youcanthide...BANG 1,051 Posted September 21, 2014 Report Share Posted September 21, 2014 Well done mate, my hawks trying my patience big time lol Quote Link to post
pointer 543 Posted September 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2014 Well done mate, my hawks trying my patience big time lol How's she progressing mate? Quote Link to post
pointer 543 Posted September 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2014 My hawk missed a couple of rabbits this afternoon before she flew into a tree. She then took off across the field and I thought she was acting up. She wasn't though and after soaring around she dived down into the reeds but missed the rabbit and flew up on to the bank. She clearly thought the rabbit was still there and was proved right as I flushed it again and after a long flight over the reeds she caught it. After that she missed another few rabbits before circling over a big area of rushes and after a few failed attempts caught a rabbit. She was being dragged through the cover and I sprinted to her, thankfully I was able to grab hold of her rabbit which would have escaped as she didn't have much of a hold on it. These dales rabbits don't give up easily and are far bigger and stronger than our local bunnies and the banks and rocky ground make for interesting hawking. Feeling that she had missed a few and caught two rabbits after long flights where she tried hard I didn't push on and let her feed before giving my mates young lurcher a run out. 1 Quote Link to post
youcanthide...BANG 1,051 Posted September 21, 2014 Report Share Posted September 21, 2014 Racking the kills up mate, making me jealous lol. Mines not aha. Need to get the weight off her, she's carrying plenty of fat probably from the roe deer she's been getting aha, hoping to get her out before next weekend though Quote Link to post
pointer 543 Posted September 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2014 She's getting a few kills but it's still hard going at times, the reed covered dales aren't as affected by cover as other areas but most rabbits are in the bracken banks it seems. It will be better once the colder weather knocks everything down a bit. My mates been dropping his hawks weight and we fitted anklets etc today. She's footy and will need a bit of manning but I expect we will have her out in about a week or so. 1 Quote Link to post
pointer 543 Posted September 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 We went for an hours walk locally with my hawk doing a bit of hunting whilst my mate kept his on the glove. We should have his hawk flying free by the weekend. Two rabbits were missed and a few other things were spotted but it's hard to say what species were in the cover. I didn't take a dog as we didn't know how the other hawk would act around strange dogs. The covers way too thick to hunt without a dog, it's crazy this year. We couldn't stay out long as I had to pick up my pointer pup. 3 Quote Link to post
Accip74 7,112 Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 Cracking pup pointer, my mate got a bitch from mustwork kennels maybe about 18 months ago, I saw her back in the summer & I must say I was quite envious........'proper' dogs ;-) Quote Link to post
pointer 543 Posted September 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 They can be hard work and need a lot of excise but I like the way they hunt and as you say they are "proper" dogs. Quote Link to post
pointer 543 Posted September 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 We couldn't go hunting as planned due to it raining so had to rush over to other land where the Met Office were saying it wasn't. We only had an hour before dark and my hawk was soaring around missing a couple of rabbits but then seemed to sulk up trees or sit on the ground. Rabbits were running all over and she seemed oblivious to them. I thought it might be down to having a dog out with us but surely she hasn't gone back to being silly over canine help and anyway she had flown a rabbit well that he had put up earlier. There were Pheasants in the bracken and she will ignore rabbits if she thinks a phessie is close. The pointer marked a wall and we bolted it out. It was young and easily caught but at least we didn't blank. Quote Link to post
youcanthide...BANG 1,051 Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 At least your out and doing a bit. Finally getting somewhere with mine. Hopefully have her on a nice fat rabbit on Monday 1 Quote Link to post
pointer 543 Posted September 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Yeah we are getting out, there's been a bad outbreak of Mixy not too far away from our dales permissions and it's around the local areas so I'm expecting it to have an effect on my season sooner or later. I bet your itching to be out with her mate, if the rain holds off were out with my mates tonight on a creance line. If that goes ok she'll be flying free by the weekend. Quote Link to post
pointer 543 Posted September 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 My mates hawk is instantly flying the length of the creance, I'm looking forward to seeing it out flying free. I also showed the pointer pup the ferrets and chickens. I like to get pups around stock as much as possible as soon as possible. I only managed half an hour out with mine today, she twice flew over to trees and starting looking down as they do when they know something is there. This is nothing new but today she started chirping on and getting herself all excited. Both times the pointer flushed the rabbit but they easily escaped into thicker cover, still it's new behaviour from her and I'd like to think she was calling for our help lol. It was starting to get dark and as its hard enough to spot her in the trees I called it a night. 1 Quote Link to post
pointer 543 Posted September 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 What an absolute nightmare. After work we travelled up to a dales area. I knew it was a bit windy but thought I could control the situation. I was wrong,I had a Harris Hawk that was bang on weight and wanted to catch something. She soared around using the strong winds to her advantage. What resulted was a forty minute search on a steep sided ravine until I found my hawk on its kill. Without telemetry I would never have located her, she was sixty feet down from the top of the fields in a big patch of bracken and trees literally sticking straight out from a vertical rock face. I struggled to locate her as the signal was weak from above but eventually with the light fading I found her eating her quarry. I told my pointer to sit and stay and carefully made my way down to her shitting myself all the time that I would slip and fall. Thankfully I didn't and I got my hawk back. It doesn't matter what was caught, let's say it was just a rabbit, all I know is I have a Harris that will soar up high and pursue its quarry as far as is needed. She self hunted today no doubt about it but I shouldn't complain. Quote Link to post
CrowHawker 227 Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 Hunting a Harris from the soar is the meka mate good stuff!! Quote Link to post
youcanthide...BANG 1,051 Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 Don't be daft mate of course you would have found her without telemetry, Harris hawks don't need it remember? Quote Link to post
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