Meet Bullet

[rocgwp]

This is "Bullet". He/She is a 6 day old Cooper's Hawk. I pulled it yesterday hoping that it was a male, but time will tell what gender it actually is. I am going to call him a male until he proves me otherwise. We checked 5 nests before we found one that hadn't failed and that was climable. I weighed him today and he weighed 131g. He is eating on his own already. I can't wait to get him catching grackles and starlings this summer and then to catch quail over my dogs this season.

I'm new at using photobucket, so I hope this works...

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/6days6-1.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/6days4.jpg

[rocgwp]

Here is a pick from today...

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/7day1.jpg

[KidK]

Awesome! clapp:D

Bullet is a great Cooper's hawk name. Sounds like you have his/her season planned out! What breed of dog do you hunt quail behind? (dog)

Also, please introduce yourself and sign your posts. The easiest way is to go into your User CP (User Control Panel) and set how you want your posts to be signed.

If you send me a photo, I'll set it up as your avatar as well.

Please keep us posted to his/her progress!

ATB,

[wesleyc6]

My guess is this is..................lovesfreshwater..........nah just kidding, I am guessing this is Jeff Suggs???? If not, sorry, if so, congrats!

[rocgwp]

Yeah, it's me Wes...I've gone off the deep end and I'm flying a coops this year...I figured with all of the quail slips I had last year, this is the best bird for me. I guess we'll see...

[wesleyc6]

Man that is an ugly dogtoungeout Guess their feet are all healed up from Abilene and are raring to go!

Congrats on the little coop. Let's chat this week. :D

[Bryant Tarr]

Nice! I look forward to reading about your adventures with Bullet!

[chris kimble]

Thats the first time I've seen a gun in an avatar on a hawking forum;) Welcome, and good luck with the coop!

[goshawks00]

Congrats Jeff on the new hunting partner, wow!!!
There will be lots of accips to follow here this year. Good hawking,
barry
btw Chris that's not a gun it's a Texas flushing stick.

[rocgwp]

Things are progessing right along with Bullet. He is getting some great socialization. I work for a camp and we had 350 of our summer staff show up yesterday. I placed Bullet on my check-in table with a couple of signs to fend off thousands of repetetive questions about him. He was in the middle of LOT of people all day. He showed no fear. He would sleep then wake up and eat, then go back to sleep. He paid no attention to all the people gawking at him and touching him. I'm hoping all of this socialization will pay off in the long run. Working at camp has it's benefits with falconry. I always have TONS of people to help socialize a bird, I can get access to all kinds of animals/situations to get him use to, the bird is able to go with me everywhere all day long...

I don't plan to hood train this bird. Reading McDermott's second book it would appear that alot of problems can be avoided by not hooding. I'd love to hear some feedback on this however.

Here is a picture of Bullet taken yesterday.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/8days2.jpg

[goshawks00]

Very good start Jeff!!!! Most guys start off this way but it's how you finish the race... the time near the end where he is becoming a bit of a 'teenage hellion' just before and after penning that will make or break the relationship between the imprinter and the imprintee...
Good luck ,
Barry

[wesleyc6]

Sounds GREAT Jeff. I will give you a call here in a bit.

[musketdaft]

I am not convinced that you need to socialise an imprint with hundreds of hours of bombardment with new stimuli.
There has been on one or more occasions where the hawk that became rock steady had hardly any interaction with new people new places the last musket spar I bought from the breeder a week or so from hard pining had never seen the outside world until
I picket him up; he was raised in the home with a few other spars and was hand fed until he could take food from the dish but as far as socialising goes he seen very little.
Same hawk is the steadiest spar I have ever owned so steady he gave semen this year.
Personally I believe it the nature hawk that is going to determine more than anything else how things turn out. Alf.



Very good start Jeff!!!! Most guys start off this way but it's how you finish the race... the time near the end where he is becoming a bit of a 'teenage hellion' just before and after penning that will make or break the relationship between the imprinter and the imprintee...
Good luck ,
Barry

[goshawks00]

Alf this may all be true as far as what you were able to accomplish.... there is also plenty of antidotal evidence that exposure to what they will be subject to does condition them to accept those surroundings... James gets one chance to mold her into a hunting partner he should do all he can rather than take the minimalists approach (.02)
.
I have often wondered after years of captive breeding and almost daily interactions with the falconer , whether some sort of domestication may take place with some species... How many years/generations have most raptors in the UK been bred in captivity?

Just curious and sorting out some thoughts.
Barry

[Bodarc]

This is "Bullet". He/She is a 6 day old Cooper's Hawk. I pulled it yesterday hoping that it was a male, but time will tell what gender it actually is. I am going to call him a male until he proves me otherwise. We checked 5 nests before we found one that hadn't failed and that was climable. I weighed him today and he weighed 131g.

Jeff

My male coop's last year weighed 210 grams at approx 11 days. I think you have a male.

[musketdaft]

Barry I don’t disagree and pound to a penny I will be imprinting the next hawk with as much stimuli as possible this is what I have always done.
It a fickle thing the mind of a accipiter you can condition a hawk to so many things but take the hawk away from the environment its used to and all the stimuli its been bombarded with now seems completely strange and alien.
I had a mate once who imprinted a female spar he took it work with him he worked in a tyre yard everyday the hawk was subject to the hustle and bustle of cars pulling in and out hundreds of people car jack hammers taking nuts off wheels tyres popping
The hawk was bombproof.
Once the hawk was taken away from this environment it became a nervous wreck fearful of cars and people.
Me personally if I could I would love to have 5 or 6 females already imprinted from the breeder to some extent through feeding doesn’t matter if they have been socialised with sitting on bows a week away from hard pinning, I could go along the line and pick the best hawk that would do me fine. Alf.


Alf this may all be true as far as what you were able to accomplish.... there is also plenty of antidotal evidence that exposure to what they will be subject to does condition them to accept those surroundings... James gets one chance to mold her into a hunting partner he should do all he can rather than take the minimalists approach (.02)
.
I have often wondered after years of captive breeding and almost daily interactions with the falconer , whether some sort of domestication may take place with some species... How many years/generations have most raptors in the UK been bred in captivity?

Just curious and sorting out some thoughts.
Barry

[rocgwp]

Here are some pictures of Bullet at 10 days. He weighd 196 grams and you can see from the picture how far his tail feathers are pushing out. Right now it's pretty much the same...eat, sleep, poop...He doesn't seem to pay a lot of attention to anything and I haven't seen him show fear of anything yet.

Any other thoughts on if it is a male or female?

It's good to get some feedback on the socialization. Since I am imprinting him at work with me where there are lots of people, his environment won't change later on. He is growing up in the environment he will be hawking and living in later. He will have a perch in my office and hunting nearby.

I am curious about the tame hack of coops. I saw a little discussion about it on James thread, but it never got anywhere. I have read McDermott's article in American falconry where he talks about it producing 2 of the best birds he's ever seen. I also listened to him talk about it at our field meet acouple years ago. Has anyone else tried it? If so, what were the results? The article makes it really enticing to try it, so I'd love to hear other thoughts on the subject.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/10days1.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/10days2.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/10days3.jpg

[BestBeagler]

Here are some pictures of Bullet at 10 days. He weighd 196 grams and you can see from the picture how far his tail feathers are pushing out. Right now it's pretty much the same...eat, sleep, poop...He doesn't seem to pay a lot of attention to anything and I haven't seen him show fear of anything yet.

Any other thoughts on if it is a male or female?

It's good to get some feedback on the socialization. Since I am imprinting him at work with me where there are lots of people, his environment won't change later on. He is growing up in the environment he will be hawking and living in later. He will have a perch in my office and hunting nearby.

I am curious about the tame hack of coops. I saw a little discussion about it on James thread, but it never got anywhere. I have read McDermott's article in American falconry where he talks about it producing 2 of the best birds he's ever seen. I also listened to him talk about it at our field meet acouple years ago. Has anyone else tried it? If so, what were the results? The article makes it really enticing to try it, so I'd love to hear other thoughts on the subject.



Well if the nests I have my eye on do indeed turn out to be coopers hawk nests then I will pull one and tame hack it. I see no reason not to. I talked to another falconer that has hacked a lot of eyas coopers and he says that it is the only way he would go when it comes to eyas coopers. Isaac

[jfneumann57]

I'm doing a pseudo tame hack.

[BestBeagler]

I'm doing a pseudo tame hack.

Could you explain? Isaac

[rocgwp]

Can you explain a little of the details of tame hacking? I've never seen it done nor I have I seen any details on how to do it. Particularly the recall at the end of the day...

By the way...that is a good loking Female Coops you have James...

[jfneumann57]

I'm in the unique situation of basically not doing anything but working with my bird through the summer. So once she's mobile and has jesses on we're going out to a bunch of the locations that I have access to let her run and fly around for a few hours then call her to lure and take her home. That's the simple version.

[jfneumann57]

Jeff did you read MCdermott's article in American falconry?

[rocgwp]

I ordered the issue and it came in yesterday. The comments he made about tame hacking is what really intrigued me. What you are doing is more what I had in mind.

[BestBeagler]

Can you explain a little of the details of tame hacking? I've never seen it done nor I have I seen any details on how to do it. Particularly the recall at the end of the day...

By the way...that is a good loking Female Coops you have James...

Barry, has described how he does tame hacking somewhere on here. I am not the guy to ask really as I have never hacked one before. Maybe someone on here can attatch a link to Barry's post regarding tame hack. James does have a nice coopers and I am envious of its size. Isaac

[jfneumann57]

I'm just waiting for her to get steadier on her feet.
And thanks for the compliments on my bird.

[KidK]

I ordered the issue and it came in yesterday. The comments he made about tame hacking is what really intrigued me. What you are doing is more what I had in mind.

