The Learning Curve: Easy Kills Great For Any Birds Ego.
I am always disappointed when I hear falconers say My bird cant do that or I cant get my bird to catch_______(fill in the blank with an appropriate game animal for a specific hawk species) or She/he has never seen those before, she/he wont catch those or any other negative statement that implies lack of ability of a hawk. Well, Ive got news for you; all the negativity spewing from the falconers lips is usually the reason his/her bird wont do or catch that.
To illustrate my point, Ill use my most recent hawking trip out west. A couple weeks ago several Missouri falconers and I traveled to Dodge City, Kansas to catch black-tailed jackrabbits. We had a couple red-tails (Bob and Stephen Paynes), a GIANT Finnish Female Goshawk (Rob Lyttles), a male Harris (Mike McDermotts) and my female Harris. My female Harris hawk, affectionately called My Bird, flies at 820g. She has seen jacks, but just a few times in her first year, and she has never had her feet on any. She has caught piles of rabbits and even bigger piles of squirrels, but never any jacks. Mike McDermotts male Harris flies around 650g and had seen and had his feet on a couple jacks last year, but he was by no means a proven jack hawk (cottontails are a different story). So we set out to introduce the Harris hawks to jacks.
First things first, we tried to catch a jack legitimately by just plain ol hawking. Well, that didnt work. As expected, both birds half-heartedly chased the jacks but went all out after the cottontails we flushed. They both knew cottontails but seemed intimidated by those giant jacks. The hawks needed a baggie, or at least an easy kill, and we, the falconers had to supply them with one.
At first we were going to try a baggie from the GIANT Finnish Goshawk. Unfortunately, that did not go as planned. So we had to move on to other methods. Shooting a jack rabbit with an arrow sounded like a great idea since several of the falconers with us were bow hunters. However, unaware of Dodge Citys projectile laws and Kansas specific archery/falconry combo laws we opted out of that (although it is still a superb idea to come up with an easy jackrabbit kill for any hawk). Next idea in line was to stomp one, or catch one by hand or club one with a stick; a very tricky feat to accomplish indeed.
In accordance with our new plan, we all lined up close together and walked achingly slow and silent, eyes microscopically examining the grass for jack parts. Soon, Mike spotted a really dumb jack sitting in the open, barely hidden by a little tuft of grass. So, he moved in slowly and stomped on it. Mike held the jack under his foot just long enough for my hawk to grab it by the head and his hawk to grab it by the rear. What an accomplishment! How many people can say they stomped on a black-tailed jack! We let the birds calm down on the kill and very carefully robbed them. Carefully because we wanted a positive experience, but also wanted to keep the hawks hungry enough to hunt the next afternoon.
The next afternoon we were out in the jack fields again. This time our hawks had a little more history with the jacks. Just a couple minutes into the field a jack flushed. Mikes male scorched off the T perch and grabbed it by the rear. Watching the male being dragged behind the jack, my bird hesitantly flew in and grabbed the jack by the head. A done deal, now both hawks had been on two jacks in the last two days. The decision was made to rob the hawks and try for a second jack. A short hundred yards later another jack bolted. This time my female had her confidence up. She blasted into the jack, rolled around a few times, and got kicked off. Dang! Then Mikes male came from the side-lines and flew the jack down, grabbed it by the rear and was getting dragged again. Immediately my female picked herself up and this time, piled full force into the flopping mess of Harris and jack.
Everyone in the field was excited. What great flights! And to think, just 24 hours earlier neither bird would even grab a jack. This scenario shows you what is possible with very determined falconers and the hawks that wont, cant, shouldnt, never have, blah, blah, blah. If your bird is physically capable of catching a specific game species and is not because of any of the reasons listed above, then it is probably your fault. Go out and stomp, shoot, trap, grab, lure, trick, or buy that game species into your possession and let your hawk have a guaranteed easy kill. If one time does not do the trick try two, three, five, or twenty. Eventually your hawk will get the picture. If youve given it your best and the hawk still refuses to catch what you are trying for, well, consider getting a new hawk or give up on the game. The point is, dont give up until you have given it your best attempt(s). Happy Catching!
