Part 6, CREANCE TRAINING Woody flying free.

[@carolbaker7450]

Brilliant Pete , beautiful woody.😍

[@freebirdofreason1994]

Thanks for watching. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@leesaunders8660]

Looking good pete. Looking forward to seeing woody fly!

[@freebirdofreason1994]

Thanks for watching glad you liked it

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

Really nice watching woody, this is so helpful, see you, John.great video.

[@freebirdofreason1994]

Cheers John.

[@antonykeeble6043]

Wow what a difference, well done! I shall make sure I save up a whole lot of patience for when my first Harris arrives in 3 month's time (he's still with his parents). But it's been really good to watch your progress, so thanks for taking the time to make the videos. PS. just a spell check, you mean 'accepted' instead of 'excepted'. To take 'exception' is to reject something, so as Woody has done the opposite, you obviously meant 'accepted' :-)) Keep up the good work, I'll subscribe now and look forward to seeing Woody develop, he's a handsome fella!

[@freebirdofreason1994]

Thanks very much for watching, you will have fun, although I felt fairly stressed at times, it’s full on enjoyment, good luck and enjoy your new buddy, Waiting for my HH was all worth it, I will now change my title cheers, and well spotted I always do things like that. lol think I did the same on another video,👍

[@daleskidmore1685]

You have done an amazing job together. It was quite an emotional experience watching him fly to you untethered.

[@freebirdofreason1994]

Thanks I'm glad you got that part of the emotional experience, that's just how it really is. see you soon my friend.

[@jantirpak7902]

Hi, good video. Many falconers in Europe and the United States use grams, not pounds, for weight management. It's better for very small differences. Haris hawk has a bigger difference between flight weight and hunting than a goshawk. I flew with my haris male at a weight of 650 g and hunted at 610 g. I hunted ravens out of the car, the jackrabit is big and very combative. The rabbit is good. With haris hawk you can hunt "by hand" or "from free flight". It depends on your conditions, meadow or forest. Good luck with the hunt.

[@freebirdofreason1994]

Thanks for commenting, I use pounds, my scales are electronic I could use grams. I use pounds as working in 1/8 through to oz is ok for me to understand. I’m sure if I flew small falcons I would use grams. Very interesting about hunting with ravens, Thanks for watching you will see in the other videos we hunt from trees and fist. Thank again great comment.

[@nlsportstherapy5870]

Loved watching these videos as I'm just in the research and planning stage - hoping to get a hawk next year. Hope it goes as well as Woody has. Fab still pics too - he's a beauty

[@freebirdofreason1994]

Thank you for watching I hope you get on really well which I’m sure you will. It’s hard work but full of reward, good luck.

[@ornithologydude8649]

Good luck getting your hawk. I live in france so it's REALLY complicated 😂

[@freebirdofreason1994]

Thanks, I hope all goes well with you getting a hawk, I'm pleased that you enjoyed the videos, there are some good falconers for teaching on youtube I'm sure you know, great books also. Good luck.love the brown ale pic.

[@ornithologydude8649]

It's amazing how well you trained him, i mean look at him now ! You might know this now, but when you're putting woody on a perch, lift his train so he will want to step back 👍🏻

[@freebirdofreason1994]

Cheers.

[@magneresjuan]

nice video " a real one !!!! keep going Im in the same process

[@freebirdofreason1994]

Good luck and enjoy, we are just coming to our. Second season now , I’m glad you enjoyed the video👍

[@Senegal01]

In the States we have to fly Red-tail hawks, and not allowed Harris until we become General Falconers.

[@freebirdofreason1994]

Interesting, I believe we in the UK should have similar laws regarding owning Birds of prey, there are some excellent falconers here, but some people do have hawks when there not ready,. Most breeders will only pass on birds to people who have shown good knowledge and have a mentor, in the UK it’s illegal to trap. Good luck.

[@daneord1]

He's coming along great what weight is he flying at?

[@freebirdofreason1994]

Thanks, he is flying at 1 lb ,6 , 60. But maybe I can increase slightly as we go .this I'm still getting to know , hunting may be different. Thanks for you question 👍do you have one and what's the flying weight.

[@daneord1]

@@freebirdofreason1994 yeah they normally go up a bit in weight as the season progresses. I'm currently flying a male aswell his hunting weight 1.8 but can fly him free at 1.10

[@freebirdofreason1994]

@@daneord1 that’s a good weight, I’m working my way up to see where he will still be interested. I will work it out I’m sure.

