We went hunting again the next weekend. This time I met up with Rudy and Tom (Rudy’s other apprentice) and Rose- Tom’s red tail. Rose is much different looking than Musket. I don’t have a picture of her, but she seems bigger and she is much darker around the face. Tom keeps her on a perch in the back of his mini van and doesn’t use a hood for her. It was interesting to see how he interacted with his bird. I think he had been feeding her up for the moult because Musket seemed much tamer.
Since last time we hunted Musket, we decided to let Rose have her turn first. We drove out to the spot where we had seen the rabbits last time. It was windy, about 10:00 in the morning, but a beautiful clear day. We got suited up for crashing bushes, putting on snake chaps and bug-spray, and Tom got Rose ready to fly. She went up into a tree and we followed her, crashing bushes and searching for rabbits. I was interested to see how she did since Tom had captured her early in the season and had been working with her for several months longer than Musket and I. I was a bit disappointed, she wouldn’t follow us and seemed content to sit in a tree sunning herself. Rudy told Tom to tease her with the lure, he did, blowing a duck call to get her attention. She responded quickly and flew into a high pine tree in bad spot. Tom confided in me that he was nervous about teasing her with the lure since he’d never done that before. Apparently, we’d been reading the same books!
We were simply having no luck flushing rabbits. Rose was not interested in following or even paying attention, it was probably too windy and getting to be early afternoon. Eventually we flushed a big rabbit. Rose was way out of range and I couldn’t help but wish that I had Musket riding with me on the glove, she would have caught that bunny! Eventually we gave up.
Rose was still in the top of a tall pine tree; she was so far away that I had to find her with binoculars! Poor Tom, he just wanted to give it one more go before he put her up for the moult. We went back to the trucks to decide if we wanted to try Musket. Ultimately I decided it was too windy and getting too late in the day to try her. Tom was desperately blowing his lure whistle and swinging away to an unimpressed Rose. I was glad it wasn’t me, I’d be freaking if my bird decided to just ignore me. After about 15 minutes, Rose finally came back down to the lure and Tom was able to secure her… whew!
Ultimately, it was an unsuccessful trip, but still a good experience. Now I know it is better to hunt the birds in the early morning or the evening when animals are moving. Rudy tells me that the motivation to hunt at these times is stronger because it’s early or there is a limited time left before sunset, and the birds know it. The season was getting late, the moult should have already begun. Musket and I would have one more opportunity to go hunting before we were done for the season.
Since last time we hunted Musket, we decided to let Rose have her turn first. We drove out to the spot where we had seen the rabbits last time. It was windy, about 10:00 in the morning, but a beautiful clear day. We got suited up for crashing bushes, putting on snake chaps and bug-spray, and Tom got Rose ready to fly. She went up into a tree and we followed her, crashing bushes and searching for rabbits. I was interested to see how she did since Tom had captured her early in the season and had been working with her for several months longer than Musket and I. I was a bit disappointed, she wouldn’t follow us and seemed content to sit in a tree sunning herself. Rudy told Tom to tease her with the lure, he did, blowing a duck call to get her attention. She responded quickly and flew into a high pine tree in bad spot. Tom confided in me that he was nervous about teasing her with the lure since he’d never done that before. Apparently, we’d been reading the same books!
We were simply having no luck flushing rabbits. Rose was not interested in following or even paying attention, it was probably too windy and getting to be early afternoon. Eventually we flushed a big rabbit. Rose was way out of range and I couldn’t help but wish that I had Musket riding with me on the glove, she would have caught that bunny! Eventually we gave up.
Rose was still in the top of a tall pine tree; she was so far away that I had to find her with binoculars! Poor Tom, he just wanted to give it one more go before he put her up for the moult. We went back to the trucks to decide if we wanted to try Musket. Ultimately I decided it was too windy and getting too late in the day to try her. Tom was desperately blowing his lure whistle and swinging away to an unimpressed Rose. I was glad it wasn’t me, I’d be freaking if my bird decided to just ignore me. After about 15 minutes, Rose finally came back down to the lure and Tom was able to secure her… whew!
Ultimately, it was an unsuccessful trip, but still a good experience. Now I know it is better to hunt the birds in the early morning or the evening when animals are moving. Rudy tells me that the motivation to hunt at these times is stronger because it’s early or there is a limited time left before sunset, and the birds know it. The season was getting late, the moult should have already begun. Musket and I would have one more opportunity to go hunting before we were done for the season.
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