Thursday, December 10, 2009

Day 87


Today was LONG! I got to work this morning at the usual time, and when I took my coffee break around 7:30, there where FIVE squirrels running through the pecan trees....they taunted me all morning, and it's going to be pay back tommorow! Why you ask? Well....I'm takin the day off. Yep...that's right....no work, no plans....just hawkin....ALL day! It's gonna be sweet. I'm gonna hit those trees first thing in the morning, and I'm planning on having my first cup of coffee over a dead squirrel. I have been wanting to fly this spot for a COOL minute, but I had previously believed the situation unsafe...I have since come to a different conclusion (after a little first hand investigation), and it's going down in the morning! After that....more hawkin....the rest of the day! Gonna be freakin sweet! Anyways, back to today. Finished up with work at three, and I was walking into the woods by three fifteen. She was high today, and you could def tell by her behavior. She DID NOT want to follow! The day started slow...walked around for a good forty minutes or so, and didn't kick up a single darn thing. Apparently, this bored her, b/c she decided to float up above tree line, and disapprear off into the distance A COUPLE TIMES (come on Daniel...do you not see a freakin trend! High bird = rabbit hawkin NOT squirrels! If you fly in the dense forest, she disappears!). I spent a lot of time looking for her...the longest stretch was a good fifteen or twenty minutes. Finally, I wise up, and call Dee Dee down to the fist once I find her.....i hood her for about ten minutes, and take a much needed break to calm the nerves (I was pissed!). I don't know if this is true for birds in general (I know of a few that this works on, but I don't know how wide spread it is....), but this is Dee's "reset" button....after unhooding her, I flew a different bird the rest of the day! She followed along perfectly and TIGHT....probably tighter than she has thus far. We where heading to "big red's house" (that's the squirrel we chase EVERY time we come out her....ninja squirrel has some MOVES!!!!), and just like always, she flies straight to the top of "the tree." I kick around in the branchs below it, but nothing moves. Weird...he is always here.....Don't really know what to make of it, so I start kicking around in the "general" area. All of a sudden, she takes off through the trees, and SLAMS a small tree just in front of me. I see "Red" scurrying down the tree, and I quickly cut him off at the base. He heads about half way up, and then bails to the next tree. Dee comes shooting through the branchs from the side, and Red dodges her by A MILE (he skipped between freakin like 8 branchs in the blink of an eye!). Red crosses between 3 or 4 trees in a breath's worth of time, and I'm thinkin he is LONG gone. Dee wasn't feeling that though, and flew a few trees past Red....landed, and then shot straight back toward me. Red wasn't feeling that, and he started cork screwing down the trunk. Dee dropped straight down, and BARELY missed nabbing him off the trunk. Red hit the ground, and started heading back in my direction, and I did my best to cut him off. My best efforts where rewarded with Red skipping to the side and disappearing into the underbrush....Nicely played Red! We shall meet again soon! I'm not going to lie...I pretty much gave up right there. This is a HUGE stetch of woods, full of squirrel nests, and acorns EVERYWHERE....but there are never squirrels to be found...."Red" is pretty much the ONLY squirrel I move consistantly. I continue heading North, and start getting into some sections I hadn't visited before. I come across a TON of clearings FULL of briars and all the stuff rabbits LOVE, but like all the other spots in this area....no rabbits. Not even a single pellet. I did find a TON of coyote skat, so I guess that explains it....but you would still think there would be one or two....anyways, I loop through the "new" section, and then I start cutting back toward the two track. Dee drops off her perch, and starts skimming through the woods at about 8 to 10 feet of the ground. She almost gets out of sight, when she shoots straight up into the air, and lands in the top of a tree. I start running in her direction, and when I get to her, she is looking straight down the tree. It's a really large tree, and there are no vines to shake, or anyway to move a squirrel. I start making a circle around it, and for some reason, the squirrels makes a break for it. It had been tucked away somewhere at the top, and I notice it as it is shooting down the trunk of the tree. Dee Dee drops off her branch, and does MAYBE a half turn around the trunk, and then SLAMS it off the side. She flares her wings and floats down to the ground like she had dones it a thousand times (Number 4!). I run in like a darn track star, and put the squeeze on it almost as soon as they hit the ground. I let her foot on it for a minute, and then we have a perfect trade off to the lure (and I didn't cover it up this time either...I have been doing that, but not today.....and she STILL traded off perfectly! PROGRESS!). Since I am flying early in the morning, I hopped her to the fist for the rest of the tid bits, and she should be at killer weight in the morning. Kent's coming down, meeting up with Gary to fly the kestrel, and Dee is going to be exceptional...I can just feel it!

3 comments:

  1. Great post! Sounds like a fantastic day and Red is truely a worthy adversary. It will almost be sad the day you catch him...almost.

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  2. haha! too funny isaac.

    Nice job dan! surely let us know how today went.
    Later :)

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  3. Wow man, sounds like you are having a great time.

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