Jeff,

What volume was this AF mag?

[jfneumann57]

it's volume 43

[jfneumann57]

Jeff I was just wondering how many eyas' were in the nest?

[musketdaft]

Isaac tame hack is basically taking your hawk out to the field at top weight just as its starting to fly, let it go about its pleasure until its time to call it in and then bring it down to the falconer this happens every day until the falconer thinks it’s the right time to start weight reduction.
My gos at tame hack. Alf

[URL=http://s305.photobucket.com/albums/nn222/goshawk4/?action=view&current=CH089_0411_1732.flv][IMG]


Barry, has described how he does tame hacking somewhere on here. I am not the guy to ask really as I have never hacked one before. Maybe someone on here can attatch a link to Barry's post regarding tame hack. James does have a nice coopers and I am envious of its size. Isaac

[rocgwp]

11 days...209 grams...I'm still thinking it's a male so far...He's trying to stand more...I haven't seen anything phase him yet...Today he went with me all over camp as I inspected challenge course training. He was in a lot of different settings with a lot of different people...I can't wait to start flying him!!!

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/11days2.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/11days1.jpg

[FredFogg]

Jeff, I would say male too! I have a really small female, flys at 375 g, but her fat weight is around 510 g. A friend pulled a male from the same nest and its fat weight was 350 g. I will try and look at my records and see what she weighed at 11 days (Is this 11 days since you pulled him or is it 11 days that you are guessing is his age?). It is all fun and games with a coops until you start reducing the weight, then you have to get real serious. But they are a blast, not sure I can go without having one.

[Bodarc]

Jeff

I'm going to make a prediction. We'll see how close I am soon. I think your birds top weight will be between 315 and 320 grams. We'll know in a couple of weeks.

confusedd

[goshawks00]

He's so cute ... but beneath that fuzzy exterior is 'the devil with the blue on'.

Barry

[Saluqi]

11 days...209 grams...I'm still thinking it's a male so far...He's trying to stand more...I haven't seen anything phase him yet...Today he went with me all over camp as I inspected challenge course training. He was in a lot of different settings with a lot of different people...I can't wait to start flying him!!!



Nice looking Coops Jeff! I'm envious, sure wish I had an eyass to raise this summer. Nothing will phase an imprint until they are well feathered out, when they are downies the only really big no-no is picking them up. Picking them up without a nest bowl will traumatize them, but other than that they have no fear until they have grown all their feathers. That's the critical period in handling them, because by then you have grown pretty confident that nothing will phase your bird and then that fateful day arrives and something freaks them out. Something that never had any effect before will suddenly cause a meltdown. Always be prepared for it...

[wesleyc6]

He's so cute ... but beneath that fuzzy exterior is 'the devil with the blue on'.

Barry


Hard to believe a bird with blue eyes would "getcha". LOL. I remember being in shock when my female got me. How could something so pretty get so mean. ;)

[wesleyc6]

Paul,
When something does freak them out, do you remove them from it, or let them acclimate at that point?

[Saluqi]

Paul,
When something does freak them out, do you remove them from it, or let them acclimate at that point?

I think it depends on how freaked out they are. For example, if you are standing there with the bird on your fist and the kids and the dogs come running in raising heck and the bird stiffens up and looks fearful at the situation I might back off and try to shift the birds attention until it's psoture lets me know that the fear has dissipated. If, on the other hand, the bird starts bating wildly at a situation and looks like it's having an out-of-body experience, I would get away from the situation as quickly and calmly as possible, and try to refocus the bird on something else, or maybe put the bird away in the mews, or some "safe zone" where it feels comfortable. I think the way the falconer handles these situations will vary depending on how that person is raising the bird. For me, I might try to refocus the bird by going into the mews and playing tidbit games with the bird. Click and treat stuff, jump ups, and exercises.

One thing that I think some falconers may be inclined to do when the bird is freaking out is to hood the bird.....logic kind of steers me to believe that that may be the reason that so many accips are fearful/aggressive to the hood.

[goshawks00]

clapp

I think you are right ,to some extent at least.... Nothing like the 'big bad boogie man' coming to get ya , then having a hood stuffed on your head so you can't see when the inevitable is going to happen.
Barry

[rocgwp]

Thanks for the feedback and advice...I've got a long road ahead of me, but I'm excited. I'm glad I started this thread. I've been able to gleen a ton of information I never would have recieved otherwise. Bullet is trying to stand more and he can lauch those mutes over 3 ft now...He is 12 days old (from hatching). I pulled him 7 days ago.

Here are a couple of pictures from today...

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/12days1.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/12days2.jpg

[rocgwp]

Well it's been a busy past couple of days. Our summer staff have arrived for camp (all 900 of them), so I haven't had a chance to post anything about Bullet's progress. He's been able to go with me everywhere so far and is doing great. He's getting lots of socialization. He's starting to look like a coop and is standing for much longer periods of time. I put removable anklets on him this morning to start getting him use to equipment.

In these pics he is 17 days old and 296 grams.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/17days-2.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/17days-3.jpg

[Lee Slikkers]

very cool, amazing how fast they grow up...great pics!

[wesleyc6]

Thanks for sharing Jeff. Sounds like you guys are having fun!

[Chris L.]

Jeff,
great progress you are making, he looks great. I look forward to your future posts.. Keep us updated and thank you for taking the time to post this log.

[Lee]

Awesome thread I cant wait to hear the hunting story's. So what are your plans carhawking,fist hawking,night hawking etc etc?

[rocgwp]

18 days now and 314 grams...I'm amazed at how fast they develop. Bullet has begun flapping his wings and he hops while flapping trying to get airborne. I began introducing him to eating off of a carcass yesterday. By the end of the day he had mastered standing on top of it and pulling meat off the bone. I am supplementing the carcass feeding with cut up meat as well. Once he hops out of his box (my guess is within the next 3 days) I will begin lure intro and getting him ready to do his modified hack in the next couple of weeks.

Does anyone know at what age he will hit his top weight? When I imprinted my saker, she hit her heaviest weight around 37-39 days. She hit her flight weight at ~35 days. I'm interested to see the difference between a hawk and falcon in this respect. I'm also curious at approximately how many days it takes him to be hard penned. My saker was hard penned at 40-45 days, but developmentally Bullet is light years ahead of where my falcon was at this point. It appears that Bullet seems to be developing about a week ahead of where my falcon was developing.

[wesleyc6]

I think it is illegal to post an update without a picture or twobox2

[rocgwp]

Sorry Wes...here's some pics from this afternoon. He's flapping and hopping more. I can't wait for him to start taking small birds this summer...

He's doing great around the dogs as well. Last night both dogs (gwp's) were in the house and he did fine. I wish I had a picture of him and my female gwp. She was resting her nose on his nest box and he walked over and pecked her nose to investigate what she was. It was really funny...

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/18days2.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/18days1.jpg

[Bodarc]

18 days now and 314 grams...

Jeff

Is that weight with our without the anklets?

[FredFogg]

Jeff,

I will look at my records and see what age my female coops was at when she reached her top weight. I didn't weigh her like you are doing as I didn't start weighing her until she could stand on a perch. I will have to dig out my records and see what weights I have for her when I get home in the morning. I never really paid much attention to it, but it will be interesting to see at what age she reached her eventual hunting weight. I will post what I find in the morning.

[Bodarc]

Jeff

I think you'll find that your coop's will top out at approximately 24 days. He may gain a few grams more after that but it will be feathers and not body weight.

Hope this helps.

[rocgwp]

My weight is with the anklets on now...I wasn't able to get a weight today...Bullet is getting more mobile and I'm going to have to change my weighing technique...I've been weighing him every morning when I clean and change his bedding. I would put him and the towel he was on, on the scale and then I would coax him into the clean box and subtract out the weight of the towel. Today I couldn't get him to stay on the scale completely. I didn't want to risk scaring him or having to pick him up, so I decided to forgo the weighing today.

Bullet spent the day with me on the ropes course today. Our staff get excited when they see me coming now with his box. They've been astonished at how fast they grow and develop. It's been a great educational tool for these college students and it has cleared up TONS of misconsceptions they have about how the natural world (predator/prey) relationship works. So far I haven't encountered any negative feedback from them. I am always careful to make sure Bullet has a clean box and is presented well.

Sorry no pics today...I'll take some and post them tomorrow...

[rocgwp]

It's been a crazy couple of days. My internet was down, so I haven't been able to post any pictures of Bullet. He's really starting to look like a Cooper's Hawk now. He was running around the living room last night footing a tennis ball. I ordered a new transmitter for him and the plan is to begin taking him outside and preparing for the tame hack from here.

Here's some pics from the past couple of days...His weight has stayed between 320-335 grams....

20 days...
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/20days1.jpg

21 Days
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/21days-2.jpg

22 Days
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/22days1.jpg

23 Days
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/23days1.jpg

[Takasho]

That last pic is about the coolest eyas pic I've ever seen! clapp rockon Looks like I have a new screen saver for work!

Looking forward to this little guy taking wing and slaughtering those little birds. A male coopers is high on the list of birds I'd like to fly someday.

[FredFogg]

It's been a crazy couple of days. My internet was down, so I haven't been able to post any pictures of Bullet. He's really starting to look like a Cooper's Hawk now. He was running around the living room last night footing a tennis ball. I ordered a new transmitter for him and the plan is to begin taking him outside and preparing for the tame hack from here.

Here's some pics from the past couple of days...His weight has stayed between 320-335 grams....

20 days...


21 Days


22 Days


23 Days
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/23days1.jpg

Jeff, looks like you need to change his name from Bullet to Tony Hawk! LOL Great pic! clappclappclapp

[everetkhorton]

Jeff:
My Red Tail is names Tony Hawk and has not progress as far a Bullet on the skate board. Keep posting the pictures. Nice seeing the days old and weight.

