Making headway

 I enlisted Brenda in my quest to find a suitable area to hunt. She is not able to walk all that much due to a knee replacement from years ago that is now malfunctioning. Hopefully we will be able to get that fixed a little later this year. However the Oregon Canyon area that I have been hunting is serviced by a looong dirt road down through the middle of it. She can drive the car along as I trudge through the Sage looking for victims. The geology of that area is marked by what used to be a lake bed, so its flat enough that the winter runoff from the Mountains surrounding it has to evaporate rather than run off. The Sage is short and bristly as well as thick. There are rocks scattered all over requiring one to watch very closely where you put your feet. I hate to say this but I am finding I am not as surefooted as I once was.

The great part about having Brenda there is that I don't have to return to the car to change areas. I wanted to see if I could find a "hot" spot for Rabbits. As you can see there is a lot of country to check. I was especially looking for some smooth ground that had enough Rabbits to make it worth while.

Leah had been holding one hind leg up all day appearing to have tweaked it on one of her runs the day before. We took her along, but I wasn't going to allow her to run. She is driven so much that I knew that she would just aggravate it more. I didn't want to leave her at home, besides Brenda was the one who was going to have to put up with her hyperventilating while I was walking.

 I tried several different places along the road, but wasn't getting anything up for Hope to chase. So I decided to just do many different places. This is where having a driver was a plus. No backtracking required. There was a spot of very thick Sage and overgrown Grease wood that had several Bunnies that she chased, but couldn't get through. There was also an old shack with at least two Bunnies that hid in the subfloor. After trying one more spot that seemed to have no Jacks, I gave it up. Three miles was enough in that ankle breaking terrain, so I gave up. One of the things that I wanted to examine was if Leah was a help or was she flushing them so far out that it was making it harder for Hope to score.

If a Jack jumps within 35 to 50 yards from us, Hope's odds are about 75 percent improved. She almost always either catches it or there is hair left on the ground. She injured her right foot on a lava rock several years ago, and lost some ability in the process. It made it much harder to hold a Jack. They would strip her off by running through a hole in the Sage. She compensated by making head shots. Now she almost always goes for the head. They end up tangled up in a ball on their sides.

So after a three mile walk, I didn't find as many Jacks for her to chase. Hope didn't get much to eat, only tidbits. We returned home with me having walked 3 and some miles over some really rough terrain.

I got a tip from a neighbor last night that he had seen some Jacks on one of the roads a few miles down the Hwy. Leah was not limping any more so we headed out to give it a try.

The ground was so much better that I gave thanks for it. We had not gotten into the field more than a 100 yards when Hope took off after a Jack, slamming down about 200 yards away. Most of flights that long, end up with her missing, but this time she didn't come up to sit on the Sage. Leah has learned to stop and watch the flight, then rush to where she went down. I had been listening for screaming to indicate that she had been successful, and not heard anything. I marked the area as best as I could and started wandering that way. Leah was hanging around an area where I thought Hope had gone down. As I got closer I began to hear quiet little sounds. I was amazed that she had managed after all.

In these pictures I have already untangled them and broken his neck. so that I could find my phone and take some pictures without prolonging the Rabbits pain. When I had straightened him out, he kicked away from me and began jumping up and down. They went at least two complete back flips with her holding onto him. She had grabbed him by the face and he couldn't do more that a muffled squeak. He was a big boy. He supplied 6 meals after processing. Winter is coming and I need food for the times we aren't able to hunt. 

So I at last have the answer to the question of Leah's worth. She has made the team! Even though they are aware of us and flush further out, Just the fact that she causes them to move gives us more opportunity.

I tend to fly my hawks a bit fat. My only requirement is that they try. Most hawks hunt to eat. Harris Hawks hunt because they like it. There comes a point where they are too heavy to be agile enough to catch game. I have never during hunting season fed her if she didn't catch something. So I let her decide how much food she wants. When she kills she gets all she can eat. So we hunt every other day or till she kills something. In essence when she is so heavy that she can't make the turns, she goes hungry except for a few tidbits. A hungry hunter seems to be able to overcome what ever obstacle is presented to her.  

