Crow and Gull falcon

[Harris]

A number of my permissions are devoid of rabbits, but have huge numbers of Corvids (Crows, Rooks, Jackdaws) and Gulls, what would people recommend as a good bird for these? I know peoples views will differ so no arguing please :yawinkle:

I will admit, I am thinking of getting a long wing, as I have plenty of time on my hands to do justice to 2 birds. The only other Falcon I have flown is a Kestrel, so do have some experience. Also I don't want to spend silly money.

Advice and comments appreciated :lol:

[Jamaicensis]

I think any falcon in the right size would do, it's down to personal preference really.
GyrXPere
SakerXPere
female Pere
.............

[Hacker]

As a first longwing keep it simple and get a female pere x saker.
Can easily take all quarry quoted easily, the falcons are a sensible price to purchase and generally are fairly amiable to train and enter.
On average they will fly at 1lb 14ozs to 2lb 2ozs and can be formidible hunters .
Bewit, my female pere x saker has takem 300 head of quarry in two seasons, nearly all black stuff but with some gulls thrown in as well.
Good luck and enjoy the journey to the dark side!

[Harris]

As a first longwing keep it simple and get a female pere x saker.
Can easily take all quarry quoted easily, the falcons are a sensible price to purchase and generally are fairly amiable to train and enter.
On average they will fly at 1lb 14ozs to 2lb 2ozs and can be formidible hunters .
Bewit, my female pere x saker has takem 300 head of quarry in two seasons, nearly all black stuff but with some gulls thrown in as well.
Good luck and enjoy the journey to the dark side!


Cheers Rich, thats exactly the sort of answer I was looking for :goodman:

[Chic]

Hi - can't add much from experience but I flew a lugger (for practise) and then a gyrxsaker last year. I have now got a female PR perexsaker and in contrast she is a total sweetheart. I plan on flying corvids with her too and I am so pleased at how quickly she has come on since I got her 2 weeks ago. Beautiful manners and so gentle. She now comes 140feet to a lure first time every call so it's time to take the deep breath and let her go free...

Hope you get the bird you want but my tuppence goes on the perexsaker.

Chic

[Harris]

Further to this, assuming i go down the Pere/Saker route! PR or Imprint? and what sort of money is right for a Female, as theres everything from £200 to £500 quoted on the IBR.

[Chic]

Further to this, assuming i go down the Pere/Saker route! PR or Imprint? and what sort of money is right for a Female, as theres everything from £200 to £500 quoted on the IBR.

OK - I did a gyrxsaker imprint this year. Sadly she vanished at tame hack (suspect she was stolen or shot). I got lucky and got the perexsaker as a PR as it was the last bird the breeder had.

Tell the truth there is nothing to compare - they are totally different. Except for workload...the imprint was a LOT of hard work. It was 24x7 and very confusing - lots of conflicting advice on how it should be done.

You're too late now anyway to get an eyass to imprint I would say and I personally would not want to take on someone else's bird (having done that last year).

You may well be borderline for getting a PR eyass too now.

Someone on here made a great point on another thread: "If the imprint fans put in as much time on a parent reared they would get a much better bird". There could be a lot in that...

Just some observations from an inexperienced falconer...

[Harris]

Thanks both, I think I would prefer a PR bird as I would like to get enough experience of longwings befor going down the Imprint road. If anyone knows of any 07 Perexsakers Females please let me know. If not its a long wait until next year :roll:

The reason I have left it so late is I wanted to know if Bella would be able to hunt at all, If not I would have got another FHH and would have needed the time to get that trained/manned etc, but as Bella is capable I have more time :lol:

[Eznugud]

Some may not agree with me on this but for what is worth…….

If I were in your shoes I wouldn’t bother this year and set my stall out for next season, get an early falcon, end of June.

You could still get a falcon going at this time, it’s not too late but the ideal times come and gone.
At best it’s going to take 5 weeks to get it going and that’s going to take you well into October maybe even November, you are now looking at entering the falcon on pretty good crows.
Its not impossible but the cards a stacking against you, leave it until next season and have fun entering it on young crows during the summer.

