harris hawk (falconry)

Ape Owners

Welcome aboard Ste.

tac foley

I'd be grateful if you guys would let me repost some of those fantastic images for my friends in the US.

TIA

Beast4mdaeast

Ape Owners wrote: »

Welcome aboard Ste.

Thanks a mill, couldnt have done it without ya.

Ape Owners

tac foley wrote: »

I'd be grateful if you guys would let me repost some of those fantastic images for my friends in the US.

TIA

No problem at all Tac.

Beast4mdaeast

Ok folks here goes.
I was lucky enough to have met Ape Owner 2 years ago,
After a life time of fascination with Birds of Prey and the great outdoors, i learned in my 30s that it is possible to keep and Hunt with these Amazing works of evolution we call Falconry birds!!

After a full year reading about, and asking every possible Question there is to ask!
I was very lucky to have met a great group of experienced falconers to piont me in the right direction without these lads to answer my Qs i wouldnt have had the success I had in my first ever Season as a falconer..

Last september 2018, I took possession of a 16wk old Male Harris Hawk. Fresh from his parents and as wild as a box of frogs!!

I set about "Casting" the Hawk & fitting his falconry leather Equipment ie anklets , jesses, ankle bewet & bell, and Hood to keep the wild un-maned hawk calm in his first few hours with a human!!

A few days past manning or taming the young Harris to accept his new surroundings and accept that he could eat on my fist/ glove safely!

After 1.5 weeks of basic manning and training (for me as a first timer and for Him) we had got to the stage of flying free and returning on Recall,

1 week later he had a slip at a Rook and caught his first ever head of game!! From that day on he had turned on or Switched on his hunting instinct, from then on if it was black or had Feathers he had to have it!!

I wasnt so lucky getting him switched on to Rabbits! We got there in the end, but it wasnt as instant as the corvids / wood pigeons he loved catching. I think there are 2 reasons why it took him a while to get Entered on rabbits!

Reason 1... he is a small male Harris @ 1lb 4oz not as big and powerful as the females you read about in this thread, most female harris are almost twice his size with savage power in there feet/ talons , But" what he lacks in size he makes up for in speed and agility in the air, hence the reason he was so good at catching and killing feather game ie Birds!!

Reason 2.... as the males are smaller and less dominant / confidant he thought rabbits where just abit scary! I would bolt rabbits time and time again with ferrets and time and time again he would sitt and watch them run off into the hedge or back into the warrens, as time went on he started to chase them " half hearted no real commitment" ,
until after a field meet with some of the Falconers you read about in this thread, after myself and TANGO my Male Harris watching the big experienced female Harris from (Ape Owner) Sean catching multiple bolted rabbits!!
With still no luck after a full day we decided to drag a dead but still warm Rabbit carcuss partly opended up with the nice red meat showing, and after some hesitation but showing keen interest he hoped off the glove and grabbed the dead rabbit!!! Bingo!! We dragged the rabbit a few more inches untill Bang Bang!! He footed it with two hard smacks to make sure he had a good hold of it, as if this was a live rabbit the small male wouldnt have the instant weight and stopping power of the biger Females, he would need to make sure he had a good grip or even better a two footed head hold ( stops rabbits in the tracks instantly)
So After a nice warm crop full (belly full) of food, he was content and confidant that rabbits where worth chasing and holding!!

After a real struggle finding land permission that had live rabbits (god dam mixy ) he would instantly chase his heart out after bolted rabbits nearly always hitting them and failing to get a decent head hold would get kicked off or get dragged around by some big rabbits!! Anyway i kept at it day after day bolting rabbits and lamping rabbits at night night after night , success he began getting better and better faster and fitter more confidant' crashing and diving in full speed after rabbits who made it to cover. Almost always hitting them by the head and holding on' or just about Nearly getting his kill, but only ending with a foot full of rabbit fur after high pitch squeel from a lucky rabbit who ran off with a sore arse!!!

When we didnt catch rabbits he was dynamite on Rooks/grey crows / woodpigeons / magpies,
All the time getting more agile in the chase with some savage flights after Corvids( crows) twisting and jinking flights!! I now have great found respect for all corvids as i now see how smart and keen they are , they have savage eyesight , they stick together alarm calling and trying to mob the Hawk into scaring him off as though they would with say a sparrowhawk or wild comman buzzard! But not my Harris twice he grabbed and killed a rook and grey crow that got to close to him, he truly loves to chase them!

At the very end of the hunting season he ended up with 34 head of game caught, as i wright down his daily record in a small diary i keep his progress up in. And by the last 2 weeks of the season he almost always caught 2 rabbits or 2 crows per hunt, hunting 5 -6 days / nights a week from september untill end of january.

He is currently sitting fat and happy in the off season moulting ( dropping old feathers and growing in a new set)
I cant wait for this season to start as he will get better every season from now on as a mature experienced hunter!!

If anyone has any land available to hunt rabbits or corvids any sheds or barns need clearing of pest birds, i would be grateful as any land permission in the country with good rabbits is getting harder and harder to find , fully licenced and insured free of charge, thanks for reading
I hope these photos work below,

Beast4mdaeast

Some pics below of the young harris 2018

[ IMG ] Screenshot_20190112-192354_Video Player.jpg [ \IMG ]

Beast4mdaeast

More pics of Tango..

Beast4mdaeast

More pics..

Beast4mdaeast

More pics..

Beast4mdaeast

Even more pics folks ...

Beast4mdaeast

mooncoin field meet with Ape owner and the other falconers who helpd get tango going on the rabbits .

Big shout out for the help folks .....

tac foley

I wish there was an icon for a thousand likes - this thread has been very rewarding for me to read, and for me to be able to show a few like-minded friends of mine over in the USA, particularly in the Pacific North West where we spend much of our time.

When I was younger, hawking and falconry held an endless fascination for me, but my military lifestyle made such a way of life into an unsolveable problem.

And now I'm old, and spend my time in three countries, unable to really settle in any of them.

Enjoy it all for me, please.

And thanks again.