Bored

[CrowHawker 227]

Their is something special about a dog bird and a And an ape all hunting together would be without my Brittany's

[youcanthide...BANG 1,051]

Id love a pointer, I think a Brittany would be my preferred dog. They might be ugly fuckers but they get the job done

[pointer 543]

I like Gwps not because they do anything better than other breeds Its just a breed I took to, my lurchers incidentally were Gwp crosses.

If I was choosing a dog just for my needs alone I think I'd get a Brittany. I have seen some nice Gwp/ Springer crosses that were a nice size and apparently worked closer in.I want her to work with the dog not only because it should make us more successful in the field but because I like to have a dog around me.As you can imagine getting home from work some days with an hour or two left of light to fly the hawk then having to walk him out in the dark was a mad situation.Made worse by the fact that the Gwp needs a lot of exercise to keep them from going crazy and becoming noisy destructive things in kennels.

 

Mines not trained too well and can run in which is my fault and at worst he sometimes flushes like a spaniel would.My mate Dave C who posts on the shooting section is training a stunning HWV which I'd like to fly a hawk or Arcticguns Falcon over in the future.

[youcanthide...BANG 1,051]

It can get lonely at times when your on your own just with the hawk. Its alot better when your with a mate. Even a dog keeps you in good company at the sometimes long periods of inactivity whilst you are waiting for the ferret to bolt the rabbit or come of a kill as im not carrying a spade all day with the rest of my gear to dig it out ha

[pointer 543]

I was out on my own with the hawk for most of the time and on many occasions another person there would have been a big help.Ferreting was out of the question and the couple of times i tried to lamp her on my own was difficult. Sometimes when a pheasant or rabbit had gone into cover I would be trying to flush it when she would get impatient and land on the floor losing the elevation and any chance of a flight.She does have the habit of trying to walk in and flush stuff for herself lol. Comical but ineffective.

How do you manage to ferret on your own mate?

I thought about it but even on open sets I thought of the risk of losing a ferret when dealing with the hawk on a kill or just having to go get her if she didn't return from a miss.I did bolt a few for mine one morning and was pleased to see she showed no hostility towards the ferrets, I wouldn't trust her 100% with them mind.

[arcticgun 4,548]

A dog is essential to most hawking , mind the harris I found could amply cope alone when allowed its freedom, in fact in one place I regularly exercise my dogs its a far m,ore effective hunter than a terrier and lurcher combination, usifg height gained from perching or simply soaring over said land she was able to source her own meat, I was really lucky with my fhh as she loved dogs and that made it easier for me, however I also really enjoyed hunting her without the dog .

 

This season I plan to fly the falcon again with the pure saluki and am also hoping to add another pure saluki to the team, with the long term eventual aim of breeding the two pures should the new one work ok with bird, and then raising the pups along with a female falcon, couple of years away that as yet but its all part of a long term plan as I want pures that are tuned into a safe around birds, been lucky with my own he is very stable around them, Ive also added a springer spaniel to the team for bushing rabbist and flushing hares, phessies partridge , again maybe should of gone ofr a pointer, and one day I will add one to the pack as the lure of gamehawking is ever present in my mind, I cannot think of a finer way to spend my latter years roaming the moors with a cadge of hunting falcons and a pointer or two, but for now the obsession with hares is my main driving force with both birds and dogs

[youcanthide...BANG 1,051]

I was out on my own with the hawk for most of the time and on many occasions another person there would have been a big help.Ferreting was out of the question and the couple of times i tried to lamp her on my own was difficult. Sometimes when a pheasant or rabbit had gone into cover I would be trying to flush it when she would get impatient and land on the floor losing the elevation and any chance of a flight.She does have the habit of trying to walk in and flush stuff for herself lol. Comical but ineffective.

How do you manage to ferret on your own mate?

