Coursing Hares In New Mexico

[number 1 eric 264]

looks great crack what breed is the black dog nice 1

[dirtwinger 235]

looks great crack what breed is the black dog nice 1

She is a kurdish saluki, her parents are imports from Iran.

[dirtwinger 235]

A few pics from the weekend

 

 

 

 

All the best Terence

[TOMO 24,876]

What a nice way to hunt,,, out there in that desert scrub on horse back,, be nice to spend a few days out there camping out and hunting

[lurcherman887 178]

That's the life I take it running hares are legal? Great pics mate atb

[leegreen 2,100]

Great topic cheers.

 

Not wanting to upset the apple cart, but ............... do those Hares stand much of a chance? 2 dogs a Falcon and all that space.

And has the Merle got Colie blood or did I miss something?

[lurcherman887 178]

Great topic cheers.

 

Not wanting to upset the apple cart, but ............... do those Hares stand much of a chance? 2 dogs a Falcon and all that space.

And has the Merle got Colie blood or did I miss something?

Probably not much chance ay

[lurcherlad2014 0]

proper hunters good pics mate

[strayshot 105]

Great topic cheers.

 

Not wanting to upset the apple cart, but ............... do those Hares stand much of a chance? 2 dogs a Falcon and all that space.

And has the Merle got Colie blood or did I miss something?

Was about to say the same thing - strikes me as overkill running two dogs and a bird on one hare, would much rather watch either dogs or falcon.

[dirtwinger 235]

 

Great topic cheers.

 

Not wanting to upset the apple cart, but ............... do those Hares stand much of a chance? 2 dogs a Falcon and all that space.

And has the Merle got Colie blood or did I miss something?

Was about to say the same thing - strikes me as overkill running two dogs and a bird on one hare, would much rather watch either dogs or falcon.

 

The problem is that if you just fly a falcon the hare will just hide under bushes and refuse to run so it ends up being a rat hunt. With the dogs pushing the hare it has to run and you get a nice multistoop flight. As we are not running flat winter wheat fields but rolling broken ground with bushes arroyos all kinds of cover it is very easy for the dogs to be unsighted so the kill rate with just dogs is pretty low. The falcon can spot the hares and the dogs learn to run to the bird if they lose the hare. Often the hare flushes in the distance so the law I give the hare can be upto a 1/4mile and the dogs may not see the hare for longer distances than that. they just see the falcon go and follow her til they see the hare.

with a really good tight team they can be very deadly over time but that doesnt mean its easy just that they are very good at what they do. While I do like a good course it should also be understood that the dogs are technically there to support the falcon who takes down the hare most of the time. We do get to see some really good running on the dogs part too of course but the falcon is the head of the team. We see some really good hares pull some really impressive moves too and they do get away.

[skycat 6,172]

A very good explanation of the land and how to work it. It can be hard for people who don't understand the terrain or the quarry to envisage the reality of the situation.

[sussex 5,776]

Great thread ...you are living the life dirtwinger, long may it continue ....

[highplainswolfer 0]

I am surprised your dogs haven't killed a coyote yet

[dirtwinger 235]

I am surprised your dogs haven't killed a coyote yet

My dogs just arent hard enough Wolfer, my merle lurcher will tangle with them and my saluki bitch flipped one end over end back before christmas but they wont seal the deal. I flew a 1lb 8oz female prairie falcon last season who hated coyotes and would actively hunt them and pound them in the head til they were bleeding. That did fire the dogs up a bit and we almost hadf a couple but never sealed the deal. My hunting buddy Greg did get a very fast coldblood stag bitch with the idea of having a coyote dog as part of the team but she didnt work out. She started getting aggressive with his dogs at the kill and then attacked his falcon although luckily the bird wasnt hurt. So she has gone to be a coyote dog and he swapped her for a saluki grey.

A dog that could switch to coyotes would be nice but while our dogs chase em off and even bite them and knock them down they wont kill them;(

[dirtwinger 235]

Heres a couple of pics from this last weekend, you can get a clear idea of just how thick the cover can be in some of the fields I run. This particular field has areas of very thick sagebrush and cholla cactus with relatively open stretches inbetween without the falcon you wouldnt catch many hares here. The one we did take was ran about a mile in a big loop through the thickest cover in this field ending back at the truck which was nice. The last part of the chase the falcon and dogs were coming back towards us and we thought they had lost the hare when the falcon suddenly dived down and grabbed the hare in the sage. It kicked her off but my saluki had closed in and caught it 20ft further on.

It was kind of a bittersweet day as it was my mate Gregs last day hunting with his 8yr old lurcher as he was retired after this hunt to a pet home. He has been a hard worker and caught many hares including plenty of solo courses but he is beat up and worn out now. We had to lift him out of the truck after the hunt he was just too sore to get out.

Running in heavy cover, my saluki in the lead and Gregs lurcher right behind.

My saluki and Spook the falcon

Me and Jake the lurcher back in his prime