david901
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Posts posted by david901
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Bullet,
Thanks for the offer mate.
That's very kind of you. I'll be in touch nearer the time.
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I meant to say Sean, your goshawk is a credit to you. She is certainly doing the business for you.
In my last post I neglected to say that I only use his weight as a guide.
I think you can tell a lot about how a hawk is by its body language and its behaviour as you approach.
If he has to be tempted to jump on the fist, he ain't ready to go hawking. Sometimes I can overcome this by walking with him and letting him pluck a wing.
He usually comes into condition to fly. But sometimes I don't feel confident about his demeanour and with experience I know when to call it a draw.
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Hi Sean
If she is recalling well and catching game at that weight, she ain't overweight.
Whenever I push his weight up around 1lb 6 he flies well, until he gets bored or peed off, then he does one.
Usually I get him back in the same area the next day..LOL
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The hawk was cropped right up on his pheasant Wednesday and fasted yesterday.
I had planned on hunting him today, but when I weighed him he was still slightly overweight.
With these smaller birds an ounce makes a big difference and its not the first time he has spent a night out on the town so to speak.
So I played it safe and just did a bit of fitness work.
Hopefully the weather is OK for tomorrow and I will get him out, though it will probably be at crows.
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Hi mate
Its been some years since I have flown a redtail,
but mine caught a wide variety of quarry such as - duck, the odd pheasant, moorhens, rabbits,
squirrels - hundreds of those, a couple of young crows, occasional pigeon, mice, frogs etc , etc.
How are you getting on with your hawk??
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Some pics [hopefully]
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Had the gos up at the pheasant ground again.
The dog flushed a big cockbird and he chased it over a hill.I found him sitting up in a large conifer tree, but he called down easily.I let the dog work away from me and as I walked towards him, I flushed a hen pheasant.The gos was off after it and after 100 yards or so the hen bailed into cover.the gos did his what is now a usual tactic for him, of flying up vertically 15 feet and then wing over to come down on the gamebird.When I got to him, he was looking around on the ground for the pheasant, so I figured it hadn't gone far.I called the dog in as the gos jumped back onto my fist.The dog started rooting around in the tall grass, and as his tail started wagging I knew it wasn't far away.A short while later the hen flushed vertically, but the gos grabbed it and held onto it as they came to the ground.I dealt with the hen and gave him a good feed up.The cock birds maybe too much for him right now, but its good he did the hen pheasant.Dave-
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Not yet, a lad was going to give me his imprint male, but that means another ruddy hawk to keep...
He is wanting to rehome the bird, but doesn't want it sold to one of the numerous idiots out there and at 7 years old its value is rather limited.
He offered it to me earlier in the year, but with flying my German male and hopefully I will be getting the female out I just don't have the time for it.
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In my opinion, the best book I have read on accipiters is "Training The Shortwing Hawk" an Elizabethan Perspective by Edmund Bert. I would get the Derry Argue Translation as it makes for easier reading. If I only had one book on falconry it would be this.
Another of my favourites is Bushytails and Buteos" by Gary Brewer mainly as it reminds me of my time hunting my old redtail.
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I do believe paul brown sells proper german birds.......but he is in Germany lol
A hell of a long way to go for a hawk, but possibly worth it.
I have an egg-laying female who stands, lays and incubates and I'm betting she will rear as well if any eggs hatch.
I have been considering for a while if its worth the hassle to breed from her.
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That's what I was going to say, getting those little german males must be quite difficult now......which is a shame.
That is a good sized male Bullet.I like the german birds, my male is half german and he fles best around 1lb 11.5 oz to 1lb12oz, he's nailed a few pheasants but I mainly fly rabbits, he lost a talon on one a few years ago, looking forward to getting him going again later this season
It is harder and harder to get a German gos.
Everything is now Russian/ Albidus or whatever.
If I could, I would go for a German Female, something around 2lb or so is my ideal.
