New Camera

My Wife bought me a Key-fob Camera for Christmas. I attached it to a scout transmitter to try it out on the back of Jez.

After allot of editing here is 10 minutes of the 1hr of video it recorded.

One Sunday afternoon.

Went up to Copan with Remington On Sunday. It was the re-opening of duck season here in Oklahoma. In the distance we could hear plenty of shot gun shots. It was our first time out as a team since Remington got sick. It was more of a training session than a hunt getting Jez to fly over Remington and chase game. Building up confidence from both dog and bird. I also wanted to see how Remington was doing in terms of could he keep up with things. So we set off into a new area we hadn't been before to see what we could russel up. I don't normally like prospect hunting but i had 4hrs before sunset and just needed to get out.We saw plenty of small birds still but little else. Most of the Wetlands Development Unit was full of water but it was also covered in about 2 inches of ice. We did get to see a Bald Eagle sitting out on the ice and an immature Bald Eagle in a tree. I had heard of reports of some quail coveys but in the area we went to i didn't see any.

It's amazing how in 2 months copan has gone from being green to brown.

I'm interested in going out to Ellis County and Optima to try and hunt for quail and pheasant in the new year (falconry Regs here in Oklahoma give us until March 31st to hunt both species. If anyone is interested in coming with me you'd be welcome.  I think it would be interesting to see how Jez does on them.

Gift Horses from the wife should always accepted

So my wife surprised me in finding an English Pointer litter locally in Dewey. Now if you know my wife you knwo this is a big thing. She has a love/hate relationship with remington and she likes the purse dogs that are all cute and cudderely. Her favorite saying is i dont want dogs so for her to say hey come look at this litter, well you just got to its kind of like winning the lottery.

With Remington's health issues she wanted me to have another dog but also one the whole family could get involved in. The owner is a Local hunter that was not intending to breed. He had papers for his Sire and Dam but the deal with the puppies was you vaccinated and did everything else yourself.

Ryan Van Zants another local Falconer and Pointer Trainer/Owner came out with me, as i trust what he's going to tell me, he holds nothing back and i respect his opinion.

We had the pick of all but one of the litter that had already been placed. we whittled it down to three possibles a male and 2 females. I eventually settled on one of the female. She was one of the few that kept coming back to me when i walked off and was interested in a quail wing that i started playing with. She also pointed Ryan's son a couple of times as he ran around the yard ( He had been playing with quail all day).

 

We spent about an hour with the owner talking about puppies , hunting before making our way home. Once we got home i went to tractor supply and got specter 5 as she had not been vaccinated and gave her her first dose. She'll live in the house for the first couple of weeks until she can mix with my other dogs.

oh and we decided on calling her Bella.

Winter is finally here

Winter has finally arrived with our first inches of snow. After some consultation i decided to take Jez out and see what he would do. the temps where in the Upper 20's  with about 1inche of snow on the ground the sun was out allowing a small amount of heat to hit the ground.

 

 

We headed out to our usual spot and started hitting the brush. We could both see Mice and Rats running between the grass clumps and diving into the cover of snow.

Then it was on We have chased this rabbit a few times and pulled fir. He was in the same location he had been on previous occasions. Jez had caught him by the rear and i rushed in to secure the kill. Traded him off fairly well and we tried for a double. We caught 3 more voles. I let him have the heads and traded him off for the rest. We had a couple more chases on rabbits but it was obvious Jez was loosing interest.  After about 20 Minutes Jez had had enough and flew into a tree. Pulled a foot up and didn't want to move.

 

 

On Saturday We went to another location (again int eh mid 20's) .I've hunted this pretty religiously for months (time to give it a rest) we tried to repeat the day before we caught 3 more voles and again after 20 minutes Jez was pulling feet up and no longer interested.

Frost bite in Harris Hawks is a worry so i decided to wait until the temps are back in the 30's  Tuesday should be back in the 40's.

I'm looking for another Harris to Hunt with Jez. If anyone hears of one needing a good home i would be interested in talking about it.

On another note was pretty awesome getting out for 5 minutes with my daughter and doing some redneck sledging. Left over Mews roofing panels make great sledges.

Some times work gets in the way

I have been in Share point Training all week traveling back and forth from Tulsa. Dark when i left and Dark when i came back. I knew this before i started the week so we got a couple of hunts in before the weekend was gone.

I took a friend out who is getting more and more interested in falconry , We had some good chases on Rabbits, Voles and Small Birds. Slips have been drying up at one spot and i think the rabbits have got the idea we are coming so we moved to a different part of the field. Just as we got to a brier patch bag the squeal of a rabbit could be heard. I dispatched it and we moved on. Trade off was not to bad. We then moved on and found a nest of Voles he grabbed 2 with each foot. Trade off was good and we moved on. We got on a really good rabbit chase that i thought he was sure to get but at the last minute the rabbit kicked up and behind and hit Jez in the chest. This put him off a little and the rabbit was able to carry on but still with jez in pursuit, By this time the sun was setting and it was time to head home.

Because of the training i feed him up with cold weather due and knowing i wasn't going to be able to get out right now I'm just bring his weight back down ready to start hitting the fields again.

if i take one more step

So there we have it. we took one more step.
We have officially caught more seasoned game with this hawk than any other previous. The feeling is pretty good. In total so far Jez has caught Sorrel, Rabbits, Pack Rats, Voles, Mice and Birds. (34 in total) He has caught 5 things a Sorrel and Rabbits that have a dedicated season. How ever you want to count it i am pretty pleased.

I am pleased i haven't had to use a bagged game item to get him going like a quail or a rabbit. All we are doing is hitting the field every day for 1 1/2hours longer on weekends. He cant hit really think brush but so far it hasnt really mattered. The bird chases are pretty spectacular. Harry McElroy likes the Male HH to a Female Coopers hawk and in his opinion are just as fast but with out all the hang ups a Coopers Hawk has. I flew a passage coopers last year and i got to say i don't miss those hang ups. Its great being able to just pick the bird up and go hunting and know you are going to catch something. It doesn't matter if there is a dog or another person in the field.

Yesterdays hut had a spectacular chase on a sparrow followed by a Rat and Mouse. The sun was starting to set and i have had problems with great horned owls in the past so decided to head home. just as we was walking back to the car Jez was of the T-Perch and in 5 feet there was the sound of a bunny being caught. quick dispatch and a good trade of and we continued our trek back to the truck

As the Falcon Her Bells

This is the book that started it all. I have been after a copy for a while and one popped up for the right price. 30 years later i find myself having the same amount of fun. different birds different game but a total fascination with birds of prey and the game they take.