[rocgwp]

Bullet is 25 days old now...He stood on a perch this morning to weigh so I finally got a weight I am confident in. He weighed 340 grams with a partial crop.

I began lure training with him today. I took him to the area I plan to do the tame hack. I let him run around and play for about 30 minutes while I read a book. I then blew the whistle and set down the lure. It took him about 10 minutes to decide he wanted to eat, but he finally cropped up.

He rode the fist a little today. He hopped onto it and I began getting him used to heights slowly. He showed no fear.

I talked with Mike McDermott about the tame hack this morning and I'm really excited. I figured I'd post them here so others could use this info if they wanted. It's a really simple plan:

1) Establish area to tame hack in and feed bird in that area before hack, also always feed bird/call bird in at the same location...Attach a backpack transmitter and a tiny bell
2) Feed bird up in morning, take him to hack site and leave him
3) Check on him several times the first couple of days...First day is the hardest...Bird will go up in branches, but may be too scared to come down
4) In evening: call bird to lure and allow to feed about 1/4 crop, transfer bird off lure...with bird on fist toss a baggie and let him kill it. Make in and open kill. Allow bird to eat as much as it wants. Before bird walks away from kill (after it has eaten) pick it up and take it home
5) Keep bird on perch inside at night
6) Feed ad lib during hack, us no weight control

Here's pics from today...

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/25days1.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/25days2.jpg

[goshawks00]

Jeff,
I can not say this enough and strong enough DO NOT BELL your hawk while at hack... The hawk is not very mobile espcially ion the beginning and is a dinner bell to every predator -- of which she knows nothing about... to come and see what that noise is... He has telemetry on him , what more do you need to find him... surely not a death wish... The rest is pretty simple and straight forward.
Picture a mouse running around in the woods with a bell on... there is not much difference, any /every owl/ RT /coop / other raptor along with crows and all the ground dwelling, and yes your hawk will spend a lot of time on the ground...,predators that are trying to make a living off other more stupid and vulnerable prey. Not good sense in my mind...
Barry

[Saluqi]

I mentioned somewhere on the forum that I used a bell last summer when I tamed hacked my female gos, what I failed to mention was that I didn't put the bell on until she was flying around the neighborhood. The only reason I used a bell was because I was tired of pulling out the telemetry only to find her sitting 10 feet away in a tree, the bell gave away her location most of the time. She was also a big strapping girl that not too many critter were going to mess with.

[rocgwp]

I believe that is very wise advice and I will be using it. Bullet will not be wearing a bell while at hack.

[goshawks00]

Jeff , another problem most likely to crop up and it will, real soon, I believe, is he will become a screamer as he will go hungry through most of the day and by coming in the evening and calling him I would expect some food begging /screaming to soon happen...

I think this is one reason I've been able to successfully hack the gos/coop and sharpie, random feeding through out the day , never allowing the hawk to go hungry yet never feeding so much as to cause it to go far .

If possibly better to find him several times a day and offer food on the lure , just enough to keep him quiet ( remember the bell alerts predators but a scremaing hungry bird is even of a more deadly possible cry as 'they' all know that sound instantly). He may be a bit more reluctant in the evening but he will more likely survive the day also...

The hack is wrought with danger, where the strong tremble, and the weak become casting.
.10
Barry

[John]

This is a great thread. Thanks a lot for taking the time to keep it updated. I'm really interested in seeing how it turns out. Thanks!

[FredFogg]

Jeff,

My 2 cents worth! I agree with Barry and I will go even further and say I don't believe a bell is needed at all on a coops. I have never put one on my bird and I just don't see the need. If you have telemetry on him, the only purpose a bell serves is as a warning to anything he is chasing. And if you have ever seen a coops running through the underbrush chasing something, you will see how easily a bell can get caught up. I am all about flying my birds with as little on them as possible. Ok, it probably wasn't worth 2 cents, especially with the value of the dollar now. LOL

[kimmerar]

Great thread with some great opinions!! Keep up the great info everyone.

[everetkhorton]

Barry:
The use of bell and feeding sounds like good information to me, as you know I have never imprinted or hack any short wings. If a person would think, how would there parent do it and try and follow there guide it may work out better. JMO

[goshawks00]

Ev , it never ceases to amaze me what common sense can cure(dog)

Barry

[rocgwp]

Bullet's weighed has leveled off now. I weighed him before he ate and then after so I could get a comparison with the last couple of days.
He weighs 322 grams without a crop, and he weighed 340 grams after he ate.

Yesterday was a big day for Bullet. He spent over an hour outside at the area where I will be hacking him while I read a book. I called him to the lure and he came to it quickly. I have him on a schedule of 3 daily feedings so far. He crops up eagerly at each feeding, but hasn't begun screaming or begging (yet).

After talking to several very knowledgable people who have done it, I asked some falconry buddies to help me install a backpack on Bullet last night so I could attach a transmitter to him. He did fine. It took us a little longer to get this one on him because he wasn't hooded, but it fit greats and should work well. As we talked last night, between the three of us we have installed 11 different backpacks and have had no problems with any of them once they were installed correctly. In fact my saker has been wearing hers for 2 years now.

Bullet is still getting lots of socialization. He's definitely branching and I plan on starting the tame hack sometime next week. I wanting his lure response to be a little better before I turn him loose.

26 days
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/26days1.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/26days8.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/26days10.jpg

[Bodarc]

Jeff

This is a great thread and I'm enjoying your little coop's. I love them.

[KidK]

Spectacular thread Jeff. I am looking forward to reading of his hack.

Thanks!

[rocgwp]

~28 days and 325 grams (empty crop). Bullet's transmitter is installed and he's ready to start hacking. Atleast my wife has determined he is ready to hack. Last night he kept hopping out of his box and flying up onto the couch. No poop on the couch though (lucky for me).

I changed the location of where I will be tame hacking. I was going to tame hack at camp, but due to the numbers of nesting red tails, red shoulders, and bald eagles nearby I have decided to move. My wife has volunteered to assist some, so we are going to hack him in our back yard. We have several large trees that will work great and we adjoin a 15 acre pasture that is wooded around the edges.

This morning (~9am) I placed him on my daughter's swingset and called him down to the lure for his morning feeding. He cropped up, I turned his telemetry on, and I placed him in a tree nearby. We checked on him throughout the day. He moved up a couple of branches and he holds onto branches and flaps his wings. It's nice to watch that down float away outside instead of in our living room. This afternoon I went out about 4pm and threw out the lure and blew the whistle. He wanted to come down, but it took him about 15 minutes to figure out how he could get down. He finally came down and ate on the lure no problem. I picked him up and tossed a baggie. He wasn't really interested in the baggie. Either he doesn't associate a baggie as food or I fed him to much on the lure. I plan to feed the baggie tonight so he associates it as food. We'll try again tomorrow. So far he has made no vocalizations other than peeps.

I'll upload pics later...

On a sad note, one of my german wirehairs has turned up missing. We have pieced together the story so far, but we aren't sure. Yesterday evening, they dug out of our yard and 2 cats have turned up missing. These happen to be the same cats that run loose about the neighborhood (killing quail when I raise them and constantly teasing the dogs outside the fence) and aren't kept indoors by the owners. One of our neighbors saw my dogs early in the evening and her grandkids were playing with them. After that we traced them to about a half mile away. The dogs were swimming in a pond and the owners have a VERY aggressive boxer (The dog was biting the bumper of our car as we pulled up tonight). The owners said they chased our dogs off with rakes, but we have been told by others a gunshot went off. My 6 year old male made it home, but my 12 month female did not. We spent the day looking, knocking on doors, and circulating flyers. She hasn't been seen since leaving that pond. It's been a tough evening as we are not sure if Aggie is coming home. Pray for her to come home safe. We waited 2 years for the breeding she came out of. She was a NAVHDA NA Prize I dog and was almost ready to test for Utility. She was the dog we planned to base a line and kennel around. My daughter and the rest of us are heartbroken. We'll keep looking in the morning...

[kimmerar]

Congrats Jeff on the hack. Sounds like it went good for a first day out. And so sorry on the bad news. Hopefully she got into chasing something and got sidetracked and will be back soon.

Can't wait for the new pics and thanks for the update.

[John]

Very interesting stuff on the hack. Keep it coming! Very sorry to hear about the dog too. :(

[tumble]

Jeff, very sorry to hear about your dog. I hope she turns up soon.

[FredFogg]

Jeff, I hope you find your dog! I can't imagine loosing mine. Keep looking and hopefully, things will turn out ok. Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

[rocgwp]

Day 2 of Tame Hack went really well!!! Bullet weighed 325 grams this morning with an empty crop. He's ~29 days old now. I fed up him at ~8:30am and then put him in the tree. He went higher today than he did yesterday and he came to the ground at one point duringthe day. He seems to have lost his fear of heights. He flutters to the ground fairly easily now. At 4:30pm I went out and called him down. He came down quickly. I can already see an improvement in his mobility. He ate a small portion on the lure and then stepped up on an ungarnished fist. I tossed a baggie and he showed a little more interest than yesterday, but not much. After he finally footed the baggie I killed it for him and opened it up. He cropped up and I then took him inside for the rest of the day. I plan to start increasing the the time he's left out and increasing the duration between his feedings. So far no begging or screaming.

I have changed my indoor setup to box the size of a dishwasher. It functions like a giant hood. I have a bow perch inside it and towel that I cover up the front window with. Bullet can see out and still gets lots of socialization (especiallly when my daughter reads him stories). I am able to close the window and keep him from bating. It's been an easy way to socialize him and control light sensitivity.

Also, no sign of my dog yet.