When I first came out here I got a Russian male from Northern Goshawks of Germany........I think I could of had him going at 1lb 15oz perhaps, stunning bird.........too bad I got fcuked over with him, hadn't been properly parent reared & was apparent within days :-(
You live & learn I suppose..........bloody expensive lesson though!...haha
That is one major problem. - Buying a well raised hawk.
Some of the "reputable" breeders are not that reputable it seems.
I think some of the lads who breed from their own hunting stock just as a hobby can be more reliable.
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Nice one Bullet
I caught one with a Harris' Hawk years ago, before digital cameras were common [no pics, that's my excuse ]
There was an area that had a few around but the Hawk was never really sure about them until i ferreted one out one day and the ferret nipped it as it bolted.
The fact the rabbit squealed encouraged the hawk to grab and hold it.
I never did catch another one and Mixy has now all but wiped out that colony of rabbits.
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I like the german birds, my male is half german and he fles best around 1lb 11.5 oz to 1lb12oz, he's nailed a few pheasants but I mainly fly rabbits, he lost a talon on one a few years ago, looking forward to getting him going again later this season
That is a good sized male Bullet.
It is harder and harder to get a German gos.
Everything is now Russian/ Albidus or whatever.
If I could, I would go for a German Female, something around 2lb or so is my ideal.
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Do you find that he's particularly keen on any one bird? Or if the weights right, is he just up for it, whatever?
I did fancy a little male like that at first, but I knew I'd be coming across mainly rabbit....so went for a finnish bird...
Once he is fit and confident, he goes for just about anything, though the bird species he has had success with, gets him switched on very quickly.
He has caught quite a variety of species of bird, but he struggles to hold the bigger stuff.
He has caught quite a few duck for instance, but can never hold onto them long enough til I get there, which is quite frustrating.
At 1lb 4 or 5 oz, even Carrion crows can give him a hard time if he takes them too far away. A lot of crows weigh more that he does.
He also takes a few types of LBJs which can be quite entertaining.
Rabbits are not on the Radar as far as he is concerned, which is OK because I got him for hunting feather, though it would be a bonus if he took them.
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A few pics of my male German Gos.
Parent reared and he is now 7 or 8 years old now [i think - time flies when you're having fun]
He flies around 1lb 4 to 1lb 5oz.
I had him at some pheasants 2 days ago. He grabbed 2 big cock pheasants but couldn't hold them. I think they are just too much for him.
He is more suited to smaller game I think.
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Very nice Bullet.
She looks like her injury is well sorted.
I do like a bit of rabbit hawking now and again
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That is the advantage of having two hawks.
Usually I feel having 2 hawks is having 1 too many, but usually through a season I'm glad I have another to fly due to some unforeseen accident or mishap.
I flew my male for 5 season straight caught everything that a male can catch in my area, so gave him a season off last year to get this older female going I bought in for breeding, the breeding didn't go to plan so I flew her last season, I don't feel I got her weight right, she nailed rabbits no problem every time but pheasants and hare she would pull off too soon, think I was at her top weight as she would switch off from me at times, this season ive treated her weight different, now she seems more determined to chase and follow it through more and the recall response is better, she was 6 years old when I got her with no history of her back ground other than she lays and rear...........fell for that one didn't I!! but not one for wasting what ive got, im trying to make a hare hawk out of her
My Imprint gos stands for me, lays 4 eggs every April and broods the eggs.
I don't know how well they would transfer that behaviour to a stranger.
You may have more luck with your gos after a season or 2 hunting with her.
I have found that the weight thing with imprints can be quite tricky.
I have seen a few guys fly their hawks far too fat in my opinion.
My own female will hunt rabbit and pheasant up to around 2lb 7, but her best performance is 2lb 5.
I once had her down to 2lb 4 - nothing was safe from her [including the dog...LOL]
The good thing with imprints to me is that the weight range is a lot broader,
but I have learned i just need to dial in the different behaviours and responses I got at at the various weights she flew at.
If her foot was OK and I wanted to catch a hare, she would be right down to 2lb 4.
