THE JOURNALS

slideshow

2008-12-03T20:30:00.001-08:00

top-knot

2007-02-09T22:51:00.000-08:00

I was recently asked how I make the top-knots that are shown on the hoods in this demo.
It is a very simple, yet effective knot, but I can see how its construction might be easier if a person saw how it was done first. So this is just a quick pictorial demonstration on it.

((A pair of hemostats will make this process MUCH easier))First off, you start by cutting 3 slots in the hood (where ever you want the top knot to be)

Then you need a strip of leather with a hole punched in the middle.

pull the ends of the strip through the outer slits and into the "hood" sorry I had to do this with leather scraps! Make sure the rough side of the strip is up and that the hole lines up with the middle slit.

Now pull both ends up through the middle slit and the hole. (The finished sides will both be pointing out now.)

This is where the look comes from, punch a hole at the bottom of the back tab and pull the front tab through it. It will look different if you start with the back tab through the front......I prefer the later.....

Then do the same thing over and over again alernating the tab that gets punched....until you like what you see!

A little water and some burnishing will smooth out any imperfections you encounter.

MAKING A HOOD

2007-01-25T17:29:00.000-08:00

First off, I want to emphasize the fact that I am not a "hood-maker". I have only made a handful of them in all of my life, most of which I would never put on a bird. However I am a supporter of those who appreciate the challenge and satisfaction of creating their own falconry equipment, and it is my goal here to share my ideas on a particular hood style that I have taken a recent interest in. And I hope that people will feel free to take my ideas and run with them. While what I do is not in anyway original, it is new to me, and I imagine it will be new to many who read this. So there you have it, this is just something I've been playing with lately and wanted to share. I hope the reader will share his/her own input on what they see here.

I myself have several variations of this pattern that was originally produced by Lance Morrow, and have come to find one that is particularly easy to work with and (in my opinion) looks the nicest when finished, and more importantly seems to fit a hawk well. But it should be noted that Lance himself cautioned me that this pattern was developed for eagles.

The Tools

Rotary Hole Punch
Exacto Knife Set
Cutting Board
Stitch Marker
Blunt Upholstery Needles
Waxed Dental Floss
Forceps
Contact Cement
Straight Edge Ruler
Suitable Leather

I dont have enough experience to say that any particular brand of needle or glue is better than the other, etc. I think that with a little research and trial the reader will find things that work well for them. I will say that having everything ready and having an organized work space will make the process much more enjoyable!

Getting Started
The first thing to do is to transfer your pattern onto the leather. I like to print mine on card stock because its a little more rigid than your average printer paper and allows for easier tracing. I draw the pattern using a ball point pen on the back of the leather.

I have found that this size fits a female redtail pretty well.

I cut the hood out along with some strips (for braces, top-knot, piping & chin strap) using an exacto knife. I just make straight vertical cuts. Using angled cuts around the "eye" areas might make for a better seem if you want to glue the hood.

Once everything is cut out I like to use a flat blade to shave down the edges of the beak opening. This makes it easier to form the opening to your bird.

Then I mark the stitch holes with a rotary stitch marker. And use a small "awl" to punch them. I simply make straight holes rather than the angled holes used for cross stitching. Placing a piece of thick leather under the hood will aid in the process.

I begin sewing with the eyes and then the notch at the back of hood (in other forms of this pattern the notch is replaced with a tab). Care should be taken when sewing the hood to prevent tearing the holes. Keeping the leather damp with a wet rag will help prevent tearing, as well as using good leather. Tighten the stiches as you go. As you can see I use dental floss that is doubled over. Using a blunt needle makes it easier to sew. At the end of the seam I just go back through my last stitch and tie a quick knot. You can melt the tag ends down with a lighter to finish the knot.

Now I mark and awl the holes for the piping, starting from the back of the hood and ending flush with the slot for the chin strap. Then I cut a strip of leather for the piping and thin it down a little (it would be easier to simply buy some thin leather! probably would be more aesthetically pleasing too) and mark and awl the holes for it. The piping is sewn on with the piping sitting flush with the bottom of the hood and on the outside of the hood (smooth sides together). This needs to be a tight stitch.

Now allow the hood some time to dry, and cut the slots for the chin straps and braces etc. You can then apply some contact cement to the area of the piping and after it has dried simply fold the piping over into the inside of the hood. A little burnishing with a dowel will smooth out the edges. this is a good time to insert and glue one side of the chin strap as well.

I will assume that everyone knows how the braces work and are put together. If your piping extends into the area of the slits for the braces a little extra cutting will be in order, and then the braces can be added. Be sure to work them open and closed several times to help get things seated before using them on a bird.

After the addition of a top-knot which can be made in many ways the hood is pretty much done.
A little molding with the fingers and some water will help make a little extra room and get things looking proper. Then you just need to adjust the chin strap to fit the hood to your bird.

Finishing
A little shoe polish can make for a good looking hood and I like using a permanent marker to add a personal touch to mine.

This is a new pattern I've been working with.

Uta's pics

2007-01-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

BREEDING RATS

2006-12-09T19:29:00.000-08:00

Why Breed Rats?

