Goshawks

[Millet 4,497]

[arcticgun 4,548]

good write up arctic, have you been flying bop's for long? and yes your right i think its the reputation

 

 

No mate I ain't to be fair , had em as a kid sparrowhawks, kestrels always hacked back to wild or shamefully died,like many lads my age and older will of done (Barry Hines/Ken Loach got a lot too answer for lol) Left it well alone for many years, just read what I could and observed whenever possible, Im not a great mixer and hate clubs etc not interested in BFC or that sort of scene at all, so sort of went alone at it this time, now am older have the time money etc etc to do it for real, was lucky a pal worked in centre and showed me a lot mentord me in a way , met good lads who sorted me right stock, and a fair few divvies along the way lol but one thing a fair few said to me hunters/dog men make great falconers they get out hunt their birds like they do with dogs and get the game down in front of em and thats what makes a bird, problems come when they not getting what comes natural, theres no great mystique about it all, read any of the best books its all simple, but thats where it goes wrong lol suprise suprise, they all tell you your life wont be your own and its not you share it with the bird but thats half of what its about, its not for most and maybe yeah its a comprimise, but hey the birds out hunting with the dogs regular, not sat in a mews as a potential piggy bank, he doin what bops do

 

Both the harris and falcon have given me immense personal satisfaction,, they have afforded me both pleasure and pride in equal amounts, truly humbling just being around them , having them allow you to share a kill and lay down and watch them eat, that something else , for such a noble but shy creature to bow its head and eat trusting both you and your dog will protct it, well thats real falconry, not poncing about pretending your the saviour of a secret ancient art and true modern day legend to be admired and held in high esteem by all. nor the five minute wonder types, same all sports though dogs the best paralell

[TaylorF457 10]

I would recommend the Harris hawk as a first bird

[Millet 4,497]

Why.. Taylor..

[paulus 26]

Why.. Taylor..

[doctor dolittle 1]

ANY EXPERIENCED PERSON WILL TELL YOU TO KEEP AWAY FROM GOSHAWKS AS BEGINNERS BIRDS. THEY ARE TOTALLY DIFFERENT TO HARRIS HAWKS, REDTAILS AND SO-CALLED OTHER BIRDS OF PREY.IT IS ALL ABOUT THE MANNING PROCESS AND EVEN IMPRINTS ARE NOT THE EASIEST TO GET GOING.AT THE END OF THE DAY THE END RESULT IS TO TAKE QUARRY CONSISTENTLY WITH YOUR BIRD. IN MY OPINION I WOULDN'T WANT ANY BIRDS THAT ARE REALLY EASY; THE CHALLENGE IS EVERYTHING! HOWEVER, LET'S NOT CALL HARRIS HAWKS, REDTAILS OR WHATEVER.TO PUT IT SIMPLE, JUST LIKE DOGS, IF THE OWNER IS HAPPY AND SATISFIED THEN THE BIRD OR DOG IS GOOD FOR THEM. SIMPLE AS....I HAVE SEEN IMPRINTS AND OTHER TYPES THAT HAVE BEEN GOOD, BUT SOME HAVEN'T BEEN SO GOOD. SO ONE MUSTN'T THINK JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A GOS ON YOUR FIST YOU WILL AUTOMATICALLY GAIN SUCCESS. HOWEVER, IN THE RIGHT HANDS THEY ARE BRILLIANT BIRDS AND THE RANGE OF QUARRY THAT CAN BE TAKEN IS CONSIDERABLE.......THE BEST THING TO DO IS TO BECOME FRIENDS WITH SOMEONE WHO FLIES THEM WITH SUCCESS AND EVENTUALLY YOU MAY BE ASKED TO GO ALONG WITH THEM SOMETIME. GOOD LUCK IN YOUR FUTURE SEARCH.

REGARDS DOCTOR DOLITTLE......

