Pro Staff Blog

Crazy Hawk by Justin Morrissey

Late September 2008, I went out to my bow stand knowing that it was going to rain and be cruddy weather. I got out to the stand and got rained on hard, but I was determined to get the big guy out in the woods so I stayed out. I eventually got down early anyway because I was so cold from the wind blowing on my rain soaked body. Reaching the ground, I was so cold I almost jogged back to the landowner’s house.

I reached the cornfield that had standing corn in it still. I walked along the very edge and was climbing over fallen trees. I eventually caught a glimpse of a weird shaped figure on the ground about 3 yards in front of me. I was a little startled. I was walking so fast that I almost stepped right on it. I realized that it was a mature hawk almost seconds after seeing it!

I was amazed at how cool this little guy was. I took my boot and put it by its head to see if it would bite, but it didn’t. I decided that it would be really cool to pick it up and bring it back to show the landowners. So, I bent over and picked it up like a chicken and put it under my arm like a football. I didn’t want to hurt the thing so I was extra careful. I picked up my bow then and started booking it again. About halfway back the hawk wiggled a wing out and almost slipped out of my arm. I tried to fix it, but I ended up getting a grip from its razor sharp talons. That didn’t feel that great, but I sucked it up and kept moving.

When I got to their house I knocked on the porch door and was shaking like a beast. As soon as the landowner saw me, she started running to get me in the house. She just couldn’t believe it; a hawk was in her house. She got her husband up from a nap and got him in the room to see. She noticed that I was shaking profoundly, so she got a big wooden box for the hawk to sit in. I put it in there after we blindfolded it. The landowner gave me a big cup of hot chocolate and started a two-hour conversation!

After I was finished and warmed up, we wanted to take pictures and release the hawk if possible. I took it out after putting on two leather gloves. Its talons still poked through a little, they were so sharp! We got some pictures and then went outside. About 15 steps out of the door I looked at it and its head was two inches form the skin on my arm. I got a little bit of and an adrenaline rush and quick let go. It flew up into a tree in their yard and sat there for a little. “I didn’t want it to peck my arm,” I said to the landowner with the camera. She wanted to get a sweet picture of the release, but I didn’t want that thing to tear into my arm. After the release though, I had to get home to do homework, so I said goodbye to the folks, said thank you for their hospitality, and took off.

I got to school the next day and had a great story to tell. I went out that day bow hunting again and saw a hawk searching for some grub. I wondered if it was my hawk and ever since then, every hawk I see, I remember that awesome experience.

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Kevin Paulson

Kevin Paulson is the Founder and CEO of HuntingLife.com. His passion for Hunting began at the age of 5 hunting alongside of his father. Kevin has followed his dreams through outfitting, conservation work, videography and hunting trips around the world.

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