GOOD DAY! Headed over to Gary's house in the morning, and we headed out behind his house to chase some squirrels. She weighed in at 1045 grams at 8:30 AM, so I was hoping for a stellar performance. Up until this point, Dee really hadn't had to "chase" squirrels that much, but had just smashed them off the trees, or else stayed at the top most of the time. Today was different. We managed to kick up a nice sized fox squirrel, and she chased it up and down the tree for at least fifteen minutes, and you could tell she was pretty wasted by the end. The squirrel played his chess match well, and ended up finding an opening, and bailing out of the tree. He made it to cover, pulled a houdini, and no reflush was to be had. About this time, Gary's kestrel was ready to fly, so we headed back to the house, and went and did a little car hawkin.
Now car hawkin is still very new to this bird, but after a slightly hesitant start, he began chasing hard, and had some really nice flights. Had a couple where he just barely missed, but then he ended up connecting with a nice sized starling in a grassy section, right on the edge of a parking lot. That was good times for sure, and on the way back, scoped out a new squirrel honey hole, that I'm going to ask for permission to fly on Monday (or whenever I can get into contact with land owner....). Watched the first half of the $HITTY OSU/OU game (I hate OU!!!!!!), and then headed home for some Parker/Lindz time. Got home, and discovered that she had headed to her mom's house to put up Christmas Decorations, so after a couple good time brews with Tommy, headed out to "Lowes" for some more hawkin.
Bunnies where poppin like CRAZY, and I managed 10 or so slips for her before dark. I'm not sure if it was b/c the cover was so thick, or if she was still tired from earlier, but she was just one step behind, and didn't manage to score. Got to expore a different section of the field (which was good), and I'm starting to figure out what type of cover THESE rabits prefer. Jeff was kind enough to invite the family over for dinner, but Lindz was tired, so I was the only one who ended up makin it....had a GREAT time, and stuffed my belly full of some really good grub. Hadn't seen Jeff for a while, so it was good getting to talk to him, and pick his brain about all things falconry related....I have said it a thousand times, but I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many gifted falconers (Jeff, Mark, Ryan, Gary, etc, etc) and to have them be so open and receptive to me.
There is no doubt that my early success is a direct result of and all these guys helpful advice. Got the pleasure of making a couple of new fiends...Greg and Tasha where in town for NAFA, and had swung down to T-town for some chillen, hawkin, and good times. Both of them are extremely nice, and we all sat around talkin for a cool minute.Had the opportunity to see my first finnish Gos which was a treat, and being that both of them are VERY tallented photographers, got to see tons of great pics from the NAFA meet. Could have hung out till the wee hours of the night but I missed my babies, so I headed home at a decent hour
GOOD DAY! Headed over to Gary's house in the morning, and we headed out behind his house to chase some squirrels. She weighed in at 1045 grams at 8:30 AM, so I was hoping for a stellar performance. Up until this point, Dee really hadn't had to "chase" squirrels that much, but had just smashed them off the trees, or else stayed at the top most of the time. Today was different. We managed to kick up a nice sized fox squirrel, and she chased it up and down the tree for at least fifteen minutes, and you could tell she was pretty wasted by the end. The squirrel played his chess match well, and ended up finding an opening, and bailing out of the tree. He made it to cover, pulled a houdini, and no reflush was to be had. About this time, Gary's kestrel was ready to fly, so we headed back to the house, and went and did a little car hawkin.
Now car hawkin is still very new to this bird, but after a slightly hesitant start, he began chasing hard, and had some really nice flights. Had a couple where he just barely missed, but then he ended up connecting with a nice sized starling in a grassy section, right on the edge of a parking lot. That was good times for sure, and on the way back, scoped out a new squirrel honey hole, that I'm going to ask for permission to fly on Monday (or whenever I can get into contact with land owner....). Watched the first half of the $HITTY OSU/OU game (I hate OU!!!!!!), and then headed home for some Parker/Lindz time. Got home, and discovered that she had headed to her mom's house to put up Christmas Decorations, so after a couple good time brews with Tommy, headed out to "Lowes" for some more hawkin.
Bunnies where poppin like CRAZY, and I managed 10 or so slips for her before dark. I'm not sure if it was b/c the cover was so thick, or if she was still tired from earlier, but she was just one step behind, and didn't manage to score. Got to expore a different section of the field (which was good), and I'm starting to figure out what type of cover THESE rabits prefer. Jeff was kind enough to invite the family over for dinner, but Lindz was tired, so I was the only one who ended up makin it....had a GREAT time, and stuffed my belly full of some really good grub. Hadn't seen Jeff for a while, so it was good getting to talk to him, and pick his brain about all things falconry related....I have said it a thousand times, but I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many gifted falconers (Jeff, Mark, Ryan, Gary, etc, etc) and to have them be so open and receptive to me.
There is no doubt that my early success is a direct result of and all these guys helpful advice. Got the pleasure of making a couple of new fiends...Greg and Tasha where in town for NAFA, and had swung down to T-town for some chillen, hawkin, and good times. Both of them are extremely nice, and we all sat around talkin for a cool minute.Had the opportunity to see my first finnish Gos which was a treat, and being that both of them are VERY tallented photographers, got to see tons of great pics from the NAFA meet. Could have hung out till the wee hours of the night but I missed my babies, so I headed home at a decent hour
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