Morning Hunts 12-17-08 and 12-18-08

We went out after the snowfall to see what we could see. My momma (you gots to luv yer momma) took the lil one early yesterday. So I had an hour and a half to kill. I went to what I thought was a sure thing for rabbits. Only thing is the rabbits didn't get the memo. I proceeded to walk a long way without seeing anything. I began following the bird thinking he knows more than me (which is probably true). I ended up crossing a half-frozen stream. I found the unfrozen part when my boot broke through the ice and ended up falling forward and crushing my (naughty) finger. My ungloved hand was numb by that point. So I didn't feel the blood rushing out. I couldn't get it to stop bleeding. I ended up wiping blood on my ole flannel "hunting" shirt and in the pocket of my jeans to try and get my hand warm. After my injury I lost track of my bird. A little fear crept into my heart as I saw my hawking season pass before my eyes. Being the prudent observer I am (no laughing please) I heard a "murder" of crows cawing in the distance. I went to where they were and lo and behold there he was. I will send a peace signed "thank you brothers" to the crows. I lured him down and decided to press my luck in another area in which I had some success getting some rabbits going in the past (see the bottom of this post).

I was able to get one going after being forced to get on and stomp around on a large brush pile. He missed a catch by mere inches, which frustrated him. I had to get to work and spent the better part of 15 minutes trying to lure him out of a tree. I presented and whistled at least 30 times. Finally, he looked as if the say - "oh, you have the lure out" and down he came.

Today was a little different. I went to the abandoned railroad right of way where we got the first catch. He was spot on. I pushed it to the north with no luck for the first 200 yards or so. Finally, I got into some good cover and was able to get some rabbits running. Percy was way to far out in front of me. I push through some woods and he makes a dive. The rabbit ducked into a woodpile right next to the railroad track. I almost have to step on it to get it going, as he obviously knew the bird was there. When he did Percy dove hard from a branch and provided the rabbit a little bit of a "crewcut", but he couldn't hang on. I end up pushing it up to the city limits and then some. Finally, I broke out the lure and called him down without incident. It seems as though in recent hunts the rabbits have been getting the better of us. However, there is always tomorrow (well, after the winter storm passes).