Rats are a great whole food item for captive predators, especially reptiles and raptors. Rats are a common food item for these animals in the wild and breeding rats for their consumption in captivity is an easy way to provide a healthy and natural diet. Because the domestic rat breeds so readily, has large litters of fast growing young and is easy to care for, it is a great choice for the keeper who wishes to produce a good food supply for his animals. Aside from simply being easy to produce, rats are a lot of fun to have around. Each one has its own personality and they can be quite comical at times. You will soon find that certain individuals will become your favorites in a breeding group and the more you interact with them the more entertainment they provide! Perhaps the biggest reason for breeding rats at home is the financial aspect of it. Buying rats frozen is the normal alternative, but you can save a lot of money by breeding them yourself, which I will get into later on.

Rat Husbandry

Rats are rather undemanding captives. If given food, water and shelter rats will breed willingly. Aside from these basics, I believe temperature plays the biggest roll in rat production. Rats put out a massive amount of heat for their size and thus they need a cool environment. I prefer to keep them at no more than 60 degrees f.

Housing: Rats are social animals and can be housed in large numbers. Of course there are limits to how many rats can be housed in a given area, but as long as common sense is used you can fit a lot of rats in a small room. The most common method of housing is racks. Rat Racks consist of a framework that holds rows of tubs that can slide in and out. Each tub sits under a framed top that has a hardware cloth bottom. This hardware cloth serves 3 purposes. It keeps the rats in the tubs, holds the food, and acts as an anchor for the water nozzles. I prefer to use 1/2 inch hardware cloth.

Racks can be made out of many things but wood tends to be the preferred material. The dimensions of the rack will depend on the types of tubs you choose to house your rats in. Often a variety of sizes are used to accommodate different individual animals or groups of animals. I keep my males in large concrete mixing tubs, and single females are kept in 12 qut. Sterilite containers. But I have other racks that hold 32 qut and 41 qut tubs for growing weaned rats. Its all a matter of preference. Cat litter tubs are commonly used as well. The most important factors to consider when buying tubs, is to find tubs with a height of 6-7 inches that have a smooth inner surface. Any edges or sharp corners will be a target for chewing by the rats, and they can chew through a tub very quickly.

Bedding: Aspen shavings are a good bedding for rats. They are non-abrasive and very absorbent. Aspens biggest drawback is its price. Aspen can be pricey, even when bought in bulk. That’s why I use and recommend pine bedding for rats. There are debates that would lead a person to believe that pine and cedar bedding is naturally toxic and irritating to rats. And I believe that cedar is and should be avoided completely but, my experience has been that pine works quite well and the rats show no ill effects from being in contact with it.

Food: Rats will eat just about anything. My experience and the experience of others has lead me to believe that the best diet you can feed a breeding colony of rats is Mazuri 6f rodent breeder formula. My rats are maintained on this pellet formula exclusively, but I'm sure that adding the occasional seeds or greens to their diet might help. If feeding such a pelleted diet, you can simply pile the food on the wire on top of the cages, the rats can easily eat through the wire yet are unable to soil the food with urine or feces.

Water: Rats drink a lot and need a constant supply of fresh water. There are two simple ways to give them the water they need, one of which is easier than the other. The first and easiest option is to use an automatic watering system which basically consist of a refillable reservoir that feeds a series of tubes that end with a nozzle in each housing compartment. This system can be supplied directly from a water line but you must install some sort of pressure regulator if you do this. I prefer the 3/16" tubing and accessories.

The second watering option is to use the traditional rodent watering bottles, but care must be taken not to let them run dry, and they also have a habit of sticking open more often than the automatic nozzles, and this can be quite messy.

The Basics of Rat Reproduction

Female rats cycle every 4-5 days, so by placing a group of females with a male for one week they should all be bred during that time. A male can easily breed 5 or 6 females and if space permits possibly many more. After spending 7 days with a male, the females should be moved into individual tubs where they can build a nest and after a 21 day gestation, give birth to a litter of pups. I've found that 10-12 pups is average and up to 18 or more is not uncommon. After 28 days with the mother the young can be weaned and placed in groups of 10 - 15 in larger tubs. From here they can be grown to the desired size and the females can be placed back with the male.

An additional 4 weeks of growth for weaned rats should yield sexually mature rats they weigh around 200 grams. With males being slightly larger than females on average. When it's all said and done the process from conception to weaning takes approx. 54 days. With an average litter size of 10 pups, a single female should produce 60 offspring in a given year. And a group of 10 females should yield at least 600 offspring (potentially much more).

Cost Comparisons

It is unfortunate that I have not calculated exactly how much each rat I produce actually costs to make. But I know it's substantially less than buying frozen rats. In order to secure a single shipment of 600 rats weighing an average of 200 grams it would costs nearly $1400. That price of course includes shipping. That's approx. $2.28 per rat. If I were to guess I would say that it costs me less than $300 to produce 600 rats.

Now lets assume that a person has one animal and they wish to feed this animal one rat per day. That's 365 rats in a year. What would be the best way to produce your rats? Well it all depends on how big you want them, and how you wish to feed them, frozen/thawed or freshly killed. If you want to freeze your rats simply come up with a number of females that should (on average) meet your needs. In this case 5 or 6 females should be more than enough. By breeding them all at once you should have an average of 60 fully mature rats to kill and freeze every couple of months. But if fresh meat is your preference, you will have to be much more precise about when each female gets to reproduce.....But that's a whole nother can o' worms!

To buy a years worth of frozen rats would costs almost $850. If you divided the total into 4 quarterly shipments of rats it would cost over $900 dollars for the year! Trust me...its easier to make them yourself.