No pics from today, but here's some from yesterday...
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/28days2.jpg
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/28days3.jpg
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/28days4-1.jpg

[rocgwp]

Day 3 at Hack...I'm posting this from my phone, so no pics tonight...Bullet weighed 317 grams this morning before I fed him. Bullet is definitely more active. He flew to our house today and came down several times to an ungarnished fist that my wife and 3 year old daughter offered. Tonight he finally killed a baggie. I set him up and he flew about 10 feet and killed it. I let him crop up and then transfered him off. He's progressing very quickly. I'm thinking we will probably be hunting before he is hard penned.

I'm still looking for our dog...we circulated more flyers tonight.

[wesleyc6]

Jeff,
so sorry about your pup! frus I said a prayer for you my friend. The coop looks great and sounds even better!:D

[rocgwp]

Yesterday was a stormy day, so Bullet went with me on a road trip. He traveled well, got lots of socialization and killed a baggie last night with some style. I couldn't be happier.

Day 5 of Tame Hack - Bullet weighed 323 grams this morning. He is able to fly short distances now (20-30 ft). He manevers in the trees much better and is getting confident. It won't be long until he's hunting...

Does anyone have any average flight weight ranges for a tiercel coops. This isn't a weight I'll target, but was curious about general flight weights for tiercel coops.

Here's some pics:
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/31days2.jpg
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/31days1.jpg
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/31days6.jpg

[John]

Looks good and sounds like he's doing great! Don't know about averages but a male imprint I had flew at about 310 give or take a few grams.

[everetkhorton]

Jeff:
He already has that look like, I want to rip your head off.

[KidK]

Jeff,

Great posts, I am really enjoying your thread.

Still hoping to hear some good news about your dog.

[rocgwp]

Bullet is still doing great. I'll post more pictures next week. He is at hack all day and I call him down in the evening. He is taking baggies from further distances and so far is a dream to handle and almost silent.

Tonight I learned that our dog, Aggie, was shot. We don't know if she was killed or not, but we have a confirmation that she was shot last Friday night. At this point, things don't look good. It makes no sense why someone would shoot a dog wearing a bright orange color. We had waited 2 years for her breeding and she was a dream dog. She was out of one the top GWP kennels in the nation. She was the daughter and grandaughter of multiple NAVHDA Versatile Champions and scheduled to be bred back to a Versatile Champion in March. She was the best first year hunting dog I've ever seen and she was my 3 year old daughter's best friend. It's a sad night in our house.

[wesleyc6]

Jeff,
I am so sorry to hear that my friend. She looked like a great dog the little that I got to see her. frus

[FredFogg]

Bullet is still doing great. I'll post more pictures next week. He is at hack all day and I call him down in the evening. He is taking baggies from further distances and so far is a dream to handle and almost silent.

Tonight I learned that our dog, Aggie, was shot. We don't know if she was killed or not, but we have a confirmation that she was shot last Friday night. At this point, things don't look good. It makes no sense why someone would shoot a dog wearing a bright orange color. We had waited 2 years for her breeding and she was a dream dog. She was out of one the top GWP kennels in the nation. She was the daughter and grandaughter of multiple NAVHDA Versatile Champions and scheduled to be bred back to a Versatile Champion in March. She was the best first year hunting dog I've ever seen and she was my 3 year old daughter's best friend. It's a sad night in our house.

Jeff, sorry to hear about your dog! I can't understand how anyone can shoot a dog! They obviously have never had a best friend before!

[KidK]

Jeff,

My condolences on the loss of your dog. Senseless..

Remember the good times..

[everetkhorton]

Jeff:
Sorry to hear of the loss of your dog. Some thing never make sense.

[frootdog]

Jeff sorry to hear about your dog.

[John]

That just stinks. My GSP is like family and I know my wife and kids would be crushed if that happened to him. Just terrible.

[rocgwp]

Bullet is ~34 days now and he weighed 327 grams this morning. I am doing no weight control at this point. He eats all he wants twice a day. I've been hacking him for a week now and it's fun to see the progress. I watched him chase a pair of doves around the tree today. He spends a lot of time holding on to branches and flapping. I am stretching his evening feeding further and further to get him out longer and prevent screaming/begging. So far it has worked. Our evening routine is pretty settled in now. I call him down to the lure or he freely comes to the fist and then he gets to catch a baggie. While he eats the baggie I lay down next to him and practice leashing and unleashing him. I'm curious to see the changes when I drop his weight...

I have pictures, but I can't post them from my phone. I'll post them on Monday.

Thanks for the encouragement/condolensces on our dog. We haven't found her body yet, so maybe we will be one of those stories you see on tv where someone picked her up, treated her, and later this year she gets loose and comes home. It's not likely, but I can always hope...

[John]

This is really a great thread. Thanks for keeping it updated. During the day when he's out, are you around the house to check up on him or are you gone? Great stuff.

[rocgwp]

I check on him during the day on weekends and my wife checks on him during the week. Our neighbor is an elderly lady that has enjoyed watching him progress. She watches him when she is outside in her yard.

[kimmerar]

Great thread Jeff. Sounds like the hack is working great for you and Bullet. An elderly lady watching too. I hope I'm so lucky. I hope my household helps convert the closest vegetarian neighbors we have. They like to look at the birds but hate the thought of them killing bunnies frus.

Sorry about your dog. Keep up the hopes. I would do the same myself.

[wesleyc6]

I check on him during the day on weekends and my wife checks on him during the week. Our neighbor is an elderly lady that has enjoyed watching him progress. She watches him when she is outside in her yard.

You are really doing something on the edge. Not many people hacking coops and it is cool to read of someone that isn't an imprint pro trying this. It is a perspective I can appreciate even more as relative newbie at it myself.

[rocgwp]

Bullet weighed 330 grams this morning before I fed him. His weight has slowly been creeping up a little, but I'm feeding all he wants twice a day right now. This was his 9th day at hack. I watched him fly 2 circles around the tree today and evidently he caught and ate something during the day. It took me over an hour to call him in tonight because he had a partial crop on him. When he came down he had no real interest in the baggie. I'll post the pic tomorrow, but he just flew over to it and never killed it. Tonight he displayed all the signs of a FAT bird. I've seen him fly from the ground to ~25 up in a tree. He is getting more fit everyday and still is easy to handle.

At what point do I end the hack, drop his weight, and start carhawking? I'd really love some wisdom here. I had planned on hacking him for 2 plus weeks, but I'm afraid he'll start catching on his own. He is 36 days old at this point. I'm fairly sure I could drop his weight to ~322 grams and I'd be at a responsive enough weight to start carhawking. It might take a little more drop however. What are yall's thoughts. Keep hacking or start hawking?

[wesleyc6]

;)
Bullet weighed 330 grams this morning before I fed him. His weight has slowly been creeping up a little, but I'm feeding all he wants twice a day right now. This was his 9th day at hack. I watched him fly 2 circles around the tree today and evidently he caught and ate something during the day. It took me over an hour to call him in tonight because he had a partial crop on him. When he came down he had no real interest in the baggie. I'll post the pic tomorrow, but he just flew over to it and never killed it. Tonight he displayed all the signs of a FAT bird. I've seen him fly from the ground to ~25 up in a tree. He is getting more fit everyday and still is easy to handle.

At what point do I end the hack, drop his weight, and start carhawking? I'd really love some wisdom here. I had planned on hacking him for 2 plus weeks, but I'm afraid he'll start catching on his own. He is 36 days old at this point. I'm fairly sure I could drop his weight to ~322 grams and I'd be at a responsive enough weight to start carhawking. It might take a little more drop however. What are yall's thoughts. Keep hacking or start hawking?


You have guts boy. ;) I am such a pansy. I don't think I could take it. lol. I wouldn't go much past the days when he starts to catch stuff. That is when falcons are taken up from what I have read.

[Bryant Tarr]

I think it is time to start hawking! :) I guess I'd ask myself what I want the hack to achieve. If you've got a bird that has developed physically and mentally enough to catch anything in the wild, you can probably shape the rest in a more "controlled" falconry hunting environment. But I have not experience with tame hacks!

[FredFogg]

Bullet weighed 330 grams this morning before I fed him. His weight has slowly been creeping up a little, but I'm feeding all he wants twice a day right now. This was his 9th day at hack. I watched him fly 2 circles around the tree today and evidently he caught and ate something during the day. It took me over an hour to call him in tonight because he had a partial crop on him. When he came down he had no real interest in the baggie. I'll post the pic tomorrow, but he just flew over to it and never killed it. Tonight he displayed all the signs of a FAT bird. I've seen him fly from the ground to ~25 up in a tree. He is getting more fit everyday and still is easy to handle.

At what point do I end the hack, drop his weight, and start carhawking? I'd really love some wisdom here. I had planned on hacking him for 2 plus weeks, but I'm afraid he'll start catching on his own. He is 36 days old at this point. I'm fairly sure I could drop his weight to ~322 grams and I'd be at a responsive enough weight to start carhawking. It might take a little more drop however. What are yall's thoughts. Keep hacking or start hawking?

Jeff, if he is now catching, it is time to have him catching in a controlled environment. If he caught 1, what do you think his response is going to be the next evening after he has caught 2 or possibly more. You have had control of him every evening because he was hungry, he won't be from now on. Time to switch that catching ability to hunting with you! Sounds like you are on your way! I may try the tame hack with my next coops. It sounds like fun!

[frootdog]

One of the benifits of the imprint is they have never been kicked off some type of quarry, hence they are more likely to try anything. Passage birds have tried all the tricks and they know what is easy and what is not. I too vote for hunting, at least no more than a couple more days tame hack.

[John]

I'm with Fred and Bryant. If he's caught stuff, he's on his way to being his own hawk rather than yours. If he did it once, he can do it again and again, and disappear.