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That is the advantage of having two hawks.
Usually I feel having 2 hawks is having 1 too many, but usually through a season I'm glad I have another to fly due to some unforeseen accident or mishap.
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I really hope she recovers completely mate.
I have an imprint female that has lost the use of her right Hallux and she now really struggles to hold game.
She lays and incubates 4 eggs every year, so I may try and either loan her out to a breeder
or try and breed from her myself.
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Thanks for sharing mate.
Fences are a terrible thing.
I once lost a young male gos to fences whilst chasing a rabbit.
The rabbit went through the fence at the bottom of a hedge, the gos hit it full force.
just seems like they got now brains to brake, need to get her fit as she's no where near yet
I feel that they actually think they can fly through the small gaps in the wire.
My female actually flew through the small gap in sheep netting.
I thought she had damaged herself, but she just continued on a caught the rabbit.
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Thanks for sharing mate.
Fences are a terrible thing.
I once lost a young male gos to fences whilst chasing a rabbit.
The rabbit went through the fence at the bottom of a hedge, the gos hit it full force.
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When I thought my Harris was never going to work with my pointer I gave serious thought to what I would obtain next. I think most people want a go at hunting with a goshawk so I looked into them. The trouble is once I started to want one I started to kid myself that I would get it out enough, get enough quarry in front of it etc. etc. Common sense eventually returned and I realised that due to my working hours, available land and quarry numbers and the fact I enjoy hunting with Harris Hawks I should stick with them. Like yesterday for much of the season I can get my hawk out after work for a short time before darkness falls and she will often fly at something whilst following on. My Harris is now working with the dogs so it's not an issue anyway.
I find working full time and flying my hawk often enough to justify owning her is very challenging. Often I'm at work in glorious weather and the weekends are wet and windy. I think I just about manage to get out hunting enough and even with low quarry numbers where I'm able to fly a hawk I can make it all work..........but only just. The hunting with a Harris can be repetitive I suppose but so is anything we do if we do it often enough. I see the numbers of rabbits and hares that others are taking with a Harris hawk and I envy them especially those that can fly their Hawks from the soar above dogs. For me there is so much more that can be done with just a Harris that for now I'll stick at it.
I've known a few people move from Harris Hawks to other species and for whatever reason it didn't last long. The theory of what they were going to do spattering all that quarry with the faster birds just didn't happen it seems, unfortunately it appears many cant go back to the humble Harris and leave the sport altogether. Good luck with whatever you decide mate part of me wishes I was able to fly a Goshawk.
Some wise words mate.
As long as you are enjoying it and the bird is well kept, That's all that matters.
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This is what I found, but maybe not so much a fitness issue, rather motivation.....Your gos is unlikely to be very successful on wild partridge and pheasant unless its flown fairly regularly to keep it fit.
Although you can do jump ups etc that helps to keep them going, but nowhere near as good as regular slips on gamebirds.
Just another thing to consider....Lol
I failed to put enough game birds in front of my goshawk, with enough early success......although he did make some fine kills on pheasant, he ultimately became wed to rabbits & my dreams of a gamebird hawk drifted away with his interest....
It got to the stage where he would hardly bait at pheasant breaking cover.....
.....that said, he would always put in a real convincing effort on partridge, despite the fact we rarely put them up & had little success.....
There just seems to be something about that marriage of partridge & goshawk....
I think pheasant can be quite intimidating for some males. They can be hard enough for the females to hold.
If you could pay to go on a shoot and fly at young inexperienced quarry that may help.
But that means paying for your sport and some shoots are quite dear.
I think most goshawkers have to do this unless they are lucky with enough wild quarry.
I have to do this myself if I want to fly gamebirds.
My Female Goshawk
in Falconry
Posted
She is making it look as easy as shelling peas now mate.
She looks similar to my female which is German x Finnish.
Is she an imprint and is she noisy. Mine is both to those two questions...lol
I never got out today due to rain. Typical.