Other Things to Consider

Breeding rats can be as simple or as involved as you want it to be. Along the way there are things that you can do that can add not only financial gain, but make things a little more fun as well. One of these things is breeding rarities of the rat world. There are numerous "fancy" colors of rats that are desired in the pet market, as well as other genetic traits that change the over all appearance of rats, such as dumbo (big ears) , rex (fur type), hairless and even tailless rats . By adding a few of these to your existing colony you can sell the best of there offspring to local pet stores, and in most cases you can make enough money from this to supply food for your whole colony! I enjoy having other rodents such as hampsters and mice around from time to time and the same can be done with these to help curve other costs.

Other things you can do to increase the efficiency of your colony are replacing your old breeders as soon as they stop producing or when they become sporadic about making a litter. Very seldomly does a good female not produce a litter when left with a male for a week. Culling is another good thing to practice as well as selective breeding. Any female that produces less than your desired litter size more than a couple times in a row (excluding her first litter) should be culled from the colony. As you produce more and more rats you will notice indivuduals that stand out and have a robust healthy look, more so than there litter mates. These individuals are good stock to hold onto and place back into the breeding program. Males love breeding, but males that are in constant company with females become lax and wont be as productive as they could be. So keep your males alone untill you have a group of females ready for breeding. Males should be replaced often, a strong 10 week old male is a breeding machine and will quickly out do his older rivals. Also I like to cull out the biters. Rats have a powerfull bite and some are more prone to be protective than others. If a female bites me when Im checking her litter or just cleaning the cage, its pretty much a death sentence for her! Staying in tune with your colony and keeping a watchfull eye on things will insure a better, more productive breeding program.

Helpful Links

AgSelect (watering systems)

Mazuri (feed)

Interesting Rat Info

More Rat Info

Rat Breeders Directory

About Me

2006-12-03T07:01:00.000-08:00

My name is Chris Kimble, I am 26 and I live in a little town called Hydro in Western Oklahoma. I currently work for Kodak in Weatherford, OK as a coater assistant working swing shift, which unfortunately has limited my "fun time" as of late. I developed an interest in raptors at a very young age, and spent most of my childhood searching for falconry literature. I obtained my falconry license when I was 16 and began what I consider to be a very fulfilling journey through the sport.
During my apprenticeship I flew passage redtails, much like any other apprentice. But instead of branching out into other species after my first two years I stuck with the redtails and I still fly them today. I have flown some harris hawks and a couple of falcons along the way, and Im sure I will fly many more, but I will always have a perch in my mews for a redtail!

Growing up in Western Oklahoma, I was lucky enough to have a family that was full of avid hunters and fishermen. I soon began finding my own style in these hobbies and took up many forms of hunting and fishing. Among my favorites are bowhunting and flyfishing. I also spent many winters running trap lines with my brother, and running dogs on a variety of furbearers.
My other hobbies include drawing and painting wildlife, something that I find great satisfaction in. I dable with music as well and have always liked to have some kind of music played as loud as I can stand it while I do the things I do! I have a love for most birds and over the years I have kept a variety of pigeons, quail, ducks and chickens as well as various caged birds.

A while back I started a project that stemed from another childhood passion of mine.....Snakes! As a youngster I would collect the local reptiles to stash in my aray of jars and aquariums. And today I now have a large collection of tropical constrictors ranging from ball pythons to reticualted pythons. While I enjoy most species of snakes I have found the colombian boa constrictor to be my favorite and I focus most of my efforts on keeping and breeding them. A nice plus to this project for me is the fact that my business partner is also my father and the snakes give us an opportunity to share something we both enjoy and allow us to spend more time together. If you would like to check out our snake website please visit this link http://backwoodsreptiles.blogspot.com/

Links

2006-12-02T08:12:00.000-08:00

Oklahoma Falconers Association

North American Falconers Association

American Falconry Magazine

Ken Hooke's Hoods

Texas Hawking Association

Manuel Carrasco's Home Page

Georgia Falconry Association

Jeremy Bradshaw Hoods

The Raptors Nest

Pacific Northwest Falcons (Danny Ertsgaard)

Sky Chase Falcons (Steve Sherrod)

larry Counce Bells

Western Sporting (Equipment)

Tim Jessell (Falconer/Artist)

Online Falconry

Federal Falconry Exam.

Intro

2006-12-02T07:46:00.000-08:00

Here's my best shot at describing myself, and my falconry. I got into this sport back in Highschool, at the tender young age of 16. Thats when I became licensed anyway, I was pouring over falconry books back in grade school. Unforunatley, due to a lack of any concrete references, I didnt know that I could become a falconer as early as age 14 in Oklahoma.

Never the less, I began my journey into the sport amongst undone homework and disgruntled teachers and parents. I was oblivious to it all though, my only concern was spending time afield with my birds. I flew redtails for the two years of my apprenticship, a male and a female. The male was lost in short time, a valuable lesson, but a hard one to accept at that age. My first female was different... a real game hawk she was. She introduced me to the Fox Squirrel in a way I had never known before. And that became my passion. Hawking squirrels in the south canadian river valley.