[Saluqi]

I'll take the opposite opinion from the group. You said that you were still feeding him twice a day all he wants? Just cut back on his feeding, feed him some in the morning and put him out to hack. During the day, go out with the lure and some food and call him in, and feed him a very small portion and continue to let him fly loose. The only reason, in my opinion, to end the hack is if you think he is in some danger. This bird is an imprint and is not going anywhere, the more time he has at liberty the better he will get.

[FredFogg]

I'll take the opposite opinion from the group. You said that you were still feeding him twice a day all he wants? Just cut back on his feeding, feed him some in the morning and put him out to hack. During the day, go out with the lure and some food and call him in, and feed him a very small portion and continue to let him fly loose. The only reason, in my opinion, to end the hack is if you think he is in some danger. This bird is an imprint and is not going anywhere, the more time he has at liberty the better he will get.

Paul,

I don't know this for a fact, seems I just remember someone telling me, but an imprint coops will revert back to the wild much easier than a gos or sharpie. Now that I think about it, a guy that has flown a bunch of coops told me if I ever wanted to turn my coops loose, it wouldn't be a problem just because of how quickly they revert. I don't know if is true, but something I was told. Maybe Barry has some insight into this!

[rocgwp]

Here are pics from the past several days...I didn't put Bullet out to hack this morning. Instead I took him with me to work. He was 334 grams and he took a baggie from out of my truck window. He was slow in leaving because he was fat, but once he left he was committed to catching the baggie. I am going to start lowering his weight a little and see if we can catch some grackles, starlings, and sparrows.

I would expect to begin hearing some noise and see some mantling once I start lowering weight.

32 days
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/32days2.jpg
33 days
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/34days3.jpg
34 day
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/34days4.jpg
35 days
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/35days5.jpg
36 dayshttp://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/36days1.jpg
37 days
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/37days4.jpg

[sevristh]

HAHAHA!! That pic of him and the duckling is priceless! clapp

[goshawks00]

Guys been away for a while and just catching up.... I'm with Paul... did he catch something or stumble onto a nest of babies and have his way...? Don't be in to big of a hurry to reel him in... it's WAY early.... Feed less... maybe even once a day...as Paul suggested ( be carefull hunger can cause possibly unwanted results ).

Make sure your trans batts. are in good shape and let him rip... let him learn his lessons and it will be less you will have to teach him... and less resentment towards you when he fails... he's learning, don't slow him down...
.02
Barry

[Lee Slikkers]

This is a great thread, keep the opinion and comments coming folks...

[rocgwp]

I fed Bullet less last night and he weighed 328 grams this morning. He is still fat and acted like it when I called him to the lure for his morning feeding. After thinking it over, I put him back out to hack today. I'll be watching him close. One of the reason I started the hack was to avoid the normal problems associated with an imprint accipiter when they are getting ready to pen. I will control his weight a little more and see if I can walk the line between keeping him responsive and not getting too hungry. I agree with Barry. I don't know if he actually caught something or stumbled across an easy meal. So at this point, the hack continues...

[sevristh]

Barry,

What type of possibly unwanted results would hunger during the hack cause if he is still being fed by the falconer during the day? (not disagreeing, just curious:D)

[goshawks00]

Dave how's about just for :D, you tell me what YOU think "could" happen to a hawk that doesn't know how to hunt, depends and looks forward to the only thing it knows as a food source to show up, but it doesn't. Take a stab at it and let's see what you think.confusedd


Barry

[sevristh]

Well, obviously if the assured food source doesn't show up, the bird can get too low in condition. But I thought maybe you were cautioning about hunger in that it might make the bird decide to wander off because the small meals during the day by the falconer were not enough or maybe make it TOO self-sufficient if it was indeed actually killing something (as some suggested earlier before it was pointed out that it might have just been some easy meal he stumbled across)? I am just guessing here as I obviously have no experience with imprints, but I am watching all these threads carefully trying to learn as much as possible! I appreciate all of you who take the time to do it and those that comment on it so that those of us without experience may learn with and from you! haill

[goshawks00]

Dave you are correct in your thoughts ... of a more precarious concern is a hungry hawk will, even though it may have never been exposed to that issue before, become very possessive , mantle, scream, drag food away, and show all sorts of aggressive posturing, even toward the handler.

Hunger is what drives our hawks...make no doubt about it... and at a tender eyas age something you want to avoid , as much as you can... It takes the slightest amount of reduction to cause the eyas to focus on becoming a predator ... and to rapid a decent will drive them to act out of self preservation... the falconer ... always loses ground when that happens.

BTW hunger will sometimes cause them to make mistakes that could be deadly... Things like taking chances with things that can kill them out right ......predators... humans... automobiles... reflections in windows...getting lost.. poisonous stuff.

.02
Barry

[rocgwp]

Not much has chabged with Bullet so far. He is at hack daily atleast through the weekend. I consulted a very wise source and decide to hack him as long as I could. He thought Bullet was pretty young to be catching game on his own. Bullet is getting stronger each day and flies better daily. I will upload pics tomorrow.

[wesleyc6]

Not much has chabged with Bullet so far. He is at hack daily atleast through the weekend. I consulted a very wise source and decide to hack him as long as I could. He thought Bullet was pretty young to be catching game on his own. Bullet is getting stronger each day and flies better daily. I will upload pics tomorrow.


Hey Jeff,
I have to tell you that this is one of my favorite threads ever on NAFEX. If you would, please start the posts off with what DAY it is in his life. I think it helps us all see where he is at as compared to all the other imprints on here. Any more news on the Aggie?

BTW any of you reading this may not know Jeff, but in the falconry community, he is probably one of the top dog guys around and is a great source of info and is a fairly nice fella to boot;)

[rocgwp]

Sorry Wes...The last report was for days ~37-39...Bullet will be 40 days old today. Thanks for the kind words Wes. I don't think I would ever classify myself as one of the "top dog guys". I just enjoy bird dogs and training.

I'm typing this at an hour when I should be asleep because supposedely a family has seen Aggie. According to them, they only see her early in the morning or late at night and she is real skiddish. Some of their neighbors have confirmed the siting as well and the fact that she bolts when people show up also. Which would make sense if she was shot, picked up, had her collar removed,broke free, and now running loose in a bad neighborhood. Either my wife or I have been her all night waiting to see this dog trying to determine if it's her or not. Animal control loaned us a trap, but after catching ~10 feral cats in the first couple hours we decided that wouldn't work. So now there is nothing to do but wait...

[kimmerar]

Well Jeff that's good to hear about Aggie. I hope it works out for you. Sounds like she might be a different dog when you first get her back. But - that can be worked on.

All the best

[rocgwp]

After hours of waiting, the dog turned out not to be Aggie. Back to square one...

[wesleyc6]

Ah, that stinks. So is that the only likely report of her?

[rocgwp]

Day 41 with Bullet...

Last night my wife and I went to Dallas, so a falconer friend called Bullet in from hack and put him this morning. I have decided to end his hack after today. Bullet is flying great and my buddy said he was really reluctant to come in last night and had a partial crop. Tonight it took him 20 minutes before he decided he wanted to kill the duck, and then he wasn't really interested in eating. He should pen sometime this week. I plan on dropping his weight slowly until I get the lure response I need, then I'll start carhawking. I've really enjoyed imprinting him to this point. He is tamer than the harris I flew last year so far. We'll see how his behaviour changes when I drop his weight. I hope to have him catching within a week and then going strong quickly. I have several dogs I'm training coming mid July. My plan was to have Bullet up and going before I start my early morning dog training routine again. Nothing like dog training at 5am, car hawking by 8am, and then at work by 10am...

[rocgwp]

Day 43...318 grams

Today I took Bullet car hawking...His hack is over and he is hog fat...Instead of slowly lowering a couple grams until I get the weight response needed I am taking a little different approach. I weighed him yesterday morning (338 grams) and fed him all he wanted to eat as normal. I then tied him to a perch and weathered him all day. Last night we skipped his evening feeding and this morning I took him car hawking. He is still fat at 318 grams, but he tried HARD to catch today...It was an incredible flight over 50 yards long...the bird pitched up twice trying to lose him and he was on his tail the first time and the second time he couldn't hang in there...He was slow to respond to the lure, but when he came down he was as sweet ever...No mantling or carrying on...I will be dropping his weight in 4-5 gram increments from here (most likely). Tomorrow I will be weighing him every hour to determine his daily metabloic rate and to see where his weight dop levels off. I'll post the chart later on...

I've got some great pics, but my wife has the camera right now...

[goshawks00]

Jeff you are almost there...easy into an more weight reduction... if he is as you said chasing hard... he may just need the right slip to get going.... I think he is still to high, my coops flew at 301-308 and the other 290 -300. These were eastern coops , yours might be a bit smaller... Cutting to much to quickly is as bad ( worse to me) than not reducing enough to slowly...
Possibly try field hawking him as slips will be closer and more in the open.
.02
Barry

[rocgwp]

44 days ...315 grams

Bullet spent the night out last night...We went car hawking and he missed a slip on sparrows and then another one on grackles...Right at dusk, he checked off of a pigeon and went to roost. He wouldn't come down for anything, so I had to wait and call him down this morning...Hopefully it will be his only night out ever...I'll drop his weight a little more and keep trying...

[Saluqi]

Scary stuff. Until about mid-September that first season both of my imprint gosses got squirrely around dusk, especially my tiercel. He would go nuts trying to find a place to roost. Natural owl avoidance instinct I'd guess.

[wesleyc6]

44 days ...315 grams

Bullet spent the night out last night...We went car hawking and he missed a slip on sparrows and then another one on grackles...Right at dusk, he checked off of a pigeon and went to roost. He wouldn't come down for anything, so I had to wait and call him down this morning...Hopefully it will be his only night out ever...I'll drop his weight a little more and keep trying...

