Phil and Richard,
I've tame hacked Cooper's long ago living in the Casa Grande area. No telemetry and some close calls.
A few years ago Tom Cade and I hacked several aplomados on a ranch in west Texas. They usually came in late in the day and we shut them in but now and again we had to chase one down with the radio and carry them back. We didn't loose any the two weeks I was there.
Harry.
Harry,
If the spring is productive, I will give the accipiter hack a go. Great input from so many ... I am taking notes.
Phil Smith
Phil Smith
Rolla, MO (By way of Neah Bay, WA; Yakima, WA, Stanwood, WA; Anchorage, AK)
I've browsed through this thread. But, I'm wondering, what first book would you guys recommend for someone who is pretty new to falconry, but wants to fly an imprint gos a couple of years down the road? Assuming he knows nothing about imprinting and very little about goshawks?
I want to start learning.
Scott Wright
I would recomnd a three book collection if you really want to get under the hood of a goshawk:
Edmund Bert's treatise (either get the modern translation, or use an elizabethan dictionary)
Understanding the Bird of Prey by Nick Fox
The Goshawk by Robert Kenward
The last one is just a natural history anthology of hundreds of published studies on goshawks, but Robert is a falconer who has lived and breathed goshawks both privately and professionally for many years and really understands the beast. There is no "how to hunt a goshawk" info in this book, but you will learn far more about what makes a goshawk tick than anywhere else.
Bert's book is available on google books:
http://books.google.com/books/about/...d=T20CAAAAYAAJ
Geoff Hirschi - "It is better to have lightning in the fist than thunder in the mouth"
Custom made Tail Saver Perches - http://www.myrthwood.com/TieEmHigh/
Scott,
To develop a base of knowledge, Understanding birds of prey is a good one. the imprint accipiter books are great. Start with imprint accipiter 2. It is still reasonably priced and available at most book sellers and falconry suppliers. Accipitrine Behavior is also a good read. Then move to something like "A hawk for the bush". Beware accipter books are notoriously few and expensive. For instance the first edition of Imprint accipiter will command a hefty price.
Brian in Montana---
Montana is FULL. I hear South Dakota is nice. www.lchoods.weebly.com
Thanks, Guys, I'll check those out.
A friend actually loaned me Understanding Birds of Prey recently (thanks Joan!) but I haven't had a chance to crack it open yet. Been swamped with duties this past week.
Scott Wright
I totally agree with Dan here that we need a book on the passage Gos. Multiple authors what works for them and a dash of creative writing about actual hunts, trapping trips etc.
I searched this entire thread and did not see mention of Ben ohlander's most excellent article on the passage Gos in the last edition of North American falconry and hunting hawks. I liked it a lot. Anyone else read it? They catch some monsters up in Duluth.
Patrick
Colorado
The rest of the story:For instance, when McDermott references a guy who successfully hacked multiple prairies from a rooftop in the middle of urban St. Louis...I just would love to hear more. It's even more interesting when he says (at the time of his writings), there had been zero losses so far among several falconers hacking more than a dozen accipiters.
The falconer that supposedly hacked out prairies was Alan Suliber in St. Louis. He was an old acquaintance of mine with an off and on relationship. Alan loved prairies and did a lot of the paintings in Beebe and Webster's books. Alan was not much of an accomplished falconer and was more of a keeper than a flyer. Mike never really knew Alan but learned about him through me. His claim of hacking prairies is dubious at best. He tried to breed praires for many years but failed. The closest he came was when he went out to Colorado one day and robbed a nest and placed all the eggs under his sitting prairie but none of the eggs hatched. Alan volunteered to watch my breeding project one year while I was at a NAFA meet. That was a disaster. But Alan had some good qualities as well. Alan is now in Wyoming serving a life sentence in Rock Springs in the Penitentiary.
As far as no one ever loosing a bird while hacking is dated. Mike might have made that claim when he first tried it but soon afterwards birds were lost including some birds of individuals who were hacking birds out with Mike.
Keith Thompson
Treat everyone you meet with dignity and respect....but have a plan to kill them just in case
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