The Dry spell is over! (Day 52-54...#11 & #12)

FINALLY!!!!!! Geeeesh...took long enough didn't it? You probably where starting to pick up on my negative vibes, and your right....I have been bummin pretty good lately. Reason why....I have been doing my bird a disservice. OBVIOUSLY, my bird is a natural rabbit catcher, and she is to a point where if she doesn't catch a rabbit, it's MY fault...period....there is no other excuse I can give..it's just how it is. It's either because I'm a) flying her too high, b) I'm not kicking up any rabbits, c) I'm impatient in the field, and kick up the rabbits when she isn't in position, or d) I get out to the field too late, and don't give her enough time to catch one....again...all of these are MY fault. I was REALLY down on Friday (DAY 52), and was bitchin about it to Jonathan on the phone. He is a good friend, and patiently listened to me moan for a bit, before he told me I was over reacting. Knowing that I was down though, he invited Dee Dee and I out to "the great expanse" for a little early evening hawkin. We ducked out of work around three or so, and after taking care of some business at the house, made it to the field around 4:00 PM. Dee weighed in at 1054 grams, so I beeped her up, and walked to the Southern most edge of the field (b/c the wind was blowing CRAZY hard) and got the session started. She took a nice perch, and it was on to the brush beatin for me. Kicked around for about 30 or 40 minutes only getting one slip, and was starting to get that negative feeling back again (I'm at a good rabbit field...why am I not kicking up rabbits....). Jonathan got there around 5, and we moved to a different section of the field, and the rabbits started poppin off. I have slept a few times since then, so I'm a little fuzzy on details, but we got a few slips, and had a couple really nice flights that almost resulted in a squeeling bunnies. It was starting to get dark as we crossed the two track heading toward a clump of trees running along the main road, and I think Dee Dee was starting to get desperate. A rabbit got kicked up, and it started running HARD down the two track with Dee Dee hot on it's heels. She came down, missed, and then remounted and kept chasing. I was psyched about this, b/c this was the first time she has gotten back up, and kept chasing after the initial slip. She put the rabbit into the clump of cedars/brush, and Jonathan and I headed in for a reflush. Jonathan took the side facing the main road, while I headed in through the center. A few moments later, I hear the jingle of bells, and hear Jonathan yell "There she goes!!!!" I make my way out of the brush on the side with the two track, and start walkin back down the tree line, with Jonathan doing the same thing on the other side. No jingle, no bird...I'm like "Where did she go?" Keep walkin, and make it to the end of the tree line without finding Dee. I kick up a rabbit in the open, and it takes off across the mowed grass that runs along the main road. I'm like "there goes the rabbit she was chasin" and Jonathan just roles his eyes and says "there is more than just one rabbit in the field" LOL. It's pretty much dark by now, and Jonathan suggests I go grab the receiver. I turn and start walkin in that direction, when I see Dee Dee sitting on the ground in the grass just on the other side of the two track. Relief rushes over me, and I slowly start walkin up, grabbing some tib bits to hop her up to the fist. I get closer, and suddenly realize she is sitting on a rabbit!!!! Pop the head off, and she munched that down, and then we headed back home. It was too dark to take any pictures, so I snapped one off in front of Bob again....she likes her picture taken with Bob! Woke up the next day, and stuck her on the scale, before heading to Bartlesville. She was still fat at 1111 grams, and I knew that it was going to be a struggle getting her down to weight today (DAY 53). Picked up Jonathan, and we pulled into B-ville just before 7:00 AM. It was warm, windy, and over all POOR conditions to fly longwings, but we convinced Ryan to go look for some ducks anyways, so we did. You can read about the adventure on his blog (http://ryanvanzant.blogspot.com/), but ultimately, his new bird scored it's 1st duck (which was it's first head of wild game) on the opening day of duck season!!! Nice!!!! He wasn't too impressed with the flight, but I thought it was bad @$$, and it was a great way to get the day started. A fun filled day of falconry continued on after that, and we met Kent and a couple of pre-apprentices out at the rabbit field behind the mall. Kent had flow his young bird before we got there, and was pulling out his older one as we got there. Introductions where made, and then we headed out into the field, with Bronc (GSP) taking the lead. I'm not sure if Bronc was running to far ahead, and pushing all the rabbits out in front of us or what, but we didn't manage to kick up more than one rabbit or so during his entire session. Kent is making adjustments with his birds weight right now, so that combined with no flushes, resulted in the bird not flying the way he wanted, so he decided to give him a break for a little bit (which would hopefully flip the "reset" on his bird), and to pull him out again later in the afternoon. It was Shaung's turn to fly (Jonathan's bird....I think I spelled that correctly.....let me know if I didn't though), and let's just say we where in for a treat. We had a whole crew that day (6 people), so we decided to head to a really thick section that no one had been to since last winter. We kicked up TONS of freakin rabbits (a few of the slips where two rabbits at a time!), and only had minute or two gaps btw slips. Shaung was all over the place, crashing brush, chasin the hell out of them, and got a CRAZY good work out. The most notable flight (and HANDS DOWN the coolest thing I have seen a RT do thus far) went a little bit like this. We had just been beating on this pretty large briar patch, and we where all walking from that one to a section of briars that go on for a good bit. We must have kicked