Nov 2nd

Yesterday was a pretty windy, stormy day. Both Jessie and Hope were a bit high, so I decided to fly them both today when the morning, at least was supposed to be a bit better. The wind was forecast to be coming up to 15 or more in the afternoon, but at least they would both be at a real flying weight.

The sunset reflected what the day had been.

A genuine "Cinnamon Roll"

We had a bit of excitement after the sun went down. We were sitting in the hot tub, when "Lefty" the Old English Rooster cackled alarm and came running around the house in the dark. I got my pistol and a light, but wasn't quick enough to get a shot at the Coyote disappearing around the corral. Apparently he managed the theft of a young Rooster that was slated for our table and one of my old white hens. The excitement never ends!

There was very little wind this morning, but I had neglected to charge the drone battery, so I was going to have to wait to fly Jessie. We loaded up Hope and headed for the rabbit field around 9 AM. The wind was still not blowing and Hope was actually about 10 grams lower that the weight that she was when I first got her. Today was to be the test to see how much weight factors in to her head count. Last year I would have told you that it really didn't matter other than she had to be low enough in wing loading to make the turns. I was of the opinion that up to 960 grams,  (arrived at 878 grams ) her weight didn't matter, the reason for her difficulty this year seemed to be more of her judgement rather than her desire to close. Today should tell the tale.

The winds were calm upon our arrival at the field, but I was having problems, first in finding Rabbits and then in finding them close, rather than 50 to 100 yards out. I tried a different section of the field, but only managed to get three up, and they were out there quite a way. She tried hard, multiple times on each rabbit, but judgement again played a large part in her misses. Still crashing the brush, but no "cigar". We even had one who stayed in his bush until she actually saw him hiding. She crashed into one side of the bush, he came out of the other. We were too close for anything other than a crash into the ground trying to get her toes in his butt. Further away she could have busted through and got him on the other side. I have seen older birds, hover over the bush they were hiding in and grab them when their nerve broke. 

I went around a rock pile and flushed a Jack. Hope took a shot at him- missed- got back in the air and grabbed him in a thick bush. He squealed , and I thought that we were done, but he scraped her off on the bush. She went after him again and lit on a bush. I ignored her, thinking that she was just bummed. She didn't leave it however, so I began to walk over to her. She was down in the bush a bit, and the rabbit snuck out of the other side without her seeing him.

Karen was following in the car as I zigged and zagged up the hill, and we had momentarily lost sight of each other. I had decided to head back down the hill through the part that I had not hunted yet. I got on top of a lava ridge so that she could see me. I indicated to her the direction that I was going to take, and started on my way. A Jack busted close under foot, and Hope took off after him. She crashed into the ground and missed. She got back up and this time she caught him. When I got there I could see that she was tangled up in the bush and he was sticking out on the other side straining for all he had to pull out of her feet. We had been through that once already, but not this time! I carry a 22 pistol for the Coyote that comes to a Rabbit call, that happens to be in her feet, or even Bob Cats that get tangled up in her toes if necessary. There was no way that she could move, and a wonder that she didn't get hurt as well, so I popped him in the head, putting all three of us out of our misery. I generally don't use the gun, but sometimes its necessary. 

I had to break the bush apart to get her out. She had one foot on one side of the main stem and a pile of fur as well as his tail on the other. He also had a patch of skin about 4 inches in diameter torn out of his side. You can see it in the picture above.

I gave her her tidbits in the cup and a front leg from the Jack. She was pretty torqued up so I gave her the rib cage from her last bunny, and walked off and left her, going back to the car. We let the dogs out for a run, and soon she lifted over the Sage with the rib cage in her beak flying to me. Someday I will remember her tendency and get a picture of it.

The wind had been rising the last few minutes of our hunt, but not too bad so far. We loaded up and went on home. I had covered one mile of Sage in a straight line to our kill. Not sure how that would measure out along the twisted path that we covered.

By the time we arrived home the wind was up to 25 MPH. Jessie was at rock bottom, so I decided to just turn her loose and call her to the lure. She did so without any drama, but as she was sitting on the lure with her wings out the wind was scooting her back. She was holding onto the lure with both feet and beginning to lift off the ground without moving.

I mentioned in the first part of this story that I wasn't sure that weight was the problem with Hope's difficulty in making catches. She is a bit more nimble, but not more eager than she is at over 900 grams. The Rabbit that we caught today was the fattest Jack that I have seen in a long time. He was an old timer, very strong and very cunning. ( But today he was unlucky) This area that I am hunting is shared with a pair of Goldens that do not seem to be hurting for food. The Jack's that live here are honed by Coyotes, Bob Cats, and Golden Eagles. With the population this low, there are no dumb ones, other than Hope that is. :-) Time and experience will hone her skills. She always tries her best, and that is all one can ask. The rest comes with time.

