Ruger - 2013 Imprint Male Goshawk

[Ally]

Jeff, just coming back to check the thread, looks like you've had your share of challenges with this little guy, but sometimes it's that little bit of dysfunction that makes the full experience. Great on you for sticking with him!
I apologize for the stupid question in advance, but is there anything wrong with the drooping alulas? Will it affect his flight or is it just an aesthetic thing? My RT Chance had one that did it and I never really paid it any mind. Good to know these things! And he's looking great

[rocgwp]

67 days (730g)

Ruger is now hard penned. It has been ridiculously hot lately and its made it difficult to work him hard unless it is inside the house. The heat affects him more than coops for sure.

My routine has been to weigh him in the morning and them to take him to a big flight chamber or outside to let him catch a baggie. I then trade him off and leave him in the mew for the day. I pick him up and he rides home in the giant hood. Once home he sits on a meng perch in the living room. I'll do some workout with him in the evening and then put him in the giant hood for the night.

Today I saw a little bit of an attitude change in him. He was definitely nervous while I was weighing him, so I opted to take him to the big flight chamber. He ignored the quail and tried to figure out a way to exit the chamber. He ended up hanging from the netting on the ceiling. I got to him to step over to the t-perch without incident. It looks like the dispersal phase is here. I'll increase his workouts in order to get him focus more.

Also, now that he is hard penned I'll start hooding training soon.

[wesleyc6]

Enjoying the updates my friend

[skooky20]

any updates

[Minkenry]

Went to Bass Pro to get some work done on my bow today and Ruger tagged along. 2 hours in the store and nobody ever noticed him. I'm always amazed by that.

LOL People are so clueless! I took two adult mink into Cabela's and close to no one noticed ether!

[rocgwp]

Nothing major to update on Ruger at this point. We really need some cool weather. I had intended to start him with car hawking, but we don't have the slips to do it consistently right now so I abandoned that plan. He is noisier than I like, but once he gets hunting i anticipate that changing.

I took him out today for a short walk in the woods. The heat gets to him pretty fast and he's not really in shape yet. We did a couple lure calls and then I gave him a baggie quail. He is definitely in a baby mindset still. I'm going to try and keep him in that mindset until cooler weather gets here.

[rocgwp]

Ruger got some unintended hack time today. The past couple of days I have been taking him on short walks in the woods. He goes from baby gos begging in the tree to slicked down silent predator after a small bird in an instant. I've been letting him play for a while and then calling him in for the day.

This morning I let him play for a while and he wasn't interested in coming in. I decided to let him hang out and check on him later. I checked on him several times throughout the day and things looked good, so I left him out. He was out for about 7 hours when I called him this evening. I think I will repeat this for a little while since he really needs some practice landing in trees.

[rocgwp]

Ruger's hack time has ended. He has officially entered the "dispersal" phase.

He has gotten much better at landing and is starting to look like a goshawk now when he flies. He spent the night out on Thursday. I have been hacking him in an area that was pretty open underneath and didn't have a lot of game. He was staying within 200 yds of where I would release him. On Thursday I showed up to call him down and heard the distress call of a grey squirrel. It took me a little bit to locate it, but Ruger had it pinned below him in a tree. I flushed the squirrel and Ruger ignored it. After that, he didn't want to come down, he was more interested in finding other things. I left him out for a while longer and then o'gos 30 set in and he went crazy trying to find a place to roost. He flew all over the canopy looking for a roosting spot. I showed up the next morning and located him. He flew near me, but didn't want to come down. I finally called him in to a live lure. Once on the fist he had the look of "Who are you?". I fed him, but he refused to take tidbits from my hands like he normally does. I tried again later that day and same thing. This is fairly normal, I expect to have my sweet imprint back by the time cold weather gets here.

Until then, I'll be playing games with him and establishing parameters for our relationship. I had hoped to get him hooding prior to dispersal, but it didn't happen. I'll start hooding him once he starts accepting tidbits calmly from my hand again.

[Ally]

Jeff...I had that same reaction from Blackjack when he hit this stage and it was like I was a total stranger...do you have the time to write a little bit more detail about what you do with him at this stage specifically? I didn't handle it as well as I would have liked and I lost him to crazy for a while.
We're way past that now and gearing up for season 2 but it was a tough time and I'd like to know how to be more successful.
Thanks

[rocgwp]

Jeff...I had that same reaction from Blackjack when he hit this stage and it was like I was a total stranger...do you have the time to write a little bit more detail about what you do with him at this stage specifically? I didn't handle it as well as I would have liked and I lost him to crazy for a while.
We're way past that now and gearing up for season 2 but it was a tough time and I'd like to know how to be more successful.
Thanks

The way I handle dispersal is to get him working hard playing games which gets his metabolism going more,helps establish guidelines in our relationship, and puts the hunting mindset on cue.

I free loft Ruger. Our routine right now is I walk into his mew and pick him up off his perch and go weigh him. He is usually sitting on his perch calling to me at this point. He sometimes is nervous about stepping onto the glove, but that is diminishing each day. His weight has been around 690g-700g. I then come back in and we do 4-5 restrained pursuits to tidbits. He gets the tidbit and I stand back and let him eat it and then let him choose to hop back up on the glove. If he doesn't want to hop back up on the glove, I leave. Since my mew is at work, I have the luxury of checking on him throughout the day. I will come back later and repeat the above process. As long as he is willing to work, he gets fed. When he stops, I leave. If I am in a hurry or don't have time throughout the day, I will do a couple restrained pursuits to his entire food ration for the day. One thing I do right now until this phase passes is that I don't mess with him while he is eating. I don't practice trade offs or touch his food. I am trying to build trust, so I let him have the food and then hop back to the fist and show him how he can make me give him more food.

He is controlling his own weight and food intake at this point. I will feed him as much as he wants as long as he works for it. Part of what I am doing is putting the hunting mindset on cue. When I show up it means that it is time to switch into hunting mode. Once he will start taking tidbits from my fingers gently again I will know that this phase has passed and I'll feel more comfortable turning him loose. I'll be able to walk outside, play a quick game or two to cue the hunting mindset and then go hunt.

Hope that answers your question. It's always harder to type out, because my response depends on what the bird does. I have a "toolbox" so to speak and depending on what the bird does determines which tool I pull out for that situation.

[rocgwp]

I figured I would go ahead and close this thread. Ruger died in February from injuries he recieved while tangling with a wild red-tail while out hawking. Ruger's foot never fully recovered although he did catch some game including a couple squirrels. The biggest issue with his foot was I had to constantly treat it to prevent bumble foot or another infection. He had control of it, but there footing issues due to the odd angle.

I have a new gos coming, so I figured I'd close this chapter as I start my next adventure.

[kitana]

I'm so sorry for Ruger and you, what a hard life it is for goshawks! I will follow the story of your future goshawk, as my breeder is having difficulty getting fertile eggs this year for my own goshawk...

[BestBeagler]

I figured I would go ahead and close this thread. Ruger died in February from injuries he recieved while tangling with a wild red-tail while out hawking. Ruger's foot never fully recovered although he did catch some game including a couple squirrels. The biggest issue with his foot was I had to constantly treat it to prevent bumble foot or another infection. He had control of it, but there footing issues due to the odd angle.

I have a new gos coming, so I figured I'd close this chapter as I start my next adventure.

Jeff, sorry to hear that. Where are you getting your next goshawk from?

[Paul Ward]

I'm sorry to hear that..really enjoyed reading through the thread

[Breeze]

Sorry, Jeff. Enjoyed reading your exploits with Ruger and look forward to hearing about your new Gos when you get it. Best wishes for a great season with your new charge.