What do you do

[Hardcore Hawker]

A question to all you imprint Gos flyers, What do you do with your charges on days when due to weather you cant hunt?? this is day 2 of a forcast 5 days of wind and constant rain meaning i am not going to get out with Diego, my problem is that this gos will not settle if not flown even if given a good crop, he will bounce about from dawn till dusk and can be vocal, one more habit which impacts on this further is, if i leave him in his weathering which is secluded he will destroy his furniture mostly leashes, he has been through approx 40 metres of various leash material since august and i have returned home to find him loose in his weathering on more than a few occasions:twisted:. Jump ups Etc are a no no as i dont fist feed EVER lure call offs would require an assistant as he will just follow if i set him down anywhere and to be honest if it was not to wet to be lure calling i would be out hunting!! at the moment he is spending a large amount of the day in his transport box as this appears to be the least stressfull option for both of us although not ideal, you suggestions please.

[Dave G]

sounds like a nitemare m8 hope somone comes up with a solution for you /dave

[OutFlying]

Hello Steve,
Not flown Flynn since sunday myself but don't experience the same problems as yourself fortunately.

If in your situation, I'd place his food source on the ground away from the weathering area, and place it in plain view. Then collect the gos and fly him to the food placing, feed up, then place in box for a while then back on the perch.

Jim.

[Pete J.]

And it may be that he is just a bit lower than he'd like to be. When they 'feel' the front is coming in days in advance (which they can feel it if you keep records of his behavior and successes you'll see he does exceptionally well or flies more intently before fronts arrive) they often get very antsy to kill and feed up well as they know the hunting will be poor due to wind, rain or prey availability. I tend to cycle my goses weights over a weeks time and gradually easing them up as the weather gets colder and more inhospitable. And goshawks can get really very beefy if you do this. Eventually you have days that are too warm and you have to bring them back down, but in general, winter is colder than fall. Wild birds do the same thing. You can trap a hawk in the fall and it will be at a certain weight, but you trap that same hawk in the winter and it will be many ounces heavier.
So if he's sticking to you like glue then I'd say he's trying to tell you he 'feels' the need to be heavier. And destroying furniture is a classic displacement behavior indicating frustration. I guess I would try to look at that aspect as "Well, better his furniture than my body parts!":supz:

[Hardcore Hawker]

Dave, its only a problem if i cant get out which is not very often, he is very comfortable in the box and is reluctant to come out he is always fluffed up on one foot whilst in there but it just does not feel right for prolonged periods but i would of thought it would be better for him than bouncing around all morning which i suppose is a type of stress.

Jim, this is exactly what i do when i cant fly, i feed away from my garden up the local field, he is better after feeding but still has that accipiter energy that needs burning off daily. i would not swap him for the world as i am finding this imprint awesome in the field its when i cant get out it becomes a problem, i used to do jump ups with my parent reared female to aliviate this pent up energy on none flying days, but that could become dangerous to be honest as she used to get really worked up and could become quite intimidating at times. i will just have to grit my teeth and wait for better weather as i cant see a solution. Do you think boxing is wrong under these circumstances??

[OutFlying]

Have you tried feeding at night ?

[Hardcore Hawker]

Pete, this bird flies VERY full on the keel he always hunts hard and he never shows aggression towards me in any form, his equipment habits are boredom as when weathered outside he ignores his equipment as he has visual stimulas. his weathering is totally secluded for damp proofing purposes as he is kept on silver sand so opening this up is not really an option. i just wonder if i have made a rod for my own back as i have flown him constantly every day with only a hand full of days off after good crops so he is not used to days off from his usual routine of daily hunting.

[Hardcore Hawker]

Jim, what would you hope to achieve by feeding at night? as i would of thought his active none fed hours would be prolonged or do you feel this would only be on the first day and that he would feel less active for the following days until later on. I feel as frustrated as the gos to be honest, perhaps the problem is as much mine as the hawks, but i do hate to see a hawk wasting energy on pointless activity, and can not sit by and let it continue.

[Pete J.]

