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2014/15 Season


pointer

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It's nearly time to start hunting again, my hawks about two weeks away from being brought out again. I'll try and keep an updated diary of how the season goes for us. I've started getting the pointer out to get some fat off him and get him a little fitter ready for when he is needed lol. Here he is marking two rabbits that were in the dry stone wall.

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It's nearly time to start hunting again, my hawks about two weeks away from being brought out again. I'll try and keep an updated diary of how the season goes for us. I've started getting the pointer

I was late getting back from work today and by the time I'd grabbed my hawk and gear it was almost 7 pm. With the light starting to fade in an area of heavy cover I wasn't expecting much but she was k

It's been too windy to do anything this week and my season is over. I power washed her aviary out and changed the window bars and AstroTurf. It feels strange putting her away after a seven month seaso

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Hopefully you have a lot less wind & rain this year mate, I won't be flying again this season, I've got other plans.......but my next hawking project will be a spar, just not sure when as yet......

You've got more land this year, haven't you?...........I think you will notice a big difference in future, if you can regularly rotate your hunting spots......

I bet you can't wait to get started now......:-)

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Yeah mate I've got access to more land through mates that have helped me out and got a couple of biggish bits of mixed land near home for when I can't get to the Dales. I didn't get going last season until October and by then mixy had decimated what had looked like a good rabbit population. This time round I'll make the most of The early season and there's a lot more rabbits about just now (though still very low compared to years back ).

More land, more quarry and a more experienced hawk...........yeah I'm looking forward to it, I should have gone fishing today but all I can think about is hunting lol.

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Sounds great.........you can't beat a those clear frosty mornings, but there's a lot to be said for warm late summer evenings.

 

I used to love getting out after work, when you still can, late august/september :-) the cover is harsh, but those early bunnies are a good warm up for the upcoming season.

 

Good luck with your season mate.

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Thanks mate.

The beauty of the dales is that the cover doesn't really change and flushing a rabbit from a dry stone wall or from a nice little set in the middle of a field is an all season long option that comes in very handy lol.

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Looking good mate, ordering all my new equipment on Monday then reclaiming the hawk on the 24 th. Gonna man her for a week straight then reduce her weight the following week. Gonna do a few lure flights to a dead rabbit then move her straight on to the real stuff. All things going well she will be entered early September. Once shes had a few kills im gonna try her at hare see how she takes to them, if she doesn't then I will start her on the lamp. Should be a good season

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Good luck mate, I tried for hare a couple of times last season but it was in fairly windy conditions and at the end of the season when everything that's still alive is harder to get close to. I was just saying to my mate last night after we'd come back from getting his lurcher pup a rabbit that once our hawks are going well we should try for a hare.

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I'm not bothered if she doesnt fly hare if im honest, if she does and she gets one that's great, but if she's not bothered then you can't miss what youve never had. She's been fed plenty of hare carcasses through the moult so I'm hoping she will at least try a flight at one, that's why I'm gonna try get her on the early season inexperienced hares, see what happens

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Yeah an early season leveret would be handy, I want to catch as many species of quarry as possible but after last season I'll be happy with a good number of rabbits. Inevitably when hunting with her locally moorhen, rats and the odd squirrel will be caught.

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Looking good mate, ordering all my new equipment on Monday then reclaiming the hawk on the 24 th. Gonna man her for a week straight then reduce her weight the following week.

 

Just a question, why not man the hawk whilst dropping it's weight, IMO there's not point in manning a bird at fat weight then dropping it's weight as most hawks behave differently at different weights anyway, man it whilst dropping it's weight & it will be steady all the way through the process causing less stress, I don't see any any advantages of manning at fat weight. What's your views?

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I'm doing it because she's 3 year old and not been flown for longer than 2 weeks by her last owner. She's really scatty and stresses easily so I don't want to be manning her when she's in low condition because she Bates like mad and ends up panting for ages. Just gonna take things slow with her, even when I start reducing her its only going to be small amounts at a time until she comes round. With a fresh out the chamber harris I would be doing exactly as you've said but unless you see her you can't see how much of a fruitloop she is lol.

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Mines only dropped the outer two primaries a few days ago so I'm a bit away yet, it's frustrating because there's rabbits there to get now. For now I'm having to make the most of the pre season time by watching a mates young lurcher hunting around the reeds and ferns. There's no where near the rabbit numbers of times past but it's looking promising.

It'll be interesting to see where we are at come Christmas time.

 

Hopefully the hawks well served and a sapling lurcher having done some canny sessions day and night.

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Last year my hawk was plain dangerous at top weight. Even when I'd dropped her weight she would lash out at anything that came near her and we had a bit of a job getting jesses on so she could be cast. I walked into her aviary yesterday and she jumped onto the glove like she would have at her flying weight. Once tied to the glove I took her out a walk where she was completely at ease, once back home she hopped onto the scale like she does before a hunting trip. At no point did she try and foot me or act up in any way. Today due to the strong winds all I could do were a few high jumps and have her sat on the glove for a while.

It looks like once she's dropped some weight I can have her flying free and hopefully have her hunting soon after. I don't interact with her at all in the moult and only go into the aviary to quickly pick up any uneaten food or bones and clean the perches so I'm over the moon she's being so sensible.

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I had mine out for a walk again yesterday, I've started to slowly reduce her food and I'm hoping to get new gear on her this weekend. Once she's somewhere near I'll get her out and about. Until then I'll have another few trips out with the dogs to get a few rabbits in the freezer and I've got to go and pick my new GWP pup.

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