First time visitor

While watering this morning I went in the old Chicken house. I could hear some scrabbling and looked in one of the old empty feed barrels. Imagine my surprise when I find, not a Mouse as usual, but this little guy!

Its a Spotted Skunk! I had them in Klamath, but I didn't think that they lived over here in the Desert. I first went to get Brenda, since I was sure she had never seen one. I carried the tub outside and tipped it over so that he could get out. Naturally he hid under the barrel, squirted when I tried to roll it out of the way. He's pretty little so it was more like a fart than a squirt. They, to me don't have that bad of a smell so it was a nonevent. He then made a break back to the house not his vaunted freedom.

I went in to see if I could point him to freedom, but he was much more interested in something to drink. 

I left him there with the door open so that he could leave when he wanted to. Hopefully Leah will not find him. What do you think the chances are?

I took Brenda with me yesterday when I went Hawking. She has resisted driving the Tesla so far. I thought that the dirt road that I have been hunting would be the perfect place to get a feel for the car. I also had an interior motive, I could walk as far as I wanted or needed without having to retrace my steps. She could drive alongside the road, see the ?chases? and I wouldn't have to walk as far. It was a good idea. I put in 3.7 miles before she caught one.

 

A little hope in sight?

 I had just about convinced myself that this year was going to be a bust as have the last 7 years. I will admit that I have been more than a little down in spirits. Yes, everyone has been trying to push me to avoiding getting old as well as acting like it. They have had limited success. After all the reason that I moved here in the first place was to be able to hunt my Hawks, not to mention to get away from civilization and the resultant nut jobs that the rest of you have to put up with. I have spent more than a year trying to get back to my reality and joy of life and its been tough. I have been to all of my old hunting spots and there still isn't much to hunt. Its not supposed to be that way. My only course of action for the last 7 years is to throw food to a Hawk that would like to supply her own food. Welfare isn't all that much fun.

The scarcity of Rabbits combined with the cost of gasoline during the Biden years was one of the reasons that I bought a Tesla. Gasoline is down a bit, but nowhere near enough. Currently Regular is $3.50 a gallon. Once they installed a Tesla Super Charger in Jordan Valley, I was able to make a Tesla work. That allows me to get our groceries in Idaho, then put enough charge back in the Tesla to make it back home. It takes about 5 minutes to add 20 % to the battery so that I can go home and plug it into a home charger. The cost of a Super Charger in JV is .29 cents a KW. At home it cost .11 cents a KW.

The other reason that I bought one is that this car will allow us to live remotely and stay out of the "old Welder's Nursing home". I can and have got in the car, Told it to take me to Costco in Nampa Idaho, and it does so only requiring me to pay attention. That will go away in the future, and once it does I will be able to sleep while it does so.

So far all of my prime hunting spots have required anywhere from 2 to 4 miles to find just a couple of Rabbits for her to chase. While walks of 3 and 4 miles a trip are good for me, not so much for the Hawk. Many more of what used to be good hunting grounds just do not have anything at all to offer.

Today as a last resort I went South towards Nev. to see if there was anything there. I have never really hunted there, mostly because its about 40 miles away. The weather is a bit different due to the terrain. The ice storm that wouldn't quit might have possibly had enough of a reduction of the Ice that killed all the Rabbits here. I will admit that I was just about ready to call it quits for another year.

