Rentomski
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Everything posted by Rentomski
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HW 90K .177 for sale. Virtually as new, with Simmons 3-9x40 scope and gunslip. Offers over £200. Glasgow area.
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I just look for one kill per outing with my birds, it is a personal choice. Multiple takes are perfectly possible with hawks, although it is not something I'd risk with my falcon. I look for good flights and whether the bird catches something or not is not important to me. If the quarry has the skills to evade the hawk or falcon, then good luck to it as it got the better of the raptor. The flights that stay in the memory are, very often, the ones where the hawk or falcon tried damned hard but lost. The easy young dumb bunnies or crows keep the birds motivated to attempt the difficult fligh
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Harris' Hawks are seriously intelligent birds and have excellent memories, they soon learn the routine. They might not be as aggressive as say a Redtail could be if it felt it was being robbed, but they have a very clear understanding of what they expect in the way of reward for their hard work. Cheat them once too often and at the very least they'll go on strike and refuse to hunt. When I fly mine I am only looking for one kill for her; in the wild they don't hunt, kill and eat more than one thing at a time. So she is well aware that the rewards, when she catches something, are huge and t
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A bird on a kill isn't going to come back! One has to go and find it; to get it off a kill then it is a case of offering it food as fair exchange is not robbery. Ripping a bird off a kill just leads to the bird becoming aggressive and possessive; my Harris' will step up off a rabbit when offered a chick on the glove as she knows that she will get the bulk of that rabbit when she is back in her aviary. But that is a routine that she knows, if she didn't get that kind of reward then she wouldn't be quite so amenable!
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Welll done SS for the time and trouble you've taken to write all that guidance for FAC, SGC and EC licensing.
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I've used a 6.5x55 with 120 and 139 grain bullets and it certainly shoots flat enough out to 200+ yards; not that I would shoot a deer, especially Roe, any further away. Ballistically the 6.5 has a better sectional density and ballistic coefficient than the same bullet in .270, so it will be better at longer ranges without the blast and recoil of a .270. I use a .308 zeroed to be 2 inches high at 100 yards with a 150 grain soft point; just need to aim dead on up to 200 yards, although it recoils far more than a 6.5. :clapping: All deer-legal calibres do much the same job; it all comes do
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I used the BDS online learning package and found it very useful; the course material is better written and illustrated the than the training manual and the practice quiz questions are a good way of rote-learning all the answers to the General and Large Game Competency papers. A deer identification dvd from the BDS makes the Visual Assessment a doddle, they do love to try to catch people out with the differences between Sika and Fallow in summer and winter pelage. Obviously you can't practice for the shooting test online! For that you need supervised access to a deer-legal calibre rifle and
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I apologise if I have misunderstood you, but your original post implies that you were looking at the books on Amazon and enquiring to the BDS as regards postage.
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Why would one expect am immediate response from the BDS to an enquiry that actually has nothing to do with them? If the books are on Amazon, then take it up with Amazon. A very kind thought of you to think of supporting the BDS by buying direct from them; but I'm not surprised that they didn't rush to answer. Would you? I've never had any problems with the staff at BDS hq; they are always polite and know their stuff. It is the volunteers manning the stands at shows that are the problem.... I'm a member of the BDS, but I don't have anything to do with the local branch for that very re
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Good thinking and the best way to go!
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No need to shout, we can hear you! Caps are regarded as shouting! Spars are not something a beginner should not go anywhere near; temperamental, difficult, highly stressed and need very accurate weight control. Please don't go there; they are smaller versions of Gos', but you have no leeway on the weight, 1/4 oz or less in the wrong direction and the bird is lost or in cold weather dead. Get yourself a mentor and I would seriously suggest that you start with a Redtail or Harris'.
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IF you want to try stalking then book a weekend here: http://www.ayrstalk.co.uk/ Great people and they cater for the novice.
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A1/Jerros kit is not the best; the tags are very large and heavy and I do have serious doubts about the ability of the system to do anything more than short-range line of sight. For a Harris' they are just not worth the money, although they could be useful to help find a bird on a kill in heavy cover at short range, but one would be mad to use such a system for a longwing. A well manned Harris' at the right weight won't go very far. Buy cheap telemetry at the start and you will end up having to buy twice, spend the money on some decent kit: I use Biotrack but they no longer supply kit for
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Don't blame you; a new rifle giving those kind of problems is not acceptable. 'Soft brass' etc etc is just an excuse. Factory ammo is designed to work reliably in a wide range of rifles. A sticky round in a chamber can usually be pulled out with a bit of work with the bolt, but if the extractor claw isn't doing the job then the rifle is suspect.
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Why?
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A Gos just reacts to a given situation; a Harris' will think its way around a problem. A Gos, because of its nature, will fly fast and furious: a Harris' will anticipate and plan ahead. A fit experienced Harris' is very, very effective. I should know, as I've got one. If you are looking for multiple kills then get a shotgun; good flights are more important than actually taking game. My birds know that what they catch is theirs, one kill per outing is all we look for: makes for highly motivated birds!
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A good book for the novice, but there are better. Can't stand the bloke and neither can a good few people in this part of the world! He knows his stuff and I can't fault his skill with birds; but he is someone who has a huge ego and will denigrate his staff during public displays......
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Sounds strange. How many groups have you shot? If the first shot goes where it should go; then the other two should be somewhere near the first one, provided your stance/technique is consistent. Are you scoping each shot? I can remember doing that years ago when I first started target pistol shooting: you just end up chasing your own errors all over the card. Shoot a group and don't scope the target in between shots: if you get the same result then other factors might be playing a part.
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Good advice already given here, i.e. get a local mentor. If you can't find one, then as has already been said, get yourself known to your local bird of prey centre. A 3-5 day training course can be useful and most reputable centres will give you unlimited "technical support" when you get a bird, provided you have already done a course with them. I posted this reading list on another recent thread, work your way through this lot and you will have a better understanding of just what is required to keep/hunt a BOP. Falconry birds are very high maintenance, involve high intital capital costs, t
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Many thanks for the info SS!
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It probaby will be, but that is what Central Scotland Police will allow on a first FAC for deer stalking unless one intends to home load. But on the brighter side they do grant an open ticket from the very start. Well you are very lucky to have that on the first grant as are many in Scotland who have it first time around. Maybe homeloading will be a viable option if you consider the fuel cost of going to the shop for 60 rounds at a time. I should think you could get set up for reloading for about £200, what that? about four or five trips to the gunshop and back in fuel? Th
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Unfortunately I'm under the same Police Force where Dunblane happened.... Methinks they are a bit cautious.
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It probaby will be, but that is what Central Scotland Police will allow on a first FAC for deer stalking unless one intends to home load. But on the brighter side they do grant an open ticket from the very start.
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Calibre and scope out of interest?
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Out of interest, what are people here allowed by their FAC, for the purposes of deer stalking, to acquire and hold as regards ammunition? My first FAC application will limit me to hold and acquire 60 .308.
