Found this after reading the link in the Hungarian Visla Thread.
Harris hawk hunting - YouTube
The idea of Falconry has always amazed me....
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Found this after reading the link in the Hungarian Visla Thread.
Harris hawk hunting - YouTube
The idea of Falconry has always amazed me....
Me too, very popular in the UK it seems
The HWHV is an interesting breed,one of my friends here has one, he's not a hunter though its just his constant companion.
Beautiful dog though, like a smooth coat but slightly more aloof around strangers
Wow, that is seriously cool
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Hunting bunnys with Harris hawks is pretty much like using a highly trained hunting dog. Done a bit back in the day. Great fun
I could be wrong but I don't think you can keep birds of prey here outside of a wildlife park / reserve. I think the only exception is in Marlborough where there is an effort to increase the NZ Falcon numbers.
Bloody shame really. The countryside in my area is perfect for falconry. Would be a fun way of hunting parries etc. As well as rabbits and hares
Just out of Ngongotaha (Rotorua) is the Wingspan Trust Centre. They have Karearea (Falcon), Ruru (Morepork) and Harrier Hawks. Very cool if you want to pass the time in Vegas.
Took the kids a few months ago. My daughter got to have the Falcon (Milli) come to her.
Attachment 18216
This is something that fascinates me. The idea of riding a horse with a Falcon on your arm has a certain appeal.
I had the honour of flying a friends Steppe Eagle for a few hours some years ago. Not hunting, just training her up. That is something I wont forget in a hurry.
Harris Hawks are great as you can hunt them in pairs or groups, which is pretty much unique among raptors. They actively hunt as a group, helping each other out. Biggest problem we had was that to get a bird trained up it had to be imprinted, and with Harris haks, they tend to get very vocal when they see their human "dad" . Doesnt go down well if you have neighbours
Attachment 18220
I wish I could claim this photo but I just copied it from another hawking forum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XafAd...e_gdata_player
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Probably got a lotto wineer price tag, but this looks like a nice way to spend a weekend
Gleneagles Hotel - Faconry, Gundog and Off-road Video - YouTube
Emma Ford is the top UK falconry expert.
You should look up the you tube stuff where they are using Goshawks I think it is to hunt Pheasant, very cool
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wildman
That is pretty much what I have been doing all day because the weather is so shit down here. Could just imagine a bird taking off and nailing a rooster over the Rangitikei... With Loch in hot pursuit...Quote:
Originally Posted by hillclima
Hah, yes that would be great, which would he retrieve though, he likes falcons and has tried to retrieve them before!
http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/v...psfeeec125.jpg
Hi guys,
Being the son of a French falconer, I can tell you that owning those birds is not easy everyday.Specially for falcons.
They are really high maintenance birds, that you need to take care off everyday. They are prone to catch diseases, can suffer from stress and are easily shot down by bored shotgun hunters or getting electrocuted on high power lines.
They need to get trained almost everyday if you want to hunt with them and get good at it. Which mean access to a lot of acres of Great Plains or moors depending if you train them for crows, partridges or grouse. Crows might be the cheapest preys as you fly on site of the prey.
Partridges requires very good trained pointing dogs so that falconer, dogs and bird work in harmony.
While the falcon is climbing high the dogs are working the field till they find partridges and point. You want your falcon as high as possible, as the higher is the falcon the more area he controls. Then you flush the partridges and that is where the falcon does his spectacular dive between 300 and 500 km/h if every thing goes well and where he will knock out the partridge with the heels of his feet( after slowing down though!).
He then dives back on the partridge and finishes it on the ground before starting his meal.( you always fly an hungry bird,that is his motivation to catch). If you arrive too late to retrieve him on his feeding spot he will just fly away and won't bother getting back to you. That is the wild part of the bird that never quit them. It is then very hard to get them back in that case.
The grouse flying is similar but at the expense of having access to a Scottish moor just for yourself and your bird(s) which is not always welcome by every owner of such land.
The successful flight described above when the falcon disappearing in the clouds before diving is not that common and only a handful of european falconers manage to get such flights from time to time after considerable hours of training.
This one is for Rushy:
Attachment 18243
Friwi
That is fascinating, I'd love to see it.
