Thor, 3/4 finnish Goshawk

[jasper65 6]

Thurso it's hard work especially with a unfit bird and to top it of the weather has been terrible..i was out ferreting myself yesterday but we where using net's as i was wanting the bird to catch a pheasant..as he has been putting some 300+yrd blinding flight's in trying to catch them..so i find it only fair for him to kill a pheasant and keep his confidence level's up..

Ive got his weight upto 1lb 11oz now and he is still really keen at that weight..and i will be on the pheasant's again today..and if he does not get one the ferret will be back out the box.. ..

Just keep at it mate a kill is a kill and the bird will be happy with a crop full no matter how hard or easy it is..and from experience with my bird the more you fly him the faster he will get and the flight's last a lot longer..

Cheer's

Millet

 

That bird will be upto 1lb 13 by christmas Millet I'm confident of that mate. Timmy's will fly at that which is from the same blood but obviousley alot older. He has now been pushed from the 1lb 10 1/2 mark and he will go alot higher! flying him hard will produce more Lactic Acid hence improve its fitness but also quality of food will also be needed to keep his engine room in condition without weekening him, You can now see with him the added condition and quality of food has helped with the building of Muscle to sustain the longer flights, holding birds low as been seen before will stop the bird from accomplishing what it is more than capable of acheiving. By what you have told me mate the power flights are now well and truely coming together but I'm sure he still has another few gears to go up in yet as his fitness levels Improve and start to do the extraordanary....

 

I used to have a male that would take on quarry a good 100 or so yards away that was well on the wing, he was confident and fit to a level where he could be completly gorged up everyday and yet bang on song again the next day, the old cliche "Feed them up and fly them hard" is certanly correct when a bird reaches this state of fitness but your not just there yet mate but it will come if you keep flying him the way you are as it will with anyone else who wants to put the time and effort into it .....

 

Jasper

[thurso jack 3]

Thurso it's hard work especially with a unfit bird and to top it of the weather has been terrible..i was out ferreting myself yesterday but we where using net's as i was wanting the bird to catch a pheasant..as he has been putting some 300+yrd blinding flight's in trying to catch them..so i find it only fair for him to kill a pheasant and keep his confidence level's up..

Ive got his weight upto 1lb 11oz now and he is still really keen at that weight..and i will be on the pheasant's again today..and if he does not get one the ferret will be back out the box.. ..

Just keep at it mate a kill is a kill and the bird will be happy with a crop full no matter how hard or easy it is..and from experience with my bird the more you fly him the faster he will get and the flight's last a lot longer..

Cheer's

Millet

 

a similar situation here M, high winds and lack of kills forces my hand to get him a kill, its frustrating for me let alone the bird!!!

[thurso jack 3]

Got a call from a farmer pal of mine to say he had just ploughed a field and there was a good number of gulls there, so loaded up thor and the gear and drove out.

 

arrived at the field and there was around 50- gulls feeding away, we crept as close as we could and thor was baiting at them, we were about 60- feet away and i slipped him, he got about 30 odd foot and they all exploded into the air, he singled out his target and locked on, the arial battle commenced, after several cracking twists and turns, BANG, he had made contact, perfect bind, around 200 yards away, i ran in to dispatch but there was no need, it was DOA, i let him have a full crop up and then traded him, his manners were perfect letting me help open up his kill for him.

 

Man am i glad we got a kill after a serious dry patch!!

 

Today he gave a good chase and didnt pull off after 100 foot as he had been doing and his weight was the same, so i guess he just needed a confidence boost? who knows? But hoppefully he can repeat the performance on some game now

 

This kind of tail chase and kill is what i expected to see in a gos and today it finally came, breathtaking stuff!!

 

 

 

 

 

[thurso jack 3]

Absolutly brilliant mate and im over the moon for you.. .. i know exactly how stressfull and frustrating it can be when you go out day in and day out but not manage a kill..and with me it feck's my head up good style to the point of making me bad.. ..

Ive got other problem's with my shit bag at the momment..not serious but i wont go into it and hyjack your brilliant thread and result..

May the kill's continue for you mate..

Cheer's

Millet

 

 

thankyou Millet, i feel on top of the world right now after the past week or so of near misses and dissapointmant, and for the first time today i seen what he can really do in flight and it was simply brilliant!!

 

today was what i wanted to see out of a goss, ive spent the last week trying and failing on various things, yet ive been casting him onto anything and everything, trees, walls, quarry sides, fence posts to get him working even if we werent killing he was getting fitter and i think its paying off

 

its a great weight off my mind, i may even have a beer or six tonight

[thurso jack 3]

out today for an hour between the wind and rain, tired waiting most of the day but if you waited until it was the right weather it may never come?

 

There was not a lot about apart from some crows feeding on some stubble, managed to position myself to get a decent shot at them and as soon as he clocked them he was off after them, they quickly rose up and over into the next field upto about 30 odd foot, Thor gave chase and singled out his target amongst about 100 crows and sped up from below and binding at a great height, i made in and dispatched the crow and gave him a good feed again. I cant wait until we can start multiples but ill take my time with him and make sure he is ready, even though again today his manners on the kill was good.

