Hares

[brianL84 11]

get the pictures up and who says your not running a lurcher and then putting your mhh on the kill i want action shots before i believe it i flew male and female on hare ond still came away empty handed mate my cousin had a female flew 1lb 15 oz n this f****r was bad to the bone an absolute killing machine and a hare flung her about like an empty tracksuit

[martin hollinshead 13]

get the pictures up and who says your not running a lurcher and then putting your mhh on the kill i want action shots before i believe it i flew male and female on hare ond still came away empty handed mate my cousin had a female flew 1lb 15 oz n this f****r was bad to the bone an absolute killing machine and a hare flung her about like an empty tracksuit

Brian,

Love the tracksuit bit!

To be sure, anyone who has spent much time flying brown hares with any of the mid-range hawks will have seen some pretty rough encounters – rollover, cartwheels, high launches – bird still attached – and terrifying back to earth tumbles. This is seriously worrying stuff; to see it any other way would be a grave error. Every single precaution needs to be taken.

The hare-catching Harris needs to be super fit and hard muscled – the softie is more easily injured. Ground conditions need to be assessed: only a lunatic would fly on hard (frozen, drought-baked) rough ground.

But perhaps most important for me is that the bird wants to do it; it’s her choice. There can be no weight-manipulation bullying – she must want to go. There is often some confusion with the weight issue, but the well prepared, fit and confident Harris will fly hares at her proper rabbit weight, and switch from the smaller to the bigger quarry without batting an eye.

The good, carefully handled female Harris can be very effective on brown hares: one on one; she will take them. And the experienced bird shows an extraordinary eagerness to look after herself: she knows the quarry is dangerous and flies with a lethal blend of caution and determination. Flights can assume an almost longwing feel, with passes, climbs and deadly stoops. It’s all of this that has made hare hawking with the Harris so interesting.

If I can sneak in a bit of advertising, a massively detailed account of hare hawking can be found in The Complete Rabbit & Hare Hawk http://business.virgin.net/fernhill.press/book3.htm

All the best,

Martin

[brianL84 11]

get the pictures up and who says your not running a lurcher and then putting your mhh on the kill i want action shots before i believe it i flew male and female on hare ond still came away empty handed mate my cousin had a female flew 1lb 15 oz n this f****r was bad to the bone an absolute killing machine and a hare flung her about like an empty tracksuit

Brian,

Love the tracksuit bit!

To be sure, anyone who has spent much time flying brown hares with any of the mid-range hawks will have seen some pretty rough encounters – rollover, cartwheels, high launches – bird still attached – and terrifying back to earth tumbles. This is seriously worrying stuff; to see it any other way would be a grave error. Every single precaution needs to be taken.

The hare-catching Harris needs to be super fit and hard muscled – the softie is more easily injured. Ground conditions need to be assessed: only a lunatic would fly on hard (frozen, drought-baked) rough ground.

But perhaps most important for me is that the bird wants to do it; it’s her choice. There can be no weight-manipulation bullying – she must want to go. There is often some confusion with the weight issue, but the well prepared, fit and confident Harris will fly hares at her proper rabbit weight, and switch from the smaller to the bigger quarry without batting an eye.

The good, carefully handled female Harris can be very effective on brown hares: one on one; she will take them. And the experienced bird shows an extraordinary eagerness to look after herself: she knows the quarry is dangerous and flies with a lethal blend of caution and determination. Flights can assume an almost longwing feel, with passes, climbs and deadly stoops. It’s all of this that has made hare hawking with the Harris so interesting.

If I can sneak in a bit of advertising, a massively detailed account of hare hawking can be found in The Complete Rabbit & Hare Hawk http://business.virgin.net/fernhill.press/book3.htm

All the best,

Martin

good post martin and i agree to a point and have herd of fhh take hare and i believe thay can but the lad on here says his male is taking brown hare iv flown a male for many seasons and he was super fit like u said and he had no chance dont get me wrong i would love to see a male take one and hold on but i personaly find this hard to believe

[arcticgun 4,548]

so whats the general verdict on say open field in dec fit hares FHH that is flown regular and fit?

[brianL84 11]

my moneys on the hare miby a hawk will take one or two but i think if someone who flys hare with harris was to be totaly honist they would say the hare wins most of the time

[scothunter 12,609]

Hi! John, Female HHs Can and will take Hares. It is worth remembering that the Hare is a powerful animal and is capable of seriously injuring the bird which may even result in the death of the bird. In my opinion Hares are better left to the birds that are better equipped to deal with them, ie: Eagles

 

there better left to lurchers lol

[dirtwinger 235]

My mate Mike with his hare killing male harris, this bird kills at least fifty hares a season.

 

all the best Terence

[martin hollinshead 13]

My mate Mike with his hare killing male harris, this bird kills at least fifty hares a season.

 

all the best Terence

Hi Terence,

The hare shown is a black-tailed jack (correct?), an animal US male Harris hawks will indeed take. However, asking or expecting a male to take our adult European brown hares is quite a different matter.

All the best,

Martin

[martin hollinshead 13]

get the pictures up and who says your not running a lurcher and then putting your mhh on the kill i want action shots before i believe it i flew male and female on hare ond still came away empty handed mate my cousin had a female flew 1lb 15 oz n this f****r was bad to the bone an absolute killing machine and a hare flung her about like an empty tracksuit

Brian,

Love the tracksuit bit!

To be sure, anyone who has spent much time flying brown hares with any of the mid-range hawks will have seen some pretty rough encounters – rollover, cartwheels, high launches – bird still attached – and terrifying back to earth tumbles. This is seriously worrying stuff; to see it any other way would be a grave error. Every single precaution needs to be taken.

The hare-catching Harris needs to be super fit and hard muscled – the softie is more easily injured. Ground conditions need to be assessed: only a lunatic would fly on hard (frozen, drought-baked) rough ground.

But perhaps most important for me is that the bird wants to do it; it’s her choice. There can be no weight-manipulation bullying – she must want to go. There is often some confusion with the weight issue, but the well prepared, fit and confident Harris will fly hares at her proper rabbit weight, and switch from the smaller to the bigger quarry without batting an eye.

The good, carefully handled female Harris can be very effective on brown hares: one on one; she will take them. And the experienced bird shows an extraordinary eagerness to look after herself: she knows the quarry is dangerous and flies with a lethal blend of caution and determination. Flights can assume an almost longwing feel, with passes, climbs and deadly stoops. It’s all of this that has made hare hawking with the Harris so interesting.

If I can sneak in a bit of advertising, a massively detailed account of hare hawking can be found in The Complete Rabbit & Hare Hawk http://business.virgin.net/fernhill.press/book3.htm

All the best,

Martin

good post martin and i agree to a point and have herd of fhh take hare and i believe thay can but the lad on here says his male is taking brown hare iv flown a male for many seasons and he was super fit like u said and he had no chance dont get me wrong i would love to see a male take one and hold on but i personaly find this hard to believe

Hi Brian,

The male Harris has guts and many of them like ‘fur’ a lot: many have made great rabbit hawks and Scottish mountain hares have fallen to them also. As far as bigger, tougher hares go, there will always be incidents of astonishing feats being witnessed – after all deer have been bagged with goshawks! However, when flying a single hawk, in my experience, hawking adult UK brown hares is female terrain only – and then, as already mentioned, something to be tackled with care and thought.

Martin

[dirtwinger 235]

My mate Mike with his hare killing male harris, this bird kills at least fifty hares a season.

 

all the best Terence

Hi Terence,

The hare shown is a black-tailed jack (correct?), an animal US male Harris hawks will indeed take. However, asking or expecting a male to take our adult European brown hares is quite a different matter.

All the best,

Martin

I quite agree Martin, the blacktail is very different to handle compared to a very large brown hare which I have taken with a female harris back in the day. Although most brown hares are still going to be mostly in the 6 to 7lb range with only a minority going over 9lbs or more. The key physical difference between a brown hare and blacktail is in muscle mass, the brown are much more thickly built and that makes them harder to hold than the narrow blacktail.

