Long time Lurker

[Gerkin]

Hello all

Been lurking on & off for a number of years.
Recently rejoined due to the increasing level of international faces being accepted here.

Been in to Falconry some years now with my Girlfriend, and its taken us to some pretty wild awesome spots around the world.

Have Loved rough hawking with Tiercels (waiting on) And Longwings & longdogs on ground game for the bulk of my time with this sport

I run an English Setter bitch, HU Vizla & a Greyhound (soon to be retired) and his shift covered by two Bedlington X Whippets now 18months old

My specialist fields are flying Full food imprints And opperant conditioning

Have a deep passion for Harris hawks..

Heres a couple of videos we have put together over the past

Marc & Alicja

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jETaO5CXzyg

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLkTqGB2c7M

[hudsonvalley]

That was great video. Looks like you have plenty of pigeons to fly your hawk on, thanks for posting.

Kevin

[Gerkin]

Thanks Kevin

Hudson valley.. beautiful place..

Spent some time up there some years back now
with Heinz Meng & Dona Tracy.

[passagejack]

Great video Marc! Reminds me of my imprint Coopers Hawks when I lived in Reno Nevada. Looks like you have a very good system with your birds. They seem to handle very nice. I wish we had more access to Sparrow Hawks here in the states. They seem to be everything I have heard about and then some! I plan to fly another Passage Coopers Hawk this next season. I have flown them in a similar fasion on pigeons. Its a great way to get them entered on game before one starts to field hawk!

[Gerkin]

I wish we had more access to Sparrow Hawks here in the states.

I have flown them in a similar fasion on pigeons. Its a great way to get them entered on game before one starts to field hawk!

Dont get caught up on the Grass is greener page.

Your far better off with a Coops. lol
I know the closest comparisons, Sharpies are generally not as steady as Euro spars, but i think a lot of this is down to exposure.
Much like how the brits view Parent reared spars but the turks demonstrate a technique that proves otherwise.

Coopers wise in the EU, we dont have the quality, The few imported lines only throw a good coops once in a blue moon, & this has caused many of us to either chase the dream or view them as a poor (overpriced) alternative species.

A good EU bred coops will nuke a spar, but the more frequently seen poor ones wont beat a Harris!

The problem with pigeon hawking some accipiters, is they do tend to favour, and the Spar used in the Video learnt very early on, that tactical fights & sneeky slips were the key, resulting in a hawk that offers little to those that was a good Falconry chase.

Basically you season the hawk very quickly without rewarding on the long hard chases that youthful hawks sticks too and dont learn otherwise.

Marc

[sharptail]

Welcome aboard to the two of you! I enjoyed the videos!

[passagejack]

Dont get caught up on the Grass is greener page.

Your far better off with a Coops. lol
I know the closest comparisons, Sharpies are generally not as steady as Euro spars, but i think a lot of this is down to exposure.
Much like how the brits view Parent reared spars but the turks demonstrate a technique that proves otherwise.

Coopers wise in the EU, we dont have the quality, The few imported lines only throw a good coops once in a blue moon, & this has caused many of us to either chase the dream or view them as a poor (overpriced) alternative species.

A good EU bred coops will nuke a spar, but the more frequently seen poor ones wont beat a Harris!

The problem with pigeon hawking some accipiters, is they do tend to favour, and the Spar used in the Video learnt very early on, that tactical fights & sneeky slips were the key, resulting in a hawk that offers little to those that was a good Falconry chase.

Basically you season the hawk very quickly without rewarding on the long hard chases that youthful hawks sticks too and dont learn otherwise.

Marc

I have heard that about the EU Coops. Its's a shame you do not have access to more bloodlines. Coops can be the most awesome predators on earth IMO. I do not know how to express the speed and quality of some of the flights I have had with them. That said, even some of our birds are not what you would hope for in a great game hawk. I have seen good ones over take and catch our valley quail on the wing 100 yards out from a flush. This proved to be far more difficult then catching them on the rise. My best day in the field with a passage female produced 1 sparrow a cottontail and a mallard. Their diversity as a game hawk is unmatched IMO. She only weighed 365 grams. My self and a friend used to hunt chuckar with coops in some pretty dramatic country (high mountains). These flights provided a lot of drama and some great dog work. These were some of my most memorable moments in falconry.
You bring up a great point about the young imprints being started on pigeons and then getting wed to that style of flight. I have found this to be true of all of the accips I have flown. This is one of the main reasons I have never car hawked. I have always focussed on field hawking while progressivly making things more advanced in the field for the young accips.
I see the value in carhawking young accips but have never chose todo it myself. I can see how the slips in your video may have the same result on a young bird. My coops really proved there dominance on game once they started chasing long distance. At that point the quarry was so badly intimidated that a kill was almost guaranteed.
You brought up Opperative Conditioning. Very happy to hear you use it. I never saw the true potential in my accips until I started using it. The coops mentioned that caught quail in the air 100 yards out couldn't do it until she had been put on a high level OC conditioning plan. She became an absolute power house at that point. The mental interaction it created was also invaluable in the field.
Would love to see any more video if you have it! Thanks again Marc!