TOD Mini Meet and Wild Game Cook Out

This was a great weekend! A large group started the day at Whataburger at 7:00am Sat morning to meet for a day of hawking and good eats. First to fly was Noel's bird, Joe, who was a little fat and unresponsive. We then flew Tom's Harris' Hawk, Maya. Maya chased a rabbit into a brush pile and buried herself deep. Sheldon crawled over the top and into the pile to pull her out and we continued hawking. After putting Maya back up again, she immediately returned to the pile again. When Sheldon crawled back in we learned that she had killed a rabbit deep in the middle. Pulling Maya and the rabbit out, we had our first kill for the day! We then flew Harley (who had her first bunny triple on Friday!) with Dr. Moore's dog, Bone Head. Harley didn't seem to take well to having the dog in the field, and didn't fly at the rabbits we flushed. On one flush, Harley got a hold of it and it got away, then Noel kicked it, and it was finally chased down and retrieve by Bone Head! It was an exciting display of team work. We then went to another field and flew Katana. She had a couple of chases before taking a long flight off a pole, right past Sheldon with a video camera, and got her rabbit. Sheldon caught the amazing flight on video and she barrelled towards him! Onward to another field where we flew a cast of 4 Harris' Hawks. Sheldon noticed this area of field we were at previously, but had never hunted. His intuitions we correct, and Joe scored 2 rabbits and Maya scored one. After that it was Cheyne's bird, Bullzeye's turn. Bullzeye's weight was a little low, but he managed to get ahold of a rabbit in the same field. Cheyne allowed him to crop up on the rabbit, and we carried on. We then flew Veuka, who had the opposite problem. Veruka was fat, and though she flew at a couple of rabbits, her response was weak. We then tried to cast Harley and Katana one more time. They started out okay, but then decided to start crabbing. We put Katana away and continued to fly Harley with no luck.

Saturday night we all met at the hideout for drinking and wild game. Everyone brought a dish from Venison Chili to Duck and Wild Mushroom Gumbo. While I ate a steak, everyone else stuffed themselves sill on all the food. It was a great time with great friends, even though I went to bed early.

Sunday, we started a little later. Katana flew well, flying close. She stooped out of a tree and caught bunny #11! We never saw the rabbit until she had it, but she was in perfect position for the kill. We then flew Harley. Sitting on the top of a building she was nailed by another Red Tail, stooping out of the sky. I think that shook her up a little, as her response faltered after that. Harley, who is usually in perfect position and follows beautifully, was lagging behind a little. The next thing we knew, she chased something a long way (not sure what) and was gone. About an hour later, and perhaps a mile, we finally found her. That ended the day of hunting for us, and we were all exhausted.