Pancho - "Another" Crow Falcon in the Making [Archive]

Eznugud

15-10-2007, 06:32 PM

Mick Kane who bred Brads last falcon “Cisco” very kindly gave Bradley an untouched male Gyr x Pere to replace Cisco.

We picked him up yesterday and Bradleys face was a picture, the new falcon is Cisco’s brother and is a dead ringer for him.
We have our work cut out for us due to the time of year but it’s more than possible to make a cracking little crow hawk out of this falcon.
Due to the time of year I’m probably going to have to get more involved in the training of this one than I did with Cisco, Brad should have enough time to get the initial training done and I may have to help out with getting him fit etc.

I am a bit busy and don’t get on the forums like I did in the summer but will try and keep this one up dated regularly like we did on Cisco’s old thread.

Sunday 14th October 2007

Bradley picked up his new “wannabe” crow falcon and named him Pancho {after dirty Sanchez or something}.
He’s in pretty good feather considering he’s been in a pen so long, tips missing off a few primaries etc.

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Monday 15th October 2007

Brads got straight in from school a set about getting Pancho to stand on the fist.

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B C

15-10-2007, 06:39 PM

Great to see Bradley looking happy again.

Good luck and I'm sure the Tiercel will turn out fine. You can't go wrong with Gyr Peregrines - but then again - I'm biased!!

B C

RedNoseK9

15-10-2007, 06:39 PM

Cracking start to a thread and i will follow closely
Wez

Miliscer

15-10-2007, 06:41 PM

Good luck Brad - dont let your dad steal all the fun 8)

Oh and by the way the Per x Prairie is doing well 8)

Mike

Dave G

15-10-2007, 06:45 PM

super looking falcon im sure young bradley will have it on crows in no time good luck m8 cheers dave ps keep posting on progress cheers

Martin Whitley

15-10-2007, 06:48 PM

He's returned to the light:supz: :supz:
Good luck with him Bradley

TimDog80

15-10-2007, 06:52 PM

always enjoy your threads!!!
hope this one turns out as good as the others:supz:

regards
tim:D

Mark Collins

15-10-2007, 06:53 PM

Brilliant , very good luck with him , well done bradley, also what a nice thought from mick, top guy, mark.

Pogger

15-10-2007, 07:22 PM

Good luck Bradley! Enjoy your new bird. :D

GaryPCO

15-10-2007, 07:27 PM

good stuff brad keep it up m8!!!

PenelopeP

15-10-2007, 07:32 PM

Looking forward to this thread.
Good luck Bradley, Im sure he'll be knocking those crows about before you know it. :supz:

Wooly

15-10-2007, 07:49 PM

Good luck Bradley, not that you will need it:lol: . Happy hunting with him mate.:supz: :supz:

M & J Raptors

15-10-2007, 08:56 PM

FredrickFogg

15-10-2007, 09:20 PM

Awesome looking bird! Can't wait to read about his progress! Go get em, Brad! :supz: :supz:

Fred

Falcun

15-10-2007, 09:40 PM

Will be looking forward on updates of his progress. Good Luck Bradley

Stav

15-10-2007, 09:48 PM

looking forward to this thread, best of luck brad

Pendleside

16-10-2007, 12:38 AM

hope all goes well with pancho brad .
looking forward to his exploits already .:supz:

Eznugud

16-10-2007, 12:01 PM

Hi Shaun

The look on Brads face when he picked the bird up was just priceless mate.

good luck brad.and dont forget my xmas card.;-)

mick

Cheers Mick……

His face was a picture, on the way home he sat in the back of the car so he could keep an eye on him and started crying {not supposed to tell anyone}, when I asked him what was a matter he said “he was really happy and that it was like having Cisco back”….

I think Brads is now in a state of shock, he’s never handled a falcon that didn’t sit content on the fist within half hour, Pancho is a bit of a shock to Bradley and a bit of a wake up call………….second day and still wont sit on the fist un-hooded longer than a few seconds.
I’ve just had an hour with him and didn’t make a dent in the stubborn little bleeder, he’s now back on the garden and can stay there until Bradley gets home.

KevGem1

16-10-2007, 12:42 PM

well done young man, he looks very nice im sure you will do him justice good luck for the season and i hope you keep us all informed of his progress all the best KEV.

Haskins

16-10-2007, 02:04 PM

good luck cant wait to here how you both get on .

BlackShaheen10

16-10-2007, 06:30 PM

Very glad for Bradley!:D

Best of luck with him...

Forgot, :supz: Mick for that gift

HawkMom

16-10-2007, 07:05 PM

Great to hear that Bradley is back training again. Hey, why not 'wake' Pancho and have a nice, low perch in Bradley's room. Waking is a fun, and time tested technique for subborn birds.

BTW: Are the names from the old 'Cisco Kid' western television series that aired in the US years ago? There were two main characters, Cisco, and his sidekick: Pancho. They were 'righters of wrong' in the Old West.

Bradley

16-10-2007, 07:10 PM

16th of October 2007

When I got in from school today my Dad had already taken Elric the goshawk out to fly because we would not have had time to fly him and me work with pancho because of the time and he caught a magpie.
My dad is going to fly elric for me so I can have time to get pancho going and then it will be able to take them both out crow hawking.

Pancho was on the garden with is hood on when I got home so I brought him in and weighed him then went back out on the garden to try and get him to stand on my fist because my mum was doing the tea and I am not allowed to have birds in the house when my mum is doing the tea.
After a lot of tries he was standing on my fist so I passed him a bit of food and he took it straight out of my fingers
Even that he is not manned right he his nearly at his flying weight because we were picking him up on Sunday mick had not been putting so much food in the pen for him so that he would not be to fat when we got him so I tried him at jumping to the fist and he jumped leash length nearly straight away and I was pleased with that

Bradley

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Mark Collins

16-10-2007, 07:12 PM

Well done Bradley, cracking gyr/peregrine there mate, enjoy him, cheers,mark.

RedNoseK9

16-10-2007, 07:18 PM

Nice one bradley the progress is good cant wait to read tomorrow

Wez

Martin Whitley

16-10-2007, 07:19 PM

well done Bradley good to see you're progressing with him

.
My dad is going to fly elric for me .

Sorry to see you're getting your father into bad ways:lol:

Slippery Teal

16-10-2007, 07:21 PM

I'm really pleased for you Bradley, know doubt you and your dad will make another good crow hawk. Looking forward to it

ATB Ryan

Shaun Byrne

16-10-2007, 07:36 PM

Good luck with him Bradley:supz:

Nice one Mick!

Bradley

17-10-2007, 06:43 PM

17th of October 2007

I took Pancho out to where that we train the falcons when I got straight in from school today because my dad says we have not got time to mess about and that we have got to do things faster with Pancho than that I had done with Cisco so even though that he only jumped to my fist on the garden yesterday we took him to the quiet training field
When we got there my dad told me to walk around the fields with him for 10 minitues taking his hood on and off and getting him seeing things before we tried for him to fly because its better to have him looking around before than looking around when you are trying to get him to fly to you
I fastened the creance on to his swivel and then passed Pancho to my dad and then stood close to my dad and he took panchos hood off he had a look all around the place then jumped to me so I put his hood back on and passed him back to my dad and then I walked 15meters away my dad took panchos hood off and he bobbed his head and flew straight to my fist we did this another few times
Then I decided to try him to the lure and this was the first time that pancho will had seen the lure so I walked 5 meters away for my dad and then he unhooded pancho and you could tell that he was not going to come to the lure so my dad put pancho on the ground and I dropped the lure just in front of him 1 meter away and he ran to it and I feed him up on the lure.

Its been a very good day because pancho is flying to the fist and he now knows what the lure is and he feed up on it

Bradley

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Mark Collins

17-10-2007, 07:34 PM

Looking good bradley.

Shaun Byrne

17-10-2007, 08:40 PM

Nice one Bradley:supz:

No wonder its your "Quiet training field" :shock:

I bet people are dying to get in there:lol:

Eznugud

18-10-2007, 07:16 PM

Thursday 18th October 2007 – Day 4

Bradley’s asked me to update this for him tonight, ”don’t feel like it dad, you do it”

Straight out the second Bradley got in from school, we haven’t got time to mess about at this time of the year so we decided to jump in at the deep end and go straight for 20yds.
First time he was a little slow, 2nd & 3rd he was pretty much straight away.
To finish of today’s session it was one flight to the lure at 20yds, he was only introduced to the lure yesterday from about 2 feet……..Brad swung the lure and Pancho was away instantly.

To say what he was like Sunday & Monday things are coming together well, another 3 or 4 days and we should be able to lose the creance and get on with some fitness training and learning this boy how to fly.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_1.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=1.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_2.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=2.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_3.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=3.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_lure.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=lure.flv)

Eznugud

18-10-2007, 07:18 PM

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Falcun

18-10-2007, 07:33 PM

Great job you are doing. whats his weight at the moment

ATB
Philip

Mark Collins

18-10-2007, 07:53 PM

Well done mate,mark.

KevGem1

18-10-2007, 08:11 PM

looking good young man KEV.

Harris

18-10-2007, 08:37 PM

Great thread, keep it comming!! And so good to see a smile back on Bradleys face :lol:

Eznugud

18-10-2007, 09:40 PM

Great job you are doing. whats his weight at the moment

ATB
Philip

Philip

He’s about 1lb 9 1/2oz at the moment, he’s a bit bigger falcon than Cisco was………….I should imagine he will be up to 1lb 10oz within the next few days and will probably enter at that weight.

Wooly

18-10-2007, 09:54 PM

Nice one Bradley keep it going M8. Terry:supz:

Bradley

19-10-2007, 09:04 PM

19th of October 2007

Today when I got in from school we took Pancho to somewhere else completely different so that he sees all kinds of different things and not just the same place all the time and that way he can learn not to be afraid of all the all the different things that he will see
I called him to the fist the first time and he came straight away and then I called him to the lure and he can straight away again and landed at the side of me because he did not see the lure in the grass and then a grabbed hold of my ankle and my boot until I could let him see the lure and then he let go of my boot and got the lure
I am happy with how Pancho is training but my dad says that I have to pay more attention to how I take him of the lure because I am treating him like Cisco and thinking that he knows how to step off of the lure and onto my fist but he does not know yet and his weight had gone lower than we had wanted it to go today so I had to give him a lot more to eat today because he was to low and you could tell that he was to low because of how he was on the lure and when my dad had him on his fist he was bending down and pulling at my dads glove and he should not be doing that
I am thinking about that I could fly him free on Sunday if it is good with him tomorrow I will make my minds up on Sunday because my dad says that its up to me

Bradley

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Eznugud

19-10-2007, 10:14 PM

A few bits of video i took today..

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_19102007022.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=19102007022.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_19-hood.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=19-hood.flv)

Matthew Patching

19-10-2007, 10:36 PM

Spot on Brads, you are a natural, just listen to what you dad has to tell you and you will not go wrong!

Well chuffed for you mate! Both of you!:supz:

HunterJen

19-10-2007, 11:11 PM

Well done Brad, good to hear your getting on well, you did so well with Cisco and so you deserve Pancho. Its good to see a smile back on your face and hope you enjoy all your time with him.
Its so annoying to see someone like yourself doing so well when there is someone like me at the age of 16 who had bad luck with the first two falcons (one refused to get height and the other one unbeknown to me had fallen out the nest young and broken both its legs which I later found out by the breeder's assistant), all I can say as someone with so much confidence I will be looking down to you for tips and expertise. You are an inspiration to us all!
He will do you proud. Good Luck Brad and keep us posted.

Jenet x

Fawkes

20-10-2007, 06:47 AM

The first thread of yours was a cracker, looking forward to following this one aswell. Can't wait to see pictures of you two with your first kill. Keep up the good work :D

Falcun

20-10-2007, 10:01 AM

All the Best for tomorrow Bradley if You made the decision

Philip

Ovambo

20-10-2007, 10:13 AM

nice one young man.....:supz:

Eznugud

20-10-2007, 10:31 AM

It’s not all smelling of roses……..here’s an “outtake” from yesterday turn the volume up on your pc and you can hear Brads scream well the falcon attaches itself to his ankle….and we make a complete ash of stepping him up from the lure………

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_19102007017.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=19102007017.flv)

Shikra

20-10-2007, 06:41 PM

Bradley i am so happy for you and glad to see Pancho's performance so far.

kind regards.

Eznugud

20-10-2007, 07:44 PM

Saturday 20th October 2007

We’ll let the few videos do the talking for today’s instalment of the Abbot & Costello show……..warts and all

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_01.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=01.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_02.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=02.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_03.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=03.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_04.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=04.flv)

Eznugud

20-10-2007, 07:45 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_05.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=05.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/20102007055.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/20102007060.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/20102007061.jpg

KevGem1

20-10-2007, 11:06 PM

well done bradly he's coming along just nice if you decide to fly free tomorrow good luck but by the look of things it will be just fine keep it up mate KEV.

SolidLeo

21-10-2007, 05:54 AM

Well done bradley, keep it up:supz: :supz:

Falconry Equipment International

21-10-2007, 06:05 AM

Soory sean missed what happened to cisco but the new falocn looks neat.

Eznugud

21-10-2007, 01:37 PM

Soory sean missed what happened to cisco but the new falocn looks neat.

Bloody hell, been a long time Julian………hope your well.

This is the thread about Cisco, long story short Bradley made a cracking job with him during the summer and killed 30 crows in 30 hunting days; sadly he hit a telephone wire while stooping at his 31st crow.

http://www.falconryforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=31700&highlight=peanut

and this is what happened to him......

http://www.falconryforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=35549&highlight=cisco

Falconry Equipment International

21-10-2007, 02:59 PM

jeeesh Sean, **** happens:roll: , glad he has moved on and good on yer mick for sorting the new hawk out, good luck bradley:goodman:

Bradley

21-10-2007, 05:26 PM

21st of October 2007

Today I took the creance off of Pancho and I flew him free for the first time and it is the worstest feeling that you get before you do it
Because of him only having had seen to lure 2 times I put the creance on for the first time that I flew him to me and he came straight away so that I took off the creance and put him on some field jesses and flew him free
I flew him 4 times in straight lines and on the last time I pulled the lure out of the way of him and then dropped it straight back down on to the floor and then fed Pancho up
I am really happy with how Pancho is doing because he was not like Cisco when he first come and was not even standing on to my fist for 2 days

Bradley

my dad had taken some video with his phone

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_21102007032.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=21102007032.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_21102007033.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=21102007033.flv)

Eznugud

21-10-2007, 05:55 PM

Brads…..

Well done mate, the hard work starts now……getting him fit & entered.

From this

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/14102007013.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/14102007012.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/14102007014.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/15102007018.jpg

Eznugud

21-10-2007, 05:57 PM

To this in a week, proud of you pal……

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/21102007072.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/21102007074.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/21102007079.jpg

Pendleside

21-10-2007, 06:28 PM

well done brad . :supz:

but why are you wearing your goshawking glasses now you have returned to the darkside ? :yawinkle:

i hope the elric thread hasnt finished already .:cry:

Martin Whitley

21-10-2007, 06:35 PM

Brads…..

Well done mate, the hard work starts now……getting him fit & entered.

]
:supz: :supz:
Good going Bradley, now for the important stuff:lol:

LadyHawke

21-10-2007, 06:50 PM

Bradley, your little hawk is a real credit to you and your dad. I am enjoying reading your thread so much, please dont stop writing. I am keen to know how he gets on.I am sure he will be giving the local crows what for pretty soon. He is very beautiful - you have done so well with him. The gentleman who gave pancho to you must have known what a good, kind home he would have.:supz: :supz: :supz:

KevGem1

21-10-2007, 07:45 PM

well done bradly a didnt think there would be any trouble flying him free.you will have him knocking the hell out of them crows in no time.nice pictures by the way all the best for the next stage of his training and im looking forward to reading all about his exploits KEV.

Falcun

22-10-2007, 08:05 AM

Well Done Bradley:supz:

AhmedQ8

22-10-2007, 10:43 AM

Well Done Bradley

Freddie1

22-10-2007, 12:13 PM

Well you have done it again young man he is once again a credit to you keep up the good work :supz: :supz:

Kind Regards

Steve

Matthew Patching

22-10-2007, 06:57 PM

Nice one, you'll be slapping crows in less than a month. Ill be back out after them this weekend all being well. Nobby is coming on a treat, and Arwen wont be far behind I dont think.:supz:

Wooly

22-10-2007, 07:29 PM

Well done Bradley, good luck with the rest of the training, looking forward to reading about his and your progress Terry.:supz: :supz:

Bradley

03-11-2007, 09:02 PM

saturday 3rd of November

For about last week we have just been taking Pancho out and let him do whatever that he wanted to do without us trying to make him do things all of the time because my dad says that its sometimes best to let young falcons learn to fly on its own.
So what we have been doing is going for a walk and Pancho was just following us about and was scared of flying because my dad said you could tell because that his tail was fanned all the time so we just let him do and fly when he wanted he only let me get so far away then he flys over to me then run after me for a bit and then we both have a sit down for a bit
Then yesterday we were sitting on the rocks when Pancho bobbed his head and started flying off over the valley and then we saw that he was being chased all over from a male peregrine and it was making Pancho scared and he went right way down in the valley until we could not see him.
My dad said to give him 10 minutes that he should come back before we move to try and track him after 10 minutes he still had not come back and we had not even seen him then I could hear his bell then could see him flying just above the ground very low up the side of the valley and he had to stop twice before he could get to me because he was tired out

Today we had made our mind up that we had given Pancho a long enough time now so that he could find is wings and that we should start out making him work
Today was the first time that Pancho had been tried to stoop to a lure so when he flew to me I pulled the lure out of his way and it all went like it should do my dad says that he his still scared when he his flying because that his tail is still spread out all the time and he flys a long way to be able to turn around
Today pancho did 12 stoops in 3 go`s and that was good for his first day at stooping to a lure

We think that Pancho should be fit enough to start trying to catch crows in 3 weeks but now because of the time I get in from school my dad will be doing the fitness training with pancho in the week days and I will be doing it at the weekends but he should be hunting really good for Christmas when I have my next school holiday

Bradley

Martin Whitley

03-11-2007, 09:13 PM

Good to have an update from you Bradley, some falcons need to get their confidence before they start work, He wont' be any less of a crow falcon for that

Eznugud

04-11-2007, 11:11 AM

Good to have an update from you Bradley, some falcons need to get their confidence before they start work, He wont' be any less of a crow falcon for that

Martin

For the last 2 weeks it’s been slow going with him regarding flying, he will come any distance in a straight line but lacked confidence doing anything else.
I even got Bradley to put an ounce on him thinking he would ****** off and fly because my first instinct after seeing him following Brad around was that his weight was low.

