After my facilities inspection yesterday the biologist asked me if I planned on hunting pheasant and he told me that we have a "great pheasant stocking program" here in Maine. I told him I'd learn more about it.
So I'm wondering if any of you or falconers that you know have had much success with redtails on pheasant, or are they game reserved typically for long wings and Gosses?
Post by Master Yarak on Apr 14, 2007 7:55:52 GMT -5
Not hardly. If I had them around here there would some on my table and in the freezer. The bird will learn to pursue and strike after the pheasant puts in. Cocks may stand their ground and with spurs can put out some hurt. I would recommend a hen for that reason. Speed is not that crucial. Shock power, impact strength, foot span and equally important is tenacity. Those characteristics and plenty of slips will make for some great flights and excellent sport. Yarak
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away
Im with Yarak. The NYSFA meet this past Nov. was the first time i've ever hawked pheasent. I took BB and he smashed one good but it got away. Not bad considering it was the 2nd pheasent he'd ever seen! There were a few pheasents taken by RT's at the meet. If you do decide to hawk them, learn about pheasent habitat. I got lucky, i had a guy with me who had hunted pheasent for years out west along with me so he knew where to look for them, becuase were i would have looked there would have been nothing! A good dog could help you a lot with pheasent hunting as they tend to run.
Falcon Boy Apprentice Falconry Administrator
Ethics make the individual, not the other way around.
Man, that sounds exciting. I've got some scouting to do and some phone calls to make. There is a nearby farm next to which I saw a roadkill pheasant last year. Maybe I could get permission there as a start. And I'll be calling my sponsor today to tell him I passed inspection and I'll ask him what he knows about the stocking program too. Great responses! I appreciate it.
I would definatly try it, when BB hit the pheasent i was stoked, i had never seen him stoop like that. I think the key would be to have your bird up high or in a soar, but keep in mind i only have done it once.
Last Edit: Apr 14, 2007 8:59:43 GMT -5 by Falcon Boy
Falcon Boy Apprentice Falconry Administrator
Ethics make the individual, not the other way around.
Yeah, I think you're right. I just got off the phone with my sponsor and he thought a soar/waiting on would be best too, though he hadn't personally tried it.
My experience with pheasant, here in Maine, is that they are not very strong flyers, when compared to the birds out West. This is probably due to a low survival rate. Out West, portions of crops are commonly left standing to provide food and cover for winter and I haven't seen this practice done in this area. The habitat that I find pheasant in is locally known as a "blueberry plain". The cover is short and the fields are open with very few trees. Your best results would be to have a pointer to locate and hold the birds for your approach. Without a pointer, pheasant are most easily located on a sunny day after a snowfall, where they can be observed with binoculars or spotting scope and an approach planned. I close the distance using an angle which makes the pheasant feel that it isn't the object of my interest, and when downwind of the last known location, turn and try to find them using a back and forth pattern. An elevated perch would be usefull, but I would use caution to conceal the silhouette of the hawk until the last 40-50 yards, then elevate the perch. When pheasants flush, they commonly rise straight up 10-15 feet, almost pause at that height, then level off and fly downwind if there is a breeze.
Post by austringer89 on Dec 13, 2007 23:35:33 GMT -5
If one wants to hunt pheasants, do you think a Rt who has seen them before be more likely to chase them because it is familiar with seeing them, or less likely to chase because it doesnt know they arent a food source?
Post by Master Yarak on Dec 14, 2007 10:58:39 GMT -5
I don't think it would matter much either way. I think lots of slips and a confident bird would certainly put some in the bag. Yarak
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away
In my opinion, "Confident bird" is the key. It can quickly discourage many birds when they see a pheasy fly off a 1/4 mile before putting in. My Harris's have chased them for 100 yards before peeling off, not knowing that the pheasant was about to put in.....Another note....Early season Pheasant are MUCH easier to catch. The end of the season ones are quite savy and will easily elude a hawk such as a RT or Harris's. I talk with guys who fly gos's on them regularly and it gets quite difficult for the gos near the end of season.
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."
Rt's are going to take the pheasant once it is back on the ground. I had a rt that took 2 pheasants at one of the CHC meets. She was sitting on a pole as we flushed the field in front of her. The pheasant flew and as soon as it got to cover, the rt was there. A couple of seconds longer and the pheasant would have been safe because they run through the cover once they land. I had a tiercel HH take a pheasant last season, but, the pheasant made the mistake of being out away from cover in the open.
Post by harrishawker on Dec 26, 2007 13:24:04 GMT -5
If you read my Log on SID...PR MRT you will read that he has had a lot of slips on pheasant, in fact a hell of a lot. But to date is yet to hold one. What generally happens is SID will ground it and as i get closer it kicks and gets away. This has happened countless times. Fast or slow it makes no difference it hears me and it kicks. The good sign is he seems to be holding them until that moment as before he just could not hold them at all. So its a matter of time. He is only 790gr and i do think that he is capable of holding it long enough unless he gets it from the head. Maybe a FRT at say twice the weight can hold it down whilst maneuvering onto the head. Harris Hawks distinctly learn this quick and usually attack the head from the out set. I don't think RT's are the best for feather, i think HH are much more equipped and seem more successful. At 600 gr a HH is well capable of taking a cock pheasant and i know many that have. just as a RT is far more equipped for a Squirrel i think the same applies for a HH on a Pheasant. Last year my HH took over 25 pheasants, i am not saying RT's can't but there style of attack works against them when it comes to it
Just my view so far on the experience of both birds.
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