Busy weekend!

Our friend Sandy Morrison finally convinced her Husband to travel with her to our house to visit. Arriving on Friday, we spent the time getting to know Scott, finding that we had a lot in common. Their daughter Sarah was the one that we choose to give Yogi to when I couldn't keep her any more. Sarah returned the favor, giving her back so that we could pass her to Tami. All of this while sounding complicated worked out for the best for all concerned. Sarah couldn't keep her in her new location, and Tami needed a Hawk that had reduced care requirements that would fit her busy schedule on the ranch.

Tami was busy so the four of us took Hope out for a hunt. Hope however was about an oz. heavier than she needed to be. She tried her best but the wing loading was just too much. Every thing was too fast, too tricky, too quick to hide.


Poor ole Hope did every thing she could including turning "tunnel rat". She really worried me on this one. I was afraid that she couldn't turn around to get back out. There was no way that I was going to be able to move any of the Lava so that I could get her out. I eventually reached in and managed to get hold of her legs, but I couldn't pull her out without damaging her. Eventually she decided that she wasn't going to get the rabbit and somehow turned around peeking back out of the hole.

We gave it up after that, hope didn't however, thinking that the padded roll on the dogs bed felt too good to be only fabric. I eventually got her to leave it so that I could get her into the hood.

We took her home, loaded up the 4 wheeler onto the truck and headed out to see if we could find the "rock" that Sandy left the last time she was here.

Sunday morning saw us heading to Danner to molest the rabbits that live there. Hope got a few slips, none of them close enough to ensure a catch. We ran into a small group of Sage Grouse that decided to go somewhere else away from the big bird with the shape and color of a Golden Eagle.

Eventually we found a Bunny that was too far from cover, and he went into our bag as #8.

                                        After getting back to the car, I turned the dogs out for a run.

After arriving back home it was Jessie's turn to get a little exercise. I am running the drone up to about 280 feet. She is doing well, but so far I am not convinced that I will do more with her than exercise. She seems to be recovering from her exercise just fine, but will sometimes sit with the food on the ground and stare off in space and quiver her wings. We will see. If nothing else she will at least get to fly. Of course every one wants to help.

Dave, Elsie and Thayen came over to help Karen with the pony get used to pulling the cart. He did quite well, but did throw a few tantrums here and there.

Scott and Sandy left this morning after spending the entire weekend spoiling and pampering my Dogs and the Cat. We had a great time, and hope that we can do it again soon.

Thanks to Sandy for most of the pictures. She kindly shared with me to share with you.

Correction- today was number 7

While catching up on the foolishness of the world this morning I was rudely attacked and overwhelmed. Josie got tired of waiting for Brick to get down, so she crawled right up on top of him. Its nice to be loved!

Apparently I can't count. After coming home today I counted tails, and discovered that I had miscounted. That is of course the reason that I keep the tails in the first place. I don't mind all that much exaggerating my birds prowess, but I hate it when it can be proven other wise.

I had apparently fed Hope way too much last time with Tami and Yogi. This morning even after two days with no food she still weighed 915. I have just about decided that she needs to be under 900 to be agile and desperate enough to fling her self into what ever brush hard enough to be successful. I decided to go anyway, and just quit if she didn't catch something within a reasonable time.

Hunting with Yogi, she is competitive enough to put extra effort in trying to catch one before Yogi could. She shows no aggression, but she was determined to catch all the rabbits rather than let Yogi make first contact. Originally I was concerned that she would become subservient to Yogi. Well that isn't going to happen apparently. Now I wish that every trip was with Yogi.

We had gone to town yesterday and I removed all the hawking stuff from the car, so of course when I reloaded I left the Tee perch at home. I haven't really hunted her from the glove at all, so I was surprised that she really paid no attention to the loss.

We had covered one side of the road, when it became obvious that I was dressed too warmly. I went to the car, when Karen drove up, to give her my sweat shirt. Hope always flies to the car, and this time landed on the hood. She made her way around to Karen's window peering in to see what might be in there.

I decided to hunt an area that I had never hunted before, and meet Karen back down where we had started but from the other side. A lot of the area is just grass, with the Sage beginning quite a way from the road. The path I intended to take would circle around the open grass and encompass some area that I had not hunted before.

We managed to get several chases where she was out maneuvered and I had decided that today was going to be unsuccessful, and I was going to have to hunt again in the morning, so I was heading towards the car. We jumped a Jack that ran towards where Karen was waiting in the car. Hope made a shot at him, but he managed to evade capture. He ran back towards me and stopped at the beginning of an open area. I marked the spot and when Hope came back to me I started sneaking towards the spot. Hope flew at a movement that I didn't see, pulled up and dived into the Sage. A rabbit jumped out about 4 feet from where she went in, and I remember thinking, wow she was really off, then a muffled scream wafted back on the breeze. There were two rabbits hiding in the same piece of Sage.

