Zoltar {male golden}

[raptrlvr]

Here is a shot taken yesterday 12-29-09 in the snow.
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z74/raptrlvr/DSC_0075A.jpg

[awahl]

Beautiful, as always Jim.

[Thornwing]

beautiful :O my goal is to get one of these when I can, whichll be awhile!

[Bryant Tarr]

Nice shot. Absolutely the Emperor of raptors!

[Roper]

kinda makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up doesnt it..
nice shot (px)

[lithiumjuice]

Great picture. Man he looks cool!

[David]

Great picture Jim. That has to be an awesome feeling hunting with a golden eagle. If I had the land and game I would take one of them over a white gyr any day.

[raptrlvr]

Thanks for the compliment. I had to do some blood work on him a couple of months ago because he was acting weird. Everything checked out OK and he is acting like he used to. I let him hang out and fatten up until I knew he was OK. I went out when I took this picture and tried to handle him a little and he was a pain in the a--. Finally got the jesses in his anklets and then I picked him up for a while. Started reducing his weight today with just a small feeding. Its time to get him going again. I took this picture with my new 85mm lens to see how sharp it is. The snow gave the picture a nice effect. So far I like the lens.

[wyodjm]

Thanks for the compliment. I had to do some blood work on him a couple of months ago because he was acting weird. Everything checked out OK and he is acting like he used to. I let him hang out and fatten up until I knew he was OK. I went out when I took this picture and tried to handle him a little and he was a pain in the a--. Finally got the jesses in his anklets and then I picked him up for a while. Started reducing his weight today with just a small feeding. Its time to get him going again. I took this picture with my new 85mm lens to see how sharp it is. The snow gave the picture a nice effect. So far I like the lens.

Hi Jim:

Weird? In what way weird?

[raptrlvr]

He was lathargic, not eating {losing weight} and wanted to stay in the mews all the time. I leave his mews door open and he goes between the weathering area and the mews at will. He just didn't seem to have any pep. This happened before about 3 years ago and when I took him to the vet back then, he was diagonised with asper. We treated him for 31 days with amphertarcin B {sp?}, both internally and also in a nebulizer chamber and Dr. Weldy {So Ca vet}also preformed surgery on him putting the medicine right on the air sacks. He came out of that OK. When he started acting like he had no pep, I got a little worried, but, he seems to be fine now.

[varanus]

Beautiful bird, on of these days when I'm in a more eagle friendly terrain I'll fly one of them. What is his flight weight?

[raptrlvr]

He flies in the 7 lb range. I had a female for a couple of years before I got him. She was overkill on the jacks and hard on the arm. She soared off one day in California and I never got her back even though she had 2 transmitters on her. About a year later, I went back to Wyoming and trapped this guy.

[varanus]

Wow what a lunker, whats his speed like?

[allterrainwarrior]

He flies in the 7 lb range. I had a female for a couple of years before I got him. She was overkill on the jacks and hard on the arm. She soared off one day in California and I never got her back even though she had 2 transmitters on her. About a year later, I went back to Wyoming and trapped this guy.
Jim-great looking Eagle!! I have a question that I always wanted to ask an eagle hunter. In you opinion which sex do you prefer to hunt with? and which sex would be easier for a first timer to train? I hear that females are tough from people who haven't hunted them personally, but the eagle in general is difficult becuause you really can't get away from those talons if they decide to grab you. How do you deal with this? I know I have alot of questions, so when you have the time, I would love to listen to what you have to say.

[raptrlvr]

The female obviously is going to be bigger than the male. These eagles are no more difficult than any other bird of prey to train, in my opinion. They are just more powerful and if they should happen to get a hold of you, its going to hurt a whole lot more. They man down really nice and develop a bond with the falconer similar to that of a Harris Hawk. I have had both male and female and I personally prefer the male because of its size and weight. I am not a big guy, so, that makes a difference to me. The females are larger and a big guy can lug them around much easier than I can. There might be a slight difference in hunting abilities, but, none that I could see and I know there are a couple of eagle falconers who are doing great with the big females. Sometimes it comes down to what ends up on the trap at the end of the day. As far as speed goes, they can easily chase down a jack. They are like a 747 jet plane because they are so big, its hard to judge how fast they really are. It takes them a couple of pumps of the wings to get going, but, once they are up to speed its amazing.

[allterrainwarrior]

Jim- I find this all amazing!! I am a big fan of the Golden eagle and the Goshawk. I am currently hunting a RT my first male and already I notice a difference in Hunting style. One day I want to hunt with a Golden; for now I want to learn as much as I can. I have been reading regs on Goldens but have not found anything that really spells out the language on the take of Goldens for Falconry and the manning process. I saw one book on amazon "Hunting with Golden eagles" that looks really interesting, but I am looking for something that spells out everything I need to focus on with regards to regulations. trapping, manning, behavior, husbandry and hunting. If you have anything in mind please post.

[raptrlvr]

The regulations on goldens are changing right now. By the time you get to be a master and ready to fly, it should all be different. The trapping right now is still restricted to Wyoming. Anytime you see a posting concerning eagles by wyodjm on this forum, pay close attention to what he says. He has been flying goldens much longer than I have and is much more knowledgeable on the subject than I am. I am not a reader of books, so, I can't help you there.

[everetkhorton]

Jim:
Nice Picture looks right at home in the snow.

[Flatwater Falconer]

kinda makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up doesnt it..
nice shot (px)

Now that you mention it, yes it does. :D

[FredFogg]

I am not a reader of books, so, I can't help you there.

Yeah, books are for them there smart folks! LOL toungeout :D

Beautiful picture Jim, I like the new lens, especially the subject! Something about a raptor in the snow that is just magical.

[wyodjm]

Here is a shot taken yesterday 12-29-09 in the snow.
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z74/raptrlvr/DSC_0075A.jpg

Hi Jim:

Would you mind E-mailing me a few pictures of your set-up for your eagle? I'm going to build a new weathering area for my eagle this spring. I'd love to see your set-up. I'm always looking for new ideas to use here and there.

I've built a few very elaborate eagle set-ups over the years, but I'm thinking of something very different this time.

You can put them on here or you can E-mail me. PM me if you want to send them privately.

BTW, fine looking eagle you have.

Thanks,

Dan

[wyodjm]

Hi Jim:

Would you mind E-mailing me a few pictures of your set-up for your eagle? I'm going to build a new weathering area for my eagle this spring. I'd love to see your set-up. I'm always looking for new ideas to use here and there.

I've built a few very elaborate eagle set-ups over the years, but I'm thinking of something very different this time.

You can put them on here or you can E-mail me. PM me if you want to send them privately.

BTW, fine looking eagle you have.

Thanks,

Dan

Here's a picture of Eli I took this fall while out in the field.
http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/uu312/djm708/IMG_6725.jpg

[raptrlvr]

Good looking eagle Dan. I'll send you some pictures of my set up, but, its raining today, so, I'll take the pictures tomorrow. My weathering area is put together so that it is portable. The panels are 4X8 and bolt together. The top panels are 4X16. I originally had this weathering area built in California and when I moved to NM I just unbolted it all and moved it on a flatbed car trailer. Putting it back together was easy because I had labeled all the panels in the order they were taking apart.