[flee the land 1]

read some books, even try and get a mentor, join the internatoinal falconry forum. i fly harris, and goshawks but a would say the harris is a good beginers bird get your own young at 18 to 20 weeks old. put your own stamp on the bird. the goshawk is brilliant hawk i wish i got one years ago , but i had flown harris hawks for 6 years before i got a male goss

[esoxluscious 44]

ANY EXPERIENCED PERSON WILL TELL YOU TO KEEP AWAY FROM GOSHAWKS AS BEGINNERS BIRDS. THEY ARE TOTALLY DIFFERENT TO HARRIS HAWKS, REDTAILS AND SO-CALLED OTHER BIRDS OF PREY.IT IS ALL ABOUT THE MANNING PROCESS AND EVEN IMPRINTS ARE NOT THE EASIEST TO GET GOING.AT THE END OF THE DAY THE END RESULT IS TO TAKE QUARRY CONSISTENTLY WITH YOUR BIRD. IN MY OPINION I WOULDN'T WANT ANY BIRDS THAT ARE REALLY EASY; THE CHALLENGE IS EVERYTHING! HOWEVER, LET'S NOT CALL HARRIS HAWKS, REDTAILS OR WHATEVER.TO PUT IT SIMPLE, JUST LIKE DOGS, IF THE OWNER IS HAPPY AND SATISFIED THEN THE BIRD OR DOG IS GOOD FOR THEM. SIMPLE AS....I HAVE SEEN IMPRINTS AND OTHER TYPES THAT HAVE BEEN GOOD, BUT SOME HAVEN'T BEEN SO GOOD. SO ONE MUSTN'T THINK JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A GOS ON YOUR FIST YOU WILL AUTOMATICALLY GAIN SUCCESS. HOWEVER, IN THE RIGHT HANDS THEY ARE BRILLIANT BIRDS AND THE RANGE OF QUARRY THAT CAN BE TAKEN IS CONSIDERABLE.......THE BEST THING TO DO IS TO BECOME FRIENDS WITH SOMEONE WHO FLIES THEM WITH SUCCESS AND EVENTUALLY YOU MAY BE ASKED TO GO ALONG WITH THEM SOMETIME. GOOD LUCK IN YOUR FUTURE SEARCH.

REGARDS DOCTOR DOLITTLE......

 

could you explain in more depth why you deem the goshawk not to be a 'beginners bird' what are the direct differences in the manning and training of both the hh and gos?

[jimmy doyle 6]

get a harris first .then when u get a gos u will never fly anything else but a gos again .beleave me .a harris is like a big butterfly .

[esoxluscious 44]

get a harris first .then when u get a gos u will never fly anything else but a gos again .beleave me .a harris is like a big butterfly .

 

everybody keeps saying this but there has yet to be a break down in the exact diference i.e, manning/training, what can go wrong, what to do etc in a short yet precise post?

 

what makes the gos more appealing to you? what did you do with your harris when you were 'finished' with it?

Edited April 18, 2013 by esoxluscious

[arcticgun 4,548]

 

get a harris first .then when u get a gos u will never fly anything else but a gos again .beleave me .a harris is like a big butterfly .

 

what did you do with your harris when you were 'finished' with it?

This is the bit that concerns me most of all, when lads say 'get yourself a harris to learn with, then in a couple of years move onto a Gos' I also conceed that history dictates that you start with certain birds and move on through the grades so to speak, and for sure the harris more than suits most falconers needs amply, especially the lets say less commited, as the odd day off dont affect em as much, but at the end of the day is it fair too take something living on and rear it simply just as a 'practise run' for an incoming Gos?

 

Surely in this enlightened age, where lets face it if ya chose to go it alone (as many did in the past) these days and simply used books DVD's and sensible posts on the net most could suceed to some degree without a mentor, then maybe we should learn to assess or hunting needs and choose train and enter the bird we both want to fly and suits our needs, saves some poor harris spending its life trotting around a new owner every two or three years, people foget just how long these things actually live for, lieksay just food for thought, Id not advocate anyone going it alone mind , getting a mentor is the right way to go

[Millet 4,497]

The first bird i flew was a harris on rabbit's and moorhen's and i done ok with it not brilliant but ok...but whatever i learned with a harris was of little use to preparing me for a goshawk..they have 2 totaly different temprement's and totaly different manning and handling technique's..for instance you never want a gos to follow on like a harris and you never want to fly a PR bird to a lure the fist and fist only is the way to fly a gos..Goshawk also have a higher metabilism than a harris so food managment is also totaly differant..what you feed a fit Gos during the hunting season to hold it's weight would take a harris sky high weight wise where the gos burn's the food of pretty quick..and depending on what you catch you can almost crop them out and they will be ready to hunt the next day where as a cropped out harris would need a day of without food to get it's weight back down...they is too much to mention on here about the different manning processes and to make matter's worse i can be crap at getting the right meaning across..but what i would say from personal experience is start how you mean to go..if you want to fly a Gos/Spar perigrine or whatever start with one of those as you will basicly learn jack shite starting with a harris..

[esoxluscious 44]

too great posts lads, explained alot to me