2014/15 Season

[Accip74 7,112]

It's at times like that you need a 'given'........& it all counts to make up the bigger picture......

[mat the bear 7]

Really enjoying following this thanks

[pointer 543]

We arrived at our hunting ground and I made my way down the big field towards the bank hoping for a quick flight on a rabbit. The sky was dark and the wind was blowing a bit. When you only half an hour to get something done the pressure is on. I let my hawk fly off the glove and she did a tight soar before crashing down towards a partridge, she missed it by what looked like an inch and it took off across the field. The hawk was in hot pursuit and staying close. They both went out of sight down the bank and I was jogging trying to keep up. I couldn't see anything when I first got to the edge but found her in the cover on top of the partridge. It was a good long flight and I was pleased that she hadn't given up. I was happy with one kill and didn't plan on carrying on but after she had traded off she flew into a tree and went after a rabbit. Unfortunately after a twisting flight up and down the bank and along the bottom of a dry stone wall it got to ground. It deserved to escape. She then flew into another tree and as I walked towards her a pheasant took off and she went after it. She wasn't close but kept at it and they followed the river around the bend again out of sight. After a few minutes I found her sat in a tree. I got her down and kept her on the glove. She hadn't been out long but had been busy, her fitness and effort is nice to see. As I walked back across a field I met up with my mate who had gone in the other direction and his hawk had caught a rabbit.

[pointer 543]

It was too windy to do anything today. I was going to try this afternoon but she was blown off the glove just crossing my yard before being weighed. The met office reckoned we were getting 18mph wind and 28mph gusts. I wish they had been right but it was windier than that. Losing days to bad weather is a major issue that I need to find a solution to. Getting permission to hunt in big woods that are in sheltered areas would be the ideal scenario, after ringing around I'm going to try a couple of woods tomorrow if I can but they aren't all that big and with wind gusts predicted of 50mph it might be tricky.

[Accip74 7,112]

Woodland is the way forward mate, at the risk of repeating myself many times....lol.....woodland was my domain when hawking, often venturing out in conditions that would leave most staying at home.....I became obsessed with any woodland/forestry I could gain access to.....

I worked with a guy who hawked as well & we would compare results on a Monday morning, he hunted pretty much open land mostly, he would listen almost disbelieving, as I told him what I'd been up to, in the weather he chose to stay at home in.....

[pointer 543]

I knew after last season that I needed woodland and didn't do much about it. That was really stupid of me. It's something I need to sort out soon because sitting at home looking at trees bending in the wind isn't healthy. We are likely to have another mild but windy season. With short days and having to rely on weekends we have to be able to get out.

[pointer 543]

The wind was even stronger today but I couldn't let another day pass without doing something. I went and had a look in a wood that I'd been invited onto, it's not big but it's only a couple of miles away. The leaves are still on many trees but she had a squirrel under pressure. The chase lasted for a couple of minutes before it got to safety. She then hit a moorhen in the river but couldn't hold it, a few minutes later she crashed into the riverbank after another moorhen but she didn't connect with it. I hadn't taken a dog with us which was a mistake as the cover was thick. By now the wind was really blowing and even the wooded area wasn't giving us much shelter from it. The place has potential and we will be back.

After that I went to see a mate to tell him how we had got on. After a cuppa the wind seemed to have dropped just a little so I decided to go out again over a couple of the local fields. However once out in the open the wind seemed strong again but as we were out I chanced it. My hawk loves the wind but it was taking her up and away from me at times which had me a bit worried but each time she managed to get back over to me. She tried to take two pheasants on the ground but missed them both before flying after them over to trees and cover but I couldn't find them for a re-flush. As we got to the last field she was soaring again and then took off over to a hedge and stooped down out of sight. I ran over expecting her to be on a rat but she had caught a pheasant. I had time to carry on hunting but let her feed up glad to have got something done and pleased she had caught something after a few misses today. As the wind was worse today than yesterday I think I'm worrying too much about it. It does blow her away from me and that stresses me out and she does enjoy flying in it which does result in her going missing sometimes but I find her or she gets back to me or if necessary I can use telemetry.

Edited October 26, 2014 by pointer

[pointer 543]

It was already getting dark when we got onto the field. I had hoped to flush a pheasant and let her go on a soar while I walked down the hedge. She spotted something, landed in a tree and a few seconds later dropped down on to a rat. There wasn't time to do anything else but I'm not complaining. Any kill on a day when she only has ten minutes flying time is welcome.

[pointer 543]

I arrived back home in heavy rain so there was no chance of flying the hawk. I left it until half an hour ago before taking her out with the lamp. I couldn't see a rabbit in the field at first but as I swept the light back across I thought the lump in some taller grass might be a bunny so we made our way over to it. It was a rabbit and it was sitting tight too far away from safety. This is the kind of rabbit that the lamping section in books tells you to find for a young lurcher lol.

It had very little chance of escaping and it didn't. There aren't many rabbits in my local area so I grabbed the rabbit and immediately threw food down a couple of feet away. The hawk jumped off the rabbit and I released it. My hawk trades off so quickly now and is looking for it as soon as I get to her. I swear if she gets any keener for the trade she will start retrieving her catch to me like a dog lol.

