A Falconry Film by Media Students

This video was filmed and edited by Media students, i thought it was very impressive.

More Trapping

The weather has changed, gone are the 101 - 114 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures this week should be in the upper 80's lower 90's does this make a difference oh hell yeah !

A big front came though today moving just about everything i had locally with the exception of one female out by Durant airport. I love watching this female she has worked out she can hunt dove, she circles 100-200 feet above and then dive bombs the dove. She'll chase for a few minutes if she doesn't connect but then starts to circle above again.

On Thursday i have to travel to Lawton, another military medical review board for latrell. On the way back we plan to trap. Hopefully we will find a male redtail hawk.

I finally got some sort of confirmation on carhawking from the Oklahoma wildlife department today.

"The "car hawking" is not a new law, it was an interpretation made by Law Enforcement prior to the NAFA meet last year and they determined that it is legal for a falconer to release a falconry bird from a vehicle"

On page 34 of the Oklahoma Hunting Guide it stated Migratory Game Bird Regulation "From or with the aid or use of a vehicle or other motor-driven land conveyance"

I know Dave Eslicker is working and in communications with the ODWC to make sure it stays this way, which makes a different form of falconry very exciting for a lot of people.

Not that i didn't trust anyone but i just wanted it in some form of writing from someone one official. I know how cops and lawyers work and unfortunately it ain't pretty...

Out of interest Lauren McGough ex president of the OFA is now back in the USA, I found an interesting article on her study of falconry in Mongolia .



You can check out the full article at Raptor Education Foundation great photos and an interesting read

Scouting

I started scouting out my hunting grounds this week. Lilly came with me for the field practice, she still bolts but i have been letting her drag a 20 foot leash behind her to slow her down a bit. the wwwooohhhh command is starting to click. She flushed 3 collared dove and a doe from cover. Rabbit scat was present but not in large amounts in comparison to last year and the migratory birds had not entered the area yet.

Pretty pleased with how lilly behaved especially as she hasn't been in the field for a while , its been to dam hot. I plan to check out some of the other public grounds in the area, the reports from the game wardens are more encouraging especially the further north you go (less fire ants).

Trapping and the Central flyway Region

Went trapping today. Its my birthday so it was my birthday present ( as well as a new freezer so i can keep all my hawk food in it without the kids complaining) , the plan is to bring back a Tericel Redtail hawk. We headed north on hignway 75 past McAlester and ended up on highway 69. The number of Redtails dramatically increased past McAlester. We spotted a number of hags but eventually found a passage. We bumped her of the trap the first time backed off and she went down on a second trap. The first time she landed on the trap she was able to lift the 2.5lb trap, so basically her own body weight. She had massive feet, ideal for squirrel hawking. She was almost a direct replica of Zoie in size, weight and appearance. We weighed her in at 1060 grams. Her strength was really impressive. My wife and Steve were surprised i passed her up. I think if this had been last year i would have definitely kept her.

Steve was tempted by her but she was about 150 grams to light for what he wanted and 100 grams more than i wanted so we released her back into the wild for her only to fly back to the pole we called her in from.

The rest of the day we spent finding poles that might be useful for later on in the season. definitely worth going back to in a few weeks. The heat then got to 104f, way to hot to safely trap so we called it a day

I have been researching the Central flyway migration routes.

Interesting to note the two main routes in Oklahoma are down through the panhandle and Hackerberry flats and then down from Tulsa to Broken Bow.   I haven't paid much attention to the Central flyway region info before now but this affects allot of things and not just falconry but all water fowl hunting.

The council decides bag limits for ducks geese and other water fowl hunting as well as permits for peregrine take. This route starts in Canada and moves down though the central plains including Dekota, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas to name just a few.

Heading towards OKC on Sunday (its my birthday ) to try and pick up a Tiercel Redtail Hawk, I can't wait. The wife is coming and so is my mentor. Things will be very different this year not just in behaviour from a different hawk but in allot of ways its like starting from scratch and as a complete novice. Weight management is going to be very different.

I am also interested in getting some articles, Bill Boni graciously sent me an article on the passage coopers ( next years project maybe) but I'm also after the follow that appeared on American Falconry.

"Duck Hawking with Shortwings" by Don Hunley Vol 25
"The Suburban Passage Coopers Hawk by Paul Hofsommer (vol 26)
"Hawking Quail and sparrows with an Eyas Sharp-Shined Hawk" by Tracy Dewit & Jennifer Coulson Vol 13

If anyone has these volumes or extra ones and they don't want it please email me as i would gladly read them.

Dirt Hawking

This book should now be recommended reading to all apprentices as far as i am concerned it has everything in it for the aspiring austinger that wants to hunt rabbits and hairs. Its fairly easy to read with chapters on just about everything that covers the art of hunting Rabbits and Hares.

The thing i like about it is for the aspiring apprentice it touches on dispatching, field dressing, types of hawk, use of dogs. I would say as brewer is to squirrel hawking Roy is to Rabbit Hawking.

THE IMPRINT ACCIPITER

http://www.amazon.com/

I just got trough reading this finally. What can i say, for anyone remotely interested in raising and training any hawk or falcon so much of this book applies. I particularly like the section on weight management, certainly there are things I'm going to be trying with the next RT this season. There is a pretty good section at the bag that is a condensed diary of events on 6 different hawks, Goshawk, Sharp Shined Hawk and Coopers hawk that details trials and deliberations with each one. Well worth the read if you can get hold of a copy. There has been a new and updated version ( not read yet) that ill try and get hold of in a few weeks.

Mikes Falconry

Way to go Kristy Lee

Fox has an interesting artical on Kristy Lee , She went up against PETA and came out on top, way to go
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/08/03/exclusive-peta-takes-aim-kristy-lee-cooks-hunting-shoots/?test=faces

Trapping Season

Trapping Season started yesterday. We managed to get out for a few ours to have a look but everything we saw was a hag or too far from the road to have ago.
I made my own trap this year , well cant keep borrowing the sponsors. I also had a go at making some parachord jessies that I'll use in the weathering area and in the giant hood.

The BC only cost me $22 bucks in materials which surprised me really as a BC trap sells for $100+ , just goes to show more often than not your better off making your own.

The parachord was on sale at gander mountain, gander mountain will no longer be stocking parachord so i bought up 200 feet which should last me a while. It took me a moment to figure how to thread the chord back in on itself but i got there eventually.