What kite pattern do you use?

[Hawkmaster]

I have found many people use different types of kites. What do you use and why?

[Hawkmaster]

No one else use Kites for training or fun then?

[Len]

all the time. A small delta takes my lures to 1000 feet in almost no wind.

[Kornie]

I couldn't afford to pay the money they are demanding for these kites, so I bought a all-round kite for £25 put the lure on, tried it today and it works perfectly :D!!! lol clips off beutifully and next stage is getting the bird to fly to it.

[Len]

shouldn't take more than a day. Just start low so the bird can reach it without roo much effort. After that you should be able to do 500 ft easily

[Hawkmaster]

I find getting the birds to do the first 150 to 200 foot the most time consuming and there after I go up in at least 100 foot increments.

[Len]

I must admit, I never had a problem getting mine to go high. Perhaps it's because I fly him every day? On the down side. When he decided to fly off a few months ago, he ended up in Witby (170 miles away)

[Kornie]

she caught the dummy bunny while I was untangling it today and ******ed off. Cheek was unbeleivable. I think tommorow ill get some height out of her.

[Hawkmaster]

Are you using the dummy bunny on the kite?

[Kornie]

yeah, i know its not practical but she goes for it all I really want her to do is chase it.

[Miguel]

Why do you use kites? And how do you use them? can you train the bird to go really high with that kite thing??

[Len]

I use a kite to increase the pitch of my falcon from typically 100 feet to over 500 feet. All I do is attach a lure to the kite and send it to 1000 feet; the falcon sees it, goes for it and catches the lure which then detaches and descends down the kite line. Occasionally I send the kite up without a lure. Then the falcon goes up, circles it a few times then stoops from 1000 feet to the lure which I swing on ground levcel. Bloody impressive and fast!

[Miguel]

Do you think it might work to train a peregrin to go really high and then "dive" down and land on a glove? For public demonstration purpose...

[Len]

Mine only responds to the lure. The only time I manage to get my pere/saker falcon to land on the glove is from about three feet away. When he is on the lure on the floor and I hold out a bit of meat whilst keeping my foot on the lure, then he hops up. The Harris' hawk, on the other hand, will soar out of sight but stoop down to the glove as soon as I held my hand out. Not as fast as the falcon, but still fast.

[Miguel]

Our peregrin lands well on the glove... but we want to have him circling above us really high and then stoop down... To show the audience how he gets all his speed!

[Kornie]

You could just send them up without the lure and then hold the lure in the glove. (I would't want to do it might loose an arm)

[Miguel]

Yeah, but the problem is that he doesn't go very high... I haven't lost my arm yet... and I will always have my work insurance!! LOL

[Len]

Some people say that sending a falcon to a kite without any reward attached will break the bond of trust between bird and falconer. Mine will only go up once and fly around looking puzzled as he is used to a lure being attached, but then will stoop from almost 1000 feet when I swing the lure, (or in your case you hold out your glove). If I try it again he will just fly to the nearest perch unless he sees the lure actually attached.

[Kornie]

Hmmm, i know a guy who taught his falcons, not to fly lure-bound but to relase them let them fly around and when he was satisfied bring out the lure and the bird would stoop all that way. He would give the pass and then bring him in.

[Hawkmaster]

Kornie how did he get the bird up there? I have been thinking of doing this too, by having a light correx box with a RC release bottom door.

[Kornie]

well first he taught his bird to do fly lure bound and then he just let them go whilst hiding the lure and first he would let them off for 20 seconds or so. And the more times he did it he just increased the length of time he would let them fly without showing them the lure. When he wanted them to come in he just whistled and swung the lure. Obviously you would need to let them off somewhere were they will not be able to sit. I don't know if that makes any sense.

[Hawkmaster]

Ahh, Ok i got the wrong end of the stick, but, no actually I think you did, lol, we are talking about to the kite.

So bird off the fist UP to the kite and to the lure or bird Up to the kite, no lure and DOWN to the lure.

I want to drop the hawk from the kite and then just stoop it down.

What you are talking about is gamehawking.

[Kornie]

Yeah sorry I thought you were asking about how to do that. (i never hunted with a falcon) No but what you could do is have another line attatched to the the dummy bunny and yank it when she gets close. I'm still working on getting my bird up there. Weather hasn't at all been appropriate.

[Hawkmaster]

Best time to do it, and then you will learn why they are so expensive. Because you should have 2 kites, one for high wind, one for low and they must both be steady!

[Kornie]

Yeah, I dont care. My kite can cope with very low winds and quite high winds. Over thge past couple of days the wind has been blustery up by me coming in at all different directions. Im pretty sure there is a kite that can handle that kind of wind.

