John left today for his leisurely trek back East. Leaving us to wander around for a while until we get used to being alone again. He could just move in and we both would be happy to have him.
Karen has been working with Thayen's little Pony, Hawkeye. Karen found that she missed having a horse around. Thayen was kind enough to loan us his pony for a while, so we bought a cart and harness for him. We will send him home with all that stuff later this fall. Hopefully he will be pulling the cart by then.
The rabbit situation here is terrible this year. Hope caught one on her first flight out, and has been suckered every time she has tried since. The fields that were solid producers last year may have one or two Jacks in them, with May being the operative word. I have lost track of the number of empty fields that seem to abound this year.
Hope is just too inexperienced in the ways of Rabbits to be very successful with the chases being so scarce. I went this morning to one of my best local fields and walked for two hours and finally jumped two Jacks. I didn't feed her more than a few tidbits, so we went out again this evening. The wind however was blowing in the teens, which always throws another unneeded factor into the mix. She managed to catch one for two complete flips before being kicked off with nothing but a fur coat to show for the effort. Driving for 30 miles seemed to increase the Rabbit populations, but not by much. The winter last year seriously impacted all the wild critters, from Deer to Rabbits.
She tries hard, but it is all straight line pursuit. She has yet to learn how to get a bit of altitude and pick her shots. About 3/4 of the time the Rabbits turn inside of her and stall her out. Either that or a quick stop in a bush and change of direction when she commits. As much as it pains me to do so, I am going to have to hunt her with Yogi as soon as Tami gets her schedule straightened out. You think a "woman's work is never done". Make her a ranch wife and see how tough the schedule is.
Hope and I fought the wind for at least a mile this evening, and as the day wore on, the slips got to be further and further apart. Karen went with me today to drive the car while I hunted. The dogs got to go as well since she was there. Finally I was wore out, but decided that I would walk a new line into the wind and back the direction that we had to go. I asked Karen to let the dogs out to run, as it was a good bet that they couldn't screw things up any more than what they were. Hope has not shown any of the fear or aggression towards the Dogs that most Harris's do, so I thought that maybe the dogs would be able to rout a few Jacks out that would normally hide. I was pleased to see that Hope showed no surprise or concern about them running around. Josie hunts too far out for my taste, but Brick stays within about 50 feet, coursing back and forth. Actually they are doing just right for every thing but Jacks, but what the hell, we have just as good a chance that the rabbit will run towards us as away. I was hoping that the rabbits would be concentrating on where the dogs were and perhaps Hope could actually get a good shot at one.
Josie put up a Bunny, and Hope did her best but missed. The Bunny streaked across an open flat and up on a little ridge with Josie in hot pursuit. Hope didn't hesitate, but he got into a hole before she could get there. Things worked so well that I am going to give it another try or two. Desperate times make for desperate decisions.
Looks like I am going to have to carry more water.
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