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. 

Nov 21 - #16

Hope was 1000 grams this morning and according to her, starving to death. It rained all day yesterday, or rather "drizzled", and warmed up as the day progressed.

I decided to go back to the Pillars for one more shot, and to explore the rest of the area there for a possible alternate hunting area. We drove in and talked to one of the guy's that owns the area. I wanted to make sure that we could hunt there again as well to see if there was any gun hunters using the area. The guy that I talked to gave us permission, but mentioned that there didn't seem to be many rabbits there, but we were welcome to hunt.

They fenced the land there last year, and the area that I had hunted was outside their fence. The grass there was very high. My intention was to divide the area into several different blocks so that we were not hunting the same spot and rabbits all the time. As we drove into the fenced area, it was obvious that the cows had been in there and there was nothing left but scattered Sage bushes, with a lot of bare empty area. Not what I wanted at all. We went to the far end of the pillars, and that area was filled with large and numerous Grease Wood bushes that presented a prime area to get an eager hunting hawk injured. The Grease Wood is as nasty a bush as you can find, so thick that you couldn't throw a rock through it, or even an arrow. It is full of sharp little twigs that will puncture your skin as quickly as any Cactus, and of course it festers quickly. Not where I wanted to hunt at all.

As we drove out I noticed a spot across from where I had hunted Sunday. I decided to make a short pass through it, then go to Arock if we didn't find anything.  The only thing that the area had going for it was the Alfalfa field that bordered it. The dogs were working well, but were finding nothing. As we got down towards the bottom, the Grease Wood got really thick. A covey of Quail got Hope's heart rate racing, but they disappeared so quickly neither Hope or the Dogs could find them. I turned to go back to the car, and soon after Hope blasted off the perch, flared up in the air and crashed down into the grease Wood. A thin squeal announced the misfortune of a Brush Bunny.

I made my way over to where I thought she was. Not an easy task at all. I eventually forced my way through the nastys, but still couldn't find her. I stuck my T perch in one of the bushes so that I could keep my search in the area where she had to be. Every thing was so dark and thick that there was no way that I could see anything. I considered going to get the telemetry, when the Bunny squealed again. I found the bush, but still couldn't see her or the Bunny. Remembering the way that my arm looked the last time I stuck it in one of these bushes, I put my glove on and pried up the bottom of the bush so that I could decided where the Bunny was. I pulled them out, and as you can see the Bunny was covered in grass. The picture was taken after most of it was peeled away.

Brick sat there without making any move towards Hope at all. Hope would occasionally snap her wings at him, but he stood his ground, making no move towards her at all. My admiration for him increases every day.

I gave her the tidbits and a front leg, bagged the bunny and started back to the car. We hadn't gotten too far when Hope came flying towards us. I presented her with the perch to finish her leg. When she finished we continued on to the car. We were expecting Schwan's  to deliver ice cream today, so I was quite happy to go on home. When we got to the car without any further opportunities, I fed her the rest of her meal. Yogi is still laid up, so we are now even. You gotta take your victories where you can, no matter how small and insignificant. 😏

Nov 19 Jack Number 15

Today is clear and cold. It was 18 degrees this morning. I, of course waited until it warmed to 30 before going outside. There is a bit of haze, but nothing is ever perfect. It will do!

I had gone to Arock yesterday with the Dogs, and Hope, and she did not connect with any of the Jacks that we put up for her. She weighed in at 1043 grams. She still tried however. This was the third day since I had overfed her.

I called a rancher that I know that owns the Pillars of Rome, asking if we could hunt there. I have been hammering the spot at Arock a lot harder than I like, so it was time for a change. The area around the Pillars does not harbor a large number of Jacks, I was just hoping that we could find enough to make it worth while. I had already determined that Hope was heavy enough that if she didn't catch one within a reasonable number of slips, I would bring her home. This morning she weighed 966 grams. She has put on a lot of muscle, so I don't feel that 950 is too heavy for her. More than that- well maybe.

The cows haven't been on this ground at all and the Cheat grass is almost knee high. As I walked through the area, the dogs and I were not finding anything at all. There were some trails that the rabbits make, so I wasn't counting it out as yet.

The first thing that we found was the remains of a forked horn Mule deer buck. I picked up the head with the thought of taking it home. I walked over to where Karen and the car was and tossed it in the ditch for Karen. Hope thought it might be good to eat since it had a bit of hair on it still.

She eventually gave up that idea, and we continued our walk. The dogs were working well, even Josie was staying out a bit without venturing too far for a change. We had just barely started again when a Jack jumped behind Josie. Hope started immediately for him and he dodged under her first attack. He didn't seem to know which way to run, as his first dodge put him right in front of me. He turned but Hope was already in the air again, and she caught him within 10 feet.

