Is hooding becoming a lost art

[Hardcore Hawker]

Just out of interest how many people on here hood thier birds nowadays? This is not another dig at Harris Hawks as i am currently flying one myself but it does seem to me that on the whole people who fly Harris Hawks in particular dont hood them! Why is it because they dont see the need to hood as they have an overall steady temprament or that the stamp of the majority of Harris Hawk flyers do not have the skill or knowledge to hood successfully. Hooding which in itself is not something that can be taught to a certain degree is all down to timing dexterity and being able to read the reaction of the bird in question i have personally hooded all of the birds i have flown with the exception of spars the birds i have hooded are redtails harris hawks goshawks and of course falcons. Also what is the opinion of imprint gos flyers to hooding.

[GregMik]

I hood my Gos(NA passage male), but not the Harris.

Greg

[Hobby]

My view is that every bird I fly is made to the hood,why would you want to be without it.I fly a FHH and see it very important to be able to hood her.At the very least when she is out with other HH and she is not being flown she is not bating all the time.When we finish in the field I can feed her up on the lure then walk her back to the car hooded without a bate.If out hawking and I decide to try her on a different area ,prehaps crossing a road ,I can hood her and walk on without any bating.In addition while hooded she can be checked by the vet and have various other procedures carried out without her getting upset.Have also had a HH bitten on the leg by a squirrel which needed urgent attention and it was a blessing to be able to hood the bird to keep it calm.Lots of benefits with not one disadvantage I can think of.

[Mary Quite Contrary]

I hood all birds including harris

[Osiris]

I hood my lanneret, don't hood my harris. Something i was going to do although i saw no need to do so.

[Tim Laycock]

My current Goshawk (Imprint) Is the only hawk I have owned in my life that I have not hooded.
Those who choose not to hood non imprints in my opinion like hard work!
Because thats what it is without the "on/off switch" :yawinkle:

I even walked around on fieldmeets with a hooded harris in the early 90s and people pointed and stared (and laughed I think :rolleyes: )

[Saker-Clive]

My Saker is hooded but only when going into the travel box, and whilst walking to and from the flying area.
The HH is good as gold so don't bother; (I have had a hood on him a few times to see if he will take it).

[As The Falcon Her Bells]

I sometime tought about it when I been watching hawks on field meets etc. (both gh and hh) when people have "slip turns" and dont hood their birds it most be negative reinforcement for the bird to be continiously bating time after time without getting a slip?
If there is a larger group the hawk can see 4-5 rabbits bolt and bate but without being sliped.
I know some goshawks who comes in to "Yarak" by seeing a few slipps without getting to fly, but surely there must be a limit there as well?

[Dave G]

My Saker is hooded but only when going into the travel box, and whilst walking to and from the flying area.
The HH is good as gold so don't bother; (I have had a hood on him a few times to see if he will take it).
im the same with my harris hes golden so dont hood him but ive put one on a few times ??? just to see how he takes to it as you never no it mite come in handy at some point cheers dave

[Hobby]

My current Goshawk (Imprint) Is the only hawk I have owned in my life that I have not hooded.
Those who choose not to hood non imprints in my opinion like hard work!
Because thats what it is without the "on/off switch" :yawinkle:

I even walked around on fieldmeets with a hooded harris in the early 90s and people pointed and stared (and laughed I think :rolleyes: )
I am curious as to why you decided not to hood your Gos is it not a benefit to be able to use the on/off switch with the imprint as well.I know that you want her exposed and used to everything in her world but to have made her to the hood would not have been detrimental and surely more beneficial.Curious to know why.

[AngelJakki]

I hood my female harris hawk. She baits alot from the glove and is working to reduce the baiting hopefully with abit more work she will stop completely soon.

[Ben C]

My Harris hawk has had the benefit of a range of hoods and he loves em....I would never be without a hood..........EVER!

[Tim Laycock]

I am curious as to why you decided not to hood your Gos is it not a benefit to be able to use the on/off switch with the imprint as well.I know that you want her exposed and used to everything in her world but to have made her to the hood would not have been detrimental and surely more beneficial.Curious to know why.

The only situations where hooding is of benefit to a good imprint are during transport and when a hawking colleague is feeding his hawk up on a kill.
She will take the hood but during and afterwards, relations are strained at best :lol: :yawinkle:

The transport problem is solved by a blackout box and when by the time colleagues are feeding their birds on kills she is already cropped up anyway :wink: :lol:

In all other situations she is bombproof, outside my house is the main road between Bradford and Huddersfield and we can walk up the road to my closest piece of flying land with her fluffed up and sat on one foot while double decker buses and 40 ton lorrys pass within four feet of her.

For the first time in my experience the hooding is completly counter productive!

[GoodFooter]

Hooding my Gos went wrong! I'd love some advice on what I did wrong... is this the place or do i need to start a new thread???

[Tim Laycock]

Hooding a Goshawk........Slowly, Slowly catchy monkey!

I will PM you something m8 :yawinkle:

[GM090158]

I hood my FHH, she is good but when out with others and it is their slips I cannot see the point in her bating and me having to hold her back.

[HoumaFalconer]

I Train All My Birds To The Hood As You Never Know When You Will Need It , So It Is A Good Practice

[Palmer]

I didn't hood my hawk for his first year (last year) but i am going to buy a hood for him at the falconry fair

[BHawk]

fully believe in hooding, it is better to have a bird made to the hood, means if you walk through certain fields to your hunting ground she wont bate at other quarry that you dont have permission to, like pheasant, that way the farmer wont go mad, and we all know how important it is to kiss the farmers ar*e at times, dont want the hawk to nail the wrong quarry in the wrong field in front of him, usefull in various parts of the sport, good to have as a backup if anything.

[Ben C]

Plus it shows attention to history, looks cool, is part and parcel of the 'falconry' deal and provides time out to make stuff in the closed season!

[ColdZero]

i got my RT used to the hood in the beginning but gradually just stopped finding excuses to use it. It would be a must if i am carrying her while hunting with others but that went out the window when i realised i was a loner. I didn't cast her up to change anklets and she very rarely bates. However i will make sure she accepts it again next season because i can't see a logical reason not to aswell :rolleyes:

[Ben C]

CZ: True....but there is ALWAYS time for a hood.........just use it at any moment for any reason...........just hood for hoods sake........:supz: :supz: :supz:

[Fawkes]

I dont have my own bird yet, but will definately hooding my passage RT this fall. Even if you rarely use it, I think it is a good idea to have your bird be "hoodable" should the need arise.
My friend never trained her FHH to hood, now when she wants to cope the beak (which in her case requrires hooding) its a big struggle - the bird got her talon through a two layer glove and gave me a small puncture wound - needless to say we switched to three layer elk-hide eagle glove :lol:

[Midland hawker]

reading the imprint accipiter and the newer one behaviour problems and it says i think 70 percent of agrresion is from hooding them because if not done correctly they will see the hand as whats making them unhappy mc dermott says not too hood them

[BrianM]

i hood the gos but not the harris

[Pitbull]

my MHH has had a hood on a few times but not recently but im thinking of the future you never know whats gonna happen a trip to the vets or something, your bird may be bomb proof now but you never know. Thats why we wear a glove the majority of the time, just that little percentage of strangeness, Hope to get Griff to make me one so look forward to posting a pic of it.

[IAmTheWeasel]

I have hooded all of the birds I have had.....