Dialing in Rabbits

[basenjishunt]

Hi All,
My FRT is flying on rabbits well, pulling fur, but not connecting with a solid hit. She's had tons of good slips in the last 2-3 weeks, but no kills yet. Talons are sharp etc.... Anyone else had their RT have lots of near missed, but no cigar? -Tim

[kurt]

You might try dropping her weight by 10 or 15 grams and see if that makes a difference. A slight weight drop was all it took for both my birds. They both hit late or hit the rear when they were a little heavy. Kurt

[swift]

It also depends on ur hunting style. Do u fly her off the fist? If so then it could be shes just not picking up speed fast enough. U should drop her weight a little bit to to increase her enthusiasm.

[Master Yarak]

As a hawk approaches a rabbit it usually does so from behind. The closest part of the rabbit to the hawk is of course its rear. Hawks only want to spend the minimum amount of energy to catch the rabbit. Weight may play a part. Experience also plays a role. If you are rewarding the failed attempt, stop. The hawk will learn misses bring NO food. Keep producing those slips, it will catch one. Then, if it were me, I would let it sit right there and let it eat as much of it as it wanted. Follow this and I bet your catch rate will go up.
Yarak

[basenjishunt]

Yarak,
Thanks for the reply. I also found she has worms. So I gave her meds yesterday for that. Hopefully that will help her strength some....Tim

[basenjishunt]

"V" got dialed in this weekend. After pulling fur for a couple of weeks, she got a double on Sat., and another bunny Sun. morning. She slammed the crap out of them, and is grabbing by the head now! Whooo hoooo!-Tim

[HawkingRage]

sounds great! keep up the good work.