We didn't even try to fly the birds over the Holidays. Just too bad in the weather department, and too much to do. The wind was howling the day before Thanksgiving and two pigeons had committed suicide by hitting the power lines, so everyone got a pigeon to eat, and I got to sit by the fire and read.

Jessie regained her flying weight first, so we took her out yesterday for Ducks. She was still apparently a bit too heavy as she managed to avoid at least 6 different presentations of Ducks before we ran out of Ducks and she ran out of energy. Oh well, her loss.

Today the Harris' got close to a hunting weight and we went to Arock, where we had found so many rabbits before. Unfortunately a hunter and his Lab (big feet, Lab is the best guess) had gone through the field leaving us little to nothing to chase.

Yogi managed to pull hair out of a poorly concealed Jack that happened to be imitating a rock. She had flown to a rock outcropping to get a better view, and decided that rocks were not hairy. When it left the area, it certainly was not as hairy as it had been because she pulled a bunch out of its butt before it left. Puddy took a patch out of another one that showed a bit of confusion for a time. Then finally Yogi pulled some height and nailed one that took too long to decide which way to run.

 Of course Puddy was right behind her, and this one had a broken neck when I got there.

 The guy with the gun and Dog had been every where, and we were finding very little in the way of Rabbits to chase, so we headed back to the car. As we drove away the sunset was quite striking.

Jessie and the Briar patch, and Jack Rabbit Hawking.

Karen and I took all the birds over to Tami's to hunt. We intended to hunt Jessie first and then the Harris'. Tami's sister, Tonya was down for a visit, and she decided to go with us. I wanted to see if I could get some video of Jessie catching a Duck, so the ladies were left the chore of flushing the Ducks. I walked to the side that the flight was likely to go, leaving them on the other side of a small pond to flush for me.

I mounted the camera on a "camera stock" so that I would have a better chance of holding it somewhat steady. There is no view finder, so it is just point and shoot- then hope that you got some of the action.

Jessie set her wings, and the girls rushed the pond, flushing only two Mallards. Jessie came down in a stoop and the Mallard that she had chosen dropped to the ground without her even touching it. She came around to me, expecting me to do something. I had flushed a Mallard a bit earlier that had flown into a small 3 foot wide ditch at the edge of the Sage. Not willing to take no for an answer, I yelled encouragement to Jessie and ran as fast as I could to flush it. It had swam the opposite direction that I anticipated, so the flush was sadly out of position. The Duck flew up the ditch further. I wheezed and puffed in that direction, and tried another flush. They got up going further down the ditch, and put in before she could get to them. I staggered in that direction, yelling at Jessie, hoping that she would not set down somewhere. I finally hit the Ducks straight on and they flew over the Sage. Jessie smacked a hen into the Sage, but it got back up again before she could get back to it. I flew towards the ditch and crashed into a huge Wild Rose bush, with Jessie on its tail. I jumped over the ditch and went into the bush looking for the Duck. I was surprised to find Jessie some three feet into the bush herself, looking for the Duck. I pulled the briar's off her so that she could move and stepped over her looking for the duck. Luckily I had a right hand work glove with me, and I was parting and peering in the bush trying to find the Duck. I could not find the damn thing anywhere, so I went back out and around trying to see if it had gotten through the bushes to the ditch. By that time the girls had caught up. While I was updating them, I heard the Duck squawking. I went back around, and after peering all around and through the bush, I finally found Jessie holding onto the Ducks butt in the middle of the mess.

I parted the thorny vines enough to reach in and grab the Ducks Butt. Jessie had it with one foot, and was holding on for dear life. She was totally immobile, but she had enough grip to keep the hen from pulling free. For all I know the briar's had the Duck immobile as well.

I set her on the open ground and killed the Duck for her to eat. She ate some of the fat and plucked to her hearts content. I offered her a Starling and she climbed right on the fist. Karen and Tami butchered the Duck for me and we began the walk back to the car while Jessie ate. She ate the Starling and all the Duck she could hold.

http://vimeo.com/53817267  password is owyheeflyer

Then it was the Harris's turn to hunt. Again Tami and Karen were going to carry and handle the birds while I taped. We did not find many rabbits at all, doing a lot of walking for each and every slip. When the Jacks were bumped it was always at long range, and the flights were not very good, or productive. I guess I am going to have to do some driving to "greener" fields.

Yogi did finally catch one and between the two birds, killed it before I arrived. We hunted until dark and got a few more slips, but the Jacks are getting much smarter, at least the ones that are still surviving. What with Coyotes, Bobcats, Eagles and Harris Hawks, life is tough here, and no one gets to make more than one mistake.

http://vimeo.com/53818539  Same password.