What would be the best falcon for flying on pheasent over smallish fields? I realize a gyr is probably not good, as they tend to tail-chase, so i was thinking about either a prairie or peregrine. Anyone have an opinion?
Falcon Boy Apprentice Falconry Administrator
Ethics make the individual, not the other way around.
Peregrine is probally your best bet for small fields. It's the only one that naturally takes a pitch of any height and sticks pretty close. Though all of the others are trained to take pitches, it's a lot more work.
Last Edit: Jun 6, 2005 9:34:48 GMT -5 by Tiercel78
I used to think i knew some things. But i'm not so sure anymore.
There are no falcons suitable for flying in small fields! All falcons especially Gyr & Peregrines require large open spaces.Trying to fly them on enclosed land will, swiftly even with telemetry, result in a lost bird.I have taken pheasant with my 3yo female peregrine. All the larger long wings will take them. Perhaps with the exception of the lanner. The most effective bird for pheasant in enclosed land would be a Goshawk.Both male & female should find this well within their capabilities.
A people who would trade liberty for security will end up losing both & deserving neither.
I actually voted for the prairie but also want to include the gyr. Prairies are fearless and take pheasants very easily and will "bullet" themselves into the bush for them without thinking it could be dangerous whereas the peregrine will pull up if it misses. But gyrs, being so large have the absolute power and speed for them. Find falconers that fly gyrs on a regular basis and ask them about flying them at pigeons during training or actual flights. They usually laugh and say something like "that is hard because they are so big and powerful that they just carry it and they usually carry pheasants a ways too". Gyrs are great for the large game birds like pheasants, ducks, geese, etc.
I would vote for a passage female prairie. I say that because passage prairie's usually fly around 400 feet at the most and do not waste any time getting to the duck or pheasant. Peregrine's take a higher pitch as do eyass prairie's just because that is how falconers train thier birds. By the time the pheasant sets in and is moving through the brush, the falcon is still in the air. Of course, that is my opinion.
For the falcon to be successful against a pheasant it needs a downwind stoop. ie it needs to be flushed just as the falcon reaches her pitch up wind of the falconer.otherwise she lacks the force to deal a killing blow with the first stoop. This can result in either a tail chase,or the pheasant putting in to cover.As the hawk circles a fresh pheasant explodes from cover either way your falcon is soon out of sight I'm not saying it can't be done, but sooner rather than later if kept up,on enclosed fields a lost bird is inevitable.If flown against duck or pigeon it's a foregone conclusion.In Britain no-one flys long-wings in small fields at game but always on large open tracts,moors etc.It's amazing how quickly these birds can be lost from sight in a tail chase. The only quarry flown in such conditions are corvids.This is a different style of flight altogether
A people who would trade liberty for security will end up losing both & deserving neither.
Prairie's have no problem killing pheasents. Here in California where the terrain is pretty flat and open, the falcon stands a much better chance of getting to the pheasent before it sets in. If it is extremely brushy and small field, then the falcon would be out of luck once the pheasent hit the ground and kept moving through the brush.
gyrs and female peales get my vote for cock pheasant ,gos as well. I've heard pheasant can be hard to hunt because they don't hold well under point and tend to run before flushing sometimes putting the falconer off his mark when calls for the flush.