New start

Jessie began dropping weight in the last month or so and didn't seem to want to eat. We took her to the vet last Thursday. My suspicion was that she had the internal varity of Frounce. He checked her over pretty well and could find no abnormalities, so he gave her an antibiotic and a pill that I was supposed to administer for four days. She has picked up some weight, but still not where I think she ought to be. It could be that she is just old and wearing out. What ever, I will hang on to her as long as I can. She has been a great Hawk, none more gutsy than she has been.

So with nothing better to fill my fall time, I decided it was time for a new Hawk. So I did some checking and was referred to Bob Armbruster, by a very reputable source, as having Harris's with good hunting background. I have had a fair number of Harris's the last few years, but nothing that matched what I am looking for. I guess I am a bit spoiled, but at my age I can't afford to waste my time with a hawk that doesn't live up to my expectations. Not all hawks are created equally, I have found the same with humans.

I tempted Bob and his wife Mary into bringing the bird to me, with the lure of lots of Jack Rabbits.

Of course being used to falconers tall tales he hesitated, but I at last managed to tempt him enough to give it a try.

This is "Hope," I have named her that in the hope that she is the last one that I have to buy. She weighed 874 when they took her out of the mews. She was hatched April 27th and is 17 weeks old. She has a bit of an attitude, ( which I like) and appears to be afraid of nothing. I carried her on the fist through two evening hunts and nothing really seems to upset her so far. She is not bothered by the dogs or much of anything else for that matter. she stepped up to the fist yesterday and ate her meal in the middle of  gathering up everything to go home.

Bob and Mary have about 6 pairs of breeding birds so food is always a consideration. Any Jacks that they could bring home would be a boon to their breeding project. Now normally I would not ever consider shooting something that I could catch later with a hawk, but this time is different. I have never seen so many rabbits anywhere before. There are so many that they cannot last. There is no chance that they are not going to either starve to death or die off from disease. We went in a field below Tami's place and the field was squirming with Rabbits. I stood in one place and killed about 15 as they wandered by. I think we ended up with 24 from one middle of the day shooting. We killed 20 with the guns and four with two of his Harris's. This is just one days harvest.

I assure you this is just an insignificant scratching of the surface. The rabbits would run out of the bottom fields and up the bare hill in herds. There were so many rabbits that the birds were a bit flummoxed by the amount. There were a lot of young ones that really didn't know enough to be afraid of us and would just meander off in such a manner that the hawks were bemused by their behavior and would not even chase them.

We hunted hard for three days and even though his birds were just out of the molt and were too fat to really hunt, I think they killed about 10  or 12 Jacks with them. We managed to shoot a few more and Reubon, next door supplied another 12 Jacks to the count. I think they took about 40 or more Jacks home with them.

We will see how she turns out. I have high expectations for her. She has the same laid back attitude that was so prevalent in Lee. It is my personal belief that is the one major trait that allows a hawk to be a truly great falconry bird. It may be a handicap for a wild bird, but it is a plus for one that you need to hunt with you and actually become a hunting partner. Time will tell.