Great January Hunt!

Great January Hunt!

The mid-January thaw is always a great time to get outdoors.  If you love to ski or sled or toboggan, or just get out, the (relatively) warmer temperatures always make it easier to enjoy the snow. The animals also notice the change in the weather and they become a little more active.  So I like to take advantage of these days as a hunter and get out into the field to chase after rabbits.  Of course, Tahoe loves to fly for them too.  So with the nice(r) weather during this weekend, I wanted to get out and hike through the woods, beating the brush for bunnies.

Marius came with today to get outside and get some fresh air. Besides, what kid doesn’t like to get outside after being INside for a while?  We started out at one of our usual spots, and Tahoe flew through a series of regular perches.  She follows along quite well now, and really starts paying attention when the brush starts shaking. I began walking through the ‘tough’ stuff, and I mean viney, picky, thorny-briar patch stuff.  The kind of stuff that would wrap around your ankles, trip you up, and tear you to shreds on your fall down.  It was a great area because the rabbit-sign (evidence of rabbits) was abundant and fresh, so I couldn’t NOT walk through this swail.  After I had checked as many places as I could, I wandered off to the left to check out another patch, and Tahoe took a second high perch.  I turned around just in time to see her dive out of the tree, and hit the ground hard.  I heard her crunch through the thorny underbrush, and I was concerned about her feathers and feet. When I heard the rabbit cry, I knew she had hit her mark.  I ran over to her and peeled back the brush to give her some room to move.  She had a nice head-hold with both talons, and the rabbit was quickly immobilized.  I traded her off the rabbit to the lure and dispatched the rabbit properly.  After giving Tahoe a few minutes to ‘reset’, we continued our hunt around the park area and finished up without seeing another rabbit.  It was a good hunt!

* I should also note here that photo credits go to Marius!  He took the photo above!

One thought on “Great January Hunt!

  1. Marius Martello

    Tahoe did a great job catching that bunny! I’m so glad I was there to see her catch the rabbit. Way to go, Dad and Tahoe!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *