Buzzards taking game

[Ratreeper 441]

So there are mixed opinions from more experienced people than me. I agree with what killbilly says, it makes a lot of sense to me but I do take on board that some have a harder time than others. But with a secure pen and releasing birds a bit later, could this help?

 

This might sound daft, but has anyone ever tried using plastic buzzards around the pen? Because they are territorial and this could possibly deter a few from getting too close, just a thought as I look at the metal heron on the pond outside the office. Or if anyone would like to hire a lanky (but well spoken) prick to fly a trained buzzard around release areas to scare wild buzzards off, pm me and I will quit my job today.

 

I'm sure you'll be welcomed with open arms if you ask any keeper if you can fly a trained Buzzard around his release pens ...........Open choke more likely!

You may scare the wild Buzzards off, but what do you think the poults will make of it?

 

obviously not to replace one problem with an identical one, but to fly it in the general area. Just a daft idea but there could be truth to it, I imagine the presence would need to be very regular and therefore cost more than a few pults..

[Ratreeper 441]

So there are mixed opinions from more experienced people than me. I agree with what killbilly says, it makes a lot of sense to me but I do take on board that some have a harder time than others. But with a secure pen and releasing birds a bit later, could this help?

 

This might sound daft, but has anyone ever tried using plastic buzzards around the pen? Because they are territorial and this could possibly deter a few from getting too close, just a thought as I look at the metal heron on the pond outside the office. Or if anyone would like to hire a lanky (but well spoken) prick to fly a trained buzzard around release areas to scare wild buzzards off, pm me and I will quit my job today.

 

 

LOL at the mixed opinions of experienced people with the exception of lab just how many of the posters on this thread are full time professional keepers??

 

 

P.s I used the word professional to keep lab happy

 

couldn't care less, you don't need to be employed at something to understand it, I am not a pornstar but....bad example

[The one 8,473]

The problem stems from numbers years ago it was usual to see one , now you see them everywhere when i was pigeon decoying i had four circling above me and going up the motorway they seem to be on every post , And its okay to say there eating carrion or road kill but there's no that much assailable to feed them all so they have to take what ever easy prey they can take and a pen-full of pheasants is going to take some beating

[nercwys 10]

I would eat you all if you moved into my home to. It would be easier than going the shop..

[danw 1,748]

I would eat you all if you moved into my home to. It would be easier than going the shop..

 

Well I hope I give you the shits :laugh:

[farmerkev09 105]

We have a few pairs on are shoot and not being able to get rid of them just yet we have filled the freezer with rabbits so when the poults go out in the pens we will (hopefully) feed them up on rabbits and they might just leave the pens alone we have been doing this little method for a few year and it works but they still take a good few

[Mark White 25]

So there are mixed opinions from more experienced people than me. I agree with what killbilly says, it makes a lot of sense to me but I do take on board that some have a harder time than others. But with a secure pen and releasing birds a bit later, could this help?

 

This might sound daft, but has anyone ever tried using plastic buzzards around the pen? Because they are territorial and this could possibly deter a few from getting too close, just a thought as I look at the metal heron on the pond outside the office. Or if anyone would like to hire a lanky (but well spoken) prick to fly a trained buzzard around release areas to scare wild buzzards off, pm me and I will quit my job today.

So there are mixed opinions from more experienced people than me. I agree with what killbilly says, it makes a lot of sense to me but I do take on board that some have a harder time than others. But with a secure pen and releasing birds a bit later, could this help?

 

This might sound daft, but has anyone ever tried using plastic buzzards around the pen? Because they are territorial and this could possibly deter a few from getting too close, just a thought as I look at the metal heron on the pond outside the office. Or if anyone would like to hire a lanky (but well spoken) prick to fly a trained buzzard around release areas to scare wild buzzards off, pm me and I will quit my job today.

Please tell me you are joking if you are flying a common buzzard that is trained in a wild buzzards territory you wont have it for long I know of people with redtails which I guess you know are bigger and harder in the wild come a cropper shame on you. But I would quit my job to if some one paid me to fly my bird to lol.

[Mark White 25]

I am a falconer and was a full time keeper we had 6 resident buzzards only ever took poults that were inexperienced in the wild we would shoot rabbits daily and leave them for the birds which helped the poults. I not 100% here but most buzzards pull the guts out and leave them by the side of the body. the tawny owl is probably the worst one for pheasants and will take many poults in one sitting and eat the best bits and leave the rest buzzards will take what ever they can as long as it on the ground or just getting up or going down they will take hare but most do not have big enough feet or the strength to hold a big rabbit or hare or well feathered bird like a adult pheasant. so if you seeing a buzzard on a adult pheasant the chances are it was dead already or not quite right.

[Lab 10,979]

I am a falconer and was a full time keeper we had 6 resident buzzards only ever took poults that were inexperienced in the wild we would shoot rabbits daily and leave them for the birds which helped the poults. I not 100% here but most buzzards pull the guts out and leave them by the side of the body. the tawny owl is probably the worst one for pheasants and will take many poults in one sitting and eat the best bits and leave the rest buzzards will take what ever they can as long as it on the ground or just getting up or going down they will take hare but most do not have big enough feet or the strength to hold a big rabbit or hare or well feathered bird like a adult pheasant. so if you seeing a buzzard on a adult pheasant the chances are it was dead already or not quite right.

In my experience the owl does it because it sees it as something new.....very rarley/ if ever do they return to the same pen everyday a kill and kill like the buzzard does. I agree the Buzzard wont do too much damage to the adult pheasant population but at poult stage its the worst BOP in the country by far for pheasants.

[Mark White 25]

not wanting to sound like a arse buts owls do not return back to a pen what crap I have seen them or seen the after-marth the following morning in a month in one pen I remember well we lost over 50 in less then a month due to a tawny owl on average it was killing 5 to 7 a night we even put a camera up in the end just to make sure it was a tawny and not some thing else coming in as well. agree buzzards kill poults and will kill a few but normally 1 or 2 at a time. I fly a buzzard and to get it to take a pheasant is hard work unless it gets its self trapped and keeps running in to a fence as it flaps about the buzzard does not want to know and even then adults or youngish poults with tight plumage get away as there feet are not big enough or normally strong enough to hold on. If they have learnt by luck to grab the head then yes they are capable of taking adults and hare but as a falconer to teach this takes a lot of time birds in the wild do not get this as they would starve in the time it takes to self learn this.

[paulus 26]

not wanting to sound like a arse buts owls do not return back to a pen what crap I have seen them or seen the after-marth the following morning in a month in one pen I remember well we lost over 50 in less then a month due to a tawny owl on average it was killing 5 to 7 a night we even put a camera up in the end just to make sure it was a tawny and not some thing else coming in as well. agree buzzards kill poults and will kill a few but normally 1 or 2 at a time. I fly a buzzard and to get it to take a pheasant is hard work unless it gets its self trapped and keeps running in to a fence as it flaps about the buzzard does not want to know and even then adults or youngish poults with tight plumage get away as there feet are not big enough or normally strong enough to hold on. If they have learnt by luck to grab the head then yes they are capable of taking adults and hare but as a falconer to teach this takes a lot of time birds in the wild do not get this as they would starve in the time it takes to self learn this.

buzzards are in general lazy which is why they dont make very good birds for falconers, there is no reason a capticve buzzard should be more or less capable of taking anything that an harris or redtail wouldnt, they just seem unwilling to, instead relying on the easy meal from the falconer, and there my friend is your answer buzzards will take poults regular untill there grown on because they are the easiest meal available. tawney owls are very territorial and will not tollerate another in its territory. buzzards were thought to be the same but this is proving not to be the case, i myself have witnessed 7 standing in a grass field waiting for mitsy rabbits to emerge from an infected warren again the easy option.

