Sleeping seemed to go better for us this time since we knew we needed to
dress warmly for bed. Showers were also setup
for us using gravity fed bags filled with hot water hung in a small, square
tent. It felt good to wash a layer of
dust away from our journey even if it was a little challenging getting it all
to work correctly.
This morning after breakfast our entire group gathered in an
open field to photograph the hunters mounted on their horses with their eagles
on their arms. The horses galloped
towards us as we perfected our shots of moving subjects. It was great practice with exceptional
subjects.
During the heat of the day, the eagles rested by a ger, most with leather hoods on to
keep them calm. We used the hottest part
of the day to hold our third critique session.
Ira is really ramping up his comments trying to improve our skills
during the trip.
Later in the afternoon we photographed the drivers with
their freshly washed cars (the river served as their car wash), the family that
owned our rented ger and the Eagle Hunters.
An impromptu session of everyone
taking a turn holding the eagles took up most of our time. We now appreciated how heavy they are and the
strength needed to hunt with these majestic golden eagles.
We gathered in the ger for a question and answer session
with the hunters. The eagles they use
are obtained one of two ways: either taking a baby from its nest or trapping an
adult under the age of three using nets.
The eagles are easily trained with the adolescents taking a few days and
the older ones a little longer. They
only use female eagles because of their size and hunting abilities. The hunters will keep their birds until
around the age of 12 when they are returned to the wild and allowed to
reproduce. A great deal of trust must be
established between the hunter and the eagle as the eagle has the opportunity
to fly off when hunting. The birds can
hunt rabbit, lynx, fox and wolves, with them sometimes even going after small
sheep. They can capture prey many times
their weight with their powerful talons.
Once they capture their prey it is the hunter’s responsibility to
separate the eagle from the animal. They
gift the fur to families hosting them during their hunts but use the meat to
feed the birds.
We adjourned to the open field again for a demonstration of
the skills they must perform during the eagle festivals. The first skill demonstrated entailed the
hunter kneeling on the ground calling their eagle while the eagle rested on the
arm of another person mounted on a horse. Not all of the eagles cooperated but we did
have two that were up for the task. The
second skill involved dragging a skin attached to a rope that the eagles then
captured. A piece of meat was attached
to the skin to make the game a little more enticing. The eagles really didn’t want to let loose of
their captured bounty but the hunters managed to place them back on their
gloved arm to play the game again.
In a competition, an eagle is released from a mountain top
to fly to their owner both seated on the ground and astride their horse. This is a timed trial. They also compete in the fur capture like
what we got to watch. With the heat, the
eagles were quickly ready to rest after the demonstration. The hunters packed up their gear and headed
off with the eagles for their long ride home.
Tomorrow: Back to UB
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