                                                            That's more like it.

I hunted for about an hour and half at the most today. While I think that Hope is slowly improving, mostly today was just a very unlucky day for a Jack. Such are the breaks, and we will take it!

Finally #7

Busy, busy day! Direct TV was due to come out sometime to change our receiver. One never knows just when they will be here, especially since it will be a two hour trip at minimum for them, so Karen and the pups had to stay home. I got out of here by 9:30 and we went to Arock.

I again did my best quiet insertion into the field and we were rewarded in that we found rabbits in an area that just hasn't been producing. If Hope gets a close start none of them can match her speed off the fist, and she usually catches them. The closer they get up the higher the odds that they will come home with us. She was still a bit higher in weight than she really needs though. All the try is still there, it is just that we are missing some of the agility that she needs to make the 90 degree turns. On almost all the rabbits that I put up this morning she was making three or four pounces and restarts on each and every one of them. Some of the misses were due to a wing catching some grass or brush, and a couple of Jacks were leaving little trails of hair behind them.

I have been doing some serious thinking and remembering last season in all of the aspects that made up last season. One of the things that enable a falconer to go from "good" to "better than good", is the ability to recall cause and effect. I believe that I am pretty good at that aspect.

Its been bugging me all this season so far that she is not changing up her attack plans to meet the differing conditions of this season. One would first think that it is the birds fault, but that is a cop out! It is my fault. I finally this morning saw what was happening, and why.

Last year there were so many rabbits that it was no real chore to get 50 Jacks up in front of her. My main goal with her was to perfect her manners, and love of catching Jacks. In that I succeeded. I think that I can say that I personally have never had a hawk with so few faults. I prided myself on the fact that I never fed her without her actually making a kill.

To manage that I sometimes hunted four or five hours at a time. There were enough rabbits to actually do that. The part that I didn't realize was that there were so many rabbits available that sooner or later I would find one that was either very unlucky or just dumb. All I had to do was to keep pushing. The problem that I am having now is that the rabbits are honed down to only the fittest. There is no dumb ones and very few unlucky ones as well.

So what worked for her last year was to keep pushing, direct pursuit, grab them before they got into the bush. That worked the best when they flushed at the last minute. She had no need to learn to get up in the air a bit to pick your spot, rather than take the first shot that presents itself. The burn them down routine worked for her last year. Being out all day is a lot better than tied to a perch watching a Chicken pecking shit in from of the weathering area, so it really didn't matter if she missed a lot of them, sooner or later she would catch one.

Normally and in the past I would at some point decide that which ever hawk I was flying wasn't putting a full effort into the hunt and go home without feeding them.  That took care of the problem. The next time they went hunting they generally caught the first one that flushed. The problem with Hope is that she does give it her full honest try each and every time, so I have been staying in the field too long.

This morning she got probably 10 or more slips. Some of them she would crash into the Sage, get back up and do it one to two more times, ending up with a chase that would cover a couple hundred yards. Lots of times, just this morning, she would throw her feet out only to have her wing catch on the grass or some Sage, and spin out. Or climb when they hid and turn over and smash into the bushes in an attempt to catch them inside the Sage Bush. That can be a devastating tactic, only she was "feathering her dive" and not knifing through the Sage. A Goshawk does it and makes it look easy, not so much with a Harris.

It was at this point that I finally realized why she wasn't adapting. She will, especially now that I understand that my "persistence" is preventing her from adapting. In other words she got Trophy's that she didn't deserve. I need her to catch the first one that jumps. She needs to think that there is no later, only now. You only become a winner after you have failed. So once I came to the full realization of what was occurring I made my way back to the car. She had at least four more opportunities at Jacks, and they all managed to get away. Not easy on their part but they were fit enough to make it so.

I got back home after an hour and a half in the field. I only gave her about three tidbits for the whole morning. She was a bit surprised when I put her back in the weathering pen. In fact she thought Jessie might make a decent meal and bated at her on the way to her perch. First time for that. I told her to think it over while she was sitting there.

The TV guy made it, and got our TV loaded up with the latest stuff, and headed back to town. He mentioned, in a wondering tone of voice,  that he only passed about 25 cars on the way here.

Jessie was ready to fly, so I ran the drone up to about 240 feet, and it took some real effort on her part to get that altitude so that she could grab the lure.