[Mark White 25]

I total agree

not wanting to sound like a arse buts owls do not return back to a pen what crap I have seen them or seen the after-marth the following morning in a month in one pen I remember well we lost over 50 in less then a month due to a tawny owl on average it was killing 5 to 7 a night we even put a camera up in the end just to make sure it was a tawny and not some thing else coming in as well. agree buzzards kill poults and will kill a few but normally 1 or 2 at a time. I fly a buzzard and to get it to take a pheasant is hard work unless it gets its self trapped and keeps running in to a fence as it flaps about the buzzard does not want to know and even then adults or youngish poults with tight plumage get away as there feet are not big enough or normally strong enough to hold on. If they have learnt by luck to grab the head then yes they are capable of taking adults and hare but as a falconer to teach this takes a lot of time birds in the wild do not get this as they would starve in the time it takes to self learn this.

buzzards are in general lazy which is why they dont make very good birds for falconers, there is no reason a capticve buzzard should be more or less capable of taking anything that an harris or redtail wouldnt, they just seem unwilling to, instead relying on the easy meal from the falconer, and there my friend is your answer buzzards will take poults regular untill there grown on because they are the easiest meal available. tawney owls are very territorial and will not tollerate another in its territory. buzzards were thought to be the same but this is proving not to be the case, i myself have witnessed 7 standing in a grass field waiting for mitsy rabbits to emerge from an infected warren again the easy option.

not wanting to sound like a arse buts owls do not return back to a pen what crap I have seen them or seen the after-marth the following morning in a month in one pen I remember well we lost over 50 in less then a month due to a tawny owl on average it was killing 5 to 7 a night we even put a camera up in the end just to make sure it was a tawny and not some thing else coming in as well. agree buzzards kill poults and will kill a few but normally 1 or 2 at a time. I fly a buzzard and to get it to take a pheasant is hard work unless it gets its self trapped and keeps running in to a fence as it flaps about the buzzard does not want to know and even then adults or youngish poults with tight plumage get away as there feet are not big enough or normally strong enough to hold on. If they have learnt by luck to grab the head then yes they are capable of taking adults and hare but as a falconer to teach this takes a lot of time birds in the wild do not get this as they would starve in the time it takes to self learn this.

buzzards are in general lazy which is why they dont make very good birds for falconers, there is no reason a capticve buzzard should be more or less capable of taking anything that an harris or redtail wouldnt, they just seem unwilling to, instead relying on the easy meal from the falconer, and there my friend is your answer buzzards will take poults regular untill there grown on because they are the easiest meal available. tawney owls are very territorial and will not tollerate another in its territory. buzzards were thought to be the same but this is proving not to be the case, i myself have witnessed 7 standing in a grass field waiting for mitsy rabbits to emerge from an infected warren again the easy option.

I totally agree with this but I must say they are territorial or appear to be I have had a buzzard come in from behind me while my bird was on my fist and try to strike at the bird I was just to the side of a tree at the time the only time I have witnessed what you are saying about groups of 6 and 7 are family members the 2 parents and there young that have not split up due to the fact I would think that food is plentiful and the other areas are occupied by other buzzards making it look like they are not territorial. What birds are capable of taking is down to foot size and not the size of the bird I have flown lots of different birds and a common buzzard is just as keen in hunting as a redtail or harris and can take larger game then what it can in the wild but the amount of work needed to do this is unreal. they hold there weight well which is why they come across a lazy in falconers term.