Glad he is home safe. Something tells me he is about to spill some grackle blood anytime now.clapp

[goshawks00]

Spending the night out is not good...glad you recovered him...
More weight reduction and some flashlight recovery training are needful. ASAP.
Barry

[rocgwp]

47 days and 313 grams...

Bullet has come close to connecting, but not yet...I am taking his weight down and I have a feeling he will connect this weekend...

Here are some pictures I finally got downloaded from my camera...

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/IMG_6636.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/IMG_6629.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/IMG_6694.jpg

[rocgwp]

48 days...311 grams...First Kill...

I met a buddy at Wal-mart early this morning. Bullet refused several slips and didn't seem interested. As the sun came up however, the killer came out. We spotted some grackles feeding in front of us on a grass island. I pulled up and he launched out the window. I didn't think he had a chance because the birds saw him coming, but I was wrong. He scooped up a grackle and I helped him dispatch it quickly. He never really mantled and was really easy going on the kill. I leashed him up, let him get a good feeding and took some pictures. We are on are way!!!

I'll have to post pictues later...I can't do it from my phone...

[goshawks00]

Great news!!!!!!!

[John]

Awesome! Congrats! Sounds like he is doing perfectly.

[wesleyc6]

Wooohoooclappclappclapp

[FredFogg]

Congrats Jeff! You will be filling up the freezer with this guy! I can assure you of that! clappclappclapp

[Bodarc]

That's great Jeff. It sounds like you have a fantastic little bird on your hands.

thumbsupp

[Bryant Tarr]

Way to go! It's only going to get better now :) clapp

[frootdog]

It's later. Where are the pics?

[laj]

Congrats! The start of a great thread.clapp

[rocgwp]

306 grams...Kill #2

Bullet was more vocal this morning as he was hungrier. Slips were tougher as it was light rain this morning. He missed a couple slips on grackles and had an awesome flight on a sparrow. The sparrow bailed into a hedge and he looked like a missle as he disappeared after it. The bush exploded with sparrows going everywhere. He finally connected on a sparrow feeding near Target. He was hungrier than usual, but he only mantled for a couple of seconds. He was his same old sweet self. This is fun!

[John]

Just curious, but where are you keeping him? Is he still in the house? Really sounds like his transition to hunting bird is very smooth so far.

[rocgwp]

He is perched out in my yard if I'm at home or he stays on a pole perch in my office. In the evening he goes into the big box in my living room...

[rocgwp]

50 days...308 grams...

No kill today...I got a late start this morning. Bullet missed several slips on grackles and sparrows were hard to find this morning. He is hesitating a lot on grackles right now and they are seeing him leave the truck. I am going to drop his weight a little more. I think the main thing he needs is confidence. He is putting a lot of effort into sparrow chases, but not in to grackles. We'll be back at it again in the morning...

Here are pics of his first 2 kills...

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/48days5.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/49days3.jpg

[wesleyc6]

He sure has made a nice looking bird Jeff! If you get a sec, I would love to see a few nice pics on the glove.


Any news on your dog?

[FredFogg]

50 days...308 grams...

No kill today...I got a late start this morning. Bullet missed several slips on grackles and sparrows were hard to find this morning. He is hesitating a lot on grackles right now and they are seeing him leave the truck. I am going to drop his weight a little more. I think the main thing he needs is confidence. He is putting a lot of effort into sparrow chases, but not in to grackles. We'll be back at it again in the morning...

Here are pics of his first 2 kills...

Jeff,

If I might suggest and I am by far no expert, but I would give Bullet really easy slips on the grackles to build his confidence. Try and only slip him on the ones where he is literally dropping out of the car onto them. You can slip on harder ones later on as he builds confidence. And surprisingly, you wouldn't believe how many easy slips like that you will find driving through subdivisions. If you can find an older subdivision with Leyland Cypress trees as the seperator between houses and the subdivision, you will find lots of grackles, they love to nest in them. I totally avoid sparrows now, just to easy to carry and about the only place I find them is in parking lots and talk about dulling their talons fast. That was pretty much all I hunted the first year and I wish I hadn't. Love reading this thread and the pictures.

Meant to add, you have done a great job with him, I love the way he is standing tall when he is eating on the kill. No mantling, that is a result of the great work you have done!

[rocgwp]

303 grams...Kill #3

I've been out of pocket for a couple of days with things at camp. I miscaculated his food one morning and his weight climbed up enough for him to refuse grackle slips. He was 303 this morning and he killed the first grackle I slipped him on. He mantled for just a second as the other grackles hovered above. Once i made in and helped him kill it, he settled down and ate as normal. I am camping tonight and am hoping to find some field hawking slips in the morning. Field hawking is tough right now. We don't have alot of birds in the fields.

A note for others imprinting right now. The other day I had a bunch of meetings. I put Bullet in his mew for the first time during the day. When I picked him up that afternoon he was VERY noisy. I have kept him with me since and he has quited back down except for the normal vocalizations. If you are tempted to put your bird alone in a mew be careful, he may get vocal on you. I can now see the importance of keeping the bird with you indoors.

[frootdog]

Jeff right now the easiest slip for your bird is by far female grackles. Males would be easier in not for the size difference. Starlings are excellent at avoiding coops. They are very good fliers and very difficult for a just starting coop to catch. I would stick with female grackles. Doves are a whole nother ballgame. Sparrows are fun flights. Mocking birds are VERY slow and VERY easy to catch....from what I've heard. Stay away from any kind of dove slips right now. If you have no luck in the field carhawking keeps the confidence up.

As far as feeding on a kill. I let my bird pluck them (at the stage you are at) but never break in. The plucking extends the time they spend getting rewarded. I go out with the amount of food needed to feed her and have her ready to fly the next day. Let your bird pluck and as soon as he starts to break in than set the cut up food to the side and let him eat that instead and you can fly the next day.

[rocgwp]

Thanks for the advice Krys. That is ingenious and will really help me in getting him to weight the next day. It will also help me progress towards multiples once he is confident. It's for advice like this that I started this thread.

Bullet was 298 grams this morning. There were no birds in the fields (except for cattle egrets), so I fed him up before we came home. I will continue to carhawk him to build confidence.

[rocgwp]

Sorry I haven't posted in a while...Bullet is still doing great...He is killing daily now and still no major behavior changes...I have been flying him at ~300 grams. I may tweak him done a little bit, but he is building confidence. He's a really fun bird to fly...

[wesleyc6]

Where's the pic?????boxingg

[rocgwp]

Sorry...I've been to busy killing things to take pictures toungeout...I'll take some tomorrow

[wesleyc6]

Sorry...I've been to busy killing things to take pictures toungeout...I'll take some tomorrow


Oh yeah.............................well mine almost caught a butterflybox2

[rocgwp]

Bullet is still doing AWESOME! I have been flying him 5 days a week since I promised my wife I'd take the weekend off. Today he took his first double. At the end of last week I noticed he seemed a little heavy even though it was the same weight he had been catching at. There were also the very early signs of possession. I took his weight down this morning and traded him off the first grackle with no problems. He caught a starling later and I traded him for his daily rations. He was his normal sweet self. Bullet has now taken 1 sparrow, 8 grackles, and 1 starling.

I didn't have the camera today...but I plan on taking his weight down a couple more grams. He gave me a scare today as he went after a crow and could have taken if he'd really wanted it. He got right up on it and decided he didn't want any part of a bird that big, yet.

[wesleyc6]

Bullet is still doing AWESOME! I have been flying him 5 days a week since I promised my wife I'd take the weekend off. Today he took his first double. At the end of last week I noticed he seemed a little heavy even though it was the same weight he had been catching at. There were also the very early signs of possession. I took his weight down this morning and traded him off the first grackle with no problems. He caught a starling later and I traded him for his daily rations. He was his normal sweet self. Bullet has now taken 1 sparrow, 8 grackles, and 1 starling.

I didn't have the camera today...but I plan on taking his weight down a couple more grams. He gave me a scare today as he went after a crow and could have taken if he'd really wanted it. He got right up on it and decided he didn't want any part of a bird that big, yet.]

You da man!

[rocgwp]

Had a flight today that I thought I'd post...

We were in a parking lot this morning and spotted some grackles on a sidewalk under the awning of a strip mall. I pulled into position and Bullet launched himself at them. The grackle panicked. It got off the ground but had no where to go because of the building. It banked and barely missed Bullet's talons. The grackle was franticly looking for cover and the only thing in its sights was my truck. I was watching the grackle fly directly at my face with a coops quickly closing the distance. At the last possible second, the grackle spotted me in the driver's seat and clipped his wing on the edge of the windshield as he manuevered over the truck. Bullet pulled up as to not slam the truck and the grackle narrowly escaped. It was an AWESOME flight.

He ended the morning with a sparrow kill on a good flight.

297 grams...11 kills...I hope to fly him at the 290-295 range next week. His confidence is growing and he is still easier than my harris was to fly. I'm picking up some quail this weekend. I use a recall pen and anchor them in area for dog training. Bullet will be getting some practice on taking quail over a point pretty soon. They are definitely slower than wild quail, but these preerve type birds will suffice until the weather cools and the snakes start to hide.

Question? Has anyone regularly hunted woodcock with a coops over a pointing dog? I have woodcock that winter in my area and there are not many people that hunt woodcock in Texas. I hope to try it, but would welcome any tips...

[wesleyc6]

Cool flight!

I caught a woodcock off a point with a RT once. Not much help, but I think a coop could do it well.

[rocgwp]

Bullet took another double this morning. The first one was an easy catch right out the window. The second flight was one I won't soon forget.