I took him off Bradley the other day launched not cast him of the top of a mountain in pretty strong winds thinking “this will get you flying you little sod”…………it did, straight to a tree about half mile down wind, when he got to the tree he fluttered about and realised he either didn’t know to or was scared to land the turned round flew all the way back landed a Brads feet and walked about with us for half hour……

Yesterday the penny finally dropped and he started stooping like he had been doing it all his life, he’s still a little nervous when it comes to turning, tail fully spread and using the length of a football field……but at least we can get on with fitness training now….

The vid I have attached is from sometime last week, I took him out on my own, and he’s been like this everyday.

We now call Bradley Dr Doolittle, yesterday I took a turn stooping Pancho, he did 3 stoops, after the 3rd stoop he spotted Bradley stood 300yds away and carried on towards him landing at his feet, then followed him {walking behind} while we walked over to me……..dropped the lure for him a called it a day

HawkMom

05-11-2007, 04:40 AM

Fawkes

05-11-2007, 04:43 AM

Interesting.. that tandem luring could be a good way of learning a new falconer to swing a lure as well. Never thought of that.

Martin Whitley

05-11-2007, 07:21 AM

Interesting.. that tandem luring could be a good way of learning a new falconer to swing a lure as well. Never thought of that.
To much of it can be a good way of teaching a young falcon not to be focussed on it's quarry, it will be looking for "the next one" all the time

Eznugud

05-11-2007, 09:20 AM

I think that 'tandem luring' would be fun for both of you. You both have identical lures. Have Pancho start with one lure, (three stoops). Hide the lure, then the other falconer flies him to three stoops. Then the both of you alternate three stoops apiece until Pancho shows that he is getting tired. I've done this with a friend's Saker falcon. I though it was lots of fun.

Hi

I can see what you’re saying and actually thought about doing it with Cisco in the summer but soon dropped the idea when I remembered we were training a hunting falcon.

Pancho is going to be used in pursuit flights at crows, he needs to be persistent and stick to his crow like poo to a blanket, I do not want to take the risk of him breaking of an attack with a crow to go and chase another that’s flying 300yds away…………I think that “Tandem” luring could give me problems in the long term.

Not only that Pancho turned the corner over the last few days, yesterday he put in 20 good stoops, two 5`s and 10 in his last session.
I actually got excited about his flying yesterday, the tail is now folded and by God is he fast………you can actually hear the “wussssh” when he goes past, I’m no expert at swinging a lure but have been doing it for a long time and can hold my own, Pancho threw me yesterday with his straight line speed when putting in a pass at the lure……..this boy is bloody fast.

He’s also a big lad, weight wise he’s now at 1lb 11oz and I can see him entering at 1lb 11 1/2oz, Cisco was 2oz smaller…….Just goes to show the variation in size.

Eznugud

07-11-2007, 11:23 PM

What a day……

Due to Bradley being at school I’ve been stooping Pancho for him during the day, I usually walk into the training field put Pancho on the floor and walk away.
Today I decided I was going to cast him off for a change, I slipped the hood off, and he bobbed his head a few times and left the fist with a bit of meaning……
I wasn’t taking a lot of notice and went to my bag to get the lure out thinking that he would be circling waiting for the lure……he wasn’t he was straight lining and not looking back, I stood scratching my head watching him powering off into the distance.
I had just shouted the last swear word I could remember at short notice when he put in a sharp banking left turn followed by little short stoop and started chasing a few crows that were sat minding their own business.
I then lost sight of him but kept seeing crows and magpies kicking up a fuss………

Long story short he gave me to run around for a few hours until it went dark, I got stuck in traffic, dumped the car, walked miles, went home.

After I got a telling off from Bradley for leaving his falcon out we set off the pin point him so it could pick him up first thing in the morning.
We eventually found him in a small wood, but I was sure he was on the floor with the signal I was getting, not wanting to risk leaving him on the floor in the wood overnight we decided to go and find him.
After about 10minutes we heard his bell, Brads pointed the torch in the direction of the bell and there his was WALKING through the wood, we got within 5 feet of him before he flew off.

We made our way back to the car and started tracking him again; about 30minutes later we had tracked him to a golf driving range that had more flood lights that you could shake a stick at…..
Standing in the middle of the car park I had a cracking all round signal, I told Bradley that we were on top of him…..
The signal was strange, very strong then it would drop off for a few seconds then come back again, at first I thought he was flying then Bradley spotted him on the roof of one of the buildings.
A chap took Bradley onto the range into the floodlit area and Brads brought him into the lure……

While Bradley was changing jesses etc I was chatting with one of the golfers, Pancho had been chasing golf balls for the last 20minutes…….every time a golf ball was driven down the range Pancho was coming of the roof and chasing it down the range then flying back up to the roof……..thats why the signal kept fluctuating……

Anyway it turned out nice in the end, Brads is smiling, Pancho is in the mews and we can now fly the gos on the golf course…

Falconry Equipment International

08-11-2007, 01:15 AM

PMSL Sean, reminds me of this story. When I was in the UK my training fields where a public school playing fields that had about a dozen cricket pitches on them. Well about 10 years ago I had a tiercel that once flying free would not wait on , despite everything I tried, he kept bu**ering off and chasing blood red cricket balls! Glad all is going well

Laggan

08-11-2007, 09:33 PM

Hi

I can see what you’re saying and actually thought about doing it with Cisco in the summer but soon dropped the idea when I remembered we were training a hunting falcon.

Pancho is going to be used in pursuit flights at crows, he needs to be persistent and stick to his crow like poo to a blanket, I do not want to take the risk of him breaking of an attack with a crow to go and chase another that’s flying 300yds away…………I think that “Tandem” luring could give me problems in the long term.

Hi Shaun,

you have probably forgotten more about crow hawking than I ever learned, but 'tandem flying' if my understanding is correct is, in effect, flying to the swung lure between two people a large distance apart. I have used it to a reasonably productive effect in the past without any noticeable switch of focus on the falcon's behalf. It certainly provides an interesting change to the falcon to a single swung lure, but I have used it predominantly as a build-up to aerobic fitness and as an alternative to straightline long-luring. Actually it is rather like long-luring but with multiple repetitions. Just thought I would share my personal experiences.

While Bradley was changing jesses etc I was chatting with one of the golfers, Pancho had been chasing golf balls for the last 20minutes…….every time a golf ball was driven down the range Pancho was coming of the roof and chasing it down the range then flying back up to the roof……..thats why the signal kept fluctuating……

The image this conjures up had me laughing like hell.......but glad that he was recovered without a problem.

Speak soon.

Iain

Will K

10-11-2007, 01:04 PM

This is a brilliant read.
Good on you Bradley! All the best with him. :D

Will

Eznugud

16-11-2007, 03:33 PM

Bit of an Update…..

I have been getting Pancho fit due to Bradley being at school and the dark evenings……
If we were still in August Pancho would be ready to move onto the entering stage of his training but because of the time of year and the lack of moulting crows about we have decided to give him an extra week in the training fields working on his footing etc…its to late to be early……

He making a nice little falcon and he’s a real character and a pleasure to be with……I have a really good feeling about this one.

Bradley

17-11-2007, 02:57 PM

Saturday the 17th of November

Today it was nice to get out with pancho because of school I have not been flying him at the week and my Dad is doing it form me.
Today we showed pancho a dead crow for the first time in his life and he was scared to death of it but it didn’t bother me this time because that is just how Cisco did when we showed him a crow for the first time.
My Dad had left the spare lure in the car so we took the lure of the line that we had and tied that to the crow my dad unhooded pancho and he set off to me straight away but when he noticed it was not the lure and a crow he would not come in to it and was flying around me but would not come to the dead crow.
Pancho had been flying around me for along time and was starting to drift away so my dad shouted over for me to hide the crow and throw out the lure even though it did not have a line on it because it was tied onto the dead crow, and the second pancho saw me throw the lure out he came in and got it
I then put the dead crow on top of the lure and the moved the lure so that pancho had only the dead crow and he noticed and jumped off it and was running away from it the coming back and screaming at it just like what Cisco did the first time he saw a crow.
My dad then told me to put the crows wing out and push a chick up through the feathers on the crows wing for pancho to see and when he did see it he jumped onto the crow and started eating the chick on the top of the crow then when he had finished eating the chick I started pulling so of the crows feathers out then pancho started and then he realised that it was food and started pulling feathers out by himself and once he had broken into it and started eating he really started mantling over the crow and everything

I am really pleased with pancho today and now tomorrow we can start giving him proper slips at the dead crow when we are dragging it

Bradley

Bradley

17-11-2007, 03:09 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00023.jpg?t=1195311969

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00024.jpg?t=1195312062

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00025.jpg?t=1195312107

Bradley

17-11-2007, 03:11 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00027.jpg?t=1195312186

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00031.jpg?t=1195312228

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00032.jpg?t=1195312264

Matthew Patching

17-11-2007, 03:29 PM

NICE!

Martin Whitley

17-11-2007, 04:27 PM

Good stuff Bradley

Gyr

17-11-2007, 04:42 PM

Nice work, keep it up.:D

Falconry Equipment International

17-11-2007, 05:04 PM

Well done Bradley & Pancho, onwardsan upwards now guys:goodman::supz:

Laggan

17-11-2007, 05:33 PM

Saturday the 17th of November

I then put the dead crow on top of the lure and the moved the lure so that pancho had only the dead crow and he noticed and jumped off it and was running away from it the coming back and screaming at it just like what Cisco did the first time he saw a crow.
My dad then told me to put the crows wing out and push a chick up through the feathers on the crows wing for pancho to see and when he did see it he jumped onto the crow and started eating the chick on the top of the crow then when he had finished eating the chick I started pulling so of the crows feathers out then pancho started and then he realised that it was food and started pulling feathers out by himself and once he had broken into it and started eating he really started mantling over the crow and everything

I am really pleased with pancho today and now tomorrow we can start giving him proper slips at the dead crow when we are dragging it

Bradley

Bradley,

this is a great thread - I wish you and Pancho well. Sharing your experiences and how you overcome problems like the one above I am sure is appreciated by many.

LadyHawke

17-11-2007, 07:00 PM

Bradley, I'm loving this thread! He looks a wee cracker!! I cant wait to hear how he goes on.:supz:

Pendleside

17-11-2007, 07:06 PM

top stuff brad.:supz:

JayB

17-11-2007, 07:15 PM

excellent thread bradley, he is one good looking bird best of luck with him

Wooly

17-11-2007, 09:21 PM

Good luck with him Bradley. Terry.:supz::supz:

Bradley

18-11-2007, 03:13 PM

Sunday 18th of November

The weather was raining today and cold
I stooped Pancho to the lure and he caught me out on his 7th stoop my Dads been saying all the time that Pancho is faster at flying than Cisco was and today I could tell that how fast Pancho is because when he turns to come to the lure he his coming so fast that it is hard to time it when to throw out the lure because when I was stoop Cisco I could some of the time do 30 stoops without out him being able to catch me out
My dad then had a go at stooping Pancho and Pancho got the lure after 3 stoops and my dad said it was because of the rain being in his eyes and not because Pancho was better
Then on the last time I stooped him he did 18 stoops and then my dad shouted over to me to let him have the lure because he was getting a lot wet and we still had to do the dragged crow for him Pancho was still scared of the crow again today and would not fly at it so I called him to the lure again and then did the same thing that we did yesterday and swaped over the lure for the crow but this time Pancho did not jump off of it he started to eat it straight away so that is good but my dad thinks that he was wrong thinking that he would be ready to catch crows next week and thinks that it could be another 2 weeks time before that Pancho will be ready to catch crows.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00077.jpg?t=1195398632

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00084.jpg?t=1195398697

I feel more proud of how good Pancho is now because of how he was when I got him 4 weeks ago because when I got Cisco he was 8 weeks old and even from the first time that I had him on my fist he was not bothered and was not scared of my and he just sat on my fist and was steady right a way and when I got Pancho he was right mad and did not like like me and would not stand on my fist for something like 3 hole days but now he trust me more than anything in just 4 weeks
This morning because it was raining we did not put him on the block on the garden like we always do before we take them out to fly because they like to have a stretch and preen so that he would not get wet
Instead of putting Pancho on the block I brought him into the house and my mum was doing the washing and my sister was straightning her air and the dogs were going giddy but Pancho was on my fist in the middle of everything preening and I am proud of that

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00071.jpg?t=1195398758

SparsTheOne

18-11-2007, 03:21 PM

nice one bradley i hope to see the first crow kill shortly young man.

jase.

Martin Whitley

18-11-2007, 06:32 PM

Another good update Bradley, your doing a great job with him

Pendleside

18-11-2007, 07:08 PM

never mind standing in the kitchen with pancho .:evil:
the time would have been better spent showing your dad how to swing a lure properly :lol: :lol:.

keep up the good work brad .
another good update on pancho's progress .:supz:

Bradley

21-11-2007, 07:50 PM

When I got in from school today my dad said that if I wanted us to that we can try and enter Pancho on this Sunday because my dad says that he is nearly ready and that he chased a blackbird across the field today when my dad was stooping him for me but the blackbird was a lot faster than pancho was and I am glad that he did not catch it because I only want him to catch crows
My dad says that it is a good sign for us to know that he is nearly ready when he starts chasing things and now that he is started doing it the better we get him entered the better
I am looking forward to Sunday now and hope that pancho can catch the first crow when I am with him because it was something like 4 days trying when I was getting Cisco to be entered but my dad is always saying that Pancho is a better at flying than cisco was to the lure and that he is lots more aggresaive than that cisco was
I will put a post up on Sunday for if pancho catches a crow or not
My dad takes me photografs of pancho when he is being trained every day and then text them to me when I am at school and this one form today was funny beccase it looks like panchos got a really long tongue and we are now calling him the lizard

Bradley

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00099.jpg?t=1195674578

Matthew Patching

21-11-2007, 08:10 PM

Martin Whitley

21-11-2007, 08:16 PM

Good luck for sunday Bradley

Laggan

21-11-2007, 08:22 PM

Bradley,

you clearly have a wonderful way with your birds - wishing you continued success.

All the best.

Iain

Wooly

23-11-2007, 02:08 PM

Good luck for Sunday Bradley. I hope everything go's to plan. Terry:supz::supz:

Falconry Equipment International

24-11-2007, 03:20 AM

good luck for sunday brads, say hallo to dad for me as well:yawinkle:

Bradley

25-11-2007, 03:17 PM

Sunday 25th of Novenber

Today we had decided that we would try and enter pancho at crows so we went out this morning over to the tops where abouts we do all our crow hawking and it was the first time pancho had been out of the training fields and to the tops and it was really very windy
First of all we so 10 rooks in the field that is 2 fields away from the blue farm in field that cisco had is second kill in and we drove past the rook and then I got out of the car and walked back to splip pancho but the rooks lifted before I had got close enough but I unhooded pancho anyway and he went straight after them but the spread is wings so I got my lure out and got him back
Then we sow some more rooks and this time my dad stayed in the car and I sneaked up and pancho went straight away and chased a rook for a bit and then spreaded is wings again
Then we found one crow on its own and I unhooded pancho but this time the crow was still in the ground and pancho was bobbing his head and when the crow walked a little bit pancho set off and went straight for it and he quite close before the crow lifted and then you could see him go right fast when the the crow started to fly and got right behind it and you sow his feet trying to grab it but he just couldn’t get it the he just spread his wings again a turned away and landed on a wall, I was going to get the lure out and my dad told me not to and to just walk over to him and pick him up off the wall and then feed him up because my dad says that’s hes just not quite ready yet.

Today was good even though that pancho did not catch a crow because of my dad knowing about crow falcons we have been able to see how pancho reacted and my dad says that it was not a mistake to bring him today but that hes is not ready yet and needs a few more days on the lure but my dad is going to give him lure work and dragged crows for the whole of the week because he says that I should be there when pancho catches his first crow so pancho will get worked hard to the lure all week than we will be going to try him again on next Saturday

Bradley

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00140.jpg?t=1196003756

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00141.jpg?t=1196003798

Martin Whitley

25-11-2007, 06:34 PM

Dont' worry Bradley, it is hard to know 100% when it is going to go perfectly first time with a crow falcon, roll on Saturday

FredrickFogg

26-11-2007, 12:59 AM

You are lucky Bradley to have an experienced mentor to guide you with Pancho, and to top it off, it is your dad! Pretty cool in my book! Keep up the good work!

Fred

Wooly

26-11-2007, 09:28 PM

Good luck for Saturday Bradley, I tried my tiercel last Saturday, the first slip he put in a couple of stoops then turned off as the crow put into some trees. The second slip I think there where to many. But never mind there's always next time.

Keep up the good work Bradley. Terry:supz::supz:

Gyr69

26-11-2007, 11:10 PM

Keep up the good work Brad,I was talking to your Dad on the phone tonight and he told me how fast he is.:supz:

HawkMom

27-11-2007, 12:49 PM

My late (1986-2003) 'Elvira' (Pere/prairie) was an excellent crow hawk. Difficult, yet deadly on crows. Her typical technique was to look at the crows, then launch in the OPPOSITE direction. She would then 'hit the deck' and use the contours of the land to hide her approach. She would then sneak back to the crows and grab one. I would hear the flight more than see it. The crows would simply go crazy, and would gang up on her. She would hold the victim down, cover it with her wings in a circle and hide her head under the wings. To protect her face from the mobbing crow beaks. She would then wait for me to finish the crow off. It was great fun. Despite the temper tantrums and such, she was very much loved. (Typical prairie falcon temperment).

Your bird will be great Bradley. He will figure it out very soon and see you as an assistant in the field. I think that having your dad as your mentor is one of the greatest gifts a falconer can have.

Matthew Patching

27-11-2007, 07:29 PM

[QUOTE=HawkMom;712884] Her typical technique was to look at the crows, then launch in the OPPOSITE direction. She would then 'hit the deck' and use the contours of the land to hide her approach. She would then sneak back to the crows and grab one. I would hear the flight more than see it.