Pete, this bird flies VERY full on the keel he always hunts hard and he never shows aggression towards me in any form, his equipment habits are boredom as when weathered outside he ignores his equipment as he has visual stimulas. his weathering is totally secluded for damp proofing purposes as he is kept on silver sand so opening this up is not really an option. i just wonder if i have made a rod for my own back as i have flown him constantly every day with only a hand full of days off after good crops so he is not used to days off from his usual routine of daily hunting.
Oh I have no doubt he flies with a very full keel. It's one of the great things about imprints goses. They are all that I have flown (as far as goses go) for the last 3 decades (almost). But some of them can get huge, flying almost as swift as a gyrfalcon and with almost the stamina. When I used to live in the midwestern states I would often see wild goshawks out on the prairie where the only trees were in sheltered topography and were very few in number even at that. And these birds were chasing both Sharp-tailed Grouse and Prairie Chickens right alongside migrant Gyrfalcons using the same terrain. There was very little else for them to hunt in these areas once the ponds were frozen. They were a few white-tailed jackrabbits (a large hare) but the focus of these birds was the grouse (prairie chicken is a grouse as well) and both are very hard fliers with tremendous stamina and can fly for miles every day just to get to feeding areas. So these particular goshawks were likely as plump and fit as the grouse themselves.
But I do understand what you are saying about how your bird is. With any luck he will grow out of it. He's young still correct?

[Pete J.]

Jim, what would you hope to achieve by feeding at night? as i would of thought his active none fed hours would be prolonged or do you feel this would only be on the first day and that he would feel less active for the following days until later on. I feel as frustrated as the gos to be honest, perhaps the problem is as much mine as the hawks, but i do hate to see a hawk wasting energy on pointless activity, and can not sit by and let it continue.
Another thing I noticed with mine over the years is that they have their activity periods (particularly in the evening about an hour before dark) where they just bate for that hour, even well into the molt where their weight is getting really high and they aren't even hungry. To some extent I just accept that they are wound up at this time of day (as this is their favorite time to hunt as the light is dwindling and a gos loves a good low light hunt) and I suspect that in the wild they are moving around quite a bit to maybe throw off the watchful eyes of the GH Owls (or Eagle Owls for you guys) that are just waking up in the same habitat and would love to pluck a goshawk from it's night roost. So they shift from place to place to keep the owls from seeing them sneak into their roost. It's an instinctive thing and therefore hardwired. Most people that have goses complain about it at some point and I feel your frustration.

[Hardcore Hawker]

Pete, i always box for the last hour of daylight as i cannot tolerate the bating which wears feet feathers and my nerves, perhaps i need to be a bit more relaxed about things and just roll with it, talking about physical condition in imprint goshawks, last week whilst out i looked at how intent he was during the hunt and with feeling his keel i just thought, it should not be possible to fly a hawk especially a goshawk in this higher a condition his chest was as round as a pigeons and on pheasant he will just go and go and go showing awesome stamina yet is still instant on the recall at any distance, he does not even need to see me and the lure if he can hear my whistle he will come and he returns to the lure with as much determination and constant wing pumping as he left the fist, he is my first imprint gos and they absolutely:supz:Rock.

[Pete J.]

Pete, i always box for the last hour of daylight as i cannot tolerate the bating which wears feet feathers and my nerves, perhaps i need to be a bit more relaxed about things and just roll with it, talking about physical condition in imprint goshawks, last week whilst out i looked at how intent he was during the hunt and with feeling his keel i just thought, it should not be possible to fly a hawk especially a goshawk in this higher a condition his chest was as round as a pigeons and on pheasant he will just go and go and go showing awesome stamina yet is still instant on the recall at any distance, he does not even need to see me and the lure if he can hear my whistle he will come and he returns to the lure with as much determination and constant wing pumping as he left the fist, he is my first imprint gos and they absolutely:supz:Rock.
Sounds like a great one to me!:supz: It's ones like that that got me hooked on imprints many years ago. I don't fly anything but imprints now....perhaps a passager every once in awhile (not goshawk...but maybe a particularly beautiful RT or something like that that I might not be able to find through a breeder or a nest site). You are likely seeing what the gos is fully capable of being and there aren't many that get to see that with most goshawks. Sure, they have goshawks that are very good and catch plenty of game and all. But to see one that is at the absolute height of it's physical prowess is what makes them one of the all time great raptors and why they are held in such high esteem (by us) or such loathing (by others). The one thing about a goshawk is....it brings out the passion in about everyone that has any experience with it (good or bad)!!

