Another day out ferreting for our Finnish Goshawks. See if you can spot the flight where I inadvertently left the tail guard on. To her credit she still caught the rabbit!
The recovery time on these hawks is fantastic. One of the kills the hawk dropped straight down, missed the rabbit and hit the ground, but still recovered in an instant and chased from behind. That's superb training and amazing hawks.
thank you for your comments. Finnish Goshawks are not a recognised subspecies but Finnish Goshawks have always been aknowledged as being much larger than their european counterparts
Fantastic footage, and thanks for sharing. Your Gos is an absolute missile, the reaction time to bolted game is amazing, and beautiful to watch. You guys have obviously put a lot of time in to rearing and training your birds to be steady. Credit to you both.... Love the HWV pup aswell, it looks a real bundle of fun, and will be big when it grows in to those paws..... All the best. Neil.
Neil Gatward Thanks for your comments Neil, they're really appreciated. I'm pleased you recognise the amount of work that goes into the hawks and dogs. Like most things in life you only get out what you put in! Dave
Almost all the rabbits were fleeing in a fairly straight line. When they dodge an eagle that'll be different; they tend to use a much more zigzag path. I'm guessing the rabbit instinctively knows that goshawks are much more manoeuvrable than eagles? If so, wow, that alone is amazing enough.
If they are predated by something like an eagle or goshawk it doesn't take them long to learn the best evasion tactics. The ones that do not, don't survive very long!
Hello Dave. I am just starting out, and getting in to Falconry, so watching you guys working birds, makes sense of some of what I am reading about. If ok, I will add / follow your page on FB. Also, my wife is interested in HWVs, and looking to replace her old lab in the next year or two, so your website has been a good starting point. Many thanks. Neil.
Good luck with your falconry in the future Neil. As you've probably seen in our videos, WHV's make an ideal austringers dog. If you do decide to get one, just make sure it's from a reputable breeder and from working lines. Dave
I used braided for a couple of years. I have the field jesses permanently attached which saves time. They’re also stronger with no maintenance. However, the stop knot came off a leash recently which could have ended in disaster. Luckily the gos was inside her mews with the doors closed. A Canadian friend has recently and very generously gave me some replacements which look far better quality.
When you live in a world of 8 billion humanoids who have no idea what nature is.....it's sad....I've hunted with raptors for almost a half a century. Beautiful creatures. Nice gos.
Thats how its done keep up the good work flying a pr female gos northern flyin at 2 4 onz having trouble finding quarry here in ire so it nice to see good fit birds
Great vid! I love watching birds in action. Can I just ask, how do the birds dispatch the rabbits? They seem to do it pretty quick, is it the neck they go for? Happy hunting
+MegaHobo Joe In some parts of USA are prohibited hunting instead for the bird and keep on the fridge more than certain quantity. Many laws and regulations in Falconry, some of it's no sense at all.
BLAHAHAHAHA sorry I had to laugh. no it's called a partner ship, and yes they are very much dangerous birds, it's called being vigilant and knowledgeable. All it takes in one screw up by you and your on the way to the Hospital for several stitches. There is a trust between this bird and man one does their part the other does theirs. But these birds are still wild animals that is one thing you have to understand before you get into this way of life.
When hunted at their top end weight, Goshawks do tend to spend more time plucking. Goshawks are more demanding hawks to train and keep and require far more time. HH's are very capable and versatile, but can not match the speed of a goshawk.
How long have you had her? She's definitely intermewed. I love the acceleration of accipiters. Here in my neck of the woods in the U.S. I hunt with Coopers on quail, dove and the occasional cottontail. Never a dull moment. Good video and great bird!
Great vid.....I fly a Harris....Trying to find a decent spike to tie her to when letting her feed up. I noticed your one looks a good one. where did you get it please?
Once they've settled down following the kill our own hawks are very relaxed. As you can see there is no mantling or aggression. They are not trained to do this, it is a result of careful handling and gaining a certain amount of trust. All genuinely parent reared hawks should behave this way, provided they have been 100% parent reared, trained and handled properly. We have NEVER had any of our hawks behave any other way.
I'm going to be getting my first hawk hopefully soon. My grandfather was big into Falconry and he's going to teach me how to do it. Goshawks are so badass, but are apparently hard to train. Would love to try though.
I'm not a hunter, but love falconry. I also don't know much about rabbit hunting. Were any of these rabbits pre-caught? I know rabbits stay low to the ground and stay still when there is danger. Are you guys just walking around to flush them out and then letting the hawk finish the kill? fyi, not accusing you of canned hunting, just want to know how it's done.
can any species of falcon kill a goshawk? i want to know,if not then why falcons are so expensive because even a goshawk can make a good kill then why falcons are kept?plzz kindly somebody answer me
Im new on the topic of hunting birds. Could you tell me what does the bird get as a reward for catching a rabbit? and does it think or know something of greater value will happen if it stays with you and not just goes hunting for itself, on its own?
The hawk needs to be kept at a flying weight to maintain it's obedience and willingness to hunt. The hawk receives a reward on the kill, but not too much as it will loose interest in hunting. Only at the end of the day do you allow it to completely feed up on the final kill.
Canoe Quest I know this comment is old but there skinning the animal like when people kill a chicken.They will pluck the feathers and then butcher the meat just like humans.
giorgi plite This particular hawk, a Finnish goshawk, took around 4 weeks to begin to fly free after removing her from the aviary. However, you never stop training a parent reared goshawk.
Okey and which one is better for hunting male hawk or female? U caught this or took at his(her) nest? Im interesting which one is More riliable ? (Thank you)
giorgi plite Generally, a female will catch more quarry than a male if you are hunting rabbit, hare and pheasants although a male can be very exciting and is perhaps a little quicker off the fist.
