What's Everyone's Imprint Gos Doing?

[Saluqi]

I'm curious how folks birds are doing at this early time in the season. Come on lets hear the stories?? Taking game? Dispersal? What's going on?

Frieda is doing alright, though I may need a hearing aid by the end of the season if she doesn't shut up!! At home she's LOUD!!!! She screams when she sees me or any other human, and she screams LOUD!!! It's that changing pitch type scream which I hate!!! Her screaming came during weight reduction, but I figure better to scream a bit then to go into the fear/dispersal response which accips are prone to do this time of year if handled at too high of a weight.

In the field she's fine, no screaming. She is not aggressive at all towards me, she's whacked my dog, not bound, a couple of times after missed slips, but overall her behavior is very good. She doesn't seem to fear things (like the sound of a diesel engine) like my tiercel did, or still does probably, which is nice. She's an enthuiastic hunter, and has 9 kills under her belt - no jacks yet, but soon I hope. I'm not hooding her because I don't want to mess up and get a hand grabber. She's not perfect, but so far she's better than my tiercel was at this point, so things are good I guess.

What about the gosses out there?

Paul

[Saluqi]

Wow! The silence is deafening! I hope the lack of response means everyone is too busy and are out hawking their birds.

Paul

[Jimmy]

They must all be embarrassed of their birds........ [smilie=eusa_doh.gif]

[arrow]

i think everybodys out hunting things seem kinda slow round here\ [smilie=dontknow.gif]

[everetkhorton]

Paul
Not hunting yet. No open season.

[Jack]

We have an open season year around for falconry, except for migratory birds. We don't have anything to hunt yet, and it is just too hot to even care. It will get there though. My male gos is in his first molt right now and is pretty much done except for his wings. Won't be long though.
His name is LB and he is silent. He does not scream, foot me, or mantle on food. He is my pride and joy. Last season he finished with 15 rabbits and 2 ducks. I am hoping for a much better season this year. He did start to yell at me when the weight started down, But I was working it down slowly. I would hit a plateau and he would stop losing weight and yet would still be hungry most of the time. I decided that since that was not working for me, I would just stop feeding him until he hit his new target weight. It seemed to work for me because he don't make a sound now. I have had a screaming goshawk, and I have to tell you, there is little that is worse. Well, a Harris hawk screamer can be something to contend with too. The goshawk can damage your brain.
I had him hooding easily until he hard pinned. He changed then. I stopped trying until he was a year old. I will start working him to the hood again just as soon as he is done molting. He is just aloof anough that I think I can get him hooded before he starts acting silly on me. I am just before measuring his head for a perfectly fitted hood. I make my own.
All I am waiting for now is for his molt to be done with and the temps to cool off some.

Jack

[Saluqi]

Thanks for the update Jack. Sounds like LB is a real nice bird. I also have a tiercel NA gos - Lou. He is 5 years old and is nearly done with the molt. I gave up on hooding him half through his first season, he just hated it after a while and aimed his pissed offness at my right hand, so into the giant hood he went. He's a killer in the field almost to the point where by mid season it gets boring - I said almost because it never really gets boring.

This female makes Lou look tiny and she's a real joy, she's much further along in her development than Lou was by this time in the season. I have high hopes for her, but only time will tell.

Paul

[Lee]

Any updates?

[Jack]

Hi Paul. Yea, I know what you mean about boring. I had an old female RT once that was boring. She would catch every rabbit that we flushed and they never seemed to escape her. LB is so much fun to fly right now, but I expect that by the end of the coming season he might become boring. We have a bunch of ponds and ducks to fly him on, and birding is my thing really. The only real game I have for my birds are ducks and rabbits, with a few jacks now and then. I guess if I were to really work the pastures I could flush out a lot more jacks, but I really don't want LB playing with them. I don't want him hurt. Other than that we just don't have anything to hunt really. But ducks and rabbits are enough.

Jack

[Saluqi]

Any updates?

Hey Lee,

Still trying to catch our first jack. I quit flying in areas where there are many bunnies because I don't want to spoil her on them. She'll chase all the rabbits that I can find, even ones that slip 150 yds out, but she refuses to close the deal on them. She acts like a Harris that is just a bit too fat, she'll be right on the jack and just when you know she should go for the bind she hesitates and jack throws a move and leaves her in the dust. Her behavior is misleading, when a rabbit slips she's balls to the wall and I keep thinking "this is the one" and I'm sprinting after her yelling "GRAB IT! GRAB IT!" but then it just doesn't happen. Soon, I hope, I'm having a hard time getting her below 940g, she'll shed weight until I get there and then hold tight, I guess I've gotta get a little tougher on the weight issue.