The spot is called Oregon Canyon. I had hunted there a long time ago just to see what was there. At the time there were Rabbits everywhere, so there was little reason to go there again. I drove back in a good dirt road till I arrived at what appeared to be some good heavy Sage. I stopped the car, let the dog out, and got Hope on my Tee perch and started. I only got a few feet into the Sage and my heart sank. The ground was basically dry lake bottom that would be mud during the wet season. Not normally where I would expect to find Jacks. I decided to try it for a while and then move further down the road if it didn't work out. About 20 steps into the Sage, Hope took off after a Jack that I hadn't seen. It avoided her through two stoops, before she lost it. I called her back, and began picking my way through the cluttered Sage with renewed hope. No more than 20 or 30 steps and a Jack flushed within 20 yards of us. She caught him. Leah was right there before the dust settled. I yelled at her to whoa, and she did. She was right there at the edge of the dust storm, but she didn't interfere. I would have liked to have the time to record all of this, but I was way too busy. You've seen dead Jack Rabbits before. Hope again had him by the head and he was all wrapped up nicely so that the more he pulled the tighter and more immobile he was. I didn't want her to take a beating while I fussed around with vanity shots.

I was blown away. One flush could be a coincidence, but two that close has to mean that there might be enough Rabbits there to hunt, and the area is big enough that I don't have to hunt the same area more than once a week.

Now back to the Tesla. One of my friends stated after finding out that I had bought the Tesla. "Can you imagine seeing Larry driving a Tesla". AS though I am some kind of a Cave man who is so primitive that he could not imagine such a scenario. Well in fact I do have more of the Neanderthall genes than 87 % of the population. They say that they died out due to infertility, not stupidity.

The trip was 80 miles. In the Honda passport it would have cost me $12.60 to go there, after I drove another 55 miles to replace the fuel. In the Tesla it cost me $3.60, and I can replenish that at home.

Yes there are adaptations required to own and run an EV, but it will get better as time goes by. Even a Caveman can figure that out.

Oh, by the way if you should decide to test drive a Tesla, drop my name as having recommended you, it would benefit both of us.

Busy weekend

 One of the new people that attended and contributed to the overall success of our fly-in, came for this last weekend. Ed Phillips, besides wanting to fly around the area, likes to hunt, especially Coyotes. His wife had a prior commitment, so he came to do some hunting. Hope had not been able to connect the day before and was still down to weight, so we took her out in a spot that I had not hunted before. I was seeing a few Jacks in the field next to me, so I felt that we could find a few Jacks there that had not been hunted.

We drove to the end of the runway to begin our hunt. I was explaining to Ed how to hunt Jacks and how if we could get a close 'slip' Hope would almost always catch the Jack. If they had a longer distance to plan, they would almost always get away. Most people have no idea how well adapted Jacks are to survival. If  you remember on my last post I spent a bit of time with the proposition that most of the catches by a Hawk are because the Jack has a physical factor that interferes with their ability to evade capture. 

I have learned that one of the techniques that they use with good results is to just hide until you pass on by them. So I walk a bit then stop. That will make them think that you have seen them so they flush. If they are close enough the Raptor has an improved chance of catching them. Hope's reaction time is excellent and anything within 30 yards is at the very least going to lose some hair if not its life.

That very thing did happen within a few minutes of entering the field. A half grown Jack busted from cover, and Hope had him before he got to the first large Sage bush. My impression that it was a Brush Bunny. The one question that I did not have the answer to, was how Leah was going to react to a screaming Rabbit in Hopes grasp. 

  I guess I needn't have worried, neither Hope or Leah seemed to think that it was a problem. In this case there was nothing wrong with the Jack other than the fact that it was young. I was a very happy falconer. It was also the first young Jack that I had held in my hand in years.

Our next days program was to call a few Coyotes in to the rifles. We went over to the Ranch and set up in a good spot. On the way we saw and were seen by five or more Coyotes in the fields as we drove to our set. We walked back in to a lake to call. Apparently we were seen as the Coyotes began howling. We started calling and what I would call a second year Coyote came to within about 300 yards of the call and paid the price for it.

The next day, we again drove down to where we had caught the young Jack just as we got into the field. I felt that we hadn't really walked through any of the real area at all. We put in 3.7 miles and only got two or three long slips at Rabbits during the two or three hours that we hunted it. Now I am back to the previous doubts that I am going to find enough rabbits to hunt.

