Hooding the old girl!!

[BlackHawke]

as some of u maybe aware i have a 16 year old female harris. i've had it for 3 seasons now. i've had a problem since i got her, she will not sit on the fist while walking on the fields, no probs at home in garden n standing still. i've tried all sorts to try to get her to stay on fist apart form hooding her, which with the impending season approaching (woohoo!! :D ) i was thinking of trying, i've never hooded a harris before and was thinking of only doing it when shes in the field. what u guys rekon is it worth a try??? :shock:

rob

[Tree Sitter]

You can but try mate especially if she is as steady as a rock if she isn't I would leave it myself and continue with taking her travel box to the field as I presume this is how you do it now?

Nice to find another person with an old girl like one of mine is, good on ya mate for taking her on these old birds have plenty of great flights left in them.

Good Luck

Max

[BlackHawke]

too right she had plenty a pheasent n rabbit in the time i've had her! i'll never get rid of her. shes as steady as a rock nowt phases her n i've never had to stick her in a box shes always on a bow unleashed in the car. when out in the field shes off the fist following on. shes not stupid which sometimes is a problem! lol

[Ben C]

Good luck BH!!! There is late stage hooding and then THIS!! :) :)

[BlackHawke]

mmmm i know! i got some new land n its abit of a walk. thing is i know little about her history, she may have been hooded before n i've never tried to hood her before. its a little embarrasing walking down the rd with a harris hanging upside down on my arm!! :shock:

n dont be cheeky ben!! :D

[BlackHawke]

oh n ben when u gonna organise a forum field meet!!!! :D :wink:

[Ben C]

Only joking :)

You know me Rob, I am but a mere beginner. However I would suspect if she stays still on the fist while you are stationary then thats the first step. In my limited experience try getting the ole girl used to the hood through food. Feed her a bit from inside it, like a bowl and slowly make her work harder until she is reaching all the way inside. Stroke her chest with it, touch her with it and leave it beside her bow perch. Then after about 5 days pop it on with the braces struck, remove and feed a tid bit. Repeat and repeat until you have the hood on for however long you need. Then slowly reduce the amount of tid bits you give her.

I RE-ITERATE: I AM NO EXPERT. So if this is wrong I am sure people in the 'know' will let me know :) :) If it fails no worries as she is at a grand old age and has got this far, so why worry????

Ben

[Ben C]

A field meet?? As is a hunting day?? Keep watching I have BIG plans for next year....hunting, guest speakers, Q&A sessions with experts, Lure swinging Demo's, Vets etc etc. Just in the pre- planning stages. Ooops should have kept it quiet. :) :)

[Kornie]

The first time the hood goes on that head it will DESTROY all the work previously done...

(trust me) Im trying it now...

[Shaun Byrne]

The first time the hood goes on that head it will DESTROY all the work previously done...

(trust me) Im trying it now...

IMO a late hooded HH becomes a liability. She will nail the first thing that touches her, and I mean NAIL. She wont let go until you un hood her and it can be a bit difficult if its your free hand she has nailed.

I saw a late hooded FHH hanging from a mates cheak once. She nailed him as he tried to strike the braces, he had lost concentration for a split second and slacked his grip on her hunting straps.

Dont do it :evil:

[BlackHawke]

hawka this is what i was wondering, but if shes been hooded before will she forget?? am i gonna have to put up with it ? or is it worth a try?

[BlackHawke]

could try it, use a pencil or something like that to touch her. n i was thinking of only doing it while walking in the fields no other time

[Tree Sitter]

The first time the hood goes on that head it will DESTROY all the work previously done...

(trust me) Im trying it now...

Good advice there from a youngster :wink:

I should of said this in my reply rather than just saying if she is as steady as a rock as thats why I asked it if she aint like a rock you may undo everything you have worked for and even if she is like a rock you still may undo alot of hard work and more importantly trust.

What have you tried to encourage her to be steady out of the garden?

Max

[BlackHawke]

i've tried weight up/ down, at night, fields with no high points of observation. the only time i can get her to sit on the fist whilst walking out is at night shes fine when lamping.

i was thinking new season untouched since christmas start a fresh if it dont work in first few weeks, what have i lost, apart from maybe a finger or 2 if i'm not careful!!! :shock:

[Ben C]

See, I have no experience of PR HH's............ :wink: :wink:

[BlackHawke]

its ok mate i took no notice of ya anyhow!!! :D :butthead: lol.

[Ben C]

Good man.......Lucy doesn't either, in fact most people don't........(hope ya get nailed :) :) :minigun: :mrgreen: )

[BlackHawke]

yeh i noticed lucy not taking a blind bit of notice of ya!! :D my kind of girl :finga:

[Shaun Byrne]

I have a big 8yr old female that has always been hooded and even now she will squeeze the glove so hard it stops the blood.

I wouldn't bother BH, you would be better putting your effort into getting her to ride the fist.

Have you tried a tiring on the fist?

