Originally Posted by
tony123abc
Banrnaby, great to hear you are getting a cooper. They are great hawks. Personally, I fly the males. I find they are more willing to go for the misc. little birds that I like to hunt, and they still have enough size to take full grown male quail. You will have a blast with these guys. I do not imprint mine, and I try to keep their food association with me to a minimum. I have had a few females that were face flyers, and they are no fun at all. That is why I keep them as wild as I can prior to taking them up for training. My experience is with the western cooper hawks. I have never flown an eastern bird. When I pull one from a nest, I try to get one that is as old as I can. I have pulled the downy ones, but I prefer the older branchers. I like to chase them suckers down if possible.
Barnaby, you will find that they will take pretty much all the quarry you get them on. They will destroy magpie and the smaller game birds. (I assume the partridge are chukar size.) they can also take the smaller ducks. I stay away from bunnies because they are too easy for a female coopie. You will have a blast. ATB, Tony