Number 6 and 7

Thursday Connie wanted to visit her friend that is living in Oregon Canyon at Tree Top Ranch. I decided to take Hope with us so that I could hunt while Connie visited her friend. I had hunted there the week prior but had not seen any Rabbits at all. This time there were two of the Boss's kids that were wanting to go out with Hope, so I felt that we might find a bit more Rabbits than I had alone.

The kids were great, Will, a boy of 12 who like most kids spent a lot of time hunting on his own, And Prairie, a cute as a button girl of 10 years.  Prairie kept up a barrage of questions that kept me pretty busy, and was close enough underfoot that I had to watch to keep from stepping on her. Both were great kids, and I enjoyed them tremendously. Will informed me that he wanted to be a falconer. I had hoped given the remote area that I now live in I would not have to sponsor anyone again, but it looks as though I may not get my wish. I will help him if he actually does pass the State tests to become a falconer.

We first tried one area of the ranch and didn't see a single Rabbit. We loaded up in the car and went to another spot and within 50 yards jumped a Jack. Hope tried but missed. We went on and after a bit jumped another Jack that was pretty close to us. Hope this time grabbed him, and we were done. There was too much going on for me to take any pictures at all. My phone really sucks at that anyway. I generally have something else in my hand, such as a Jack Rabbit and one handed does not work with my phone at all. Then my fingers are so dry that I can stab the button all I want and it doesn't register.

Today after doing my winterization of the house and shop, mowing the yards for the last time, I loaded up the car and went over to the ranch to do a bit of hunting.

The area that I am hunting was pretty open but with Greasewood for cover. We had just started and Hope took off after a Jack, and she was pushing hard. She slammed into the ground and the Greasewood quite a way out, but I could hear nothing. Unfortunately I only walked  rather than ran and when I got closer I could see that she had the Jack by the Butt and he was in a Greasewood bush. I began to run, but the Jack tore loose. She got up off the ground and caught him again, pulling a foot full of hair off his back, but again she wasn't able to hold on to him. I should have been quicker, but I couldn't hear any screams from the Jack, so I thought that she had missed. I don't think my hearing is getting worse?

We got three more long slips at Jacks before I crossed the road into another field. In short order another Jack jumped this time close, and this one she caught by the head. This time I forgot to take any pictures. Its really too bad that she is having problems with her foot, but without that problem I wouldn't have to walk all that far at all. Today was Three and half miles, and Thursday was two miles.

Back to normal

Well it took four days for Hope to return to normal weight. Hope gained about 6 ounces of weight from the Rabbit that she dined on while I was beating my self up trying to find her. Friday she was finally at a "normal" hunting weight. Connie and I secured a transmitter to her tail and went over to the ranch to hunt, rather than drive 30 miles one way, to an area that holds no more Jacks than my normal spots here at the Ranch next door.

So far all of her kills were Jacks that she had caught in the head. I had been wondering how her foot was this year compared to last, and did not notice any difference. I of course would not with her grabbing them by the head. This day however was different.

Friday she caught four Jacks, and every one got away from her. I saw three that she caught close to us that pulled away from her before either I or the dog could get to them. One of them did a total 360 flip with her holding on that cleared the 2 foot Sage. I put in about four miles and I was getting a bit tired as well as it was getting late, so I fed her a bit and we called it quits.

Connie and I took her out this morning again at the ranch. I walked a short little piece of ground that generally holds a Jack or two. We managed to get up two Jacks that she missed, and one that she pulled a foot full of hair out of. We moved to the other end of the field and began to hunt. Before we had managed to walk more than 50 yards she chased a young Jack, slamming into the ground with an audible double thump. No scream, but I was pretty sure that she had hit him.

This one was stone dead when I got to him. That was more than a bit surprising. When I skinned the Jack, there were no marks on the body at all.

So Friday confirms that she does have a problem with her other foot in opening it, but she is good enough to compensate.  With the scarcity of Rabbits in this area, I may not hunt very long this year, unless I can find someplace with more game than what I have so far.