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You would have to travel to Europe :-)
Here is an interesting link:
Falconry
It'll definitely be on my to do list when I take my OE. Hopefully someone will let me watch without the $$$$$$$$Quote:
Originally Posted by Friwi
Anyone know if NZ falcons have been trained in this way? Perhaps in less bureaucratic days? Some of the early colonel tweed gentry? Hah
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Wingspan National Bird of Prey Centre Rotorua New Zealand | Birds of Prey | NZ FalconQuote:
Originally Posted by phillipgr
I remember you talking about it when we met @Pengy, my ears pricked up as I have always taken an interest in it, shame about our laws here which brings me to this:
Wouldn't the quickest way to bring back the NZ falcon be to make it available to the public?
Understandable from bio security point of view that we cant bring in other raptors. They would have a ball taking out all the native flightless birds if they were allowed to escape and get established.
Yes, but surely our own native falcon would be very good? Not sure about our Hawks, they are pretty slow. Our native falcon is very fast!
Make it available to the public, I'd own one!
While were at it we could save the kiwi by making it financially viable. McDonalds could bring back the kiwiburger they used to sell in the 90s but with real kiwi!
Interesting read there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wildman
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Go see it. Just down the road from you.Quote:
Originally Posted by phillipgr
http://s45.photobucket.com/user/Jame...edfa4.mp4.html
Wingspan trust is a place I want to visit, maybe very soon. Ive always loved Birds of Prey and especially our Swamp Hawks. As a side note, I was flying above Te Kowhai (Waikato) one hot summer day circling in a thermal with my engine powered back and who do I bump into but a Hawk up there in the same thermal. Would have been about 1500 ft by memory as that was my standard floating about height. I was surprissed to see a Hawk that high up. It was not worried about me in the slightest and I started getting concerned he was getting to close to me. Was an awesome memory, me and the Hawk just circling together on a hot summer day.
They are great to just watch as they seach for rats and mice then swoop down on their target.
Haast eagle, now that would be a mint hunting buddy.
Tho it could be interesting wrestling a deer off it before it eats it all.:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Nibblet
Could carry you to the tops and then take out tahr and big reds. Put a little back pack on him and have him do runs back and forth to the truck with your gear.
I would think a kea would be pretty good. Very smart birds.
Do they do displays over live game?Quote:
Originally Posted by kiwijames
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No. I it is probably not that family friendly! ;)
I may have to give my sisters pet rabbit a run in the sanctuary fields then ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by kiwijames
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Just saw on the news 10 falcon chicks have been released from on top of the museum, missed the town/city cos the kids were yelling.
About 40 years ago, I was given an owl nestling that had fallen on the road from where ever the nest was located (it arrived in a brown paper bag). I fed it up and it grew up and I flew in around the house from my hand. It was quite affectionate. Even such a small bird was quite difficult to keep well. I had to get up in the middle of the night to feed it and fly it which was always a bit of a problem when getting up for work the next morning. I did read of others flying owls around the house - the idea is to breed mice and set them in the bath tub until the owl gets the idea of catching them. I suppose the next step is to set mice free in the house and fly the owl at them - I'm sure that would go down well with the wife. Later, I applied to the department of internal affairs to take a hawk or falcon for training but the answer was a definite no.
They are hard work alright. If the bird is not at the correct hunting weight, it will usually just sit in the nearest tree and look at you. Therefore you have to make sure that diet is strictly controlled.
I used to help out at a well known falconry centre in the uk, and from my limited experience there, I concluded that Owls are anything but wise :)
On the subject of height, the bird will often use the cloud base as concelement, and therefore fly up above it till ready to stoop on prey. A mates Feruginous buzzard used to often do this in training, and it was an amazing sight watching her go from a tiny black spot up in the gods, to hitting a bunny or the lure. Or as she did on one occasion, a poor passer byes Foxy terrier :( Whoops. No harm was done though.
Pm sent @Pointer
Beautiful portrait!!
Have a look on "the field sports channel" on youtube, there's a guy in there called Roy Lupton who hunts Hare's with Golden eagles. Brilliant fun but training and flying birds of prey takes some serious dedication.
