Another Double!

Today was another great day of hawking. We started out flying Katana in a fied that we have not hunted before. Her first fight was beautiful: a climb upward from a light pole followed by a tear-drop straight down. We had quite a few people in the field (including my sponsor) and they were all very impressed. unfortunately, she missed that one. On the third flight, she took off from a tree tail chasing a rabbit across the field. She did not take off when it flushed, I do not think that she saw it, so there was a few second delay before she left the tree. I thought there was no way that she could catch it, but she did. I found her on top of the rabbit under a tree, a nice head shot and she had it under control. I put her up to fly Michael and Sheldon's Harris hawks, but this field did not yield any more rabbits taken. We then flew Boo and after several spectacular flights she grabbed a female grackle. Chasing the sunlight we hit one of our newer (and better fields) and tossed Michael's birds back up. The first rabbit up Padme nailed. He then put her up and flew his male Neo solo. The second rabbit up, he nailed. Working back to the car we flushed one more that he grabbed through a chain link fence by the head. Miraculously, he help on tight until Michael made it in. I tossed Katana up one more time, and we immediately flushed a rabbit for her. She took off out of the tree and just narrowly mossed it when it made into a brush pile. Diligently working the pile, Michael and Krys were able to reflush the rabbit, and Katana was ready. From he vantage point high in the tree, she came down with another clean head shot. Her aim is definitely getting better, and she is getting most of her rabbits by the head now. I hope this keeps up when we go hunt jack rabbits next weekend!! This is her second double for the season, and she has now surpassed last season's rabbit total. With a month or so left in the season, I just hope she continues to get better and better!!
25 rabbits, 3 snakes, 2 grasshoppers, 1 frog, 1 mouse, 2 rats

Where have all the rabbits gone??

I guess that it is that time of the year...the weather is getting hotter and the grass is getting browner. All of this leads to a shortage of rabbits as the hide in the deep cool of the soil during the hot muggy days.
I gave Katana Tuesday off and we resumed hunting on Wednesday. Michael Beran came into town so we hit some of our better fields. We still managed to kick up a few slips, but Katana was unsuccessful. The field that I flew her in has a lot of brush piles and the rabbits would just run between them yielding a lot of close misses.
Thursday was a lot of the same, some great flights but no connections.
Friday I took her to a field that I have not hunted in a while but was close to the house. She had some trouble deciding where to perch, and her selection was not great. Because of this, she had some nice long chases but the rabbits would get away. Working back towards her, though, we kicked up a rabbit that she stooped out of a tree to grab. A beautiful flight, straight down and another bunny in the bag.
Today we went to several fields that are usually great, but the rabbits were no when to be found. I flew Katana in 3 fields, the first one yielded no slips. The second only gave us two chases in heavy reeds. She was perched atop a building giving her a great advantage but just could not crash hard enough. At one point she had a rabbit deep in the reeds that got away and she obviously gave up a great fight as it was screaming and she was covered in mud. If I had to speculate, she was probably sitting precariously on top of the reeds and barely had the rabbit by the butt when it got away. We hit one more field, in desperate search of a few more flights. She was perched high in a tree when the first rabbit broke. She headed out for a nice long tail chase that ended in a crash and tumble. As we made in she had the rabbit completely under control and it was a nice clean head shot. Yea! I transferred her off as she had now flown almost 2 hours today and the heat was obviously making the rabbits scarce.
I am also trying to get her used to the mews. Last year she would bounce around like crazy, but she seems to be doing better this year. I hope that she will settle down so I can molt her there. When we got home, I hosed her off and into the mews she went. So far so good. I am only putting in there when I am home and can keep a good eye on her until she gets used to the mews.

23 rabbits, 3 snakes, 2 grasshoppers, 1 frog, 1 mouse, 2 rats

Soaring the Wind

Sunday I took Katana to two fields. She had some close attempts in the first field but no luck. She did take the first rabbit up in the second field though. It was a long flight and she nailed it atop a rock pile across the field. She is definitely flying much stronger now, I am glad that I am able to hunt her 6 days a week. I would take her out all 7, but it is nice to have a day off for both of us.
Today I took Katana out hunting, despite the 25-30 mph winds. The first field I came to yielded a few slips. When I hunt this field and get lucky, she will perch atop the bill board at one end. Today was such a day, and the billboard was upwind from where I was flushing - perfect. She had a beautiful flight from the top of the billboard, but all it yielded was a broken tail feather :(. I took her to another field that has fewer perches, and something amazing happened. She began to soar. Instinctively I reached for the lure, that is until I realized that she was circling above me. I began running around like a crazy person, desperately trying to flush a rabbit. She must have been 300 foot up when the rabbit broke. She folded her wings and dropped straight down. I could only sit and watch in awe. Even though she missed the rabbit, probably due to the wind, it was one of the most amazing things that I have ever seen her do. And that was not all, she did it twice. We left the field empty handed, but I consider this a very successful hunt. Her flight styles are evolving, all she needs to do is fine tune them.

21 rabbits, 3 snakes, 2 grasshoppers, 1 frog, 1 mouse, 2 rats

Still going :)

I gave Katana Tuesday off and took her back out on Wednesday. It was VERY hot, but I still flew her for almost 2 hours. She had some strong flights, but I did not get her the best slips. We left the field empty handed. On Thursday, Krys and I took her out and she was flying like she was tired. We cut the hunt short and gave her a days rest. I guess the long hunt and the wind from the day before wore her out. On Friday we hit a different field and after a long hunt and a lot of slips she nailed another rabbit. It almost seemed like she waited for the longest slip in the deepest brush but it worked. She was still flying like she was a little bit tired, but it all worked out. Today, we went to another field and she nailed the first rabbit that we slipped for her. I transferred her off and we kept on going. We had a few more slips, but they all made cover a split second before she made contact. She did have a few incredible brush crashes though, and was definitely flying strong again.
I have also added 2 new hunting dogs to my team: Sadie and Cooper. We picked up a pair of English Pointers and I plann on working with them and hope to fly Katana with their help next season.
20 rabbits, 3 snakes, 2 grasshoppers, 1 frog, 1 mouse, 2 rats

First Double of the Season!!

Took Katana out today to a field across the street from one we usually fly. She started out very strong and followed closely. Second bunny up, and she scored! Yea! I transferred her of and decided to keep hunting. The transfer was beautiful. I held her on the fist for a few minutes until she roused, and then kept on going. We had some more hard chases, but no success. After an hour and a half, we decided to make our way back to the car.We worked the outer edge of the field on the way back, but no flushes! I was starting to give up hope when I saw a rabbit sneak into a pile of wood. Katana followed to a tree nearby the pile, and Brandi and I began to flush. After pulling the pile apart, the rabbit finally broke free and Katana was in hot pursuit. It was a LONG flight, several hundred yard, and then I heard the familiar screams of a rabbit. Running as fast as I could, I made in. About halfway there the screams stopped but I kept running. Katana had the rabbit tightly by the head, and there was no escaping. I transferred her off and cropped her up for her efforts. She won't fly tomorrow, but will be ready to go again Wed! 2 in the bag - first double of the season! YAAHHHOOO!
18 rabbits, 3 snakes, 2 grasshoppers, 1 frog, 1 mouse, 2 rats