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[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.

 

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

 

I wouldn't fancy ferreting on my own but I admire you for doing so.If you didn't use ferrets would you struggle to find quarry for your hawk or do you like ferreting anyway ? I'm asking because I think I will end up using ferrets especially after the New Year as there's always less rabbits sat out and about and what is can be harder to take.

[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.

 

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

I meant that for Arcticgun you'd posted whilst I was typing lol.

Everything I'd read in books suggested that you should try hares after being successful on rabbits but I was reading a thread somewhere recently where some thought it best to keep a hare hawk away from too many rabbits incase the hawk starts to refuse hares for easier quarry.

[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

 

I wouldn't fancy ferreting on my own but I admire you for doing so.If you didn't use ferrets would you struggle to find quarry for your hawk or do you like ferreting anyway ? I'm asking because I think I will end up using ferrets especially after the New Year as there's always less rabbits sat out and about and what is can be harder to take.

 

 

well i dont own a working dog so ye i would massively struggle, like pointer said he beat every bush and didnt have owt out of it but put his pointer on it and he flushed game straight away. if i didnt have a hawk i wouldnt have ferrets as i dont like using nets enough to be out all the time. but i wont be out on my own as much next season as im taking smoothfinish off of here out as he is looking at getting a harris hawk next season. meeting him next week, should be good to put a name to a face. i will just be glad of the extra company and help. as for ferreting on yourself it can be done like ive proven but things just need to be fast paced, like dispatch the rabbit run back find the ferret, trade the hawk of which thankfully isnt a problem whatsoever his manners are great on kills.

[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

I meant that for Arcticgun you'd posted whilst I was typing lol.

Everything I'd read in books suggested that you should try hares after being successful on rabbits but I was reading a thread somewhere recently where some thought it best to keep a hare hawk away from too many rabbits incase the hawk starts to refuse hares for easier quarry.

 

ha though you was. what a loud of bollocks if you have a hawk with a good kill instinct there should be no reason it would refuse a hare unless it has had a previous bad experience, which the falconer should do his best to avoid. however i do have the intentions of lamping pigeons from trees next year when the rabbit populations become lower on my local permissions but apparently if lamped regularly on pigeons a hawk will refuse lamped rabbit if it hears pigeons in the trees. but i would only be doing it once a week maximum so i doubt that would happen very much the desire to chase would just be too much in my opinion for a hawk to turn its beak up at it ha

[CrowHawker 227]

 

 

 

 

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

You got any pics of your falcon?

[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

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

You got any pics of your falcon?

 

it would be nice to see him, love the look of the falcon, whats he called? is he a pure saker or am i totally wrong ha

[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.

 

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

I meant that for Arcticgun you'd posted whilst I was typing lol.

Everything I'd read in books suggested that you should try hares after being successful on rabbits but I was reading a thread somewhere recently where some thought it best to keep a hare hawk away from too many rabbits incase the hawk starts to refuse hares for easier quarry.

ha though you was. what a loud of bollocks if you have a hawk with a good kill instinct there should be no reason it would refuse a hare unless it has had a previous bad experience, which the falconer should do his best to avoid. however i do have the intentions of lamping pigeons from trees next year when the rabbit populations become lower on my local permissions but apparently if lamped regularly on pigeons a hawk will refuse lamped rabbit if it hears pigeons in the trees. but i would only be doing it once a week maximum so i doubt that would happen very much the desire to chase would just be too much in my opinion for a hawk to turn its beak up at it ha

I thought it strange as well but there was definitely a thread somewhere, can only have been on IFF.Doesn't make a difference to me, as I travel further next season it is inevitable that a hare will get up and then its out of my hands anyway if she is flying free.

[pointer 543]

Never thought about pigeons, mine caught one but I was concerned about it eating it with the risk of disease.

Do you run into many squirrels? I don't but I can't avoid it completely, squirrel hawking seems to cause debate amongst hawk owners.

[youcanthide...BANG 1,051]

never ran into a squirrel whilst out hawking, its very seldom i see one at all around here nowadays. a lad who lives near by lamps pigeon with his female harris regular and takes great numbers with them. never thought to ask him if it affected her attitude to lamped rabbits mind his a mate of a mate so ive only been owt with him twice, didnt quite get on with him. i wouldnt worry about feeding pigeon ive taken two with the harris both taken on a houses wall near one of my hunting grounds. the harris comes over the treeline that runs adjacent to the houses garden and takes them before they have chance to take off. i just pulled the head off then plucked the breast feathers not the crop feather then just allowed him to eat a bit of breast meat before trading him off

[pointer 543]

She only caught one squirrel and flew but missed another three or four.Shame about the danger as they are great flights/ hunts to watch.

[CrowHawker 227]

My hunting female Harris is a skilled squirrel hawk with 39 last season not a nick on her I do you hard plastic chaps great bird with a serious attitude!

[pointer 543]

Mine caught its one in deep snow and couldn't control it properly.I eventually helped her out but the snow drift made it difficult.

Can u put a pic up of the chaps, id be interested to see them.

The rights and wrongs of Squirrel hawking seems to cause debate amongst hawk owners.

[youcanthide...BANG 1,051]

My hunting female Harris is a skilled squirrel hawk with 39 last season not a nick on her I do you hard plastic chaps great bird with a serious attitude!

carnt make out what youve said bud

[CrowHawker 227]

Sorry cheddar vally and predictive txt don't work?

[arcticgun 4,548]

 

 

 

saluki flushing rabbits ...