Day 83...21st rabbit!

It was pretty cold this morning, and it was slightly over cast....The wind wasn't blowing too hard, and it would have been great weather to fly. I was on daddy duty this morning though, while momma was trying to get some sleep, so I didn't get to take advantage of it. At 10:00 AM, she weighed in at 1056 grams, and was ready to go. I ended up chillen at the house till about 12, and then I headed out to "lowes"...I am renaming this spot "bum central," b/c they have a little village back there, and are EVERYWHERE! The weather was no longer nice, and it was spitting mist and drizzle pretty consitantly. IT WAS COLD! Anyways, got her beeped up, and we headed into the woods. Kicked up the first rabbit within a minute or so, and she went crashing into a huge honey suckle bush. Hopped her back to the fist, and we continued on. Our comotion brought a lone bum lady over to investigate, so I briefly explained what I was doing, and headed off toward the open section. There are a pair of two tracks that run through it, and there is a long briar patch that runs along the roads in the middle. At the end of this is where the roads converge, and there is a HUGE rose bush at the end of that (When Greg/Tasha/Jeff came hawkin, this is where we chased that one rabbit back and forth for a good minute.....). I start pushing through the briars making my way down the roads toward the rose bush, and I get a slip pretty quickly after entering them. It juts across a little open section inbetween the bushs, and Dee comes crashing in from above. The rabbit makes it to the safety on the other side of the clearing, and Dee is left tangled in the vines. She gets back up in the tree, and we push up toward where the roads join together. As I am reaching the edge of the briars, two rabbits come bolting out of the brush, heading across the two track, toward the huge rose bush on the other side. I think they surprised Dee, b/c she hesitated for a moment, before taking off toward the rabbit that was the furthest away. She came up empty, so I beat around in the big bush for a minute. Managed to move one of the rabbits a little bit in the bush, but she couldn't crash to the ground to get it. More bums where coming around (mental note...don't go to bum central on Sundays...they all stay home apparently), so I headed off toward the pond, to see if there where any ducks on it by chance. There where none, so I kicked through the briars that ran along the banks. Kicked up a rabbit, but Dee was out of position, and it escaped into the underbrush. I came to a deep "valley" sorta thing that was fu\illed with honey suckles. They covered the entire canyon, and on the other side, there looked like there was a big open field. I hadn't been to that section, so i started weaving my way through the honey suckle, trying to get to the other side. After making my way through the maze of vines, I get to the other bank, and discover the whole hill was covered in head high briars. I begin chopping my way through, and after 15 minutes, finally make it to the other side. Dee Dee flies over, and she lands in a tree top right above me. I make one step out of the briars, and a rabbit pops off in front of me. Dee comes crashing in, and I hear a little squeel, but then nothing. I get over to her, and find her sitting on the ground, with feet full of fur! She walked around on the ground for a minute or two, and then finally gave up, and hopped to the fist. She is VERY wet by this point, and she noticably feels heavier on the fist. She pumps back up to the top of a tree (a little slow, but she gets up there).. There is a big rose bush that is off away from the main row of them, and I start kicking around that for a bit. A rabbit shoots out the side of it, and breaks toward the open field. Dee comes out of the tree pumping hard, and SLAMS into the ground with a really loud thud. She missed....must have gotten juked or something. Since she was so wet, that could have had an impact on her maneuverablity...anyways, got her back up into the tree, and I kicked around for a little bit longer. Moved two or three rabbits through the really thick briars, but it was so thick, she had no chance of getting to them. I started getting toward the end of this section of the field, and there was a thin strip of briars that ran from the main section of the patch, out into the middle of the fields. I walk to where it connects with the main portion, and a rabbit kicks out the back side of it. She crashs after it, but misses again. She wouldnt let go of the grass and the ground, so I ended up picking her up, and after she calmed down, tossed her up into the tree. Headed in the direction I thought the rabbit went, but couldn't get a reflush, so we headed back to where we where. Started following the briars out into the middle of the field, when Dee takes off of her perch flapping CRAZY hard. She stays really high, and actually starts getting higher as she goes along the briars. She then cuts hard, and does a wicked wing over straight into the briars, and crashs all the way to the ground!!!!! It was a REALLY thick section, and the only way I can explain it is b/c of the extra water weight she had. Anyways, I hear the rabbit squeel, and I start heading into the briars. The rabbit is still screaming, so I can tell that she only has it by the back end, and when i finally get to her, that is exactly how it was. I dispatch the rabbit really quickly, and then after trimming some of the briar back, pull her out. After stomping down a section in the tall grass, I lay them down, and snap off some victory photos. Have a good trade off to the lure, and then I hop her to the fist for a front and back leg. Made the long treck back to the car, where I fed her the heart and lungs. She didn't move a muscle when I stuck the hood on her, and she was fat and happy when I put her in the GH. She weighed close to 1200 grams when I weighed her at home, but she was still soaking wet, so that isn't really a true weight. I will stick her on the scale before bed, and I should get a better idea of what she weighs. I'm thinkin she should be in the upper 1050's for our hunt tommorow, which should be really good.