Thanksgiving and the 24th

Hopefully you all had as good a Thanksgiving as Karen and I did. The weather was unusual in that it was quite warm. The temps got up to 70 degrees by the end of the day Thursday.

I tried but I could not resist going hunting with Hope Thanksgiving day. She weighed in at 1043 grams. Karen decided to sit this one out. I went to Arock to hunt again. I forgot and left the "shock Collars" for the dogs at home. Its kinda tough getting old. Oh well, just have to do the best we could.

Josie was ecstatic, and ran all over hell and back. I eventually got tired of seeing her "waaaay over there", and hearing her yip-yippee as she bumped this rabbit and that rabbit. I stopped and used my spare leash to keep her by my side, dragging her through each and every Sage bush that was too close to where I was walking. Well, it actually wasn't that bad, but I am sure that it stung not being able to run and check stuff out. Hope did rip most of the hair off at least one Jack's butt as it pulled her through the bushes. She broke one small secondary on that one. Eventually the time caught up with us, and we had to go home empty handed.

we found this on our travels

Tami and Dave had invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner with their family. Her Dad and Step Mother were down for the holiday. Her Dad and step Mother are a lot of fun, so we were very pleased to accept. Of course dinner and the fellowship afterward made for a special day. Yogi is still not ready to fly, but I could see no evidence that any thing was wrong with her wing. I should have another week to build Hope's string of kills before she is ready to show us up again.

We got a tenth of an inch of rain last night, and with the warm temps the grass is greening up pretty good. Of course with all the weather we have been getting the Sun rises and sets have been pretty spectacular.

These were taken over a period of three days, and cover 

both Sunrises as well as Sunsets.

The Steen's were quite spectacular this morning

After breakfast this morning it was time to go hunting again. Hope weighed in at 1014 today. I decided to go to Skinner's, just this side of Jordan Valley. They had apparently gotten a bit more rain than we did as the roads were quite muddy. I was quite pleased and excited to see a young Bob Cat along side the road going in. He was as surprised as we were, and he took off across a grass only field towards the Lava Rocks off on the other side. Somehow I did not expect him to be able to run continuously for what I estimate to have been about 1/4 mile or more without stopping. 

I did not forget the collars this morning, but even so Josie was very excited. I do not use the shock feature on them merely the "tone" that tells them that I need them to do something different, or they will get a shock. Before when I had "toned" her, she would come back to me and stay by my side almost as if she was on leash. She has finally gotten the idea that I only want her close, not on my heels. Today she worked as she should and it was a lot better. I still had to remind her occasionally however. It was just that kind of day for her as well.

We hadn't been in the field very long when a Jack jumped pretty close, Hope used the wind and grabbed him. Unfortunately he managed to pull her loose before we could get to her. Perhaps it was the rain last night, but Jacks were pretty hard to find, and I had to travel well outside of our normal route to find anything at all. I had walked up on one lava ridge to watch the dogs coursing back and forth. As we stood there a Sage Hen got nervous and flushed out of the Sage. Hope flinched to start, but when she saw that it was a bird , she stayed on the perch. I have not given her any winged game, so when they don't run, she doesn't chase. Our options for game birds is pretty limited, so I haven't even tried to get her to fly birds. I stood there waiting for the dogs to come to the area to see where the rest of the Sage hens were. A month or more ago, I saw a small covey of about 8 birds. The last time I saw them there were only three. Two hens and a Boomer.

As the dogs got closer another Hen took off from the same area. I saw a pretty small shadow on the ground when the bird flew, so I continued to watch. After a bit a Golden came into view, diving at the Grouse. He started his dive too soon however and the Grouse eventually out flew him putting into the Sage about a 1/2 mile away. Hope's refusal to fly the first one likely saved her life. Pretty hard to be unhappy with her after that. We stood and watched until the Eagle went somewhere else to hunt.

So the Grouse population in that area seems to be down to two hens. There is a pair of Goldens that always hunts that area. Year around. I am sure that they are responsible for the reduction in numbers.

Our wandering path through all the Lava ridges eventually left me near the spot that my friend John Williamson lost his life, so I dropped in for a visit. Hope chased a Jack that had been living there, but missed.

As we left in search of Karen, the dogs put a Jack up and this time Hope was smarter.

I killed the Jack, gave her a set of Jack ribs to eat, and walked on looking for Karen. Hope got up and flew twice without me being able to get a picture of her with her food in her beak, trying to keep up. Eventually she caught me with the perch in a landing position, and was able to ride and eat at the same time. I arrived at the car, and as I was catching Karen up on the recent events, she took off and crashed into the Sage not 20 feet from where we were standing. She didn't make contact however. I could have hunted on, but one a day is all I ask for. She got the rest of her food as well as fresh warm liver.

For what ever reason today was very special for me. Every thing had a special shine to it. Seeing all the wild life, 3 Prairie Falcons, Three Golden Eagles, Two Sage Grouse, a Bob Cat, All the Jack Rabbits and being able to walk and hunt. The friends that I have, and of course our health. It just don't get any better than that.