November Squirrels
Hunting adventures with Team Austringer have been very successful and exciting. Over the weekend, Cedar was successful on a great big Fox Squirrel that bailed out of the second tree she was scouting. There is such a thing as watching your hawk and trusting that the reason they flew across the field to *that* tree was for some game that she saw. Sure enough, after a few minutes of carefully laddering-up the branches, she scraped a squirrel off the main trunk. When the squirrel maneuvered higher up in the tree, she gave it enough room to make a mistake. As the squirrel traversed the canopy, it moved over a tree and scurried down the trunk in the hopes of making it to a shelter a few trees away. When it hit the ground running, I was sprinting after it, full speed right behind it, yelling the game call at the top of my lungs. Cedar dove from her high perch, sailed over my shoulder and nailed that squirrel in a tumble of sticks and leaves. I was right there to prevent the squirrel from biting her in rebuke. It was an awesome chase and Cedar earned her prize that day.
The next day’s hunt was truly a team effort. Kelly, Kida, Cedar and myself found a new hunting area close to the house that needed a good walking to scout out the entirety of the landscape. Plenty of good area for both rabbits and squirrels, Cedar flew hard and found some squirrels to swipe at. We are definitely going to give it another try someday. Until next time, Good Hawking!