big harris or big ego

[Chris S]

what is it with people who fly Harris hawks,
they are always after a bigger hawk, but when asked most say they like flying small males,yet go on any field meet and they are all there with there 2lb plus big females,so i think to myself what is the reason for having such a big bird, oh they must hunt brown hare with these but ask them and 90% of them have never slipped or have any intentions of slipping there bird at such a beast as the brown hare.
as a big fan of the redtail i am quite new to flying Harris hawks and i looked hard for a small male last year(and there are not many breeders that have small males)and he flies at 1lb 3oz yet he takes cock pheasent and rabbit and this year i will slip him at hare.
so any thought all you Harris boys and girls?

[Roo]

I saw a MHH fly today and was impressed, perhaps people simply think that bigger MUST be better?

Sorry to go off topic a bit, but how do you find the Harris compared to redtails?

[Adam Barrett]

i got a big female harris coming out of first moult and killing at 2lb 5.
my end goal is to fly her at brown hare and i will hopefully be traveling down to lincon and up to scotland this year to see how she handles them.

other than that i think it might be a good idea to sacrifice some of the size for speed and agility that some of the smaller birds have :wink:

[Chris S]

harris works well for me at the moment as am training a new dog

[Arthur]

Heyah Chris,
may i ask if Fred was a ' runt ' and selected for his smaller size/weight ,bearing in mind that fresh from the parents/creche a weight should be arbitary , or did you seek out a breeder of smaller Males or indeed were you breeding yourself to achieve a goal..
Sorry to sound so nosey but you are not a far away in Wiltshire and I have set my heart on a smaller BoP almost certainly a M.H.H.
regards, ,
arthur , (*V*) ...

[MickeyDredd]

I would personally not fly a 1lb 3oz MHH at brown hare as I feel it would be very risky. My MHH flies at 1lb 10oz (no ego involved) and I've flown at blue hare with him but to be honest I'd rather fly my FRT at hare :evil:

[Adam Barrett]

I would personally not fly a 1lb 3oz MHH at brown hare

its asking a hell of a lot for him to be able to take a animal 6-7 times his own size-is it worth it :?

[Chris S]

ok guys i new this would wake you up
(Arther)i looked for a lone time to find a breeder that breeds small harris hawks.
(MD)so would i rather fly a frt at hare
(AD)yes its asking alot from a small bird but under the right conditions you will not get a better flight and its not asking any more than asking a spar to take pheasent if the bird is conditioned to beleave he can do it you are over half way there,
i know female harris hawks flying at 2lb 6 that will not fly hares,WHY?

[Arthur]

'cutting ones suit to the cloth' i don't see myself out after Hare but will be happy to cull connies and magpies ....
i really enjoy just seeing BoP's aloft where possible and some of the hi jinks involved in Magpies has to be seen to be believed ..
my ferrets absolutely love Magpie so its and end to an end for me and I really find a Superior FHH a bit of an armfull after a while .. i've suggested to a Moocher that he get his Superior FHH a trolley for me to push it around :-) it don't half get heavy :-) ..
i have seen a MHH do some great wing closing as it passed between two very substantial tree trunks and it puts me in mind of a Spar that shot betwixt me a gate and through the horizontals of a metal farm gate whilst i was trying to get an image file of a Buzzard stalking along a low thorn hedge ..
i find there is a whole lot more in Falconry, being an Austringer and keeping Owls etc, etc ...
regards,
arthur ,
(*V*)...

[MickeyDredd]

(MD)so would i rather fly a frt at hare

i know female harris hawks flying at 2lb 6 that will not fly hares,WHY?

1/ why not just do this then, I'm a firm believer in matching bird to quarry and I don't think the small HH is a fair match for a big hare and the chances of injury are too high.

2/ Condition as you say, but mainly its a confidence thing. The bird has to have been trained properly and flown at big stuff regularly with the falconer getting there quickly on the early kills to secure the quarry quickly so the bird doesnt take a beating and giving a good feed-up on the kill i.e. reward the bird for its effort.

Heart is the key to taking on big stuff, but size is a great help!

Mike

[Newbie FHH]

Although just less than 2 weeks away from her parents, our FHH flew free last night. We have obviously been monitoring her weight since we got her and she seems as though she is most keen at 1lb14½. I think we are going to have an excellent season with her and Simon's intention is crows, magpies, rabbits and he would like squirrel in that list but I'm trying to talk him out of it at least for now!! :?

I think we definitely did the best thing getting the smaller of the two females!! :)

[Dave G]

newbie watch them squirrels they get a very nasty bit ,im sure theres a few hawkers on this site who have had to retire their bird because of a squirrel bit,as for flying a small harris at hare why rist your birds wellfare if it did catch one which would be some battle and it booted your harris to bits then you may loose your bird or he will not even chase rabbits never mind hare as the thought of a good kicking ,ive had mine on a hare he couldnt hold it and hes 1lb 8oz but he had a big of a ride on it but never bothers now as knows he carnt tackle them

[Sean]

look at the feet on her :o , im only a novice, but it dotn care what my bird will be flying at. because he will be only hunting rbabits and rooks

[MickeyDredd]

look at the feet on her :o , im only a novice, but it dotn care what my bird will be flying at. because he will be only hunting rbabits and rooks

her? I thought its name was Fred :wink: :lol:

[Dave G]

:roll: :roll: he she what is it a shemale :lol:

[Sean]

lol

[PeelsBells]

Chris i wouldnt chance the life of the bird just to feed your curiosity. I fly my birds all the time on hares on the runway. In these cases yes size does matter. I also fly my harrises in a cast just to help each other.The size of hares varies and the size of your bird doesnt. I have seen birds get kicked off and near got their courage back to chase rabbits. It takes a couple of seasons to get them right.
I have put a picture up to show you the size of the hares, this is when they closed the runway down for a couple of hours so i could cull some of them as the CAA were not happy with them as they are a hazard to the aircraft.All though the aircraft always wins.

[Dave G]

hi andy just jumping in the motor to collect some fur and feather off you :lol: good batch there mate keep the dog and birds going a while

[Finnish]

Chris mate you stay with the small thing cause everthing else you got is small. :finga: :lol: :lol:

[ColdZero]

this harris looks huge to me

[PeelsBells]

Chris that looks like the size of my male lol
Only joking :arrow: :lol:

[Sprout]

Ego says it all!! Why risk the life of your hawk by purposely slipping on a hare?? Yes male HH will take them (ask Varmint) but the risk is too great, my female has struggled with them in the past so I personally don't slip on purpose at them. Match your bird to quarry, a full sized fit rabbit is more than a fair match for a male HH. Ask why you want to catch hare ??ego?? As for squirrels NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO - seen way too many nasty injuries/some fatal from squirrel bites.

[PeelsBells]

Sprout were abouts in Cheshire are you.

[Sprout]

Sandbach/Middlewich. Will be wanting some bells off you soon mate!