harpia
06-26-2008, 04:36 PM
SUPER BOWL SUNDAY
PEREGRINES 7 / THE MIGHTY DUCKS 0
Super Bowl Sunday was unlike any other that I had ever experienced. Now flying a hen Anatum Peregrine I now had an opportunity to fulfill a childhood dream. I got Dark Angel in October of 2006 and for the first year had little luck with her having only a single pond to fly on. The only thing she caught all year was a sparrow and that was by pure luck.
On Saturday she got in a great flight and was able to bring down a drake pintail off a fairly big pond. It was only accomplished with the help of fellow falconers Jim Robinson and Chris Davis. While they ran alongside the north side of the pond I ran down the south side driving the ducks to the narrow end of the pond and the creek feeding it. After her initial stoop she went back up about 100 ft and waited for us to once again flush the ducks, yet another miss on this stoop. The ducks were now coward into two small pools of water. A short patch of land in between had several ducks still on it and one would have thought an easy target but the bird ascended once more. With one final push to flush them from the pools the falcon once again stooped upon her prey and knocked a drake pintail to the ground. She winged over to claim her prize but it was quickly making its escape flapping along the ground. With the quick arrival of Jim the duck was cornered and the falcon was able to finally latch on to it. This was a good warm up for the game on Sunday but not want one would hope in a successful flight, but I guess any flight that gets your bird back with a duck is a good flight.
Sunday morning found me alone with the bird in the field and once again on the hunt for the perfect flight. I had checked a couple of ponds on arriving at our hunting grounds but did not find any prey. This was OK because I was really interested in trying a pond that Chris had scored on the day before. His bird had easily scored with a clean hit on a hen Gadwall. The pond is small and an easy pool of water to flush ducks from if one is hunting alone.
I parked my car at a distance and approached the pond from an overlook where I spotted at least 3 ducks feeding. I returned to the car and geared up, packed a backup pigeon in my hawking vest and attached the telemetry to the falcon. There is a long winding gully leading to the pond that one has to use to approach it undetected. Once I was within 30 yards of the pond I unhooded the bird and was preparing to release her when I spotted a flock of 15 plus Mallards coming in from the West. I tried to stop the falcon from taking flight but she was ready to go. The flock of ducks did not notice her until she was above them and they put into the pond quickly.
Dark Angel climbed to about 300 feet above the pond and seemed set for a stoop. I ran up to the pond and flushed the ducks. She dove straight thru the middle of the flock and knocked a female down to the ground, pitched over and headed straight for the duck. I immediately ran up expecting to find her pinning a struggling duck to the ground and needing to finish it off but for the first time ever I get there and the deed is already done.
This for me was the ultimate hunt to date, a good stoop and a kill on impact. I am looking forward to the day when she can repeat the flight but from a much higher altitude. Next year a lot more time is going to be spent the first of the season on the kite. I have a lot more confidence in the bird and her attachment to me that I will also allow her to range farther and hopefully see her gain greater altitude before heading back to me the and the pond. I guess Shakespeare was right when he wrote, “As the Falcon her bells so to man hath his desires.”
http://aplomado.info/darkangle/duck6.jpg
http://aplomado.info/darkangle/duck6a.jpg
PEREGRINES 7 / THE MIGHTY DUCKS 0
Super Bowl Sunday was unlike any other that I had ever experienced. Now flying a hen Anatum Peregrine I now had an opportunity to fulfill a childhood dream. I got Dark Angel in October of 2006 and for the first year had little luck with her having only a single pond to fly on. The only thing she caught all year was a sparrow and that was by pure luck.
On Saturday she got in a great flight and was able to bring down a drake pintail off a fairly big pond. It was only accomplished with the help of fellow falconers Jim Robinson and Chris Davis. While they ran alongside the north side of the pond I ran down the south side driving the ducks to the narrow end of the pond and the creek feeding it. After her initial stoop she went back up about 100 ft and waited for us to once again flush the ducks, yet another miss on this stoop. The ducks were now coward into two small pools of water. A short patch of land in between had several ducks still on it and one would have thought an easy target but the bird ascended once more. With one final push to flush them from the pools the falcon once again stooped upon her prey and knocked a drake pintail to the ground. She winged over to claim her prize but it was quickly making its escape flapping along the ground. With the quick arrival of Jim the duck was cornered and the falcon was able to finally latch on to it. This was a good warm up for the game on Sunday but not want one would hope in a successful flight, but I guess any flight that gets your bird back with a duck is a good flight.
Sunday morning found me alone with the bird in the field and once again on the hunt for the perfect flight. I had checked a couple of ponds on arriving at our hunting grounds but did not find any prey. This was OK because I was really interested in trying a pond that Chris had scored on the day before. His bird had easily scored with a clean hit on a hen Gadwall. The pond is small and an easy pool of water to flush ducks from if one is hunting alone.
I parked my car at a distance and approached the pond from an overlook where I spotted at least 3 ducks feeding. I returned to the car and geared up, packed a backup pigeon in my hawking vest and attached the telemetry to the falcon. There is a long winding gully leading to the pond that one has to use to approach it undetected. Once I was within 30 yards of the pond I unhooded the bird and was preparing to release her when I spotted a flock of 15 plus Mallards coming in from the West. I tried to stop the falcon from taking flight but she was ready to go. The flock of ducks did not notice her until she was above them and they put into the pond quickly.
Dark Angel climbed to about 300 feet above the pond and seemed set for a stoop. I ran up to the pond and flushed the ducks. She dove straight thru the middle of the flock and knocked a female down to the ground, pitched over and headed straight for the duck. I immediately ran up expecting to find her pinning a struggling duck to the ground and needing to finish it off but for the first time ever I get there and the deed is already done.
This for me was the ultimate hunt to date, a good stoop and a kill on impact. I am looking forward to the day when she can repeat the flight but from a much higher altitude. Next year a lot more time is going to be spent the first of the season on the kite. I have a lot more confidence in the bird and her attachment to me that I will also allow her to range farther and hopefully see her gain greater altitude before heading back to me the and the pond. I guess Shakespeare was right when he wrote, “As the Falcon her bells so to man hath his desires.”
http://aplomado.info/darkangle/duck6.jpg
http://aplomado.info/darkangle/duck6a.jpg