I thought about it but even on open sets I thought of the risk of losing a ferret when dealing with the hawk on a kill or just having to go get her if she didn't return from a miss.I did bolt a few for mine one morning and was pleased to see she showed no hostility towards the ferrets, I wouldn't trust her 100% with them mind.

real difficulty, i use a kitten collar with a bell on the ferrets neck so i can deal with the rabbit then when i return to the set i can hear him if he decides to wander, also if i dont know where he is and i carnt hear his bells i will cast the hawk back into the tree and watch his head moving around when he follows the ferrets movement, never fails, he sees things i never would, might have lost my ferret a few times without him. i trust my hawk 100% with my sandy hob he would let him eat of the same rabbit without a fuss but not with my polecat he hates him with a passion and would happily have a go if gave him the chance. but he is nothing like that with other polecats hes sound with my mates and all but 1 of his ferrets are polecats and i bet he has 6-7

[youcanthide...BANG 1,051]

A dog is essential to most hawking , mind the harris I found could amply cope alone when allowed its freedom, in fact in one place I regularly exercise my dogs its a far m,ore effective hunter than a terrier and lurcher combination, usifg height gained from perching or simply soaring over said land she was able to source her own meat, I was really lucky with my fhh as she loved dogs and that made it easier for me, however I also really enjoyed hunting her without the dog .

 

This season I plan to fly the falcon again with the pure saluki and am also hoping to add another pure saluki to the team, with the long term eventual aim of breeding the two pures should the new one work ok with bird, and then raising the pups along with a female falcon, couple of years away that as yet but its all part of a long term plan as I want pures that are tuned into a safe around birds, been lucky with my own he is very stable around them, Ive also added a springer spaniel to the team for bushing rabbist and flushing hares, phessies partridge , again maybe should of gone ofr a pointer, and one day I will add one to the pack as the lure of gamehawking is ever present in my mind, I cannot think of a finer way to spend my latter years roaming the moors with a cadge of hunting falcons and a pointer or two, but for now the obsession with hares is my main driving force with both birds and dogs

i dont get how the salukis fit in because surely they would want to give chase to a hare. or are they there to put up the hare and hold the hare once the falcons got it to stop the falcon taking a beating? surely something like a pointer would be better as they would flush the game only and not chase it? ive seen hare hunting videos with a falcon and two running dogs and if anything the dogs put the falcon off of commiting to bind to the hare and it looked pretty dangerous on the falcons part as they came crashing in to get the hare putting there feet right in the way of the dogs jaws

Edited June 13, 2013 by youcanthide...BANG

[pointer 543]

Your going to be busy then.

I think I'll concentrate on the humble bunny for now, but I know that sooner or later the attraction of hare hawking will have me trying our luck on old big ears.

[youcanthide...BANG 1,051]

Your going to be busy then.

I think I'll concentrate on the humble bunny for now, but I know that sooner or later the attraction of hare hawking will have me trying our luck on old big ears.

i was always told its always better to fly a hawk on hares after 2 seasons or more, so smart call. many inexperienced hawks try there luck take a beating then refuse them all together, better to leave them to perfect there technique on rabbits before moving them on. dont get me wrong i dont regret at all picking my male over his sister but when that hare does get up in front of me i do kick myself for not having the right bird for the job, but its the same with pheasants and partridge

Edited June 13, 2013 by youcanthide...BANG

[youcanthide...BANG 1,051]

Your going to be busy then.

I think I'll concentrate on the humble bunny for now, but I know that sooner or later the attraction of hare hawking will have me trying our luck on old big ears.

did you mean me or articgun?

[arcticgun 4,548]

 

A dog is essential to most hawking , mind the harris I found could amply cope alone when allowed its freedom, in fact in one place I regularly exercise my dogs its a far m,ore effective hunter than a terrier and lurcher combination, usifg height gained from perching or simply soaring over said land she was able to source her own meat, I was really lucky with my fhh as she loved dogs and that made it easier for me, however I also really enjoyed hunting her without the dog .

 

This season I plan to fly the falcon again with the pure saluki and am also hoping to add another pure saluki to the team, with the long term eventual aim of breeding the two pures should the new one work ok with bird, and then raising the pups along with a female falcon, couple of years away that as yet but its all part of a long term plan as I want pures that are tuned into a safe around birds, been lucky with my own he is very stable around them, Ive also added a springer spaniel to the team for bushing rabbist and flushing hares, phessies partridge , again maybe should of gone ofr a pointer, and one day I will add one to the pack as the lure of gamehawking is ever present in my mind, I cannot think of a finer way to spend my latter years roaming the moors with a cadge of hunting falcons and a pointer or two, but for now the obsession with hares is my main driving force with both birds and dogs

i dont get how the salukis fit in because surely they would want to give chase to a hare. or are they there to put up the hare and hold the hare once the falcons got it to stop the falcon taking a beating? surely something like a pointer would be better as they would flush the game only and not chase it? ive seen hare hunting videos with a falcon and two running dogs and if anything the dogs put the falcon off of commiting to bind to the hare and it looked pretty dangerous on the falcons part as they came crashing in to get the hare putting there feet right in the way of the dogs jaws