[@daneord1]

@@freebirdofreason1994 I'm sure you will it doesn't take long to get the hang off it. Are you going to hunt him or just flying

[@freebirdofreason1994]

@@daneord1 next step is hunt. I'm starting rabbit lure tomorrow. Flying and returning well.

[@JeremyThePlayer88]

I knew you were going to show the hood training sooner or later. Woody was extremely hesitant at first to wear the hood, and I really can't blame him for that! Even during the several days that you spend getting him used to the hood, it was a long process that could have been avoided. While I saw it, I thought to myself, maybe he just didn't want to accept it! Well, at least you found 2 instances where he did need to wear the hood while he was hunting. If he hadn't worn the hood, you would have surely lost him during the hunt and would be searching miles for him. I can see you were using the rabbit again as Woody's first creanse training item. It seems like Woody was underweight based on the fact that he had sticky feet and continuously came to the glove before setting the meat on the glove. You barely had time to raise your arm out at one point! At least Woody never flew the opposite direction of you! That indicates that your presence is necessary for his survival!

[@freebirdofreason1994]

Great comment, I do understand you are against or critical of the hood , and as you mentioned you may be in conflict with your mentor one day, I think you are correct about the total need ,is it really necessary for a Hawk and necessary for a falcon, this season I will hood during the anklet change and fitting the tail telemetry mount, but will not be hooding as I did first season, that said I will still carry it for any true emergency which I cant for see. The sticky feet is a young natural reaction to hold prey with the ratchet feet not letting go, as he got older he started to learn to release, even now over a year latter and at a top fat weight he will get sticky whilst eating. I will say he was on the line edge of hunting weight so he was keen on the creance first day, but he ate well during training. I flew Woody as high in weight as I could to hunt and follow on. By the end of our first season I could fly him the next day after a good feed which I could not do at the start of the season. I believe because I fly 7days a week my hawk was very fit, very good at hunting , and at a weight that if you fly once a week would be to high. This weight management is a thing that when you have done it and have experienced it and can fully read your hawk is the art. Some people keep HH to light I believe. Thanks for watching.

[@JeremyThePlayer88]

Oh that's right, I did reveal about the hooding on my website! My opinions are still unchanged! I've learned more about why the hooding is used, but it still doesn't give me a reason to use it! If I had to learn how its done, I can show that to my sponsor. But...it'll only be a one-time thing! I'm glad Woody was at a high weight, because normally when birds of prey are at a low weight, they become more aggressive and literally pin the glove very harshly with their talons! Wow, you flew Woody for 7 days a week? You have quite a lot of dedication for that! Even several days a week would be sufficient enough! I wonder why Woody would have sticky feet at a high weight when he should be more relaxed? It would make more sense for him to have sticky feet when he's really hungry! It takes a lot of muscle power to clinch those talons! That's not an easy task! So if he lets go, he would be releasing his muscles and he would be saving his energy. Harris Hawks are actually the easiest hawks to train. They are so easy, that some people have considered not allowing these hawks to be used for Apprentice Falconers. A lot of mistakes can easily be forgiven for a Harris Hawk, but when they decide to get a different hawk, they learn from their mistakes the hard way. They end up getting footed by the hawk. So that's why Red Tailed Hawks and American Kestrels are better suited for first time Falconers. These hawks don't hunt in packs, therefore, they keep their food to themselves and don't share with other hunting members! When you make a mistake, you'll know because they'll act very aggressively all of a sudden. But with a Harris Hawk, the aggression will be little to non-existent, depending on the mistake.

[@freebirdofreason1994]

@@JeremyThePlayer88 I agree , HH are forgiving, but I think you can make mistakes , like stealing their prey ,trading off to much I mean, then they may not be so determined,I catch and feed up, I think their intelligence is amazing , they will try to train you where possible if your not careful. I have been involved with Merlins , these I believe train easier then a wild HH , the problem is the weight management is very difficult and should not be attempted by novices. This is why HH are a beginners Hawk, weight has more flexibility, but still must be treated correctly. I have Woody the HH not because it was my first Hawk, but because this is what I will continue to have and I will take this Hawk to its full potential, too many people think it’s a starter Hawk , this is why some people pass them on or don’t fly them anymore, this mind should be changed I think. Their intelligence doesn’t deserve that. I will get more out of Woody than someone flying a goshawk once’s a week. We also can’t just let them go as they are invasive species. We have a couple that someone has lost near us, not good to loose them here. Good luck with your future hawking and thanks for the great comment.