First day out, not bad.....

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 I got up at five this morning, and headed to the woods about 0715, roughly thirty minutes later than target. The east entrance to Patterson Road was blocked because of recent rains, though it looked dry, and I wondered if I would be chasing woods today. The west end was open and a park ranger guy was there removing the barricades for the east.

It was slightly warm mostly sunny, but not bad. Cisco was at 930 with Trackpack and  LF-4 transmitter. A body weight of about 918, roughly half ounce higher than I like. Arnold was with us.

It was extremely quiet in these woods. It's been a very productive place - last season Cisco took a squirrel most days and we always got chases.  

Cisco screamed like a Red-tail and a few minutes later we moved a good sized owl, probably a female Great-horned, but maybe a Barred. The screaming made me believe it was a GHO. We also had Red-shoulders do some minor harassment and a Cooper's flew by.

It was a bit boring, taking an hour to drum up a chase. Arnold had to be reminded electronically why he shouldn't run off and ignore my gentle calling. I tested the telemetry, which worked fine, but the battery was down in the transmitter, a double beep. Transmitter now has a new battery.

After nearly two hours with Cisco following loosely I tossed a chick for him. The second chick was on my glove, Not a bad outing for mid-September. I may bring Farrah here tomorrow since there are not a lot of squirrels here right now. It's time for me to try out a couple of possible rabbit spots southwest of town for her but not tomorrow.

An OK day really, a checkout. I'm glad I had a spare glove in the car........

The non-social Red-tail demands visiting time after a hunt




 

 

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