Thor, 3/4 finnish Goshawk

[thurso jack 3]

i havent posted a diary on here as i wanted to wait until i had a first kill under his belt, and today was the day.

 

Thor came out wih a fat weight of 2lb a parent reared 3/4 fin, i flew him free at 1lb 10 and over the last week ive reduced that to 1lb 9, to sharpen up his response.

 

Today i had only planned to do some recall work as it was so windy, but the place i had planned to do so was on an old quarry which held a bit of game, but due to the weather it was only intended to be a training day, i had tried over the last week to get him on some bunnys but with his weight being a little high he wasnt showing much interest and with the bunnys being well used to us they scarpered as soon as we appeared so really he never had a oppertunity to fly at one as they were always too far away for a young bird to take on.

 

anyway walking through the quarry we past anold pit and to my surprise six mallard were sitting on it, they seen me i seen them, unfotunately thor didnt :icon_rolleyes:

 

that was until they took to there wings, as soon as they were off the water he exploded off the fist, this is the first time he has ever flown at game all previous was just dragged dummy bunnys, i ran up the quarry face trying to get a better view, to my dismay the ducks flew off out, but no sign of thor? as i looked over the edge here he was sitting ontop of a mallard drake

 

i quickly ran down and dispatched the quarry and let him pluck away for 10 mins before i traded him off with a chick, to say i was happy was an understatmant, i was buzzing!!!

 

first flight at any form of game and he nailed it like a pro!!

 

here are a few pics, also thanks to all who behind the scenes have been giving me advice and helping me along you know who you are!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[thurso jack 3]

Fecking jackpot matey... ..onward's and upward's now..the weather here has been as windy as feck..im near the cheviot's at the momment so it will be simmilar to your weather and it's blowing a hooligan..

That kill will have done him the world of good..keep at it mate..

Cheer's

Millet

 

 

Thanks millet, your posts and advice have been invaluable

[jasper65 6]

Nice one Thurso well done

 

Its good when you have someone like Millet in a simular situation as yourself to help you out when its needed. fly and enjoy the buzz ...

 

Jasper

[thurso jack 3]

Nice one Thurso well done

 

Its good when you have someone like Millet in a simular situation as yourself to help you out when its needed. fly and enjoy the buzz ...

 

Jasper

 

 

lol i must say it was ideal, as our birds were of a similar weight etc and he posted his experiances and he was a few weeks ahead of me and i learned a lot from them

[Kat 3]

Congrats Thurso... enjoy your season

[silver fox 0]

well done nice to see everything going well for you all the best with your future hawking silver fox

[trappa 518]

Excellent mate. What a cracking little fella youve got there

In the photo it looks like your flying with mews jessies but im sure its just the camera. What a great weight 1lb 9, its open for loads of different quarry there! and a mallard first flight!!!! Back of the net!

Youve got to put the time in with a gos, but by christ its worth it!

genuinely pleased for you mate, really.

[graham01 1]

They look like flying jesses with a small hole punched in the end for securing Al May be wrong though,I use the same method.Well done with the bird mate hope its one of many.

[jasper65 6]

Now come on Lads you know you should all be flying Imprints because they're better , I know its true as this guy in the link below and a few others off others forums keep telling me so ....

 

Gets more Interesting as you read through a few pages

 

Jasper

 

Gos And Woodcock

[thurso jack 3]

They look like flying jesses with a small hole punched in the end for securing Al May be wrong though,I use the same method.Well done with the bird mate hope its one of many.

 

 

you are correct, my mate does the same for his spar and i have justcopied what he has done but on a bigger scale

[Clipper 207]

well done tj

[thurso jack 3]

after yesterdays heady heights we came back down to earth lol

 

my dad came a walk with us and we went to another pond, nothing on this one so we then tried another this one held 6 or 7 teal, they took off about 40 foot from us and thor ignored them he was a little up (5gm) on yesterday, that and a new face following us must have put him off a little?

 

on our walk back we spotted a squatting rabbit, i walked upto it and it bolted for the gorse bushes, i gave thor a wee bit of encouragement and he took off after it, unfortunatly it was close to cover and made it to safety, thor then pulled up and soared above where he had lost it looking for it, before circling around and landing on a bush, a quick whistle and he came roaring back to the fist for a reward.

 

i did a few more re-calls and all spot on, although no kill today there were a few firsts, he had his first chase on rabbitt, and he had his first re-call after loosing out on a flight, so all in all im happy with how today went.

[thurso jack 3]

tried bolting a few rabbits today with the ferrets, the first few he showed no interest at all with, then one either very dumb or suicidal bunny popped out and then just sat in front of us

 

id like to say he chased it down over 100s of yards but in all truth he just popped of the fist and onto it

 

anyway i gave him a good crop up on it and hopefully this will make him keener the next time, his weight is still higher than i would like, but its a work in progress at the moment.

 

 

one of him from a few days ago after he got blown way off after a pheasant, looking wet and sorry for himself

 

and one from today when we got home, i had just finished dipping his tail feathers in some hot water as one was a little bent and he decided the best place to dry off was on the close horse

[leebo 0]

Awesome looking bird mate, Seems like you are doing the business, I think them long exciting flights come later after many hours of training, I reckon for now any sort of kill is a massive bonus and all part of the learning curve

[jasper65 6]

Nice one TJ! that Bunny will add some confidence to him when he has to work hard on one in the future. success and fitness gives them bags of confidence ......

 

Jasper