Once I upgraded my license to the general level, I was relatively unaffected by the common desire to obtain more "valuable" species to fly. Maybe it was a lack of funds....but, I stuck with my first love (the redtail) over the next few years. I flew the occasional harris, and loved them. I compare the harris hawk to a fine bird dog with feathers. They truely set the bar a little higher for the standard oklahoma dirt hawk. But at times the harris's lacked that little bit of mystery that the redtail possessed. If I had a perfectly organized schedule, with a set window of flight time every day I would certainly be flying a female harris right now, as I believe they are the perfect game hawk. But, for now my choice is the Redtail. Their sometimes suicidal approach to hunting combined with their ability to thrive under all conditions is very appealing to me. Not to mention they are extremely forgiving animals compared to other species I've dealt with.

In the past the Female Redtail was my prefered bird. But after flying a male for the last two seasons I now have a healthy respect for their capabilities as well. I have friends who are very fond of their goshawks and falcons and I admire their abality to handle these "higher class" birds. I've never dealt with the accipiters but I've had a couple run ins with some falcons that didnt go to well! In any case Im having a blast here in western oklahoma just doin what I do. What birds and quarry I will encounter in the future are but an anxiously awaited mystery..... I hope you enjoy my journal and good hawking to you all.

Hawking at Calumet Dec. 05.

Jakes Pics

2006-12-02T07:45:00.000-08:00

You know they say that a picture is worth a thousand words. And I swear I can look at these photos and the memories just start flowing like a river! I think......no I know that it takes a falconer to truley appreciate a hawking photo. And ever so often I have to jump on my ol computer and start digging through old folders just to re-remember past outings again.

I really enjoy taking and having photos of the things I enjoy, but all to often I neglect to bring a camera along.....or simply forget to use it! So if your reading this.....dont forget to take your camera along next time your out hawking, and dont forget to use it. Good Hawking.

Jake on his block - 2006

Jake's ride - 2006

Jake hunting a cotton field - 2006.

Jake on the lure,,,keeping an eye on the dog!

Jake on a Rabbit at Elk Lake - 2005 .

Jake on a fox squirrel in Edmond - 2005

Me and Jake ready for some fun! - 2005

Jake and Pete after a succesful rabbit flight - 2005

Jake on a cottontail - 2005

Jake on a rabbit at Elk Lake - 2005

Jake with another bunny - 2005

Me and Jake after a good day of hawking - 2005

Hawking at Calumet - Dec. 2005

Jakes Journal

2006-12-02T07:44:00.000-08:00

Jake: Male Redtail - December 5th 2005 - December 7th 2006

Jake was a passage male redtail that I recieved from a friend at an OFA field meet in Dec. of 2005. Having flown females almost exclusively up until I got Jake, I had never really given males too much credit. But the first time I saw Jake flown at the meet I realized that I was missing out on a truely fascinating style of hawking that most of the females I had flown had never shown me. Jake was a quick aggresive hunter. He was not as selective with his flights as other males I had flown and his determination and stamina were some of the things that I truely admired about him. He would hunt as long as I cared to stay in the field and seldomly strayed far. He followed closely and was extremely gamey. Few were the things that Jake would not chase. He wasnt much on Jacks, but I cant say that I blame him...Im not too kean about Jack hawking anyway! But, on more traditional game like cottontails and squirrels, Jake put his best foot forward. If there was any draw back to Jake it was me. I never pushed him too hard, and always flew him on the heavy side. I guess I just feel more comfortable flying fat birds? In any case, I will always recall the winter of 2005 as one of my favorite hawking seasons. I wasnt able to get Jake going to strong in 06, but I did have a great time with him anyway. This has been a difficult year for most of the rabbit hunters here in Oklahoma, and Im hoping next year shapes up a little better. What follows is the short account of my time with Jake after he was pulled from his summer molt in 2006.

Dates in Orange are Days that Jake was Hunted.

10/9/06 Jake spends his days on the bow perch in the spare bedroom when I’m not at home. Its got to be boring in there. But, until I get him flying again that’s where he'll stay. When I’m home I put him on the portable block in the kitchen where he can watch all the goings on around the house. His weight is still high. I’m scarcely feeding him when he's responsive...not at all when he ignores me, and yet he sheds the ounces ever so slowly. Tonight we did a few short flights to the fist just to stretch the wings. But its obvious that his mind is on other things.

10/10/06 35.0 oz. Jake was sure watching me today! Sounds funny, but that’s what he was doing. A far cry from those glass eyes I've been getting lately. He was pretty intent on keeping an eye on me all day as I went about my business, laughing at his antics as he craned his neck to try and peak around the corner. When I finally decided to feed him, his response was excellent. Though he's the same ol' dog when it comes to the hood. Dodgy little fart! He never has liked being hooded.

10/11/06 35.1 oz. Fed Jake a little to much yesterday! Jumped to the lure (hesitantly). Quick response to the fist after eating on the lure. Jake was in the Kitchen most of the day today, Ryan brought his passage female over tonight to see if my "female redtail hood" that I had just made was gonna work. Turns out I’m still not good at making hoods! We put Ryan’s RT on a bow in the living room and watched a movie ( after we hit the local Taco Mayo). It was funny to see that big passage of his so close to little ol' Jake! He was oblivious to her presence but, she tried to check him out a few times. Hopefully Ryan’s bird "Baby" will make a good game hawk. His first bird was a good one, but his second was not so good. In any case it was fun having both birds around for the evening, cant wait to get them hunting.

