Hope dies last.

Roach is only flying 3 or 4 days per week now. Ive decided not to go further down the route of pigeons and pitch. Those 1200' pitches are really exciting, but my hunting fields just arent big enough for him to have a real shot on birds - huns, especially - before they make it to safety. For the huns, Ill flush when he is 400'+ and in good position over me (which may not be until he 1000' in which case oh well). If I know we are on sharptail, Ill wait until at least 800' and even that 1000' is fine.

There is one field I am finding semi-consistent sharptail, and Ive been trying really hard to put one in the bag. The only problem is they go straight to a small rise, then drop a short distance to the creek bottom. When they get to this rise and drop, they are no longer in Roach's line of sight so he pulls out of the stoop. Ive really been trying to get around them, but winter sharptail can be tough and these birds are certainly onto me.

Same thing yesterday, he got sucked down then pulled out. It was only half the group, tho, and we were able to get a followup point on the rest of the group in a much better spot. He only remounted to 450' or so, but I got a flush. This wasnt high enough - sharptail acceleration (when motivated as they are when they know there is a bird in the air) is second to none and by the time he made it to the bird he picked, his stoop had flattened. He hit it, but didnt really fly thru it solidly to knock it down. At least he wants them.

Flew huns today. First point I flushed when he was in great position at 500'. He thought hed just scoop one up grabbing it, but it shook him and then made it into cover in the ranch's junk yard. He went back up to 400' and we got another point on a second covey. Good flush, and this time he didnt mess around, clocking the partridge.

IMG_9805.jpg


I had my older dog, the beauty queen Ms. Olive out with Greta Grouse and me today so this was nice. Now that the snow is melted and not so deep, I am bringing her out 1x/week. She loves it so much. As ever, I ripped a leg off the hun for each of them. I hold the foot and let them slurp and chomp all the meat, feather, and fat off the bones as a reward - its their favorite thing.

The huns are really in good shape. Quite a bit of fat which is great to see.
 
And thats a wrap. Im ending the season.

He almost finished on a grouse a couple days ago. Put it down, but not hard enough to hurt it, then chased it off.

Two days ago I put him up on spec. Greta Grouse had run half the field with nothing found, so I figured theyd either be on the large flat on the other side of the field or not. The wind was ripping with a front coming through. Roach went right up, staying at 600-650' pitch upwind of me the whole time, pumping his wings and pushing forward to keep waiting on in good position. Really, really nice flying given the conditions.

After 15 minutes, Greta Grouse hadnt found anything so I decided to toss the kill bird. I havent been carrying homers, just a kill bird to toss if needed, which I havent needed since weve been getting points and flying game just about every outing.

I tossed the pigeon and shouted at Roach. When he started his stoop, I turned around to see what the pigeon was doing. It was flying fine, turning a circle, oblivious. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw other movement. A prairie falcon streaking in from who-knows-where toward the pigeon.

Roach beat the female prairie falcon to the pigeon, hammering it then pitching back up to make another pass. As the pigeon was falling from the sky, the female prairie made a pass at it without grabbing it. Greta Grouse was running towards the pigeon which I think deterred her. Roach beelined it down to the pigeon and, as it hit the ground, he bound on it with my Greta Grouse standing right next to him wagging her little tail as Greta Grouses do. The prairie had turned to make another pass but thought better with the dog there (and I was closing, shouting at her, too). Greta noticed her as she pulled away to fly off then went chasing after her - its nice that Greta knows which falcon is her falcon :) .

There are eagles everywhere now, and they are starting their courting which has them extra territorial. I am down to only a couple fields to safely fly, with the rest having eagles slope soaring, courting, and/or watching every day. Even if I dont see them, I know they are there somewhere. Plus, there are hungry hawks everywhere, hungry prairie falcon, and I wouldnt be surprised if there is a gyrfalcon or two around (this is the time of year Ill see them). This time of year is harsh and deadly. With the weather coming in Friday/Saturday and the cold next week, finding flyable gamebirds is going to get tough again.

Yesterday, he went to one of the local schools to meet a bunchve second graders. I do this every year. The kids really enjoy it - at that age they are so funny with all their questions which also makes me laugh. I was going to try to fly him on grouse one last time today before the weather came in, but I mustve fed him more than I thought because he is way heavy, heavy enough that I doubt hed put the effort in he needs to kill a grouse.

So thats it. Its been a wonderful season, everything I could ask for, for a first year chamber falcon.

He knows about pitch. He knows about position.

He knows that he is a killer, and he knows how to kill. He is all business - he isnt flying around me looking for handouts, hoping for the lure, or even hoping for a pigeon. He is waiting on with a purpose, putting himself into a good position to kill whatever gets up under him, and kill it - or try damned hard to - he does.

Next year he is going to kill a bird every time a covey is flushed under him. Young sharptail will be no match for him in September, and once he learns how to finish on the young ones, these hardened, winter grouse later in the season are going to be no match either. I cant wait.

Hope dies last.
 
Ahh, I, too, am disappointed the season is over! But am looking forward to next year's installment.

I hope the offseason goes well for Roach. Feel free to give us any updates that transpire over the offseason!
 
awesome stuff, glad I found this and was able to follow along.

it is rewarding seeing my pup coming along and being excited for 2023s seasons - can't even imagine the excitement with something as awesome as a falcon. Have a great off season!
 
I've really enjoyed this thread. Your last post (and most of them) reads like a journal entry. Do you keep a detailed journal? A season would be a worthwhile read, and while I'm sure it wouldn't be the first or even 10th book written on the subject, it would be Roach's and yours.
 
I've really enjoyed this thread. Your last post (and most of them) reads like a journal entry. Do you keep a detailed journal? A season would be a worthwhile read, and while I'm sure it wouldn't be the first or even 10th book written on the subject, it would be Roach's and yours.
No journal, just my ramblings here. Lots of memories of flights and birds in my head from the past 10 years, both good and bad memories.
 
Roach went into a flight chamber yesterday. Hell be in there alone for a couple weeks, then a nice female anatum peregrine named Chloe will go in with him. It’ll be good for the little shit to spend the summer learning some manners with her. Hopefully she doesn’t kill him - very unlikely, but it can happen. They are both young so it’s unlikely they make it past the courting phase to the actual breeding phase, but if they do the eggs will be pulled before they hatch. No one needs any more birds at the moment.

I miss the little guy already.
 

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