[pointer 543]

I'm sick of pheasants. They have caused me nothing but problems all season. I'd taken the afternoon off work to fly the hawk. Within five minutes of arriving the pointer had put a rabbit out of the cover and it was caught after a straight flight. I thought we might have been in for a good session but at first rabbits were hard to find and then my hawk was spending too much time flying after partridges. This wasn't such a big deal as I don't mind her pursuing what gets up. However we then moved onto the banks and what followed was just plain stupid. She ignored rabbits and only flew pheasants. This happens regularly but today saw some extreme cases of selective flying. I'm talking about a hawk sat in a tree or on a wall and watching rabbit after rabbit move under her but flying good distances after pheasants. This dosent happen if there's no phessies about but if she knows that one is in the cover somewhere she will ignore bunnies. The trouble is these pheasants aren't dopey reared chicken like birds but wild stock. She rarely catches them and she isn't fast enough. I was getting really pissed off and ready to go home as I was hardly enjoying myself. Another pheasant was spotted by the hawk and she flew down the bank after it. I tried to keep up as she weaved through a few trees and then stood in a big conifer. She was looking down and then dived into cover . The pheasant nearly got away but she went up in the air six foot and slammed into it again against a dry stone wall.

I didn't feed her from it thinking that might stop her being so keen on them.

 

I'd appreciate any advice. I'm thinking I need to stay clear of areas that contain pheasants but that's easier said than done as rabbit numbers are still low and where they aren't that's where the pheasants seem to be too. Apart from not letting her feed from game birds I can't think of what else to do. If I go ferreting it might concentrate her mind but I'm not going to try that when I'm out alone and I prefer to just walk the land.

 

Give me a twisting turning fast action flight on a rabbit any day.

Edited October 29, 2014 by pointer

[Accip74 7,112]

I'm sick of pheasants. They have caused me nothing but problems all season. I'd taken the afternoon off work to fly the hawk. Within five minutes of arriving the pointer had put a rabbit out of the cover and it was caught after a straight flight. I thought we might have been in for a good session but at first rabbits were hard to find and then my hawk was spending too much time flying after partridges. This wasn't such a big deal as I don't mind her pursuing what gets up. However we then moved onto the banks and what followed was just plain stupid. She ignored rabbits and only flew pheasants. This happens regularly but today saw some extreme cases of selective flying. I'm talking about a hawk sat in a tree or on a wall and watching rabbit after rabbit move under her but flying good distances after pheasants. This dosent happen if there's no phessies about but if she knows that one is in the cover somewhere she will ignore bunnies. The trouble is these pheasants aren't dopey reared chicken like birds but wild stock. She rarely catches them and she isn't fast enough. I was getting really pissed off and ready to go home as I was hardly enjoying myself. Another pheasant was spotted by the hawk and she flew down the bank after it. I tried to keep up as she weaved through a few trees and then stood in a big conifer. She was looking down and then dived into cover . The pheasant nearly got away but she went up in the air six foot and slammed into it again against a dry stone wall.

I didn't feed her from it thinking that might stop her being so keen on them.

I'd appreciate any advice. I'm thinking I need to stay clear of areas that contain pheasants but that's easier said than done as rabbit numbers are still low and where they aren't that's where the pheasants seem to be too. Apart from not letting her feed from game birds I can't think of what else to do. If I go ferreting it might concentrate her mind but I'm not going to try that when I'm out alone and I prefer to just walk the land.

Give me a twisting turning fast action flight on a rabbit any day.

Like you say, it may be hard to avoid them, but if it was me I would concentrate on rabbits for a while & just do single kills, give a good feed up & go home........then when I next returned to somewhere with a good mix of quarry, I'd tweak her weight a bit to get her more focused, then see what happens......if that didn't work for me, I'd live with it....lol

 

I'm not saying that should be you're course of action......but it's probably what I would try first.....

 

Edited to say.......I did quite a bit of ferreting on my own, I can't say it was the most enjoyable & a little stressful.....but, needs must......that could be an option for you, on selective spots....

Edited October 29, 2014 by Accip74

[pointer 543]

I've tried adjusting her weight but it makes no difference to her desire for game birds. I reckon her behaviour has cost around 12-20 rabbits. Some of today's might as well have not bothered running they were safe enough. At one point she was in a tree and three rabbits moved in front of her. I couldn't understand what was going on as my dog had hunt through the area. I had him do it again but this time he jumped the fence and the pheasant was against a wall on that side. Then she came to life and flew it down the bank into cover but didn't get it.

I know she has been doing this for a few weeks now but I wasn't all that bothered as I actually thought that seeing as she was bagging the odd one and that she was still catching rabbits At other times it didn't matter. However they were short hour sessions but today could have been a full afternoon and the problem I now have became very clear to me. I've enjoyed watching the long flights on pheasants, I thought it was a good sign. I want a committed hawk and she's committed on pheasants all right.

 

As you say might be worth good feeds from rabbit and have a few days out with ferrets.

Edited October 29, 2014 by pointer

[Accip74 7,112]

Yeh these things are often less to do with weight than incentive, motivation......I had to refocus my second male Harris on rabbits....After this session....

 

I over did it with him that morning.....took til the rest of the season to get him right again, lots of single rabbit kills & a good feed up....

[charlie caller 3,654]

A hawk that is catching pheasants on a semi regular basis is not my idea of a problem mate but yes I know what you are saying, she obviously likes the taste of pheasant more than rabbit, and really you can hardly blame her, personally I would live with it and enjoy her catching whatever she wants, but perhaps just flying her from the fist at bunnies for a bit might ease the problem a bit

[pointer 543]

Thanks for the replies lads.

If I'm honest I'm more worried that I've messed up in some way. I feed from kills a lot and rarely go for more than two kills. I can accept a hawk selecting it's quarry if it knows something is nearby that it wants. Today she ignored or half heartedly flew rabbits that should have been easy to catch..... Real easy and then a minute later she would fly a pheasant that would have her out of sight and when I got to her she would be breathing hard. I guess that's the part I'm struggling to understand.