[paulus 26]

I total agree

not wanting to sound like a arse buts owls do not return back to a pen what crap I have seen them or seen the after-marth the following morning in a month in one pen I remember well we lost over 50 in less then a month due to a tawny owl on average it was killing 5 to 7 a night we even put a camera up in the end just to make sure it was a tawny and not some thing else coming in as well. agree buzzards kill poults and will kill a few but normally 1 or 2 at a time. I fly a buzzard and to get it to take a pheasant is hard work unless it gets its self trapped and keeps running in to a fence as it flaps about the buzzard does not want to know and even then adults or youngish poults with tight plumage get away as there feet are not big enough or normally strong enough to hold on. If they have learnt by luck to grab the head then yes they are capable of taking adults and hare but as a falconer to teach this takes a lot of time birds in the wild do not get this as they would starve in the time it takes to self learn this.

buzzards are in general lazy which is why they dont make very good birds for falconers, there is no reason a capticve buzzard should be more or less capable of taking anything that an harris or redtail wouldnt, they just seem unwilling to, instead relying on the easy meal from the falconer, and there my friend is your answer buzzards will take poults regular untill there grown on because they are the easiest meal available. tawney owls are very territorial and will not tollerate another in its territory. buzzards were thought to be the same but this is proving not to be the case, i myself have witnessed 7 standing in a grass field waiting for mitsy rabbits to emerge from an infected warren again the easy option.

not wanting to sound like a arse buts owls do not return back to a pen what crap I have seen them or seen the after-marth the following morning in a month in one pen I remember well we lost over 50 in less then a month due to a tawny owl on average it was killing 5 to 7 a night we even put a camera up in the end just to make sure it was a tawny and not some thing else coming in as well. agree buzzards kill poults and will kill a few but normally 1 or 2 at a time. I fly a buzzard and to get it to take a pheasant is hard work unless it gets its self trapped and keeps running in to a fence as it flaps about the buzzard does not want to know and even then adults or youngish poults with tight plumage get away as there feet are not big enough or normally strong enough to hold on. If they have learnt by luck to grab the head then yes they are capable of taking adults and hare but as a falconer to teach this takes a lot of time birds in the wild do not get this as they would starve in the time it takes to self learn this.

buzzards are in general lazy which is why they dont make very good birds for falconers, there is no reason a capticve buzzard should be more or less capable of taking anything that an harris or redtail wouldnt, they just seem unwilling to, instead relying on the easy meal from the falconer, and there my friend is your answer buzzards will take poults regular untill there grown on because they are the easiest meal available. tawney owls are very territorial and will not tollerate another in its territory. buzzards were thought to be the same but this is proving not to be the case, i myself have witnessed 7 standing in a grass field waiting for mitsy rabbits to emerge from an infected warren again the easy option.

I totally agree with this but I must say they are territorial or appear to be I have had a buzzard come in from behind me while my bird was on my fist and try to strike at the bird I was just to the side of a tree at the time the only time I have witnessed what you are saying about groups of 6 and 7 are family members the 2 parents and there young that have not split up due to the fact I would think that food is plentiful and the other areas are occupied by other buzzards making it look like they are not territorial. What birds are capable of taking is down to foot size and not the size of the bird I have flown lots of different birds and a common buzzard is just as keen in hunting as a redtail or harris and can take larger game then what it can in the wild but the amount of work needed to do this is unreal. they hold there weight well which is why they come across a lazy in falconers term.

if it was purley down to foot size then the eagle owl would be very popular , back in the day when i flew the odd bird or two i would often take 3/4 grown poults,moorhen and teal with a female spar. glasiers daughter once witnessed a kestrel take a full grown cock pheasent. i flew a male goss that was mustard on rabbits. i too have flown buzzards the only thing ive ever caught with one is a worm and it dropped out of a tree to catch that. temprement in a bird is more inportant than foot size as falconers birds have back up. gosses are the ultimate bird in my opinion and that is purley because of there tenacity and natural blinkered instincts. as for buzzards family units then there must be some very large clutches here

[danw 1,748]

Paulus as much as I hate to admit it you do talk some sense at times I

[paulus 26]

Paulus as much as I hate to admit it you do talk some sense at times I

i have my moments, sadly few and far between