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2014/15 Season


pointer

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It's nearly time to start hunting again, my hawks about two weeks away from being brought out again. I'll try and keep an updated diary of how the season goes for us. I've started getting the pointer

I was late getting back from work today and by the time I'd grabbed my hawk and gear it was almost 7 pm. With the light starting to fade in an area of heavy cover I wasn't expecting much but she was k

It's been too windy to do anything this week and my season is over. I power washed her aviary out and changed the window bars and AstroTurf. It feels strange putting her away after a seven month seaso

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Good choice, so far my pointer pup is very sensible and apart from eating her kennel hasn't been any bother at all. That could all change when she grows up and realises what her nose is for lol but so far so good. My hawk doesn't like her but a summer spent moulting with the pup kennelled in front of her aviary should sort that out.

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We had another session in woodland the other day where half a dozen squirrels were flown. The sport is superb and both Hawks got to catch hold of a squirrel each. The Hawks are starting to work well together and it's clear that one will hold back letting the other fly something only getting involved if the other hawk misses. My view on cast flying is changing a bit and in woodland most stuff still gets away so I still find it sporting.

 

We had a good afternoon yesterday. A mate had invited us up onto his permission and the Hawks got to catch five rabbits between them with some nice flights, I was pleased to see my hawk hold off when the ferret and rabbit came out together and only grabbed the rabbit when the ferret had let go. I knew she could be trusted with ferrets but still thought she might have took hold off the rabbit in that situation. Real clever birds.

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Had a walk out with the dogs this morning seeing a few points from the pointer and runs with the lurchers. They didn't get many but they did find and mark sets that we didn't know where there. This afternoon we had an hour out with the Hawk where a few things were flown at but missed, then a squirrel was spotted but I didn't want my hawk going for it because she took a few nips the other day and I'm keeping an eye on her feet and she's on antibiotics just to be safe. Anyway it got away even though the hawk did clip it's rear end. After that we had a moorhen running along a stream. It kept swimming under water and just getting away before breaking cover. My hawk caught it on the bank but they fell into the water. My mate tried to get to her and could see the moorhen in the Hawks feet but she let go. I don't blame her she was struggling to keep her head above water. She was carried back to the car soaking wet and then dried off once home.

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We struggled to find rabbits to ground this afternoon but just about bolted enough or flushed enough from cover to make the trip worthwhile. My mates hawk caught three and mine got to grab two..........and a vole, I don't know how she spotted it never mind caught it in bracken. The ferret bolted a rat which slipped into the stream and swam underwater before going somewhere into the bank. My hawk had gone after it and was on the ground looking around for it when two rabbits bolted which would have made for good flights, typical. Don't know where rats come from that high up but you get the odd one, that's why I'm careful when sticking my hand down holes when dogs are marking or when I've dug to a ferret lol.

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Too wet and windy to fly the hawk yesterday. Today after a morning spent out with the dogs I took her out but the wind was strong. She caught a rat then went on the soar and went high and away from me out of sight. I tracked her down at the edge of a field on top of a moorhen. Unfortunately a tall fence that I couldn't climb over was between us and I had a fairly long walk to get to her praying that she wasn't eating too much moorhen. Thankfully she hadn't and with the wind getting even stronger I wasn't going to push my luck any further and went home.

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We had travelled for almost an hour yesterday to be met by fairly heavy rain. The forecasters had got it wrong and after waiting half an hour the sky was only getting darker so we head back home. On the afternoon the Hawks were taken out but didn't see much except for a rabbit that my hawk caught in the fork of a tree but couldn't keep hold of. She was left with feet full of fur. One lucky bunny.

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This morning we were out checking land I haven't hunt over with a hawk but had good days with lurchers in the past. I wanted to make sure I knew the boundaries. It's got potential and some nice sets so we will give it a go soon. This afternoon my hawk caught a slightly mixied rabbit but it's clear that she has issues with the dog again and I've been kidding myself that she was ok with him. I've done everything I can to get her to accept a dog out with us and sometimes it seems to go ok but just because we catch stuff dosent mean it's a happy relationship. As I say I've been lying to myself. I cannot live with a hawk that won't work with a dog so as much as it depresses me to say so I will persevere for the rest of the season but if there's still a problem I will find a home for her with ferreters/ lampers and start again with a fresh hawk that is used to dogs from day one. It's a shame as she's fit and can certainly catch stuff.

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ah thats annoying lets hope you can get out soon :D im down on the south coast and the weathers been horrible here too!

is it rain or wind which is the major issue with flying? (im a total novice but trying to learn in the hope of getting a BOP after uni, sorry if thats an obvious question!)

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Sorry I've just seen your post.

Rain is worse than wind, my hawk can handle fairly strong wind now. In fact she can handle strong wind but uses it to go high and wide and can then see stuff way off permission and it scares me so really she can handle the winds easily but I can't handle the stress lol.

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