# Hawk trapping



## Lippy (Mar 22, 2011)

Went down to the ranch this past weekend with sundownbrown here on 2cool and a couple other buddies in hopes of seeing some bucks FINALLY moving and perhaps catch a hawk. My buddy just received his falconry permit a couple weeks ago so we have been trying to trap one every time we go down to the ranch. This is not an easy task and requires a lot of patience imo. We have thrown dozens of traps and driven hundreds of miles looking for the right one. Trying to get that specific one to hit your trap amongst all the others nearby just makes it that much more difficult. Well we finally managed to get him his bird. We were all pretty stoked to catch such an awesome animal. Its weird how quickly such a wild animal like this will calm down just hours after being caught and trust me this thing was ****** when we first got hold of him!


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## Cynoscion (Jun 4, 2009)

That is badass!!!!


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## mrau (Mar 17, 2010)

Wow! Beautiful bird. So is your buddy going to go through the entire process of training him to hunt? I guess that would be the end goal. That must be a difficult thing to pull off. Very, very cool. 

Be sure and post plenty of updates.


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## DCAVA (Aug 5, 2013)

Nice bird, is that a Harris hawk?


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## Bankin' On It (Feb 14, 2013)

Cool. What's he going to do with a hawk? Personally, there's this little poodle that lives behind us that barks every dang time I go out my back door. I'd send him a visitor.

I can see it now. Walk out the back door. "Barahrahrahrahrah!" 

"fetch!"

"BarahrahrahrahIIIIPE!"

*silence* 

*opens beer*


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## hog_down (Jan 11, 2010)

thats awesome, looks like a red-tail?


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## jgale (Mar 4, 2011)

That's awesome! I totally thought you were pulling my leg when you said you set a trap to catch a hawkâ€¦ Never heard of such a thing till now!


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## Lippy (Mar 22, 2011)

Yep. This is Fletch, he is a juvenile Harris hawk. Apparently there are very strict rules on which birds you can and can't catch and even areas that are off limits to trapping so getting this little guy was a task. 
My buddy has invested A LOT of time and money into this falconry gig so I have no doubt he will go all the way and train it and use it for hunting rabbits. Its gonna be sweat to see him nail a rabbit in a month or so!


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## michaelbaranowski (May 24, 2004)

I have been interested in Faconlry for awhile. But I was interesting in doing to for dove hunting.

I was thinking most birds where raised rather than caught.


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## Fishin' Soldier (Dec 25, 2007)

Yes this is bad ***. I always wanted to do this for duck hunting. That would be awesome.


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## sundownbrown (May 10, 2009)

It was prolly one of the coolest experiences I have seen in the outdoors. I would have videoed the trapping but I screwed up on my phone. Its gonna be awesome watching it hunt.


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## perchjerk (Apr 15, 2011)

That is amazing! Such a cool animal. I'm interested in how one of these is trapped then retrieved. Is it some type of snare or is its a cage? Whatever happens, make sure to get some footage of that thing huntin once it's trained!


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## Rubberback (Sep 9, 2008)

Chicken Killer!!


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## Muddskipper (Dec 29, 2004)

That is too cool but it reminds me of a king of the hill episode






Dales falcon


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## Spooley (Feb 24, 2013)

I did that when I was a young teenager and caught several red tails and sparrow hawks utilizing a mesh dome with monofilament pull loops on the exterior and a nice brown rat for bait. Those ones sitting atop the utility poles were prime targets.


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## deano77511 (Feb 2, 2005)

Red tailed hawk setting a limb !!!!!!!!!very Cool !


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## PiratesRun (Jun 23, 2004)

They are very effective bird deterrents. Chem plants pay a lot to use these birds regularly.


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## mrsh978 (Apr 24, 2006)

*Duck / it really means something*

I had the privilege of watching a hawk destroy a mallard drake that I flushed off a tank. My buddy had sent his bird off and he hovered about 300 yds out as I got the ducks off the water- drake got hit about 10 feet off water - impact was brutal . I was and am impressed


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## Cody C (May 15, 2009)

That's neat. How were y'all trapping them?


