Season Update

So far we are doing quite good by my standards anyway.

It does seem strange not to be driving thousands of miles looking for a Redtail this year and then doing the inevitable manning, creance work. I have been Bow Net trapping  with Mark runnels and Ron Lloyd and did trap a Kriders Redtail.

 However i didn't need another Redtail so i passed up on it. I still want a female coopers hawk (passage) but they seem few and far between right now. If something doesnt turn up soon i'll give up for the year and try again next year. Having read all the banding station and hawk count reports it would seem coopers hawks are down this year.

Shiloh has turned into the best Redtail a falconer could want. I now feel that if i'm in a field with rabbits in we are bringing one home in the bag.So far the count is 3 rabbits and 1 Squirrel and a couple of miscellaneous ( he had eaten them by the time i got there).

First rabbit was a crash straight into some briers, Nice wing over , over the top of the briers and then he was in.Squirrel was soaring above the tree tops before plucking a squirrel out of the tree's and tumbling to the ground.Second rabbit my son-in-law was flushing along a line of spruce tree's we flushed a rabbit to Shiloh who was in a tree on the other side. Shiloh probably flew 10 feet if that.

This weekends flight was a little different in that it was earlier in the day, We had had a couple of flushes when we moved to a more dense area. i flushed a rabbit along a dirt road with Shiloh pumping for all his worth.

Nothing to report on Cowboy just yet, we have been doing some creance work and i free flew him for the first time yesterday. I'm hoping some wind will pick up soon so i can start to use the Kite.

New Buddy

Picked a new friend today. This is cowboy a hybrid.

Big Change

Well as of an hour ago i am no longer classified as an apprentice falconer. It truly is the best feeling ever. Lots of excitement with what the future brings and lots of dread as well. As for the blog. I wont be posting quite so much, lots of reason for that and most i don't want to go into but it wont be a daily log of hunts anymore. It will be more of a when something interesting happens or something that i care to share.

Shiloh is amazing and so different to any of the red-tails i have had before, he got a squirrel at the weekend, He flies very very different when squirrel hawking almost in a sore above the tree tops. Right now he is fat having fed well.

I do want to thank my friend and mentor Steve Armstrong for all his help and every falconer in both Texas and Oklahoma that has helped me get to this point.

On wards and forwards. Happy Hunting
Stephen

Got a New Hood

Got a new hood from Robert Huber today. Can't wait to start using it.

First Kill of the Season

We had to go to the VA in Dallas today and i wasn't even sure i would

get out to hunt but we made it back in time. The weather was a bit warmer than yesterday and he was a few grams heavier than i would have liked.

I have this field that is basically the spill off from a truck salvage yard. In the center of the field is a large stock pond that has managed to keep some of its water. The owners are long time friends of my wife.The lad next door who is 12 wanted to come with me and my wife. For my wife to come on a hunt is something pretty special. As has been previously written she came into falconry kicking and screaming but has totally fallen in love with it the only part she cant cope with is the dispatching. We started to flush the field with lots of large grasshoppers flying everywhere. Within a few minutes of entering the we kicked up our first bunny of the day, Shiloh actually didn't see it but saw another and chased after that. We started to flush towards some brier bushes and some other broken down truck beds. All of a sudden there was a wing over a crash of brush and briers and one very excited hawk. I dispatched the rabbit and let Shiloh break in and eat. We traded off OK for the lure and headed home. One very nice rabbit in the bag. I did have an issue with Shiloh wanting to carry the rabbit off and the picture shows him completely covering the rabbit and not letting anyone near it. But i think once we get a few more in the bag it will be a different story. 

The boy next door had a great day, my wife was more excited about the hunt than she let on. So it was the end of a prett y perfect day as we got some great news that my wife doesn't have cancer as previously diagnosed and really the day couldn't have been any better than it was.

False start

The weekend got off to a false start for one reason or another, hoping to go out tonight if the falconry gods let me. The good thing is we saw rabbit sign.

Just a quick note and links to some other sites.

Ryan VanZant has a great post on Transmitters.

Just got my Pineo Swivel in.

Also Duck and Dove season are either happening or about to start , Oklahoma wildlife department have just published there Waterfowl Guide. I got my Oklahoma Wildfowl permit and my Federal Duck Stamp yesterday. Maybe if this drought lightens up it will get some use

A funny video from the UK

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