QUOTE]

Dont mean to disapoint but what you describe is not typical crow hawking, its more like crow catching, although I am sure that shaun & brads would be quite pleased if this happened at this present moment in time.:yawinkle:

FredrickFogg

27-11-2007, 07:43 PM

Bradley

29-11-2007, 05:28 PM

Thursday the 29th of November

Me and my dad had a talk about pancho and the time of the year and everythink and we decided on that because I had done most of the important training with pancho and even though my dad said it would be good for me to be there when pancho caught is first crow it was better for all of us if pancho was entered sooner the better so we decided that my dad would instead of just giving him lure work he would also try and enter him for me and my dad said it dosent really matter because I know what to do because of how I did it with cisco in the summer

Number 1 for Pancho

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00147.jpg?t=1196356680

My dad gave pancho 3 slips today and pancho caught a crow on the last one and he told me that he caught a dead sheep on his second slip
On his first slip my dad his not sure what happened because he slipped pancho and lost sight of the flight and when he had run around the corner he found pancho walking up and down at the bottom of a wall but pancho did not want to come back to my dad so he thinks that he could have chased a starling that were with the crows and that the starling could have hidden inside the wall and that was why pancho was walking up and down at the wall and did not want to jump up to my dad.

On the second slip it was at some rooks and pancho was chasing one and the rook landed on a wall because it panicked and was landed on top of the wall and turned to pancho and started screaming at him pancho was above him the dropped down to the floor at the other side of the wall and the rook fluw off
My dad thought that there must have been a rook on the floor at the other side of the wall that he could not see so he ran over thinking that pancho must have got one because he did not get the one on the top of the wall that had given in and was an easy kill but when my dad got there pancho was sat on the top of a dead and rotting sheep and was mantling on the sheeps head, my dad says that he was fuming and I bet he was really swearing at pancho because I can remember how he used to swear at cisco when he missed easy crows when he was being entered.

On the last slip it was at 8 crows and my dad said it was a bit longer slip than that he wanted to take because of pancho not having any experience and that it was very windy and it was a cross the wind slip
Pancho was slow to leave my dads fist and when the crows lifted he went and the crows made a mistake my dad said because they went to the right and that meant that pancho could cut the corner and he caught up with them and bounded to the last crow about 20feet into the sky and landed on the middle of the field with it.

My dad says that pancho is a faster and more piwerfull falcon that cisco was but that cisco was a natural pursut falcon but pancho is not and that he thinks he will make a really good crow falcon but we will have to keep on the top of him and that he will need more thinking about than it did with cisco
I am a little sad that I missed his first kill but I am happy that pancho is entered and now I can look forwards to crow hawking again.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00150.jpg?t=1196357055

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00159.jpg?t=1196357158

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00163.jpg?t=1196357230

Stephen

29-11-2007, 05:32 PM

well done bradley
im sure you will be getting plenty more with him soon

PenelopeP

29-11-2007, 06:05 PM

Thursday the 29th of November

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00163.jpg?t=1196357230

Great story telling Bradley. Congrat on pancho's 1st kill.
This last photo just really makes me smile. :heart:

Matthew Patching

29-11-2007, 06:08 PM

Its good news all round today, its about time that we started having a bit better luck, dont you think Brads. Well done Pancho, and cant wait to see him go at christmas. I bet you cant wait for saturday now can you?

Its nice when things come together.:D

Martin Whitley

29-11-2007, 06:26 PM

Well done Pancho (and Shaun and Bradley) first of many.
Dead sheep are the bane of my life when I'm entering young falcons in august as they seem to crop up in all the wrong places (only thing thats more anoying are ramblers and magic mushroom pickers)

Laggan

30-11-2007, 10:01 AM

Delighted for you Bradley.........would have loved to have been there and heard your dad's language when Pancho was on the sheep! Some choice words no doubt. Sounds as though you have another fine falcon in the making and being different to Cisco will provide you with a great opportunity to continue your falconry journey.

Really good thread. I wish you every success.

Bradley

01-12-2007, 02:55 PM

Saturday 1st of December

Today my dad had made a right mess with panchos weight because that when he had caught a crow on Thursday my dad had given him a right good feed but he did not fly him on the Friday to make sure that he would be ready for me to fly him today and he made a mistake of not giving pancho enough food yesterday and that his weight had gone to low down today by quarter of an ounce
When I told my dad what his weight was this morning when we was getting ready to go out my dad told me to feed him a little bit to eat and we would go out in and hour when pancho had put it over out of his crop my dad said it was not the perfect thing and that it was guess work but it was a point of making the bestest job we could out of it now and that be could make sure he was on weight for tomorrow

When that is was time to go out we decided that pancho would get only 3 slips and that if he didn’t look right even on his first slip we would feed him up and come home and make sure he was all right for tomorrow
When we got out over to the tops it was very gale force winds that strong that my dad said that even Cisco would have had struggled today and it was hard trying to find some crows
We found a slip at some crow in the bottom corner of a field and when I slipped pancho the crows were better than he was in the wind and before he had got even half way to them the crow had gone straight up into the sky and pancho did not know what to do so I called him in to the lure and was happy that he his taking slips straight away now and going off the fist fast but with the gale force winds you can not expect a inexperienced falcon to get everything right
On his second slip we had found 2 crows that was a good slip if it wasn’t so windy but because of the wind it made it a ok slip and we decided to take it anyway, Pancho chased them to a old steel hut in the corner of the field and was trying hard and was even running along the roof after one and then the crow just opened its wings and it went straight up into the sky and pancho landed on the wall so I called him back into the lure and we said that we could tell that is weight was a bit low and that we would give him one more slip then we would feed him up

The last slip was our best flight but it was a bad slip because of how close the crow was to cover and the strongness of the wind
This is the video of the last slip and my dad got a bit over excited with this flight and when we watched the video he said that he didn’t know that he was shouting on it
Ater that slip we fed pancho up and hope that the winds have gone down for tomorrow because its difficult with an unexperianced falcon in strong winds
My dad says im not allowed to put the last video on because he was swearing on it.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_01122007052.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=01122007052.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_01122007055.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=01122007055.flv)

Bradley

01-12-2007, 03:00 PM

i think i will post it up anyway

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_01122007056.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=01122007056.flv)

Martin Whitley

01-12-2007, 03:59 PM

Saturday 1st of December

My dad says im not allowed to put the last video on because he was swearing on it.

It sounds Just like the technical falconry terms we use on Dartmoor when things are going wrong, nothing there that sounded like swearing ( bad language when hawking down here normaly involve the word Ramblers or cyclists )

Taz

01-12-2007, 04:55 PM

Great to see you with ur new bird Bradley :supz::supz::supz:

Mark Collins

01-12-2007, 05:05 PM

Good stuff , keep it coming,mark.

Eznugud

01-12-2007, 05:30 PM

The wind killed us today; the most seasoned falcon would have struggled today.
Pretty frustrating at the moment the falcon is more than up for it we just need a week or 2 of decent weather with light wind so we can get half a dozen kills under is belt………

The last video clip does not show how close he was to nailing the crow, photobucket must knock the resolution down because when I watch the original on my computer you can see the crow and falcon as clear as day and how close he actually was…..

Touch wood the winds will have calmed down for tomorrow and with a little luck the rest of the week……

FredrickFogg

01-12-2007, 05:45 PM

You can really hear the wind in the video's! Such a shame it drowned out the cursing! LOL Don't you hate it when the weather screws up a day of hawking! Sounds like you guys are having a blast though. Great video's and it won't be long and he will be slaying crows left and right! :supz:

Fred

Ben C

01-12-2007, 05:56 PM

Well spent youth of today.................:supz:

Martin Whitley

01-12-2007, 06:23 PM

The wind killed us today; the most seasoned falcon would have struggled today.
…
I have to be honest here and say well done for trying, I decided against going out today due to the wind, it was not just strong but it was very gusty as well down here which tends to be a recipie for a disaster ( a falcon learning it is easier to slip off the moor and murder rooks on the lower ground)

Eznugud

01-12-2007, 07:58 PM

I have to be honest here and say well done for trying, I decided against going out today due to the wind, it was not just strong but it was very gusty as well down here which tends to be a recipie for a disaster ( a falcon learning it is easier to slip off the moor and murder rooks on the lower ground)

Martin, it was a bit of a risk with such an inexperienced falcon, I was worried about him getting blown away.
The first slip he got buffeted and blown all over the place and didn’t look like he would get on terms with a paper bag never mind a crow.
After the second slip we left him for a while to “play”, my bottom was nipping at one stage when he was a speck on the horizon and about 400 foot up……….Brad swung the lure and he came straight back in.
On the third slip he was a different bird.

I’ve just looked at the 5 day forecast and its looks like its going to be the same all next so Pancho will have to learn is trade in strong winds….

LadyHawke

01-12-2007, 08:24 PM

This little bird is one to watch! I read this thread eagerly, waiting for his next exploits. I hope the weather gets better for you.:supz:

Eznugud

02-12-2007, 04:38 PM

Sunday 2nd December 2008..

We tried....

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_02122007062.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=02122007062.flv)

Then Brads had a play......

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_02122007063.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=02122007063.flv)

Martin Whitley

02-12-2007, 04:58 PM

Sunday 2nd December 2008..

We tried....
]
at least you tried, some of us bottled out again

Eznugud

03-12-2007, 05:13 PM

Monday 3rd December 2007

Number 2 for Pancho

Gale force winds again today, but just to spice it up a little more it decided to rain as well……..Anyone who tries crow hawking in this weather is a bloody idiot…..Guess what I was doing today?

First slip a crow took him over to the other side of the valley, when I eventually caught up with the flight Pancho was chasing the crow around the only hedgerow for 20 miles, I could see he was soaked to brought him in to the lure instead of trying to flush the crow for him……..I wasn’t in the mood to be running up and down a hedgerow.

Pancho was soaked to the skin so it was into the landy with the blowers at full belt to try and get him dry.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00169.jpg?t=1196701694

Second slip was at a small mixed flock, Pancho picked out a Jackdaw and the flight went immediately down wind and right down the valley, they were covering ground bloody quickly.
I eventually lost sight of them but had a feeling that Pancho had caught it due to the lack of cover in the direction they were going and by the way he was flying, matching every twist and turn.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00188.jpg?t=1196701861

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00193.jpg?t=1196701925

I was more than happy with Pancho today, to out fly and catch a jackdaw in fair flight in these weather conditions is no easy fete, roll on when the winds die down.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00196.jpg?t=1196701995

Martin Whitley

03-12-2007, 05:27 PM

Well done, catching a jackdaw in a fair flight if the weather has been like it was here is pretty damned good, especially for an inexperienced falcon ( fronm a very soggy falconer who did finally venture out today:D)

BrightRed

03-12-2007, 06:02 PM

what a fantastic thread, i had to let my tea go cold cos i couldnt drag myself away.
all the best from charlie

Matthew Patching

03-12-2007, 06:59 PM

Have you dryed your socks out Shaun.:yawinkle:

Looking forward to seeing the little tearaway go later on in the month!

Eznugud

03-12-2007, 07:34 PM

Have you dryed your socks out Shaun.:yawinkle:

Looking forward to seeing the little tearaway go later on in the month!

If the weather gives us a break he will come on leaps and bounds, it’s hard enough with a male learning its trade on seasoned crows without having to deal with gale force winds & rain every day.

At the moment I’m finding it very difficult to get motivated, I’m very close to saying sod it and wait until next season.
The falcons spot on but at the stage the falcon is now I need a break with the weather, if this weather had held out for another 2 weeks I would have been laughing, the timing is ****…..just get him entered and bang……200000mph winds for days on end and looking at the forecast there in for a week or so yet……

Just on a bit of a downer, its hit home over the last few days how costly Cisco getting killed was, I should be out hunting crows now with a falcon that learnt its crow hawking during the summer months, I should be enjoying some class crow hawking after all the effort and time that was put in over the summer……..instead I’m ignoring slips that I should have been able to take looking for easier ones trying to get a young inexperienced falcon going……

Matthew Patching

03-12-2007, 07:59 PM

If the weather gives us a break he will come on leaps and bounds, it’s hard enough with a male learning its trade on seasoned crows without having to deal with gale force winds & rain every day.

At the moment I’m finding it very difficult to get motivated, I’m very close to saying sod it and wait until next season.
The falcons spot on but at the stage the falcon is now I need a break with the weather, if this weather had held out for another 2 weeks I would have been laughing, the timing is shit…..just get him entered and bang……200000mph winds for days on end and looking at the forecast there in for a week or so yet……

Just on a bit of a downer, its hit home over the last few days how costly Cisco getting killed was, I should be out hunting crows now with a falcon that learnt its crow hawking during the summer months, I should be enjoying some class crow hawking after all the effort and time that was put in over the summer……..instead I’m ignoring slips that I should have been able to take looking for easier ones trying to get a young inexperienced falcon going……

Dont be on a downer mate, but I know exactly where you are coming from, he will get there, he caught today in strong winds, give him a bit more time shaun, and Im sure that he will come good, and remember you can alus give me a ring and have a moan, I enjoy it, gives me somthing to laugh about, and keeps me chuckleing all afternoon. Just a thought pack a fishing umbrella and a small barbeque, for when the little 'B's' feeding up.

Talk soon

Matt

Eznugud

08-12-2007, 06:44 PM

Bit of an Update……

I’m just on the verge of chucking the towel in and saying sod it until the spring.
9 days solid of gale force winds, rain, sleet and snow with 100yds visibility, we been doing our best and flying in some ridiculous weather and situations and my motivation hit rock bottom today.

Working tomorrow so can’t take him out, but I’m going to give it another few days and see what the weather decides to do.
If we don’t get a break in it then I will probably feed him up until the end of February and get him ready for mid March and fly him until the first week in May.

I don’t mind a bit of wind and a bit of rain but 9 days solid of gales and rain with a inexperienced falcon is like peeing in the wind.
I’m loosing the will to live and the falcon will end up getting disheartened

Today...

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00212.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00209.jpg?t=1197139334

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00206.jpg?t=1197139388

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00205.jpg?t=1197139428

Laggan

08-12-2007, 07:07 PM

Yorky

08-12-2007, 07:30 PM

Just read all of the Cisco and Pancho threads. Sorry to hear about your roller coaster ride of a year. You sound a sensible chap, whatever decision you make i'm sure will be the right one. Good luck.

Matthew Patching

08-12-2007, 09:13 PM

Shaun, when I spoke to you earlier I thought you ment that it had just started snowing, not that there was enough to make igloos out of.

If you do put pancho down, I feel that I have to offer you Arwen back, as I know that she would lift your spirits back up a bit, although she got beat by the weather today aswell.

Eznugud

08-12-2007, 09:37 PM

Shaun,

I don't like to hear you sound so despondent, but your words are from the well of wisdom. For what my thoughts are worth, I would do exactly the same thing as you are planning. Taking a male on at this time of year is certainly a challenge and a road-less-travelled, but with the awful weather, it is doubly so.

You have potentially a cracking falcon-in-the-making, and to continue to attempt to introduce him to hard crow hawking in these conditions runs the risk of ruining him long-term. Perhaps 'ruining' is too harsh a word, but you know what I mean.

Feeding him up and bringing him out in the Spring sounds like a well considered plan to me.

Best wishes.

Iain

Iain

The falcon is more than ready, he’s giving it is all.
The problem I have at the moment is that he entered the day before the gales and rain started and since then every time he goes out and slipped at a crow he’s getting blown off the fist and smashed into walls, fences and gates and he’s usually soaked before the hood is off.
The crows really jumpy at this time of year anyway and I’m struggling to get a slip closer than 150yds, not a massive problem with an experienced falcon but for a inexperienced falcon 150yds slips combined with gales and gusts up to 65mph plus horizontal rain its near on impossible…….

If the weather had held off for 2 weeks after his first kill he would have had half a dozen or more under his belt and we would have been laughing.

p.s

Just read the good news regarding Rufus.....

Laggan

08-12-2007, 09:49 PM

Perhaps I didn't phrase my post very well Shaun, but we both know that regular early successes are key to building a young falcon's confidence and the weather has been totally against you.....and from what I have seen of the forecast looks to continue to be so.

'Ruined' was a totally inappropriate word for me to have used.......perhaps discouraged, disheartened etc. You know more about what it takes to make a good crow hawk than me, just wanted to share my thoughts and support the route you are considering taking.

Here's hoping the weather forecasters have it totally wrong. All the best.

Iain

Eznugud

10-12-2007, 09:25 PM

On the 11th day God gave me a break…………………..and Pancho was finally able to show what he can do…………

If you have been following the thread you will know that we have had terrible weather {gales & horizontal rain} here over the last 10 days and I have been really struggling with Pancho.
Well today the gales had gone, the sky was blue and Pancho got his chance to show what he could do.

For the first time since Pancho entered I was able to take him to the tops, nothing but fields and walls as for as the eye can see.
I drove down the track and spotted a mixed flock of at least 60 corvids, it was going to be a cross wind slip but beggars can’t be choosers.
Pancho was a little slow to leave the fist but eventually powered off towards the corvids surprisingly keeping very low to the ground, the flock lifted and turned immediately to the right and started gaining height, Pancho was ignoring the flock and straight lining still low to the ground and really pumping hard.
Eventually I had to take my eyes off him for a second to lift the binoculars up, at first I couldn’t see him then I spotted him sat on a wall a good half mile away, out with the lure but the little sod totally ignored me.
After standing on a wall swinging the lure and turning the air blue for 10 minutes I decided that I would have to go and him, I could so far with the Land Rover then I would have to about 500yds.
When I finally got to where I thought he should have been he was not there, I was just taking the telemetry off my back when I heard his bell, 20yds in front of me I found him at the bottom of a rock filled depression / crater sat on a rock, the wall I thought he was sat on was a pile of rocks on top of the depression.
I called him up to the fist and was just about to hood him when a crow got up from behind a some rocks in the bottom of the depression, Pancho bated the second the crow moved but I took a while for my brain the register what was happening and kept hold of the jess and flicked him back onto the fist.
Pancho was now stood on my fist wings spread head bobbing, the crow was making its escape and was now well on its ways and I’m stood there like a plank.
The penny finally dropped and I lifted Pancho above my head and with a little flick of the wrist he was on his way really powering after his crow, he caught it up in no time and started to put it under pressure like a pro.
In no time they had dropped below the skyline and I couldn’t make them out at the distance against the back ground, I held my ground for a few minutes then crows started coming in from everywhere going ballistic, they were really having a go …….Pancho must have got his crow but was now being put under pressure from every crow in the area and I was 500yds from the Land Rover, then 3 fields and 4 gates to open and close before I could get to help him…….he was on his own for this one.

While driving towards where he was I could see the crows slowly moving away for the area, if Pancho had been an experienced falcon I would not have been to worried but on only his 3rd kill the last thing I needed was him to be bullied of his kill.
When I got there he was tucked in to the foot of a wall with is crow, I was relieved that he had not been intimidated and stuck with is crow.

