2013 Sharpshin

[northwindmerlins]

Sorry to hear it Jeff.
~Connie

[wesleyc6]

Man so sorry for ya. Nothing to apologize to him for. You have to let them loose to hunt and it is dangerous every time.

[BestBeagler]

Jeff, sorry to here this but that's the life of a small accipiter. Don't say he'll be your last sharpie. Like McDermott says their candles burn bright and quick. At least, he died in a predation setting instead of hitting a ceiling fan or something that you could have avoided. Small conciliation but that's how I would feel about it.

[kimmerar]

Im sorry for your loss Jeff. You did a great job with him. I hope you change your mind on "last".

Take care

[kurt]

Sorry for the loss of your bird Jeff. Don't beat yourself up about an act of predation. Kurt

[steveo_uk]

I know how you feel jeff. Thanks for the posts you have made. This so sucks

[FredFogg]

Man, what a bummer Jeff! Sorry to hear this! Falconry has its highs and definitely has its lows!

[jeffandheidi]

Thanks everyone.
I thought he had an excellent lure response and was ready for field hawking. I can't fault the crows for doing what they do, or the owl or whatever it was for killing him. I'm the one who put him in that situation in my rush to get into the field when he wasn't ready. That part is my fault.

He got scared and instinct to hide was stronger than training to come to me.

I'm not done with falconry, but do need to reevaluate whether I'm ready for something so small and delicate in the future.

[Leather]

Jeff,
Like I already told you, I’m very sorry man- this sucks for sure, but as the others stated don’t beat yourself up over it- I know it’s easy for us to say though, but stuff happens as you know, if it’s doable, get back in the saddle man. I hope to meet up with you this season, take care.

[Breeze]

Reading and catching up on threads today. SO SORRY to hear of the untimely end to your wonderful little imprint. We all know things happen, but this still sucks. It's just too sad, Jeff.

[hcmcelroy]

Jeff,

Sorry about the loss. It is never easy!

It is difficult to fly any of the small hawks here in some of the long flights even the raven catch and pull feathers before we can reach them on horseback.

Harry.

[vlp]

Jeff

Had an overnight experience with my hen sharpie last week and did not get her back till late the next evening. A Cooper's came in on us late afternoon and spooked her in the woods. Could have easily ended the same way as your experience. However, better to be out hunting and doing falconry than just keeping them as pets. Still, it would have bummed me terribly too.

[carlosR]

I'm terribly sorry to hear about this and something you said made me think very highly of you as an austringer. That was when you held him in your hands and apologized as the sun rose. You're a good man and a good austringer. It's unfortunate that we lose birds and heart breaking but better to lose a bird in the field than to watch one die of illness.

[jeffandheidi]

Thank you for the kind words Carlos.

I have thought about that goofy little bird a lot lately. It's tough not to get attached to our birds, especially an eyas, so when something eventually happens it's crushing. The best thing to do of course is move on. I hope you're having a great season so far.