Well I haven't been out bowhunting much yet but I did get out trapping this past weekend. I finally got all my falconry permits back from the state and the feds and aslo got my capture authorization form on Thursday. So my sponsor and I went trapping on Friday trying to get an immature Redtail for my first bird. We had a Coopers hawk buzz the pigeon first thing but was not that interested. A little while later we had a Goss hawk come and investigate for a few minutes.. He didn't stay too long, next we had a Juvie eagle come to have a look at the pigeon but just did a flyby - I didn't even get any worthwhile pics of it. We did see some Redtails but none would commit. We stayed 4 hours that day and decided to call it a day and try again on Saturday. First thing Saturday - weren't even there 15 minutes and had a Coopers hawk come in hard and was able to get a few nice shot if it after the pigeon.. We never did trip the net on that one, we never got the pigeon all the way down to the bownet before he took off. Had a adult Redtail come and perch in a tree above the pigeon for about 5 minutes and then just took off down the ridge again. My sponsor had some obligations so after a couple hours we were just getting ready to leave and had a female immature Redtail come in from behind us and hit the pigeon hard. I only got one pic of her on the bird because once I seen it was a passage bird I was more concentrated on working the remote trigger for the bownet. She hung right on to the pigeon as my sponsor pulled it to the bownet. Tripped the trigger and had my first Redtail. here she is all ticked off - right out of the trap. Here's my sponsor holding her so I could get her pic.. So we socked her up and took her back to my sponsors place and weighed he in at 1270 grams with an empty crop. Got her fitted with new anklets, jesses and bells and took a couple more pics before taking her home.. Here's her daggers... I can't believe how fast she is calming down. It's like she's a whole different bird between when trapped and now. First night I spent a couple hours with her watching Tv, introduced her to my lab Dobie- that went pretty good. Spent 4 hours split up throughout the day on Sunday and Monday. She no longer has her hackles up and lets me pet her feet and legs and wings. She is settling down just awesome. She started eating off my fist Monday evening. Hope she'll start jumping to my fist today or tomorrow. Once she starts that, the training will be pretty quick. I can't wait to be hunting rabits and squills this winter with her. I'll keep you all updated on our progress.. Decided to name her "Roxie the Redtail" More pics of me and Roxie's adventures to come. Take care Dave
Looking forward to the updates Dave. Take lots of pictures of her training and hunting! Beautiful bird!
Awesome Dave! This is one thing I have always been interested in and never knew anyone who did it. I look forward to seeing the pictures of your adventure!
That is awesome! I love Falconry and would like to pursue it one day when I get older. Can you explain how exactly you got about trapping one?
That is excellent dave! I have a friend you might be able to have some cool discussion with! Www.hollisterlongwings.com bobs a great guy with some neat birds. Tell him phil madewell said hi. Congrats on the friends, buteos are really amazing birds arnt they?
If you had a Great Horned Owl, could you hunt stuff at night? J/K !!! Great pics and an awesome adventure. Looks like fun.
As if your pics arent great enough. That has got to be one of the coolest things ever. I've always been fascinated by birds in general and birds of prey in particular. That is so amazing.
So this is how this happens??? I thought maybe these guys raised these birds from birth. I had no clue that you just trapped one and snatched it up and made it your pet. Not going to lie....hawks and owls just freak me out. Owls mostly. You have a brass set just to grab a bird like that and handle it. I'm with Hooker on this. That pic of that bird looking you right in the face tells me it would love to pick your eye balls out with it's beak!
Thanks a lot guys. Just a little info, the mortality rate for imature redtails their first year is like 65 to 70 percent. For falconry , you are only allowed to keep passage birds (ones born that year). You must release any adults you trap while trapping for passage birds. - they are the breeding population- they already made it thru their first season so chances of them survivig after that are great. I went out rabbit hunting last year with my sponsor and his hawk and that was the absolute wildest thing I've seen. The speed and determination of these birds after their prey is just totally amazing. If any of you ever get a chance to go out hunting with a falconer and his or her bird- take the offer - it is definatley something to see..
I have always found this cool. I worked with someone that was into this and he had some sort of falcon that he was hunting with 1 day and it got away from him.A few weeks later it came by me and sit on a limb as I sat in my stand.I was wondering why this bird had a piece of something hanging from it's leg,later I talked to this person and found out he lost this bird right by where I was hunting.
Wow .... amazing, Dave! ... I am speechless ... the pics and the falconry ... I learned something today