10/12/06 35.3 oz. No food, no nothing, you know how a fat bird acts.....

10/13/06 34.9 oz. Jake was eager when I got home from work today. He flew to the lure from a short distance immediately, and was very footy with it once he had finished eating. I tossed out a tidbit, bagged the lure, and called him up to the glove. I fed him the equivalent of a sparrow. I think tomorrow will be even better. Caught 9 sparrows in the trap we set on my uncles pigeon loft tonight....gotta love free food!

10/14/06 35.1 oz. It's hard to believe a bird can gain .2 oz. in 24 hours after eating a sparrow! But Jake seems to have done just that. It didn’t curve his appetite any though, and he was very responsive. He has his mind on the game now, and I can tell he is starting to anticipate feeding time. I flew him to the lure indoors again, but threw the dog into the mix tonight. I wont be able to get him outside until I get off work on Tuesday. Anyway, I placed Abby (the Airedale) in her kennel in the living room and un-hooded Jake who was on the block about 10 feet away. I tossed the lure right in front of Abby's kennel and Jake flew to it without hesitation. He got his hackles up a bit when she moved around, but all in all it was a good lesson for them both. Afterward, I hung out with Jake and let Abby run around and check things out. She was pretty hyper since she isn’t inside often, and Jake put on a pretty big show for us while trying to scare her off. But considering all I think the two are going to get along pretty well.

10/15/06 34.9 oz. Jake was a little edgy when I got him off the perch tonight, and despite his previous performances at this weight I opted to go ahead and skip feeding him. I have to get some weight off of him and get things rolling for the season. All I need is to knock a couple more ounces off and spend some time with him outside and we should be hawking in no time!

10/16/06 34.1 oz. Jake was on fire tonight! I couldn’t get away from him long enough to do much. The only thing I did differently tonight was letting Abby run loose while I was training Jake. I was surprised to see her run in on him when he hit the lure. But she did....and you know what they say "You mess with the bull, you get the horns". Jake just slapped her around a bit though, and went right back to his lure as Abby ran to hide on the couch! I fed him sparingly, I hope to do some work with him outside tomorrow, but Im pretty sure I'll be busy most of the day.

10/17/06 Ryan was kind enough to take me hawking today with his passage female. We hit a couple of our old spots but only kicked up a single rabbit. Baby made a good flight on it, and put it into cover a couple times, but just couldn’t connect. She did catch a horse apple though! Jake was sitting at 33.9 oz. today so I again decided to simply skip his meal. His attitude is getting better by the day.

10/18/06 33.6 oz. Windy, Windy, Windy! Didn’t want to take the Jake out in this wind, so I flew him inside while I had company. I figure at least I was able to add another element to the routine, so all was not lost. Besides, after hawking with Ryan yesterday in that nasty heat and the head high grass, I’m not in as big a hurry to get Jake in the air!

10/19/06 -- I have no idea what Jake weighed today. I called David Bell this afternoon and before I knew it Ryan and I had loaded up the birds and were heading over to David's place to go hawking. We flew Jake and David's bird "Moose" on the creance and let them have some fun with the "bunny runner", David's mechanical lure! After that we took Ryan's bird out for some hawking and she nailed a rabbit in the second field we hawked. On a side note, Jake's response was excellent today, and I should be hawking sooner than a had expected if he keeps this up.

10/20/06 33.6 oz. I picked Ryan up today and we took Jake over to a place I hawked some last year. Its a privately owned archery range that meanders through a half section of cedar trees and plumb thickets. The edges of the property are covered with native grass and scattered thickets as well. I had hoped for a nice day to do some free flights with Jake and maybe see if we could kick up a rabbit or two. I often encounter quail in this field and Jake always takes a shot at them. But today was windy and hot,,,a bad combo! But I was feeling lucky, so we started off down in the trees where the wind was low. But pretty soon Jake was aloft and making his rounds, that was to much for me so I called him to the lure. He was hesitant, but came down anyway. I go back on shift tonight, so I will be able to hawk in the mornings after work. I don’t plan to hunt tomorrow because I fed Jake quite a bit today. Maybe Sunday morning......

10/21/06 34.2 oz. Jake was acting pretty good this morning. He's still pretty uptight around the dog. I cant blame him though, she gets on my nerves in the morning. She just gets so wound up when I come home! Anyway, Jake was just as heavy as I thought he would be. Its unfortunate really as it was a beautifully crisp morning. I was really hoping he would be low enough to tempt me out into the field with him! But my senses and exhaustion got the better of me so I hung the glove up for the day. I have not checked the forecast yet, but if its nice in the morning after work, I plan to take him out, if for nothing other than some conditioning. But who says you cant chase rabbits while the birds getting into shape!

10/22/06 32.8 oz. What a day! Since this was the first hunt of the season. I think it deserves its own short story. It all started when I got off work this morning. I was really surprised to find out how cold it was when I stepped out of the plant today. There was the slightest lingering of a breeze on the air and everything was covered with a light frost. I broke a few speed limits on the way home, but slowed to admire a small pond with steam rising off of it. I just had a feeling it was going to be a good day.

When I got home, Jake was a little lighter than I had expected and with him so out of shape I wasn’t sure how much energy he would have out in the field. But I loaded him up and headed back out to the "Carman Place" again..