 

its more about team work mate than kills, the land they flown on is massive but as everywhere there is cover and obstacles, the dogs simply keep the hare from plugging up and sometimes they benefit from hare avoiding stoops or tail chase attacks from the bird, ie, bird turns hare into dogs mouth, sometimes its the other way around, The bird soon sees the value of the dog after it finally learns to bind cause the hare don't give up and is large enough and powerful enough to do damage , seen the bird bound and hare jumping up 4ft in air landing on its back with the aim of shaking the bird off, kicking another method they employ , the dog simply comes in and ends all this the bird sometimes stays bound sometimes lets go, the dog is then happy to allow the bird to claim the carcass, even if the birds missed his call and the dog ends it, he still wants and expects the carcass, the dog simply knows to give it up, surprising really cos I had him three seasons prior to that and one of his main vices we where working on was his claiming of all kills and eating whole or half carcass, strange how he knows to give up to bird, maybe mother nature at her best eh?

 

likesay its not definitely not to everyone's taste but then again I did not ask them to buy me a bird clean it out and feed it, same goes for dogs lol keeps me amused , and as I have said a million times before it beats sitting in a chamber producing spunk as ya main stay

 

its a sport where you will see more pairs of clean heels than kills by a long shot, but he kill is only part of the hunt imho a very small part, its something that always fascinated me so I thought why not have a go, ones season in and no regrets , only downside is they get a lot of damaged feather and you loose days flying if you give massive rewards but sometimes this can be good as they might suffer bruising etc in the tussle

Edited June 13, 2013 by arcticgun

[arcticgun 4,548]

 

Your going to be busy then.

I think I'll concentrate on the humble bunny for now, but I know that sooner or later the attraction of hare hawking will have me trying our luck on old big ears.

i was always told its always better to fly a hawk on hares after 2 seasons or more, so smart call. many inexperienced hawks try there luck take a beating then refuse them all together, better to leave them to perfect there technique on rabbits before moving them on. dont get me wrong i dont regret at all picking my male over his sister but when that hare does get up in front of me i do kick myself for not having the right bird for the job, but its the same with pheasants and partridge

 

let him have a go pal, if he got the head hold perfected on rabbit he can do same with hare just make sure you get in quick and dispatch, not always easy n hare, my female used to make short work of em, very good if ya can get bird to soar above field and flush em if the winds right and they know how to use it they can take em easy style, like most things its down to how they entered, one thing I found strange was say with a lurcher you would start em on leverets , these proved harder for my tiecel than fully grown , he only 2lb , more about heart and desire especially when it comes to falcon 2lb hitting you at speed will do damage

[CrowHawker 227]

When I was in dubai year before last I went on a weeks hunting trip and the Arab hunting men I was with had 2 loves Gyr Falcons and pure salukis hunting fur and feather together bar my first grouse with a home bred imprint falcon is easily up their with the best falconry I have witnessed I will try and dig out the pics.

[youcanthide...BANG 1,051]

get it now bud thanks for explaining it, yes got to give you that the chases on the videos were fantastic from start to finish. i dont know about mine on hare he is only around 1.7 by the seasons end. hes got the head gripping technique down to a tee never not seen him head bound to a rabbit after his second season. ive noticed big differences from when he was hunting as an eyass and now, when he first started he would be right up the rabbits arse throughout the chase but if the rabbit jinked or turned sharp that was the end of the chase. now he keeps high and behind the rabbit so if it turns him its not hard to recover it then drops onto it. my mates got a male harris aswell and another mate has a female so perhaps i would double him up with either then atleast then if mine made first contact another 2 lb weight to pin the hare wouldnt be far behind. but saying that US falconers fly jackrabbits with males and there not miles apart in difference to our hares

Edited June 13, 2013 by youcanthide...BANG