My birdfriend's back and they're gonna be in trouble (Hey la, hey la, my birdfriend's back)

[BirdManMike]

Flights have been tough but today we got 2 (and a half).

The first point was fairly close to cover but I thought he had a good shot. I tried to flush when he was about 400’ but with the ripping wind from the front coming in the covey was probably 70 yards from the point rather than where I thought at 30 or so. Greta charged in when I released her and then locked up again where I thought they were. When Roach was back in good position he was over 500 and I released Greta again. Came close, but they beat him.

When Greta came running back, she locked up again in the same spot. Roach was remounting and at 150 when the lone straggler got up on its own. He came close but was beat.

When he came back he started mounting again so I sent Greta off to look for more.

Almost 10 minutes later with Roach sticking to us at about 700’, Greta locked up.

I released her to flush, down he came, and one of the huns got got.





Nice flying. I let him eat his fill. Tomorrow is an off day from flying — we are headed East in the afternoon to try to find some grouse Thurs-Sun.

 

[BirdManMike]

I am back from falcon camp. Got back earlier today.

4 days of flying, every day finding a lot of grouse and flying points on sharptail.

Day 1: The GPS was acting goofy*. I missed the flight, not seeing what actually happened, because it didnt have a map downloaded. I knew he was close, @900'-ish, but thought he was a different direction. The recording of the flight had the map downloaded, tho, and he stooped one of the (many!) grouse hard then chased them off. I dont know if he was able to hit one or not because I was looking the wrong way.

Day 2: Nice point, put him up, mounting great, wild gyrfalcon comes in on him. The gyrfalcon had advantage, stooping him, with him eventually gaining the upper hand and outflying and climbing the gyr. They both were 1000'+ when I released Great to flush, hoping it was a massive group where Id see 2 stoops. It was 2 sharptail, and my little shit dropped 100' before deciding better pulling up and climbing again. I brought him down to the lure and the gyr flew off, eventually. Early for a gyr in MT, but Ive heard of another - and seen pictures - in the past week -- following the ducks, I guess.

Day 3: GPS issues again*. Put him up on spec at first light knowing they were there. I thought the same as Day 1 with the GPS issues so I released Greta to flush but no sign of the falcon. Eventually, the map showed and he was 1000'+ but at least 1/2 mile from me, maybe a mile. He stooped something and came back looking for me at 200'. I was able to get another point on grouse and with him at 300' I flushed and he absolutely clocked one as it was putting into a gully. He pitched up then went down, and he was going down I saw a harrier coming in on him. The next movement I saw was him beelining it out of the gully, so I brought him down to the lure. After the fact, I thought he may have killed the grouse in the stoop and that I should have looked for the grouse, kicking the harrier if it was on it. This was the antelope opener and I suspect he had seen some orange vest off in the distance when I cast him off and just followed them.

Day 4, today: Perfect. Much more wind. Dog on point. Roach mounted wonderfully, staying upwind. I flushed with him at 850', upwind, and in good position. Only 2 grouse got up, the first going crosswind and the other, a few seconds later, going upwind. He chose the crosswind grouse - wrong, in my opinion - that never got any height. I didnt see if he hit it, but I saw him pitch up then saw him chase it off on the GPS. So close.


I regret that I cannot make the usual falcon camp, but there was still 4 other falconers in camp - plus another day guest - that are all elderlies and 'legends' of American falconry. I really enjoy the stories, the reminiscing, and the comradery -- these guys are all in their 70's (or 80's) and started in a time where....#*^@#*, I dont know, there is some sadness there, too...

These pioneers of American falconry are right, to some extent, in that the glory days are over. Literally, today is the best things will ever be again when it comes to hunting, be it birds or anything else. That is - I feel - a constant theme in hunting - and on this forum - in general. But, these guys are so close and they are all a generation - or two - older than me. As much as I enjoy their stories. I cant help but wish I had the same sort of comradery -- not only with them who I respect so much, but with my own peers. As it stands, I have less than a handful of friends I can speak about in the same vein as they can theirs -- less can be more, but more - when its $*)Q!#@$ goo - can absolutely be way more.


Anyway, I dont know. This 'sport' isnt long for this world, much as I hate saying it.


*The GPS is SUCH a boon. Really is. But, it can be a hinderance, as well, with the dependency upon it. With regular telemetry, for instance, there is no way Id have been so turned round on where the falcon was in those 2 flights. That said, on most of my flights, when its functioning well as it does most of the time, I have such a good picture of where the bird is, a pitcure that Id only have a rough estimation of without it.

 

[BirdManMike]

Both Roach and Greta Grouse got some nice compliments over the weekend, Roach on well he flies and Greta on how big she runs and how well she holds a point. One of the elderlies said to the other about Greta at one point, "She covers a field faster than our setters". One of the guys contacted me earlier asking for her breeder information, a nice compliment to her.