It was still fairly dark as I neared the field. I jumped out, and attached Jakes transmitter. I flicked the receiver on as I took his jesses out and checked for a signal. All was good so I headed out and jumped the fence. Once I was a little ways from the truck with Jake on the glove I un-hooded him and started walking. He quickly took a good perch overlooking a massive tangle of plumb thickets and had no sooner settled in when he dove into the brush. I saw a rabbit dart out the other side and made my way to Jake who was climbing out of the mess. I called him to a tidbit so he would have a better launch point off the glove. He came immediately and I started walking again. Not three steps later another rabbit got up at my feet and headed into the thicket. Jake rose above it and then spiraled down, missing it by quite a distance. Again he made his way out, winded but looking for another perch. I called him over and headed toward a more open area where he took a perch in a lone elm tree. After a little kicking around with no slips I decided to see if Jake would follow me, so I headed toward the back side of the property. He didn’t follow so I called him again, and to my surprise he flew the distance to the glove. Soon Jake was back up and I was working hard to provide another slip, when I heard his bells. I turned to see him powering out over the cotton field that borders the property, presumably after a rabbit, only to dive in and come up empty footed again. I let him come back on his own accord this time, and he chose the tallest cedar he could find. I was unable to produce another slip, and decided to call it a morning, but Jake was tired of the glove and refused to come down.... I’m sure he was enjoying the weather. So I walked around a little more and then dropped the lure on the ground. Jake was inbound before it touched the dirt, so I fed him well and carried him back to the truck hooded. All in all it was a good day. Jake was tired and slept most of the way home with his head tucked under his wing. I plan to do it all again tomorrow if the weather permits.

10/23/06 32.5 oz. Jake was lower than I planned him to be today. I fed him quite a bit yesterday and kept him inside all day. Apparently his metabolism has increased with the recent changes in activity and weather? Anyway, he seemed ready to go so we headed out. The wind was not bad, but not as calm as yesterday. I was tired from work and decided to fly him closer to home. So I hit a little spot south of Hydro, where Ryan has been having some luck with his bird. I think my rabbit radar needs calibrated though, cause I had hell producing slips! Not a big deal though, because my main focus today was getting Jake to follow me, which he did (quite well) and after a while we finally got a couple chases, both on the same rabbit who was obviously no stranger to the game. After talking to Ryan this afternoon, it seems we both have had encounters with this particular rabbit and I now have a strong desire to put him in my freezer. This rabbit shall hence forth be called "The Well-Site Rabbit"..... Anyway, when we both got tired I started the walk back to the truck, letting Jake follow from tree to tree as I walked the road. I called him to the occasional tidbit as we went along to reinforce the good behavior. At the truck I called him to the lure and fed him yet another third of what his normal rations have been. Hopefully I can keep his weight steady with that, as I have no desire to get him below his weight today. He was fed to 35.3 ounces.

10/24/06 33.5 oz. Well, I just cant seem to hit that 33 oz mark with Jake! I went back to the same field south of Hydro today. It was a similar morning to yesterdays. I decided to bring Abby along and see how Jake reacted to her in the field. He was a little hesitant about coming to the glove with Abby around, and she got pretty excited every time she saw the bird too. Jake was a tad high though and I think he will get better about Abby because he has flown over other dogs in the past. I finally called it a day after I walked for what seemed like a mile with nary a rabbit slip. I stepped out into an open wheat field and called Jake to the lure....to my horror Abby ran out and snapped at Jake just as he was braking to land on the lure. Jake pulled up and landed in a tree. I'm no dog man, not by a long shot, but I've always enjoyed watching a working dog do its thing. Its things like what happened today that have always kept me from keeping dogs. I just don’t deal well with that kind of stuff and have very little tolerance for it.... but I’m getting better! So before I knew what I was doing I was on my knees and had Abby firmly pinned under my right hand behind my back. She was very unhappy about it, but I wasn’t about to let a 20 pound puppy’s curiosity ruin what had up until ten seconds ago been a nearly perfect start to my season with Jake. I had the lure out in front of me on the ground and was calling to Jake who was still a little rattled and looking anywhere but to the lure. Pretty soon he came in and passed over the lure again, landing nearby on a fence post. I gave him a moment and twitched the lure again. He came on in this time and tried to carry it, something he has never done in the past. That’s when I realized that Jake had pulled the meat off of the lure. My heart sank as I saw the next few minutes playing out in my head....but luckily he started eating there on the ground next to the lure. I sat motionless as he ate, every time Abby moved Jake nearly flew, but for some reason never did. Had I not known better I would have thought he was a wild haggard sitting in front of me. When he was nearly done I released my grip on the dog long enough to place some food on the glove and called Jake up to it. He flew right to me and I quickly clipped him to the glove before he could change his mind. I then stood up and let Abby loose, she was pretty forgiving of my actions and sat at my feet while Jake finished his meal. We walked the half mile back to the truck with Jake hooded. He would hackle up every time he heard the dog walk under him! I’m still optimistic about the pair though and I plan to bring Abby along on each hawking trip. But I think I'll leave her home when its windy, at least until Jakes more steady. And I plan to keep her on a leash when I call Jake to the lure!

