david901
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Everything posted by david901
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Hi Sean Thanks for sharing. Having looked at lamping in your videos, I must admit its not for me. My bottle would crash at the thought of any obstacles But fair play to you mate, it looks a good way to get her out on these dark nights.
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The weather has been terrible here as it is everywhere else. I got the male out a couple of times in the high winds and rain. Had a few good flights, one was at a group of 3 magpies that got up about 150 yards away. He chased them right out of sight and I had to track him down, but unfortunately no prize. He chased a few pheasants - all cockbirds. One chase, again went out of sight, I tracked him down sitting on the ground in some long grass. I don't know if he grabbed the pheasant in the air and lost it or it bailed and he followed it into the cover. I was hoping to get a crack a
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Its been raining non-stop here for the last few days. Yesterday was a "fast" day for the hawks, so I wanted to get him out hawking today. I waited ages to see if it would stop raining, but it didn't, so as the dog needed out anyway, I thought I'd take him up to a local farm to check if there was any pigeons in the sheds. The sheds were surprisingly empty, but there was 2 crows out in a field yards away. I got the hawk out and got him ready for flying out of sight of the 2 crows. I figure with the rain, he could have one decent flight before getting soaked, so I showed him the crows and
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The best thing for it is a good Avian vet mate. They will be able to assess the damage and the chances of it healing, whether it requires pinning, or taped up etc.
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She is making it look as easy as shelling peas now mate. She looks similar to my female which is German x Finnish. Is she an imprint and is she noisy. Mine is both to those two questions...lol I never got out today due to rain. Typical.
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Bullet, Thanks for the offer mate. That's very kind of you. I'll be in touch nearer the time.
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I meant to say Sean, your goshawk is a credit to you. She is certainly doing the business for you. In my last post I neglected to say that I only use his weight as a guide. I think you can tell a lot about how a hawk is by its body language and its behaviour as you approach. If he has to be tempted to jump on the fist, he ain't ready to go hawking. Sometimes I can overcome this by walking with him and letting him pluck a wing. He usually comes into condition to fly. But sometimes I don't feel confident about his demeanour and with experience I know when to call it a draw.
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Hi Sean If she is recalling well and catching game at that weight, she ain't overweight. Whenever I push his weight up around 1lb 6 he flies well, until he gets bored or peed off, then he does one. Usually I get him back in the same area the next day..LOL
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The hawk was cropped right up on his pheasant Wednesday and fasted yesterday. I had planned on hunting him today, but when I weighed him he was still slightly overweight. With these smaller birds an ounce makes a big difference and its not the first time he has spent a night out on the town so to speak. So I played it safe and just did a bit of fitness work. Hopefully the weather is OK for tomorrow and I will get him out, though it will probably be at crows.
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Hi mate Its been some years since I have flown a redtail, but mine caught a wide variety of quarry such as - duck, the odd pheasant, moorhens, rabbits, squirrels - hundreds of those, a couple of young crows, occasional pigeon, mice, frogs etc , etc. How are you getting on with your hawk??
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Some pics [hopefully]
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Had the gos up at the pheasant ground again. The dog flushed a big cockbird and he chased it over a hill. I found him sitting up in a large conifer tree, but he called down easily. I let the dog work away from me and as I walked towards him, I flushed a hen pheasant. The gos was off after it and after 100 yards or so the hen bailed into cover. the gos did his what is now a usual tactic for him, of flying up vertically 15 feet and then wing over to come down on the gamebird. When I got to him, he was looking around on the ground for the pheasant, so I figured it hadn't gone far. I called t
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Not yet, a lad was going to give me his imprint male, but that means another ruddy hawk to keep... He is wanting to rehome the bird, but doesn't want it sold to one of the numerous idiots out there and at 7 years old its value is rather limited. He offered it to me earlier in the year, but with flying my German male and hopefully I will be getting the female out I just don't have the time for it.
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In my opinion, the best book I have read on accipiters is "Training The Shortwing Hawk" an Elizabethan Perspective by Edmund Bert. I would get the Derry Argue Translation as it makes for easier reading. If I only had one book on falconry it would be this. Another of my favourites is Bushytails and Buteos" by Gary Brewer mainly as it reminds me of my time hunting my old redtail.
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A hell of a long way to go for a hawk, but possibly worth it. I have an egg-laying female who stands, lays and incubates and I'm betting she will rear as well if any eggs hatch. I have been considering for a while if its worth the hassle to breed from her.
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That is a good sized male Bullet. It is harder and harder to get a German gos. Everything is now Russian/ Albidus or whatever. If I could, I would go for a German Female, something around 2lb or so is my ideal. That's what I was going to say, getting those little german males must be quite difficult now......which is a shame. When I first came out here I got a Russian male from Northern Goshawks of Germany........I think I could of had him going at 1lb 15oz perhaps, stunning bird.........too bad I got fcuked over with him, hadn't been properly parent reared & was apparent within da
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Nice one Bullet I caught one with a Harris' Hawk years ago, before digital cameras were common [no pics, that's my excuse ] There was an area that had a few around but the Hawk was never really sure about them until i ferreted one out one day and the ferret nipped it as it bolted. The fact the rabbit squealed encouraged the hawk to grab and hold it. I never did catch another one and Mixy has now all but wiped out that colony of rabbits.
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That is a good sized male Bullet. It is harder and harder to get a German gos. Everything is now Russian/ Albidus or whatever. If I could, I would go for a German Female, something around 2lb or so is my ideal.
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Once he is fit and confident, he goes for just about anything, though the bird species he has had success with, gets him switched on very quickly. He has caught quite a variety of species of bird, but he struggles to hold the bigger stuff. He has caught quite a few duck for instance, but can never hold onto them long enough til I get there, which is quite frustrating. At 1lb 4 or 5 oz, even Carrion crows can give him a hard time if he takes them too far away. A lot of crows weigh more that he does. He also takes a few types of LBJs which can be quite entertaining. Rabbits are not on the
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A few pics of my male German Gos. Parent reared and he is now 7 or 8 years old now [i think - time flies when you're having fun] He flies around 1lb 4 to 1lb 5oz. I had him at some pheasants 2 days ago. He grabbed 2 big cock pheasants but couldn't hold them. I think they are just too much for him. He is more suited to smaller game I think.
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Very nice Bullet. She looks like her injury is well sorted. I do like a bit of rabbit hawking now and again
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I flew my male for 5 season straight caught everything that a male can catch in my area, so gave him a season off last year to get this older female going I bought in for breeding, the breeding didn't go to plan so I flew her last season, I don't feel I got her weight right, she nailed rabbits no problem every time but pheasants and hare she would pull off too soon, think I was at her top weight as she would switch off from me at times, this season ive treated her weight different, now she seems more determined to chase and follow it through more and the recall response is better, she was 6 ye
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That is the advantage of having two hawks. Usually I feel having 2 hawks is having 1 too many, but usually through a season I'm glad I have another to fly due to some unforeseen accident or mishap.
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I really hope she recovers completely mate. I have an imprint female that has lost the use of her right Hallux and she now really struggles to hold game. She lays and incubates 4 eggs every year, so I may try and either loan her out to a breeder or try and breed from her myself.
