The prairie in pursuit
of a pheasant

Belle pointing a pheasant

The peregrine takes the
pheasant out of midair

Although in real time it was
over quickly, the pictures
revealed a ground fight

The peregrine with her prize

February 21, 2008--Northwest Iowa Falconry
Hunters: Ross, Jag, Belle and a prairie falcon.

Weather: Cold and cloudy in the mroning, cool and sunny in the afternoon.

Fellow veterinarian, and good friend, Ross Dirks and I constantly make plans to hunt together more each fall, and for the last two we have only gotten out on a couple of occasions. This year the weather seemed to sabotage us at every turn. I'm typically hunting out west through november, and by early December this year, northwest Iowa was under a thick blanket of snow that ended any plans of an Iowa pheasant hunt.

With my interest in photography and Ross' in falconry, the snow usually isn't to much of a hindrance, as long as the wind isn't gusting or the snow continuing to fall. On several occasions we had plans to get together to fly his bird, with me behind the camera, only to wake up to snow and wintery weather. Finally in February, a day came together that we both were off, the weather cooperated and the bird was flying well.

We started off in the morning with his drahthaar Jag on the ground and he worked the cattails perfectly. Jag pinned multiple pheasants like a seasoned pro, and although the falcon was waiting on, no bird was put in the bag. After several stoops, and a few repoints, the peregrine tired and we decided to break for lunch.

I had a meeting to get to and thought that was all the action I was going to see for the day. As I headed back to South Dakota from my meeting Ross called just as I was passing back through town to let me know he was headed back out. The clouds from the morning had broken giving me great light conditions and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

This time we took his shorthair, Belle, out and she too put on a great performance on the birds. Very early into the hunt a hen pheasant got a little nervous and the peregrine stooped with much of the action taking place in front me, though out a ways. Literally in the blink of an eye the peregrine had the pheasant to the ground and dispatched. This was a sight you could never get over the awe of seeing. The bird was rewarded for her efforts and we trekked back through the snow to the truck.