Hoping to take up falconry!!!

[Foxgun Tom 75]

Time to pick the hawking and falconry guys brains!!!!!!! For a number of years now, I've been thinking of getting a Harris Hawk, and the only thing that stopped me is that I never thought I'd have enough time to devote to a bird?????? but that will change later this year. Over the last 30 years I've been out on numerous foray's with friends :friends: and their birds. I've got, and read a few books on the subject and I want to know from you guy's, what the pitfalls are?? I've allready seen the benefits. Should I consider going to a Falconry school and enrolling on one of the apprenticeship schemes???? any advice, practical help or opinions would be greatly appriciated

 

Tom

[jasper65 6]

Time to pick the hawking and falconry guys brains!!!!!!! For a number of years now, I've been thinking of getting a Harris Hawk, and the only thing that stopped me is that I never thought I'd have enough time to devote to a bird?????? but that will change later this year. Over the last 30 years I've been out on numerous foray's with friends :friends:  and their birds. I've got, and read a few books on the subject and I want to know from you guy's, what the pitfalls are?? I've allready seen the benefits. Should I consider going to a Falconry school and enrolling on one of the apprenticeship schemes???? any advice, practical help or opinions would be greatly appriciated

 

Tom

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hello Foxgun Tom

 

This is a link to a thread a while back where someone asked basically the same question when I was adertiseing some young Harris's, there is a bit of info in the link but its won't beat the hands on aproach when you learn the basics.

 

Take Care

 

Tony

 

PS, Click the link below a few posts down from the top post .

 

http://thehuntinglife.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3738

[Guest Foxygrunter]

Tom the only advice i will give you is get a PR harris and keep it that way .If you treat it like a pet you will end up with a bird that looks like a hawk and acts like a budgie. (DONT BECOME THE BIRDS MOTHER .BE ITS HUNTING PARTNER)

 

PS GOOD LUCK WITH WHAT YOU GET. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL.

[Foxgun Tom 75]

Cheers mate I'd already made the deciscion to get a parent reared bird rather than an imprint, re a Harris?? male or female?? I know about the size difference!!! but is it that important!!! or does it depend on the quarry size difference, between eg: rabbit and hares, and is anyone taking hares regularly with their harris??

 

Be gentle with your replies as I'm a novice , and I won't be getting a bird until I think I'm ready

 

Tom

[Guest Foxygrunter]

If you have a good few hares go for a female the males aint up to it even the big males. if its to be rabbits and stuff ducks etc i found a male was that bit more agile

[IanB 0]

Look at the state of my gloves :realmad:

[jasper65 6]

Look at the state of my gloves  :realmad: 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Looks like a lovelly healthy bird Millet! the cere and its legs have that lovelly yellow colour from a good healthy diet, I'm sure you'll be going out doing some damage with it fairly soon mate! the glove looks fine to me, it looks like a glove thats seen some action in its time.

 

cheers

 

Tony

[IanB 0]

Will try

[jasper65 6]

Hello Millet

 

You could take her weight down perhaps a couple of Oz's at the most, I should'nt say that really without seeing the bird but if the bird was 2lb 7 top weight and she is down now to 2lb 4 oz's she still has less than 10% off her body weight! <10% would be 3.9oz's> or just even it out to 4oz's as .1 is nothing, I would see how she responds to quarry a Oz less at first and also try taking her out a Hour or so later than the normal 24hr's period, I can't speak for Harris's but when I enter a fresh new Gos I always take them out and fly them at first about Hour before dark, Gos's like to kill and get some food in their crop before they go down to roost! the last thing they want to do is go down with a empty crop and its not long before they nail something, you could try flying her later in the afternoons until she gets the message, I'll be surprised when she is keen if she refuse's a Rabbit bolted out in front of her.

 

Apparantly a good method of serving the bird with baggies is to dig a hole in a field about 12 inches deep wide enough to fit your quarry into comfortably, place it in the hole with a board layed on the top covering the hole, to this board you tie your creance and stand back say 20 feet at first with the other end of the creance in your right hand, pull the creance to pull the board away from the top of the hole and whatever you have placed in there will flush infront of the bird teaching the bird to leave the fist for what it thinks is wild quarry flushed infront of it, if you keep throwing out baggies or get someone else to do it the bird soon learns the difference between good strong quarry and stuff chucked out for it, they're not fooled for long! I have obviously never practiced this myself but in countries where its legal they seem to have good success .

 

cheers

 

Tony

[muppet 0]

Hey dont give up,take it up when your ready and you feel you,ve got the experience and the knowlege you need,its a big committment and shouldn,t be taken up lightly i did my home work for three years before i bought my first harris but i,ve never regretted a second of it.I now own a pair and my wife loves flying and hunting them as much as i do and i cant get them out enough.A cracking book i read if its of help to you was Emma Fords Falconry (Art and Practice)its a great no nonsense book full of practical advice about training and hunting harrises as well as all the other birds of prey.

Check out my website as its got some info about hunting and pics as well.

http://harrishawking.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/

All the best

Jeff

[Guest what a flight]

The only problem i am now dealing with is the screaming in the aivary/getting weighed and in transit.. ..once she is loose on the hunting ground she is silent.

From what ive read and been told im doing nothing wrong..it could be due to her being imature which im hopeing...or worse it could of been fecked up before i got it..

Time will tell.. .

Millet

 

 

Millet,

the fastest and best harris i ever flew and bred ,became vocal only at home after contact with a male that was a noisy little twat,i put up with it for a few years,but it soon gets you,and if yer unlucky to have them neighbours down and i parted with her.She also gave me my finest days hawking with a brown crow taking 2 cock pheasants,a redleg parto,a 3 quarter grown brown hare and 9 rabbits,all flown down by a very fit hawk,no pounces or muggings 9 years ago in scotland.

cheers,

W A F.........

 

Trophy pic.

 

 

 

 

another.

 

 

the girl.

[Guest the dogs bollok]

turk is the man to ask for falconry

[Guest what a flight]

Thats a good bag with the dogs millet, pity we don't have numbers anywhere near that round hear to run on.those bags arn't really that big for the harris,just what to expect from a hawk thats hunted every other day through the season and flown hard with decent slips on game,will give you a hawk close to top fitness you can get.seen too many weekend warriors birds getting blown of by rabbits even over short slips ,a harris should ba able to get up on the rebound 3 or 4 times without tireing to come to terms with rabbits,theres not many who have or can get a harris near that level,you wanna see them pumping away constant not flap flap glide.Rabbits should be reeled in the only quarry that can cosistantly straightline yer harris if it misses on initial contact are hares and pheasants and a couple of other birds good hawking,sounds like yours will do the bizz with a proper start to the season .....

 

W A F.........

[rocket ronnie 243]

gd pics them tony how long ago wer they an wer was they ?

[Guest what a flight]

gd pics them tony how long ago wer they an wer was they ?

 

 

Alright mate,

they where took when you was shitting yeller ,

scotland ,the dunes ,and the bottom one on the pig farm i took you the other day