Coots are a pain in the a** to get off the water with a falcon in the air, not sure how you'd convince one to leave the water with a RT in a tree above unless you have a well trained dog?
I'm sure you could probably catch a few with a perfect set up [high trees surrounding tiny pond], after all a guy in OR caught quite a few ducks with his RT, but if you have a golf course permission isn't there rabbits or squirrels on the course?
Falcon Boy Apprentice Falconry Administrator
Ethics make the individual, not the other way around.
If they are kinda far from the water but off a pond probably not... I read about a guy who had a male GHO that flew at a golf course where coots where pretty used to people feeding them and he hid the owl in a trench coat and once they where all around him he would release the owl. Its all about keeping them away from the water to catch them with a rt. They have been pretty easy for me to flush off ponds for my falcon with my dog just going nuts. These things are soooo slow but for a rt off the fist make sure there is a good distance between the pond and the coots
... where coots where pretty used to people feeding them and he hid the owl in a trench coat and once they where all around him he would release the owl.
Post by profalconer on Jan 7, 2009 12:43:11 GMT -5
Well he is catching game! So yes! Sporting? I would say not. I read it in his book and laughed about it because this is the only person I have heard of that catches game with a GHO and how ridiculously un-sporting it is! Coots just aren't very sporting to catch anyways but they are so slow that they are irresistible targets for almost any bird that's bigger than a male coops! I have seen a male harris 30ft away get to a coot before it could move 1ft back to the water. A falconer I know flies his falcon on a golf course often and catches coots quite often. It takes some skill to not get them to flush and still get the other ducks to flush. Sometimes you can't help it and they flush with the ducks and the falcon will stoop between ducks to kill a coot.
...and laughed about it because this is the only person I have heard of that catches game with a GHO and how ridiculously un-sporting it is!
Ridiculously unsporting.... my thoughts too. Not very exciting to watch, I imagine. I did laugh at his use of a trench coat. But only because I imagined an R-rated visual after he opened it. Shame on me.
Coots just aren't very sporting to catch anyways but they are so slow that they are irresistible targets for almost any bird that's bigger than a male coops!
Primary predators... bald eagles and osprey. Yes, easy pickin's - no real skill required. Just drop down on em. It's a wonder there are so many of them.
A falconer I know flies his falcon on a golf course often and catches coots quite often. t.
Caught some coots too. The peregrine took one bite and wouldn't eat it. Must taste bad when not cooked in gumbo? Never ate one to know. You?
