RC K9 Posted September 11, 2017 Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 Does anyone know of any good public land or even private land with hunter friendly owners that have good bunny populations where I could fly my hawk? I'd like to try to make it back in November and have my hawk with us so I can do some hunting, (something I haven't done in OH in many many years). The public lands I used to hunt were Dillon wildlife area and that place out in Delaware, (I don't recall the official name). Dillon had the occasional rabbit/stocked pheasant, but I don't recall there being an abundance. I seem to recall Delaware having noticeably more rabbits. Open fields with hedgerows and such would be ideal so the hawk has a chance at a decent slip. Private land is better as I am not trying to be out in the field with a bunch of jim-bobs that shoot at anything that moves, but I understand a lot of people don't like people they don't know hunting their property. So if anyone has suggestions, I am all ears. -Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewtoys Posted September 11, 2017 Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 You have a pet hawk that comes back to you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC K9 Posted September 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 You have a pet hawk that comes back to you? Short answer is yes. Long answer is: More of a hunting partner than a pet. Some falconers get pissy when you refer to their birds as pets. It doesn't really bother me either way. But the relationship is not really the same as it is with a dog. She is still a wild bird and could be released by me, or take off on her own and not come back and she is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC K9 Posted September 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 Here are some pics my wife took of her coming back to the t-perch while we were hunting the other day. http://www.columbusracing.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=854&pictureid=8890 http://www.columbusracing.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=854&pictureid=8891 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTQ B4U Posted September 11, 2017 Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 My backyard in Dublin is loaded What keeps her coming back to you vs just goodbye! ?? We have a family of Red tails in our area. There was a period a couple three weeks back where Mom, Dad and 3 young ones were all hunting and perching in our yard. VERY cool to see. I got 4 in one shot but I honestly sat outside and watched them with my son for hours without a care to taking more pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC K9 Posted September 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 My backyard in Dublin is loaded What keeps her coming back to you vs just goodbye! ?? We have a family of Red tails in our area. There was a period a couple three weeks back where Mom, Dad and 3 young ones were all hunting and perching in our yard. VERY cool to see. I got 4 in one shot but I honestly sat outside and watched them with my son for hours without a care to taking more pics. Hunger. You don't starve the bird, but the bird has to be hungry to be motivated to hunt, and come back. Weight management is critical. For instance, 740g is her "not screwing around" weight. If I were to try to hunt her around 770g right now, she probably wouldn't be all that reliable. I.E. less likely to put forth the energy for hard flights. Take her jolley time coming back to me, etc. 800g and she'd probably take off and be like, "thanks, it was fun...but i'm out!" I've taught her I am a reliable source of food for her. That's how you train them. Finding at what weight they are responsive, and working from there. Yeah, redtails are beautiful. The ones in OH I think tend to be a little bigger than the ones here. They are very plentiful as well. My girl is a Harris' Hawk I went down to south texas to trap since we don't have them this far north. Had I not been able to trap a Harris' though, a big female redtail would have been my backup as I have a few passage (immature) RT's within close proximity to me. Also Tim, in case you weren't aware, and something you can teach your kids, with Raptors, the Females of any given species are bigger than the males. Usually by about 30%. So if you see two that are beside each other, the bigger one is usually the female. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTQ B4U Posted September 11, 2017 Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 Also Tim, in case you weren't aware, and something you can teach your kids, with Raptors, the Females of any given species are bigger than the males. Usually by about 30%. So if you see two that are beside each other, the bigger one is usually the female. Good info! The mom here is huge. I've seen her a lot over what seems like years. The younger ones were picking off sparrows out of the nests along our neighbors roof. I also watch two young ones either toss a squirrel from a tree or he jumped for his life. They then nailed him and ate him within minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted September 11, 2017 Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 Does a bird respond to affection at all, or is it like "Bitch, feed me and leave me the fuck alone?" Falconing has always been interesting to me, but I know next to nothing about it. I saw that in Mongolia, they do that shit with Golden Eagles, which is straight bonkers to me. Golden eagles can kill and eat fucking GOATS. Not to be fucked with. EDIT: In case you don't believe me http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=golden+eagle+wolverine&&view=detail&mid=6B64F71AB5524A73DB026B64F71AB5524A73DB02&&FORM=VDRVRV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeesammy Posted September 11, 2017 Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 I have nothing to add except this thread reminds me of this Seems pretty cool. Would be neat to watch happen at least Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC K9 Posted September 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 I also watch two young ones either toss a squirrel from a tree or he jumped for his life. They then nailed him and ate him within minutes. RT's are ideal for squirrel hunting. RT's have bigger, stronger feet than HH's and squirrels are much harder to kill than rabbits. They also fight back. You'll often see wild, and even some falconry birds missing toes and such from where a squirrel bit them off. They make special leather foot/leg equipment for falconers who want to fly their birds on squirrels. Does a bird respond to affection at all, or is it like "Bitch, feed me and leave me the fuck alone?" Falconing has always been interesting to me, but I know next to nothing about it. I saw that in Mongolia, they do that shit with Golden Eagles, which is straight bonkers to me. Golden eagles can kill and eat fucking GOATS. Not to be fucked with. My personal opinion at this point on the affection thing, (keep in mind, i'm only an apprentice, not a General or a Master), is that it's more for the falconer since people in general get attached to animals. I am not convinced that the birds actually "love" you, or