10/25/06 33.4 oz. Its hard trying to recover from a week of the night shift and still keep a decent schedule! I was up at 4am this morning and had the bird and gear loaded up under the carport before I realized just how windy it was. Not wanting to let things get stale already I opted to go ahead and take Jake out, but left Abby at home. I was parked in the field at the Carman Place long before daylight, eating donuts and drinking coffee while I listened to my favorite morning show! Just before daybreak I prepped the bird and walked to the back side of the property. Just as I stopped to wait on the light with Jake on the glove the coyotes began a long mellow dialog over the hill. Shortly after that I could hear a covey of bobwhite calling back and forth. And as the sun broke over the eastern horizon the wind let up ever so nicely and I un-hooded Jake who wasted no time gaining a good perch. I walked under Jake and started beating the brush. As I passed the next tree he followed without coaxing. I turned to watch him land and smiled. Just as I turned away though I heard his bells and snapped my head back around in time to see him fall from the tree and snag a passing coopers hawk right out of the air! I was dumbfounded! The two thrashed their way to the ground and separated....that coops must have messed his self after that ordeal. As the coop darted away Jake when straight back to his perch as if nothing had happened. The coop was not packing anything, so I can only imagine it was a territorial issue and not an act of hunger? I found the remains of a barn owl strewn about the base of a cedar as I walked and I took a moment to admire the texture of the feathers. Jake made a few stoops into the thickets as we went along, but I never saw any rabbits. After one such failed attempt I called him to the glove and he road the fist until a small bird flushed at my feet, and much to my delight Jake pursued it into cover! He was certainly feeling his oats this morning. There was a light mist in the air all morning and Jake and I were both soaked by the time we reached the truck. I wasn’t done hawking though and decided to head over to dads place and dry off while I ate a real breakfast. Afterward we went over to the Slagell's place on the corner of Dad's drive way. I kicked up quite a few rabbits, and Jake chased them all with good style, but the winds had increased and he had trouble connecting. He is more reluctant to crash into things when the wind is up...for reasons only he knows!

This evening Ryan and I took a friend over to the our great grandmothers place and failed to put game under Jake. The winds had really gotten up and it was much warmer, Jake was wanting to soar and was still a little heavy from this mornings feeding, so we called it a day and went back to town to do some yard work with Ryan's female. Tomorrows forecast calls for high winds, so I fed Jake generously. Ryan and I are planning to go over to Elk Lake again this Friday to see if we can find some fields to hawk that aren’t so thickly vegetated! Jake acted much better around Abby tonight when I brought her in for some quality time with the bird.

10/26/06 Turned out to be a great morning. But Jake was fat and the winds were up in the 40s by the afternoon.

10/27/06 Windy again! I hate wind. It actually turned into a nice evening about an hour before dark, but I was away from home, and Jake had already eaten anyway.

10/28/06 34.5 oz. Jake was fat, but I took him over to Elk City and hawked with David at Elk Lake. It was about 80 degrees and the wind was pretty high. The cover was thick and even though we had two dogs with us, we didn’t find any rabbits. Jake did pretty well at first, but got very distant as the hunt progressed. I’m sure his weight played a big factor, but the dogs and weather conditions were just too much for him, and I had some trouble getting him down at the end of the day! Kind of humbling really but at least I was able to let him fly for awhile which was good because I'm back on the day shift starting tomorrow, and wont be able to fly him for four days.....

10/29/06 33.8 oz. I am working 7am-7pm for the next for days, I fed Jake on the glove tonight with Abby sitting beside us. Didn’t feed him much as I hope to have him between 32 & 33oz. on Thursday. It was hot and windy today and the forecast calls for the same again tomorrow.

10/30/06 33.4 oz. Called Jake to the lure inside tonight for his meal. Abby was sitting beside me the whole time...Jake took his time eating the already small amount of food. And made several bluff atacks at the dog while eating! He's got a lot of guts. But again,,,,I remain optimistic.

10/31/06 34.1 oz. I decided to skip Jake's meal tonight and just let him pull on a wing for a while on the glove.

11/1/06 33.4 oz. I took off work today because it was supposed to be a perfect day for hawking....damned weatherman! It turned into a terrible day. But I managed to aquire permission to hunt an 800 acre piece of land (Nowka's) on the south canadian river bottom, close to home. I've deer hunted this place in the past and thats the primary reason I asked for permission this year. But it looks like it will be good for squirrels and decent for rabbits too. After visiting with the land owner today and showing him the bird, I got the gate key and drove down to check the place out. I went ahead and flew Jake on an old oil well site while I was there. It was really windy, so he ended up about a quarter mile out as soon as he left the glove! I kicked around for a bit as he made his way back to me. But I didnt find any rabbits, and decided it wasn't a good day for hawking.

11/2/06 33.0 oz As I was driving through Nowkas place today to go deer hunting, I was amazed at the number of rabbits I saw in my trucks headlights....It's pretty barren on those old grass slopes and I can only imagine were those rabbits hide during the day. I was tempted to bring Jake down there after I was done deer hunting, but I think I will wait until rifle season is over....too many neighbors to deal with down on the river this time of year. But, down on the bluffs the squirrels were running rampid! I will be going down there as soon as the leaves fall a little more to hawk them.
After I was done deer hunting I loaded Jake up and flew him at the Carman place...we had many slips and lots of brush crashing, but no connections...I really think we chased the same rabbit about a half dozen times! Afterward I took him back to the Slagell's place and pretty soon I flushed a covey of quail that flew past Jake and he was off and hot on ones heels....looking much like a female harris. He really surprised me how well he flew the quail into cover. Best of all, Dad was with me and got to see the flight. We found Jake about a quarter mile down the canyon looking for the quail, who had undoubtedly ratted his way through the labyrinth of cedar trees. We put a couple rabbits under him again, but the vast graveyard of retired machinery hindered our ability to provide any good slips. The rabbits have way to much cover! We flushed several coveys of quail as well and Jake made several attempts at them. I've never had a redtail that continues to chase things like quail without success. I hope he connects with one some day! Jake is doing very good in the field (minus the dog) and I'm anxious for him to start taking some game...the cover is just way to thick on my hawking grounds right now for any good hunting. And the weather is incredibly sporadic. I got called into work tonight, and am also covering for another employee tomorrow night, so I may or may not be able to hawk tomorrow. I hear the weather is gong to be nasty for a few days anyway? We will see. I think a trip to Calumet is in order soon!