 

All the best Terence

[brianL84 11]

get the pictures up and who says your not running a lurcher and then putting your mhh on the kill i want action shots before i believe it i flew male and female on hare ond still came away empty handed mate my cousin had a female flew 1lb 15 oz n this f****r was bad to the bone an absolute killing machine and a hare flung her about like an empty tracksuit

Brian,

Love the tracksuit bit!

To be sure, anyone who has spent much time flying brown hares with any of the mid-range hawks will have seen some pretty rough encounters – rollover, cartwheels, high launches – bird still attached – and terrifying back to earth tumbles. This is seriously worrying stuff; to see it any other way would be a grave error. Every single precaution needs to be taken.

The hare-catching Harris needs to be super fit and hard muscled – the softie is more easily injured. Ground conditions need to be assessed: only a lunatic would fly on hard (frozen, drought-baked) rough ground.

But perhaps most important for me is that the bird wants to do it; it’s her choice. There can be no weight-manipulation bullying – she must want to go. There is often some confusion with the weight issue, but the well prepared, fit and confident Harris will fly hares at her proper rabbit weight, and switch from the smaller to the bigger quarry without batting an eye.

The good, carefully handled female Harris can be very effective on brown hares: one on one; she will take them. And the experienced bird shows an extraordinary eagerness to look after herself: she knows the quarry is dangerous and flies with a lethal blend of caution and determination. Flights can assume an almost longwing feel, with passes, climbs and deadly stoops. It’s all of this that has made hare hawking with the Harris so interesting.

If I can sneak in a bit of advertising, a massively detailed account of hare hawking can be found in The Complete Rabbit & Hare Hawk http://business.virgin.net/fernhill.press/book3.htm

All the best,

Martin

good post martin and i agree to a point and have herd of fhh take hare and i believe thay can but the lad on here says his male is taking brown hare iv flown a male for many seasons and he was super fit like u said and he had no chance dont get me wrong i would love to see a male take one and hold on but i personaly find this hard to believe

Hi Brian,

The male Harris has guts and many of them like ‘fur’ a lot: many have made great rabbit hawks and Scottish mountain hares have fallen to them also. As far as bigger, tougher hares go, there will always be incidents of astonishing feats being witnessed – after all deer have been bagged with goshawks! However, when flying a single hawk, in my experience, hawking adult UK brown hares is female terrain only – and then, as already mentioned, something to be tackled with care and thought.

Martin

definetly best left to females and i have seen a few astonishin feats myself some i would never tell as i would probably be called a lier but i hope my mhh surprises me one day and shuts me up that would be funny

[brianL84 11]

My mate Mike with his hare killing male harris, this bird kills at least fifty hares a season.

 

all the best Terence

think you will find thats not a hare our hares would make 3 of that pathetic excuse for a rabbit

[dirtwinger 235]

My mate Mike with his hare killing male harris, this bird kills at least fifty hares a season.

 

all the best Terence

think you will find thats not a hare our hares would make 3 of that pathetic excuse for a rabbit

I have caught plenty of brown hares with harris hawks and other hawks and falcons also blue hares, blacktailed jackrabbits, whitetailed jackrabbits and 3 different species of rabbit. As you cannot even identify a hare albeit a different species, lay off posting until you know what your talking about mate!

 

All the best Terence

[martin hollinshead 13]

This whole thing about evaluating different hares in terms of the difficulty/ease in which they can be subdued would make an interesting thread in itself.

Martin

[scothunter 12,609]

was having a laugh mate like the bit in crocodile dundee THATS NOT A KNIFE THIS IS A KNIFE kind of thing but seems you should lay off posting untill u find a sence of humor im quite aware as to the species in the picture and to be honist it is only the size of a rabbit from hear if u saw a proper fit scottish january hare your bird would have very little chance of holding one but hay your the expert whos caught all kind of hare and rabbit so who am i to tell u different ? now go and f**k yourself

 

is this you typing this brian,or is it your mate again lol