Midgets second Bunny

[jasper65 6]

Just a quick few pic's of my Little male Gos on his second Rabbit, I would normally use a Gos for the game in the area but this year the whole game season on the land has been spoilt, I'm fed up covering miles on foot without a slip! the land owner has opened up his land to the public , on every peice of land he has left the headland green to allow people to walk round, there's also a DEFRA post knocked in each corner giving directions, the whole place is now moving with people and dogs, it seems unreal but the keeper has told me from the syndicate that he put down around 8000 Pheasants but they've been pushed all over the place and over the boundaries, the most he has seen since he put them down is around 500, and shooting less than 100 on a day , they're not also renewing their contract next year and who can blame him.

 

I'm now switched over to ferreting Rabbits which to be honest is no test for a Gos although I am pleased the little fella is taking them well, you'll never really get one fit just flying over ferrets, its a short sprint and over with! he needs more Marathons than sprints which would come with chaseing game to get his metabolism burning.

 

Cheers

 

Tony

 

 

 

 

[jasper65 6]

It's a shame about your permission getting wrecked..im waiting to loose one of mine as the farmer is trying to sell his land so it can be turned into a land fill site then he will be moving to australia..

Cracking pic's and bird you have there.. ..

On the ferreting are the bird's ok with the ferret's or do you have to get in quick to pick a ferret up if the rabbit back bolt's and the ferret stick's it's head out wile the bird is off..i know it's a daft question but it could happen.. .

Also cant you give the bird a bit of both in a day ...ie..some long slip's aswell as a bit of ferreted easy one's to keep it's confidence or doesn't that really matter..

Millet

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Its a hard one when I'm flying a Gos, I could and have given it long slips on Rabbits but you can pretty much guarantee they'll make it to cover, the next thing you know the Gos has flown into the nearest tree spotted a bunny running for cover in the woods and nailed it, this would'nt be much of a problem with a Harris but the Gos will soon learn that it can kill easier out of trees than off the fist which is the start of the bird self Hunting, a self Hunting Gos will take things on at some pretty long ranges and if it fails to catch that one it would more than likely spot something else another field away and off it goes again, I know a few people who hunt Gos's like this by self Hunting them and you are totally Guaranteed the bird is going to be picked up off a kill.

 

If my Gos puts a pheasant into cover and marks over it in a tree I'll call it down again and go for the reflush, sometimes accidents do happen and they drop straight out of the tree on to the quarry, I try not to let the bird repeat this!! the object is to try and serve the bird with quarry regular off the fist, it will soon learn that the glove is its launch pad with success, I have had a few sticky moment with a young Gos on ferrets but they soon learn to ignore them and work with them, the handy thing is with the bird on the fist you can also hold it back from nailing the Ferret, if the birds up a tree and the ferret pops out at the wrong time it could be one dead ferret , You will find though that they will ignore ferrets with experience...

 

Cheers

 

Tony

[tiny tim 22]

i also thought the same as millet and was wary of using my ferrets with my mates harris but to my amazment the hawk completely ignored the ferrets even polcat coloured ones.this bird has caught numerous stoats and weasels but knows that the ferret is a part of the team.walking through woodland the bird will sit above patches of cover that it has seen game in and waits for us to flush for it.he has caught an amazing amount of game with this hawk.fantastc to watch

[jasper65 6]

interesting read jasper and a cracking pic of a harris tim iv ordered a gos for  next year i might be biting off a bit more than i can chew but i dont work and iv got all the time in the world but still mixed up a bit about what to have inprint or parent reared male or female which do u think is the best for a bit of everything cheeres

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Personally mate I won't fly a Imprint! people do well with them but I prefer a P/R bird mainly down to its manners plus the P/R birds know exactly what they are! basically Imprints are totally f****d in the head , if you think about it a Imprint Imprinted by Humans either thinks that its a human or you're a Goshawk! in my mind when you take it out and reduce its weight and fly it its like its being flown by something of its own species, this is the reason some will show aggresion just like they would with another hawk while feeding! which is basically why some falconers in the early days trying to fly Imprint females to the fist ended up with Multiple wounds, thankfully people saw sence and flew them to a lure instead, Not my seen though!! I would rather have a Gos pump back and smack on the fist anytime, Basically Imprints are easy! all the Manning has been done in the rearing, if you can keep serving them with success you could make a good one that will start to channel its attentions more to hunting than screaming and mantling.