11/3/06 - 11/6/06 various weights. It's been a long week, I had a lot of random over time to cover, and then had the transition from days to nights on my regular shift, so my hawking has suffered from that. Not just that, but we had a nice rain one day and lots of high winds lately. I managed to hold Jakes weight at an acceptable level this week so I should get out in the field soon.

11/7/06 33.4 oz. Jake has gotten very edgy with me lately, I moved him into the spare bedroom again this week while I was not flying him. Mostly because my land lord was supposed to stop by to do some repairs on the house...but never showed! I had been keeping Jake in the main part of the house, and he remained pretty calm. Im a little surprised at his behavior quite honestly...but he was not as easy to mess with today.Anyway, I decided to head over to the River on Nowka's and chase some squirrels. The primitive firearms season was over for the deer hunters and figured most folks would be out of the woods "catching up" until rifle season opened up ( I was right). I let Jake take a perch right away, rather than walking into the woods first. I wish I had done a few flights to the glove right off the bat to get his mind right ( hind sights always 20/20). Since the woods aren't very wide, and are instead quite long....going for miles upon miles, I assumed Jake and I would be able to keep up with each other pretty easily. I was wrong. I realized very quickly that Jake was not going to follow my advance, and I tried to coax him along, by putting some trees and distance between us and whistling. He stayed until I flashed the lure, something I dont like to do. Before to long I was staring a squirrel in the eyes as it sat on a lower branch in front of me. That squirrel seemed to be as intrigued by me as I was it! I whistled for Jake and was surprised to hear his bells immediately....but they were going the other way. I broke away from my current squirrel to see what was up, and watched Jake pile into the ground about 100 yards away. I never did see what he was after. Jake then decided to head out over the hills for awhile and dry his dampened feather atop a big cedar...he again ignored my attempts to get him to come back and join the hunt. I finally called him down, and cast him back into the woods. I headed off into the woods again, alone. It was at this point that I became very frustrated at his refusal to follow, and had decided to head back over and call him down for the day. Upon my arrival under his tree, I noticed Jake was very intently watching a large wood pile. He would look at me and then the pile over and over...I swear he was asking me to Jump on it! I obliged, and out popped a rather large rabbit. Jake never stood a chance. Again I let him take a perch, and walked away. I heard him leave the area again and went to look for him. I could hear his bells, and I knew he was on the ground, but had trouble finding him. When I finally did he was wedged down in a thicket with nothing to show for his efforts. I decided at that point to hawk him out of the hood, on the way back to the truck.About half way back to my truck I saw two young squirrels chasing each other in some small trees. They were just feet infront of us, and I quickly popped Jakes' hood off. He was quick to find them and left the glove, but I had neglected to unclip his short leash in my haste and the attempt was foiled.. I felt terrible! Jake was pissed to say the least. So I cast him off again and when I was unable to find the squirrels again I called him to a substantial meal on the lure and went home.I learned two things today...don't squirrel hawk when the leaves are on the trees. You cant see the squirrels and you cant keep up with your bird. The other thing I learned is to keep your wits about you and use your head when your hawking, I hope Jake doesn't hold my actions today against me.

Well its December now and Im going to wrap up this chapter of the Journal. I managed to sneak away to the NAFA meet this year and see some old friends and some good hawking. I released Jake this week as well. It was not an easy choice but one that I felt was right. I dont know how long Im going to take off from flying, most likely not long, but I felt I wasnt giving Jake 100% and I think he deserved at least that much. Im going to use the extra time to get a few things straight and see what happens next fall. I may even trap a little kestrel or merlin to dink around with the rest of the winter....who knows.

Jake....I miss ya brother....hope your doing well!

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2006-12-02T07:43:00.001-08:00

This page has become more of a tribute to my hawking buddy Ryan than anything!

Here's to you Ryan.

Freshly trapped passage female redtail "Baby"

Ryan with his new bird on the glove.

Ryan and Baby in the field

Baby with a rabbit.

Ryan and Baby with cottontail

Ryan and David watching baby eat.

Ryan and David ready to kill sumthin'

Ryan calling Baby to the glove.

Ryan calling Baby to the lure.

There's an interesting bit of history hidden in the shot above. The house in this photo is the house I grew up in. I lived there until I was 13. Its funny to me that over a decade ago, I was sitting in my room looking out at the very field we were hawking in today, dreaming about one day becoming a falconer. Maybe some other kid was watching us from the same window today, and now has a dream of his own?

Baby on her custom made "Squirrel Lure"

This was a cool flight...