a rabbit out of that first briar patch, b/c Ryan came upon it out in the middle of the field. Pretty much everyone (besides Jonathan...he missed the flight which SUCKS!!!!) was within five feet or so of each other, and saw the rabbit bolt toward the briar patch we where heading to. Shaung (with the wind pushing hard on her back) came hauling all sorts of crazy balls out of a tree and SLAMMED the rabbit on the ground, making both of them do cart-wheels! From what everyone saw, she didn't really even stick her feet out, but just knocked the crap out of it like a falcon. If she did get a foot on it, the momentum from their spins must have ripped the rabbit out of her grasp, b/c it got away somehow (which blows my mind...it HAD to have internal injuries!). It was, hands down, the hardest hit from a RT that I have ever seen (both in real life, and on videos)! Everyone started screamin and laughin, and doing the whole "did you see that!!!" thing. It was pretty tight to say the least. A break was taken, a sharpie got some feathers imped, Kent's young bird got a new tail mount, Shaung got some new anklets, and it was back to the field with Dee. 4:30 PM, she weighed in at 1065 grams. She flew like crap, didn't listen, and pretty much just sucked. Got a couple of slips, but she was either out of position, or screwing off somewhere, and missed/refused the slip. Called her down to a squirrel leg on the lure, and then hopped her to the fist. Had some drinks, laughs, and some good times, and then it was back to T-town we went. Sunday morning (DAY 54) found Jonathan and I at "The Great Expanse" around 8 in the morning. Dee Dee still weighed 1082 grams (squirrel burns WAY slower than rabbit...I knew this, but didn't even think about it when I fed her up the night before.....), so she didn't join us for the morning session, and instead, all focus was on Shaung. There was quite a bit of dew on the ground, and the rabbits just wheren't wanting to come out and play. We kicked around for a GOOD minute, and had a few slips, but none of them ended up with a squeeling rabbit. I headed down to Owasso to drop something off with Mark, and hung out shooting the $hit for a minute. It was good times getting to see him, and I'm hoping we can get out for a session sometime soon! After that, I swung by Austin's house and picked him up, and we went and scouted out some potential fields. We where disappointed by what we found.........NO RABBITS GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR, and we made it back to my place around 2 or so. Ate a litle lunch, and stuck Dee on the scale, where (at 3:00 PM) she weighed in at 1061 grams. This is only 4 grams lighter than she was on Saturday (where she performed terribly), but I was hoping she might respond better (b/c she HAD been fed less squirrel than she would have gotten if it was rabbit...so I was hoping she would "think" she was hungrier than she really was) than she did Saturday. We where semi hoping to get a session going on with Kent and Jonathan, but the best laid plans and all that, so it didn't end up panning out. All my fields are bad, but we decided to head to THE ONLY one that has produced so far.....the train track field. We got there, and started kicking around the bushes, and got a rabbit moving in short order. The rest of the day pretty much panned out like the first time I flew this field. Unlike recently, we where kicking up rabbits pretty consistantly (don't get it....tons of rabbits.....NO RABBITS AT ALL for like three or four sessions....then TONS of rabbits again....my mind is blown!). Anyways, got some nice flights in, which was cool b/c (other than car hawking and training sessions) this was the first time Austin has gotten to come fly, but none of them where very close. She just didn't seem fully committed, and I could tell she was flying heavy, b/c she kept pulling off instead of crashing brush. I hooded her up, and we chilled for a moment hoping to get her head back in the game. Went to a different section of the field that I hadn't flown yet, and when I pulled her back out, she was WAY more focused. We kicked around for a little bit, and she dropped out of the tree and landed on the ground. It looked like a rat flight to me, but when I got there, she was tearing at a deer carcus...slut! That's twice in a week! I pulled her off of that, we we walked a little ways away, and then I put her back up in a tree. Flushed a rabbit out in the open, but she was out of position still, so she just flew to where it went, and landed in a tree. This section was on the side of a hill, so I started walking the top and through the center, while Austin walked along the bottom beating the brush. Got a reflush on the rabbit, and she crashed the briars hard, but came up empty footed. Kicked up another one, and she did a half hearted flight at it, but didn't really get close. We both kept heading down the bushes, and then Austin started yelling ho, and the rabbit took off up the hill. Dee Dee flew to a perch right above Austin, and was looking pretty intently at the ground. I pushed through the center of the briars (which was about half way up the hill), and I got a reflush on the rabbit...it headed up the hill and went over the top with Dee Dee hot on it's heels. She went over the top of the hill and we both lost sight of them for a moment, and then we hear the squeel!!!!! I fight through the bushes, and get to the top to find her securely holding the rabbit, waiting for me to come in for the dispatch.. She gets a bit to eat off of the rabbit, and then I trade her off to the head, which I let her eat on the ground. I then hop her to the fist for a front leg, and we head to the car to take a few pictures. Called it a day, and we headed back home. At 7:30 PM, she weighed in at 1197 grams, so there will be no session today. That works out well though, b/c Ryan is coming to town this afternoon, and we are going to try and find me some decent rabbit fields. Fingers crossed that we are successful, and hopefully, I will be flying in a new field on Tuesday. Over all though....had a GREAT weekend!