Quote Originally Posted by Jack View Post
Hooding was another issue all together. No eyas likes hooding. No hawk likes it as such, but the eyas seems to resent it way more. I did the usual hooding as a large downy all the way up to when he was almost fledged. Then he started to resent it and eventually he did not want to take it at all. I waited until he was grown and hunting before I started to re introduce it to him. Once they are down to a decent flying weight they are less resistant to hooding I think.
Jack, I'm hoping to pull my first gos from a nest to imprint this spring and I've been thinking about a hooding strategy for a while, but never with any confidence. Having read your post do you think it might be a good strategy to hold off on ANY attempts to hood until they are at "a decent flying weight" or even until after the second moult? I've enjoyed the benefits that come with hooding the redtail and would love to continue with that option with a gos when approaching, say, woodies in a forest bog. Also, what if anything haven't you tried that might be promising?