Was thinking that you could pad the jackite (leather, fur, etc.?), to make it safer for the bird. Heck these things come with the fiber glass rod and everything for $20 or $30.
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion................ and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."
A gentleman of 40 yrs experience flying birds recommended to me to use anything as long as it is relatively flat. The bird will tend to develop bad habits like excess mantling if the lure is tippy or rolls around. Make sense to me.
I stitched up a pouch of tough leather filled with closed cell foam. Attach the swivel at least 4 to 6 inches away from the lure body to avoid talons tangling. Weight can be on other end of lure line.
Magazine article about a falconer in Canada using a deflated football for his tiercel Bald Eagle...Go long !
I just had a question about weighting lures. In Mullenix's book he suggests beginning with a heavier lure on the ground to discourage carrying and then switching to a much lighter swing lure later.( for kestrels, ofcourse) I've seen lures that have the weight inside and ones that have a spot for a fishing weight about a foot up the line that's removable. I was wondering if anyone here actually has any methods for making a lure a certain weight and what's used to add the weight.
Minca, I have been advised not to use weighted lures unless carrying becomes a problem. However, i have made weighted lures. Using my scales, i pour out enough BBs to equal about 10% of the birds weight. After cutting out the patteren and sewing it partially together, I fill the lure with hollofill about 1/2 way. I make an indentation in the fill with my finger and pour in the BBs. I finish filling the lure and completely sew it up. That's it!
Bob do you think you could send me that pattern. If got alot of elk hide laying around that I need to use up. Also do you think that elk hide would be good for jesses? Probably sounds stupid but I would like to save as much $$$ as possible.
"You're a smart kid Johny, you really are, but as long as I'm around you'll only be second best." The Godfather
Oh and normally I use Grouse wings as they weigh more than most wings any way. What do you guys think about hunting a redtail in open aspen forest? I've got alot of grouse and snowshoe to hunt this year and I have the greatest spot for gun shooting, nobody knows were it is. Do you think a redtail is manuverable enough to hunt grouse in a more inclosed country side. These grouse are known to fly no more than 200 yards down hill as do most grouse and hide which is great because if you miss (which I never do ) you've got a good chance of seeing the same flock of birds within minutes.
"You're a smart kid Johny, you really are, but as long as I'm around you'll only be second best." The Godfather
Red tails are not designed to take grouse in close quarters. That would be an accip. Although recently someone posted they know someone taking grouse with a red tail.... thats one i would have to see to believe.
I would stick with thier normal quarry unless your sponsor agrees to change it.
I personally make lures and filled them with silicon caulk and then let them dry. The lure when dry is firm and will give to hawks grip plus adds weight to lure that isn't hard. I have also used these lures for falcons and have had them hit them very hard with no damage to bird. If the lure gets wet you also dont have to worry too much about it molding from inside. Well, thats about it maybe someone will be interested in trying it too.
P.S Beware that hawks may like it to much,they like squezzing them.
Last Edit: Sept 16, 2004 0:50:04 GMT -5 by Tiercel78
I used to think i knew some things. But i'm not so sure anymore.
No Rt's do not normally take grouse but the wings are heavier than most and swing easily when made into a lure. And it was me that posted about a gentlemen in my area that constintly provides decent slips for his RT on grouse. Even Beebe reported wild RT's with a small amount of grouse in their crop.
"You're a smart kid Johny, you really are, but as long as I'm around you'll only be second best." The Godfather
Lure for Redtails and Harris that I use is a pouch of leather bout 6 to 8 inches around and filled with leather it is bout 1 and 1/2 inches tall and the meat is tied to the top. Lure for my kestrel was 2 pieces of leather cut out in kinda the shape of a bird. It was also weighted on the end of the string to prevent carring.
Post by Tiercel78 on Sept 16, 2004 11:50:07 GMT -5
Bob yur right you don't really need a weighted lure unless you have problems with carrying. I use weighted,so hopefully I never have to deal with carrying. If it can't carry it from the start then hopefully they don't really try it in the future. I was taught to have a little weight in the lure,also I just kinda like it cause I can control it more. As long as it dosent hurt the bird I think it's personal prefrence. I really don't worry about hurting the bird with the lure. Think about how hard they hit the ground in a wing over. I've used the same type with lanner tiercels and never had any hurt birds.- Just don't hit them with it.
Last Edit: Sept 16, 2004 11:53:27 GMT -5 by Tiercel78
I used to think i knew some things. But i'm not so sure anymore.