Hope had him with both feet, one in the butt and the other in the stomach. I broke his neck by twisting it. He was still squealing a bit and Josie came up to offer to finish him for me, but I declined.

This is what she looked like on the other side of the bush.

I gave her the rear leg from a Bunny that she had caught, bagged up the rabbit and the dogs and I went to the car.

We got about half way there and here came Hope with the bunny leg in her mouth, landing in the Sage. I went on to the car and she landed on the hood of the car to finish her leg.

I have never had a hawk that would carry food to me before. I think I like it.

 
This turned out to be a good spot. The tall cover worked in our favor for a change. The grass is knee high, so the rabbits get it in their face and eyes as they run, thus they cannot see where every thing and every one is. Perhaps Hope will begin to get a bit higher so she can see a bit better as to where to make her strike. This poor Jack was an old experienced one, but it was obvious that he was confused. Hope however was not! She hit the ground, bounced back in the air and caught him within 10- 15 feet from the first attempt. Every thing that you could ask for.

Nov 14 - Nov 15

This morning Hope weighed in at around 1000 grams. I guess I am going to have to quit feeding her the Liver and Heart after giving her all her normal food after a kill. Even though she was quite heavy this morning, she was still calling to me even when she only heard me walking. What the hell, I need the exercise, and the Dogs were very anxious to go, so I decided to go hunting any way.

                                                                     The Sunrise was quite nice.

It was quite stormy and windy yesterday, and of course the Steen's get quite a lot more moisture out of the Storms that go through this area.

The Steen's got quite a bit of snow lately.

When we got to the field, I decided to hunt an area that is quite thin cover, but might well be harboring some refugees from the areas that I have been hunting hard. I decided to hunt without the dogs for the first part and them bring them into the hunt if we didn't get any thing.

After covering quite a bit of ground, finding a few, but somehow Hope wasn't able to connect. I couldn't see much difference in her interest. Almost all of the slips were long ones, that mostly took her out of sight. There were a couple of close calls, but no hair in the feet.

As I circled around to where Karen was, I was eventually able to signal her to turn the dogs loose for a final push. Again the slips were pretty far out, but Brick going a bit further out than Josie, hit a Jack on one of his circles back towards us. The Jack had no choice but to run in our direction. Hope took off as soon as he broke cover, flying to intercept. I was quite interested to see what was going to happen, since their closing speed was somewhere around 80 MPH. I know that Jacks can clock in at 45 MPH. I have clocked them with the speedometer before. Hope can fly faster than a "speeding Jack", so I held my breath. The Jack apparently didn't see her coming because he wasn't changing course or slowing. Hope finally came to her senses, and managed to miss him, but it wasn't by much. It could have been an accident that she did, hopefully it was because she was too smart.

We made another drive down along the fence before quitting, and we got one more chance. On this one I had a front row seat. She came down crashing into the ground, but she was trying for the head, She hit him in the ears just above the skull. Apparently she is tired of getting strained through the Sage bushes. She does prefer the head when she can. Karen met us with the car, and we came on home. We will hunt again tomorrow.

Tami called in the afternoon wanting me to check Yogi. They had gone out by the ranch and Yogi caught the only Jack that they saw. She crashed into a Sage really hard and didn't want to fly to the perch after being fed. She ended up walking to Tami rather than fly.

I checked her wing and found no noticeable damage, so we are hoping that it is only a bruise. I suggested that she keep her on the perch until she regains the use of her wing. She is holding it tight, but just doesn't want to use it. She has caught 16 Jacks now and that with only about an hour at a time hunting on the ranch and generally only jumping one or two rabbits at the most. Perhaps if she is off long enough Hope can catch up.  Yogi is on fire this year, flying better than she has ever flown. Where it takes 15 or more slips for Hope to find one dumb enough to come home with us, Yogi is killing the first one more times than not.

Wed. 15 November- number 14

We were promised a storm with the winds due around 10:00 AM for today. So we were out of the house by 9:AM. Hope still weighed 970 grams.

We walked perhaps a 1/2 mile before we jumped anything, and it was way out there. Of course Hope wasn't able to catch it. The fact that she flies anything and every thing helps to keep her number of catches low, but she still has not the knowledge that Yogi possesses.

I had walked to the top of the hill, about a mile, and still hadn't had what I felt was a good chance for us. I turned and started on a different path down the hill. After traversing about half the way to the bottom with only one slip, I got on a knob and signaled Karen to turn the dogs out.

