Yogi on fire

We had our first HARD frost last night. We had about 22 degrees this morning, and it was a bit hard for all us old retired folks to get going, but we managed to be ready when Tami showed up at 9 am to go hawking. I wanted to try the other area that was so good for us last year. Unfortunately it proved to have suffered from an over abundance last year. The numbers are way down.

Puddy was a bit higher than she really needed to be, but Yogi was right on and seems to be on fire. So far her count is 5 Jacks and one Chicken. Doesn't get much better than that.

Thankfully the temps came up a bit on our drive to the field. I re-established permission from the landowner, and we drove to our starting point. We had not gone more than 50 steps into the field when a Jack burst from cover, with both birds in pursuit. Yogi put him in, and as she has recently learned, clawed for height, turned over and crashed through the bushes, coming out with a Jack Rabbits head in her feet.

 I had pulled them out of the bush so that I could get things straightened out. You will notice that the Jacks feet are over Yogi's, trying to push her off, but she would not be denied.

I was able to break his neck and give Yogi her treat, while I got mine.

It was nice to get one so close to the car, because I was able to take the Jack back to the car rather than having to carry it for the rest of the morning. They do get heavy after a while, and this was a big Rabbit.

Yogi's treat consisted of a front leg, which in this case was fairly substancial, so now the edge was off Yogi, while Puddy's edge needed a bit more sharpening. She did try, but she picks her shots, rather than fly with abandon. There is a difference. We were jumping enough rabbits to keep our interest, just not enough to find a stupid one. Puddy did pull hair from at least one, and had three other close calls that could have gone either way.

We were bumping a fair amount of Bunnies, as the populations do not suffer the same declines at the same time. Of course Puddy was really hot for the Bunnies, but could not connect. Yogi is a much smarter hunter, and her time in the wild shows in the understanding of where game hides

and how they are going to act when they flee. It gives her a definite edge. Yogi managed to get her feet on a Bunny in one of the rock crevices, but it was not good enough to keep the Bunny from ripping out, leaving fur behind.

It is a lot of fun to see the two birds finally working with each other, and cutting corners on the game that out maneuvers one, to set up a strike of their own. Yogi on one Jack that Puddy turned, hit the ground so hard that she rolled in the dirt, coming up and trying again.

When we reached the car, Yogi got a hind leg to eat for her efforts, while Puddy only got a front leg for the whole day. She should be a bit more eager the next time she gets a chance.