harris hawk (falconry)

jellybaby21

This is my hawk Willow, she is an excellent hunter and loves catching bunnies, I have a few permissions around where I am but if any of you know of anyone that wants rid of some rabbits we (myself and Willow) would be happy to oblige

Cass

I knew it looked familiar.

Go onto Sky, then Anytime and look at the programme "Speed of Life". The first feature is about Harris Hawks. All done in slow motion. Very impressive bird.

aidog

beautiful bird you have there!:)

johnner1

fantastic looking bird JB, do you need a falconers licence for one of them?

Birdnuts

Beautifull girl there - A guy near me works in the BCU @Casement Aerodrome and keeps Peregrines and a big female Pere/Saker cross. Love to get into this sport but time/money??

PS: People might not know but back in the 13/1400's Ireland was the centre of falconry in Europe with Irish Goshawks highly prized and used as tributes to Kings and Queens of the time:)

mightymouse311

wat part of wicklow you in i might be able to provide some bunnies for you ill have a chat with a guy and see wat i can come up with

jellybaby21

johnner1 fantastic looking bird JB, do you need a falconers licence for one of them?

Yes Johnner1 you need 2 licenses for one, one just to be in possesion in a bird of prey, and another to participate in falconry.

Beautifull girl there - A guy near me works in the BCU @Casement Aerodrome and keeps Peregrines and a big female Pere/Saker cross. Love to get into this sport but time/money??

It is a bit expensive to get started, but once you have everything you need, the bird doesn't cost alot to keep.
Timewise, it does take up a fair bit of tim, you really need to be getting out with them most days, or if you hadn't got time during the day (due to work etc.,) you could lamp with it at nighttime and fly it at the weekends.


mightymouse311 wat part of wicklow you in i might be able to provide some bunnies for you ill have a chat with a guy and see wat i can come up with

I am in Newtownmountkennedy, but I would be willing to travel anywhere in Wicklow and neighbouring counties, thanks

shaft666

Nice looking bird there Jellybaby, how old is she now and what weight does she hunt at? That beak looks in serious need of a good coping in the 3rd pic

Paul

johnner1

jellybaby21 wrote: »

johnner1 Yes Johnner1 you need 2 licenses for one, one just to be in possesion in a bird of prey, and another to participate in falconry.

are they difficult to get licenced for/ what experiance would you need.

there is a lad fairly near me, bit of an undesirable that has been walking the streets with one and hunting local football fields with it:eek:
i would not licence him to keep a budgie never mind a harris hawk;)

jellybaby21

Nice looking bird there Jellybaby, how old is she now and what weight does she hunt at? That beak looks in serious need of a good coping in the 3rd pic

Paul

She was just pulled from moult in that pic, has had her beak coped
She hunts at 2lbs 2oz, this is her 2nd season she is about 18 months old.
A pic of her with her beak done



are they difficult to get licenced for/ what experiance would you need.
You need to get an experiencede falconer to sign your license application, as you will need him to help you out, you would need to do alot of research books, dvds etc
Going out flying with an experienced falconer helps an awful lot too, there is also falconry courses you can enrol into.

shaft666

Nice sized bird then, I can never understand this obsession with wanting 3lb Harris Hawks.
Here's a few pic's of my birds

Odin - 12 years old in May, hunts at 1lb 7oz, fresh from a bath!

Battling the wind!

Freya - pictured before first moult, 18 months old now, hunts at 2lb 1oz

Odin & Freya

Buzz - Feruginous Buzzard I found being attacked by grey crows, had escaped from wildlife park 12 miles away, now back home!

