Begginer B.O.P

[shaneo95 0]

What is the ideal bird of prey excluding the harris hawk is there any other except owls also

 

Thanks

 

Shane

[Harris Will 3]

Good question....

 

Some say that Redtails can make good beginners birds mate! Back in the old days, some people would start with a Common Buzzard. Weight margins with these were not so critical as with Kestrels & Spars etc due to their size...

 

However, they do need to be really fit & flown regularly to compare with the hunting capabilities to its bigger relation or a harris hawk!

 

Hope this helps!

[trappa 518]

It depends what your wanting to do with it.

Redtails are commonly flown to start in america but the difference between their passagers and our eyasses can be like night and day.

Common buzards are a poor starter bird as they wont catch much and people often sell them within months because of this.

Kestrels too wont catch nothing of interest and are too small to start with, 1 mistake and its dead.

Dont even think about a shortwing!

 

If you are just dissing the harris because you want something different then i would say your attitude is totally wrong.

Harrises are the best starter bird, and once trained you probably wont need anything else.

[dafydd23 7]

What is the ideal bird of prey excluding the harris hawk is there any other except owls also

 

Thanks

 

Shane

 

 

what do you want from the bird just flying or hunting

 

why dont you want a harris

 

A harris will take quarry all day for you ,ideal begginers bird and for exepericend falconers

[shaneo95 0]

No the harris hawk is the one im looking into getting it was just a question as there only seems to be harris hawks which are beginners and thought there may be more nothing against the harry hawk there my favourite bird of prey but was just a question about any other ones

[bullet 125]

harris allday long, i wouldnt like to see a beginner with a redtail, so much more aggression in them could do some damage

[SPAR 2]

IMHO there is no such thing as a beginners bird. I have seen people with HH's as their first bird and F***** them up and seen people with Goshawks who have done the same.

I know people who have had Goshawks, Buzzards, Harris hawks, Redtails, peregrines, sparrowhawks and kestrels as their first birds it all comes down to how much time, effort and the homework people put it.

[graham01 1]

I think harrises are fantastic birds and will have you out in the firld hunting in no time BUT i dont think they are a great learning tool.I started with a kestrel when i was 11 and a buzzard after that and caught with both(granted not a lot) but the grounding they gave me was invaluable.The buzzard especially taught me most and was a nightmare if you didnt nail her weight down she would just f**k off on you and it was impossible to get her down for a day or two,she was footy,bad tempered and highly strung but it taught me to respect her and to work within a tightish weight range.The Kestrel taught me to swing a lure and i had a fantastic bond with it.The harrises ive trained or had a hand in training have been very easy to train and enter and would fly and hunt at quite a wide weight range depending on what was offered to her/him.I f my son decidied he wanted to get into hawking i think i would go down the redtail road for him if he wanted to fly hawks.But like i have said Harrises are great birds but are only GREAT birds in good hands,most harrises are flown well below there potential and i think to realise what there potential is you need to have flown other birds

[countyfan1 0]

Red Tails have the potential to be a good starter bird but its highly recommended that you attend a course which can teach you how to deal with all the aspects of manning and training an RT although id recommend at least reading a good book before making any decisions about your first B.O.P. for you id recommend Hawking and Falconry for beginners by Adrian Hallgarth as this book details training RT's and HH's and explains how the training process and to a lesser degree psychology differs for each bird it also features plenty of photo's of equipment and species. Also try going on the falconry forum they have a board for beginners and theres plenty of people on their with tons of experience in keeping birds of prey

[jasper65 6]

Also try going on the falconry forum they have a board for beginners and theres plenty of people on their with tons of experience in keeping birds of prey

 

Good advice. He'll find plenty of begginers on there to swap stories with , and some good lads who have been in the game a good while......

 

Jasper

[gsi2000stokie 5]

IMHO there is no such thing as a beginners bird. I have seen people with HH's as their first bird and F***** them up and seen people with Goshawks who have done the same.

I know people who have had Goshawks, Buzzards, Harris hawks, Redtails, peregrines, sparrowhawks and kestrels as their first birds it all comes down to how much time, effort and the homework people put it.

:yes: agreed! the thing with the harris is its such a good learner that it quickly learns a beginners mistakes and turns them in to bad habbits or worse. i would ask around the forums to see if there is anyone willing to take you with them a few times and read a really good book or 2. then read em again.

[adeyhawk1970 0]

Last year i bought my son a male hh as his first bird.He learned the basics with the hawk and got to the point of getting it fit and ready to hunt before it got stolen.To tell the honest truth he put so much time into the hawk that it broke his heart when i told him it had been stolen.This year with the help of a forum member(Gentle your a f***ing hero)i got hold of a 5 year old male redtail.With this bird i hope to teach him how to get a hawk fit and entered on quarry plus when hes busy at school i can have a few days hawking with it