 

Its like anything if you put the time into the bird you'll make a good one, people have been flying P/R goshawks for centuries from passage and haggard birds to our captive bred birds, a P/R gos is a joy to handle and in time will steady like a Imprint anyway! you'll find late in the first season and as the seasons go on they'll turn very steady like a red crow :whistle:.

 

Tony

[jasper65 6]

thanks for the reply it makes a lot of sense its going to be p r .then but whats the best for a bit of everything male or female thanks

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The finnish males have definitley got the edge over their larger sisters over the the first 50yds or so, they also turn quick and get up off the deck quicker, they take cock birds and bunnies well but may strugle with footing with big cock birds at the beggining of the season until their technique Improves, Pardon the Pun but I like where hawks are concerened "big boys and little girls", I have big finnish female birds hear for breeding but I would never want to fly one! Give me a female flying a tad over 2lb - 2lb 5 and it would be dynamite for everything you want, If its Hares you want a small fmeale will take them just aswell as a large bird weighing a good 10oz's heavier, once its mastered a technique it will do it no problem, a friend of mine Andy Reeve from down hear used to take crows with a Sparrowhawk regular out of a car window, it was well documented in the BFC mags, it just proves what birds are capable of.

 

I love large Finnish males but then again its not really bunnies I want but game and the male is a superb game hawk, if you think about it its the male thats the killing machine in all the raptors, he kills for the female while she is sitting tight on egss plus for himself plus he kills for the chicks until the mother can safly leave them in the nest to help with hunting, when he is feeding himself the female and perhaps 4 chicks he must be taking quarry the best part of the day, the lazy female gets away with it! like my missus , I'm not advicing you as its your call which bird you prefer but if you can be guaranteed a good large male and its feather you're after go for it, he'll also do bunnies pretty well too! if not a finnish x german female is ideal and a good all rounder for even larger quarry, this is not very good sales pitch as I breed them but save you pennies on spending a fortune of a big Finnish female..

 

Cheers

 

Tony

[Guest what a flight]

thanks for your help mate and advice its well appreciated

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You'll get nothing but first class advice when it comes to goshawks of him turk .

i tell you what tony,i know pics can be deceptive,but he doesn't look that small in the pic on yer glove,i had big regan over yesterday afternoon with his female fin imprint,lovely gos,but a pain in the arse when the wire when near it,twittering and baiting,but it did chase everything hard she put up for it other than the 2 hares :ph34r:it had hard luck on the mallard twice, it took hold of one in a long fast climbing flight,lost its grip and it managed top get back to the brook,it also had hold of another that it lost,then took on a long slip when it was almost dark,but recalled well to the lure ,......

speak soon mate,

 

W A F......

[jasper65 6]

thanks for your help mate and advice its well appreciated

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You'll get nothing but first class advice when it comes to goshawks of him turk .

i tell you what tony,i know pics can be deceptive,but he doesn't look that small in the pic on yer glove,i had big regan over yesterday afternoon with his female fin imprint,lovely gos,but a pain in the arse when the wire when near it,twittering and baiting,but it did chase everything hard she put up for it other than the 2 hares :ph34r:it had hard luck on the mallard twice, it took hold of one in a long fast climbing flight,lost its grip and it managed top get back to the brook,it also had hold of another that it lost,then took on a long slip when it was almost dark,but recalled well to the lure ,......

speak soon mate,

 

W A F......

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Its good to hear from you mate .