Still here!

I decided after my Christmas letter that this blog had gone on about as long as it was worth doing. Primarily because I wasn't doing anything that I considered worth writing about. The "jury" is still out on that one. We will see if that is still true.

They say that a knee replacement takes a long time to recover from. Mine turned out well and probably better than a lot of them do. Of course age has a lot to do with it as well. Primarily because it is so easy to lose, both ambition and conditioning. I was told by a Nurse Practioner that my recovery would not have the best outcome because I would be unable to go to physiotherapy due to the distance that I would have to travel. That did not happen, in fact I eventually had to slow down quite a bit because I was doing too much, especially in the last 6 months of last year. I eventually realized that I just needed to allow the time needed for the leg to heal. At 80 it takes no time at all to get flabby and lose condition. Also at the time I was having problems with my left shoulder and back. Several years ago I had a "Frozen Shoulder" that ended with one of the attach points to the muscle in my right arm to tear loose from the elbow joint. Once that occurred the pain stopped. This spring I had a problem with my back and shoulder that just would not go away. In the last few days of June the left arm muscle snapped off from one of its attach point at the elbow. This time my arm was discolored, shoulder to my wrist, but there was no more pain.

This all reminds me of a story told to me by one of my neighbors, ( the one at 25 miles distance) The story goes that at a family reunion the youngest brother at 75 years old arrived and everyone inquired about his health. He related a long litany of complaints about all his bodily functions that no longer responded, lack of sleep and a long list of others ensued, When he finished his older 85 year old brother sighed and said " Oh to be 75 again! Apparently I am now there.

The biggest factor in my life enabling me to be as active and healthy as I am, other than good "genes" has been my ability to exercise regularly. So now my exercise routine seems to be walking. Weights doesn't seem like a good idea right now. I have an app on my phone that records how far you walk. I am now up to 503 miles since June 2,2024. It really hasn't helped. I have learned to like sitting on my ass!

As I have related many times previously this area has not recovered its Rabbit population. Hunting my Hawk has been my main reason for being active.

 It apparently takes a long time to recover when every Jack Rabbit in your area starves to death. When the die off is caused by disease and over population the recovery typically takes about 7 years to the point that they are so plentiful that another die off occurs. Now we are dependent on a much slower process of expansion from places that did not suffer from the ice in 2018 that killed almost all the Jack Rabbits within a 100 mile or more radius.

I have not been able to hunt my poor ole Harris for the last 6 years as there was nothing to hunt her on. I hunted for two weeks last year and quit because I was actually afraid that If I did kill one it might be the key to reproduction for the area. I had hoped that this year would be the one where I could actually find a huntable population. So far I have searched all the old hawking spots within a 60 mile circle and have really found nothing better than the Sage right outside my fence. I just returned from a 3 mile hunt where in we did catch our first Jack of the year. She had 7 chases before she was able to finally catch one. 

They like to tell you that the predators take out the weak and sick ones from the population and that predators actually make the prey populations stronger. Mostly when they are talking about reintroduction of Wolves into the wild. It is actually true, but a bit misleading where Wolves and Cows are concerned. The Cattle herd is doing just fine without them, thank you.

This particular Jack's demise came about because he let us get too close. The other 6 Jacks that did not get caught, flushed 100 yards away resulting in a long flight to catch up, giving the Jack time to plan his escape. Do not kid yourself Jack Rabbits are smart, and know every bush in their 2 acre home range. With those big ears, no one is going to sneak up on them, plus a hawk on a stick 8 foot in the air is hard to miss in a three foot high area of Sage.

Hope will catch or at least grab every Jack that jumps within a 90 foot circle of her. She is that fast!

When I cleaned him, I was reminded of the number of Jacks with a Tape worm cluster stuck on them, that are caught. Late into the fall a large number have clusters of Tape worms under the skin. If its big enough I am sure that it seriously affects their chance of out running a pursuing Hawk.

