Trapping
During last week I was invited to go trapping with Bill Oakes, one of the two master level falconers I'm fortunate to know, and to have as a falconry friend and mentor. He's trying to trap a new redtail to train this year. His second cousin Tim also came along for the adventure. Tim is 12, and has seen Harry Potter. He currently has a love affair going on for owls . . . but I think he also is increasingly liking hawks. Perhaps he will join falconry at a proper age to do so. In Wisconsin, you have to be 14. Wish I could have started at 14 . . . instead of 37!
Anyway . . . the other 'guest' that came along with us that day was Murphy. You know which Murphy I mean!!
Our day started off with Bill and I missing each other due to a mis-communication. He was waiting at one exit off the freeway, while I was at another. Fortunately, we both had cell phones, and were able to link up through Bill's wife, who was still at home. We lost a little time there, but finally found each other, and headed down to Janesville, where there is a pheasant farm that pulls redtails out of the sky (and other birds, like coopers hawks). When we got to Janesville we took the wrong exit, so lost some more time driving through the town, looking for the pheasant farm. At the farm, Bill was going to purchase a couple of game birds for the traps. We had brought gerbils, but he wanted to use a chukar, or hungarian partridge, for his bow trap, and also for my BC, which was big enough. However, the office informed us that he should have requested those 3 days before. Bill used his best negotiating skills, and his charm, and was able to get them to agree to catch a couple birds for him . . . but we would not be able to get them until after noon. Well, our day would almost be over by then, as we had to leave at 2:00 in order for me to get home to get to my hunter safety course, but he agreed. Then and only then did we finally get to go into the farm to begin trapping.
We saw a passage bird immediately outside the office, sitting on an electric pole. Bill put his first trap down, and eventually the bird did fly by to check it out, but seemed wary, and never came to the ground. We then moved into the farm and began working in earnest. We drove around the area, circling around the large pens, looking for opportunities. There were passage birds around, but not incredible numbers of them. My trap did eventually catch three birds that day . . . however it only caught one bird permanently. Two of the captures the hawk managed to break free when we were moving from the car to secure the bird. I'll have to work with the trap to see if I can improve that! Unfortunately, the bird we did catch soundly also was not a good candidate. He had a lot of broken feathers on one wing . . . no knowing what he had come up against to sustain such damage. Bill was not interested in imping right off the start, so he let the bird go. However, this bird was also 'kind' enough to hand out a little lesson to me. Bill caught the bird initially from the trap, and asked for some help as he freed the nooses. However, due to bad timing, or lack of caution, I got footed. For you non-falconry folks . . . that means the beast grabbed onto my hand and punctured me with his talons. It was not a pleasant experience. Fortunately, Bill was there to help free me from this raptor's handshake. I had a good sized slash on my palm, and a couple of pokes on the other side, but no major damage. Just to my pride! Well, if you deal with raptors, you are going to get hurt sometimes. Next time I'll be more cautious.
At the end of the day, Bill came home empty-handed. He continues to this day to try and trap a new hunting companion. He has until December 31st to succeed.
Overall, though, it was a very nice day. Trapping is a lot of fun . . . and the company was first rate!
Anyway . . . the other 'guest' that came along with us that day was Murphy. You know which Murphy I mean!!
Our day started off with Bill and I missing each other due to a mis-communication. He was waiting at one exit off the freeway, while I was at another. Fortunately, we both had cell phones, and were able to link up through Bill's wife, who was still at home. We lost a little time there, but finally found each other, and headed down to Janesville, where there is a pheasant farm that pulls redtails out of the sky (and other birds, like coopers hawks). When we got to Janesville we took the wrong exit, so lost some more time driving through the town, looking for the pheasant farm. At the farm, Bill was going to purchase a couple of game birds for the traps. We had brought gerbils, but he wanted to use a chukar, or hungarian partridge, for his bow trap, and also for my BC, which was big enough. However, the office informed us that he should have requested those 3 days before. Bill used his best negotiating skills, and his charm, and was able to get them to agree to catch a couple birds for him . . . but we would not be able to get them until after noon. Well, our day would almost be over by then, as we had to leave at 2:00 in order for me to get home to get to my hunter safety course, but he agreed. Then and only then did we finally get to go into the farm to begin trapping.
We saw a passage bird immediately outside the office, sitting on an electric pole. Bill put his first trap down, and eventually the bird did fly by to check it out, but seemed wary, and never came to the ground. We then moved into the farm and began working in earnest. We drove around the area, circling around the large pens, looking for opportunities. There were passage birds around, but not incredible numbers of them. My trap did eventually catch three birds that day . . . however it only caught one bird permanently. Two of the captures the hawk managed to break free when we were moving from the car to secure the bird. I'll have to work with the trap to see if I can improve that! Unfortunately, the bird we did catch soundly also was not a good candidate. He had a lot of broken feathers on one wing . . . no knowing what he had come up against to sustain such damage. Bill was not interested in imping right off the start, so he let the bird go. However, this bird was also 'kind' enough to hand out a little lesson to me. Bill caught the bird initially from the trap, and asked for some help as he freed the nooses. However, due to bad timing, or lack of caution, I got footed. For you non-falconry folks . . . that means the beast grabbed onto my hand and punctured me with his talons. It was not a pleasant experience. Fortunately, Bill was there to help free me from this raptor's handshake. I had a good sized slash on my palm, and a couple of pokes on the other side, but no major damage. Just to my pride! Well, if you deal with raptors, you are going to get hurt sometimes. Next time I'll be more cautious.
At the end of the day, Bill came home empty-handed. He continues to this day to try and trap a new hunting companion. He has until December 31st to succeed.
Overall, though, it was a very nice day. Trapping is a lot of fun . . . and the company was first rate!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home