 

[MNElkNut]

Alright, that brings up a question. I have hunted a lot of pheasants and obviously have shot plenty of huns and sharpies in the process (MT, ND, SD). I have hunted with stellar pointers. But wild birds do not always cooperate with pointers. What happens when birds either do not hold while Greta points or bust wild before she even gets to point? What does Roach do?

 

[BirdManMike]

Alright, that brings up a question. I have hunted a lot of pheasants and obviously have shot plenty of huns and sharpies in the process (MT, ND, SD). I have hunted with stellar pointers. But wild birds do not always cooperate with pointers. What happens when birds either do not hold while Greta points or bust wild before she even gets to point? What does Roach do?

My experience with prairie birds - huns, sharptail, and sage grouse - is that they honor the point from a good pointer far more often than they do not. If the dog is working far out and backs off the birds a good distance with the point then they almost always will not bust because of the dog, the key being the dog is a good pointer that puts little pressure on the birds. Greta will not bump birds - once she has them located, she will not release until I release her. The birds bust when the hunter approaches which can make it difficult to get shots on birds as the season progresses, but I dont have this problem -- I get around it by putting the falcon in the air before I get anywhere near the point, well out of sight (or mostly out of it, anyway). With the falcon in the air and at a good pitch, those birds will pin even harder, letting me approach to the point where I have quite literally had to almost step on them to flush. And I have had to wait upwards of 10 minutes, or more, at times, for the falcon to stop dicking around and come back over into position with a covey holding for the point that entire time.

As for pheasants, I avoid them entirely. Just like I would never ruin a pointer by putting it in one of those training fields with farm birds or playing pigeon games with launchers, I will avoid teaching bad habits by running them - when young, especially - on pheasants. Pheasants are better off hunted with flushers, retrievers, or versatiles - the cover they often like is not conducive to the big running I am after, plus they run far too much and often will let the dog get right into their face for a point which is something the prairie birds will not tolerate (save young sharptail in early September, at times). Even the wild pheasants teach really bad lessons for a young dog - not as bad as, say, those taught in a Navhda training field (sorry, not sorry), but bad nonetheless.

Thats my 2 cents on that.

 

[BirdManMike]

Well, this morning was a crapshow. Both the dog and bird were acting up - thats what I get for bragging on them, I guess. ha ha

Roach was heavy this morning. Plus, I fed him later in the day yesterday so I know his stomach wasnt empty. I decided to go out flying anyway.

Greta was birdy right out of the vehicle and went on point shortly after. The morning was dead calm, not a lick of breeze, so I knew the point was going to be way closer to the covey than usual and was careful about approaching after I put Roach in the air. The covey was fairly close to the ranch house and safety, but not close enough they werent worth flying - I figured anywhere up to a 500' pitch and Roach would have a good shot.

Roach went wide and starting mounting as usual, then when he was 150' or so just went flying off even wider, never turning round. I could tell on the GPS he was mounting 1/2 mile away, or so - totally expected this, the lack of focus, but oh well.

I slowly worked around the covey in the hopes Id be between them and safety to delay them a little on the chance Roach came back over high. The huns eventually flushed on their own after ~7 minutes with Roach nowhere around - unfortunate because I certainly slowed down their flight to safety on the flush being between them and the house with them taking a long way round.

So off Greta and I went to look for more (and catch up to Roach). Greta started getting birdy again and went on point. Again, way closer to the birds than usual. This time, I was way too close, too, and the covey flushed on their own. Roach was over 1000' and actually in a decent spot - quite far away but over their safety which was a long way from the covey. I didnt see the stoop but it must have been spectacular because the GPS tells me he hit 173mph (his usual is 130s). He ended up in the creek bottom somewhere but didnt connect with one of the birds.

As Greta came running back after chasing the flight, another couple hundred yards forward in the field, she ran right thru a 3rd covey without even stopping. WTF!?!?!?! Id say that never happens, but there it is. Ha ha.

Roach eventually came back and started mounting again, following me and Greta. Greta did an abrupt about face into a point, and a 4th covey got up! Ugh, I was way too close to her and with the lack of even a slight breeze she got the birds way too late. Roach chased them off but with no height had little chance.

Roach came back, remounting to 800' and stuck with us another 7-8 minutes, but a 5th covey wasnt happening. I brought him down to the lure and he came in hot, not gassed or breathing heavy in the slightest. He was feeling really good even after all that flying -- he is in damn great condition.

So there you go. It doesnt always work.

 

[Oak]

I didnt see the stoop but it must have been spectacular because the GPS tells me he hit 173mph (his usual is 130s).