Bullet launched after a bird about 15 yards from the truck on a grassy area in big open parking lot. The bird flattened out as he went to bind and he barely missed. The bird was up in an instant with Bullet closing right behind. The bird was paniced and looking for cover, but there was none to be found. Last week Bullet flew a couple of birds directly back at the truck that were searchig for a place to hide and they pulled off at the last second...not this one. She came through the window (with me sitting in the driver seat buckled up) and hit the steering wheel. Bullet was right behind her and scooped her up in my lap. Now you can imagine this picture. I am sitting in my truck with a towel on my lap while a coops is fighting to gain control of this bird. I dispatched the kill and then traded Bullet off to the passenger seat so I could move. It was #13...go figure...

[Takasho]

rockon Too cool! I hear of those types of flights surprisingly often when people are carhawking. I guess the sparrows are looking for any kind of cover they can, even if it's IN a car!

I had a similar thing happen to me field hawking once. My Harris caught a sparrow literally ON my feet! Here's the video, although you can't really see what happens since I was trying to get out of the way! :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uey_QOc8hVo

[FredFogg]

Bullet took another double this morning. The first one was an easy catch right out the window. The second flight was one I won't soon forget.

Bullet launched after a bird about 15 yards from the truck on a grassy area in big open parking lot. The bird flattened out as he went to bind and he barely missed. The bird was up in an instant with Bullet closing right behind. The bird was paniced and looking for cover, but there was none to be found. Last week Bullet flew a couple of birds directly back at the truck that were searchig for a place to hide and they pulled off at the last second...not this one. She came through the window (with me sitting in the driver seat buckled up) and hit the steering wheel. Bullet was right behind her and scooped her up in my lap. Now you can imagine this picture. I am sitting in my truck with a towel on my lap while a coops is fighting to gain control of this bird. I dispatched the kill and then traded Bullet off to the passenger seat so I could move. It was #13...go figure...

Jeff,

That is so funny! I have had the same thing happen with my female coops, except the sparrow flew in the window and then up under my dash. My coops was right on its tail and was footing up under the dash and finally pulled it out. When something like that happens, you think no one will ever believe you. But I guess with falconers, we know anything can and will happen! LOL

[goshawks00]

Several years ago just after 9/11, I was flying my sharpie Prozac near the small airport near Ann Arbor. On the far end of th airport were several rows of private hangers as this is a favorite airport for the Drs. of U of M.
Anyway 'Zac makes a classic slip on a group of starlings singles one out and proceeds to dog fight it over a couple of rows of hangers and disappears. Out comes the telemetry and I go hunting for him, finally tracking him down inside one of the hangers..,.

I see no one around so I quickly go into the hanger and track him down ...He's went in the open door of a small single engine Cennesa:eek:
Again looking for someone to help me and seeing no one inside I climb up the steps that were drawn next to the plane. Just as I'm getting ready to go in I hear HEY!!!
Turning around I come face to face with a guy carrying a huge pipe. I proceed to tell him what's going on...to which he doesn't believe me, as he stared at the electronic device I was about to "plant" in his plane. Evenetually I have him look in his plane and he is "attacked" by 'Zac as he made a bluff move because the guy was so close to him...
Falling out of the plane the guy tells me to get that G.D. bird out of his plane, which I did promptly. I offered to clean his plane and he was now settling down and said not to worry about it... Eventually after a bit of conversation, I left, we had got to know each other a little and he even went hawking with me a bit later in the season when I started flying the goshawks.

Barry

[wesleyc6]

Several years ago just after 9/11, I was flying my sharpie Prozac near the small airport near Ann Arbor. On the far end of th airport were several rows of private hangers as this is a favorite airport for the Drs. of U of M.
Anyway 'Zac makes a classic slip on a group of starlings singles one out and proceeds to dog fight it over a couple of rows of hangers and disappears. Out comes the telemetry and I go hunting for him, finally tracking him down inside one of the hangers..,.

I see no one around so I quickly go into the hanger and track him down ...He's went in the open door of a small single engine Cennesa:eek:
Again looking for someone to help me and seeing no one inside I climb up the steps that were drawn next to the plane. Just as I'm getting ready to go in I hear HEY!!!
Turning around I come face to face with a guy carrying a huge pipe. I proceed to tell him what's going on...to which he doesn't believe me, as he stared at the electronic device I was about to "plant" in his plane. Evenetually I have him look in his plane and he is "attacked" by 'Zac as he made a bluff move because the guy was so close to him...
Falling out of the plane the guy tells me to get that G.D. bird out of his plane, which I did promptly. I offered to clean his plane and he was now settling down and said not to worry about it... Eventually after a bit of conversation, I left, we had got to know each other a little and he even went hawking with me a bit later in the season when I started flying the goshawks.

Barry

That is so funny Barry!

I crawled into the city "roll off" landfill this week to get my gos. I just KNEW someone was going to stop me, but they didn't.

[goshawks00]

Crawled in the back of a huge grain box on a farm truck half full with treated winter wheat seed ...

You couldn't stand in it and had to belly crawl across it to get to the sharpie --Tick, who was busy plucking the sparrow she just hauled down.

This was mid summer and my hands were full of the ever present cuts scratches and punctures that accompany flying small hawks....
That treated seed just stuck and burned and burned the open wounds and I half expected Tic to be dead in the morning from the inevitable intake she consumed before I got to her.

I scooped her up and just tossed her over the side, when I finally got back out of the truck there she was next to the grain box wheels just finishing her meal as one of the farm tomcats sat crouched 6 foot away.
Barry

[wesleyc6]

I caught a pigeon in a barn once and my bird landed in a fertilizer pile and I was terrified trying to get to him.


The gos has scared me bad twice. Once he went over a fence after a bird and I could here him calling softly. I looked through the knothole and there he was on the ground with 3 dogs around him sniffing him. I fished him out with the lure. The other time he just landed right next to a big dog and that scared me too.

[John]

When I was training an eyas coops in a field near a school, the bag quail turned and flew back behind me about 200 yards and over the school where the coops caught up and snagged it on the roof. I had to go in and find a teacher and explain what happened. They let me go through the girl's bathroom and out the window where I found the coops nearly cropped up and the quail about half gone.

Another time I was flying a peregrine on a farm near a pond. The falcon decided to chase some pigeons to the farm's old silo. I saw her sit on top of the silo, ignoring me and the lure, looking down and watching all the pigeons flying around in there. Finally she decided to go right in after them. The ladder on the outside of the barn was old and rusty and not safe. The door on the inside had been drywalled over years ago by the owner's father as part of a bathroom wall. After several hours I was sure she couldn't or wouldn't fly out the top, the guy was nice enough to cut a hole in the drywall so I could crawl in. Sure enough, there was the peregrine with a partial crop and a dead pigeon. I'm surprised we both didn't get sick with the cloud of crap from all the pigeon crap floating around in there.

[rocgwp]

Another crazy flight today...luckily I had a buddy to bail me out...#15

Bullet weighed 288 grams and was serious about killing anything and everything today. He took a slip on a big male grackle near the mall. He usually pulls off the males, but not this time. He flew the grackle towards the mall and in an effort to avoid death, the grackle tried to climb vertically. That was a big mistake. As the grackle got even with the edge of the roof, Bullet snatched him up and his momentum carried him over the edge onto the roof and out of sight. I could hear the fight and Bullet was getting mobbed as well.

I ran to find a security guard (this is at 6:45am). I talked to them and they wouldn't give me roof access. I figured I'd wait a little while, let Bullet eat and then call him down to the lure. I waited an hour. I knew he was still there bescause of the mockingbirds going nuts still. I was getting really worried, so I called a friend and fellow falconer. He showed up at ~8am with a ladder. We backed my truck up to the edge of the mall, set the ladder in the back, and I climbed up to the top step which was still a considerable distance from the top of the roof. I was able to grab the edge of the roof and shimmy over. As soon as Bullet saw me, I got the "Where have you been...I've been waiting for over an hour look". He was standing on the grackle plucked clean except for the head and the tail. He hadn't broke in and ate the bird as I fully expected. I traded him off and then sent him down to the ground to eat his rations. I then shimmyed over back to the ladder and down. The mall manager showed up shortly thereafter and I fully expected to get the "talk" I deserved. By the time the conversation was over, I now have permission to hawk at the mall and his phone number to get roof access if I need it.

What a week...

[Takasho]

Congrats on getting mall permission! :D Our birds can certainly put us in some *ahem* "delicate" situations!

The first time I removed the creance from a Harris I was training in Japan a burst of wind caught the bird just as he took off. He disappeared from sight (not difficult in highly urbanized Japan!) and after a bit of searching I found him on top of a train storage building in the middle of a busy train station! He wasn't paying attention to me whistling from outside the gate but all the noise I made got someone from the neighborhood to let me in the back. Being a foreigner I stood out like a sore thumb just being in the restricted area of a busy train station and waving a bloddy piece of meat around didn't help! Still not wanting to come down a couple of station employees finally rounded up a ladder and I had to crawl out on to the roof to get the stubborn bird with all the train station customers looking on. I honestly thought there would be a news crew to document the crazy foreigner and his loony bird when I got back down but luckily I made my escape before one arrived.

A couple of falconer buddies had heard what had happened and when I left the train station they were waiting for me. I asked why they hadn't come in to help and they said, "We weren't going to associate ourselves with the crazy foreigner!" Some friends!!

[rocgwp]

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd give an update. Bullet is cruising right along. He has exceeded 30 kills now and we could be well over 50 if I wanted to. Because of the heat (90's by 8am) and high humidity I am calling it quits after we catch one or two most days. I am flying only mornings right now because of my dog training schedule. He is flying at 275 grams. He is still dog tame and easy to handle. No carrying and he seems to be quieting down some (not that he was really loud to start with). I'm going out west this next week. It blows my mind how I can drive 7 hours due west and still be in Texas. I am hoping to get some field hawking in. I'm addicted to copper's hawking...

