finding that many in last years spots. I didn't let the Chickens out since we were going to start at 9 am. It was a bit nipply, but we all dressed up for the hunt. Isabel came with Tami this time, leaving Grace to baby sit.

Unfortunately I underestimated the amount of food that Yogi needed the other day and she was a bit too light to enjoy the frosty morning. She wasn't on her best game, and Puddy still hasn't decided that she wants to put forth the effort required to catch a big Jack. Both were fluffed up and resisting my enthusiasm.

Yogi of course went first to the Chicken pen, and of course Puddy went as well. We walked on without them, letting them find out on their own that it was a waste of time. Puddy finally saw the light and joined us. Eventually Yogi came as well. We had a few chases, but it was obvious that Yogi was not on her best game. We jumped a bunny at the rim rock over the creek and both birds took off. Puddy of course was burning up the air to get to it, but I was surprised to see Yogi pass her in the chase. ( I had always thought that Puddy was the faster because she is smaller. Apparently not so. ) The Bunny escaped them both. Yogi decided to try the Chicken house again. Of course when she landed about 5 Jacks took off in various directions that didn't have a hawk in them. By that time I was getting a bit crabby about the situation. Puddy came with us so we walked down and across the creek to try the other side. We didn't get into anything until we hit the heavy Sage on the bottom of the property. Finally after a few false starts, Yogi joined us again. Puddy took off across the creek and did a wingover in some tall stuff that I could not see well. She did not come up again. Yogi also flew over there and took a perch on a Telephone pole. I was pretty sure that Puddy had caught something, but I couldn't find her. She had been so far away and the cover so deep that I couldn't be sure where she was. We looked all over, on both sides of the creek, no Puddy, no indication where she might be. Finally after about 20 minutes Tami found her under the pole. She was lying down on the ground,       ( Tami thought she was hurt, until this beady little eye peeked at her) trying hard to hide the Bunny that she had caught.

It of course was stone dead, and she was so paranoid that she hadn't broken in yet. I offered her a front leg, but it was a bit small, and she wasn't sure she wanted to trade.

I finally convinced her to take it, and then gave Karen the other one to pick her up with, when she finished the first one.

John was having trouble with his allergies, and Karen was getting pooped, so they decided to make their way to the house. Tami, Isabel and I continued on, and crossed the fence into some better Sage. We had just barely started when we jumped a close Jack and the birds were off. Yogi made an extremely long sideways reach with her leg and had the Jack in the butt. She apparently followed up with a foot to the face. Puddy wasn't about to be left out and the Jack was anchored.

  Its a bit hard to believe, but there are two Harris Hawks and an Jack in that pile. It took me a while to sort it all out and get the birds and feet untangled.

I finally figured that Yogi had one of her legs in between the Jacks hind legs with her foot on his head. Then my problem was how to kill the Jack and both of them had all four feet on the Jacks head and neck. Not easy but I somehow managed without hurting either hawk. 

We got them sorted out, and Yogi got a LARGE portion of Jack rabbit, while Puddy got to eat her almost whole Bunny. A good start to the day.

JESSIE

Around 6 PM we picked up Jessie and headed out for the first day of Duck season. Things have been going pretty well with her this year. She has put on some muscle, and has been playing the game so far. Now it was time to get serious.

The young Golden that hunts here and at the house, was apparently feasting on a Jack Rabbit close to where we normally park when we fly the headwaters of Crooked creek. He got up and thankfully cleared out of the area for us. The dogs were ecstatic at getting to go hunting with us. This is Josie's first year, but she fell right into the game as though she had been doing it all along.

We crested the hill and found that the Lake was loaded with Ducks. Jess had taken a pretty good pitch over the pond and when they busted she was among them with enthusiasm. She apparently didn't get the shot she wanted and there were Mallards crashing into trees and flying through them in their frantic efforts to get back to the pond. She went back up and I flushed again. She picked out a Mallard hen and they disappeared behind the trees bordering the Lake. The dogs and I headed that way as fast as I could not knowing how far the Eagle had gone.

  

I helped her dispatch this nice hen and secured Jess, then backed off to let her eat.

Betsy stays with Jessie and is her guardian while she eats.  Josie was having a blast and getting as muddy as she could.

John and Betsy waiting for us to get out of the mud.

Its been quite a day, and we all walked off into the sunset, tired, dirty and very happy!