!!!

 

[BirdManMike]

Found some grouse locally. At least, there were a few in one of my grouse spots that haven’t been there (much) this season.

Got a point on huns first. I passed on flying them because Roach would not have had a shot, not from any sort of pitch anyway. They fly over the crest and then drop toward the creek, gaining speed and having a bunchve places to bail. He could kill them from 100’, but that’s not the kind of thing I want to teach.

Greta locked up a second time. Huns or grouse, it was a good setup. I cast Roach of the fist and he immediately beelined it toward the point, passing Greta and taking a shot on a grouse he was on the ground. It got up and flew over the hillside with him chasing.

Roach came back and started mounting. Greta was still holding a nice point, quite a ways away from the group. When Roach had a few hundred feet pitch, I started making my way round the point to cut off the flight over the rise to the creek. When Roach had a gained a few hundred more feet of pitch, I started making my way toward the group.

The grouse are jumpy, getting up on their own when Roach was overhead at 600’ and I was within 30 yards or so. My plan worked with the grouse flying toward the next hill in the field rather than to the creek. Roach stooped one of them getting to it over the hill so I didn’t see if he clocked it or tried to bind. I could see on the GPS that he chased it off over the fence line onto some land I don’t have access on.

Roach came back and started mounting again. Hoping the other birds put in over the hill on the flat, we went to try to get a red lush.

Roach got up to 1000’ and stuck with us quite a long time but we did not get another flush. Walking back I saw a coworker and his dog walking the hilltop before the creek then heard a couple blasts. So they all made a hook to the left and put in on the other side of that rise which I had thought a possibility but didn’t bother checking since it would have been a poor flight. I don’t know if he blasted one - hopefully not because that’s one less for me (sorry, not sorry) - but I’ll ask him in a bit.

Great flying from Roach and good dog work. Alas that nothing came home in the bag.

 

[BirdManMike]

Yesterday was a fun one. The wind was really blowing ahead of a front. Roach decided to do the old dipsy-do off the fist with the dog on point, roller coastering up and down around me in the wind rather than mounting - he hasnt done this in a while, but some days they just dont want to work for it. As I was waiting for him to give me something so I could flush the point, Greta broke point and charged into the covey to flush. No freaking idea what that was about. Roach chased from 50' but thats not going to happen. Then, he decided to start mounting and as he did a prairie falcon came in on him and he decided to give it hell with the two of them locking talons and bringing each other to the ground. The prairie let go and flew off as I ran toward them on the ground, and Roach is fine. Fun times.

Today, I flew the same field I did Tuesday. 4 coveys again. The house covey I passed on - they were in the same spot, but I didnt want to mess around with trying to get a flight at the right height. I released Greta to flush and off they went.

2nd point - the junk yard covey - I put Roach up. He flew straight to the junk yard and landed on some junk. Awesome. I waited him out, and he left the junk to begin mounting. When I got to the point, a few hundred yards away, Greta's tail was wagging which had me guessing whether they were really there. I released her when Roach was 700' and overhead, and - yep - they werent there. We tried to find them in the general area and found the covey about 150 yards north, but Roach had drifted south quite a bit and was staying with us but not overhead. I decided he wasnt going to take a good position, but he had a shot at the height he was at, especially if they flew to safety crosswind rather than to the safety upwind a good bit further, so I flushed. They flew to the further safety upwind - the right choice for them - and Roach got a shot from a really nice stoop but didnt connect.

Roach came back and started mounting again, he was 400' when we found the 3rd covey. I released Greta to flush when he had good position and one got got.

The 4th covey we found on the walk back - Greta held a nice point for 5 minutes or so until I caught back up and I released her to flush. She is a little champ.

 

[BirdManMike]

Here is a pitcher.

 

[BirdManMike]

Also, I should add that this is 8 consecutive flights without having to throw homers. I don’t really keep track of this, but this is the longest streak I’ve ever had of getting consecutive slips. I’d guess previously the streak was 4 flights, at most. Better year for game than I’d originally thought.

 

[trb]

God I love these threads. Falconry is my #1 retirement plan, I know I just don't have the time for it right now, but I am determined to try it later in life. Your threads are incredibly educational and I have learned more from the them about the realities of the day to day of bird partnership than I have from the books I have read about it.

 

[SwaggyD]

What is the size difference between a prairie falcon and Roach?

 

[BirdManMike]

God I love these threads. Falconry is my #1 retirement plan, I know I just don't have the time for it right now, but I am determined to try it later in life. Your threads are incredibly educational and I have learned more from the them about the realities of the day to day of bird partnership than I have from the books I have read about it.

Thanks!