If I can get a few weeks of good {ish} weather Pancho will have the chance to come into his own and make a cracking little crow falcon.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00228.jpg?t=1197321309
You can see where he caught it on the right and where i moved him to on the left for obvious reasons.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00226.jpg?t=1197321674

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00233.jpg?t=1197321757

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00230.jpg?t=1197321855

Perhaps I didn't phrase my post very well Shaun, but we both know that regular early successes are key to building a young falcon's confidence and the weather has been totally against you.....and from what I have seen of the forecast looks to continue to be so.

'Ruined' was a totally inappropriate word for me to have used.......perhaps discouraged, disheartened etc. You know more about what it takes to make a good crow hawk than me, just wanted to share my thoughts and support the route you are considering taking.

Here's hoping the weather forecasters have it totally wrong. All the best.

Iain

Iain, I didn’t take offence to your first post mate, I was just explaining how I was feeling and the reasons why.

Yorky

10-12-2007, 09:31 PM

Hi Shaun, quick question to help me with ideas on another thread. What does Pancho and what did Cisco fly at?

Cheers

Matthew Patching

10-12-2007, 09:49 PM

Just keep your fingers crossed for the delivery men tomorrow Shaun, Ill have decided to resume stooping arwen at lunch times, and if I get a slip or 2 then work can miss me for 1/2 and hour, cant they?

AyrshireTaxidermy

10-12-2007, 09:50 PM

Eznugud

10-12-2007, 09:56 PM

Good stuff Shaun, bet Bradleys mad cos he missed it. The weather was great here today as well, and looks like it will be good tomorrow as well. My Per/Saker managed to catch something today, but managed to get to them and set the little cousin free.

Weather forecast is good for here tomorrow but I’ve dropped a bit of a bollock…….
Trying to be a bit clever and lazy I ordered some of the kids Christmas presents from Dixons but on the internet and they have given me a delivery date for tomorrow, with a bloody delivery time of between 8am an 8pm…….I’m gutted and have everything crossed that its an early delivery..

Martin Whitley

10-12-2007, 10:03 PM

Thats more like it Shaun, weather looks better for the next couple of days so fingures crossed for an early delivery tomorrow

Laggan

10-12-2007, 10:20 PM

Shaun, my friend, that was a brilliant post. It had the hairs on my arms standing up as it perfectly described everything. Tremendous result. Really pleased for you and young Pancho. Sounds as though you have a real gem on your experienced hands.

Iain

AyrshireTaxidermy

10-12-2007, 10:27 PM

Weather forecast is good for here tomorrow but I’ve dropped a bit of a bollock…….
Trying to be a bit clever and lazy I ordered some of the kids Christmas presents from Dixons but on the internet and they have given me a delivery date for tomorrow, with a bloody delivery time of between 8am an 8pm…….I’m gutted and have everything crossed that its an early delivery..

If your not in, wont they leave a chitty thru your letterbox to arrange another delivery date? Ask if they can deliver it on the next windy, rainy day.

Eznugud

11-12-2007, 09:44 AM

Bit of trivia for you…….

2 out of Panchos 3 kills so far have been crows, both crows have had primaries still in blood…….
Yesterday’s crow had the first 3 primaries still in blood with the first one only a few inch down.
I cant remember ever catching crows at this time of year that have had feathers still in blood, I could have but don’t remember…

Yes I am getting bored and frustrated waiting for the delivery when I have got sunny skies outside

Freddie1

11-12-2007, 10:14 AM

If your not in, wont they leave a chitty thru your letterbox to arrange another delivery date? Ask if they can deliver it on the next windy, rainy day.

Quality reply mate:lol::lol::supz:
Steve

Eznugud

11-12-2007, 06:39 PM

And the delivery came early………

Got on to the tops and noticed half a dozen crows in a pretty good position, it was however going to be a down wind slip but there was hardly a breeze never mind wind so it was not a problem.
I un-hooded Pancho and 5 minutes later he was still sat on my fist, we had crows walking about no more than 40yds in front of us and he wasn’t even looking at them, I stood him on a wall and walked back to the car and watched him for 10 minutes.
He just sat there rousing and looking about; the crows were still in the field but had now walked off and were a good 200yds away, very strange.
I walked over to him, picked him up, hooded him and put him back in the car while scratching my head…..

I drove down the track I noticed the same crows were still there but had moved to the bottom side of the field.
I stopped and got Pancho out, it was now a 100yd cross wind slip……Un-hooded him and he left the fist instantly, the crows lifted and turned towards the farm.
Pancho was closing the gap but the farm was coming up quick, they were maybe 150 feet about the farm and going out over the valley…after a lot of twisting, turning and jockeying for position he finally got into a position where the crow knew that it’s only chance was to get down to the ground and cover quick….
I watched the spiralling down together until I lost sight of the when the dropped into the valley.
A quick drive down into the valley and there he was sat with his crow looking well chuffed with himself.

For some reason this falcon does not like to fly straight out of the hood after the drive to the hunting grounds.
Once he’s had the hood off after the initial drive over he is fine…….wierd.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00240.jpg?t=1197398004

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00248.jpg?t=1197398178

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00247.jpg?t=1197398283

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00254.jpg?t=1197398348

Matthew Patching

11-12-2007, 07:14 PM

Nice, you sounded like you were enjoying yourself earlier, and I've never heard somone so pleased that a delivery truck has turned up:lol:

FredrickFogg

11-12-2007, 07:16 PM

Martin Whitley

11-12-2007, 07:24 PM

Well done, I glad your delivery came in early.
Hopefuly he will get round the problem when he's got a bit more experience under his belt

Matthew Patching

11-12-2007, 07:25 PM

Shaun just a quick one, do you remember my male perexsakers first slip, up at yours, I had to 'roll' him off on that first flight after being sat hooded, on the journey, maybe he just needs a bit of time to adjust. I'll bet he gets into it after a couple more.

Laggan

11-12-2007, 07:56 PM

Weird? Maybe not so, I think you've got you head around it. Just really pleased for you that you are now getting the opportunity to get out and develop this cracking falcon.

Continued success Shaun. All the best.

Iain

Eznugud

12-12-2007, 05:09 PM

Number 5 for Pancho

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00255.jpg?t=1197479099

I decided it was time to up the anti with Cisco’s training today and try him at single crows.
Because of his tendency to ignore everything the first time the hood is taken off I decided to stop before I got to the hunting fields and sit with him on the fist un-hooded for 5 minutes.
I was looking for singles today so decided to give the tops a miss and drop down into the valley, within a few minutes I spotted a single crow, 100yd in to wind slip, more or less perfect maybe a little close to the farm if I’m being picky.
The crows in the valley are pretty jumpy at the moment so I drove well past and walked back, un-hooded Pancho 100yds out and the instant the crow lifted he was away, the crow started to mount with Pancho going with him, Pancho had him beat by about 100ft {height} and was over to the crows left about 20ft away and maybe 30ft higher.
The crow knew that its only chance was to get to the farm, it changed direction and started towards the farm, Pancho turned over and put in his first attack……….straight away I knew this was a good crow from how it avoided Panchos first attack, it went on to avoid him all the way to the farm.
I could see one hell of a dog fight going on around the farm, one second the were flying around the barns the next they were 60ft in the air and then back down again………I jumped in the car a drove down to the farm watching the flight still going on, I pulled into the farm yard and couldn’t see either falcon or crow, he had either got it or the crow had escaped…..Pancho was in the field at the back of the farm with is crow….

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00257.jpg?t=1197479148

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00264.jpg?t=1197479202

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00266.jpg?t=1197479294

LadyHawke

12-12-2007, 05:14 PM

Lovely!! What a cracker! lovin this thread.:razz:

HawkMom

12-12-2007, 05:18 PM

My old pere/prairie crow hawk 'Elvira' (1986-2003) did not fly out of the hood either. She did not take 10 minutes, but I could tell that she was studying the entire situation before launched into a flight. I had make sure she was well hidden from the crows before she launched. But she did not (nor did I try) singles. She few into hoards of crows at the local roosts, the roosts were very abundant where I lived at the time. She flew between 850 and 900 grams. 870 was the 'magic' weight for her.

Have fun, crow hawking is so rewarding.

Go Pancho!!!!

Gyr

12-12-2007, 05:20 PM

Well done, great thread:supz:

AyrshireTaxidermy

12-12-2007, 05:25 PM

Good stuff Shaun, weathers looking good for the next few days as well.

Eznugud

13-12-2007, 12:08 PM

Good job Shaun! Do you think the hood thing will change after he gets a few more kills? It would be interesting to see if anyone else has had the same problem with their falcon and if they found a way to fix it. I know you would hate to miss some slips due to this, as would I or anyone else.

Fred

Fred….

I think I may have sorted the problem and will be putting it to the test in a few hours time…….

I recently bought a new box type cadge from falconry fabrications, basically it’s a raptor box with no door or back, 20inch wide with a partition down the middle giving two 10inch wide compartments for the falcons.

On the last 2 occasions after getting him out of the box cadge and un-hooding him the first thing he does is stretch his wings, really going for it wings straight up, back bent etc.

Today I am going to swap back to a traditional cadge where he’s go room to move…

Eznugud

13-12-2007, 05:04 PM

Number 6 for Pancho

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00277.jpg?t=1197565137

His weight was a touch high today, went on to the tops and spotted 2 crows in an ideal position but it was going to be a cross wind slip.
Pancho left the fist the second the crows lifted pumping hard, the crow he picked fancied its chances in the air and today I witnessed probably the highest flight I have ever had while crow hawking……….I was gob smacked.
Then to top it off watching both Pancho and the crow corkscrewing back down to earth was an amazing sight.
The eventually dropped out of my sight behind the hill, I jumped in the car and found young Pancho with his crow, the crow was very close to beating Pancho to the only cover available in the area.

I wouldn’t say todays flight was the best I have seen but it was the highest I have ever had a falcon go with a crow, I really didn’t think Pancho was up for that sort of flight yet……I am dead chuffed with him.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00275.jpg?t=1197565232

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00278.jpg?t=1197565333

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00279.jpg?t=1197565407

Martin Whitley

13-12-2007, 05:17 PM

Well done.
was this his first slip today and if so do you think the different cadge helped his response?

AyrshireTaxidermy

13-12-2007, 05:23 PM

Good stuff Shaun, reading about Pancho is the highlight of my evening, well apart from eastenders! :lol:

Mark Collins

13-12-2007, 05:48 PM

Well done guys, in one of the pictures whats the vehicle it looks like something out of mad max and the thunderdome!!!!

FredrickFogg

13-12-2007, 06:54 PM

Good show Shaun! I knew at the beginning of this thread, once you had a little decent weather and Pancho took a few head, he would be on his way! I would have loved to have seen that flight!

Fred

Eznugud

13-12-2007, 06:57 PM

Well done.
was this his first slip today and if so do you think the different cadge helped his response?

Martin

It was the first slip and I did take him out on a traditional cadge but lost my bottle and stopped and sat with him un-hooded for 5 minutes before I got into the field.

Good stuff Shaun, reading about Pancho is the highlight of my evening, well apart from eastenders! :lol:

Rob, prefer a bit of “Corrie” myself

Well done guys, in one of the pictures whats the vehicle it looks like something out of mad max and the thunderdome!!!!

Mark, I’ve been hunting on that land for about 25years now and that thing was in that position then and its never moved.
Its some sort of big rotting fork lift…………..

Eznugud

14-12-2007, 02:05 PM

No crow hawking today, very misty here with not a lot of visibility, gave one of the farmers a ring and they’ve got thick fog and about 10yds visibility on the tops so decided to feed Pancho up and make sure he’s spot on for tomorrow when Bradley takes over with him………

CanadaManada

14-12-2007, 02:14 PM

Well done guys, in one of the pictures whats the vehicle it looks like something out of mad max and the thunderdome!!!!

Nice hawking!
Mark, I think that is an old hay baler. I may be wrong, but...

Justin

Mark Collins

14-12-2007, 05:19 PM

Eznugud

14-12-2007, 06:54 PM

Every evening when Bradley gets in from School……..

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00281.jpg?t=1197658252

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00286.jpg?t=1197658317

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00287.jpg?t=1197658396

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00288.jpg?t=1197658431

Bradley

15-12-2007, 04:14 PM

Saturday the 15th of December

Today was one of the worstest days I have had in falconry because my dad had got Pancho 3 quarters of a nounce to heavy for hunting
Our old weighing scales battery had run out and my dad had been using the new set of weighing scales instead of getting new battries from Wednesday and when we got battries for the old scales and tried them at the side of the new ones it showed us that the scales did not weigh the same and that the difference was nearly a ounce in weight, my dad says that it was lucky that it was not the other way around with the scales because it would have meaned he could have had gone low in his weight and not high

Even though that he was high I wanted to take him out but it was a rubbish day we gave him a good slip at 2 crows and he was really slow to go and when he did when the crows lifted he just spreaded his wings and did not even try and just landed on the wall so we fed him up and brought him home and I could be ok for tomorrow but my dad says that he still could be a bit high because 3 quartes of an ounce is a lot of weight to take come of a falcon in 1 day because you just cant not feed him because that will just make it that he is weak
I hope that he does lose enough weight so that he can hunt tomorrow because I only get 2 hunting days in a week now in the winter but am really looking forward to having 2 weeks of crow hawking at Christmas.

Bradley

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00290.jpg?t=1197735203

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00291.jpg?t=1197735246

Wooly

15-12-2007, 05:17 PM

Lucky with the scales Bradley, I hope he looses enough to bag another crow for you tomorrow. And i hope that the weather stays good for your Christmas break. Good luck M8 Terry.:supz::supz:

Martin Whitley

15-12-2007, 06:45 PM

Bradley. You'll need to buy him some rechargable batteries for Christmas, (or get him a proper set of Balance scales:lol:)

AyrshireTaxidermy

15-12-2007, 06:48 PM

Good luck for tomorrow. Looking forward to reading about it when i get back.

Mark Collins

15-12-2007, 08:09 PM

Bradley , i think you could teach your dad a thing or two, ha ha , good luck tommorow , mark.

Eznugud

15-12-2007, 08:23 PM

Saturday the 15th of December

Today was one of the worstest days I have had in falconry because my dad had got Pancho 3 quarters of a nounce to heavy for hunting

Bradley

Bit harsh Bradders, "worst day i have had in falconry".........

Jonathan526

16-12-2007, 10:10 AM

It's funny how fast the falconry mind forgets previous trangressions. I'm glad to see Bradley back out there. I wish you two the best of luck. I have to add, you two make it look like talent is hereditary.

Jonathan

Eznugud

16-12-2007, 05:52 PM

What a day, Probably the best days crow hawking I’ve had in years and nothing in the bag……Cant believe I’ve just said that

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_MOV00293.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=MOV00293.flv)

Two ringing flights in one day, I’ve not had a proper {true} ringing flight in about 10 years.
But that was not what made the day; it was watching young Bradley running his blood to water trying to help his falcon.
He really under exaggerates the first flight; it went up to about 400feet and the falcon was beat to a tree in the farm house garden after brilliant corkscrewing stoop, then after Bradley ran 600yds to the farm and flushed the crow the flight once again rung up to about 400feet and again the falcon was beat to a band of trees after another corkscrewing stoop…………….Bradley then ran another 800yds up hill and was running up and down the tree line flushing and re-flushing the crow……..

The second slip was at 2 crows, 150yd slip but Bradley for some reason didn’t un-hood Pancho until the crows were well on the way.
Pancho set off and we got another ringing flight, well sort off the crow was ringing but the falcon was sort of fly up in steps….very weird to watch and hard to explain.
The flight covered a lot of distance and ended just over a mile away in a large quarry, we watched both crow and falcon dropping out of the sky together in the distance but we picked Pancho up empty handed, never to know what happened at the end of the stoop.

We decided to call it a day and feed him up…..

Laggan

16-12-2007, 08:13 PM

What a day, Probably the best days crow hawking I’ve had in years and nothing in the bag……Cant believe I’ve just said that

Two ringing flights in one day, I’ve not had a proper {true} ringing flight in about 10 years.

Shaun and Bradley,

your thread makes compulsive reading. I never managed one true ringer, let alone two in one day. You are a great team - I wish I had the relationship you share when I was growing up, it is wonderful.

Got to ask Bradley, is that hairdryer for your falcon or you? :-D

Shaun, I think you have two stars!

Eznugud

16-12-2007, 08:17 PM

Shaun and Bradley,

your thread makes compulsive reading. I never managed one true ringer, let alone two in one day. You are a great team - I wish I had the relationship you share when I was growing up, it is wonderful.

Got to ask Bradley, is that hairdryer for your falcon or you? :-D

Shaun, I think you have two stars!

Thank you Iain.....

We have just had a de-brief about today and we have decided that the second slip was not a ringing flight, but the first one was.....

{why is it that everytime i have a bath Bradley needs to poo and talk falconry}

Martin Whitley

16-12-2007, 08:41 PM

{why is it that everytime i have a bath Bradley needs to poo and talk falconry}
Quality "man" Time:lol:

Laggan

16-12-2007, 09:13 PM

Thank you Iain.....

We have just had a de-brief about today and we have decided that the second slip was not a ringing flight, but the first one was.....

{why is it that everytime i have a bath Bradley needs to poo and talk falconry}

Quality "man" Time:lol:

:-D.....

Gyr69

16-12-2007, 10:56 PM

Shaun it’s a pleasure to see the way you give Brad the time and the tuition on something he clearly loves doing. Well done to all three of you it’s made some great reading over the past few weeks and long may it continue.

Eznugud

17-12-2007, 05:34 PM

Got onto the tops and spotted a good slip at a single crow, Pancho was away more or less straight away.
They both went over a rise in the field, seconds later Pancho was on his way back in a real panic with about a dozen Ravens and going 20 other corvids chasing him…….At first it did make me giggle, you know the old cowboys films where cowboy goes riding over the hill then 2 seconds later he’s galloping back with 2000 Indians chasing him…….
I soon realised that it was pretty serious and jumped him the Land Rover and gave chase, I picked Pancho up at the foot of a wall in a bit of a state.

Half hour later a found another good slip at 2 crows, they were a good half a mile from cover in any direction.
Off with the hood and Pancho was away instantly and picked his crow surprisingly quickly, he’s usually a bit hesitant and can never make his mind up……….I was watching the dog fight getting further away through my binoculars when I nearly got run over, I was standing in the middle of the lane in a world of my own watching the flight.
I had to move the binoculars away from my eyes while diving for safety so I missed the end of the flight, the crow was making towards the only cover available a tree on the opposite side of the valley so I jumped in the car and made my way there……………..Pancho was sat with his crow maybe 10yds from the tree

Pancho took a beating today from the Ravens but half an hour later he was going hell for leather at crows………a well conditioned falcon does not get put off by a bit a rough and tumble, they thrive on it…….

