Getting the hang of hanging on to mallards!

[Goshawk]

We're up to four mallards so far this year. It's not a lot, but at least they are in the area.  Stay Dry!

[metlhead]

Since you aren't discharging a gun, can you hunt anywhere?

[X-Force]

That’s awesome!

[full choke]

Coolest thread on this forum! Keep it going! 

[Goshawk]

Since you aren't discharging a gun, can you hunt anywhere?

Just about, with all due respect to trespassing laws, and of course public interference. I wouldn't take birds, rabbits, or squirrels in a park where others are enjoying them. 

[metlhead]

Funny I was imagining how awesome to go clean out Borst Park

[2MANY]

Start with the drug addicted homeless.

[Goshawk]

Start with the drug addicted homeless.

Wouldn't want my bird to get impaled on used meth needles!

[JBG]

"Wouldn't want my bird to get impaled on used meth needles!"

But could you imagine how awesome your Hawk would be meth'd out chasing after birds.   

[Goshawk]

"Wouldn't want my bird to get impaled on used meth needles!"

But could you imagine how awesome your Hawk would be meth'd out chasing after birds.   

Just what I need. A falconry bird attacking chip trucks on I-5, and winning!

[hdshot]

Start with the drug addicted homeless.

What an awful thing to say, is the waterfowl hunting that awful? 

[Goshawk]

#5

[Boss .300 winmag]

So the hawk grabs them by the head in flight?

Cool video

[Goshawk]

So the hawk grabs them by the head in flight?

Cool video

That's the way it's supposed to work.  Most of the time the duck out flies the hawk.  Being a Harris's Hawk, she's not as fast as a Goshawk. 

[2MANY]

Real cool and rare stuff.
Congrats.

[metlhead]

Got a Cooper here at my place. Been around for years. I get to watch him nail dove and juncos

[Goshawk]

Got a Cooper here at my place. Been around for years. I get to watch him nail dove and juncos

There you go! A taste of falconry without all the federal and state paperwork!  Excellent!

[Boss .300 winmag]

Got a Cooper here at my place. Been around for years. I get to watch him nail dove and juncos

There you go! A taste of falconry without all the federal and state paperwork!  Excellent!

We have a Kestrel that just tees up the small birds around here, it gets noisy when they teach the young to fly. Saw it catch a grasshopper hopper one day.

[TCHunter25]

I've always been fascinated by falconry.  How do you even go about getting your bird?  Are there breeders or do you go out and catch a baby and train it up?  Did you train the bird yourself?

If you're hunting ducks, do you use blind/decoys like a traditional shotgun hunter?

[Goshawk]

Got a Cooper here at my place. Been around for years. I get to watch him nail dove and juncos

There you go! A taste of falconry without all the federal and state paperwork!  Excellent!

We have a Kestrel that just tees up the small birds around here, it gets noisy when they teach the young to fly. Saw it catch a grasshopper hopper one day.

Our smallest falcon, and pound for pound, a real best! 

[Goshawk]

I've always been fascinated by falconry.  How do you even go about getting your bird?  Are there breeders or do you go out and catch a baby and train it up?  Did you train the bird yourself?

If you're hunting ducks, do you use blind/decoys like a traditional shotgun hunter?

Modern day falconry is a mix of wild trapped birds and breeder raised birds.  I tend to go with trapping a wild bird over a breeder unless I'm unable to locate and trap a wild bird in time for the season.  It involves a two year apprenticeship, federal and state licensing, written test and facilities/equipment inspection, and sponsor.  If you're in western washington state, you're in just about the worst place to be a falconer. No miles of open fields for long flights. No quail, huns, pheasants, jackrabbits, chuckers, in the numbers needed to get a fresh bird up and running.  The single most important item is having access to great small game hunting grounds.  Anything less, and you're never going to be successful. It takes high numbers of game, time, and the ability to be very patient when everything else is going wrong.

Hunting style is closer to jump shooting. We locate the game, then flush it under the sight of the hawk or falcon.

https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/requirements/falconry