[Bodarc]

I'm addicted to copper's hawking...

Jeff

What is it about those stand-offish, independent, neurotic birds that makes them so addictive. You either love them or hate them, there's no in between.

[Lee Slikkers]

I won't speak for Jeff, but this is a new adventure for me and once you experience the flush of the sparrows in the field and feel (see the coops blurring past you) the push off the glove you'll be hooked...it's quite the rush!

[rocgwp]

Jeff

What is it about those stand-offish, independent, neurotic birds that makes them so addictive. You either love them or hate them, there's no in between.

For me it's been the fact that Bullet is not stand-offish, independent, nor neurotic. He has been easier to fly than my harris. Once you experience their speed and you watch them chase a sparrow twisting and turning for 50 yards and then fold like a missle and chase it into cover and finally catch it in the air after the bird reflushed, you become addicted.

[Lee Slikkers]

Jeff, how about an update on Bullet...just curious how things are still going with him.
Thanks

[rocgwp]

Bullet is still doing great. I am having a lot of fun flying him. He is catching multiples almost daily.

I'm flyin him at 277 grams, but it's time to take him down some more. I had some behavior issues today, which I expected. He has been cooped up the past 3 days because of Hurricane Gustav. He caught a sparrow this morning wanted to eat my shoe after the trade off (a fat hawk). I knew it was coming, but couldn't resist flying since I had a break in the weather. Each time I have started to see an inkling of behavior problems I have dropped his weight and things have ceased. He has been very easy to handle. The only time issues show up is when I fly him fat. I have been nervous about getting him too low, so I have held him at 277 for too long. I talked to McDermott tonight and realized that I still have a ways to go in weight reduction before I get to his true hunting weight this year. He is still losing between .4 and .5 grams an hour over night. McDermott sugessted that he be losing between .2 an .3 grams an hour. McDermott has an Eastern bird that topped out over 400 grams and will fly close to 275-280 grams. My little guy topped out at 330 grams so I am expecting to end up in the 250-260 range. I will be dropping him in slow increments though like I have been. I will drop him a couple grams and fly him there until I see an issue, then drop him a couple more.

Flying Bullet has made me a better falconer...and I haven't had this much fun in falconry ever...

[Lee Slikkers]

Jeff, thanks for the very details reply. I have been having some of the issue you spoke of as well with Genghis. He topped out at around 335 and I have been hunting him prett steadily at the 292g mark but I've noticed his behaviour rapidly deteriorating as of late. Sounds like I need to slowly drop him a bit...something I haven't really done since we started hunting. He has killed every day out so that has probably really clouded my reaction as to his weight.

Anyway, thanks for the info on Bullet and your thread, its been fun to follow. Flying Genghis has also taught me more than I care to admit, grin, but it's been well worth every bit of effort...these flights are to die for!

[Takasho]

Any updates on this bird??

[wesleyc6]

Jeff probably has hurt his back carrying all of Bullet's game home:eek:

[rocgwp]

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been really busy flying Bullet and training dogs.

Bullet has been a dream bird thus far. His hunting weight has leveled off at 260-274 grams. As long as he is in that range I can expect Harris Hawk like behaviour (nice, easy going, and easy to handle). I can fly him above 275 grams, but then the handling gets technical because he wants to be possessive and hop around with the kill. Bullet has only carried twice since I've been flying him and both of those times his weight was above 275 grams. In other words, as long as I don't fly him fat I can expect a great day. If I fly him fat, then I am asking for trouble. He is still feather perfect with his orginal tail. I am waiting for the day I'll have to imp, but it hasn't happened yet.

I have changed my trade off technique and I really like how it has worked out. Bullet always waits for me to get to him before he begins eating. I have begun showing him the lure as I approach and he drags his kill to the lure where he then eats off the lure as I put the catch in the bag. This has been really handy when he catches in heavy bushes or under a car. He pops out of the bush or from under the car looking for his reward. I was worried about losing game at first, but so far (30+ head of game) I haven't lost any due to this technique.

Most of the hawking we have been doing is urban hawking on private land. A lot of the slips are from the truck, but we also beat hedges for english sparrows. I've been running dogs in the fields and there are still no slips yet. The other guys tell me the birds will arrive in the fields about October or November. At that point I'll transition to field hawking and quail hawking over my pointing dogs.

I have some great picks of Bullet, but the photobucket option isn't showing up below. When I figure out how to post pics again I'll add them on...

[Eagle Owl]

I have some great picks of Bullet, but the photobucket option isn't showing up below. When I figure out how to post pics again I'll add them on...

Here ya go, Jeff. Look at #3 and the picture. http://www.nafex.net/showthread.php?t=1407

[rocgwp]

Bullet Chasing Under Car
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/BulletChasingUnderCar.jpg

Bullet taking #50
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/BulletTakingNumber50.jpg

Bullet and Big Male Depredating Grackle
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/BulletandMaleBoattailGrackle.jpg

Bullet's Sneak Attack
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/Bulletandsneakattack.jpg

Bullet and Starling
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/Bulletandstarling.jpg

Bullet and the Final Approach
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/Bulletandthefinalapproach.jpg

Bullet Taking a Depredating Grackle
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/Bullettakinggrackle.jpg

[Takasho]

Awesome pics! Thanks Jeff!

[Bryant Tarr]

Very cool! Nice shots :)

[Hawkingcolorado]

Killer(literally) shots!!!clapp

[rocgwp]

Here's a few from this morning. I take no credit for the pics. A friend of mine takes some great pictures of a really fast bird...

Bullet and Sparrows
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/BulletandSparrows.jpg

Bullet Chasing Sparrow
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/BulletandSparrowChaseM.jpg

Bullet Closing In On Sparrow
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/BulletClosinginonSparrow.jpg

[FredFogg]

Awesome pictures Jeff, your friend is a great photographer! It is funny how we see our birds fly every day and don't realize how they really fly until we see them in photo's. I have never noticed my coops wings touch each other on the down stroke(picture 1), but seeing it in these pictures, you know it happens. Love the photo's, more, more, more! clappclappclapp

[everetkhorton]

Jeff:
Great picture, thanks for posting!

[rocgwp]

Well, Bullet's season has come to an end this year. He caught 80 wild birds and close to 50 or 60 "preserve" quail. He has been the funnest bird I have flown so far. I never had any of the problems associated with a coops (as long as I flew him at weight). He was like flying a super fast harris hawk. I am putting him up and intend to do a forced molt so he is ready to hunt this next summer.

I trapped a passage hen harris that I intend to fly through the winter months. If all goes well, I will have a summer bird and a winter bird.

[Takasho]

If all goes well, I will have a summer bird and a winter bird.

Sounds like a great season! clapp Makes me want to fly a male coops even more than I already did! And year round hawking? Can't beat that! :D

Good luck with the new Harris and the winter season!

[FredFogg]

If all goes well, I will have a summer bird and a winter bird.

Jeff,

That is what I did for 3 seasons! I flew a red-tail in the fall/winter and the coops in the spring/summer! Next spring is going to be wierd as I won't have the coops. I may have to go to Kentucky and pull a sharpie next June.

[virdz]

You talk about a musket, so I´inclined to believe your experience was with a sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus). The nisus, although delicate and nervous, is far less problematic than a coopers hawk. You can have a few omissions on a spar and you could be forgiven, but not with a coops (there are always exceptions).
For example, I have my own "recipe" and I do call to the glove and none of my birds are sticky footed no grabbers, but it took me years to fine tune it. I think for the average the best bet is the proven method. I have seen coops not socialized that even the SOUND of a distant car made them go crazy....



I am not convinced that you need to socialise an imprint with hundreds of hours of bombardment with new stimuli.
There has been on one or more occasions where the hawk that became rock steady had hardly any interaction with new people new places the last musket spar I bought from the breeder a week or so from hard pining had never seen the outside world until
I picket him up; he was raised in the home with a few other spars and was hand fed until he could take food from the dish but as far as socialising goes he seen very little.
Same hawk is the steadiest spar I have ever owned so steady he gave semen this year.
Personally I believe it the nature hawk that is going to determine more than anything else how things turn out. Alf.

[virdz]

Sorry I replied to the last message on the FIRST page (Duh!) and didn´t realize about the progress (was wondering how you got such a young eyass in late-october).
Congratulations! How are you planning to molt the coops?
Best regards,

[everetkhorton]

Jeff:
Are you going to free loft Bullet? How long will it take to molt out Bullet? I am thinking of doing about the same thing but later in the year. CJ is a late brancher. How much above Bullets flying wt. will you keep him? Will you still do a lot of handling and manning? Sorry for all the questions but I know zero about Cooper's Hawk and how to maintain them through the molt.

[rocgwp]

Bullet is officially molting now. He has dropped 4 wing feathers. I have him free lofted in his chamber with no problems thus far. I am keeping light on him 24 hours a day with his window covered. He is being fed via a timed cat feeder like the one in a recent hawk chalk article. The only modification is it is installed like a kitchen drawer and can be restocked from outside the chamber. He is completely silent and still tame. He is more jumpy than normal, but that is to be expected since he is ~100 grams over his flying weight. Hopefully he'll be ready to go when the birds come back late this spring. I have high hopes for him this next season. I'd like to train him to retrieve his kills to the fist and to hood. Both using operant conditioning. I'm starting a new thread under Shortwings to discuss it.

[Mike O]

Great thread!!

What happened to Bullet? Did he molt out okay? Were you ever able to fly him again?

[OATS]

Great resurrected thread. It was before my time here at NAFEX so I was glad it came back too life. Pretty interesting read. Like Mike O, I'm curious too.

[rocgwp]

Unfortunately Bullet died at the beginning of his second season. He molted out great, but died from a stroke caused by a collision.