[BlackHawke]

oh yeh hind leg of a rabbit that was recommended when i first posted this little niggle. fine while theres somethin on the fist, tried it for a while, while manning last year, soon as i took her out without back to the same,

since i've had her during the huntin seasons i have always fed her on the fist. never anywhere else,

[Jiff]

hiya mate, the tactfull aproach to this problem is as benc, outlined, but you must take it slowly, if or when you can slip the hood on, only leave it a second or two then off again, gradualy increase the ammount of time in the hood over a long period of time this will atleast give her some trust in you and you may get away with it, alternatively take her out to the fields with a good size tiring, and put up with the constant bating,she aint daft mate and after a few sesions she should steady up, after a while you can cast her from the glove and call her back for tit bits, every call to the glove should NOT see the bird restrained as this will have her resenting the glove again, but once in a while restrain her with a tiring in you're mit and walk on to new ground, cast her off again and go through the whole exercise again, bare one thing in mind mate she's an old well educated girl and she knows for a fact she can see alot more from up a nearby tree than she can from you're fist, so if possible walk her some where without tempting looking perches, that way you're fist is the best option.
in this situation it will take as long if not longer to steady her to the hood than it will to steady her to the fist, but with the hood there's every chance it could back fire if not done slowly and sympatheticaly, if you use a bit of brute force to get her to stay on the glove and put up with the bating for a while, you may get the evil eye but i doupt there'll be any long term badness from her. best of luck mate.

[BlackHawke]

jiff mate she dont bate she will just fall of the fist and hang upside down. i have tried all sorts to get this sorted, everything that you and others have suggested as far as keepin her on the fist i have tried. i've had 3 years to try to sort this out, i will be manning her up soon coz she desperatly needs coping, so i will start slow with the hood. cheers mate

[Dave G]

hi bh she maybe just one of those hawks which was never held on the fist in the field or flown straight out of her box and so does not like being on the fist in the field while she thinks she could be killing hope you do get the hooding sorted as she sounds like a nice bird

[BlackHawke]

yeh this is the conclusion i've come to after speaking to falconers who have had the same sort of problem, this is y the only option left to me as far as i know is the hood

[Jiff]

if i'm right, she will ride the glove at home but won't even stand on the glove in the field, she doesn't bate but just hangs upside down....mmmmm. interesting....have you tried a differant glove in the field ? and dare i even suggest this! would you try bare fisted in the field, in my oppinion there's obviously a negative association with the glove and the hunt, maybe sometime in her past she's had a real bad experiance, if so she is going to take quite some convincing that it's never going to reacure, when you attempt to put her on the glove are her tallons clenched and refuse to open or does she make half an effort and then drop off,

[Mary Quite Contrary]

The first time the hood goes on that head it will DESTROY all the work previously done...

(trust me) Im trying it now...


Mine was alright.

Its how you do it and when.

Everything must come out of the hood and because of it.

If your hawk is that old it will upset her but if she trusts you it will just become part of the routine and she should accept it.

[Fiddick]

the reason that your hh wont sit still on the fist while walking in daylight is because she knows that there are better perches to hunt from, my male is the same, hes 9 now and hooding him just upset him, now i travel him in a box, to the field, once there i just let nim follow. when i do call him in i very rarely restrain him and now he will let me carry him for up to half a mile because he knows that he can leave if he wants to. Late hooding is difficult i did an eagle last year and he only accepted it once i was slipping him out of the hood at quarry

[Roo]

This is just an idea from an inexperienced newbie, but how about changing the position of your fingers, e.g. a clenched fist giving a wider perch or going as far as making a handheld perch?

Or is that a bad idea...

[Wightwings]

Hi Rob just found this and had a quick scan thro but not read all so forgive me if this is old stuff.

At this age you are only going to damage trying to hood so late even if she has been hooded in the past you are asking for nothing but grief. I appreciate the hanging is a pain in the ass you may need to just support her on the gloce from behind until you are ready to let her follow on. The positive is mate you have the type of bird that is designed to follow and not slip from the fist so....out of the box a near as poss to your ground and on with it if possible.

Not very encouraging advise i know but defo do not try to hood her at this stage I would say.

Chris

[Shaun Byrne]

Ever thought of using a T perch?

[BlackHawke]

halfway thru last season i just decided to work with her, calling her back from time to time to the fist but i would more often than not spend a couple of hours with her following on, without probs or reward, i never restrained her on the fist n just let her fly of whenever she wanted, even in huge open fields she would rather sit on the floor n walk or fly infront. behind me,

i've always tried to keep my glove still but maybe she just dont like the movement even though it is minimal, normally on the odd occasion at field meets i have wanted her to stay on the fist i hold her close with my free had gently on her back. she appears to have no probs with that..............bloody women! :shock:

[Wightwings]

Ever thought of using a T perch?

GOOD CALL shaun.....must admit that thought never even entered my head but it may be a very good solution to your dilema Rob?

[BlackHawke]

how u mean use a t perch whilst walking?

[Wightwings]

yes Rob its common practice in the states i had web site address but cannot find it showing in use........any help shaun???

[Wightwings]

http://www.onlinefalconry.com/harris.html

have a look at this site

[Sprout]

Look in Nick Foxes book, there are photos of T perches in use. I hooded my FHH once!! Collected her from Adrians from moulting but forgot travelling box!!! Hooded her up and put her on back seat of my brand new car/pride of joy. Well, she gripped and ripped hell out of the back seat!!!!!!! Not hooded her since

[Wightwings]

pmsl..........good story Sprout.

[Hawkmaster]

MOVED FROM GENERAL FALCONRY TALK