Birdnuts

Great Pics Shaft - Thanx:)

dicky82

smashing pictures. the chicken in the back ground of the buzzard pic looks like hes sneaking the long way round to the feeder:p

deerhunter1

jellybaby21 wrote: »

This is my hawk Willow, she is an excellent hunter and loves catching bunnies, I have a few permissions around where I am but if any of you know of anyone that wants rid of some rabbits we (myself and Willow) would be happy to oblige

So would I;) Beautiful Bird well done

jellybaby21

Some smashing birds there shaft, this is Willows 2nd season and she has been going for alot of quarry, tho bunnies are her fav

As for wanting a 3lbs hawk, there is nothing a 3lbs hawk would catch that a 2lbs 2oz hawk wouldn't

Savage93

Jellybaby , I have permission on a friend of mine's place just outside Gorey, approx 160 acres,mostly tillage,walking with rabbits, he asked me to shoot it this year, other shooters also use it. I've shot approx. 150 rabbits this year not even made a dent in them. If you're interested come back to me

jellybaby21

Savage93 wrote: »

Jellybaby , I have permission on a friend of mine's place just outside Gorey, approx 160 acres,mostly tillage,walking with rabbits, he asked me to shoot it this year, other shooters also use it. I've shot approx. 150 rabbits this year not even made a dent in them. If you're interested come back to me

I am very interested and would be very grateful if you did that for me as the permissions i have dont have many rabbits on them this year.

Savage93

I'm away this weekend, will drop a line next week with a view to meeting up the following weekend OK?

jellybaby21

Thats great thanks,looking forward to it.

jellybaby21

bump

Savage93

Hadn't forgotten about you, how are you fixed Sunday, PM me your mobile and we can meet up and I'll show you around, weather permitting

jellybaby21

Yeah Sunday should be ok if this weather clears off.Thanks again looking forward to meeting up.

jellybaby21

Now that my bird is back hunting again after her injury im still looking for some new permission.

ATB Wayne

rugerman

is she any good under the lamp only jokin i would love to see them in action what would the ideal land be obviously big open ground what else

jellybaby21

They are very good under the lamp but I don't lamp her and any ground where you can do a bit of ferreting and bolt a few rabbits for her.

welsummer

i know a falconer that uses them with a lamp.. pure killing machines

rugerman

not acting dumb but i didnt know that they lamp them aswell have to get me one of those then i have ideal lamping ground stirring with rabbits out the back of my house but i would say fields mite be a bit small for the hawks i cud be wrong ur more than welcome to try it out anytime waterford:eek: kilkenny border:D

jellybaby21

I would be more that happy to travel down for a days hunting.Would we be able to ferret and bolt a few rabbits for her?

rugerman

absolutley anytime i look forward to see them in action closest i came i saw one catch a hen phesant one day brilliant to watch. i gave up shooting out back of my house often took 80 rabbits in a evening for couple of evenings so give u an idea how many there is

jellybaby21

rugerman wrote: »

absolutley anytime i look forward to see them in action closest i came i saw one catch a hen phesant one day brilliant to watch. i gave up shooting out back of my house often took 80 rabbits in a evening for couple of evenings so give u an idea how many there is

We had a great days hunting on saturday thanks very much and look forward to coming down again some time.

ATB Wayne

jellybaby21

Just a few pic of a days hunting with willow.

deerhunter1

Lovely, well done, would the Hawke not pounce on the ferret/polecat?

Birdnuts

Awesome stuff Jelly:D

blackwater doc

come on up all u want in co.waterford bring all the birds theres no shortage of rabbits

jellybaby21

deerhunter1 wrote: »

Lovely, well done, would the Hawke not pounce on the ferret/polecat?

She is good with the ferrets and wouldn't bother with them when she is feeding but you have to keep a sharp eye on her all the same.

jellybaby21

blackwater doc wrote: »

come on up all u want in co.waterford bring all the birds theres no shortage of rabbits

I would love to take you up on that but it might be a bit late in the year for ferreting,what you think?
Where in Waterford are you mate?

jellybaby21

I'm still looking for some land to do some ferreting on with Willow next season.If anyone can help me out with some permission I would be very grateful.