Cody C


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## JFolm (Apr 22, 2012)

Very cool


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## Operationduckhunt (Aug 23, 2011)

That is awesome. Definitely keep us updated.


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## Law Dog (Jul 27, 2010)

Congrats, That is amazing!


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## Chunky (Oct 15, 2006)

super cool, respect for that!


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## OttoMan (Sep 8, 2011)

This is badass. Congrats to your friend


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## BATWING (May 9, 2008)

Man.. I should have bought a Falcon.. J/J

That is an awesome sight. Very cool animal so few get that close to.


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## Lippy (Mar 22, 2011)

Cody C said:


> That's neat. How were y'all trapping them?
> 
> Cody C


Well from what I was told, Falconers try to protect their methods like fisherman do their numbers. So without saying too much, it involves a large rat, small cage, and a lot of monofilament snares. Once you have your trap just right you need to pray that 1. they don't fly off as you are approaching them to drop the trap 2. they are hungry enough to go for your trap 3. they actually land on the trap instead of stand next to it and stare at it 4. another bird doesn't complete tasks 1-3 before your target bird does or else you will have an unnecessary mess on your hands.


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## poppadawg (Aug 10, 2007)

So when u hunt with a hawk, why does he comes back?


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## MEGABITE (May 21, 2004)

Weird, I always assumed they started them off from a hatchling.


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## sundownbrown (May 10, 2009)

Spooley said:


> I did that when I was a young teenager and caught several red tails and sparrow hawks utilizing a mesh dome with monofilament pull loops on the exterior and a nice brown rat for bait. Those ones sitting atop the utility poles were prime targets.


That is exactly what we did.


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## mywifeshusband (Nov 19, 2006)

There was a hawk at one of the hunting expos at the GRB in Houston years ago. They would have the hawk fly thru the crowd and then back to the handler. Was real neat to watch. Beau


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## Bucksnort (Jun 29, 2004)

Operationduckhunt said:


> That is awesome. Definitely keep us updated.


Agree 100%. I've heard the laws are pretty strict on this. Seems like it would be a fun hobby.


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## Spooley (Feb 24, 2013)

*Red Tail Hawk picking a Coot*

Dinner served.

Personally, I do not eat coots.


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## Fishin' Soldier (Dec 25, 2007)

Spooley said:


> Dinner served.
> 
> Personally, I do not eat coots.
> View attachment 969553


I guarantee you he won't waste anything but a feather. Awesome picture.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk now Free


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## capthunterdude (Nov 15, 2006)

I once sold pigeons to a man on South Padre Island who was in desperate need of them. He had driven from Nevada to catch a falcon for someone. He used pigeons in a wire harness that would entangle the falcon in the air. He said the island is considered the best place in the US to catch them. they were going to use it for hunting. Pretty interesting stuff.


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## Spooley (Feb 24, 2013)

*Training your hawk*

You can actually train them to hunt and bring you dinner.


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## Lippy (Mar 22, 2011)

Well he is doing much better now. He is flying off his perch from 20' away or more and landing on the glove. I tried to upload a video clip from iMovie but 2cool's uploading process didn't recognize it I guess? Not sure how else to upload a video if all I have is what came from my phone originally.


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## Fishin' Soldier (Dec 25, 2007)

Spooley said:


> You can actually train them to hunt and bring you dinner.


That hawk looks blind in his left eye.

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## 4thbreak (May 20, 2005)




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## Backwater1 (Apr 25, 2013)

This is awesome!


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## Spooley (Feb 24, 2013)

*Not blind, just a bad angle*



Fishin' Soldier said:


> That hawk looks blind in his left eye.
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk now Free


 This is a better pic of him.


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## Lippy (Mar 22, 2011)

That falcon is SICK!! I wonder what kind of camera they used to mount onto him?


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## El Capitan de No Fish (Sep 20, 2007)

4thbreak said:


>


Woah! Freakin incredible.


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## AlvinDucksUnlimited (Jun 7, 2006)

4thbreak said:


>


Sick!


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## Lippy (Mar 22, 2011)

*Fletch's first flight*


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