That looks fine. I'm sure the hawk doesn't care about craftsmenship, just function. My lure looks very similar to that in shape and size. I keep the other end of the cord attached to my bag to prevent the hawk from stealing lure and all. Learned this after having it happen once. Had to climb a tree to retrieve my bird and lure. You may want a heavier snap swivel or none at all.
Don't do like I did. Made a lure out of very absorbant cowhide. First time I tossed it into a patch of wet snow, it soaked up so much water I wouldn't have needed to weigh it down.
I think I'll follow Bruce Haak's advice in his book "The Hunting Falcon" and use a canvas dog retrieving dummy. Santa brought me Bruce's book. He says falconers can get way too excited about the shape of the lure. A bird can be conditioned to respond to an old shoe. The laces can be used to tie food on. (Yes, I'm joking) Slide a big fishing weight on the lure line and a knot to keep it on to discourage carrying.
I've seen a guy use an old sock, stuffed with newspaper, for his RT...yep, they'll go for anything, if thre's a possibility for food. I've head shape matters more with the falcons, but hawks don't care, I guess.
Give a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day. Light a man on fire and he'll be warm for a lifetime.
I ask a similar question to a falconry friend of mine ( shape of lures and which was best) his responce was you could train them to an old boot as long as they think there is a meal attached.
I just sent Wolf a picture of the lures I made for my birds. One is for the eagle and it is 11 inches long X 4 inches wide. I took it down to an upholstrey shop and had them sew it inside out and then I put a 1 pound bag of beans inside and had them sew the rest of the lure up. When I use it, I usually take a rabbit fur and wrap it around the lure before dragging it front of the eagle. The eagle has ripped it up quite a bit. the 2nd lure I made is for the falcons and smaller birds. It is about 5 inches across and about 6 inches long. It has 3 grometts in it at the top. The center gromett is for the swing line and the 2 side grometts are for the food tie line. They are profesionaly sewn by a shoe cobbler in my town. I have 3 extra lures made like this if any one is interested in buying them.
Wolf That leather one looks just like the first one I made when I was an apprentince. I took a dried rabbit skin and used a non-toxic glue and glued the skin arond the leather lure, didn't take long till the skin was gone.. Another great lure are some of the bird dog lures at a sports store or large pets stores. Some are very light and made of soft but durable rubber.
Here's the type of lure I've been using for the last two years to train birds...
Its extremly expensive, requires hours of sewing, and patience, and very very hard to replace:
( I bet you dont like my sarcastic humour )
I use tennis balls because they've very easy to spot from large distances.. Should I loose one in the field I can easily replace it.. and it takes 5 minutes to make.
I cannot accept credit for this design, I know alot of longwingers that use this style of lure too.
( Oh.. and if you want to be really snazzy.. tennis balls come in Orange too! )
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