Josie, my little female, stays right under my feet when she is wearing the collar. I forgot them today, so today- not so much! Brick the male hunts close with or without the collar, and he came right to me. Josie hit a Jack right out of the car and she was off! I had stood on the top of this knob that gave me good visibility for about 50 yards in all directions. I had been sure that we would see a Jack hiding there. It was just that sort of a place. I had been there for about 10 minutes yelling for the dogs and we had seen nothing. I got ready to go after Josie had rejoined us, and gave them the command to "find it."  Brick did, just about 15 yards in front of us was a Jack that had been hiding there all along. I don't think that he was aware of Hope until she had her talons buried in his neck. 

The interesting part for me was the fact that as soon as Hope grabbed him and the Jack screamed, Brick stopped and waited for me. Good boy! Neither dog interfered with Hope and when they would even come close, she would flap her wings and give them "the look". They went on about their business and did not tempt her.

So here I am, having walked about a mile and half with no results. Have the dogs for 5 minutes and have a Jack in the bag. Seems kind of obvious doesn't it? If Hope has it in control neither dog would interfere. A flopping Jack sticking out of a Sage will get Josie on it right now. I'll just need to keep a close eye on things and hopefully it will all work out. As we were getting in the car to return home the winds started.

Nov 12

While the sky was fairly clear this morning, we still had a nice Sunrise. The clear part however didn't last all that long. The clouds began gathering the more the Sun rose.

It was a bit cooler than the last few days with the temps at 30 degrees. We got all our chores done and was out of the door by 9:30. Hope, when I weighed her, came in at 943 grams.

I decided to try another field this morning, but after walking the width and breath of it we only saw one Jack. Then a Prairie Falcon decided to horn in and make a shot at Hope as she was chasing it.

We loaded up, and this time for a change up we went to another field.  This time to the top of the hill, where I generally end my hunt, before we started. After a fair amount of tries and misses, Hope finally caught one. It broke loose before I could get to her to help. Grrr!

We kept running into Deer. Only one of them was a buck, and from the looks of him he might be an old on on the down hill slide. As you can see? he is only a three point, but he is pretty big. As they age they keep the height and width of their horns, but they eventually end up with only wide spikes or forks.

When I got to the bottom, I met Karen and asked her to take the car across the field to the other side, where I would meet her. As I walked, I jumped two different Jacks and while Hope was getting close, they were still scraping her off on the Sage bushes. As I neared Karen, I asked her to let the dogs out since I was pretty sure we were going home empty handed. This time I had put their shock collars on them, and while I had it set to call rather than shock, I was pretty sure I could keep them in useful range. We hadn't gone very far when a Jack that had been successfully hiding lost his nerve and made a break for it. Hope caught him in no time. Josie was with me as we made our way to her. Josie couldn't stand it any longer and ran up to the bush that Hope was stuck in. The Jack was on the other side however, trying his best to pull away. I believe that Hope was so surprised that she either let go, or a charging Dog was all the incentive the Jack needed to pull away. Either way, Hope was left sticking in a Sage, while I threw a temper tantrum. Not at the Dog or Hope, but at myself for not stopping the Dog. She didn't know any better, while I for sure did. Just not fast enough.

Karen asked if I wanted to put them up, but I decided to leave them out for a while longer. Both dogs were staying in nice and close, as well as working the cover quite well. We hadn't gone more that 100 feet when another Jack jumped and again Hope caught him. I made sure that Josie stayed back with me as we approached. The set up was just like the other two, Hope on one side of a bush holding onto his butt with one foot, while he strained to pull away. This time I drug out my 22, thinking that I would make sure that this one didn't pull away. The range was about 10 feet. As some of you might know, the bullet, when leaving the barrel dips below line of sight and then rises until gravity starts bringing it down to the ground. The gun is sighted in for 50 yards. That means that it is about 2 inches low at 10 feet. The Jack was somehow still alive after five shots. ( I could dig up a logical excuse if I had more time.) Josie firmly believing that I am in real life as wonderful as she thinks I am, decided that it was surely dead, and went in to anchor it for me. Hope again let go or had it pulled out of her feet, I haven't decided that as yet. I stood there with my mouth open trying to decide if I was happy or pissed. I eventually came to the conclusion that "all's well that ends well", and left it at that.

 The dogs were both grateful for the chance to participate.

I am going to have to spend some time thinking about the benefits of the dogs compared to the possibility of having Josie perhaps hurt Hope, by grabbing a Jack when she is stuck in a Sage Bush, or if the dogs cause enough of a distraction to the Jacks to make them more vulnerable to her attacks. I am quite sure that the latter is the case. We caught two Jacks in two flights today. This last one is another Old Timer. He had fat packed all over him, so I know that he is well aware of the dangers of life, and not likely to make a dumb mistake. I am also quite sure that he knew that the two Dogs were there as well. I think the Hawk was the surprising factor that he didn't see.

Karen really liked and admired my temper tantrum. She said I looked cute jumping up and down like that.