I hope my posts adequately capture the hours of frustration needed for (possibly) 10 minutes of excitement (or, often, an additional 10 minutes of added frustration!).

 

[BirdManMike]

What is the size difference between a prairie falcon and Roach?

Roach is larger than a male prairie falcon and smaller than a female prairie falcon. This was a female prairie that came in on him as it was bigger than him. Usually he avoids when they come in then outflies them, but for whatever reason he thought hed lock talons with the female yesterday - maybe she was cute, I dont know.

 

[Hunting Wife]

Love these threads. But now I have some mundane questions….

How is the GPS attached? Necklace? Backpacks?

I imagine you have to abide by normal bag limits?

Do you ever hunt waterfowl? If not, why?

Saw two peregrines while out working last week, which is always a treat. Don’t see them that often. Used to see one each fall on the refuge I used to be at. Would find him eating ducks on the tour road occasionally

 

[BirdManMike]

Love these threads. But now I have some mundane questions….

How is the GPS attached? Necklace? Backpacks?

I imagine you have to abide by normal bag limits?

Do you ever hunt waterfowl? If not, why?

Saw two peregrines while out working last week, which is always a treat. Don’t see them that often. Used to see one each fall on the refuge I used to be at. Would find him eating ducks on the tour road occasionally

Rubberband around his neck every morning, then cut it off when we are done. Have used all the other methods - backpack, leg mount, tail mount - and have settled on the rubberband neckmount.

Yes, normal bag limits. But I mean Im never going to hit a bag limit or kill more than a single gamebird in a day.

Not recently. Avian influenza will kill a falcon in a couple days 100% of the time. A number of falconers lost birds to it after hawking ducks last season. A number of wild falcons were found dead from it last year and Im sure countless other died. It seems less prevalent this season and guys are flying ducks, but its not worth the risk for me. I have flown ducks in the past with peregrines - they love ducks, the female falcons especially.

 

[BirdManMike]

9 flights in a row one game. Yesterday was an off day.

He got this one basically in the creek bottom.



Not without drama, tho. He flew off the fist and landed again. Not cool. He went thru a bought of this landing off the fist late last season and I treated for coccidia which seemed to do the trick - it’s one of those things that’s makes them act goofy, not a killer on its own but definitely takes some of the get-up-and-go out of them. Doing so again. Preemptive treating for a couple other (minor) things, too - never hurts.

When he did get up, he mounted really well. Dog was a point, I was creeping in, and the dumbest magpie of all time flew under him. Down he came from 700’ or so, getting dodged in the initial stoop, pitching up, then clocking the magpie on the second pass. The magpie didn’t go down and was doing its damndest to dodge his attacks, which it did, all the way to the junk yard where it found some junk to hide under (probably). I flushed those huns purposely when he was way off in the junkyard, figuring it better he not see them then they flush wild - because there was a lot of stuff going on at this point - when he was low and in poor position.

He got back up off the junk and came flying back. He was over 800’ when Greta found the second covey. I flushed, they went to the creek, and one got got right at the cover.

Greta found the other 2 coveys on the walk back.

I am going to give this field a rest for at least the next week. That’s 3x in a week I’ve flown it, and the coveys need space to settle or they’ll move so time for a rest. Going to try really hard to put grouse under him for the next week. This next week will probably be the last week we fly mornings, I’ll switch to mid day soon.

Back at it Tuesday, I let him gorge on the hun today.

 

[BirdManMike]

Because I haven’t posted a picture of the small fry in a while, here she is at this moment:



She leads a hard life if you can’t tell.

 

[BirdManMike]

Found the grouse. They were in a great spot, had a wonderful point…

Roach wasn’t participating. He didn’t land, tho he thought about it, instead he went off flying on his own, mounting way down wind from me and the dog.

We waited him out, waited some more, and waited some more. Finally the grouse had enough and they flew. He half assed his way over, then turned around and did his own thing some more.

We got a point on a single a little ways away, which I just flushed. He was a little closer and put in a half ass effort but didn’t come close. Then he went off over another field to do his own thing.

I brought him down and only fed him 1/4 ration, if that. I fed him the rest at home. They are smart enough to equate the quarry is a good meal and they didn’t eat much because they didn’t catch it, but not so smart to understand they are still going to get fed later.

I couldn’t feed him until 1 yesterday because of work stuff and even though he only got a half ration - because he gorged the day prior on a hun - I don’t think his stomach was empty. Their brains are connected right to the stomach (it’s science). That plus the abnormally warm morning had him unfocused.

He has also been eating a lot of partridge lately. It’s not as bad as the greasy commercial quail, but it’s a far cry from pigeon - the best thing to feed a falcon, like putting jet fuel in your Camaro (maybe - I’ve never tried but it seems like it’d increase the HP).