2015/16 Season

[Accip74 7,112]

Sounds like it's all coming together for you mate. I think you're going to find yourself in a very enviable position, that, if their honest, most austringers would want to be in......Atb

Edited October 9, 2015 by Accip74

[pointer 543]

We had more flights over the dog at the weekend but the wet ground soon had the hawk soaked. She only got to take one rabbit each day but that's ok as long as we don't blank and she gets to catch something that the dog found I'm happy enough. I keep forgetting to take the GoPro camera, some of the flights last week would have been worth watching.

[FHH Flyer 2]

I started my FHH a couple of weeks ago but have only managed a couple of rabbits with the cover being so thick but its dying down slowly. She has had some good flights on Pheasant but no connection.

[pointer 543]

The cover does seem thicker than usual this season. It's good to see the leaves are falling from the trees and the bracken is slowing the first signs of dying back. My Hawks been missing a bit too much stuff so far but I think it's just a fitness thing and she will be a bit rusty after a summer lay off. This time last season I was able to get her rabbits out of open sets where she was almost guaranteed to catch one or two but they were empty this time. She can't catch what's not there so we will just plod along doing what we can when we can.

[pointer 543]

My pointer is having to cover ridiculously large amounts of ground sometimes to find a rabbit but it's worth the wait as I'm finally getting to do the method of hunting I always wanted to. The hawk doesn't take her eyes off the dog now and if he gets too far away she sometimes tries to get off the glove, if I let her loose she will try and soar above him ( I can't fly pheasant on most of the places I go on so I can't have her soaring) or hops along a fence or wall to keep up. The other day I took her out with my year old pointer and was very pleased to see my hawk follow on nicely. She missed a rabbit and had gone into a tree, she was looking into the cover below and when we made our way through the bramble she caught a rabbit right in front of the young dog. The rabbit was squealing a bit before I could dispatch it but the dog sat beside the hawk. Both seemed at ease with each other. I was seriously happy that day.

We had a few nice points and flights yesterday but rain stopped us after only forty minutes. Today had us out on a mates land where the dog and hawk worked well taking a couple of rabbits and a pheasant. She's also had rats and a moorhen this week.

 

I've struggled to find quarry this season but I'm not too bothered as the quality of the sport has been superb. Currently on 29 kills.

Edited October 18, 2015 by pointer

[Fergie4 10]

Nice to see your harris working with a pointer.. Mines never worked with one and not sure if she could.. She screams at our house dog our poor staffy!.. I've got a good set of working ferrets to keep the quarry coming for mine

[pointer 543]

I used ferrets for most of last season and we had some fun. Once the cover dies down I'll probably carry a ferret box and then there's always the option of bolting a rabbit if needs be and the dog would mark sets so I'm not messing around with unoccupied ones.

I've had big problems getting mine used to the dog and I almost parted with my hawk last season so I could try again with a fresh young bird. I'm glad I didn't now because she's safe around ferrets and will lamp on the rare occasions I try that. She will also fly with other Hawks like she's known them for ages. I've always liked working dogs so I'm really happy that I'm able to work pointers and a hawk.

 

Had a good hunt today after a few pheasants and a squirrel with a mates young hawk but we blanked.

[fourtrak73 1,334]

I am pleased you didn't give up with her and the smile on your face on Sunday says it all. Can't wait for both birds to be fully fit. They are a pleasure to watch looking forward to Sunday.

[pointer 543]

Cheers mate and thanks for the invites onto your permissions, we would struggle without it.

 

To see her soaring above the dog and crashing down in front of him yesterday has made it all worthwhile. I was still buzzing today.

[pointer 543]

I've been out a few times this week with a lads hawk that doesn't like my dogs but things should get better in time. My hawk has had some good hunts on squirrels but the cover and ivy has meant she hasn't been able to catch them. Still it's exciting hunting and if another hawk was working with her I'm sure we would have more success.

Yesterday was canny but wind made things hard for the Hawks and the sodden ground had then soaked. My hawk caught a rabbit in a water filled ditch in the first field and was wet for the rest of the session. Both hawks got to take a couple of rabbits each with some nice flights. We also got to see some good points from the dog which is as important to me as the flights. After having an hour out with a lurcher I took the hawk out with my young pointer and after missing a pheasant she jumped on a mixi rabbit. I let her feed from it close to the dog. My young pointer acts silly around the hawk sometimes and gets herself a bit excitable but she will calm down soon enough.

[fourtrak73 1,334]

Gonna start feeding this week been and got 8 bags. Looking forward to next weekend, haven't ferretted them sets for at least 8 to 10 year. Hope to get some long flights for the birds.

[pointer 543]

Nice one mate i'm looking forward to it.

[pointer 543]

Last week saw some good hunting in ridiculously warm weather. One evening the hawk had a squirrel leaping from tree to tree until it got into thick ivy where it was safe. The cover is stopping her from catching the squirrels but it's still good to watch, my pointer is now with us all the time and like when he marks a wall he will mark a squirrel up a tree by baying. With the dog barking and trying to climb into the ivy or bushes my hawk gets above him and looks excitable. It's something I'd like to see more off and on the right land would result in kills. Mid week I'm on my own and I think if two Hawks were flying we would put the squirrels under pressure.

Saturday and Sunday saw flights by both Hawks over my pointer and now that they accept my dog we are leaving the ferrets behind. We might not be catching much but the flights are great to watch and as both Hawks are catching every time they are taken out on dales land we are doing ok and things should get better as their fitness increases and the cover dies back a little.

[muttley94 74]

Last week saw some good hunting in ridiculously warm weather. One evening the hawk had a squirrel leaping from tree to tree until it got into thick ivy where it was safe. The cover is stopping her from catching the squirrels but it's still good to watch, my pointer is now with us all the time and like when he marks a wall he will mark a squirrel up a tree by baying. With the dog barking and trying to climb into the ivy or bushes my hawk gets above him and looks excitable. It's something I'd like to see more off and on the right land would result in kills. Mid week I'm on my own and I think if two Hawks were flying we would put the squirrels under pressure.

Saturday and Sunday saw flights by both Hawks over my pointer and now that they accept my dog we are leaving the ferrets behind. We might not be catching much but the flights are great to watch and as both Hawks are catching every time they are taken out on dales land we are doing ok and things should get better as their fitness increases and the cover dies back a little.

Hi, does your hawk wear any protection on their feet and legs? I know squirrels can have a pretty nasty bite- my dad used to fly a HH and she caught a squirrel in her first year which bit her and her leg became infected and put her out for quite a lot of the season! is getting bitten a big risk or just something that younger less experienced birds seem to suffer?

[pointer 543]

I don't run into many squirrels but my hawk has taken a few nips. I have squirrel chaps here but as I never go out expecting them I've never put them on her. Rats are also capable of biting a hawk and I run into a few of them, she's had 21 so far this season. Shes only taken two little nips from a squirrel this season but her anklets have been knawed on a few times by rats. Rats and squirrels are a risk but not as much a risk that some make out if you know how to handle biting quarry.