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00299.jpg?t=1197912591

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00302.jpg?t=1197912723

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00305.jpg?t=1197912780

Eznugud

17-12-2007, 05:55 PM

A few bits of video taken today, the first one I tried to film the Ravens when I was driving over to rescue Pancho, on the original you can see them clearly on the horizon but I think uploading to photo bucket knocks the quality down and they are difficult to see.

The second clip is what I take for Bradley and text it him to school, but I couldn’t send it today because I put my phone down thinking it was turned off but it was still running……file was to big for text.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_MOV00295.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=MOV00295.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_MOV00301.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=MOV00301.flv)

AyrshireTaxidermy

17-12-2007, 06:07 PM

Good stuff. Didnt manage out today, but will make up for it tomorrow.

Laggan

17-12-2007, 06:53 PM

Eznugud

17-12-2007, 08:27 PM

Shaun,

just purely out of interest, have you ever had a falcon take a Raven?

Iain

Yes Iain, I have had a female pere x Saker take one quite a few years ago.
I wouldn’t like to see a male tangle with a Raven; luckily every male I have flown to dates had the common sense to keep well away.
They are getting to be a pain in the rear end on the tops of late and seem to make a b-line towards the falcon the second they are in the air, I was talking to one of the farmers the other week and he reckons that there are 30+ pairs locally.

TimDog80

17-12-2007, 08:46 PM

great bit of commentry in the first video:yawinkle::lol:...................top hawking:supz:

Martin Whitley

18-12-2007, 07:26 AM

Love the comentery on the first one, maybe you should try a horse, they jump gates, it's far quicker:lol:

Eznugud

18-12-2007, 09:22 AM

great bit of commentry in the first video:yawinkle::lol:...................top hawking

Love the comentery on the first one, maybe you should try a horse, they jump gates, it's far quicker:lol:

I didn’t realise I was commentating at the time…………..:oops:
I do enjoy flying on the particular bit on land because I can follow the flight to a certain extent with the Land Rover, I can see how crow hawking from horse back could become very addictive.

Martin, trust me if I had been on an horse then not only would I have been hung upside down attached to the underneath of the horses neck {tired going fast on an horse before} I would still have parked it up and opened the gate.

Pendleside

18-12-2007, 04:40 PM

Martin, trust me if I had been on an horse then not only would I have been hung upside down attached to the underneath of the horses neck {tired going fast on an horse before} I would still have parked it up and opened the gate.

shaun .
i can just picture you , hanging upside down while 'parking' your horse.
the funny bit is when you try to apply the handbrake . :D :P

Illustrator

19-12-2007, 01:47 PM

Top thread lads read every bit and kept out of it, thread of the year for me this:supz::supz: you can shove the purdy up my arse:lol::lol:

Eznugud

19-12-2007, 04:34 PM

Didn’t get out yesterday due to work…..

Out today just after dinner, I haven’t cured him not going the first time the hood comes off yet; pretty much have no idea why at the moment.
First slip was a about half a dozen, un-hooded Pancho and he just sat there, so I chucked him off and he landed on a wall 10yds away…..walked over and picked him up.

Second slip was a single crow, this time he was away instantly.
The crow fancied its chances and they started to gain height over the valley, Pancho does not harass the crows like Cisco did, Pancho tends to be more methodical {is that’s the right word}.
The flight covered a good ¾ of a mile, and was a cracking flight to watch, loads of little stoops and throw ups………the be honest to many stoops and throw ups, Pancho seems to fly & hunt very peregrine like, but is 100 times more aggressive and persistent.

Again I was taking video for Bradley, so PLEASE EXCUSE the bad language {I forget that it records my voice} and please excuse the very heavy breathing /panting I had ran quite along way and though I was going to cough a lung up then have a heart attack.

Big tough old crow today…Also notice Pancho, his mouth is closed not out of breath…and does not care about the rough ride hes just had

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_MOV00321-1.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=MOV00321-1.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_MOV00306.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=MOV00306.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_MOV00307.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=MOV00307.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_MOV00309.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=MOV00309.flv)

Eznugud

19-12-2007, 04:35 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00314.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00311.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00320.jpg

AyrshireTaxidermy

19-12-2007, 04:48 PM

Top class stuff Shaun.

Wooly

19-12-2007, 05:27 PM

Great videos Shaun, sounds like you had some fun with that one. Looking forward to seeing him fly. Terry.:supz::supz:

Laggan

19-12-2007, 08:30 PM

Give up the cigarettes Shaun......I'm prepared to sponsor you!

Martin Whitley

19-12-2007, 08:34 PM

You really sound like you need that horse:lol:
Another great acount

Rex06

20-12-2007, 09:51 AM

FredrickFogg

20-12-2007, 10:06 AM

Top notch Shaun! Did you get those scissors out of the wive's sewing kit? LOL I love the video where Pancho's head pops up looking over the wing!
Really great stuff, love this thread!m Also, I think you are going to have to change the name of this thread, Pancho is no longer a crow falcon in the making, he is made!

Fred

Eznugud

20-12-2007, 10:29 AM

really really really hilarious video ,
hehe it looks like, just when u're up there he comes down by himself or am i wrong ? really hilarius, and than the cold air you breed makes u even breath harder :lol:

top stuff here m8 i wish u alot of luck in the futur

Basically Pancho was hung upside down in the small bush with the crow and had been for over 5 minutes, not only had he had to deal with the crow in his feet other crows were also attacking him.
I climbed up and was trying to work out how I was going to reach him in the bush when they both fell out onto a little shelf of grass right in front of me………Great I thought, until they rolled off the shelf and back down the rocks and banking that I’d just climbed up…………….

Top notch Shaun! Did you get those scissors out of the wive's sewing kit? LOL I love the video where Pancho's head pops up looking over the wing!
Really great stuff, love this thread!m Also, I think you are going to have to change the name of this thread, Pancho is no longer a crow falcon in the making, he is made!

Fred

Fred, that’s exactly where the scissors came from, she doesn’t know yet.
The bit where he sticks his head up through the wing did make me giggle, it’s the expression on his face……..he’s got that “what’s happening, where the bloody hell have you been I was getting my arse kicked there” look..

Eznugud

20-12-2007, 05:16 PM

Beat by the weather today…….got there and came home.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00322.jpg?t=1198170804

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00325.jpg?t=1198170939

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/DSC00329.jpg?t=1198170971

Martin Whitley

20-12-2007, 05:21 PM

Same problem here:cry:

Matthew Patching

20-12-2007, 06:43 PM

Same problem here:cry:

and here, although it cleared up a fair bit after I had fed everything:twisted:

Martin Whitley

20-12-2007, 06:45 PM

and here, although it cleared up a fair bit after I had fed everything:twisted:
Same again:-x

Eznugud

21-12-2007, 05:17 PM

Again it was fogged in on the tops but I decided to drop a bit lower into the valley and see what it was like.
It was still quite foggy but good enough to give it a whirl, Bradley asked me to do him a video diary so that he could see the days crow hawking…….I tried and failed, but here it is, better to watch them in sequence.

This little falcon is coming on leaps and bounds; he’s had to learn his trade on difficult winter crows and in some terrible weather conditions.
It’s been quite a bit more challenging to get a male going on winter crows than it is in the summer when you have moulting & young crows about, its been frustrating at times but its been really satisfying………
I think that Pancho can now be called a crow falcon…..

Bradley is off school for the next 2 weeks so I will be stepping back and he will be flying his falcon and he will be doing the updates on here over the next few weeks……

Number 1
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_Number1.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=Number1.flv)

Number 2
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_Number2.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=Number2.flv)

Number 3
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_Number3.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=Number3.flv)

Number 4
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_Number4.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=Number4.flv)

Eznugud

21-12-2007, 05:20 PM

Number 5
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_Number5.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=Number5.flv)

Number 6
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_Number6.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=Number6.flv)

Number 7 {watch this if none of the others}
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_Ring.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=Ring.flv)

Number 7
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_End.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=End.flv)

HawkSwoop

21-12-2007, 05:35 PM

Quality video's i am sure bradley was well pleased with you description of the flight !!!

Yorky

21-12-2007, 05:37 PM

Excellent post, and dont be so harsh on your self regarding the commentary!

Eznugud

21-12-2007, 05:52 PM

Just like to add, I don’t make a habit of swearing in front on Bradley, when hes with me it dosent happen to often but when im on my own it just comes out because i`m on my own and…… you know what I mean

AyrshireTaxidermy

21-12-2007, 05:58 PM

Great stuff Shaun. Im gonna have to get my video cam out in future.

Matthew Patching

21-12-2007, 05:58 PM

**** me shaun, that last flight looked excellent.

Shame he missed it, he definatly deserved it. There is always tomorrow though, but looking at the forcast for you, you will be wanting to get out earlier, rather than later:yawinkle:

Martin Whitley

21-12-2007, 06:03 PM

That was a cracking flight Shaun, but you need to spend a few nights out with a chainsaw to improve the area a bit:lol:

Bradley

22-12-2007, 05:36 PM

Saturday the 22nd of December 2007

I have finished school for 2 weeks so that now I can take back over with flying Pancho so today we went out and the weather was still foggy and my dad was doing some video of us in a diary so this is what happened today with our crow hawking. I don’t think that my dad enjoyed it today because he does not like hunting where that we was hunting today because we never come to this area all that much but because that its been that foggy for the last days hes had no more choice but I had a good day becase it is the first time I have been out for the week and the first time that I have been seen Pancho catch something.

numbar 1

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numbar 2

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numbar 3

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Bradley

22-12-2007, 05:42 PM

numbar 5

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_Number05.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=Number05.flv)

number 6

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_Number06.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=Number06.flv)

number 7

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_Number07-1.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=Number07-1.flv)

number 8

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Eznugud

22-12-2007, 06:12 PM

Are the links playing for anyone? dont seem to be for me

Dude

22-12-2007, 06:14 PM

Great post! I am always amazed when I check this topic! Well done Bradley! :supz:

Martin Whitley

22-12-2007, 07:34 PM

Well done Bradley, you ought to get your dad to take you magpie hawking, you would love it

Ross Ricks

22-12-2007, 08:04 PM

brill stuff well done:supz:

Yorky

22-12-2007, 08:36 PM

Well done Bradley! Good to see you and Pancho doing your stuff.

TimDog80

22-12-2007, 08:53 PM

Quality as always!!!!!:supz:
yesterdays video of that ringing flight was superb!!!! and todays one looked good fun for you brad:D

best luck
tim:D

Gyr

22-12-2007, 09:04 PM

Have to agree, pure quality as always

Eznugud

22-12-2007, 10:17 PM

Quality as always!!!!!
yesterdays video of that ringing flight was superb!!!! and todays one looked good fun for you brad

best luck
tim

Tim….
That’s what I love about males, one day your getting a ringing flight the next your having a rat hunt around trees ……versatile

A few more videos I took on the way home, Pancho rides in the front un-hooded when Bradley is with me………..

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_Number09.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=Number09.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_Number10.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=Number10.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_number11.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=number11.flv)

TimDog80

22-12-2007, 10:28 PM

shaun,
its always a pleasure to see your vid's of you and your boy out hawking together, you may have seen a post i have put on in the past with my boy...nearly 3...............i just hope my future days are spent as you and your son spend yours!!!...............your a top dad!!!!:supz::goodman:

bradley have a good xmas kidda and enjoy your 2 weeks hawking.......school free:D

best regards
tim:D

p.s inspiring thread too encouraging me to search for more open land to have a bash it it myself in the future or i may go for a smaller falcon for the hedge row bushing type for maggies etc!!!

FredrickFogg

22-12-2007, 10:47 PM

Are the links playing for anyone? dont seem to be for me

Shaun, if you would just put those into one long movie, I wouldn't need to go the the movies anymore, I could just sit and watch yours all days. I have to admit, I can't understand half of what you and Brad are saying, but I understand enough to see that you all are having a blast. I can watch these videos all day. Great stuff!

Fred

KevGem1

22-12-2007, 11:06 PM

nice one bradley and shaun off course, i really enjoyed watching those vids your probably the best reflusher of crows iv ever seen mate well done.i only wish i would have been in a position to take up falconry at your age.i hope you and your dad are flying together for many years to come all the best KEV.
P.S i like your choice of sound tracks in the back ground on your way home well the first two anyway.

Noble

23-12-2007, 04:03 PM

good to see plan b is working brads ill come down over crimbo and have a day out whith you panting harry ps your dad :

Matthew Patching

23-12-2007, 07:55 PM

Quality as always, Bradley & Shaun.

Nice to see you having fun again, both of you!:D

Eznugud

26-12-2007, 09:57 PM

Our first day out since Saturday due to me having to work on Sunday and keeping the cart on the rails {wife} Christmas Eve & Day.
Pancho was a little high today not an excuse he got beat fair and square but I wish he had been a little bit lower in weigh, he flew and chased his crow well but I got a feeling he was going through the motions and was not pushing like I know he can.
Crows were very thin on the ground today in the right places, we could have had 20+ slips but all in poor positions…..eventually we settled for a best out of a poor bunch and everything depended on the way the crows went………they went the wrong direction..

Brads Diary…

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_MOV00373.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=MOV00373.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_MOV00375.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=MOV00375.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_MOV00376.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=MOV00376.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_MOV00377.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=MOV00377.flv)

In the end we decided to call it a day, Pancho knows what its all about now so from now on if we cant get slips where we can get good flights were not going to bother………crow hawking for me is not about chasing crows in and out of trees…………….

Laggan

27-12-2007, 12:45 PM

.........Pancho knows what its all about now so from now on if we cant get slips where we can get good flights were not going to bother………crow hawking for me is not about chasing crows in and out of trees…………….

Shaun,

it is good to read a post like this......All the best to you and Bradley.

Iain

Martin Whitley

27-12-2007, 12:51 PM

Brads Diary…

In the end we decided to call it a day, Pancho knows what its all about now so from now on if we cant get slips where we can get good flights were not going to bother………crow hawking for me is not about chasing crows in and out of trees…………….
Good shout, I could not agree more, Taking bad slips because there is nothing better achieves nothing but fraustration, If I can't get a decent slip ( and at this time of year that can be quite hard) I go home

Illustrator

27-12-2007, 01:03 PM

Well done brad, its like taking long shots with guns, often tempting but often ending in something wounded that got away, you made the right decision :supz:

Eznugud

27-12-2007, 04:55 PM

27th December 2008

We didn’t bother today due to fog / low cloud / mist…….about 30yds visibility.

Shaun,

it is good to read a post like this......All the best to you and Bradley.

Iain

Good shout, I could not agree more, Taking bad slips because there is nothing better achieves nothing but fraustration, If I can't get a decent slip ( and at this time of year that can be quite hard) I go home

Well done brad, its like taking long shots with guns, often tempting but often ending in something wounded that got away, you made the right decision :supz:

Looking back on yesterday the best opportunity of a good flight was the one on the first video clip while we were letting Pancho sit un-hooded.
We could have had loads of slips yesterday and I have no doubt that we could have caught a crow earlier in the day but it would have been a poor kill.
The slip we ended up taking had a 50 / 50 chance of turning into a good flight but sods law the crows went into wind and towards cover, I had my fingers crossed that they would go down wind.

I don’t mind having the odd rat hunt around the trees if we start off with a good slip and the falcon gets beat to the trees after a decent flight.
Over the last few days I have been slipping at crows knowing it was going to turn in to a rat hunt around trees and that’s just wrong……well its not wrong if that’s what you like but its not the type of crow hawking that I want to see.

I phoned the farmer on the tops this morning to see what the weather was like, we had a bit of a chat about the lack of crows at the moment and he told me that he was moving the sheep back up there within the next few days, that was good news because that should bring the crows back in.

P.S
anyone notice Brads eyes in the first clip?
The little sod was up until 5:00am playing on xbox live and i had to drag him out of bed..

ParaButeo78

28-12-2007, 09:41 AM

I did notice his eyes, thought it was just me.:yawinkle:
I know the feeling Bradley, I just got a Nintendo gamecomputer (the new one with the remotes) and it's very addictive!

Keep up the good work both of you, I'm hoping every time I come on here there's an update on this thread. Excellent read every time!

Bradley

29-12-2007, 05:54 PM

Saturday the 29th of December 2007

We have not been out crow hawking with Pancho since it was Wednesday because of the terrible weather that we have been having on the tops and today it was very windy and my dad said that the wind had gusts up to 50 miles a hour.
On the tops when we got to threr it was that windy that you could hardly not stand up so we went a bit lower and it stated to rain then so we droved about looking for a good slip because that if we could not find one it was not going to be worth bovering with but after a bit of time driving we found a very good slip at 2 crow and by the time that I had got in to a good position the crows was already flying and it was still a good slip so I un-hooded Pancho and after a really very good flight in right strong winds he caught one of them, I think that the time that my dad spent trying to hunt with Pancho in them strong wind when we was trying to enter him have made him a good falcon at flying in right strong winds now.

Here is my video diary of today.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_MOV00386.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=MOV00386.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_MOV00387.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=MOV00387.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_MOV00388.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=MOV00388.flv)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_MOV00389.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=MOV00389.flv)

Bradley

29-12-2007, 05:56 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/th_MOV00391.jpg (http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/?action=view&current=MOV00391.flv)

AyrshireTaxidermy

29-12-2007, 06:03 PM

Good stuff Bradley. How manys that hes had now?

Eznugud

29-12-2007, 06:20 PM

Good stuff Bradley. How manys that hes had now?

Rob, not much chance of getting a reply off Bradley, logs off quicker that he log on at the moment he got a 42inch LCD for is bedroom and spends most of his spare time on Xbox Live.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0035.jpg?t=1198952257

A few photos from today………Bradley is now getting back into it again and its great to see that big grin and enthusiasm back

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0044.jpg?t=1198952325

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0041.jpg?t=1198952362

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0067.jpg?t=1198952415

Yorky

29-12-2007, 06:24 PM

Rob, not much chance of getting a reply off Bradley, logs off quicker that he log on at the moment he got a 42inch LCD for is bedroom and spends most of his spare time on Xbox Live.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0035.jpg?t=1198952257

A few photos from today………Bradley is now getting back into it again and its great to see that big grin and enthusiasm back

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0044.jpg?t=1198952325

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0041.jpg?t=1198952362

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0067.jpg?t=1198952415

Lucky lad! 42" TV in his bedroom, XBox, Great Crow Falcon and top mentor.

