Hunting Rabbits

lsm77 · 12-10-2003, 06:04 PM

this is a picture of the 11th and 12th cotton tail taken by my female Harris hawk this season.

Martin85 · 12-10-2003, 06:11 PM

Very cool picture, welcome and lets hear a story.

KingFisher85 · 12-10-2003, 06:22 PM

I've been wanting to learn more about this kind of hunting.

The Overfishin Condition · 12-10-2003, 06:57 PM

Ditto, just the picture is almost cool enough, but we still need a story, I want to hear about falconry! Welcome to Ifish!

Rauly · 12-10-2003, 07:22 PM

Welcome Ism77. tell us a falcon hunting story. Also the name of your bird too. Your bird has the look in his eye of "I do all the work and he gets to hold the darn things for the picture"

Were are you doing this stuff east or west side?

Rauly

lsm77 · 12-10-2003, 07:44 PM

First of all the sport of falconry is very regulated. I had to pass a written test with the state, have my facilities inspected and was under an apprenticeship for two years. My birds name is Morticia. We hunt in the Corvallis area. I let her out of the back of the truck when we get to the field and then me and my son beat the blackberry patches until we flush a bunny. The bird is in a small tree or high perch watching the area while we beat the brush (she is the master) when we flush a rabbit, the chase is on. Hopefully she nails the rabbit. If not, we continue beating the brush until she gets one.

Lured In · 12-11-2003, 07:30 AM

Sweet and Welcome! I have long been fascinated by Falconry and watched a few clips over the years. One that sticks out was a guy who was hunting ducks with his bird. Pretty amazing!

The question I have always wanted to know is, how do you train the bird to kill without trying to eat it? Does it make the kill and then wait there for you to come and get it?

I think we could all probably use a good education in falconry(or hawkery in your case

)

Hoosier Daddy · 12-11-2003, 07:42 AM

Cool!!!

Always was curious about falconry, but seems like too much work for me. :grin:

Bait O' Eggs · 12-11-2003, 07:56 AM

Way cool topic. :grin:

Lots of questions

1. When you want to go home from a day of hunting, can you call the bird to come to you?
2. Does the bird ever try to fly off? (like you could stop the bird if it tried)
3. What do you typically feed the bird? I assume it likes meat, and preferably fresh, do you toss live pigeons in the cage :tongue: or do you feed it processed meat.
4. How often does the bird need to get out of the cage and fly
5. How is the rabbit kill performed by the bird, I assume the rabbit must bleed to death from talon cuts

I assume the bird just holds the rabbit down until it quits squirming? Does the bird grab the rabbit and hold on, or does it keep gripping and regripping doing more damage to the prey? Or is the beak used to apply the kill, which might result in less rabbit for you

(I hope you understand the question there).
6. I have done a little rabbit hunting with hounds, and some of those rabbits run a long ways. When the bird gets the prey, is it obvious to you and you know where to go find the kill site. Must be hard to find the bird sometimes unless the ground is quite open.
7. Anybody ever train a dog and bird to work together, dog flush the prey, bird catch it, dog catches up and retrieve it? Now that would be some teamwork

8. I am sure there will be more stupid novice questions

Wreckless · 12-11-2003, 08:07 AM

That IS cool

.....I'm interested in stories too. [img]graemlins/lurk.gif[/img]

Woody · 12-11-2003, 12:12 PM

My son Andy and I are General Falconers as well. We each have flow several redtails. Very cool sport, but very time consuming. In fact we are birdless right now. We just didn't have the time to do it right.

Nice Harris ISM77. Beautiful birds, probably my favorite. We're thinking of getting a pair this next summer and flying them in a cast (together for all you non-falconry types). Where did you get yours, Mike S. in Gresham?

I hope you don't mind ISM77, but I'm going to jump in and answer BOEs questions. I just can't help myself. I really love this sport!!!

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1. When you want to go home from a day of hunting, can you call the bird to come to you?

Yes, typically you train them to respond to a whistle or your voice.

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2. Does the bird ever try to fly off? (like you could stop the bird if it tried)

Sometimes, yes. A lot of guys use radio telemetry to track lost birds.

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3. What do you typically feed the bird? I assume it likes meat, and preferably fresh, do you toss live pigeons in the cage or do you feed it processed meat.

There are companys that you can buy prepackaged raptor food, mice, rats, quail. You can also feed them the animals they kill. Pigeons carry diseases and usually aren't used for food. They are great for practice though!!

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5. How is the rabbit kill performed by the bird, I assume the rabbit must bleed to death from talon cuts I assume the bird just holds the rabbit down until it quits squirming? Does the bird grab the rabbit and hold on, or does it keep gripping and regripping doing more damage to the prey? Or is the beak used to apply the kill, which might result in less rabbit for you (I hope you understand the question there).

Hawks kill with their talons. In fact, part of the maintenace of the birds before hunting is to sharpen the talons with a file til they're sticky sharp. They do grip and then regrip until they hit a vital area and the animal quits moving. Someguys move right in and take the kill and finish off the critter themselves. I prefer to let them enjoy the moment.
Falcons on the other hand uwse theur talons to capture the prey and ussually make the final kill by biting through the neck with a special notch in their beak.

In any case you don't want them feeding on kill. Weight management is a critical part of the sport. I usually give them a little snacck as a reward. Full belly = unmotivated bird= lost bird

Quote:

6. I have done a little rabbit hunting with hounds, and some of those rabbits run a long ways. When the bird gets the prey, is it obvious to you and you know where to go find the kill site. Must be hard to find the bird sometimes unless the ground is quite open.

Usually they swoop in pretty fast and make the kill right in front of you. Sometime you end walking a while to find the bird though. We use special bell on the birds ankles so we can hear them.

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7. Anybody ever train a dog and bird to work together, dog flush the prey, bird catch it, dog catches up and retrieve

Dogs are a key part of successful falconry. They are used for locating and flushing only though. The dog learns real quick not to get to close to bird on a kill! OUCH

Oops, I missed #4

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4. How often does the bird need to get out of the cage and fly

One of the reasons this is such a time consuming sport is the fact that you really need to get your bird out and fly it every day to keep it on weight and in condition. Some guys don't, but when they take it out to hunt it may be over weight and take off, or just so out of shape that it it's too tired to hunt any more after just one kill.

Sorry again for hi******* your thread, I just can;t help mysel. I love this sport and miss having a bird around.

Bait O' Eggs · 12-11-2003, 12:39 PM

Thanks Woody, I am sure there is plenty more you falconers could tell us about the sport.

I just rattled off the first set of questions that came to mind.

I found that where hawks kill with their talons, and falcons kill with their beak interesting.

Thanks for the topic Ism77.

lsm77 · 12-11-2003, 03:14 PM

Woody, thank you much for helping with the response, I just got home from work. I did get my bird from Mike. And believe me I know how addicting the sport is and can talk for hours about falconry.