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I was on daddy duty this morning, since the boss needed to catch up on some sleep, so I kicked it around the house with Parker most of the morning. I finally got around to glancing at my phone, and I had FIVE different hero shots sent to me! Apparently, today was the day for some falconry goodness! Most notable though, was Perry's, whose kestrel caught her first starling this morning! There is nothing like that first kill, and I'm super psyched for him! I was eagerly anticipating my chance to get out and about, and the bird finally hit weight, around 10:00AM.
Rosa South was looking extra nice this morning, and CJ was sitting right at 915 grams (though he hadn't cast yet....). Got some quick flushs right off the bat, and I could tell right from the beginning, that today was going to be good! We kicked around through the front portion of briars first, and got a few reflushes on the same rabbit. He ALMOST snagged it on a flight through the trees, and I saw him shoot his foot out, and just barely missed sealing the deal, about five minutes into the hunt. Had he scored, I probably would have had to go for a double, so it wasn't all that bad that he missed. Continued on, and we quicly approached one of his favorite dead tree perchs. He headed straight there, and we got a couple slips under him, which he chased with enthusiasm. The second flush, he remounted after his intial crash, and just barely missed it, as it made it to the first HUGE patch of briars. There are four of these that run along the tree line....they have grown up around patchs of sumac, so until recently, they had been too thick to get into (not too thick for the bird....too thick for me!). Brush has been getting thinner with every passing day though, and today was the first time I could make it inside for the reflush. I discovered a nice big hole right in the center of it, so I gave up pretty quickly, and began to move on. As I exited the back side of it though, CJ left his favorite perch, and landed in the tree growing right out of the center of the patch. It takes something moving to get him to leave that perch, so I decided to work the backside of it, to see if the rabbit was dumb enough to skip the hole. Well, about 30 seconds later, the rabbit busts from my feet.....and heads straight back into the woods!!!! This was a BIG mistake, because there is hardly any ground cover back there now, and he was completely exposed. He pretty much ran parallel with the tree line, and though there were a couple times it looked like he was going to head back toward the cover, he just kept going! I heard CJ's bells singing over my head, but kept my eyes glued on the fleeing rabbit. About a hundred yards from where the slips started, CJ closed the gap, and I got a PERFECT view, as he slammed into the back of the rabbit! I did my happy dance, and headed over there for the dispatch. Got a little excited, and popped the whole head off when I made in (which I hadn't done with CJ yet), and I was interested to see how he would do with that. One foot on the head, and the other on the body, and I was thinking that he may jump off the rabbit like normal, but bring the head along with him. This would not have been good, because I'm planning on flying in the morning tommorow, and I def didn't want him to over eat on this bunny. My fears were unnecessary though, because as soon as I presented his lure, he jumped right off of both, and latched onto the lure like normal. We had a nice big back leg on the lure, so I only hopped him up to a front leg, to put him at weight.....but this pissed him off! He started doing the irritated chirp noise they make, and after I had him all jessed back up, he actually tried to foot me when I was hooding him! As we all know though....I have ninja reflexes, and he didn't connect, but he was fired up! Hind sight....I didn't really let him calm down on the kill, and these behaviors were because of it. Always, always, ALWAYS let the bird calm down before the trade....this is what I have been taught, and I know this very well. You all know me and my brain though....it goes RIGHT out the window when I get excited, and that's just exactly what happened. It is what it is, and today was a good refresher of that lesson. Got home, and he was at 970 grams, so I fed him the goodies, and he is chillen outside on his block as we speak. Psyched about the session...it's the first time I havn't screwed up my weight management, and we put one in the bag two days in a row. I'm gunning to hit double digits tommorow (unless we catch a duck that is!!!!), and I'm thinking we just may do it!
-D-