Free Flying Videos

     Today we had our first free flying mishap. I put bells on Bellatrix today and she's getting used to them. I unhooked her from the creance intending to do a couple of flights to the fist and a lure flight. I took her first jess out of her anklet then tried to get the second jess and she flew off. She landed in a nearby tree and started watching. I decided to cut right to the lure flight. She was quite hesitant, probably for a number of reasons including the bells, being on a different perch, maybe being reminded that she is a wild bird, or having to come down to the lure. She waited for a while, then came to the lure from probably 50 or 60 feet away. She bound to the lure and started mantling, then made her killy-killy call, which made me really happy. She let me make-in with no problems and she ate her reward from the lure on the fist while I tidbitted her intermittently.
     Tomorrow I plan to do two lure flights and really wed her to the lure. Then I may be able to free fly her on the last coturnix quail I have. But I won't be able to hunt her until I've bagged her on a couple of sparrows or starlings and practice making-in when she's on a smaller, more portable kill.