Snowshoe Hare hunting with a Red-tailed Hawk

[SimoneBird]

I went out this last week to look for snowshoes around 3000' elevation with my falconry bird (a male red-tailed hawk). We needed the snowmobile and then snowshoes on ourselves. The hare numbers seem way down this year (in the Cascades) but conditions were also not perfect for tracking (heavy snow, then heavy rain). We still managed to find one and flushed it a couple times in thick trees and cover. The bird missed both times but the hare (understandably!) was not giving him a good shot. Eventually we pressured the hare enough that it went out into the open and the hawk came down out of the top of a tree and grabbed it. They ended up quite a ways from where the hawk initially hit the hare, and my bird only had him by the back legs. If only we had the flight on video! Hope you all enjoy the pics. Check out where the hare's foot is in the first photo. Also, interestingly enough, some snowshoe hares in the Cascades of WA and OR do not turn white in the winter. This is one of those hares. Washington is pretty unique in the sense that on the coast (the real coast!) the hares don't ever turn white, in the Cascades most turn white but not all and in eastern WA all the hares turn white. They are such cool critters!

[MADMAX]

Very cool
I have always wanted to do that ever since reading my side of the mountain as a kid

[Fishhunt223]

That is awesome, such a cool sport!  Your hawk is beautiful.

[cougkilr]

Very cool
I have always wanted to do that ever since reading my side of the mountain as a kid

my favorite book as a kid and probably as an adult.

[bearpaw]

Very interesting, welcome to the forum, I look forward to more stories and photos about falconry.

[Fl0und3rz]

That is way cool. Awesome bird.

[WapitiTalk1]

How cool is that. Madmax, I have that old book 

[Trapper John]

Awesome sport    I have a friend in Idaho that hunts with a hawk.
He returned his bird to the wild last year and just caught a new one last week.
Training for the new one starts in a couple of weeks.
JC 

[Bango skank]

Awesome sport    I have a friend in Idaho that hunts with a hawk.
He returned his bird to the wild last year and just caught a new one last week.
Training for the new one starts in a couple of weeks.
JC

Is that normal, to release them?  Id imagine z lot of work is put into those birds.

[MADMAX]

How cool is that. Madmax, I have that old book 

 

[Jpmiller]

Very very cool. Keep us updated on your upcoming trips too please. Always thought falconry was really cool.

[Blacklab]

👍😉🥃🇺🇸

[pianoman9701]

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing.

[Birdgetter]

Super cool, I’ve always found falconry very interesting! Thanks for sharing!

[Trapper John]

Awesome sport    I have a friend in Idaho that hunts with a hawk.
He returned his bird to the wild last year and just caught a new one last week.
Training for the new one starts in a couple of weeks.
JC

Is that normal, to release them?  Id imagine z lot of work is put into those birds.

Yes it is normal.  A lot of falconers catch their own, train them and keep them for three to five years and then let them go so they can bread in the wild.  Then they go out and trap another one always looking for this years young bird.  First year birds there is a hugh die off.  When they leave the nest they are on their own and weigh bigger then their adult parents by 5-6 oz.