Yes, it is possible. My bird was only half-heartedly chasing squirrels when we first started hunting her so we thought that we would try to get a live squirrel away from his RT Bane. That day his bird caught the squirrel in the crotch of a tree and killed it up there before she came to ground. later that day we managed to hold a squirrel still enough with both hands so we could transfer her off to the lure. We then drove to a large field with one tree in the middle and turned the very pissed off squirrel loose. I waited about 5 seconds before turning the bird loose on the quarry. She went after it with gusto as it was on the ground when she saw it. Needless to say, she caught it. The next baggie was a dead squirrel that we harnessed with some string and hung over a limb on a tree. We put the squirrel where it looked like it was climbing the tree and we could pull the string to make it "climb". I started hitting the tree with my stick while the bird sat on the fist and slowly moved around to let out the HOHOHO!!! She nailed this squirrel very hard and hasn't stopped hunting them since. PS. I don't count live baggies as a kill for the season and only use as many as needed to get the bird wed to the quarry. I do not take pleasure in watching a squirrel get nailed while confused and out in the open. It is also advisable to do this in an area where by-standers will not see as they will get a negative outlook on the sport. In the end,Yes, it does work very well as it gives them the taste and courage to tackle the quarry.
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."
I have mixed feelings about baggies. I don't mind if you use them, it's a me thing. At first i was ready to slip Volo on a baggy, but Zach hesitated. Now, i'm hesitating with him. I have thought of several alternatives. Noel mentioned one, the carcass rig. How about a heavier lure with a rabbit/squirrel hide cover? I'm trying to find a way to pad and cover a radio controlled car. Of course, the wheels and other movables have to be out of the way. I don't want any squished toes or broken talons. If it works, i'll pattent it
Like shootin ducks in a barrel.......kidding.....wait, no I'm not . Someone on the "other list" was taking about a guy who found a remote control rabbit for sale. Apparently they use them to train various dogs to chase them.
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."
OK... Zach finally broke down and decided to slip Volo on a baggy. He got her weight right, set the baggie up in the field and had his friend out of sight holding the string to release said baggy. He put Volo up in a tree. She climbed high, like she was ready to hunt. She also had that "lean and hungry look". Let me stop here and interject something that i found out after the fact: the baggy he was given was a white domestic rabbit about 10 weeks old So, Volo was in place, the trip line was ready and Zach was in position. He signalled his friend to release the rabbit and waited with bated breath for the inevitable fire of deadly fury that would most assuredly rain down on the unsuspecting rabbit. The rabbit walked out of the open door and began to graze in one spot with out so much as a sign of simple nervousness. It didn't move more that six inches. Volo was monumentally unimpressed. She sat in the tree and waited for zach to beat the shrubs for a slip. She spotted a snake and took it instead. Disgusted, Zach called his hawk to the glove and headed back to the mews. Our eight year old neighbor girl has a nice new fuzzy pet
should have read this thread earlier because I posted the whole remote control car thing some where back a few months ago. And have been thinking of it for over a year ago, I'm not saying I'm the only one to think of it it's not a long stretch to think of it I'm not the first I saw a goshawk sitting on a stuffed rabbit and the rabbit was sitting in a R/C truck so there. So if you're going to patent this you had better get FB to erase myt postings not because i was the first to think of it but i believe I was the first to post it.
baged squirrels IMHO should be only used in the beginning of ur falconry. because how is releasing a pissed off squirrel in an open field with no where to hide gonna help your bird become a better hunter. Using baged squirrels for ur bird is the same as having some one tell you the answers to a test. its not helping you or the bird its just giving bad habbits to the both of you. reply to this if you wish to argue more on the topic i have discussed.
The whole purpose of using baggies is to have controll over the hunting conditions. One of the most important issues of falconry is that you need to supply your hawk with game to hunt. Also you dont nessarly have to have a pissed off squrriel you can have a very very dizzy squirrel or slightly disabled somehow