[JayHawk]

SI, get bella up and running m8 and if your hunting regular you may find that your satisfied with this, as you know ive fancied a gyr/saker to fly at corvids for some time but as soon as i'm flying my harris and hunting hard my longwing thoughts seem to go out the window....................one day though

jay

[Harris]

Some may not agree with me on this but for what is worth…….

If I were in your shoes I wouldn’t bother this year and set my stall out for next season, get an early falcon, end of June.

You could still get a falcon going at this time, it’s not too late but the ideal times come and gone.
At best it’s going to take 5 weeks to get it going and that’s going to take you well into October maybe even November, you are now looking at entering the falcon on pretty good crows.
Its not impossible but the cards a stacking against you, leave it until next season and have fun entering it on young crows during the summer.


To be honest I have to agree with you! besides finding one this late ain't gonna be easy. :cool:

[Harris]

SI, get bella up and running m8 and if your hunting regular you may find that your satisfied with this, as you know ive fancied a gyr/saker to fly at corvids for some time but as soon as i'm flying my harris and hunting hard my longwing thoughts seem to go out the window....................one day though

jay


I know that Jay, just with all the extra time I have I could be out there nailing crows!! even if I give Bella 110% this year I can't hunt her all day every day. However I probably will leave it until next year for the reasons mentioned above. However I would happily take on a trained bird from a reliable source if there was a genuine reason for sale, and I could see the bird hunt.

[Terry Hanson]

Some may not agree with me on this but for what is worth…….

If I were in your shoes I wouldn’t bother this year and set my stall out for next season, get an early falcon, end of June.

You could still get a falcon going at this time, it’s not too late but the ideal times come and gone.
At best it’s going to take 5 weeks to get it going and that’s going to take you well into October maybe even November, you are now looking at entering the falcon on pretty good crows.
Its not impossible but the cards a stacking against you, leave it until next season and have fun entering it on young crows during the summer.

Hi Shaun, good post and sound advice.
ATB
Terry

[SakerYZF]

Some may not agree with me on this but for what is worth…….

If I were in your shoes I wouldn’t bother this year and set my stall out for next season, get an early falcon, end of June.

You could still get a falcon going at this time, it’s not too late but the ideal times come and gone.
At best it’s going to take 5 weeks to get it going and that’s going to take you well into October maybe even November, you are now looking at entering the falcon on pretty good crows.
Its not impossible but the cards a stacking against you, leave it until next season and have fun entering it on young crows during the summer.

Very sound advice particularly with regards to young prey, if you do buy a crow/Gull hawk , and its stated its a "good'un" ask to see it fly, personally i'd not bother with Gyr/sakers..( i know the price is attractive) but i've never had much luck with them and consider them second rate compared with a peregrine or peregrine hybrid.

Pure female peregrine "Betty" , utterly stunning Gull falcon.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c292/Sakeryzf/Gull%20Flights/DSC00891.jpg

Sakerett "Rossi" , fantastic gull/crow hawk

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c292/Sakeryzf/Rossi/DSC00106.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c292/Sakeryzf/Rossi/4.jpg

Too Brave for is own good sometimes , a little pere/saker male, would take anything from gulls to magpies.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c292/Sakeryzf/DSC00223.jpg

Hope this whets your appetite for gull hawking, its really rather addictive!

[AccyFalcons]

get a pere/saker or a full pere or full saker you`ll have great fun on the gulls and corvids:supz: :supz: :supz:

[Harris]

That has indeed got the juices flowing.......Just need to find a proven bird now or wait until next year :yawinkle:

[Finnish]

Get a Falcon Anatum..................:lol:

[SakerYZF]

That has indeed got the juices flowing.......Just need to find a proven bird now or wait until next year :yawinkle:

Having done Landfill , finding a proven bird can be easier said than done... ( having bought a few duffers myself)
Serious gull and crow hawks ( the only kind to have ) have to be flown very seriously and with 100% commitment.. everyday preferably.. with plently of opportunity's to succeed, it wont take the local gull/ crow population long to figure your tricks out, driving around looking for slips can be expensive!

I really hope you do get a falcon, and put your 100% back into it , you'd be better off starting with a clean slate at the right time of year, you wont regret the wait:-D