crave physical affection. When I show my bird physical affection like stroking her feet, breast, etc, (man that sounds bad, ha ha) it's for the purpose of desensitizing her to being touched by people as people often want to pet her, or I have to screw around with equipment on her, and I want her to be calm and used to it. I personally don't believe she actually "likes" it. As for golden eagles, they are no joke. They kill foxes, goats, roe deer, jack rabbits, etc. Some people fly golden eagles here in the states too. I think WY is the state where most people trap their eagles. There are very few eagle falconers in the US though. It is VERY heavily regulated by the USFWS, and even a master falconer cannot get a permit to fly an eagle unless they have written endorsements from two other current falconers that fly eagles. Watching people hunt jackrabbits with Goldens is pretty neat stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewtoys Posted September 11, 2017 Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 Short answer is yes. Long answer is: More of a hunting partner than a pet. Some falconers get pissy when you refer to their birds as pets. It doesn't really bother me either way. But the relationship is not really the same as it is with a dog. She is still a wild bird and could be released by me, or take off on her own and not come back and she is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Never knew that. Crazy stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC K9 Posted September 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC K9 Posted September 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 Some good ole Kansas falconry with a golden eagle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeesammy Posted September 11, 2017 Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 DAMN it wasn't fucking around with that deer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supplicium Posted September 11, 2017 Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 I follow a guy named meagletrainer on IG , his birds show lots of affection Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BStowers023 Posted September 11, 2017 Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 Damn that's actually pretty badass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Posted September 11, 2017 Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 Well fuck me, now I want a falcon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTQ B4U Posted September 11, 2017 Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 Well fuck me, now I want a falcon. would be your luck he come back, land on your left forarm, you'd tie it off and he'd fucking rip off your thumb as you went to feed it, then it would ape-shit on your face. My luck, I'd invest time and money and the bastard would fly off and never come back. cool shit for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zx2guy19 Posted September 11, 2017 Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 would be your luck he come back, land on your left forarm, you'd tie it off and he'd fucking rip off your thumb as you went to feed it, then it would ape-shit on your face. My luck, I'd invest time and money and the bastard would fly off and never come back. cool shit for sure! I actually LOL'd at that entire post. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC K9 Posted September 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 Well fuck me, now I want a falcon. would be your luck he come back, land on your left forarm, you'd tie it off and he'd fucking rip off your thumb as you went to feed it, then it would ape-shit on your face. My luck, I'd invest time and money and the bastard would fly off and never come back. cool shit for sure! It's a lot of work. It's not something someone can go into halfheartedly and be good at. (Not at all implying either one of you would be. Just saying it's a lot of dedication). The basic requirements are the same across all states I believe. Get a sponsor. Take the state test. Have your facility/equipment inspected and approved by the state. Once you have all of that done, you go trap a bird, and thus begins your two year apprenticeship. I am fortunate to be in TX for all of this as TX pretty much has the bare minimum regulations in place (dictated by the Feds). Ohio, New York, etc have laws that are a little different, and in some ways, stricter, and i'm not so sure i'd want to be an apprentice in either one of those states. There is a reason OH has like 98 licensed falconers, and like only half of them are active/have birds, whereas TX has several hundred falconers and is a state that has kind of taken a leadership/role model kind of position in the US when it comes to falconry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted September 11, 2017 Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 Yeah, when it comes to killing things (up to and including humans), TX is pretty laid back about it, legally speaking. Unless it's unborn fetuses, then they get pretty feisty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC K9 Posted September 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 Yeah, when it comes to killing things (up to and including humans), TX is pretty laid back about it, legally speaking. Unless it's unborn fetuses, then they get pretty feisty. It's not the killing things in falconry that they are laid back about. It's the steps required to be taken to legally own a hawk for falconry purposes. Their laws in regards to actual taking of game, i.e. hunting seasons, bag limits, etc are pretty in line with other states from what I have seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRocket1647545505 Posted September 11, 2017 Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 Do hunting seasons apply to you? Say you want to feed your hawk some freshly spotted venison in April when they fall out of their moms vagine. Can you feed them some and keep the rest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC K9 Posted September 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 Do hunting seasons apply to you? Say you want to feed your hawk some freshly spotted venison in April when they fall out of their moms vagine. Can you feed them some and keep the rest? Yes and no. There is no closed season on rabbit and squirrels. With falconry though, the law in Texas is, if it kills something that is either not legal game, or is not in season, the raptor can eat it, but you cannot take it into your possession. So for instance, if I come up on a creek while rabbit hunting this week, and there are ducks that take off, and she goes for one and nabs it, I can allow her to feed up on the kill, but then I have to transfer her off whatever is left when she is done and leave it where it lies. I can't take it into my possession. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC K9 Posted September 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 There are also some special considerations for falconry on some game species where the falconers ARE permitted to take game when the season for said game has ended for regular bow, gun, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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