 

His weight was sligtly up today but it didnt seem to curb his effort which i was pleased about

 

a few pics of todays kill

 

 

 

 

[thurso jack 3]

cheers millet, fingers crossed hes on the road now

[jasper65 6]

Looks like all that top advice you received off millet has paid off mate!! well done

 

Jasper

[thurso jack 3]

Looks like all that top advice you received off millet has paid off mate!! well done

 

Jasper

 

yes jasp, its been a great help

[scotlandforever 0]

Come on more lol was enjoying this thread , Also enjoying Millets

 

Jason

[thurso jack 3]

managed a couple of hours out today, weather wasnt perfect but i was going out anyway, after the last week spent just exercising Thor in a local field due to work.

 

Had the springer with me today and she worked well through the various terrian, although she came out of some thick gorse with a cut tongue looked worse than it was and soon stopped bleeding, she hits the cover so hard, she often ends up in the wars, this bitch is my dads and s 5 years old and has been solely used as a gundog, she has picked up the falconry role no problems at all, tmow she will be out at a shoot again, reteriving and flushing.

 

 

 

 

had a flight on a rabbit that the springer flushed, close but no cigar she then went onto flush 4 pheasants over the next half an hour, all but one was too far for thor to have a real chance on, the one he did fly he pulled up on after a few hundered yards

 

moved onto the wet marshes next, snipe were spewing out all over the place and the bird was baiting at them, we walked upto the main wet bit and loads of duck started to take to the air, in groups of between 2 and 20, slipped thor and he singled out a female mallard, due to the highish wind the duck never got much height, and then out of no where a bloody moor hen sprung up, thor pulled off the mallard and nailed it $£" i guess a kill is a kill but i would have preffered a duck

 

as he was feeding off it more ducks were rising all about us from the rashes $£" bit frustraiting, but they will keep

 

 

 

 

[thurso jack 3]

The weather is rubbish mate and i know exactly how frustrating it can be when you need to get kill's with the young bird's..

But at least you got a kill and no matter what it was the bird will be all the more better for it.. ..i just wished you lived a little closer as i could help you out on the pheasant's..

 

Crack on regardless and dont get sick and dont let the weather rule you..just keep plugging away because sooner or later everything will click with the bird..and you will be well and truely addicted..

Cheer's

Millet

 

 

cheers millet, i was just glad to be out its a pity im so far away, but its not all bad, i was beating on a local esate last weekend and the head keeper was asking about my gos, i told him i had yet to nail a phessie and he said he has a real interest in falconry and asked if i would take the bird out and we could fly it at some of the pheasants on his estate, so fingers crossed

 

also the marsh land i was on today there must have been a few hundered ducks on, so ill be hitting them soon, was hoping to do so tmow at first light but tbh im pretty shatterd and im beating again tmow, so maybe sunday.

[thurso jack 3]

after the last week in pursuit of gamebirds (ducks/pheasant) and drawing a blank one way or another i decided to go after the good old crow, spotted a large group of crows and seagulls feeding in a stubble field, got into position and slipped thor at the entrance of the field , through a gate, and instead of flying over it, he only went and flew through it , so he shot through the gate and punded towards the feeding crows, singled out the closest one and took it about 10 feet in the air, nice to get a kill after the daily hours of marching through the swamps and roughland in persuit of a gamebird.

 

few pics

 

 

 

 

[thurso jack 3]

After the last week of snow, rain, gale force winds etc my flying has been limited to often a few recalls and no hunting what so ever, not a lot i can do about it though

 

Today i arrived at my permission and a couple of lads were ferreting, i think they thought they would get an earfull, but rather than be annoyed i was pleased as i wanted to get thor more switched onto rabbits, he flew the first two bolts well but didnt get a proper chance on them before they made it back to ground, the third flight he didnt make any mistakes on and secured a good head hold, gave him a good feed up on the kill.

 

pics of my phone, so pretty crap, also i left my knife where i put it into the ground in the pic ill get it tmow.

 

Also had a flight on some mallard but they got up to far away to make a catch

 

 

[thurso jack 3]

well out today for a drive about with bigissue, had a slip on some crows but they were just too far away for him to get on terms with

 

drove on looking for something else about in the snow, came upon a field with about 100 crows 50 or so gulls and about 300 greylag geese, stopped and got out and into a position to slip, slipped thor and he took off after a gull, giveing chase for a few hundered yards before pulling off and switching his attention to the geese $£"

 

he bound to one mid air and pulled it down, stupidly i just stood there gobsmacked as he came to the ground with his goose, by now 3 or 4 other geese came back to the rescue of the one thor had, i started to run towards him and just as i was about to grab the goose, he lost his grip on it

 

if only i had run as i slipped him it would have been a differant story

[thurso jack 3]

Havent posted for a while as basicly thor went off the boil

 

after his encounter with the geese it knocked his confidance

 

went through a few weeks where he wouldnt commit to feather, glady he is back on the game and in the last 3 days we have had 4 head of game, a few pics of the kills, ending with a crow during lunch today.

 

pics off my moby so a bit crap

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

weight 1lb 10 1/2