Spotting Scopes & Binoculars

After our little trapping trip it became very obvious that we where lacking on the optics department. In the past with money being tight i have always gone with cheap binoculars . Bushnell and Tasco, mainly because if a 3 year old gets hold of them it doesn't matter too much if they break.

The wife (Latrell) said its time to get a decent pair of binoculars and a spotting scope. Having looked around at different makes , types and magnifications i was left somewhat confused by the whole process. With photography its really simple if you want a new lens or camera then its easy to find conjectural reviews down to distortion of the lens, how they hold up, speed of shooting. This is what i'm used to having seached the net this isn't the case with binoculars or spotting scope. Many people say you pay for what you get, many people say well there clear and sharp. It doesn't really help when deciding...

There is a new Carbelas in Allen Texas, the only way i found any help with the whole matter was to do a side by side comparison on the binoculars front, Leupold, Nikon, Redfield ( part of Leupold and Stevens), Basrask and Tracker.

I had set a price point of 100 - 200 dollars for my binoculars and a price point of $150 - $200 for the spotting scope. The result came down to a Nikon 10x50 pair of Binoculars that where on sale. Very sharp, no color distortion around the edges of distant objects and fairly well built.

The scope was a different matter, everything i saw was well disappointing to say the list, lots of distortion, very soft focus so ended up walking away and deciding to try a few other shops.

I was wanting a scope from Hawke Optics, after a phone call with them ( they was out of stock) i wasn't that impressed. They wouldn't have the item i wanted until early October , Hawk and Falcon trapping season is now not something i really wanted to wait for. They wanted to upsell me to the next level up ($250+).  I'm sure their scopes are very nice but i wanted to check them out before purchasing, something they were reluctant to do as i had already set a price bracket i was willing to go to. They are a new brand to the USA from my home country. So i wanted to know for the price bracket what did they compare to ? Simple enough question i thought but one they couldn't answer.

So of to the local Gander mountain i went, Again i did a side by side compassion and ended up getting a Redfield 20x60x60 Spotting scope and so far i am delighted with my purchase.  They retail for $220 dollars and i really felt i got my monies worth. Construction is second to know these are solid. Come with a small tripod and carry case.

Over the next few weeks i'll be trying them out in really earnest so i report back on how they do but for now i couldn't be happier with my purchase and how they have preformed so far.

Oh and we stated flying Shiloh to the Creance this week.

Labor Day

Spent the weekend at Hackberry Flats looking for Redtails and Falcons. The red area in the picture is the refuge area and you are not allowed to enter into this area after October 12th.

We have gone ti the flats every year a couple of times in the fall and normally the area is under water with plenty of birds flying around. More often than not you can spot many adult Redtails, and Harriers. In previous years i haven't looked for anything else but this year is a little different as i wanted to see what falcons where there.

Ryan VanZant went trapping there in 2009 and Caught a Prairie Falcon. Because of the heat and the lack of rain the landscape is vastly different. The lake is only down to a few acres of water and the normally flooded wet plains are dry. We spotted a few ducks and Canadian geese on the lake sure but that was about it. I did spot a Falcon by the primitive camp grounds diving in and out of the long grass.

There should be 2-3 feet of water here. I want to go back in a few weeks on my own and try trapping again but unless some rain comes really soon there probably wouldn't be much point.

Training has started

His weight is down to 980grams and we are flying him across the room, I feed him 70grams of rabbit the last few nights , He has been launching himself before the whistle blows so back he goes to a utility step without a reward until the whistle blows. When he is down to around 900g we will go outside. The difference between response this year is chalk and cheese and i can understand why some people can get it wrong in there second year, its easy to be fulled we are ready and its time to go.

I traveled up to tulsa today on business i was amazed at the number of crows congregating along the highway. Crow could very much be on the hunting list this year Crow season is between.Oct. 10 - Nov. 16, 2011 and Dec. 9, 2011 - Mar. 4, 2012; statewide. We will be more than ready by October 10th. On my way up as usual the obligatory look out for passage Red-Tails. I saw one passage female and one hag just south of  Okmulgee.