[Hardcore Hawker]

Pete, i flew a very good parent reared female for six seasons and would poo poo the imprint is best mentallity, but now i have seen the light:lol:

[Pete J.]

Pete, i flew a very good parent reared female for six seasons and would poo poo the imprint is best mentallity, but now i have seen the light:lol:
:goodman::supz: To me imprints are like "The Borg" of Star Trek fame...."We are imprints, resistance is futile. YOU will be assimilated!"

[GoodFooter]

Steve, could you not take him out to an excercise field. Hide a few lures/carcases on strings, bow him outside for a bit to get him a bit wet, put him on a creance with dragged rope and just knacker him out a bit????

[Dave G]

why not buy one of those dirt track kiddy cars the remote control ones and wiz it round with a lure tied to the back ?? saves ur legs lol /dave

[Hardcore Hawker]

Rob, when i say raining i meen raining, and as stated i just cannot place him anywhere as he will just come to me as i start to walk off. over short distances he comes to the glove not for food but because he knows that is his hunting perch, i would need an assistant to hold him whilst i called him off whether to a lure carcass or whatever and to be honest its raining so hard here i dont fancy bieng out in it myself, plus it takes so long to hair dry a really wet gos that i would not get any work done at all :rolleyes:.

[GoodFooter]

Rob, when i say raining i meen raining, and as stated i just cannot place him anywhere as he will just come to me as i start to walk off. over short distances he comes to the glove not for food but because he knows that is his hunting perch, i would need an assistant to hold him whilst i called him off whether to a lure carcass or whatever and to be honest its raining so hard here i dont fancy bieng out in it myself, plus it takes so long to hair dry a really wet gos that i would not get any work done at all :rolleyes:.

pansy! I have a heat-lamp you can borrow:lol: not raining here:supz:

[Redeye]

I have managed to fly my male imprint this week despite the weather. Like yours if he is not weathered outside during the day he can get bored. I didn't put him out today because of the horrific forecast but it is only a bit blowy and we are heading out now.
If it is wet I normally will miss but if it means missing a prolonged period of flying I just box him up drive as close to a wood etc in the LR and get a flight/kill if possible. You obviously normally only get 1chance before they soak thru at the front but as long as it is not a mugging and a flight off the fist it is better than nothing in my opinion.

[Zingy]

A question to all you imprint Gos flyers, What do you do with your charges on days when due to weather you cant hunt?? this is day 2 of a forcast 5 days of wind and constant rain meaning i am not going to get out with Diego.....


I don't know if this an option over there but, if its a new bird, I'll try to give him a baggie. I usually keep pigeons or somethng else handy.

phil

[Hardcore Hawker]

pansy! I have a heat-lamp you can borrow:lol: not raining here:supz:

Thanks for that Rob, i suppose im whinging for nothing when i think of the problems you are having this season.

[Hardcore Hawker]

Ivan, i get out more than most but this rain is such at the moment that the bird would be soaked before the dog even had a chance to locate that one flight.

[GoodFooter]

Thanks for that Rob, i suppose im whinging for nothing when i think of the problems you are having this season.
:lol:
Right now I'd love to go hawking in the rain...too damned right:yawinkle:.......but on the upside if she pulls through she'll be the most expensive Gos in Kent:yawinkle:
& OK I admit I hate hawking in the rain but usually get lucky with a break in the clouds.

[Casey]

Steve,

I have found that boxing my Spar, after she had through constant bating, worn sores on her leg backs and hind toe did her little harm at all. To be honest, I didn't want her bating at all, making the problem worse and she only came out of her box for an hour or so a day for the first week. It has calmed her down a bit to the point where she was weathered for an extra hour or so per day until now she will go about six -eight hours or so before she needs to come in when the bating ritual starts. During her week or so full time in her box, she was as calm as anything.

If Diego is fluffed up is he not happy? I think you need to stop worrying about him spending prolonged periods in the box, if he aint crashing in his box then he isn't as bothered about it as you are. I know I felt guilty when I first kept my Spar in there but you soon get over it.

Hopefully the weather will improve a bit, they usually get it wrong and there is often a window of opportunity to get out even for a few hours only.

cheers

Chris