Now a Believer

What an AWESOME week! I must say things started off slowly. I have been trying to find some new fields by my house and have not had much luck as of yet. Katana has gone on many "walks" though in my quest for good fields. Due to this, on Saturday when we went hunting with Sheldon, her following skills were not so great. That combined with the thick cover and sweltering heat makes hunting quite miserable. None the less, we went at it all weekend. I generally try to fly Katana until she are tired, especially on Sunday because she gets Mondays off. Historically this has not been very hard to do right after the molt. This year she is exceptionally strong though. I am converted to a true believer in free lofing during the molt now. Her feathers came out perfect and she came out much stronger.
Katana has always liked taking the long slips, and this weekend was no exception. While the majority of the rabbits were able to make it to thick cover, there were a few that didn't. Katana did not falter in these occasions. I think she also likes making me miserable because she waits until we are headed to the car to take came. By then I am hot and frustrated. In Sheldon's field she took a nice long tail chase which ended in a tumbling skirmish rewarded by a large cottontail at the end. She had a couple of other super flights, including a sweet stoop from out of a large tree mid-field. After taking her rabbit we called it a day, and went to fly Kenny's bird at another field.
Sunday I was determined to fly Katana until she was tired. I judge this by her perch selection as well as her following in the field. Just as the engergizer bunny, she kept going, and going, and going.... The first field I flew her in was very promising. There was rabbit sign everywhere, and I mean everywhere! The cover was still really thick though, and the few rabbits we did flush nearly had to get stepped on before they would flush. Once they did start running it was not long before they disappeared. That is the great disadvantage to beginning the season so early. This field should prove prosperous however, once the cover dies back. It also does not help that we were hunting in the heat of the day. Look at all the weight we sweat off though! On the way home we saw once more field that we wanted to check out. Here, with hit the jackpot. I cannot remember a time when we have flushed more rabbits in a field. The cover was not too bad either. The problem was that they were running in all different directions and Katana did not know where to look! She also has the annoying problem of ignoring everything and everyone when she fixates on something in the field. That is what happened on the first flight. She started looking hard and I moved in to see what it was when the rabbit flushed. It had the misfortune of running right towards Kat in her tree. She took off after in, upwind mind you, and after a hard tail chase I heard the familiar rabbit cries. Just like last year I walked over to her, as I am determined not to run, and made in. I had decided earlier in the day not to feed her up as I needed to cast her to change her anklets when we got home. She did get a nice step off piece and I decided to hunt her back to the car. She flew up into a tree and roused so I knew she was good to go. We started walking back to the car and immediately flushed another rabbit. She took chase but it made it to cover before she could get there. Not I am excited, so we keep hunting a little more. No much longer, she takes off to the other side of the field, in hard pursuit. It was a LONG flight, and she ended up pretty far away. After seeing her drop behind the tree that was blocking our view, I started running. I had no idea what she was chasing, but know what I was hoping for. :) There she was, on the very edge of the field, proudly sitting on another rabbit. She had complete control of it and was patiently waiting her reward. She stepped of beautifully once again to the lure and we definitely called it a day now. I am going to be very careful with this field and do not was to overhunt it to extintion like several of the others. We walked back to the car with rabbit number two in the bag and ended an awesome weekend.
Katana's flight style, as of yet, had changed dramatically from the last two seasons. She has always gained her strength from height, stooping from the sky to catch her prey. All of the rabbits she has taken this year have been from tailchases. It is interesting to see how she evolves as the season progresses. She is definitely handling the rabbits with more ease when she gets them as well. Hopefully this will transfer over when we begin hunting jack rabbits.
Katana also has new anklets equipped with some sparly bling. Her dark color makes me lose her in the trees, and after borrowing Kenny's anklets I decided to change mine. When the sun hits the jewels it is amazing how much easier it is to find her. I also like the design of the anklets much better and probably won't go back. Will post some pictures soon, as I plan on taking my camera out in the next couple of hunts.

My Mistake

After cropping Katana up on Sunday, she should not have needed to eat until yesterday. That was true of last season anyway. I came home last night and weighed Katana, and I am ashamed to say that she was down to 850 grams. She has NEVER been that low, and I was scared. She was acting fine, very alert and still bated but nonetheless I was concerned. I imeediately perched her in the living room and fed her a plucked quail. I did not fully crop her up, but gave her about 100 grams. I left her in the living room for a bit after she ate, and she seemed to be doing fine. I put her in the box for the night to keep her calm, and it is also getting quite chilly in the evenings. I weighed her again this morning and she is up to 895 grams but I brought her to work anyway. She still had a little food in her crop, so I will feed her some more in a few hours. She is staying in the box until I get her weight back up, and then I will put her back in the mews. I learned a valuable lesson last night - never to take anything for granted. Her metabolism is obviously quicker than last season, and I must keep an eye on her weight more closey. Lesson learned, and thankfully everything worked out ok. Whew!

Awesome weekend!

What a fantastic weekend! We started out hunting after work on Friday, and kept on going through til Sunday night. Noel and I are trying to find some new fields closer to work and along our carpool route, so that is what we did. The first field we went to had a very large pole right in the center. I was exstatic when Katana chose to perch there. I knew that if we kicked anything up not only would she see it, but the flight would be amazing. Alas, we were unable to produce any game, even with Deacon running around like he was on fire. Needless to say, it was HOT. We headed to the bar to have a brew and wait for the weather to cool. We hit one more new field on Friday, and came up again empty handed. She did follow well though, and her perch selection was good. 900 grams
Saturday, I took her to a couple of fields. She had some great chases, the cover is just really thick. She did come barreling out of a tree to grab a large rat, so she has officially taken her first head of game for the season. 890 grams
On Sunday, I flew her even longer. We hit 3 different fields and her following and perch selection is gradually getting better. She had some very close chases, as well as some really long ones. In the last field on the way to the car she stooped of a high pole to slam a rabbit. I heard the all too forgotten cries as I made my way towards her. Continuing my methods from last year, I did not run. Again the thought behind it is that she will never be able to handle a jack if she can't keep control of a cottontail. I am assuming that she was exhausted at this point, and unfortunately the rabbit got away just as I was nearing. Does not matter though, we had an excellent weekend and I look forward to flying her again. 895 grams