Photo By Jan Martin McGuire
Photo By Latrell Olner
I have been contacted by a local Artist Jan Martin McGuire and her Husband James Hines as to whether they could tag along. I also decided i would like to take Bella my English Pointer out to see at 6 months how she would do. My amazing wife Latrell also agreed to come out with me even though it was her birthday.
We headed to copan not to hunt rabbits (as they have all started breeding) but to try some bird flights. I have a couple of Covey of quail that sometimes if I'm lucky we can bust. Quail Numbers are so amazingly down in Oklahoma that if you come across a covey it tends to take you by surprise. For Falconry Quail Season ends on March 31st. We are very fortunate in Oklahoma to get an extra month of Quail and Pheasant hunting at both the beginning and end of the regular quail season.
So we entered the field and started walking through brush. initially we didn't see much and things where looking pretty bleak. But then like other times it happened. One step towards some seed scattering weeds and a cop of small trees and suddenly there was hugh explosion of noise and flapping of wings 15 quail took to the air and it was glorious. As with before i think Jez gets overwhelmed by whats happening and took of from the T-Perch late. In the fall i will probably get some captive breed quail and bag him on a few to work on this. A lost opportunity but very rewarding.
We then continued waling through tall grass that's is common to the copan area. Sparrows had started to pop up in the odd location. Normally on these flights Jez waits for them to put in and then he hits the ground hard. We had a few chases like this. The sparrows how ever have a plan , hit the grass and freeze like stones using there feathers to blend in and then running though the grass to safety. after looking and not finding anything we would move on.
The best flight of the day was not because it resulted in a English Sparrow from being caught but because of the the way it was caught. Jez chased after it like normal (over a distance of about 30 yards) and then struck it with his body knocking it to the ground and then did a 180 flip to turn around and grab it. I let him have his reward because i most defiantly want those types of flights
Bella had been with my wife so by this point we decided to let her run and see how they would react together. For a first time out they didn't do to bad. She's young and wants to chase birds so half the time she would end up pointing Jez and then the other half pointing something else.
So the plan for the summer is to get her (Bella) trained properly. Dog and Hawk used to one another and then hit the Quail and Pheasants fields in October.
This is my first season with a Harris and i got to say regardless of whether you think they are beginners birds or not they kill and catch stuff and a wide variety of things. Modern day hunting requires a Versitle Dog and also a Versitle hawk. I think i well eventually have the right combination.
So the final head count was .
- 22 Rabbits.
- 2 Virgina Rail
- 50 Pack Rats.
- 100 Mice and Voles
- 12 English Sparrows.
We have also had some good chases on Pheasant and Quail and a couple of chases on Dove and Duck.
So by my standards i couldn't be more pleased with a great year and a great hawk. I had thought about getting a second and hunting them in a cast but i decided to put that off for another year. My reasoning being 1 hawk takes a considerable amount of time , with Jez being a first year bird i want to build on what we have achieved so far rather than the distraction of a second bird. I want great hawks not average hawks. To get great hawks you have to put the time and miles in. I don't want a bird that just hunts lots of rabbits but will take other quarry and not just by luck or accident too.
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