Paul

[carlosR]

I'm putting the finishing touches on my tiercel gos. He has caught enough game farm quail and chukars to show me he knows what it is about. I'm just skittish about his response to the fist and lure once he's out in the field. The next week is about calling him to the fist and lure out in different areas. I will cut his weight back a bit to make sure he is seriously interested in food. Otherwise he is ready and lots of fun.

[Saluqi]

Headed out yesterday afternoon, Frieda was cranky, poor bird thought she was starving! Still having trouble getting her entered on jacks so I've decided to fly in areas where there are jacks but also ct's and quail - gotta hunt! We were at an old abandoned gravel pit the wind was strong, 15-20 mph. We walked for less than 5 minutes when a big covey of scaled quail flushed a few hundred yards out in front of us, I was hoping there'd be a few stragglers in the grass. Just a minute or two later we were rewarded with a nice close slipping quail, the quail headed downwind at mach 2 and Frieda was close behind. As Frieda closed the distance the quail dumped into a big old chamisa bush, when I finally caught up with my old Brittany and Frieda was standing vigil hoping the quail might magically reappear. Sam went on point confirming the quail was present, I got the bird on my fist and started jumping up and down on the bush, the spent quail made it ten feet from the bush before Frieda had it.

Here's a pic, you can barely see the quail's eye in there somewhere...


She was a bit tough to transfer but finally did after she plucked for a bit, so we continued on. Not 5 minutes later Sam flushed a young 1/2 grown cottontail and Frieda was all over it in less than 50 yards.

[Jimmy]

A productive day!!

[wesleyc6]

Congrats!!!! Sounds like a FUN hunt!

[Lee]

Awesome all that work paying off now!

[gabboon]

my imprint gos has not yet even started out swimming around in its daddy's teabag. That's a long way off in my future when more stable times come my way. Until then its up to you to live like I'd want to. More stories!

[Saluqi]

Since Noah's [smilie=smileys13.gif] bird is a having a tough time with the jacks I thought I'd post my adventures with Frieda.

She caught her second jack last Thursday, her first one was 3 weeks ago or so, but it was unspectacular - she bushwhacked it and I'm pretty sure she didn't realize she was getting into a jack when she took the slip - Thursday was a different story. Since that first jack she hardly even chased them, I'd changed strategies and started flying places where there both cts and jacks hoping she'd switch to jacks since cts are so damn tough to catch.

On Thursday my wife and I headed out to one of our favorite spots, an old overgrown gravel quarry, we brought along Sam the Brittany and Chance the longdog. I figured what the hell, the dogs will have some fun, even if we don't catch anything, and maybe they'd even flush some rabbits for us. Anyway, it was a late afternoon and weather was moving in from the northwest, the temp was about 72, the wind was up around 15-20, and huge thunderheads with their veils of rain were pouring down over the Manzano and Sandia Mtns to the west. With the sun at a low angle below the clouds and the golden blooms of the chamisa everywhere it was an idyllic scene. We got Frieda ready, turned the dogs loose and headed into the wind towards the cover. The two of them were working the cover back and forth in front of us and every time one of the dogs would break into view Frieda would flinch or slip at the dog only to land a few yards away on top of one of the big chamisas. At one point she slipped at an unseen cottontail which escorted her a 150 yards and left her alone on top of a small salt cedar, we all caught up and she hopped down to my fist. The dogs were working an expanded area around us and would check in every minute or two and Frieda remained on edge as the dogs added unaccustomed visual noise to her rabbit tuned brain. When just then a jack broke cover 30 feet in front us and Frieda threw it into hyperdrive punching home eight talons of agony into the jacks head. It happened so fast and at such short range that I was there within a second to aid her with the struggling hare. She fed up for a while on the jack and I tossed her a pile of tidbits and she hopped off and I stowed the prize and we called it a day.

It was really the first time I'd seen her take a jack slip with the same vigor as she goes for cottontails. I really think that the pressence of the dogs had something to do with it, either she saw them as competition, or she was so keyed up by their movement that she went for the first non-dog that ran. No idea.