I had called Tami and made a date to go hawking at the ranch at 4 PM. Karen and I went over at the appointed time and picked up Tami, her mother and youngest son. Her Mother had kindly agreed to carry Gabe while we hawked. Karen paced us on the two track with the car. I like being able to walk until we catch something, and not have to make all of that long walk back carrying a Hawk on my fist.

Yogi was about an ounce high, but time is not a luxury this time of the year. We were just going to have to muddle through the best we could. The very first thing into the field and a Jack jumped right beside the road. Hope crashed into the brush after him, he dodged, Yogi made a shot at him, he made another circle around the Sage and Hope took another shot at him, he ducked and she went right over his head. He jinked and zigged like a pro and eventually he had both of them grounded long enough to make his escape.

Yogi wanted to catch one in the worst way, but it was warm ( 67 ) and extra weight doesn't make for a lot of catches no matter the desire. Poor ole Hope was just doing what she has always done, burn em down and crash into the brush. Again she was getting up more than once. Both Hawks were trying hard, with no real success. We had several of those situations, and while fun and exciting for us none of the other participants were really liking it much.

The two birds together were doing so well. One would try, and the other would take her shot when the first missed. I began to see Hope making a few changes. Three different times she would find the Sage that the rabbit was hiding in and pin him down, waiting for us to get there to run him again. I first realized what she was doing when I saw her with her head in the Grease Wood peering around trying to find where he was hiding. Yogi used to do that, but this is the first for Hope.

They finally caught one and we aren't real sure which one it was, because the rabbit broke away and made good his escape. Both were on the ground when he got loose and neither one could figure which way he went.

We had walked about a mile or more, and finally a Jack jumped and hope just burned him down grabbing him just as he hit a big grease wood bush. Yogi went in after, so I though he should have been anchored pretty well. When we got there however Hope was the only one with rabbit in her feet. The Jack had drug her about under the bush and was on the opposite side from where he was caught. I had to stick my hand and arm into the bush to grab him and break his neck. I was much to busy to take any pictures until every one was secured and fed.

Grease Wood is pretty "pokey"

He had a run in with sombody!

Time for a little liver to celebrate.

Tami's oldest son, Reuben, ( 14 ) had agreed to ride for one of the ranches in Rome, so she had to get back to meet the guy that was going to borrow him for a while. ( to "ride" means that he would be helping to gather cows from the summer range, and it might take a few days to do so.)

I was pleased with the progress that Hope made today. It will take some time, and it will take letting her think on an empty stomach some of those times. All she needs is more experience, which you get by making mistakes.

You only get a little bit of time for Sunrises, It changes constantly.

We have had some bad weather, which means beautiful Sunrises and Sunsets. Its my pleasure to share with those less fortunate.

Catch and release!

Our storm is still with us and intensifying. So we left earlier than normal to try to catch something before the wind and rain got to us. It was just a bit above freezing when we started and I wanted to hurry and get something going so that I could quit before the winds and rain could start. I was covering a lot of ground and seeing very little. I kept pushing all the way to the top of the terrain that I usually hunt, about a 1/2 mile in total, without seeing very much at all.

Hope was getting desperate, and flew down and grabbed a empty Potato Chip bag, but someone had eaten all of them, so she eventually gave up on it.

I met Karen, following along in the car, telling her that we weren't finding much.  She stated that they were hiding. Duh! Why didn't I think of that? I slowed down to a crawl, and found three in a little over 100 yards. Hope even caught one of them but got scraped off on a Sage.

We snuck even slower, slipping and stopping about every 20 yards. I came up over a lava lump very quietly, and Hope flashed off the T perch down into a shallow crevice, plowing right into the back of a Bobcats head, driving him face first into the ground. I yelled as loud as I could, and she let him go, and went back onto one of the lips of the crevice about 4 feet away. I'm holding my breath, but the cat, (Looked like a yearling of about 20 lbs. They are mostly legs so he was about 2 feet tall.)  just took off like he was embarrassed, and disappeared under the fence. She had landed on one of the Lava formations next to a Bobcat there last year, and got away with that as well. After I got over my immediate adrenaline rush and fear that she was going to disappear over the hill in a Cats mouth, I began to laugh as the events began to replay in my mind. Thinking of the poor Cat seeing me loom up on the skyline, turning to run then getting slammed in the back of the head by 8 needles connected to a two pound bird going full blast. Its no wonder that he slunk off in as dignified a manner as he could muster.   

The wind started up and it began to rain, so I started back to the car. We came around the Lava formation where she had turned "Tunnel Rat" and dug a Jack out of last year. I wondered if she would remember the occasion. She certainly did and checked it out, just in case.

The rain and wind had increased enough that I decided to feed her. There will be better days. Then again she survived getting bashed into a big Sage and then grabbing a Bobcat. On second thought perhaps we had a better day than I thought.