Wooly

29-12-2007, 08:33 PM

Great stuff Bradley, I look forward to reading the thread daily. I know the weathers been **** but as you said,the hard work your dad put in while you were at school has paid big dividends.
You are both a credit to the sport, and I'm looking forward to our planned get together soon. Terry.:supz::supz:

Martin Whitley

29-12-2007, 08:51 PM

Cheating= being lazy:lol:
Tactics= using your superior cunning:lol:
Good stuff yet again

FredrickFogg

29-12-2007, 11:57 PM

Rob, not much chance of getting a reply off Bradley, logs off quicker that he log on at the moment he got a 42inch LCD for is bedroom and spends most of his spare time on Xbox Live.

Shaun,

Any chance you might want to adopt a 47 year old! I already have my college education, so you wouldn't have to worry about that expense! But I too, would also want a 42 inch LCD in my bedroom and a great falcon to fly at crows! :lol::lol:

Fred

Laggan

30-12-2007, 03:28 PM

A few photos from today………Bradley is now getting back into it again and its great to see that big grin and enthusiasm back

Shaun,

I watched a DVD last night - "In Pursuit of Happyness".....and yes, it was spelt "happYness".......those tremendous photos of Bradley suggest that he has found it. Delighted for you Bradley....you too Dad.

Iain

Ferret-Fanantic

30-12-2007, 03:35 PM

Shaun,

I watched a DVD last night - "In Pursuit of Happyness".....and yes, it was spelt "happYness".......those tremendous photos of Bradley suggest that he has found it. Delighted for you Bradley....you too Dad.

Iain

Aint it "THE pursuit of happiness" :lol: :supz:

Nice one and a lovely BOP :D

Matthew Patching

30-12-2007, 03:47 PM

Well done on number 10 Brads, & Shaun.

I havnt watched the videos yet, as our broadband is down and I have had to resort to the dial up connection again.

Ill watch them another time.

This is proberbly the best thread on the forum, although having said that, I dont think that I have looked at many other ones recently.:lol:

ATB

Matt.

Eznugud

30-12-2007, 08:59 PM

Pancho was a good bit high today after a little misunderstanding between me and Bradley yesterday with regards to who fed what and how much………{what happens in the field stays in the field}

It was a nice day so we decided to go out anyway, found a half decent slip and Pancho went straight away but he was not on the ball.
Long story short he gave us the run around for a hour near the village chasing crows, rooks and jackdaws from tree to tree without a chance in hell of getting one………after causing bedlam around the village he set off towards the quarry but we got in front and cut him off……Bradley brought him in and we went home.

A few Photos I took today that I liked:

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0037.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0038.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0039.jpg

Bradley

31-12-2007, 07:25 PM

Monday the 31st December 2007

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/001.jpg?t=1199129073

Today terry and kev who go on this forum came out today and terry had a male pere x saker and Kev had got a female pere x prairie
Kevs pere x praire is a crow falcon and terrys pere x saker is going to be a crow falcon but still needs to get fit and be ented at crows
Pancho was that last to be slipped and after we had been looking for a slip we saw 2 crows and we decided to slip him, he went straight away and really powered after the crow and he put in a few attempts at it but the crow beat him to a tree and we could not get to the tree fast enough and found him sat on a wall just down the road and when I was just about to get my lure out he bobbed his head and set off again over behind the wall and it then took us 15 minutes of tracking him to find him with a crow just over the road from where we had slipped him from in the first place, I wish that he had caught the crow that he was slipped had because it does not feel good like it feels when he catches the one you slip him at when you track him on one but I think this is the first time we have not caught the crow he was slipped at and tracked him on one.

Kev had a high flight with his pere x prairie and terry flew his pere x saker but I will let them tell you about their flights if they want to

We had a really good day and terry and kev are funny

Bradley

Bradley

31-12-2007, 07:26 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/002.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/003.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/004.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/005.jpg

Bradley

31-12-2007, 07:27 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/007.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/008.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/009.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/010.jpg

Bradley

31-12-2007, 07:28 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/011.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/012.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/013.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/014.jpg

Bradley

31-12-2007, 07:30 PM

This is terrys pere x saker male

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/015.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/016.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/017.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/018.jpg

Bradley

31-12-2007, 07:31 PM

and this ones is kevs falcon

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/019.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/020.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/021.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/022.jpg

Martin Whitley

31-12-2007, 07:33 PM

Great photo's Bradley, You need to work on your father to bring him down here next season

Wooly

01-01-2008, 11:24 AM

Eznugud

01-01-2008, 11:32 AM

Great photos Shaun, it was a great day and I'm looking forward to the next time we can get out with you Bradley and Pancho. With Kev and Pippa.
Thanks to the both of you for a really memorable day. :supz:

Keep banging them crows Bradley see you soon. Happy new year.

It was our pleasure Terry, you and Kev are more than welcome to come over any time……

The fish was spot on mate, me and Bradley had it for our tea last night.:supz:

KevGem1

01-01-2008, 05:05 PM

Matthew Patching

01-01-2008, 05:28 PM

You look like you have been having fun playing with your new toy there Shaun. Those fotos are very nice.

Eznugud

01-01-2008, 05:40 PM

Tuesday 1st January 2008

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0001.jpg

Bradley’s gone to bed because he’s very well so I have been told to do the update today.

We dosed Bradley up with Calpol about an hour before we went out because he not very well but did not want to miss any crow hawking, his Mother wasn’t too happy.
It was to foggy when we got to the tops so ended up dropping down a bit lower.
We had two slips today, the first was at quite a larger flock but Pancho picked out the wrong crow and got beat to a tree…….90% of the flock went to the right and open country but daft Pancho picked out one of the 10% that went left and to a tree…..sods law.

Second slip was at about 6 crows 150yds out, again Pancho had other ideas and went after 3 passage crows the were flying right to left over the farm, my first thought was “shit”, but it turned into a cracking flight that finished with Pancho catching his crow on the barn roof……

Excuse the amount of photos I am about to post{about 40} but pictures speak louder than words and seeing the flights got to be better than me trying to explain it.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0002.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0003.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0004.jpg

Eznugud

01-01-2008, 05:41 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0005.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0006.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0007.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0008.jpg

Eznugud

01-01-2008, 05:42 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0009.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0010.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0011.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0012.jpg

Eznugud

01-01-2008, 05:42 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0013.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0014.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0015.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0016.jpg

Eznugud

01-01-2008, 05:43 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0017.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0018.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0019.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0020.jpg

Eznugud

01-01-2008, 05:44 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0021.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0022.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0023.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0024.jpg

Eznugud

01-01-2008, 05:45 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0025.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0026.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0027.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0028.jpg

Matthew Patching

01-01-2008, 05:45 PM

I want that hat!!!!! Where did you get it from?????

Eznugud

01-01-2008, 05:46 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0029.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0030.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0031.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0032.jpg

Martin Whitley

01-01-2008, 05:47 PM

I want that hat!!!!! Where did you get it from?????
Hey I saw it first:lol:

Eznugud

01-01-2008, 05:47 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0033.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0034.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0035.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0036.jpg

Eznugud

01-01-2008, 05:48 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0037.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/0038.jpg

Thats all.....sorry...:oops:

Martin Whitley

01-01-2008, 05:52 PM

Shaun/Bradley
Those pictures are superb, wish I'd been there to see it, what camera did you use?
that is the first good set of stills of a flight that I have seen, when I take photographers out they never have enough understanding of what is going on to do well.
Also where did Bradley get that hat?

Matthew Patching

01-01-2008, 05:52 PM

cracking fotos Shaun, Arnt cameras great?????

Brad looked happy, if a bit pale.

Martin, I mentioned it first, 3 posts before you:lol:

Pendleside

01-01-2008, 05:54 PM

so who went onto the roof to retrieve ?
good post and pictures .:supz:

Eznugud

01-01-2008, 06:11 PM

Martin, it’s a canon 400D……I surprised myself when I looked at them because at the time I was just getting the odd glimpse of the falcon and crow through the view finder and was guessing where they were…….I was really chuffed how they came out.

Pete……luckily they had fallen off the roof by the time we arrived, but I would have made Brads go up poorly or not…:twisted:

Eznugud

01-01-2008, 06:13 PM

Martin / Matt

I think the hat is from a company call russian military.

Pendleside

01-01-2008, 06:15 PM

Pete……luckily they had fallen off the roof by the time we arrived, but I would have made Brads go up poorly or not…:twisted:

so that's what the furry crash helmet is about . :D
safety first bradders , safety first . :yawinkle:

Rex06

01-01-2008, 06:47 PM

Tuesday 1st January 2008

Excuse the amount of photos I am about to post{about 40} but pictures speak louder than words and seeing the flights got to be better than me trying to explain it.

u and Bradley do a very very well job explaining the flight, trust me.
and the number of foto's is a good thing, the more the better eh
i wish u all a happy new year and alot of luck and black stuff :supz:

greetzz

Yorky

01-01-2008, 07:02 PM

Great series of stills, good to see the epic continuing into 2008.

Wooly

01-01-2008, 08:56 PM

If only we had been there today, I hope Bradley's feeling better soon.
Cracking photos Shaun, what happened to your phone earlier??.:supz:

Eznugud

02-01-2008, 12:20 PM

just a quick thank you for yesterday lads, it was a pleasure to meet Shaun and his son they are real genuine down to earth lads and Bradley is a real credit to his mum and dad.i had a cracking day and i got to see my pere/prairie ringing up after crows for the first time as im only able to fly in built up land so it was a first for me and my bird.I remember saying to Terry when we arrived there i dont know if my bird can see that far as the land was so open and vast:lol:but she flew pretty well i thought and she seemed to be enjoying being on the wing,she didnt manage to get a kill but i thought she went well for a bird thats never flew hill crows before, they do like to test your bird them big old hill crows.anyway thanks for the day out i really enjoyed it and it was a real pleasure to meet you and your lad and i hope to do it again soon KEV.:supz:

Kev, it was a pleasure, you are more than welcome to come over anytime

If only we had been there today, I hope Bradley's feeling better soon.
Cracking photos Shaun, what happened to your phone earlier??.:supz:

No hunting today Terry so Bradleys got a days rest.......
The battery went dead on the phone, the mains charger is at the site so i only have the car charger here......

Eznugud

03-01-2008, 05:00 PM

Thursday 3rd January 2008

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/01-1.jpg

Brads nominated me to do the update again; he’s still not feeling 100% and being out takes it out of him a little.

We had a day off yesterday so all 3 of us were raring to go today, found some crows in exactly the same position they were in for our second slip on Tuesday.
Bradley decided that he was going to the slip; Pancho took his time to leave the fist today probably because we had to slip cross wind.
He went into wind turned then turned again back into wind and started to climb to the crows, they beat him to the farm and after a bit of a rat hunt he finally caught his crow.

He’s getting better everyday and touch wood the hard work is over and we are starting to have fun with him.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/02-1.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/03-1.jpg

Eznugud

03-01-2008, 05:02 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/04-1.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/05-1.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/06.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/07.jpg

Eznugud

03-01-2008, 05:03 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/08.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/09.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/10.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/11.jpg

Eznugud

03-01-2008, 05:03 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/12.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/13.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/14.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/15.jpg

Eznugud

03-01-2008, 05:04 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/16.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/17.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/18.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/19.jpg

Eznugud

03-01-2008, 05:05 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/20.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/21.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/22.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/23.jpg

Andy_G

03-01-2008, 05:09 PM

awsome well done great looking bird:supz:

Steve W

03-01-2008, 06:57 PM

Hi guys,

Great thread. My son and I read with interest. Ca I ask a few questions as Seb my son would love to have a go at flying a Falcon, how old is bradley and does he find the bird heavy to carry? Seb is 8 and thinking of waiting till he's 9 but he is very interested and does a great job sorting out the ferrets when we take my Gos out...

Thanks Steve and Seb

HawkMom

03-01-2008, 07:09 PM

If your son is interested, encourage him anyway you can. Falconry is one of the best life lessons one can ever learn.

Eznugud

04-01-2008, 02:57 PM

Friday 4th January 2008

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0374.jpg

Well we tried, unfortunately when we got to the tops we were fogged in, we drove lower and still to foggy…….so we decided just to give Pancho a couple of flights to the lure and call it a day and hope for better weather tomorrow.

Eznugud

04-01-2008, 02:58 PM

Caught Bradley having a little “Jig” with Pancho, the bloody falcon is as daft as him sitting there un-hooded while he’s jumping about like a loony………I had to promise not to post this next sequence of photos, I had my fingers crossed.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0437.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0438.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0439.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0440.jpg

Eznugud

04-01-2008, 02:59 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0441.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0442.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0443.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0444.jpg

Eznugud

04-01-2008, 03:00 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0445.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0446.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0447.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0448.jpg

Eznugud

04-01-2008, 03:01 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0449.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0450.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0451.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0452.jpg

Eznugud

04-01-2008, 03:02 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0453.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0456.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0457.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0454.jpg

Eznugud

04-01-2008, 03:03 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0455.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0458.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0459.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0460.jpg

Zarafia

04-01-2008, 03:20 PM

What ever happened to "What happens in the field stays in the field"?:lol:

Matthew Patching

04-01-2008, 03:46 PM

I guesse that he is feeling better then shaun. It wasnt as good as the vid that you sent me!!!!!:lol::lol::lol::lol:

Eznugud

04-01-2008, 03:46 PM

Before I forget…….

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0306.jpg

Above is a photograph of Pancho and the crow he caught yesterday, I knew it was big at the time….just look at the size of its feet compared to Panchos……. but didn’t realise how big until I weighed it this morning……

That crow weighs 563g {about 1lb 4oz} without its head, both breasts…..bloody big crow

Gyr69

04-01-2008, 10:57 PM

What ever happened to "What happens in the field stays in the field"?:lol:

LOL I was just thinking the same. Is that a new dance you got there Brad?;)

Eznugud

13-01-2008, 05:56 PM

Sunday 13th January 2008

Its been a while since either me or Bradley updated this thread, we have not had chance to fly Pancho for the last 8 days or so due to a few unexpected work commitments…….so this was his first time out since 4th January.

Kev {KevGem1} & Terry {wolly} came over again today, Kev brought his 2nd year Female Pere x Prairie.
The weather was very poor today strong winds and rain, but Pancho knows little else so we cracked on.
Guest always get first slip so we set off to find a slip for Kev and his Pere x Prairie, after about 10 minutes or so Kev spotted a slip at a mixed flock of maybe 20corvids…….I’ll not go into the flight I will leave that for Kev…….It did end with a crow in the bag.

After Kev`s falcon was fed up it was time to look for a slip for Pancho……
After another 10 minutes driving we spotted a crosswind slip at a mixed flock quite close to the farm, not ideal due to today’s wind direction and strength but the time was getting on and I took it for granted the crows would automatically turn down wind and away from the farm…..{they didn’t}.
We had no idea how Pancho was going to perform after having just over a week off, Bradley un-hooded Pancho…… he was quite slow to leave the fist and gave the flock a good head start.
The flock were climbing quickly into wind and over the farm {I had guessed they would have gone the other way}, Pancho was keeping low and turned downwind away from the flock, he then turned back into wind and dropped it down a gear and within the blink of an eye he was up above the flock……..Two rooks panicked and dropped out of the flock.
Pancho stooped but was beat to the farm, we watched him for 2 minutes chasing the rook round the farm buildings before jumping in to the car and driving down………Pancho was still engaged in a rat hunt around the buildings with the rook, Bradley & Terry ran into the farm yard and kept the rook in the air……Pancho caught his rook
I was very impressed with how Pancho flew today considering the times he’s had off.

All in all we had a cracking day, strong winds, rain, two falcons, two slips, two kills…………….You can’t ask for more.

Kevs Pere x Prairie

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/IMG_0097.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/IMG_0100.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/IMG_0103.jpg

Eznugud

13-01-2008, 05:58 PM

Kevs Pere x Prairie

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/IMG_0113.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/IMG_0118.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/IMG_0120.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/IMG_0121.jpg

Eznugud

13-01-2008, 05:59 PM

Pancho

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/IMG_0134.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/IMG_0136.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/IMG_0143.jpg

Eznugud

13-01-2008, 06:00 PM

Pancho

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/IMG_0153.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/IMG_0154.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/IMG_0175.jpg

Eznugud

13-01-2008, 06:01 PM

Days End.....

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/IMG_0180.jpg

The Two Scrim's

13-01-2008, 06:02 PM

Looks like you's had a good day then;-) like the picts:cool:

Wooly

13-01-2008, 06:10 PM

Shaun thanks for another great days crow hawking. It gives me great pleasure going flying with Kev yourself and especially Bradley he is a very likable young man that is a credit to you and your good lady. As for the flights in the conditions they were up against today, I think both falcons flew exceptionally well. Thanks again and i will speak with you soon. :supz::supz: Terry.

KevGem1

13-01-2008, 07:34 PM

hi shaun

Dito to what Terry has said previously its a real pleasure going out with you and young Bradley i thought both falcons flew very well today considering the weather was pants, thanks again for the invite i cant really ask for anything more good crow land plenty of crows and in very good company. By the way the pictures are good, that camera you have got is taking some really nice pictures, hope to speak to you soon and prehaps meet up again very soon. All the best KEV

Yorky

13-01-2008, 08:07 PM

Kev, what about the flight? Tell us more...

hi shaun

Dito to what Terry has said previously its a real pleasure going out with you and young Bradley i thought both falcons flew very well today considering the weather was pants, thanks again for the invite i cant really ask for anything more good crow land plenty of crows and in very good company. By the way the pictures are good, that camera you have got is taking some really nice pictures, hope to speak to you soon and prehaps meet up again very soon. All the best KEV

StoopDoggyDogg

13-01-2008, 08:15 PM

Zarafia

13-01-2008, 08:29 PM

Looks like you guys are doing great. Is that your "crow dispatcher" in some of those pictures?

KevGem1

13-01-2008, 09:19 PM

Kev, what about the flight? Tell us more...

to be honest we didnt see to much of the flight,we seen her put a couple of stoops in and then we lost site of her.which ended up in a ten minute track down it was very windy so it didnt take long for her to eat up the sky if you know what i mean.this is only the second time i have flew her at hill crows and she hasn't done to bad.the last time i flew her up there i seen a better flight as she rung up with a flock but she didn't end up with a kill.thanks for the interest KEV.

KevGem1

13-01-2008, 09:48 PM

Hi Kev
What weight does your pere x prairie fly at ? and does it go straight off the fist at what you are pointing it at ?

