Lucky 21

Today the girls where both excited to get out. Amelia seems to be getting more vocal when we dont hunt for a few days. Amelia was at 870g and Sonya at 940g. We had a little bit of a breeze but nothing too much for a female Harris Hawk. The field behind Khols is one of my favorites and it doesnt have much cactus to deal with so I decided to take the girls there. At the truck getting the girls out I hit my hand in the sweet spot where I have cactus in my thumb still and that sent me into a spiral of pain for the rest of the hunt not to mention the day. I managed to get the girls out though and beeped up. Both girls seemed to want to play in the wind for the first 50 yards or so till I got a jack up and they where not in the best of postitions while they where jacking (Funny) around. From there they both decided to take to the TPerch and we where all busness after that. The second jack flushed within 100 yards of the truck and Amelia pulled fur loosing the jack before Sonya could get there to help. Amelia really is a speedy girl, I think she may just be Part Goshawk. LOL We chased a couple more jack rabbits with out success, suprisingly these rabbits wherent all that big but smart as all get out as they used the wind and bushes to thier advantage. Once we did the circle around the field and where pointed back to the truck, one of the biggest jack rabbits we have chased got up and instantly the girls where on thier way. Amelia connected first, as usual and started getting spun around and then pulled in a straight line away from me as the jack could see me coming. Thankfully Sonya came in and from her High pitch came down and slammed the jack. 2 birds aught to be enough I thought as I was coming in to help but then this monster Jack took both my birds for a ride. Eventually I got there and the jack pinned itself in a sage bush and I could help the girls. I couldnt stretch the rabbit as one of my hands is pretty much useless at this point so I had to compress. Both girls got a great reward for catching this huge jack and we all got back to the truck safely. I forgot my camera in the truck so I dont have any pics or video, which is not normal for me as it is also my phone and I never leave with out it. Good thing nothing bad happened. Ill be going to the doctor in the next couple days to see about getting my hand fixed. Hawking is fun and should be pain free for the most part right? I think so.

Valentines Hunt

Snowy Day

Well its been nearly a week and a half since I have gotten to get out and hunt. The last hunt was with Amelia as a solo bird as I invited 5 other falconers down to my town to hunt. Durring my hunt Amelia grabbed 2 jacks and held on to one just long enough for me to get there and help. I do appologize as that I do not have a picture but I may have the video some time here. You see I managed to jump into some cactus when I jumped to help my bird stop the jack. I ended up with hundreds of cactus spines in my hand and wrist. I spent the next 3.5 hours in the emergency room getting spines taken out of tendons and flesh. Unfortunatly this has really caused some trauma to my hand and I have had alot of pain and hard times dealing with this. At this point I still can not use my thumb on my right hand. Such a deal, Sonya hurt, Myself hurt but in the end,

WE GOT THE JACK!