 The tape worm is specifically designed to infect Canids, is passed from Rabbit to Coyote when they are caught and eaten. The Rabbit gets it from its mother and other Jacks, through them eating Rabbit pellets, or the eggs off plants. The tape worm burrows through the Rabbits gut to form cysts under the skin. Depending on where the cyst is formed depends on whether it handicaps the Jack, making it easier to catch.  This one didn't have worms, but it did have some sort of a compaction in its guts that was formed of compacted Sage or other green material into a rather large knot. It otherwise seemed to be healthy enough. However, did that contribute to the reason that it tried to hide, rather than run as did all the others that I encountered this morning?

The pup is doing just fine. I worried that she might be more of a hindrance than help because of her running. I have never seen a dog as active as her. I have paced her at 30 MPH running along side my quad. She can do it for three miles as well. I checked! We have developed a compromise for when I walk the runway for my daily exercise. On the trip to the end she is allowed to run where and how fast she wants. I may not see her at all, but she meets me at the end where I have a bench. On the way back she is required to walk at heel. I mentioned in an earlier post the I had purchased a shock collar with a 4 mile range. It has a function that will buzz without the accompanying shock. When I press the button. she will turn and circle back, thus staying within a small enough radius that we can at least see the Jacks when they jump. I was also concerned that she might burst in on the struggle when the Hawk did actually catch one. I am very pleased that this did not happen today. She is crazy about Rabbits, she just about dismantled Brenda's Honda before I found that Brush Bunnies were sleeping on the air cleaner, under the hood in Brenda's car. I actually caught three of them in a live trap this spring under her hood. They eat wires too!

When she was a pup she used to bark at Hope, and Hope would try her best to grab her. As she got older and her butt spanked, she quit that, but I wasn't sure if Hope had forgiven her. Apparently so, she has displayed no aggression towards her at all.

As you might imagine there have been some changes in my life due to all these changes and enforced nonactivity. In other words I have taken my first steps in "Getting old". There are of course all the platitudes concerning that. Like "its only in your mind! Bullshit! Its a reality, not a figment of ones mind. Only two of the guy's that I used to enjoy doing things with  are still alive. Both live in other areas, and one of them has forgotten how to communicate. 

As you might imagine living where I do now could turn from my dream to my nightmare, and possibly soon. Considering its 130 miles to the nearest Walmart. gas is a problem since it has to be trucked in, the cost is much higher than you city folk have to pay. "They" put in a Tesla fast charger in Jordan valley, 50 miles away. So I bought a Tesla Model Y. I also installed a 48 amp charger in my Garage. It now cost me .11 cents a Kilowatt to charge it. A kilowatt is good for 3.2 miles, and about $9 bucks to go to that Walmart. The part of it that counts is that the damn thing will drive for me. I can tell it to "take me to Walmart in Nampa" and it will do so. Its my best hope to keep out of the "Old Welders home" when I get too feeble and unsafe to drive myself. "Visiting Angels" don't come out this far. Wish that I had bought the Truck rather than the Y, but I couldn't afford the Truck. Did I mention that it will come find me if I should forget where I parked. Its my new Hawking rig. Its a bit low to the ground, but I have had it some interesting spots so far. 

Christmas 2024

 Another cycle around the Sun is near to completion, so I thought I might catch you up on the happenings or rather nonhappening's here in the High Desert. In retrospect quite a lot of changes have taken place this year, yet my mental reaction to the year was mostly boredom. 

Brenda and I are still getting along better than anyone likely deserves. I have no complaints other than she seems to be totally committed to testing my willpower with goodies and tasty things that are laying around waiting for me to gobble them up.

We met my 1st cousin and his Lady at the Painted Desert again this year and had a great time. I got my knee replaced on the 5th of June, bought a new Brittany Puppy  on the 10th of June. Most of the summer was dedicated to healing, and raising a pup. 