I stopped of at Atwoods in Madill on the way back somewhat curious. I found some stainless steal 3" rings for $3.50, Duly purchased i passed them on to the local fabricator to build me some block perches. If they work i'll get some more.

Ducks Unlimited have come with a few iphone apps for duck migration. Duck Apps. These could actually prove useful for watching the migration in full swing and for the longwingers, There is a report today for Edmond with Teal moving in. I'm sure Daniel and Ryan may find this useful.

Start of Fall

It's my birthday. This morning on the drive into work i saw flocks of geese flying across the morning sky. Birds where everywhere it was a good drive into work. I saw a redtail preening on a telegraph and all seemed right with the world. Temps are still in the 100s but this afternoon the cool chill of a rain storm could be felt in the air. Fall is coming.

Shiloh dropped his last tail feather. for the first time in a long time i cut some rabbit up into small chunks and had him flying across the mews for his reward. He's excitement was plain to see , I got the impression it was time to start thinking about the month a head and getting ready.

This fall is about to bring some great changes , it looks like we will be moving from south Oklahoma and heading north. Its time to move on. Upgrade to General from apprentice is also on the cards with a new bird already lined up, Shiloh is safe we have unfinished business but i want to learn more about other aspects of falconry. A long wing is on the cards in the form of a white hybrid called cowboy.In a months time a right of passage will have finished i will no longer be an apprentice but that doesn't mean i will ever stop learning.

I cant wait for this stage of things to be complete not because its time to move onto the next stage but because it will be a mile stone complete.

Fishing for Customer Service

Being in the customer service industry really installs in me the need for good customer service. My view point is from both the customer being serviced and the supplier providing the service. I have to give good service in order to get referrals and provide my customers with the best possible experience that they will want to come back to me time and time again. With the advent of the Internet , Bloggers and Social Networks good customer service is a must. Word of mouth quickly spreads.

I'm in the middle of writing a blog about some fishing equipment you don't normally get in the USA, This style of fishing is very popular in the UK and in Europe so please bare with me in this little rant.

There is only one company in the USA that stocks this equipment ( without naming names) i have been very disappointed in the company service , missing items, items broken all because the product i had bought had not been shipped properly. The response from the company was pretty much we don't care attitude that further infuriated me.

So i went on a quest to find a UK supplier that was willing to ship to the USA. Out of 10 fishing tackle supply shops in the UK, only 1 bothered even to respond to my requests and questions.

The response so far has been so good that the supplier even refunded all the UK Tax applied at there online store. Due to the time difference emails have been responded to with 12-24hrs which to me is perfectly acceptable. They have also been very help in suggesting product. Further more I wanted to take an old model carbon fiber 13m pole and re purpose it for fishing here. This meant modifying the pole. The pole comes in sections that slot together. There is no real but a piece of elastic inside the top 2 or 3 sections. The very tip uses a PTFE bush and one of the questions was how to get one that fit the top no2 section. (I'll right more on this pole at a later date)

Ted Carter Fishing Outfitters advised me to get two of the connectors that i needed as well as some other items. The had an out of stock item that was shipped a few days later at no additional cost to myself and all the items arrived within 2 weeks ( normal post times between the USA and UK). I know who i will be placing my next order with.

iPhone blogging

I have been experimenting with my iPhone. The molt is going well we have 2 tail feathers left to molt out. I can then start to reduce his weight and start flying him again. Personally I can't wait to get going the summer has been way to hot and way to long. I've been reading Ken Riddles the art of falconry from Arabia westward It's a good book for longwingers.

and it gets hotter

Trapping season in oklahoma started today and for the first time in 2 years i'm glad i'm not in a rush to go out and trap a Redtail Hawk.The forcast for this week is 107f all week. Shiloh has been suffering with the heat even with the weathering area shaded off he has been over heating and panting trying to stay cool.

I decided to rig up a mister after talking to a number of falconers. I got it going on saturday and then monitored it all weeknd to make sure the hose didnt get hot and resultinging in him getting scoolded. I placed two purches in the wethering area and extended his leash so that he can jump between the two. One is directly underneath the mister and one is about 3 feet from it. So far it seems to have made a hugh difference.