I think I was misunderstood a little. She goes after the squirrels like crazy, but she's not looking up when they make a tree. She's never had a problem chasing. She crashes everything after them, sometimes making me a little nervous because she is crashing so hard. I just think we have lost a few chances for kills due to her not looking up. We've also lost a couple due to her not getting up to the top of the trees to get the speed needed to catch them on the ground. I was just wondering if there was a way to make them look up/tree up.
If I was you, I think I would first try to obtain the behavior "look up" on cue (on command), then use it in the field. It is a behavior that is easy to train with clicker training, even if you are not experienced with the technic. Once its trained, you want to make sure the cue works in any environment, even away from you, and then it could be useful.
I trained a similar behavior in my bird, a "look away", to make him scan the field around him rather than focus on me and the food pouch. I do not hunt squirrels, but that would be my first reflex.
Everything I hold in my hands today could be only a memory tomorrow. Carpe Diem.
You bird is still learning like others have posted. If she is catching and going after squirrels it is just a matter of time before she puts 2&2 together. Some birds catch on faster than others and some need a little time. You could try to train your bird to the clicker like kitana suggested but, I think your bird will do it in time by it's self. Losing a few kills is pretty common with new birds. The Juvi's do tend to crash pretty hard and try things that most adults or seasoned birds won't. Thats the fun of flying a reckless no hold bar juvi. Oh just to let you know the Red tails don't need a height advantage to take squirrels on open ground. I've ran down squirrels on open ground they really aren't that fast. They just know their surroundings better and make for the nearest hide. One of my best squirrel hawks only caught 25 squirrels his first season. His second season I didn't even get to fly him as much and he still caught 75squirrels and 2 bunnies. I also cut back on what I was taking due to squirrel populations. Too many triples and quads will reduce squirrel population quickly. It' also better to have multiple places to hunt for that reason. Squirrels will also get sensitive to car doors and hawk bells. I have had them bail out of trees and run to cover as soon as they heard both. I'm talking 20-25yards out from me.
I'm not a real fan but slingshots work for getting the bird to look up. I have seen plenty of birds key up on where the marbles are being shot. Just make sure that bird is no where near where you are shooting. Also I would also make sure that you can shoot the thing pretty close to target. A bird getting hit a marble by shooting too close is not worth it.
Most of all time out hunting will fix everything. The more she hunts the more she learns how to deal with different situations. Experience makes a great bird and that goes for all falconry birds. So hunt her as much as you can!
Last Edit: Oct 23, 2007 20:51:21 GMT -5 by Tiercel78
I used to think i knew some things. But i'm not so sure anymore.
Post by Master Yarak on Oct 23, 2007 22:24:45 GMT -5
If it were me I would take the bird to squirrel haven and put her up. Then I would sit beneath the tree she is in. Just wait, eventually she will get bored. After a time of just her just sitting and watching she will see the squirrels moving about. This will take more than a few outings. The thing to remember is to NOT create any unnecessary distractions. Over time she will see enough of them to figure out they move vertically. Just stay close and help her out if she grabs one. It sounds to me that she is close. It will also help if you stop flushing ground quarry until her light comes on. 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
How about getting her to perch higher in the first place? My main place that I hunt seems like the squirrel capital of NY! It is mostly oaks and we see TONS of them every time we are out. The only problem is, when I put her up, she tends to take the lowest or one of the lowest branches on the tree. Sometimes after an unsuccessful slip, she will continue on with her flight and take a really low perch like a fallen tree. She has also taken stumps and things like rocks that aren't even as tall as I am. She will still take off after game from these low perches too, but she doesn't come close.
im going to become an apprentice soon and i have a question. if your hunting squirrels with a red tail, if the squirrel gets away and your hawk stays in one of those 100 foot oak trees how do you get it down without killing yourself?
The same way you would get her to come down off a 25' oak tree. You either flush another squirrel, or call her back down to the glove or lure. It's part of your training the hawk.As an apprentice, Your Sponsor will be teaching you how to man the bird and then teach it to hunt with you, how to get her to come back, ect.