I've had a lot of dogs over my lifetime. All were wonderful! Several were exceptional. This one stands out from all of them in the "cuteness" category. Her parents were "Field Trail dogs" and she has the motor to match. As a small pup she was always running, and mostly out of sight. She is highly intelligent and as manipulative as a "bar girl". She seems to think that I am the next best thing since "kitty box Nougats".  A four mile shock collar is imperative with her. Its not necessary to shock her, but its ability to call her back is its main feature. All of the pups in her litter were named after Star Wars characters. She is Leah. Probably not the right spelling, but it is what it is.

Our fly-in was the highlight of the year. We are dwindling down as we age out of flying, but the ones who come make it special. Leah got to go on her first flight due to refusing to let one of the guy's take off. At my suggestion he stuffed her in his other seat and took off. She only got excited when she saw the trucks on the Hwy.

                                                                 Nap time

After the fly in I took Brenda to the coast via Crater Lake again. We went to the Redwoods, and traveled up the Coast seeing the sights. We spent a few days camping at one of the regular fly-in friends. The thing that made the biggest impression on Brenda was how many Pine trees there are in Oregon. Coming from W.Va. where the dominate tree is a Hardwood, all the Pines were a bit of a shock to her. We lost fifth gear on the truck coming back about 50 miles from the coast. It was a bit slower driving in forth gear, but we made it back with no problems.

As you might be aware, I turned 80 this year. Something that I never considered would happen. I guess it made a bit bigger impression than I anticipated. I haven't been able to hunt since 2018, when the Rabbits starved to near extinction. During that time my left shoulder got to the point that I couldn't exercise or hardly put a coat on. I somehow decided that flying had lost it's edge. Primarily due to gasoline costing around five dollars a gallon. I did pretty well until the recuperation time to get my knee healed to the point that I could use it again. Then when I did get to where I could get around almost as well as before, the Rabbits were still non existent.

It seems that almost all of the people that were in my "circle" are gone. Most of us don't live to be 80 years old. I guess that I became a bit depressed. I didn't think so until yesterday. I was going to town for a couple of Veterans appointments. The Sun was just coming up, and as usual the Sunrises here in the High Desert are spectacular, I was thinking about the friends that have gone before me, and the ones that I still have. The tears were blurring my vision. Sorrow that they couldn't share the beauty with me and gratitude for the times that they did.   I thanked God for each and every one of you, and promised to do better.

Merry Christmas!                                              

I give up!

 Much to my chagrin another year is going to have to pass before there are enough Jack Rabbits to allow me to actually hunt them. I put in 40 miles last week with little to no Jacks to show for it. In early June there was a sudden influx of Jacks that seemed to indicate that they were back. I had 6 to 8 Jacks each evening, traveling across the open field below the house to get water from the creek. Then they disappeared! I blamed it on my new Pup scaring them off, but they are not any where to be seen. Tami was telling me that she was seeing 20-30 Jacks on the road from the ranch to Cow Camp, but they aren't there now either.

I had always assumed that the "Jack Rabbit cycle" was that it just took 7 years to rebuild through the survivors eventually building back the populations through breeding. I am not so sure anymore. For one thing the influx of Jacks was real. I had two Jacks that survived the winter and I would see their tracks in the snow throughout the winter. One of them died on my alternate runway this spring, and then all of a sudden they were everywhere, and just like that after about a month or so they were gone again. The Coyotes and my dog could not possibly be that effective in killing and running off so many overnight.

As a last resort I went to the area ( a 60 mile round trip ) that I had found so many Jacks in the past. Where the Lave flows were, was full of Brush Bunnies. Hope went nuts, and they wore her to a frazzle. However since they only live in volcanic areas they are never more than 20 yards from a hole. With a ferret they wouldn't have a chance, but on their own its almost impossible for a Harris Hawk to be fast enough to catch one of the little "pocket rockets. " I walked the entire area and finally saw one Jack. 

I decided to give it one last shot. The field just West of the house has always held at least four Jacks. Hope and I, without the dog, traversed the entire thing and only saw 3 Bunnies I hate to say it, but its time to give it up.