Ninja-Jon
21-08-2005, 02:41 AM
Training methods
I find that it takes about 1-3 weeks to move a young Harris’s hawk from the breeding chamber to the hunting field. In that first 1-3 weeks only a small amount of time, perhaps 5-30 minutes, is needed each day. I do no formal manning at all, since I work with an exceptionally tame line of captive-bred Harris's hawks. When the eyas is pulled from the chamber, or arrives by air freight, it is cast gently in a towel while the Aylmeri cuffs, jesses, bell, and telemetry tail mount are attached. I use a single merlin-sized leg bell and a Marshall tail clip for the telemetry. When released from the towel, the hawk is placed on the glove. A really tame Harris's hawk will not bate; the best of them will stand on the glove and preen. The hawk is then weighed and put on a low bow perch in the back yard, with access to a bath. I generally put a tidbit on my glove and show it to the hawk while it is standing on the perch. I have only had two hawks take the tidbit on Day 1; one of them even made its first jump to the glove within a few hours of being pulled from the breeding chamber! I wish that every falconer could experience the pleasure of flying such birds as these, which practically train themselves.
Every time the hawk sees me from this point forward, it will have a chance to look for food. Occasionally I will walk by and offer a tidbit on the glove. I will let the hawk pick one tidbit from the glove, but after that, if the hawk wants to eat it has to jump to the glove. When it makes its first jump to the glove, I immediately toss a tidbit to the ground. The hawk learns an important lesson -- the glove is a good place from which to hunt (for tidbits, in this case). At this point, many hawks will return to the bow perch, then jump back to the ungarnished glove. If this happens, I toss another tidbit to the ground at once. If the hawk won't jump to the ungarnished glove, I offer another tidbit on the glove, then toss a tidbit to the ground after the hawk has eaten the one on the glove. Nearly all Harris's hawks will now jump from the bow perch to the ungarnished glove. From now on, the hawk will never receive another tidbit on the glove, but will be expected to come to the fist and wait to be 'served.' In the evening, I carefully pick the hawk up from the perch and back it into the transport box to spend the night. A tidbit is placed on the perch in the box to encourage the hawk to step up. The next morning, the hawk is weighed and put back on the bow perch.
Once this routine is established, all that is needed is to increase the distance of the flights just as one typically trains any other hawk or falcon. I like to use a second person to help at this stage, so the hawk flies back and forth between us, and a tidbit is thrown to the ground every time the hawk comes to one person or the other. When the hawk will come 30-50 feet on the creance promptly, it is shown a whole dead rabbit lure. Every Harris's hawk I've had slammed into the lure the first time it was brought out. The hawk is given the rabbit's front leg, and allowed to eat it in peace. I walk away from the hawk while it eats, so that it doesn't feel compelled to mantle. When it is finished with the leg, the hawk is called to the ungarnished glove and put in its transport box. The same pattern will be followed in the field.
There is no need to do any more training, or fly the hawk free, before hunting. All of my Harris's hawks make their first free flight in a hunting field, and most of them catch a rabbit on their first day off the creance.
So far, I haven't mentioned weight control, manning, or hooding. Weight control is important, and most captive-bred Harris's hawks will need to be reduced in weight before being hunted. For the vast majority of eyas Harris’s hawks being trained for the first time, this hunting weight is lower than the weight at which the hawk will return to the falconer. This means that training needs to proceed quickly so that the young bird is out hunting before it becomes dependent on the falconer. Harris’s hawks are notorious liars, and will act like they are starving at home, but have poor response in the field because in reality they are too heavy. Likewise, at their ‘first free flight weight’ many of them will come a mile to the glove, but somehow never quite catch up to rabbits that they chase. This ‘near-miss syndrome’ is a symptom of being over their true hunting weight. To catch rabbits consistently a Harris’s hawk must fly hard, crash into brush, and rebound in pursuit after a miss. If it doesn’t do these things, it is too heavy to hunt well, no matter how good its fist response might be.
I don't do any manning of my captive-bred Harris's hawks. They are never forced to sit on the glove, and never handled except when the hawk is actively looking for food (including hunting for tidbits). As for hoods, I don't use them for captive-bred Harris's hawks. In my style of training, without manning sessions there is no opportune time to introduce the hood before we are in the field, hunting. Perhaps once or twice a season hooding would be helpful to me, but that need is too infrequent for me to take the trouble to train the hawks to the hood.
When the captive-bred Harris's hawk is ready to be flown free, training is over and the fun begins!
I read the above and now very confused This trainer does not do any manning with is BOP and never forced to sit on the Glove. Yet i read in the forum threads ppl do go through a manning session with there BOP and do feed there BOP off the Glove would someone plz explain to me.
