Late Season Falconry Events
OutDoorama 2011
This weekend has been quite eventful for my falconry activities. First, on Friday was OutDooRama. Michigan OutDooRama is a sportsmans expo with all kinds of displays, booths, and equipment for the Michigan Hunter. The Michigan Hawking Club has a booth every year to promote falconry and educate the public about our raptors. I spent Friday afternoon at the show, with Tahoe, talking to folks about our club, how we care for birds and a little about hunting with my Red-Tail.
Hunt Adventure 1
Saturday Morning, I went out to a local hunting spot with Tahoe and we got two slips at a bunny rabbit right off the start of hunting. The rest of the morning we were unsuccessful at finding that rabbit again, and didn’t see any additional game. It was nice to get out and the weather shows signs of getting slightly warmer. Heck, after hunting in sub-25 degree winter weather since December, these days when it gets about 34 degrees are just a treat!
Hunt Adventure 2
Sunday afternoon provided another hunting opportunity for Tahoe as we went over to a close spot to get in a quick hunt. I got her out of the box and she took to a tree right off the glove. She bounced around a few perches and then settled in. I was walking a ways away, calling for her to follow along. After a few minutes, I couldn’t see her any more. I attempted to wait her out like I usually do, but she wasn’t coming along. I spent the next twenty minutes looking for her with telemetry and finally spotted her deep in the middle of some cat-tails. Apparently, she had hidden herself so she could eat her meal that she caught. She came up to my glove without hesitation, but she was lumbering along a little slow, she barely made it up to my glove. Her crop was full and all that remained were a few feathers on the ground with a few blood spots dotting the snow. I totally didn’t get to see her catch her meal, and I totally missed her eating it as well. It wasn’t a spectacular hunt, but at least she was successful and got to eat a good meal. It was successful for Tahoe today!