Yesterday afternoon was the first I could out with Frieda since she caught the jack. Again I brought the dogs along and again she chased the first jack up like her life depended on it. There was a strong wind and the jack ran upwind and outdistanced her, but she put in a hard chase that went on for over a 100 yards. We had a few more jacks flights but the wind was too strong, though she did end up taking a cottontail in a nice flight.

I'll get some pics next time.

Paul

[Falcon Boy]

Congrats Paul! [smilie=banana.gif]

[chamokane]

That's Great. It sounds like she's decided she's a Jack hawk. [smilie=eusa_clap.gif]

[wesleyc6]

Sounds like she is clicking now! I was working the pup today and flushed a jack in some wide open, low cover today. I can't wait to see the flights on that. They are FINALLY stripping the cotton now and the corners are going to be awesome!

[Saluqi]

That's Great. It sounds like she's decided she's a Jack hawk. [smilie=eusa_clap.gif]

I'm going to wait before I grant her that honor! Once, if she ever does, she learns that jacks are easier to catch than cottontails, maybe then I'll call her a jack hawk, at least now I'm hopeful!

Paul

[chamokane]

A small HH that I flew, learned to catch Jacks by the hind feet and hold on till help got there. If she caught a Jack by the head, those big hind feet would rake her off. I guess catching Jacks isn't all that hard, but holding on without getting hurt is the trick.

What kind of Cotton Tail do you have? Is it the Desert CT? They are pretty fast.

[Saluqi]

A small HH that I flew, learned to catch Jacks by the hind feet and hold on till help got there. If she caught a Jack by the head, those big hind feet would rake her off. I guess catching Jacks isn't all that hard, but holding on without getting hurt is the trick.

What kind of Cotton Tail do you have? Is it the Desert CT? They are pretty fast.

Yup desert cottontails, they're small (2 1/2 lbs is a big one!) but they're quick, and they go to ground. One spot I hunt is a prairie dog town and there are lots of bunnies, but I've never caught one there with Frieda because they always beat her to the holes. My tiercel racks up the bunnies every year, and it seems to me he was a lot better at it right from the start then this female and she's fast just not as quick and manuveurable I guess.

Jacks are definetly scary for any bird, except maybe a ferrug or an eagle, those back legs are so powerful, and you're right when the bird grabs the head the jack put both back feet in the birds chest and tries to rip it off.

Paul

[chamokane]

2 1/2 lbs sounds pretty big to me. The CT that I hunt the most is the Mountain Cottontail. They seem to weigh about 1 1/2 lbs. They can really boogie through the Large Sagebrush and they disappear down Rock Chuck and Badger holes. I like to use a dog fast enough to force them to make a mistake before they get to the hole.

Several times, I've found my RT hanging in the top of a sagebrush with a rabbit in her feet with the rabbit over a foot off the ground. The RT smashes into the sagebrush and flattens it as the rabbit runs through it. Then, the sagebrush springs back up leaving the hawk and rabbit just hanging there.

Jack Rabbit feet in the chest have got to hurt.

[Saluqi]

Got number three yesterday afternoon. Took the dogs and headed to a field where there are gazillions of jacks. The dogs hadn't been to this place yet so they didn't know what they were in for. We got our first slip about 100 yards in and Frieda put in a nice chase but didn't look like she was quite committed. Her weight was slightly higher at 924g than the 910g she'd been successful lately. As the dogs started working and flushing jacks she got more keyed up and was flinching on my fist as my sighthound would go barreling by at full speed chasing jacks. Then we got an easy slip right in front of us and she was all over it. It was a young jack, smaller than last weeks but still around 4-5lbs. I let her feed on the open chest cavity and traded her to the lure for a nice reward.

She's getting there and these smallish jacks should wed her pretty good to the quarry. Hopefully she'll have some success at longer slips and bigger jacks, just don't want her to tangle with a monster a 1/4 mile out.

Paul

[Saluqi]

2 1/2 lbs sounds pretty big to me. The CT that I hunt the most is the Mountain Cottontail. They seem to weigh about 1 1/2 lbs. They can really boogie through the Large Sagebrush and they disappear down Rock Chuck and Badger holes. I like to use a dog fast enough to force them to make a mistake before they get to the hole.

Several times, I've found my RT hanging in the top of a sagebrush with a rabbit in her feet with the rabbit over a foot off the ground. The RT smashes into the sagebrush and flattens it as the rabbit runs through it. Then, the sagebrush springs back up leaving the hawk and rabbit just hanging there.

