Bateing Harris

[Austin]

Just recieved a Harris female 940 grams flying weight. She had two other owners. The second owner rescued her from the first one who was not taking very good care of her.He had her for two years. I have had her now four weeks she is flying well and doing everything nicely. She has this bad problem. When she is on the glove she will sit without bateing, as soon as you take a step, then off she goes over and over again. When she has taken game in the field and has ate her share she will still bate off the glove on the way to the vehicle until she wears herself out. The only cure I have found is to hold my hand on top of her as we walk and that at times does not work. She is five ywers old. Am I stuck with this problem???

[OhMyGod]

I had the exact same problem with a harris I was given years ago. He was about 5 or so and would sit still on the fist for ages but as soon as you take a step he would dive off and go loopy thrashing about constantly upside down until I grabbed him and put him the right way up.

I tried loads to cure him using different techniques but in the end I just put a hood on the stupid sod whenever I was walking, much better for the bird and me. Trouble with this guy was he was such a good hunter he made up for being a tit.

Get a hood.

[Austin]

Yes, that is just what first came to my mind when I was thinking out the problem. It's too bad the other guys just let her fly from the trans. box into the air once they were in the field, at least this is what I have a suspicison that has happened

[ColdZero]

couldn't you just fly it differently? If the last owner let it wait on..just do that?

[Jazz1]

Hi M8
Like the first to guys said get a hood.
You might find it hard to get your hawk to wear the hood to start with but just keep trying. Good luck

[DeathFromAbove]

a friend of mine hads a male harris that used to do that all the time, altho i agree with hooding as the other guys say, late stage hooding is a pain anyway and if ******ed up a hood shy harris will be just as much a pain in the ass as the bating was and it may come to fear the ungloved hand, which will then only add to your problems. the way my friend overcame the problem was to spend alot of time just walking the harris around with plenty of food in his bag, as soon as it looked as tho it would bate he's put a chunk of tough beef for him to pull at on the glove and continued walking, it took a while but eventually the harris settled and became quite a steady bird on the fist.

hope this helps.

[Flying High]

i have had the same problem with my female Harris, she was also a rescue and she is also 5 years old. when i first got her you could stand still and she was lovely but as soon as you move she starts jumping and did not stop. I tried everything to start with but the problem was when she got tired she got very huffy and would not come back when you where flying her. Last hunting season i deiced not to fly her for a week and just walk with her. while i was walking i was looking for rabbits in long grass i the hope i would kick one up. for the first few days she just jumped and jumped and jumped, then it got down to her just jumping for about 5 Min's when we first started walking but by that time she was to tiered to chase anything. after a week of this and her being to tired to chase when things did get up she stopped jumping and she was such a lovely bird to hunt.
I never kept up the work thought the summer so she is back to jumping again but not as bad. i will give her an few years and i believe she will be a grate bird if not i will bread from her because she has a lovely character. at the end of the day it is not her fault she was miss treated for a few years but i do believe she will get there.
Good luck and let us know how you get over it

[RedNoseK9]

My friend had the same with his harris what i suggested was that he spent alot more time with the bird especially walking and also when he went to hunt with the bird give her some quick easy slips then the association of a kill and the fist will be built up this is a longer processs and she should only just have single kill no matter how dissapointing the flight.
my friends took about 12 flights to settle completely and when she came out of the molt was fantastic.
good luck

[Sniper]

Plenty of manning will sort this bird out, spend as much time with it on the gauntlet and put snip bits on the glove frequently, you will have to probably sit with the bird in the house on the glove for a couple of weeks, it just needs manning up again

[Tim Laycock]

More carriage coupled with with plumage and good tiring. simple as that!

[Tr1gger]

Does he do this when he is outside as well?
Also is he confident with u touching his feet?
Try to man him outside as much as poss. Also try walking very slowly. It is usually caused by the bird been manned inside and not out. Get him used to moving slowly outside. And if he doesnt like u touching his feet get him used to that to. Its usually just a confidence problem. Alough it might not be completly fixable it can help alot and try this before trying to hood him so l8

[Tim Laycock]

The hawk behaves this way because it has been hunted excessivley in a following on style, when you are walking it wants to be off and on the case.
The hawk needs convincing that the fist is also a place where food is available while walking.

The course I have set down previously will do just this.

If the hawk will abide your touch while standing still which I suspect he will then the issue does not lie with manning at all!

[Coedhirion]

Agree with Blackbird, didnt notice if you said if the bird was made to the hood. This is useful for this type of situation, but if the bird wasn't hooded in its first year, you probably wont get it to now. Harris dont like hoods at the best of times. So it is always best to do it from day one and stick to using it for short periods even if you dont realy want to,...just in case!!! It can make things so much calmer on the walk back home etc.

[Austin]

Well done with all of your help on this subject, I will try the food idea with a tuff piece on the glove where she will have to pull hard for it while I walk with her. She will hood easly enough, but then she grips hard with the talons on the glove and will grab at anything that moves. A friend of mine has a harris male. When it gets tired of hunting it will fly back to the car and sit on the roof waiting for him to come and open the door, and then, right into the vehicle he goes. Looks great but not the right thing to do. I hope it doesn't get caught in traffic.