[Hawkmaster]

From that comment of mine you would think my next comment is: "You can buy your £180 kite kit from me" lol

Sorry NONe in stock, hahaha

[Kornie]

Hey Hawkmaster i bought my kite for £25 it does the job nicely. Im pleased with it. :D

[Hawkmaster]

Good, what is it and is there a link?

[Kornie]

Its a bog standard kite i got from mistral kites and I adapted it.

[Hawkmaster]

Wouldn't mind seeing what you did, if you can photograph it? Please.

[Shaun Byrne]

Kornie, have I got it right, your sending a dummy bunny up on a kite?
What kind of release are you using, I find it hard enough to set mine with just a light lure swinging about.
How fast does it come down the line and what are you flying up to it?

[Shaun Byrne]

I love Kites, I've got a Gyr/Lanner that I kite trained for displays, he will wait on at over 1500ft while I fly owls and hawks below him and will fold and stoop straight in as soon as he sees the lure, trouble is I can only pass him once or he attacks my bag, lol.

[Kornie]

Lol. Yeah the dummy bunny goes up easily. I kind of adjusted the clothes peg to suit myself

[Hawkmaster]

What design is this bog standard kite as there are so many?

[Kornie]

ummmmm..... sorry I forgot. It will come to me. ill post back

[Hawkmaster]

Ok or send that picture, would LOVE to see it up there with a BUNNY on it? lol

[Miguel]

I love Kites, I've got a Gyr/Lanner that I kite trained for displays, he will wait on at over 1500ft while I fly owls and hawks below him and will fold and stoop straight in as soon as he sees the lure, trouble is I can only pass him once or he attacks my bag, lol.

Can you tell me how did you train him?? I want to train a peregrine to do that... I work with raptors in a park in Portugal where we do daily shows (twice a day)... Hope to hear from you... Thanks in advanced! :wink:

[Mary Quite Contrary]

Kornie, have I got it right, your sending a dummy bunny up on a kite?
What kind of release are you using, I find it hard enough to set mine with just a light lure swinging about.
How fast does it come down the line and what are you flying up to it?


Kiss my what?
Kornie sends a dummy bunny up with a kite?
I have tied a chick to a lure pad weighing 4oz and tried sending it up in the air with a 9 foot wide kite and it only bounced lightly of the ground.
Why would you want to send a rabbit lure in the air?
Did you use a hand glider to lift this dummy bunny or is it made of polystrene?

[Shaun Byrne]

Atomik,
There's no secret to it, its fairly simple if your bird will take to the kite. I'll try and keep it brief!
First get your bird used to feeding under the kite, i feed mine on their blocks with the kite above them, hanging on a cord.
Take your birds weight down a little bit lower than normal and try flying her to the kite lure only about 10 or 20 feet off the ground.
Once your bird will do this, increase the hight slowly at first, you will probably find that after about 100 feet you can go up 50-100 feet at a time, reward her well each time.
I take my kite to 2000 feet and fly my birds to it twice a day. After a while you'll find your birds start to ring up as soon as they are unhooded.
I find usually after about 3 weeks my birds will go up to a bare lure, as soon as they reach pitch I lure them in to the ground with a good reward, do not try to pass your bird at this point it seems to put them off, having to do too much work.
At this stage it will depend on the bird but you should find your birds will reach a decent pitch every time. Carry on luring in and rewarding well, its just a matter of keeping up the routine from then on.

Hope this helps, its not rocket science just good old "repetition and reward".

[Miguel]

but you have to use the kite all the time??? You can eleminate the kite being there, can you?

[Shaun Byrne]

Sorry Atomik
I didnt explain that bit very well!
Once your bird will fly up to the bare lure every time without hesitating you can start trying her without the kite. Dont lure her back in until she reaches the pitch you require. She'll soon learn whats expected of her. Once the kite is removed you'll probably find her pitch lowers a bit but keep at it and she'll regain some (maybe all) of her height.
I have a peregrine tiercel that pitches at about 800ft, a Lanner/ Saker at about 1500ft and an outstanding Gyr/Lanner that goes out of site every time at about 2000ft (scary sometimes).

Good Luck

[Shaun Byrne]

Atomik, some reading for you!
http://www.falconers.com/articles/kites/

[Miguel]

Thanks guys! I'm leaving to U.S. in 7 hours, and probably I won't be able to visit the forum so often... Thanks for all your help, see you in a month!!

[Hawkmaster]

Have a GOOD time and hope to at least from you over there AND remember to spread the WORD about the forum!

Good trip and great Hawking!

[Gunther]

This is the kite that I use. It is a Sunrise Hq delta and measures 2.65m.

http://usera.imagecave.com/gunther/12.JPG

greetzz