 

I have them lads coming down from your way on sunday to pick this male up, they're bring their birds which should be Interesting , that lad is getting a bargain with this male! for a good few weeks I hav'nt weighed or done nothing with him except chuck food to him on the bow, the lad who is having it asked me if I would check its feathers for any damage which I did and it was fine, I stuck it on the scales and I litterally swear to this! that bird weighs 2lb 3 oz's, I thought it had food in it so I fed it two chicks and weighed it again the flollowing afternoon and its bang on 2lb 3 oz's, he's getting a real bargain for £700 , I'm going to weigh it when they're hear to prove it to them, it looks like a german female compared to this little one I picked up off Andy Holinshead, I wish I could afford to keep it but with xmas coming on and whatever its got to go .

 

This little male hates dogs too, I think the terriers had a say in that one though, they pestered it constantly when I first took it up, I have tried everything to try and make him better with dogs but he's having none of it, he'll tolerate them at distance but thats it.

 

I'll bell you and fill you in after they've left.

 

Cheers

 

Tony

[jasper65 6]

sold the male I bred yesterday! he had been sitting on the bow for about 5 weeks waiting for a spanish guy to pick him up, but to cut a long story short I got fed up waiting for him and sold it to a lad from Lancashire yesterday, I stuck him on the scales after going a good day without food to show the lads how big he is and he tipped the scales at 2lb 2oz , he was a cracking finnish male and made the male I'm flying look like a female sparrowhawk, as you can Imagine the lad who brought it was made up with the bird he got for £700.

 

Tony

[Darren Wright 0]

bet you were gutted mate to see such a good bird go....Just a shame u had bad luck & it worked out like this.

I bet the lad was well pleased to be geting a quality Gos for that price.

 

How is the little lad doin?

 

Daz

[jasper65 6]

bet you were gutted mate to see such a good bird go....Just a shame u had bad luck & it worked out like this.

I bet the lad was well pleased to be geting a quality Gos for that price.

 

How is the little lad doin?

 

Daz

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He's doing Ok darren apart from taking a good Hammering off the larger Rabbits! the day the lads from Lancashire turned up to pick their Gos up we went out in the morning! had a few slips with their Gos's and had a few bunnies, I took mine up at about 1.30, he nailed a Rabbits over a ledge and disapeered! I looked all over the place thinking he had buggered off chaseing, it turned out he was a good arms length down the rabbit hold bent backwards after attaching himself to the arse of the bunny, he's a persistent little fella, Hoods well and has a cracking nice temperament, but he's not the bird for me! he'll be going at the end of the season, I would'nt want to breed with a bird like this as he's not making the size.

 

Cheers

 

Tony

[Guest what a flight]

sold the male I bred yesterday! he had been sitting on the bow for about 5 weeks waiting for a spanish guy to pick him up, but to cut a long story short I got fed up waiting for him and sold it to a lad from Lancashire yesterday, I stuck him on the scales after going a good day without food to show the lads how big he is and he tipped the scales at 2lb 2oz  , he was a cracking finnish male and made the male I'm flying look like a female sparrowhawk, as you can Imagine the lad who brought it was made up with the bird he got for £700.

 

Tony

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He got a Top deal there for his money Tony,i bet he's well pleased,was he taking it up straight away.I had the guy over with the big finnish female imprint again,it still couldn't come to terms with the wild pheasants,i think once theyv'e had lots of shoot poults and reared birds ,they can't handle the zip of the wild game,said he was coming back this sunday afternoon,but he hasn't called yet .

 

speak soon mate,

 

W A F.......

[jasper65 6]

sold the male I bred yesterday! he had been sitting on the bow for about 5 weeks waiting for a spanish guy to pick him up, but to cut a long story short I got fed up waiting for him and sold it to a lad from Lancashire yesterday, I stuck him on the scales after going a good day without food to show the lads how big he is and he tipped the scales at 2lb 2oz  , he was a cracking finnish male and made the male I'm flying look like a female sparrowhawk, as you can Imagine the lad who brought it was made up with the bird he got for £700.