ATB Wayne

Here's a few more pics

jellybaby21

Got the new season off to a nice start yesterday with a bit of ferreting and Willow bagged 2 rabbits and my brothers hawk got 1.

A few pics

jellybaby21

Got back out again on Sunday with Willow and she bagged another rabbit.

A few pics

baikilpm

hi jelly i live in west wicklow and have lots of rabbit land permissions.. i have no experience with hawks but would love to watch them work.. i dont work ferrets but i have a mate that does.. we either shoot over them or run the lurchers on them.. so if u were down this erea during the season id have no problem bringing u to a few spots... paul'

jellybaby21

Hi Paul cheers,we would be more than happy to arranged a days hunting up your way.I can arrange for my brother to bring his bird and ill bring mine.We'll have ferrets also.So if you like you can pm me your number and ill give you a ring and we'll come up some Saturday or Sunday.

ATB Wayne

jellybaby21

Finished work at 1 today, got Willow boxed up and collected David to go to some new land.When we got there we saw 2 rabbits on a lane and taught this might be good.We decided to walk the land to see what was about before we did any ferreting.I got Willow 4 slips and she nailed 3 rabbits,all slips from about 30 yards.They where the handiest 3 rabbits she will ever get.The place is walking with myxi.We saw about 20 rabbits just walking around.It would have been by far the best rabbit ground we have.Maybe it will clear up and we will still get some good hunting there this winter. A quick chat to the farmer on the way out and he told us the first myxi rabbit he saw was about 3 weeks ago.

A few pics

jellybaby21

The season is going well so far and we got the pheasant season off to a nice start with Willow bagging a cock bird.

A few pics

terminator2

what happens if a hen is flushed

jellybaby21

If a hen is flushed while the bird is following on she will chase it just the same as a cock.

jellybaby21

We decided to take the ferrets out on Sunday.We got to the farm at about 2pm and headed off.We started off by doing some burrows along a lane.We put the ferrets down and while we where waiting I saw a rabbit about 50 yards up the lane and I slipped Willow.She pumped all the way and hit the rabbit in cover but no joy.So recalled her and got back to the lads when a rabbit bolted and she was off again and this time got her rabbit.The ferrets where still down and the buck killed at the opening of the burrow and we had our second rabbit. Things didnt really go to plan for a while after that, with the rabbits not bolting cleanly.We moved up to higher ground and we where having a break with Willow sitting in a tree.We needed a break after walking up these hills but Willow went up on the soar then closed her wings and dropped rite back down to the very bottom of this land and put a rabbit flying into the air and nailed it at the second go and she had her second rabbit of the day.As I got to her Rosie was over head and she crashed into cover after a rabbit that had ran in but no joy.After a long walk back up we put the ferrets down the next burrow but again the rabbits wouldnt bolt clear of cover so we said we would call it a day.On our way back to the jeep we saw a rabbit so my brother slipped Rosie and she nailed this one.So she had her rabbit and was fed up.I walked on and saw a rabbit out in the field and slipped Willow,she hit this rabbit some thump and had her third rabbit of the day and was fed up.We ended the day with 5 rabbits,4 for the birds and 1 for the ferrets.

A few pics of willow on her first two rabbits








Rosie on her rabbit and the lads




Willow on her third rabbit of the day

jellybaby21

Tried something new with Willow the last week or so,we have been doing a bit of lamping.We have been out 3 times and Willow had killed on 2 trips out now.

A few pics

andrew dickenson

lovely bird you have pal

welsummer

What area are you hunting in.Looks like Tinahely, and Shillelagh countryside

deeksofdoom

Nice looking Bird, i'll bet you get sick of people asking you 'Will he come back to you?"

Is she an imprint? where did you get her?

jellybaby21

Thanks Andrew.

No not Tinahely or Shilleagh but its Wicklow alright Welsummer.

Yeah Deeksofdoom I get that alot and no not an imprint.I got her from a breeder in Manchester.