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.