I had been gearing Musket up all week for a hunt this Saturday. Rudy and Tom (the other apprentice) were planning on heading out to the 1,000 acre place to hunt squirrels. At the last minute, they cancelled, so I was stuck with a hungry bird and no place to hunt. The farm where I keep my horse usually has squirrels in the trees, in fact, their dog had killed one the past week and I figured if he could get one, so could my bird. We got permission from the owners to come out early Saturday morning to hunt. The night before was below freezing, but we braved the cold weather in anticipation of what was to come. We arrived at the farm in the early morning when the squirrels would be most active, or so we thought. When we got out and started looking, there were no squirrels to be found. Concerned, but determined, we let Musket go and she flew into a tall oak. Something I’m beginning to notice about her is that she is unwilling to come back to the fist once she’s up in a tree no matter how hungry she is. I don’t know if it’s inexperience, or unwillingness, but I think it might just be her personality.
Musket kept a close eye on us from the tree and would wait until we were out of sight before diving between branches to find a perch near us where she could observe our activities. We walked all through the wooded area of the Farm and saw lots of little warblers and woodpeckers, and even got mobbed by crows, but no squirrels… anywhere! Musket diligently followed us through the entire woods. She still has not learned to stay ahead of us, but the fact that she is starting to follow and I didn’t have to tease her with the lure once is a vast improvement and well ahead of where I thought we were.
Eventually we had to give up the hunt. Maybe it was just too cold for the squirrels to be out yet, who knows. We had brought “Brandy” with us to hunt in the event that wild game was unavailable. Musket sure knows a rabbit. As soon as she saw the baggie, she made for it and latched on with determination. She had the rabbit by the back legs and it struggled for a while, but eventually gave up. I was amazed at how quickly the frisky rabbit who had clawed up and down my arm, easily outweighed my hawk by double, and with the threat of impending doom just lay down and gave up. Musket worked to get a better hold, always trying to get control of the head. She definitely knows how to work rabbits. Hazen and I assessed the situation. Musket had wrapped herself around a branch and the rabbit and I was afraid if we tried to adjust things that she would break her leg because she was not letting go of that rabbit to save her life. Eventually we decided to cover the rabbit from her view, quietly finish it off, and then get her to trade off to the chicken leg I had in my vest. It took her a while, but she eventually gave up the rabbit and came up to the fist. I let her have the whole leg since I wasn’t planning on hunting her again that weekend. She was very satisfied with herself.
So, now we’re down 1 baggie and 1 previously dead squirrel. Still nothing wild taken alive. I have a lead on a 600 acre place in a sandhill that is supposedly loaded with squirrels. Hopefully I can get access to it and put her somewhere where she can’t miss a squirrel. So far so good though.
Musket kept a close eye on us from the tree and would wait until we were out of sight before diving between branches to find a perch near us where she could observe our activities. We walked all through the wooded area of the Farm and saw lots of little warblers and woodpeckers, and even got mobbed by crows, but no squirrels… anywhere! Musket diligently followed us through the entire woods. She still has not learned to stay ahead of us, but the fact that she is starting to follow and I didn’t have to tease her with the lure once is a vast improvement and well ahead of where I thought we were.
Eventually we had to give up the hunt. Maybe it was just too cold for the squirrels to be out yet, who knows. We had brought “Brandy” with us to hunt in the event that wild game was unavailable. Musket sure knows a rabbit. As soon as she saw the baggie, she made for it and latched on with determination. She had the rabbit by the back legs and it struggled for a while, but eventually gave up. I was amazed at how quickly the frisky rabbit who had clawed up and down my arm, easily outweighed my hawk by double, and with the threat of impending doom just lay down and gave up. Musket worked to get a better hold, always trying to get control of the head. She definitely knows how to work rabbits. Hazen and I assessed the situation. Musket had wrapped herself around a branch and the rabbit and I was afraid if we tried to adjust things that she would break her leg because she was not letting go of that rabbit to save her life. Eventually we decided to cover the rabbit from her view, quietly finish it off, and then get her to trade off to the chicken leg I had in my vest. It took her a while, but she eventually gave up the rabbit and came up to the fist. I let her have the whole leg since I wasn’t planning on hunting her again that weekend. She was very satisfied with herself.
So, now we’re down 1 baggie and 1 previously dead squirrel. Still nothing wild taken alive. I have a lead on a 600 acre place in a sandhill that is supposedly loaded with squirrels. Hopefully I can get access to it and put her somewhere where she can’t miss a squirrel. So far so good though.
Our second "Brandy" kill. Don't feel sorry for it, this rabbit was a DEVIL!
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