 

Tony

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He got a Top deal there for his money Tony,i bet he's well pleased,was he taking it up straight away.I had the guy over with the big finnish female imprint again,it still couldn't come to terms with the wild pheasants,i think once theyv'e had lots of shoot poults and reared birds ,they can't handle the zip of the wild game,said he was coming back this sunday afternoon,but he hasn't called yet .

 

speak soon mate,

 

W A F.......

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Hello WAF

 

sounds like most of the gos men mate, they talk well on the lists but duck and dive for cover with excuses when you're in the field with them, most could'nt fly a good gos while they're have a hole in his arse's , either his Gos was unfit, over weight or taken far too many bunnies to be arsed with the Pheasants, this male I have hear is the same! he'll chase the strong birds for a couple of hundred yards at the most but then loses enthusiasm! thats my fault though as I hardly fly him and have now switched him over to bunnies, I fly him perhaps twice a week at the most , I have had a couple over the years that would really chase the fit fella's well out of site and roll them out of the air on the put in or by just sheer excelleration and stamina! I was also alot fitter too then , not had one since the year 2000 though! but yet again its my fault due to not putting the time in, other commitments come first now! the lack of game on the land I fly has certainly killed it this year for me due to one twot of a farmer opening up to the public .

 

As you know a Gos has all the artillary to do a good job on any game bird when fit and strong but most lads nowadays never get there birds near to fittness! far too many Imprints being flown over weight for my likeing! they seem deceivingly good at rabbits but a short sharp slip will never get them fit, when the game was abundant on this land we constantly get one slip after another on game birds, they would take a fair few cock and hen game reared birds through out the season but the constant success and decent rewards soon conditioned them when a strong wild bird lifted, I had one male clear a field and a small moor before crossing river in a pursuit of a Pheasant, l ended up wading over the river to a small copse where he had taken the bird weather he took it in flight or not is another thing as the pair was unsighted but the way he was flat out below its tail I would say he did, over the years they used to put thousands upon thousands of game reared birds down hear in Norfolk, not so much in the last few years though! due to the vast amount of wild stock which are producing young year in and year out, its just a b*****d I can't find hardly any on this peice of land!, I would poach some of the land near by but the keepers won't take prisoners in the shape of hawks around this way , time to find some other land for the future.

 

that Richard waddington got a real bargain! he rang and said it was feeding on his fist at 1.14 1/2oz's, how he is doing with it now I hav'nt got a clue but it was a lovelly bird, I still have 6 young Harris's in the aviaries that Craig Thomas brought back in Sept, first he was going to definitley pick them up in November now he is stalling again and saying december , boy am I pissed off about it having to sit on young birds right up to xmas time! its a joke, I won't have it next year though as I'm hardly breeding any only probably the one clutch, I just had a couple more Gos's brought round for breeding! a finnish x german female from Malcolm alison and a finnish male from chris soans flown in the Urban Goshawk video, I would'nt want to be fireing him into one of these big female as he has only topped out at a tad under 1.14 at 8 years old, he'll be good back up hopefully though should I run out of semen again, give us a bell when you get 5 mins! I left a nessage on your answer phone the other evening but it was late..

 

Speak To You Soon

 

Tony

[Darren Wright 0]

jasper65..

Malcolm alison...I just bought his Martin Jones telemetry setup from him.

 

I cant belive the guy who is buying the Harris hawks from ya....feck me why is he messing around

[jasper65 6]

jasper65..

Malcolm alison...I just bought his Martin Jones telemetry setup from him.

 

I cant belive the guy who is buying the Harris hawks from ya....feck me why is he messing around

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They're supposed to be going abroad Darren, the last excuse is he is still waiting for the paperwork to come through , these Harris's are 23 weeks old and still in with their parents! she has now started to get a bit pissed off with them in her aviary space, the sooner he picks them up the better..

 

Tony

[Darren Wright 0]

Just come back from walking the dog & there was a lad with a big Gos on a creance training it, Shouted to ask if it was manned to dogs yet....No was the reply, so just left it at that.......funny thing is I was flying the Harris there 40mins before i went out with the dog