Creance Flying Going Well

I creance-flew Musket outside several days last week. She did really well, though you can’t really tell by this video. She was very wary of Hazen out there with us and kept looking at the camera instead of me. That was not the response I wanted, she should have her full attention on me no matter what if I'm getting close to free-flying her.

I decided to feed her up on the lure on Wednesday and she did much better than last time. Before when she ate off the lure, she freaked and tried to take my arm off. There was none of that aggression this time. She was a little cautious as she ate her quail, but eventually got used to me being there and quieted down. When she finished and was searching the ground for more food, I threw out a tidbit to her and she went after it instantly. Then I covered up the lure and held out my glove to her. She jumped up to me immediately, just the response I wanted! Successful trade-off!

I then let her sit in her Mews for two days to work off the extra weight she got from a full crop and flew her again on Saturday. She was absolutely perfect, coming to me even before I called her. She was never like this last year; I think she’ll follow well in the field. I had a moment when I was flying her Saturday that I thought, boy, she’s ready to go! And I almost cut her loose. But I didn’t have my field jesses or a garnished lure with me so I decided to wait. I also wanted to have her lose an extra ounce or two before trying to free fly her. Last year her response weight was still a full 100g less than it is now, and I worry about that. But her response is just what I want, even better than when I cut her loose last time, so if the weather holds today and it doesn’t get too windy, I’m going to go for it!

I really hope that next time I Blog, I still have a red-tail.