Gull/Crow Falcons wieghts.

[AyrshireTaxidermy]

Hi,

What, in everyones opinion are the best weights for Gull/Crow Falcons?

[TiercelMan]

Hi,

What, in everyones opinion are the best weights for Gull/Crow Falcons?

Hi Rob, I've found that any of the hybrids with saker in them need to be started off fairly sharpish and then brought up in weight as they muscle up. Straight peregrines less so. Giving a precise weight is difficult because there are so many variables and depends on the individual bird. Not much help, sorry Rob
Alistair

[Eznugud]

Personal opinion here, but based on experience and the environment I hunt in

Minimum summer flying weight would be nothing smaller than 1lb 7oz preferably 1lb 8oz.

Maximum flying weight 1lb 15oz or 2lb at a push

My ideal weight for a crow falcon would be between 1lb 10oz & 1lb 12oz…

[Martin Whitley]

personal opinion here, but for crows I prefer some thing between 1.12 and 2 lb, anythung bigger tends to intimadate them to much and you dont' tend to get such a quality flight.

[Martin Whitley]

Having said that the best crow falcon I have had is a very small peegrine saker and she flies at 1.11 ( if only I could clone her:heart: )

[Goldie]

As you can see by the answers so far, it varies. Not much experience on gull hawking but for crows, a good sized gyr/pere tiercel around 1.12+ is very hard to beat.

[Berkut]

Best gull hawk I ever flew was a female gyr/pere at 2lb 8 oz. I have flown good gyr/pere males at gulls from 1lb 9 oz upwards and had a good female peregrine thet flew gulls very well at 1lb 15 oz.For the larger gulls the bigger the better.

[SakerYZF]

I've flown smaller Falcons at gulls , 1lb 6-7 oz but after a few good flights not only do their feathers suffer so does they're confidence , Gulls are big birds and i'd hate to speculate exact weights, i have a feeling after much debate that anything with peregrine in it will do the job and really the bigger the better...

[Matthew Patching]

Hi,

What, in everyones opinion are the best weights for Gull/Crow Falcons?

I like about 1lb 10-12, for crows.

Not interested in taking gulls realy.

[Mark Collins]

Sensitive subject, there are always exceptions, to generalise , if a smaller falcon or tiercel gets a right good hiding with a carrion crow it can and sometimes put the bird off completly, ,over the years i have seen more failed crow/rook hawks than good ones, the good ones are still killing lots of quarry in there 5/6 season, a good friend of mine had a brilliant gyr/peregrine it killed over 100 head over 2 seasons , however in its 3rd season , it started refusing them !!!!!, the reason ,he got a real good hiding from a pair of hill crows , they were a long way from us and we could hear the falcon screaming were one of the crows had him by the face, just because a medium sized falcon catches 40 plus crows/rooks in its first season dosnt mean it will continue to do so , i have had some tremendous smaller falcons for crows/rooks/gulls , one of the most stylish is the gyr/peregrine fantastic birds, but these days i choose a falcon that is flying around the 2 pound mark, big enough for anything black and powerfull enough for the larger gulls, and able to defend herself on the ground, adult crows give her respect on a kill and will keep there distance, everybody has there own ideas , these are mine and they work for me, cheers, mark.

[Gyr69]

personal opinion here, but for crows I prefer some thing between 1.12 and 2 lb, anythung bigger tends to intimadate them to much and you dont' tend to get such a quality flight.


My female Gyr/Saker fly’s at 2lb.4oz and does just that. She has knocked a fair few out the sky but when the crow bottles out and goes to ground it’s all over in a matter of seconds. As Mark says the larger falcon is more up to the job on the ground with large corvids.However many people prefer to fly a male as the flights are usually better quality.

[Takajo]

Also depends on the bird's own metabolism, despite species. My pere gave good flights at 1.11 usually. Struggle on the ground with the big ones, though, especially Long-bills here in East Asia. (Was eventually killed by a gang)

[Mark Collins]

The other consideration is terrain, how open your ground is and what kind of flight you are looking for, one of the pluses for gullhawking is they only put into water so the flight goes on for a lot longer than the average crow flight .

[Eznugud]

I am position where I could afford to buy any falcon I wanted to fly at crows, I hunt crows with male hybrids because they are the best birds for the job.
If I was hunting gull I would more than likely go for a falcon over 2lb simply because gulls do not put into cover and will try to out fly even the most intimidating large falcon.
To many times have I seen a crow lose the will to live within the first minute of a flight and hit the floor trying to hide behind a blade of grass because the falcon was so big and intimidating, I want to see good aerial dog fights between falcon and crow not a falcon constantly hitting a quivering crow sat at the side of a wall.

I hunt exclusively big upland / hill crows and yes sometimes my falcons have had a fight on their hands with the crow that they have caught and a few of its mates coming in to help him but they thrive on the rough and tumble, the only falcons that get put of crows after getting a “beating” from them are the ones that are not in condition.
Once your falcon is on the ball and in tip top condition the crows tend to keep their distance, they land and run about showing off but keep their distance, they seem to be able to tell the in condition killer from the out of condition inexperienced falcon and act accordingly.

Some will also say that you get feather damage when flying the smaller males at crows, falcons do not break feathers, falconers do…..
I have not had to imp a falcon ever because of damage incurred in the field, their feathers are designed to bend and twist and put up with rolling about on the floor with quarry.

If you are a competent falconer and have the know how to get your falcon in to condition it is my opinion you will get more enjoyment out of hunting crows with a 1lb 8oz male than you will with a 2lb+ female.

That said I would never recommend a male for the novice crow falconer.

43925
30th crow and a big ******, the falcon is feather perfect.

43926
if you look theres 100+ corvids in the air including ravens while cisco is on the ground with the above crow, they didnt try to help, a month earlier they would have been all over him....