Jack Rabbit feet in the chest have got to hurt.

I'm not sure that we have Mountain Cottontails here, at least not where I hunt. Our Desert CTs look small compared to the bunnies in Amarillo, those guys easily get up to 3 - 3 1/2 lbs. A totally different animal too, those Eastern CTs live out in the open like jacks and will throw moves like a jack, jumping straight up as the hawk comes in, or running in circles until the hawk stalls out. I've seen some cool flights out there.

Paul

[chamokane]

Congratulations on the Jack kill. It sounds like you're on your way.

We have a few pockets of Eastern CT here and I've caught some but I don't usually hunt them because they're to close to civilization for me. They do look really big after hunting the little Mountain CT.

One time, my RT dove down by the river bank and when I got there, she was waist deep in the water and moving upstream with a funny look on her face. She used her wings and one foot to scramble to shore. She had the other foot clamped on the head of a big Eastern CT. The rabbit looked so big and impressive that I thought, maybe, I could trade her off and release it, but she's used to me pulling that kind of stuff and when she saw me coming, she clamped down and killed the rabbit. It weighed about 3 1/4 lbs.

I like the Eastern CT because they're a lot less likely to go to ground and you can see more dog work and the hawk can get several shots in.

Keep the Jack Stories coming. [smilie=eusa_clap.gif]

[wesleyc6]

Sounds like when a bird first starts hopping. You can see the light bulb go off in their head. [smilie=eusa_clap.gif] Congrats on the kill! I hope my little male HH can handle the jacks. It would be nice if we jumped some half grown ones to begin with too. I jumped on yesterday and I could hear his foot falls. He looked giant to this ol' GA boy!

[isaac_rodriguez]

nice man!

go take more jacks!

[Saluqi]

Had a fun weekend of hawking, coursing, and socializing with Noah and the local crew of falconers. Noah made the 4+ hour drive up from Silver City on Friday to fly birds and meet other NM falconers - I think we accomplished those goals.

Saturday morning we headed out to one of our ponds which usually holds ducks, it's probably an acre in size and sits in the middle of a huge field at bottom of a broad basin. We glassed the pond from the road and it was loaded with a mixture of big and small ducks, probably 50 or so total. With no earthen berm around the pond you depend on the pressence of the falcon overhead to keep the ducks on the water because they can see you coming for hundreds of yards. Noah put Goose up and we mosied our way down towards the water. Goose spent some time checking out the countryside and giving the local ravens some hell but came overhead with a wave of the lure. He was at a pitch of around 300 feet and we pressured the pond with the ducks leaving in waves, the bigguns going first. Goose held his position overhead until a group cleared the water and were well over land and then he went into a nice angled pumping stoop. The ducks shat their draws and turned tail back to the pond making the safety of the water before Goose could close the deal. We waited for Goose to remount and flushed again but the ducks were pretty ratty (teal & buffleheads) and Goose didn't think it was worth his while. After trying to get a flush and a stoop for while we backed off and Noah brought him down to the lure.

Next stop was jack hawking with Frieda. We headed to one of the best fields around and Noah, myself and Sam, my Brittany, worked the cover in search of a close slip. This field is flat with salt brush and sage bushes that are about knee high for cover, and it borders an irrigation pivot where alfalfa is grown so it's loaded with jacks. We had a couple of close slips where Frieda left the fist but either they were too far away or went upwind. About 15 minutes in a jack slipped close and to my left running downwind, Frieda had it in about 10 yards but the 3 seconds it took for me to get close was enough for the jack to break loose and take off. Frieda stayed right with it chasing around cover and going to the ground 2 or 3 times. At one point the jack must have stopped behind a bush and Frieda losing sight landed on top of another close by bush, for second I thought the chase was over but then either the jack moved or Frieda spotted it and she took off chasing again and finally caught the thing. Noah and I were somewhere 70-100 yards behind by then and sprinting all the way and the jack was giving its waaa-waaa-waaa distress call. We got there and the jack went into panic seeing humans but Frieda held on and we scored jack number 4. I let her feed up for a while before tossing out the lure. It was her best jack so far, maybe Noah will post a couple of pics.

We flew my tiercel and Goose again, I'll write about that later.

Paul

[Falcon Boy]

pics are here-
http://nafex.net/viewtopic.php?t=1159