Nov 20

 I flew Hope on the 18th by myself, here at the house as I have been doing lately. This day however her weight was about 1021 grams, and she flew like her tail was on fire. She actually pulled  wads of hair out of three different Rabbits but they all made their escape. It was pretty windy, and I eventually decided that it just wasn't going to happen.

Today while it was a bit colder, the wind however had not come up as of yet, so Connie and I loaded Hope into the Hawk box on the back of the quad and drove to the end of the runway to begin our hunt.

We walked pretty much all over the low hillside without getting a decent slip at a Jack. Although she did get her feet into at least one Jack, he tore loose. Most of the Jacks were flushing at about 100 yards, and those are pretty long odds, but she still tries.

We circled around almost back to the house without getting the kind of slip that we needed. I tried a different track than what I normally use and still could not get her a decent shot at one. When we got back to the quad, I didn't put her back in the box, but rather left her loose and called her to the Tee perch to see if she would ride the perch while I drove. She did somewhat, and I was pleased enough that she might just learn to hunt that way as well. She would ride for a bit, then take off to get closer to the dogs. As we got close to the "bone pile" (junk yard) she flew to it, then off after a flushed Jack that hides there occasionally. Also a miss, then back to me on the quad. I had Connie get off and walk in front to see if she could get a picture of her riding on the quad.

As I got close to the end of the runway, I asked Connie to take the quad while I crossed the fence to see if we could get a chance at the Jack that has been hiding along the driveway and up the road from the gate. I intended to cross the fence at the rock jack that braces the fence there. As I neared the Rock Jack, he burst from the back side of the Jack where he had been hiding. He was just too close to make it, as Hope burned him down in about 30 feet. This time she was able to grab him in the face as they were rolling from the initial strike.

 He weighed over 5 pounds.

I may have to explore the use of the quad. That would get me some more territory to hunt as well as the ability to cover a lot more ground than I can on foot. Today was three miles and we caught the Jack about 200 yards from the house.