Hey, some of you guys, you should read the posts before launching off with advice.

Bob has been on a course and has read books. Yes he seems to have been a bit hopeful to start when his hawk was being encouraging (I think we were all pretty excited with our first bird) but he seems to have had the sense to progress carefully since then. 

If books and courses are not enough to let you train a Harris hawk maybe you shouldn't actually have one. I'm not against having as much help as you can get (thats good for your hawk) but there were days not too many years ago when there was one good book readily available on the market (MIchael Woodford's Manual of Falconry), no courses, no harris hawks and you were lucky to find a another falconer within a 100 miles. We still managed to train and fly hawks.

And Shaun, which course has hawks to practise on that bate and try and foot you?

Also for those who are interested, Nick Fox's Understanding Birds Of Prey has almost twenty pages on weight control - is that enough for you. In general it is one of best books you can get.

All the best guys

Andy

 

tried today 2x jumps on 25yds creance then 1st time free tried at 15yds free bang! no problem then at 25yds straight up a big skinney tree (****e)!!!

Took me 50 mins to get her back,tried calling tapping with food, dummy bunny (who"s the dummy) i made a loop stick out of her creance and a long thin branch and after she tried to jump from 1 branch to another i looped her leg she came down ok  

Ive decided its down another 2oz and keep her keener

I hope you guys dont get sick of me bearing my soul but its like a drug and a battle of wits inexperianced i may be but i"ll train her to be very good if you"s get sick of this little adventure just say and i"ll stop P.S thanks for the replies

Hey Shaun,

No problems with your comments and as I said myself anything that is good for the hawks is good. I just like to stir the postinmgs a little, lol, and maybe make people appreciate that they need to put effort in themselves. We have turned into a society that likes things to come easy. Falconry doesn't fall into that category as we all find out when we have a hawk. The fact we are on this forum talking is a good thing because, as many of us know, there are to many "falconers" who get a hawk and soon realise they have got more than they are prepared to deal with. 

See ya

Andy

 

Good going Bob, nearly there!!

Have you got plenty of rabbits about as your next step will be to start hunting. If your Harris is well manned and reacting pronptly to being called back from posts and trees it's time to look for quarry. Moorhens along small brooks are not bad but they are now out of season. The other issue with moorhens is the possibility of carrying or catching them up a tree or bush.

A male Harris I had a few years ago had his first kill on a moorhen. I had "popped" out at about midday on xmas day, "Not be long love.." and just at the point -  well a bit after actually - when I should turn round and head for home, he went after a moorhen, He nabbed it just as it was dissappearing under a bramble bush. He then thought the best palce to eat it would be further under this bush which was about 5 metres in diameter. I would go round the bush to get closest to him and as soon as tried to wriggle in he would shuffle of to the other side. So a bit of patience, I let him start to eat and then very slowly inched towards him till I got a hold of a jess. He always was a B****r for shufflling into the undergrowth with his kills.

I got home as dinner was going onto the plates. My better half totaly unimpressed by my story, we're still together though. 

Anyway, if you have rabbits just walk the countryside with her on your fist and be ready to let her go if she decides to give chase. She'll soon get the hang of it.

Andy

 

Sounds like you've cracked the free flying Bob,

As Andy says, you need to get her entered now, the sooner the better! Fly her from the fist to start with otherwise you'll find she will follow on but be watching you waiting for a tidbit. Only feed her on the fist when absolutely necesary i.e. to get her off a kill or to bring her back after a miss. A lot of people make the mistake of feeding too often on the glove with their first bird (me included). The best hunting birds I've ever flown were trained using American Methods (Toby Bradshaw) and were never fed on the fist after initial manning. What you need to remember is that she's a hunting companion not a pet. Sorry if my opinions are a bit confusing, I'm sure we'll get a few alternative methods posted

Good luck

Shaun 

What weight have you got her at Bob?

If you've got her at a consistent flying weight and she's not flying somewhere strange she should be bang on every time.

I'll give you a bell when I get chance.

Shaun

Todays the day sh*t or bust she goes free

Abbey"s 1st free flight went fine she is down to 2lb 41/2oz hungry as they come and fit with it

happy as larry back to the fist like a bullit she did about 200yds landed for 1-2 mins called her down after giving her a break BANG no problem patiance is worth it took my time when i was ready no kite no string

P.S thanks for all the replies and a big thanks to shaun the advice worked great   time to close this link i think

Well done Bob,

We'll look for your next link "1st Kill"

One little point to watch for. A harris that has been at say 2lb 8oz gets dropped to 2lb 6oz and will feel hungry and fairly keen. But keep her at 2lb 6oz for a couple of days and she'll lose that keen-ness if thats not her real flying weight.

It also helps to keep a graph of daily weight with a note of how much you fed and her manner / responsiveness. You soon start to spot her best weight from it.

Andy

just one thing,good to know your birds Flying weight,remember though,hunting & flying weights are different,e.g.

my male flies at 1-71\2 to 1-81\2......he hunts at 1-6.

my female flies at 2-8 to 2-9.......she hunts at 2-6. 

Got to disagree totally with that !!!!the best feeling is the ******ng thing coming back after you lets it go free!!!hahahahaha!