Time

[ryaldinhio 4,125]

Falconry is something Ive always been interested in and one day would love to own a bird but with my current work and family commitments Ive got no chance.

 

How much time do you guys commit to care for a bird properly? i.e. couple hours a day, five hours a day, half hour a day if get a full day out at weekend?

 

Like I say Im not looking to doing it any time soon but something I would like to have a go at in the future.

[pointer 543]

I'm struggling this season with the weather and sometimes a lack of rabbits on the ground I'm hunting over especially close to home but time isn't an issue. If your happy to lamp your hawk then everyday has the potential to be a hunting day. I think it's a case of how much time you personally need to get out hunting to justify owning a hawk but the same could be said of owning any working dog like a lurcher. Let's face it most working stock isn't used to the maximum as most people have to go to work for forty hours a week. By the Christmas holidays I still had six days to take off work as the weather stopped me going out as I had planned. It's important to remember that Hawks don't always need a full days hunting, the fields are so wet that after a few flights my hawk has been soaked and the day is at an end. You'll get different opinions but I know I spend far less time hunting than what I did when I had terriers and lurchers and apart from a quick check twice a day with food put through a chute I don't do anything with my hawk for five months in the moult. Going from working terriers and lurchers to flying a Harris was a big lifestyle change for me and isn't as hectic, it's taken a couple of years to get used to bad weather stopping me going hunting and I can now accept the forecast is right, feed my hawk and then chill out. I've never watched so much television in my life since I got a hawk lol.

[tilimangro 1,013]

An hour a day should suffice

[Accip74 7,112]

Falconry is something Ive always been interested in and one day would love to own a bird but with my current work and family commitments Ive got no chance.

How much time do you guys commit to care for a bird properly? i.e. couple hours a day, five hours a day, half hour a day if get a full day out at weekend?

Like I say Im not looking to doing it any time soon but something I would like to have a go at in the future.

It's not so much the amount of time, but your management of your valuable time to make it work. It requires no more time than working or keeping a dog, but if your time is limited, it's more crucial to make that time successful with a hawk than it is with a dog.

I enjoyed some very rewarding hawking on very limited time, but I'd secured or knew some game rich land which greatly increased my chances of success every time I hunted. On average I could only hunt two days a week & maybe lamp one night.........the rest of the time, like has already been said, 1-2 hours a day care & management will suffice.

[ryaldinhio 4,125]

Actually suprised me this, not sure why I had it in my head but I thought hawks needed a few hours a day.

[charlie caller 3,654]

If it were not for lamping,I would not consider keeping a hawk.