Nov. 25 - Thanksgiving Day

Well today was an absolutely beautiful day.  I got up early to take my brother hunting with me.  We went to the other side of Georgetown, leaving the house with the dawn so that we could be home in time to help with the dinner preparations.  I actually stuffed, oiled, and seasoned the bird prior to leaving.  Not Rebel, the turkey…

It was cool but not cold and the sky was just a tad overcast.  The wind was steady but not too bad.  The leaves were really starting to fall so the forest seemed almost alive as we made in.  I kept Rebel tethered to the glove until we were close enough as I really wanted him to get in a good position prior to our first flush.  The first flush is a small lake that is part of the drainage for a larger lake that is on the edge of Justin’s place.  These lakes are filled with cedar trees and the water is as black as ink.  They are also filled with wood ducks.  Every time I have been here, we have flushed wood ducks off of this spot, and while Rebel has seen these flushes before, he has almost always been out of position for them.  I was hoping that he would learn to get in better spots prior to the flush and to learn to actually expect the flush.

So I threw him up in a tree and once again, he did not seem interested in getting to the right spot.  He seemed to be busy looking around for squirrels and such.  I went ahead and flushed the ducks hoping Rebel was close enough to at least give chase.  He saw them get up and zoned right in.  He was off and following but way too far behind.  He flew on ahead a few perches while we tried to catch up.  He kept zipping back to us as if to encourage us on to faster progress…  “They are right over there!  Hurry up!!  Right over there!!!”  He was like an electron without a neutron, bouncing all over the place.

His energy was contagious.  I was running through the woods trying to keep pace with him.  I had never seen him fly that fast before and he was pretty hefty at 41.7 ounces.  He stopped to chase a squirrel that made it to a ground hole practically under my feet, and then off to perch atop a snag right in the middle of the lake.  I was excited.  He seemed to finally be getting the idea of perching high and ahead of me in anticipation of the slip.

I pushed ahead leaving Chris behind with the bird taking pictures and keeping an eye.  I got up about ten woodies and they headed back towards Rebel.  I couldn’t see from my spot but Chris let out a yell as Rebel stooped and just missed one of the ducks by a foot!  Woo Hoo!  He was clearly dialing in on the ducks as quarry which was exactly what I was wishing for.

We provided about five more flushes for Rebel but he never connected.  He was acting very hungry even at this weight and started keeping a bit closer.  I gave him a few tidbits and maybe that was a mistake.  It was clear that he was burning a lot of energy with his rather kinetic flying so I was trying to keep the reserves up but instead I got him wanting to play games.  He would fly to my feet in hopes of playing the jump-up game we do for exercises.   Once he even flew to Chris’ feet in hopes that Chris might be holding a bit of beef heart or a mouse…  He got back on target after a few minutes and started chasing squirrels.  He had some rather brutal crashes through the trees but no luck and then, paydirt.

He caught a squirrel crossing trees out on a limb and grabbed it out of the air.  He was doing a perfect helicopter to the ground when for some reason, he let go of the damned squirrel!  Bizarre!  He had the damn thing and let go again.  I checked him for bites but found none.  Now typically, I would say that the bird is too fat at these weights since he can’t seem to hold on to his prey, but he is flying so hard, I just can’t reconcile that with a fat bird.  Well he is still a young bird and learning so I guess we can chalk it up to learning.

He followed beautifully all the way back to the car but no more squirrels or ducks were seen.  He flew to my brother a few times for tidbits and a DOC.  For some reason, the guy with the chicken restaurant got a little nervous when Rebel tore into his chick…  Weak =)

It was a gorgeous day and Chris got some excellent pictures.  It was great being out in the woods with my bird and my brother.  I gave Rebel another DOC and a mouse back in the mews as his Thanksgiving feast.  I did not want him to be to fat for tomorrow’s hunt in Kingstree, but hey, it was Thanksgiving after all.