Wanting A Hawk

[Ginger shooter 58]

Mehhhhhhhh!! Well Jess would be to god for you anyway! :-p no doubt ill keep her!! :-)

[youcanthide...BANG 1,051]

ha i hope you do end up keeping her, she looked a lovely hawk in the photos would be a shame to lose her. atb

[pointer 543]

 

I worked lurchers and travelled all over following hounds, flying a hawk will not take up as much time as those hunting sports did FACT.Time to hunt etc are not things that have ever been an issue with me.I got a Harris hawk so I could have an easy life lol

 

I'm spending the summer fishing where I'm going to have a little easy challenge and catch fifty types of fish from here and abroad, then I'll put rods away and get back out with the hawk.Then I'm going to try and take 100 head with her, I think it's a nice round number for a beginner, I don't want to put any pressure on me or my bird.

 

Criticise away I don't care its only the Internet, and I couldn't care less what people think to be honest. I do what I want.

[pointer 543]

Bit late now really mate that's why potential austringers should go out 4-5 times a week with a mentor to see if they have the time not testing themselves after they got the bird so they don't end up with a bird not really hand on heart know if they have time etc hope you do for the birds sake. theworkingferret the above post is not the way to go about falconry.

Your probably right it's not the way to do it, that dosent mean I won't do ok with her either.I expect this is the start of a long period of owning a hawk for me. If not I'll part with her but before your too critical how many have a Harris for a season or two then move it on so they can get a gos?

Many if not most harris hawks must get passed on or spend their lives as breeding machines,yet that's seen as ok it seems by the falconry world.

[CrowHawker 227]

I hope you do great with it as if practiced right falconry is the best hobbie you can have more like a way of life than a hobbie.you are right disappointingly about people passing Harris hawks on I personally believe you should get the bird you want first of all

I'm mentoring a bloke now he's had a season ferreting for me and cadge carrying but comes round every other day to clean my mews boxes etc he wants a peregrine/saker and hell be out this coming season game hawking at grouse 2 with me and flying one of my falcons ready for his bird.

Edited June 11, 2013 by CrowHawker

[pointer 543]

There's no way I'd have took on anything but a Harris, I had a few moments last season which taught me that flying a Harris isn't always as straight forward as it seems in books and the Internet.

She was bitten by a squirrel on both feet which had me worried after reading so much about the risk of losing toes but I treat her the same way I'd treat any animal with a wound and she was fine. I have her insured so any problems and I'd have seen a vet but thankfully there wasn't any swelling etc.

She was dragged down a rabbit hole and I had to tear the earth out around her, this took a couple of minutes and the rabbit escaped.She stood on the bank next to me and I know she blamed me for that rabbit getting away. That's when I fully understood how important it is for the hawks needs to be put first.

She hated the dog but we started to make improvements there and I think all will be well next season.I had to track her down with telemetry once when she disappeared from a wood. I found her a short distance away under a bush chest deep in water holding a moorhen. She was in thick cover and her leg bell was in the water she no sound was coming from her, she took a few minutes to locate even when the tracker said I was close.

 

The biggest problem I had with her was with pheasants. She doesn't like to return from a failed chase on them so I usually had to run over to her and make a big display of showing her the pheasant had gone from where she thought it was before she would drop onto the glove.She seems to lose her head with pheasants which is strange because she only caught one and held but lost another which I couldn't help her with quick enough.The good thing was that although she hates my dog once she saw him point and flush a few pheasants she did start to tolerate him.