The reason i am asking is, i have a female imprint praire and i was hoping to breed a few p x p's and two of my mates plan to fly a female each. I have flown 2 males only as gamehawks and have no experience of a female.

Do you think your bird is fast in level flight compared to say Pancho ?

How is it regarding temperament and ease of training ?

Cheers

i have been flying her at 1lb10+1/2oz and to be perfectly honest she tends to have a look around and picks her own target, on a few occations i have unhooded her to show her what i think is a good slip and she bobs her head a couple of times at some crows to the back of me and picks one of those.so im thinking of dropping a little bit more off her and see if that makes her focus a bit better.me and shaun where discussing this today and we agreed that 1lb10oz maybe 1lb9+3/4oz might do the trick.yes she is pretty quick in level flight she will make up good ground when i give her long slips.her temprament is pretty good she dosen't try footing you and she doesn't turn into some raving nasty loonatick like some people will have you believe this hibred will do. Training wise she was no harder to train than most other long wings and entering was very easy, these prairie hybreds are pretty game the only thing i would say is she does not like the hood but i have heard that this is quite common for this hybred. Why i don't know but mine is no acception the most trouble i get with her whilst hooding is when you are hooding her for the first time in the day to weigh her or get her ready to go out, i dont leave the hoods on my birds for a long time only when weighing them or when im travelling with them and hunting obviously. Thanks for the interest KEV

P.s I have heard that pere/prairie's make very good game birds as they are very tenatious and hit hard.

KevGem1

13-01-2008, 09:53 PM

Looks like you guys are doing great. Is that your "crow dispatcher" in some of those pictures?

yes what you can see in the pictures is just a screw driver with a point ground onto it, i use this for dispatching and pegging the crow down just stop the falcon from pulling it about and turning it over. Cheers KEV

Zarafia

13-01-2008, 10:14 PM

Dual-purpose, very clever. Will an old phillips head do?

KevGem1

14-01-2008, 01:15 PM

Dual-purpose, very clever. Will an old phillips head do?

that should do just fine,the reason i use a spike instead of a knife for dispaching is there is far less chance of damage to your birds toes when it has hold of the crows head.and it is good for staking the crow down so the falcon cant drag it all over the place cheers KEV.

Zarafia

14-01-2008, 07:39 PM

Oh I certainly agree regarding not having a blade near a raptor's lightning-quick feet. But I had never thought of using the tool to also peg the quarry down, sounds like a good idea.

StoopDoggyDogg

14-01-2008, 08:16 PM

cheers Kev

i have been flying her at 1lb10+1/2oz and to be perfectly honest she tends to have a look around and picks her own target, on a few occations i have unhooded her to show her what i think is a good slip and she bobs her head a couple of times at some crows to the back of me and picks one of those.so im thinking of dropping a little bit more off her and see if that makes her focus a bit better.me and shaun where discussing this today and we agreed that 1lb10oz maybe 1lb9+3/4oz might do the trick.yes she is pretty quick in level flight she will make up good ground when i give her long slips.her temprament is pretty good she dosen't try footing you and she doesn't turn into some raving nasty loonatick like some people will have you believe this hibred will do. Training wise she was no harder to train than most other long wings and entering was very easy, these prairie hybreds are pretty game the only thing i would say is she does not like the hood but i have heard that this is quite common for this hybred. Why i don't know but mine is no acception the most trouble i get with her whilst hooding is when you are hooding her for the first time in the day to weigh her or get her ready to go out, i dont leave the hoods on my birds for a long time only when weighing them or when im travelling with them and hunting obviously. Thanks for the interest KEV

P.s I have heard that pere/prairie's make very good game birds as they are very tenatious and hit hard.

HawkMom

14-01-2008, 11:59 PM

Squirrel hawkers call it the 'squirrel-driver'. A very safe tool in the field. :lol:

Eznugud

15-01-2008, 11:03 AM

Hi Kev
What weight does your pere x prairie fly at ? and does it go straight off the fist at what you are pointing it at ?

The reason i am asking is, i have a female imprint praire and i was hoping to breed a few p x p's and two of my mates plan to fly a female each. I have flown 2 males only as gamehawks and have no experience of a female.

Do you think your bird is fast in level flight compared to say Pancho ?

How is it regarding temperament and ease of training ?

Cheers

Steve
I flew a Female Pere x Prairie for a short time last season, unfortunately I did not initially train the Falcon and she did not come anywhere near the standard that I expect of a crow falcon.
She was very “picky” and would not put in any effort, I can only put this down to being trained and entered on a land fill site.
In the field she would go at a crow but if she missed on her first attack she would immediately land on the nearest wall, take her to a land fill site and she would catch you a crow every day.

Temperament wise you could not ask for a better falcon, she was the easiest going and friendliest falcon I have had.
With regards to speed, yes they can cover some ground quickly but do not come close to a Gyr x Peregrine for straight line speed and cutting through the wind.

Training a fresh un-touched Female Pere x Prairie in up there on my “things to do” list, given the right start on the right land I believe they would make the perfect crow falcon.

Oh I certainly agree regarding not having a blade near a raptor's lightning-quick feet. But I had never thought of using the tool to also peg the quarry down, sounds like a good idea.

Squirrel hawkers call it the 'squirrel-driver'. A very safe tool in the field. :lol:

I personally don’t like theses “spikes”, the last thing I want in my pocket or vest is a 4 to 6 inch steel spike while I’m jumping over wall etc.
That little bit of plastic on the end covering the point is not going stop it sticking in your leg or stomach if you fall……
I use a pen knife, something that lets you fold the blade safely into the handle………yes I do use a knife near the falcons feet and have done for 30+ years and I also let my 12 year old son use a knife near the falcons feet……..we both have eyes and common sense and all the time in the world……

Zarafia

15-01-2008, 04:03 PM

Ezungud, I think you have more than proven that you know what you're doing. If you guys use a knife I have no doubt but what you do it safely. I think myself, until I get good at doing crows I'll probably use something without a blade, but I'll certainly remember the gut stabbing thing as i pack stuff up.

Eznugud

16-01-2008, 09:38 PM

Wednesday 16th Jan 2008

First time out since Sunday due to work {again}, I hate having to juggle weights waiting to see if I get a chance to get out……if I pull my finger out I should have caught up in a few weeks and should be able to get out every day again……
The second Pancho stepped onto the fist this morning I knew he was low, put him on the scales and it confirmed it…….what I should have done was feed him up but I was desperate to get out.

I couldn’t for the life of me find a slip worth taking, well nothing what was going to test Pancho……eventually I decided to give him a slip at passage crows, he left the fist more or less instantly and really powered out towards the crow, he was close but got beat to a tree.

I drove round to him and found him sat on the farm roof, he took some persuading to come in to the lure, I should have called it a day there and then but being the daft sod I am I decided to try for one more slip………

Found a sitter of a slip for him, the second the crows lifted he was away but immediately set his wings and landed on a wall………

His fist flight had taken it out on him today because I had messed up with his weight, I should have called it a day after the first slip, better still I should have fed him at home and got myself set up for tomorrow…….I can still drop a bollock with the best of them..

First Slip

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0235.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0236.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0239.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0240.jpg

Eznugud

16-01-2008, 09:39 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0241.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0242.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0243.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0244.jpg

Eznugud

16-01-2008, 09:41 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0247.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0248.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0256.jpg

Eznugud

16-01-2008, 09:42 PM

Second Slip...

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0312.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0313.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0314.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0324.jpg

WGT

17-01-2008, 11:08 AM

That crow weighs 563g {about 1lb 4oz} without its head, both breasts…..bloody big crow

Hey Bradley,

Congrats to you and your Bird.
Whats your bird flying at?(please in grams) The biggest Crow we hunted over here was at 633g, but compleat.
My Peregrine smacked down her last crow on the ground, so hard that there only was a cloud of feathers in the air:rolleyes: and the crow fell down in the field... she hit the Crow like a rocket...(the two lower pics)

Best Regards and good luck with Pancho

StoopDoggyDogg

18-01-2008, 04:41 PM

Cheers ;-)

Steve
I flew a Female Pere x Prairie for a short time last season, unfortunately I did not initially train the Falcon and she did not come anywhere near the standard that I expect of a crow falcon.
She was very “picky” and would not put in any effort, I can only put this down to being trained and entered on a land fill site.
In the field she would go at a crow but if she missed on her first attack she would immediately land on the nearest wall, take her to a land fill site and she would catch you a crow every day.

Temperament wise you could not ask for a better falcon, she was the easiest going and friendliest falcon I have had.
With regards to speed, yes they can cover some ground quickly but do not come close to a Gyr x Peregrine for straight line speed and cutting through the wind.

Training a fresh un-touched Female Pere x Prairie in up there on my “things to do” list, given the right start on the right land I believe they would make the perfect crow falcon.

I personally don’t like theses “spikes”, the last thing I want in my pocket or vest is a 4 to 6 inch steel spike while I’m jumping over wall etc.
That little bit of plastic on the end covering the point is not going stop it sticking in your leg or stomach if you fall……
I use a pen knife, something that lets you fold the blade safely into the handle………yes I do use a knife near the falcons feet and have done for 30+ years and I also let my 12 year old son use a knife near the falcons feet……..we both have eyes and common sense and all the time in the world……

Eznugud

18-01-2008, 09:03 PM

Friday 18th Jan 2008

Didn’t get out yesterday due to work and by rights I should have given it a miss today due to the weather.
Gale force winds {60+ mph Gust} and heavy rain, if Pancho had be flown since the summer I would not have bothered but it was a late start with him and I’m playing catch up and still have a long way to go building a solid foundation to build on for next season with him.

After a bit of driving I eventually found a half decent slip at 4 crows about 300yds out, the second the crows lifted Pancho left the fist and was instantly blown behind me……he quickly got is bearings, turned and started cutting into the wind after his crows.

3 of the crow stayed low and 1 was climbing, Pancho had set his sights on the climbing crow……..he was reeling the crow in quickly when the crow did a sort of “back flip” and within the blink of an eye it was facing the opposite direction about 300ft up and some how 100+yds downwind of Pancho……………..Its very difficult to explain, its something that you had to see.

Pancho was more than up for it and did more or less the same manoeuvre; they both came back past me like bats out of hell, I have never seen a crow and falcon covering ground so fast…
The crow was now maybe 400ft with Pancho about 100ft below but really working hard to catch up……

My last view of the flight was both of them dropping out of the sky on the horizon………

After 20minutes of tracking I found him with his crow about 6yds from a single bush in the middle of a field.

When we took Pancho on in mid October I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, I had no doubt that we could get him hunting crows but I wasn’t sure if we could make him into a crow falcon……..
Today he proved that he can handle the silly situations I put him in and come out on top, I believe that Pancho is going to make one hell of a crow falcon.

I didn’t get many Photos of the flight, well I did but 99.9% of them were just photos of the sky because it was moving so fast……..

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0365.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0398.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0412.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0419.jpg

Martin Whitley

18-01-2008, 09:08 PM

When it works crow hawking in strong winds can be the most exciting thing in falconry, like you had today,.............
Of course when it goes wrong it can be a bitch ( having picked Morwena up on a magpie 3 miles down wind of where I slipped her on a crow today:oops:)

Matthew Patching

18-01-2008, 09:11 PM

How many times have I told you shaun, you arnt suposed to shower with the falcon before flying!!! That comes after.

Good to hear from you today, the flight sounded good, and the outcome of his flights is becoming more certain with every kill.

Good luck for tomorrow, Ill be out with arwen late morning, got my telem ready for anoth track down.:lol:

Raptoria

19-01-2008, 01:37 AM

No words.

Carlos.

Wooly

20-01-2008, 08:08 PM

Nice one Shaun, the poor fella looks like he's been doing river crossings. Great result M8 speak to you soon. Terry.:supz:

Laggan

21-01-2008, 03:14 PM

When we took Pancho on in mid October I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, I had no doubt that we could get him hunting crows but I wasn’t sure if we could make him into a crow falcon……..
Today he proved that he can handle the silly situations I put him in and come out on top, I believe that Pancho is going to make one hell of a crow falcon.

Coming from you Shaun, an excellent epithet.

I was wondering based upon your experiences over many seasons whether it will automatically follow that Pancho will be equally as good next season, or whether sometimes, perhaps for inexplicable reasons, crow falcons do go off the boil in subsequent seasons?

Iain

KevGem1

21-01-2008, 04:50 PM

nice one shaun,i said the first time i seen him fly, how impressed i was with him and my opinion hasnt changed.he is a smart looking bird in good condition and does the bizz.he is a credit to bradley and your self of curse KEV.

Eznugud

22-01-2008, 02:37 AM

I wondered where this thread at gone………..All the sub forums are getting silly.

Are you sure you’ve moved it in to the right “sub forum”? only I didn’t notice any reference to hybrids in the thread title……..Maybe it would be better in the Pursuit falcons “sub forum”, he is a pursuit falcon after all, but then again it may be better in the members diaries section because I suppose it is a diary now……..

Decision, decisions, decisions…….A longwing that’s a hybrid that is used for pursuit flights…I’ve got it make another “sub forum”

“Longwings that are Hybrids and are used for Pursuit Flights”

CJTaylor

22-01-2008, 11:18 AM

Exellent pice shaun, looks like you fly in the same weather conditions as myself..:lol:.colin

OutFlying

22-01-2008, 02:58 PM

Martin Whitley

22-01-2008, 03:56 PM

Hello Martyn,
Did you get a signal from the TinyLoc at that range ?

Jim.
Yes, a good signal strait to her, and this was bad ground.
that is the furthest I've had to use it in anger,
but round here 3 miles with any set is good,
I have sold all my Marshall stuff and am only using the tinyloc now.

OutFlying

22-01-2008, 04:07 PM

Yes, a good signal strait to her, and this was bad ground.
that is the furthest I've had to use it in anger,
but round here 3 miles with any set is good,
I have sold all my Marshall stuff and am only using the tinyloc now.

Similar to myself Martyn,
Can't fault the TinyLoc system so far, even though I've tried.

Jim.

Eznugud

23-01-2008, 12:18 AM

Tuesday 22nd January 2008

First time out since Friday again due to this bloody contract that I didn’t want

Considering the weather we have been flying in recently today was pretty good, dull with a strong {ish} wind but no rain.
I was spoilt for choice regarding slips when I first arrived on the tops, I found one that to some would not have looked that good but knowing the land and knowing the crows up here I knew they would ignore the few bushes and trees and try and out fly the falcon.

Pancho went the second the crows lifted, the crows did exactly what I expected them to do and completely ignored the cover and started to go up.
Pancho was carrying a little more weight than usual so it was a toss up which way he would go, he was either going to use the extra to his advantage and follow the crows to the clouds or he was going to so far with them and set his wings……….He went all the way and I witnessed one of the highest flights of the of our season to date.

I got quite a few photos of the beginning of the flight but eventually had to drop the camera and use the binoculars, I eventually lost sight of the flight through the binoculars.
It was disappointing not seeing Pancho and the crow coming back down but watching them going up was pretty exciting.
Unfortunately I found Pancho sitting on a wall and not the crow, he was next to a small plantation, I was gutted for him after putting in all that effort to come away empty handed.

Im going to put up quite a few photos showing the flight from the start to when I swapped the camera for binoculars
These photos show why I fly the males at crows, if Pancho had been a female the crows would have been to intimidated by her and they would have made a b-line for those trees and bushes instead of trying to out fly her.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/IMG_0854.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/IMG_0855.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/IMG_0856.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/IMG_0857.jpg

Eznugud

23-01-2008, 12:19 AM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/IMG_0858.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/IMG_0859.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/IMG_0860.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/IMG_0861.jpg

Eznugud

23-01-2008, 12:20 AM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/IMG_0867.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/IMG_0868.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/IMG_0869.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/IMG_0871.jpg

Eznugud

23-01-2008, 12:21 AM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/IMG_0872.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/IMG_0873.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/IMG_0874.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/IMG_0885.jpg

Eznugud

23-01-2008, 12:22 AM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/IMG_0886.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/IMG_0887.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/IMG_0888.jpg

Eznugud

23-01-2008, 05:45 PM

Wednesday 23rd Jan 2008

I stayed up quite late yesterday and did the majority of the work I had planned for today so I could get Pancho out again.
The weather was pretty good today, very strong winds but no rain.

Driving along the road I spotted two crows in the field just in front of the farm house, it wasn’t a perfect slip due to the farm the wind direction and a bush.
I drove up to the farm and into the court yard then sat and weighed the slip up, it was going to be a crosswind so the only bush was 400yds up wind of the crows so that should have put the bush out of the equation, I was slipping from the farm and the crows were 300yds away and with the wind direction I couldn’t see them coming back towards the farm…….The only way the flight could go was downwind and in to nothing but fields……….Yeah Right

I’ve got quite a few photos today so will put them up they tell the story of the flight better than I can, the photos are in order…..

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0902.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0903.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0911.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0915.jpg

Eznugud

23-01-2008, 05:46 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0917.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0918.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0919.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0920.jpg

Eznugud

23-01-2008, 05:47 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0921.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0926.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0927.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0928.jpg

Eznugud

23-01-2008, 05:48 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0929.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0930.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0931.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0932.jpg

Eznugud

23-01-2008, 05:49 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0933.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0934.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0935.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0936.jpg

Eznugud

23-01-2008, 05:51 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0937.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0939.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0944.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0945.jpg

Eznugud

23-01-2008, 05:52 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0946.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0949.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0952.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0968.jpg

Eznugud

23-01-2008, 05:53 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0973.jpg

THE END

Matthew Patching

23-01-2008, 05:57 PM

Ill tell you what Shaun, the pics tell the story that you told me credit.

Amazing! I can see why you were excited now! He is gonna be up there with the best of them!

Its a shame that the foto of the bind is blurred, as that would have made a cracking picture for brads wall. Oh well there will be other binds, other crows and other pictures.

Keep them coming!:D

Martin Whitley

23-01-2008, 06:03 PM

Fantastic set of photos Shaun.
Just as well the bush and farmhouse were out of the equation:lol:

Ross Ricks

23-01-2008, 06:18 PM

brill pics matey

Laggan

23-01-2008, 06:22 PM

Superb Shaun.

How would you rate him compared with previous crow falcons you have flown?

Iain

Wooly

23-01-2008, 08:12 PM

Are you practicing for a job in publishing or what Shaun, superb set of stills M8 it looked absolutely awesome. Hope to come over and get out with you and Brad soon I will give you a bell. Terry.:supz::supz:

CJTaylor

24-01-2008, 01:31 PM

Excellent pics shaun, very impressive mate, you could possibly go into film making:lol:, ive heard Bendover! are looking for crew!!..colin

Eznugud

24-01-2008, 02:29 PM

Superb Shaun.

