More Training

I have not been to happy with the free flying. Response to the fist was not there and he wouldn't come back down to the glove. He would fly to the lure like a rocket.  After talking to a number of Master Falconers ( Thanks guys) i decided to put into practice a course of action that i had decided upon. We decided to spend more time on the creance and work on flying to the fist. His weight is at 830grams and i have been feeding him 40-50grams of Quail a day. I really wish i had trapped this hawk in October he would have saved allot of time and energy.

Anyway the results are.



We will try free flying him again over the weekend. Thanks to my step daughter , Shelby and her friend Anna for acting as camera (wo)men

First Free Flight

First free flight didn't go exactly to plan but we all came back safe. Shortly after this video was taken a Large female redtail decided to chase Shiloh of and there was a little bit of an aerial battle going on. Some spectacular flying but really not what i wanted for a first flight. I managed to call Shiloh down to the lure and then he was done for the day. Field response wasn't where i wanted it so we are going to bring his weight down some more. We didn't get time to catch anything but we did have 2 slips and i will say this, Shiloh is one fast little hawk.

Afterwards we took my mentors hawk out to a different field. We caught to little brown jobs.The wind had picked up by this point so we all headed back to the truck.



We headed back to the house for some beer and noticed a passage coopers hawk being chased off by crows in the field behind my house.

Last training flights

The weather is jsut so warm for this time of year in the 70's but we had a good time. Saturday we free fly.

Had a great session with Shiloh tonight droped his weight to 850g with his bells on. He flew instantly every time. He also came to the lure at 30 feet. Tomoorw ill go to the big park again but i think we are pretty much finished on the creance time to fly free and go hunting. So saturday we are off to get rabbits !

Ducks Unlimited Voices Strong Opposition to Massive Federal Conservation Spending Cuts

Ducks Unlimited Voices Strong Opposition to Massive Federal Conservation Spending Cuts

My Sponsor is the one the Eagle is bitting before the realese in the blue shirt.

Shiloh is still not responsive to the lure so droping his weight more, hopefully by the weekend he will be good to go. He come to the glove no issues. I will feed him just on the lure from now on.

Passed the bad weather

With temps getting down to below zero it was good to see the one remaining hive with bee's in it.

D-Day approaches and we are still on course. I went to the local municipal park and had an audience. I expected responses to be a little slow he was heavier than yesterday, it was a new field and we also had an audience. By the end of the session response was instant and he flew to over 100 feet. Blowing the whistle resulted in a little head snapping right round to look at me and then he was off....... flying towards me. I ended the session on the lure, interest but he didn’t hit it. When he was on it he became very possessive of it so a big step in the right direction. Going to work on the lure the next few days. When he flies to the lure at 100 feet we will head out into the fields.

I'm excited but also nervous at the same time. There is always the uncertainty of releasing your hawk for the first time. Will it come back ? all these weeks of training and manning all come down to one thing. We use telemetry for the hawks and flacons we want to keep. A small transmitter, pulsing out a signal that tells us where our hawks and falcons have got to. Shiloh will be warring one.

Then there is the question of where to fly him where can I get the best possible result for our first outing, a rabbit slip and hopefully a kill to seal the deal.

Sorry no pictures today my personal photographer has had a migraine and been asleep for most of the day , maybe some tomorrow.....

Even in the Snow

More Creance work. We will move to a different field tomorrow that gives me more space.

He is coming along really nicely. 860g and I'll probably free fly him at the weekend. The Lure is still an issue but we are working on that. Can't wait to get back out in the field again hunting.

On another note, i got a set of Larry Caunce Bells in the post. You can now order them direct at CaunceBells. I ordered them Friday and they arrived today which is not bad at all. I got the size 7 bell as they are meant for coopers hawks but can be used with a male Redtails.

Trainning Pictures

Photos as Promised

Creance ~ First Day

Took him out on the creance for the first day. He was very attentive and pretty much instant responses each time. I had him flying to 25 feet. He's turning into a nice little hawk. I have been having him on the screen perch allot, he rarely bates (one bate every 2-3 days). Durring the cold weather i have also had him on the glove whilst i played video games. Wont be long before we are hunting again. Pictures to follow.

Disillusioned

Well its been i while since i last posted, to be honest we ended up having a really crap year. We got 24lbs of honey of 8 hives and then lost all but 1 of those hives, right now we will probably loose the remaining hive because of the below freezeing temperatures and 2 inches of snow.

Just before the bad weather i placed a pollen patter and placed a top hive feeder on full of sugar water so who knows maybe they will survive.

Not sure where to go with this right now or what to change n order to get a successful year. I was placed with the queens i received it made a big difference to the hives i had that had gone hot so will probably do that again.

Anyway spring is coming and who knows what may happen or become of it

Stormy Weather

Ice has formed everywhere. Roads have about 1-2inches of solid ice with 1-2 inch of snow on them. We have snow flurries and 30mph gusts of wind. Only the foolish are venturing out.

Shiloh is content with his foot up watching the dogs come in and out.

Its Hot Chocolate time and everyone in the warm. Lilly made a break for it in the snow but it didn't take long to persuade her to come back in.