I find that it takes about 1-3 weeks to move a young Harris’s hawk from the breeding chamber to the hunting field. In that first 1-3 weeks only a small amount of time, perhaps 5-30 minutes, is needed each day. I do no formal manning at all, since I work with an exceptionally tame line of captive-bred Harris's hawks. When the eyas is pulled from the chamber, or arrives by air freight, it is cast gently in a towel while the Aylmeri cuffs, jesses, bell, and telemetry tail mount are attached. I use a single merlin-sized leg bell and a Marshall tail clip for the telemetry. When released from the towel, the hawk is placed on the glove. A really tame Harris's hawk will not bate; the best of them will stand on the glove and preen. The hawk is then weighed and put on a low bow perch in the back yard, with access to a bath. I generally put a tidbit on my glove and show it to the hawk while it is standing on the perch. I have only had two hawks take the tidbit on Day 1; one of them even made its first jump to the glove within a few hours of being pulled from the breeding chamber! I wish that every falconer could experience the pleasure of flying such birds as these, which practically train themselves.
Every time the hawk sees me from this point forward, it will have a chance to look for food. Occasionally I will walk by and offer a tidbit on the glove. I will let the hawk pick one tidbit from the glove, but after that, if the hawk wants to eat it has to jump to the glove. When it makes its first jump to the glove, I immediately toss a tidbit to the ground. The hawk learns an important lesson -- the glove is a good place from which to hunt (for tidbits, in this case). At this point, many hawks will return to the bow perch, then jump back to the ungarnished glove. If this happens, I toss another tidbit to the ground at once. If the hawk won't jump to the ungarnished glove, I offer another tidbit on the glove, then toss a tidbit to the ground after the hawk has eaten the one on the glove. Nearly all Harris's hawks will now jump from the bow perch to the ungarnished glove. From now on, the hawk will never receive another tidbit on the glove, but will be expected to come to the fist and wait to be 'served.' In the evening, I carefully pick the hawk up from the perch and back it into the transport box to spend the night. A tidbit is placed on the perch in the box to encourage the hawk to step up. The next morning, the hawk is weighed and put back on the bow perch.
Once this routine is established, all that is needed is to increase the distance of the flights just as one typically trains any other hawk or falcon. I like to use a second person to help at this stage, so the hawk flies back and forth between us, and a tidbit is thrown to the ground every time the hawk comes to one person or the other. When the hawk will come 30-50 feet on the creance promptly, it is shown a whole dead rabbit lure. Every Harris's hawk I've had slammed into the lure the first time it was brought out. The hawk is given the rabbit's front leg, and allowed to eat it in peace. I walk away from the hawk while it eats, so that it doesn't feel compelled to mantle. When it is finished with the leg, the hawk is called to the ungarnished glove and put in its transport box. The same pattern will be followed in the field.
There is no need to do any more training, or fly the hawk free, before hunting. All of my Harris's hawks make their first free flight in a hunting field, and most of them catch a rabbit on their first day off the creance.
So far, I haven't mentioned weight control, manning, or hooding. Weight control is important, and most captive-bred Harris's hawks will need to be reduced in weight before being hunted. For the vast majority of eyas Harris’s hawks being trained for the first time, this hunting weight is lower than the weight at which the hawk will return to the falconer. This means that training needs to proceed quickly so that the young bird is out hunting before it becomes dependent on the falconer. Harris’s hawks are notorious liars, and will act like they are starving at home, but have poor response in the field because in reality they are too heavy. Likewise, at their ‘first free flight weight’ many of them will come a mile to the glove, but somehow never quite catch up to rabbits that they chase. This ‘near-miss syndrome’ is a symptom of being over their true hunting weight. To catch rabbits consistently a Harris’s hawk must fly hard, crash into brush, and rebound in pursuit after a miss. If it doesn’t do these things, it is too heavy to hunt well, no matter how good its fist response might be.
I don't do any manning of my captive-bred Harris's hawks. They are never forced to sit on the glove, and never handled except when the hawk is actively looking for food (including hunting for tidbits). As for hoods, I don't use them for captive-bred Harris's hawks. In my style of training, without manning sessions there is no opportune time to introduce the hood before we are in the field, hunting. Perhaps once or twice a season hooding would be helpful to me, but that need is too infrequent for me to take the trouble to train the hawks to the hood.
When the captive-bred Harris's hawk is ready to be flown free, training is over and the fun begins!
I read the above and now very confused This trainer does not do any manning with is BOP and never forced to sit on the Glove. Yet i read in the forum threads ppl do go through a manning session with there BOP and do feed there BOP off the Glove would someone plz explain to me.