How would you rate him compared with previous crow falcons you have flown?

Iain

Iain ask me again at the end of the season…….he’s definitely got the potential to be one of the best, at this moment in time I would say that he’s no more than average.

He’s just starting to get a little cocky and reckless with his flying, yesterday for example he dropped vertical in to the concrete farm court yard from just above roof height and a stupid speed….I could see what he was going to do and cringed when he went in…….he didn’t come back up for about 30seconds and I though he had either got the crow or was splattered on the concrete……..I don’t know what happened but he flew back up onto the roof.

The point when I knew what he was going to do
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0936.jpg

The point where I closed my eyes
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/Chinley/22jan/23jan/IMG_0937.jpg

Eznugud

24-01-2008, 02:32 PM

Excellent pics shaun, very impressive mate, you could possibly go into film making:lol:, ive heard Bendover! are looking for crew!!..colin

Colin

The camera is a pain in the arse when I’m on my own, the main reason I do it is for Bradley so he can see what’s happened
The first words when he gets in from school are “how’s my lad done?”…..then we sit down at the computer and go over the flight and every photo……its amazing how he recognises exactly where we are from any photo that’s got a bit of landscape in it…..
Trouble is I’ve stopped using my glove when slipping him so I can use the camera straight away, when he got the crow yesterday I ran over then realised I hadn’t got my glove or my bag…… its like putting your hand into a bag of snakes the crows biting and grabbing, the falcons got its head down biting and adjusting its hold on the crow…..

So while I have the photos it doesn’t cost owt to post them………

Bendover?......well considering the times I’ve been shafted at work over the last month that sounds like the company for me..

KevGem1

24-01-2008, 03:28 PM

nice one shaun top notch as usual,you will have to be careful and leave some breading stock for your next season sport :lol:all the best pal KEV.

Eznugud

25-01-2008, 07:59 PM

Friday 25th Jan 2008

I didn’t manage to get out yesterday and wish I hadn’t bothered today…….

Gale force winds maybe to worst I have ever flown in, I struggled opening the back door of the land rover.
Found a decent slip for Pancho about 6 crows 100yds out, upwind slip……..He was away more or less straight away but the flight went immediately down wind and at a great rate of knots, I had lost sight of them in seconds.
3 hours later I found Pancho in a stone cellar sat in the dark on a concrete floor.

Long story short I couldn’t get a signal for ages then when I got the signal it was not making any sense and had me scratching my head for a while.
Pancho had covered about 4 miles, he had been chasing a crow around a farm and landed on the wall out side the house, the farmer then grabbed him so Pancho grabbed the farmer….the farmer wasn’t happy about this so dumped him in a sack and left him by the door………
Eventually a chap who worked for the farmer suggested then they should move him, so he was then emptied out of the sack into a cellar.

Because the signal was so weak I struggled finding him……..when I eventually pulled into the farm yard I was greeted with the “have you lost your hawk”…
He took me down to the cellar, I turned the light on to find Pancho sat in the middle of the damp **** hole looking very sorry for himself, fluffed up, wings drooped…….I bent down and offered out my glove and he ran off under a bench turned round hackles up, wings spread sat on his tail………I eventually got him on the fist but he was scared…..

I was fuming when I was told what had happened………lets say the conversation between me and the farmer was very heated and very one way………..

Mark Collins

25-01-2008, 08:06 PM

Hi Shaun, what a nightmare, a good few seasons ago a gamkeeper did the same thing to a f.peregrine of mine only it was a corn bin he put her in, glad you got him back, did you get a lecture from bradley??? cheers,mark.

Matthew Patching

25-01-2008, 08:06 PM

Wooly

25-01-2008, 09:01 PM

Close call there M8, I hope he is alright. I bet Bradley's got him in the house tonight, what was the farmer thinking off.:evil: Lets us know how he is. Terry.

Martin Whitley

25-01-2008, 09:17 PM

I hope he's alright after this

Laggan

25-01-2008, 09:22 PM

******

KevGem1

25-01-2008, 10:54 PM

very lucky shaun its a good job you got to him when you did pal god only knows what may of happend if he was in the celler all night? as it is it sounds like hes had a bit of an ordeal. hope everything is fine with him speak to you soon mate KEV.

Daave77

26-01-2008, 12:28 AM

I too am sorry to hear about this, what a strange thing for someone to do!!??? How is he today?? I do hope this hasn't knocked him in any way as he's doing great!!

some people....:-x

HawkMom

26-01-2008, 12:46 AM

Does Pancho wear an I.D. tag with your phone number? My birds each wear two. A large one which can be easily read with a pair of binos. A small one that is on the breeders band or by itself on the other foot.

I hope Pancho is ok. Just let him know how much you love him. He will probably recover. BTW: excellent telemetry work.

Eznugud

26-01-2008, 11:08 AM

He seems fine this morning, no worse for the experience…………Bradley is chomping at the bit to get out but the weather is bad {gales} and Pancho is a little high……Going to give it a few hours before we make a decision.

Bradley got himself pretty vexed and wanted to go over and beat the chap up with his hockey stick………..

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0639.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0640.jpg

The only photos I got yesterday because the flight moved so fast…

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0984.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0985.jpg

Yorky

26-01-2008, 06:32 PM

What a git! Did the farmer claim that Pancho was worrying his sheep?:rolleyes: Glad you've got him back....

Eznugud

26-01-2008, 06:34 PM

Saturday 26th Jan 2008

We found it really hard work finding a suitable slip today, eventually we picked one that wasn’t ideal be due to the wind direction we had or fingers crossed that the lone bush would not come into play.
It was a cross wind slip at 2 crows, Pancho was on the ball and left the fist instantly…the crows fancied their chances and the bush didn’t come into play but we ended up witnessing a cracking high ringing flight……….The flight covered a lot of ground due to the wind speed and eventually I had to put the camera down and use the binoculars.
Pancho eventually got the upper hand and did something that you don’t very often see crow falcons do……..he got above his crow stooped “hit” the crown the threw up and “hit” it again {crow falcons more often the not bind}……the crow went limp and dropped out of the sky like a rag doll behind a band of trees, Pancho was just behind wings folded……….Seconds after Pancho followed the crow in he came back up again and was “hovering” Kestrel like for a few second then dropped back in……

We waited for 2 minutes then jumped in the car and shot over to were they had gone in, I knew exactly where the were but it took us a good 10mins to get there due to the roads and having to walk a few hundred yards………….when we got to the spot we couldn’t see them.
I was getting the telemetry out when Bradley spotted a crow come out from under a bit of rubble in the middle of the field……the crow had a broken wing.
Bradley chased and caught it, it was a fresh break with no dry blood………we don’t know for sure what had happened but at a guess I would say when the crow hit the ground it scrambled under the rubble and Pancho lost it and moved on……..

We “dispatched” the crow and got a direction for Pancho, Bradley set of with the telemetry and I went back for the car………when I got to the farm Bradley had got Pancho, he was just around the corner from the crow……….
It was a cracking flight so we fed Pancho up and called it a day.

We have decided not to count this one, it’s definitely the crow that Pancho knocked out of the sky but Bradley caught it in the end and not Pancho.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/26jan/IMG_1074.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/26jan/IMG_1075.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/26jan/IMG_1076.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/26jan/IMG_1077.jpg

Eznugud

26-01-2008, 06:35 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/26jan/IMG_1080.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/26jan/IMG_1081.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/26jan/IMG_1082.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/26jan/IMG_1092.jpg

Eznugud

26-01-2008, 06:36 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/26jan/IMG_1093.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/26jan/IMG_1094.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/26jan/IMG_1095.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/26jan/IMG_1099.jpg

Eznugud

26-01-2008, 06:37 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/26jan/IMG_1103.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/26jan/IMG_1104.jpg

Eznugud

26-01-2008, 06:38 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/26jan/IMG_1110.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/26jan/IMG_1119.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/26jan/IMG_1125.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/26jan/IMG_1126.jpg

Eznugud

26-01-2008, 06:39 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/26jan/IMG_1130.jpg

Wooly

26-01-2008, 06:44 PM

Glad to see he's none the worst for his ordeal great photos again. :supz::supz:Terry

KevGem1

26-01-2008, 06:52 PM

nice one shaun glad to see his last outing does'nt seem to have botherd him to much.well done brad getting off after him on foot why us older guys jump back in the car:lol: :yawinkle: speek to you soon lads KEV.

Martin Whitley

26-01-2008, 06:57 PM

Did you feed Bradley up on his kill?:lol:
Thoose are cracking photos you're getting time after time

LadyHawke

27-01-2008, 06:59 PM

Poor Pancho! what a terrible experience! Seems to be right as rain now, though! He's a right little cracker! Your pictures are amazing too, fab stuff!

Eznugud

30-01-2008, 08:53 PM

Monday 28th Jan 2008

I didn’t manage to get out on Sunday and also managed to cock Panchos weight up and get him to low for today………
I decided to go out anyway and look for a short easy slip, not a chance I drove for ages and couldn’t find a crow that was not in a field next to a farm…..
Then I spotted a field full of Gulls with the odd crow amongst them and it was a decent slip so decided to go for it assuming that Pancho would pick out one of the crows……to my disgust he picked out a Gull……..
He put in a few half hearted attempts then got himself in a position where he could have nailed the Gull quite easily but broke off and landed on a wall……very strange for Pancho, I don’t think hes broke off from quarry since he was un-entered, I was sort of happy he had not caught a Gull but annoyed that he broke off and landed……..

Then to make matters worse the little sod completely ignored me and wouldn’t come back in, I jumped in the Landy and drove closer but he still ignored me…..I was fuming so jumped over the wall and started walking down the wall towards him, the air was blue…
I was maybe 50yds up the wall from him when a crow came out of the wall about 50yds down from him, but Pancho was watching me walking towards him………..I was actually shouting “its behind you”…….when he eventually got the message the crow was well on its way, Pancho tried but got beat to some trees………
Fed him up and came home……

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_1151.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_1152.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_1153.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_1154.jpg

Eznugud

30-01-2008, 08:54 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_1155.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_1156.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_1157.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_1158.jpg

Eznugud

30-01-2008, 08:56 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_1159.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_1160.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_1161.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_1162.jpg

Eznugud

30-01-2008, 08:57 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_1163.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_1164.jpg

Eznugud

30-01-2008, 08:59 PM

Wednesday 30th Jan 2008

Didn’t get out on Tuesday so we were chomping at the bit today…..
Spotted a single crow, 200yd sort of crosswind {ish} slip…
The crow lifted and Pancho was away, this was a bloody clever crow the photo are in sequence and you will notice that Pancho clears the wall then comes back on himself, the crow flew in a straight line to the far wall then once it cleared the wall it took a sharp right hander and used the wall for cover…..it took Pancho a while to work out what was going on and was beat to a tree by the crow……

Pancho was waiting above the tree so I jumped in the car a drove down, by the time I got there Pancho was in the tree with the crow but on the opposite side and lower…….
I flushed the crows but it took Pancho an age to get airborne but by God did he put his foot down after the crow……
The flight covered a lot of ground and went very high, after a lot of dog fighting and jockeying for position Pancho finally got the upper hand and I witnessed a cracking corkscrewing stoop to the ground by both crow and falcon {the crows stoop was a match for any falcon}……….

I jumped in the Landy and drove down the valley the flight had covered going on ¾ mile, I spotted some crows going spare to my right so stopped the car and got the binoculars out and spotted him rolling about with the crow next to a cattle feeder….
By the time I got to him his crow was dead, the cattle didn’t look to happy so I decided to move him out of the field and cow shit…….I sunk up to my knees when I went to get him

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_0001.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_0002.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_0003.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_0004.jpg

Eznugud

30-01-2008, 09:01 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_0005.jpg

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Eznugud

30-01-2008, 09:02 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_0028.jpg

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Eznugud

30-01-2008, 09:03 PM

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/today/IMG_0046.jpg

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FredrickFogg

30-01-2008, 10:35 PM

WGT

30-01-2008, 10:46 PM

great pics, and good luck with him....

rgds

Eznugud

30-01-2008, 11:17 PM

Great pictures and great description of the flight! I have been meaning to ask you, when you are looking for slips, does it matter if the crows are in a tree or on a wall or do you look for them on the ground? Or it doesn't matter as long as Pancho can see them when you unhood him?

Great stuff Shaun, where is Brad (school I guess)! LOL

Fred

Fred

I look for Crows on the floor but Pancho will not go until the Crows lift, most hybrids will take the slip while the crow is walking but not this one for some reason…..
Give him another month or so and he should start taking on passage crows {already flying}.
He’s still a very inexperienced falcon for this time of year due to our late start with him and the **** weather we have had…….he’s really only just finding his wings so work permitting I’ve decided to keep him going until the first week in May, I need to build a good foundation for next season

Bradley is at School and he’s not happy, that’s the reason I am taking so many photos of the flights so he can see how the day went……..he’s got 1 weeks school holiday in a few weeks that he’s looking forward to…

Shaun

Eznugud

30-01-2008, 11:18 PM

great pics, and good luck with him....

rgds

Thank You

I meant to answer a question you asked a few pages back but forgot…..He fly’s at about 720g give or take........

WGT

30-01-2008, 11:21 PM

;)thanks:wink:

Laggan

02-02-2008, 02:22 PM

Superlative sequence of photographs, perhaps the best I have seen on the Forum, augmented by good description. Shaun, this thread just gets better and better.

Iain

Falconry Favourites

08-02-2008, 09:31 PM

well done brad good work mate.

Eznugud

09-02-2008, 07:50 PM

7th Feb 2008

The is the first time I have been able to get out for 6 days and was unsure how Pancho would perform…….he was quite a bit higher in weight than usual but I was desperate to get out…..

Slip 1

This was a crosswind slip at quite a few Rooks & Crows form around 100yds out; Pancho was away instantly and went up well with the crows.
He picked his crow and we had cracking flight plenty of jockeying for position with some great little stoops, twist and turns but they were getting closer and closer to the farm with every wing beat……The flight eventually got to the farm, I watched Pancho put in a spiralling stoop into the farm yard then jumped in to the Landy and drove over…….
It took me a good 5 minutes to get to the farm, I pulled into the court yard and the crow came out of the barn with Pancho hot on its tail, they went up and over the other barn and didn’t come back up……I ran round to find them both sat on a fence within feet of each other both panting, the flight had been going on for a good 10minutes now…….
I waited until Pancho looked ready to go again and ran at the crow and off they both went again, after another 5 minutes of rat hunting around barns the crow went to ground inside a barn and Pancho landed on the bonnet on my Landy totally knackered, it looked like his chest was going to explode……I again waited until he had got his breath back and re-flushed the crow and again the went at it hammer and tongs………………..

The Crow eventually out witted us and sneaked away on the blind side of a wall while Pancho was sat in the mud on the other side……
The flight lasted about 25minutes in total and both Falcon & Crow gave their all, Pancho really deserved that Crow but on the other hand {and I cant believe I’m saying this} the crow deserved to live, it out flew and out witted a very fit a capable falcon and a slightly over weight falconer for 25minutes of more or less non stop action.

I have got a quite a few photos of this flight but they don’t cover half of the flight I was to busy coughing a lung up to take photos of all the flight.
The photos are in sequence.

Slip 2

After we had ½ hour rest before looking for another slip….
Spotted a single crow about 300yds out, un-hooded Pancho and he was away straight away……surprisingly the crow didn’t see him coming…..
He was about 20yds off the crow and I lost sight of him, I stoop there for about a minute but the area was dead not a sign…….
Then for no apparent reason the sheep started running across the field, I the spotted a crow going hell for leather just above the sheep and heading for another farm…….I then spotted Pancho behind the crow and reeling it in quickly but it was going to be touch and if he would get to it before they reached the farm………
The crow reached the farm and I watched Pancho drop in behind the farm house, again I jumped in the Landy…..Driving down the drove way to the farm I saw Pancho turn over a put in a fully committed vertical stoop behind the garage……..I pulled up in the court yard and the farmers wife was came to the door and told me Pancho was making a nuisance of himself in the back garden……
He had got his crow……

I have not idea what went on it the minute when I lost sight of him to when I spotted him chasing the crow towards the farm…..

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0567.jpg

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Eznugud

09-02-2008, 07:51 PM

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Eznugud

09-02-2008, 07:53 PM

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Eznugud

09-02-2008, 07:54 PM

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Eznugud

09-02-2008, 07:55 PM

SLIP 2

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/IMG_0612.jpg

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Eznugud

09-02-2008, 08:02 PM

Saturday 9th Feb 2008

At the moment I’m in quite a bit of trouble from the wife, the air suspension broke on my Discovery so we waited until the wife went to town with her Mother then we borrowed her car………Back home now and I’m really in the bad books but it was worth it.
For one thing having a different vehicle it was like being invisible, you don’t really notice how wise the Crow have got to you vehicle until you go out in a different one.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/9th%20Feb/IMG_0741.jpg

Bradley was back in charge today, we had 3 slips in total with third one being successful, not only did it end in a kill it was a banger of a flight.

Slip 1

Not an ideal slip, it was down wind, the crows were to far out and to near cover but to be honest we slipped for the sake of it……we were trying to get the wife’s car back before she noticed we had taken it.
Pancho was slow to leave the fist, it was like he wasn’t happy with the slip we were offering him, and he eventually went but got beat to cover easily.
After that cock up we decided that we would just have to take whatever was coming with regards to the car and find a proper slip.

Slip 2

We spotted a mixed flock of Gulls, Crows & Rooks, at first Bradley point blank refused to slip but after a bit of persuasion and a promise that Pancho would not pick a Gull and would defiantly pick out a Crow he decided to take the slip.
And bloody Pancho picked out a bloody Gull, he was really trying and put the Gull under serious pressure coming very close and on a few occasions actually clipping, the flight was pretty good to watch……..he had got the Gull beat it was screaming and knew it was all over, both myself and Bradley said at the same time “this is it” when he was directly above it and was poised to but in the final killer stoop………
The little **** actually broke of and went after a crow that was flying past and minding its own business, the flight covered ground quickly with quite a few nice short stoops but he was beat to cover again………
I can’t believe I’m going to type this but I wish he a stuck with the Gull…

Slip 3

This one does not need writing about, I managed to get photos of the entire flight……

Again Please excuse the amount of photos I am about to post but they do tell the story a lot better than I can.

Slip 1

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/9th%20Feb/IMG_0653.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/eznugud/9th%20Feb/IMG_0655.jpg

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