About Time

[youcanthide...BANG 1,051]

Nice glove then artic lol

[arcticgun 4,548]

lol its a ben long one I had lay about my usual glove I used for last few years is a disgrace now , think I go tit from due north cracking glove might order another one, this n a little glam for my liking, quality though had a few bits from Ben and all cracking stuff, like his lures.

 

Good day today Pointer thanks pal , am real pleased with my new Harris just the ticket to get over Dexter, nice easy style of hawking , no pressure , bird a real pleasure to fly allowing me freedom to concentrate on controlling the spaniel, she enjoying working with the hawk as well, Harris very hard to beat imho, Ive fell verylucky with this girl so far Pointer think you done miracles with Sky and the dog situation, I think you will get her exactly how you want her mate, she a very good hunter the rest will come out in time , I reckon her and Storm got a few good years sport ahead of em

[pointer 543]

I hope your right mate.

[pointer 543]

A disappointing weekend but one with a couple of incidents, the hawks weight was up a bit yesterday so her response was slow, she did have a good hunt on a squirrel but it made it to heavy cover and was lost. Still it was a very exciting few minutes, after that she missed a phessie. There weren't many rabbit around but I'd seen two lads leaving the area with air rifles and a dog so they may have moved the bunnies along or to ground. After that the pointer found a little rat set on the edge of a beck and with his digging and me poking around with a stick four rats did bolt but easily got into the water and cover to safety. Again a good little hunt with the hawk getting herself worked up in a frenzy at the sight of rodents.

 

This morning saw her take a rabbit in a few minutes of being free but it was just a simple drop down from a tree, boring stuff.I didn't have much time as I wanted to be back for the Remembrance Service, for most of the time we were shadowed by a Harris that some kids lost a while ago. They can't be trying very hard to find it as people are seeing it every day. Later myself and a mate tried to bolt a rat from a hedgerow but only a couple were seen and they ran through the hedge rather than into the field.No point in putting a pic up of the rabbit she caught as it just looks like every other picture of a Harris hawk on top of a rabbit.

[Accip74 7,112]

Well you got a result mate, that's the main thing.....are rats something that you would normally go for? Or is it just when other stuff is thin on the ground....

[pointer 543]

I've always gone ratting so I naturally wondered what the possibilities of taking them with a hawk would be. My current ratting spots are unsuitable due to cows etc and the tonnes of slurry. In game crop i think rats would provide good sport as long as no poison was being used in the area.

So no I haven't gone looking for rats with my hawk but when a mate said he might know where a rat might bolt into a field I was keen to try it. My hawk has killed a rat but it was in the open, I think going after them in cover and in woodland like I have done with dogs would be right up there with squirrels for fast action hawking.

 

I guess a rat could bite the hawk but even the biggest of rats won't pose the same threat that a big squirrel does, and hawks kill squirrels all the time. I used to bolt rats when out rabbiting regularly so once this cover dies down and I can go ferreting with the hawk I expect the odd rat to be taken.