In my very humble experience, my girl was trapped at 1385g, which I believe the weight was rabbit (she had a ton of rabbit fur on her feet, so this is my guess on what she was feeding on regularly). Annaliese did wonders on the creance at 1050g. She even hit the lure very well at this weight. I was cautious at 1010 when I first flew her off the creance, and she did ok, but she still was not being cooperative, nor did she follow very well. I was shooting for 980g and I ended up with 950g two days after her first free flight. At 950g she was a good girl, and there was never any sign of being tired or hungry. Looking at her build, she is only a smaller female Western RT. She was just plan fat off the trap. I dropped a good portion of weight off of her but I always looked for hunger or fatigue issues. I never saw them. I only hunted her for a short part of the season, but by the end, I was flying her at 1010-1035g. Annaliese even got a jack at 1050g. Sometimes you just have to get the hawks attention at first. This is just my first year experience, and nothing else. I am in no ways the know-it-all, nor experienced. I am just passing on my short examined experience. Just be patient next year. Keep dropping weight and make sure response from your girl or boy is prior to your wantings. Look at the hawks attitude. You can see what is desired in there eyes and over all posture. Hoped my rambling helped.
So my question: Is there a big difference between good creance-flying weight and hunting weight? FG
Hawks are smart. They catch on to the fist-jumping and creancing routine fast. I can creance my fat hawk all day long and she'll respond - simply because she's learned the game (training). Now I might presume she's ready for the field because she responded instantly 20 times on creance. Can I trust that response? Not yet. I need to test her more to be sure. I take her to different spots other than my usual to creance -- introducing changes in her routine. Sometimes I offer the usual rabbit tid bits on my glove, or then I'll mix it up and add a meat she REALLY likes. She'll never know which it is until she comes. Hawks are curious too. Now and then, I'll change it again and present a bare glove, or I'll whip out the lure rather than offer the fist. If she responds instantly despite all these changes, then she's ready for free flying. If she doesn't respond, but is distracted and nonresponsive, it's the ol' con job on me, and I need to adjust her weight down over a couple of days. There will be MANY distractions in the field, and I need to KNOW she's focused.
But I'm not in a hurry to go afield just yet. I know there will be situations when she won't be responsive to me for whatever reason. And there will be times when I have to get her attention and get her down right NOW!! So, before we venture out hawking, I enter her on a live lure. I jess up a pigeon (or starling/sparrow) on a line, and let her catch it and eat whatever she wants until she walks off it. It's a rare hawk that will not come (a long way) for a live lure, if you've offered it before. It's my insurance. I've rarely had to use it, but in an emergency, I know it'll work to recover my bird. Pigeon puts on a ton of weight, so I'll need to bring her down to response weight, and test her again on creance once more. After that..... it's time to go hawking.
wow! THanks for the response. Very detailed-and I very much appreciate it!
"Falconry is not a hobby or an amusement; it is a rage. You eat and drink it, sleep it and think it. You tremble to write of it, even in recollection. It is as King James the First remarked, an extreme stirrer up of passions." --- T.H. White
"Falconry is not a hobby or an amusement; it is a rage. You eat and drink it, sleep it and think it. You tremble to write of it, even in recollection. It is as King James the First remarked, an extreme stirrer up of passions." --- T.H. White