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I figured I would go ahead and close this thread. Ruger died in February from injuries he recieved while tangling with a wild red-tail while out hawking. Ruger's foot never fully recovered although...

The way I handle dispersal is to get him working hard playing games which gets his metabolism going more,helps establish guidelines in our relationship, and puts the hunting mindset on cue.

I...

Ruger's hack time has ended. He has officially entered the "dispersal" phase.

He has gotten much better at landing and is starting to look like a goshawk now when he flies. He spent the night out...

That stinks! Sorry man...

Ruger got some unintended hack time today. The past couple of days I have been taking him on short walks in the woods. He goes from baby gos begging in the tree to slicked down silent predator after...

Nothing major to update on Ruger at this point. We really need some cool weather. I had intended to start him with car hawking, but we don't have the slips to do it consistently right now so I...

67 days (730g)

Ruger is now hard penned. It has been ridiculously hot lately and its made it difficult to work him hard unless it is inside the house. The heat affects him more than coops for...

60 days (740g)

Ruger is getting close to being hard penned. He has caught several baggie quail and traded off well to the lure. We do a morning feeding/hunt training session and an evening...

56 days (710g)

Ruger is getting close to hawking. This morning I had him on the fist and gave him a baggie quail. He watched it land and then went after it. He caught it, released it, chased it...

54 days

It's been a bit since I've updated on Ruger. He continues to progress. He is spending the day in a flight chamber and evenings in the house. Tonight we worked on shaping fist drops,...

49 days

Ruger's weight has been hovering between 680-700g. It looks like he will be an average to smaller sized goshawk.

He health has definitely improved. As of today, he is not wheezing....

How's he doing Wes? It's been several days since an update. That's about a month in sharpie time. :-)

47 days

Ruger has been a totally different bird to work with than Apache. He is just as tame, but health issues have been a major problem. We have had a lot of rain recently and the temps have...

43 days

Here are some pics from this weekend...

Socializing with the new gwp puppy
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/77392B7B-6441-40FF-8CE2-EAC1CCA4E14A-817-00000088ADCBFE1B.jpg...

42 Days

Ruger is definitely branching now, but he is not as mobile as most branchers. He will play for a little bit and then lay down. His foot is a factor in that. He has a hard time walking on a...

41 days

I had one of those days where I drove almost a thousand miles yesterday. I was at the airport dropping off 2 puppies to go to their new homes and had flights 15 minutes apart. The first...

36 days

Ruger is making slow and steady progress. He is now flapping consistently and not falling over. He can get out of his nest bowl, but he doesn't venture far. I have noticed that his mutes...

33 days (724g)

Good news with Ruger. His foot still has an issue, but he can walk and stand on it. He has control of his toes as well. I think he is going to be okay for hunting. I told my wife...

31 days (706g)

Ruger is standing much better, but he is not walking much. He tries to flap some but falls over. Tonight he stepped/stumbled out of the nestbowl. I took advantage of the situation...

29 days

Ruger is standing finally. He is talking small steps, but not with any sort of control or balance. My guess is he will figure out how to cope on his own.
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http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn74/rocgwp/23AAEF6B-B258-4F0C-BAFE-E033544B1F15-197-00000021DCEC7B56.jpg

He has less control of his right foot for sure. He has a hard time getting his right foot under him and his foot flat. His right wing seems to droop some, but I have assumed that it was because that...

27 days

Ruger is about the same. He is trying to stand some, but loses his balance on his right leg. Feather growth is looking good. I'm continuing to shape behaviors as well.
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If he gives that much notice before he mutes, put that on cue! How awesome would it be to put it on cue and teach him where to poop. I've always played around with the idea, but never fully carried...

He is getting plenty of sunlight.

Yesterday he tried to stand several times and then ends up falling over, leaning on the side of the nest bowl, or using his wing to hold him up. The issue resides...