Greetings from Alaska

[OATS]

Hi all, My name is Eric. I am a master falconer residing in Anchorage, Alaska. I have been lurking for a while....so I know a little about quite a few of you. Seems like there are a lot of nice people and information on this site. Although I currently have a first year PFRT, I typically fly passage goshawks. I've flown many eyas and passage goshawks, passage redtails, and just barely dabbled in longwings. Glad to be here.

[tony123abc]

[everetkhorton]

Eric: How do you like flying a Rt.?

[Mike Craig]

Hi Eric,
Welcome
Mike

[OATS]

Eric: How do you like flying a Rt.?

Hi Everet, you know I have mixed feelings about RTs. The part of falconry I have really come to enjoy is the trapping/taming/training process of wild birds. After flying my first RT for 5 seasons and releasing her I went through quite a few goshawks, mostly passages. They are just about the definition of WILD. Going back to a RT this season seems very easy in comparison. The bird I have now, like most RTs is very docile. Almost too much so if that makes sense? In RTs I appreciate the steadiness, toughness/hardiness, tenacity, ease of keeping, and silence. For some reason I miss the mania, fragile psyche, and high performance nature of GHs this season. We are in the high end of the cycle for snowshoe hares right now so a RT has been a good choice. Up until a recent wing injury we were catching SSs steadily. Thanks for asking.

[GyrXPeals]

Welcome to NAFEX Eric. Glad to have you here!
Best Regards,
Jeff

[Richard F, Hoyer]

Eric:
If you happen to know Mike Houser of Anchorage and / or Bryan Pettit (sp?) of Palmer, could you ask them to see Mike's thread on the 'Broad Wings' forum and hopefully get an update from them. The thread is entitled 'Redtail vs. SS/2nd season'---- authored by AKFalconer78.

Mike, Bryan, and Rio of Kodiak trapped their immature Red-tails in Oregon. Someone else from Alaska trapped a passage bird in Texas within the recent past as well. Do you know who that person is and how he is doing with his Red-tail?

It is my view that practicing falconry in Alaska is considerably more challenging than in much of the lower 48 states. I suspect the same holds true for Maine, Minnesota and some of the other northern tier of states. So I find it of interest to hear how things are going for Alaskan falconers.

And last, did you trap your bird in Alaska and what is her hunting weight?

Richard F. Hoyer

[OATS]

Greetings Richard, I am familiar with who you are. Yes, I know Mike Houser very well. Before he came down to see you I tried to help him find a RT here. He picked one the scarcest years I have seen to trap one. He did everything right and got close but just didn't score. I talk to him every couple weeks or so. He and the bird are doing fine. I will let him fill you in. I also know Bryan and have corresponded a little with Rio via this board. Haven't heard much from Bryan. Rio has her bird out flying regularly and seems to be getting things figured out. I wish Bryan had kept better in better touch during the fall and I had known that Rio was looking for a bird because I trapped and released a bunch of them this season. It was the most RTs I have seen here in the fall. It makes sense since we are at all time vole highs, are near the peak of the SSH cycle, and had a warm dry summer.

The other falconer who took a bird out of TX a couple years ago was Gary H. I'm not sure if he is on this board or not. He is a friend of mine and ended up with a large gorgeous female with the help of Jack Mangum. I think it's okay to mention Jack as I have seen him post in the forums about it. I think she flies at around 1300g. Gary and his bird are doing well when they can fly. It is very cold in the interior of our state during winter (-30 to -40 for weeks) and will preclude flying anything except GHs.

My current RT was trapped here and flies right at 1000g or just over 35oz for you ounce guys like me. If we were still flying I think her weight would have come up another 1 -1.5oz. This is slightly heavier than she was trapped at. Hawking hares here means usually flying in thick cover, snow can be deep, and daylight hours short. It can be challenging for sure.

Next time I speak to Mike I will mention you asked and that he needs to update. Talk to you later.

[Richard F, Hoyer]

Eric:
Thanks for the update.

I am reasonably familiar with much of Alaska as I worked as a summer employee for the USF&WS in S.E. Alaska (Crag) when in college, was stationed at Ladd AFB in Fairbanks (Air / Sea Rescue-helicopters) while in the USAF, and then worked for oil and mining exploration (helicopters) north and south of the Brooks range and along the Alaskan Peninsula from Anchorage to Sand Point / Cold Bay.

I did spend one winter in Fairbanks so can empathize with Gary H.

Richard F. Hoyer

[OATS]

Interesting Richard....you've seen a lot here, lots of nice country. Wouldn't it be nice to have a helicopter here now! I have been here since the early '60s although I was born in Montana. It would be interesting to talk some time and put some dates with some locations you've been.

[Richard F, Hoyer]

Eric:
If you have questions, I can be reached at charinabottae@earthlink.net

My major hobby is in herpetology so Charina bottae is the scientific name of the species I have been studying since the 1960's.

Richard F. Hoyer

[mark collins]

Hi Eric i see you are from anchorage , i just watched a documentry the other night on moose and bears coming into your city in winter, amazing program,but tell me eric how do you go on hawking in such a tough frozen state, do you tend to lose lots of days because its say 40 below , or do you don survival suits and fly your hawks in tip top condition/weight , coming from the uk, we dont see weather much below 4 or 5 below freezing,and then not for to long, be interested to see how you get on, i would love to see some pictures ,atb,cheers,mark.

[OATS]

Hi Eric i see you are from anchorage , i just watched a documentry the other night on moose and bears coming into your city in winter, amazing program,but tell me eric how do you go on hawking in such a tough frozen state, do you tend to lose lots of days because its say 40 below , or do you don survival suits and fly your hawks in tip top condition/weight , coming from the uk, we dont see weather much below 4 or 5 below freezing,and then not for to long, be interested to see how you get on, i would love to see some pictures ,atb,cheers,mark.

Hi Mark, missed that show, would have liked to see it. Actually, the weather in Anchorage or anywhere on the southern coast is much milder then the interior of our state. Alaska is a big state and the interior of our state is much like the midwest United States in winter only farther north and a little colder. Can be very cold for exteneded periods (weeks). In southcentral where I live we might only get a handful of below zero temp (F) days, but generally have warmer weather. To give you an example; I generally don't hunt hares when the temp is zero (F) or colder. I may car hawk with a gos at those temps or colder but do not put on snowshoes and hike about looking for hares. Short daylight and frequent heavy snowfalls will hurt quality hawking more than temps in Anchorage.

[mark collins]

Hi Eric, thanks for that, we in the uk experienced the coldest prolonged winter for 30 years,i fly pursuit falcons at gulls ,although i do fly a tiercel at magpies, small birds etc,but some days the weather beat us, getting from a to b became a problem,the gulls stayed away ,and long flights at crows became dangerous as following the flights were difficult,some of the roads around the farms were blocked,its as bad as it gets,i grounded my gullhawk [eva] and flew my red shaheen/peregrine tiercel ,waiting on over isolated scrub,great fun ,atb,cheers,mark.