2005 Trapping with Friends
On Saturday, September 17, 2005 I joined several falconry friends for a day of trapping. This was the opening weekend of the 2005 trapping season . . . and I was looking forward to beginning anew with a new hawk. The Central Wisconsin contingent met at Dave Noble’s home at 6:00 a.m. Certainly early! Not bright and early . . . but definitely early! At this point our team was comprised of myself, Dave Noble, Phil Yurtis, Dave’s new apprentice for this year, and Bill Oakes. Phil has all his facilities ready, and is simply waiting for his license to be processed and forwarded. Otherwise, we would be trapping for him today as well. Bill also has a new apprentice, his second cousin, Tim Oakes. Tim also does not have his license yet, although he has passed all the other requirements. But, Tim had other obligations on this day, so could not come with us. And he will not be allowed to take a hawk until later in the year, when his sponsor (Bill) will be back for the season from his over-seas consulting. However, these two master-level falconers had federal bands, as I did, just in case that perfect bird should come along. We paired off and headed out, to eventually meet up with the Southern contingent. I joined Bill for the journey. We were to go direct to Janesville, and the MacFarlane Pheasant Farm, where we have had good luck trapping before. Phil went with Dave. They were to go to meet and pick up Dave Zilker in De Forest, and also pick up Mike Barlow from Steven’s Point, who would meet them at Dave Z’s house. Their plans were to start trapping in Madison, then follow back roads down to Janesville, trapping along the way, and meet up with us later for lunch.
I spent a pleasant couple hours on the journey down to Janesville, chatting with Bill. As we talked and he drove, I added more nooses to my Bal Chatri – my trap. I guess this is as good a place as any to explain trapping. So often, it is the first and primary question I’m asked when I talk about falconry, and how we take wild hawks for training. “How do you catch them?”
One of the best ways to capture a passage (first year) red-tail hawk is to use what is called a Bal Chatri . . . . or BC for short. This is a small cage of any size or design which is covered with monofilament (fishing line) nooses. You bait the trap with mice or other small appropriate items that a hawk would find tasty. Then drive around the countryside, looking for appropriate hawks. You know a passage red-tail by it’s plumage. The juvenile birds do not yet have their red tail, have stripes on their tail, and overall are rather more bland than the adult, lacking the wash of red that comes with maturity. They also have light eyes. When you first start trapping it can be hard to know the difference. But, as you do it more, and work with red-tail hawks more, you become better at telling the passage birds (first year) from the haggards (adults) at a distance. It becomes a game . . . who is the first person in the car to spot the bird, and then tell if it is a passage or haggard.
Bill and I arrived at the pheasant farm, where we had been invited by one of the primary employees, who knows Bill. They experience constant problems with hawks, who sit around on the top netting supports, waiting for the opportunity to catch some of the pheasants or chukars who escape their cages, or become entangled in the top netting. Mostly its red-tails. But there is a line of trees next to the chukar cages, and Cooper’s Hawks nest here. In fact, during the day while we were there we saw two juvenile Cooper’s Hawks bouncing off the cages, and chasing each other. Most likely, raised in the treeline next to those cages. We also spotted a passage dark phase Merlin. But none of these other raptors were interested in mice in the BC’s. If we had a live bird for bait, maybe, but not mice.
Our attempts at trapping on this particular occasion were not successful. At first, we didn’t see many hawks for the first hour or so. Later, as activity picked up, we did have two hawks touch our traps. The first one just helped itself to a dead mouse attached on the outside of the trap, and tried to figure out how to get to the live ones, but was not caught. The other one was caught for awhile, but broke free as we approached and grabbed for the trap, which was laying on top of the pheasant cages. These were the only two close calls for us. We did drive around the area outside the pheasant farm, and merrily chased around one passage hawk inside an industrial park that simply refused to stay in one place, yet never completely flew off either.
Around noon we met up with the other team, who had managed to trap 4 hawks that morning. They had made decisions about which one to keep, and had released all the others, keeping only one. But the one they kept came with an incredible vote of confidence from all of the falconers in Dave's van. As I was the primary person looking for a hawk, I had first claim to her. But, I was assured that if I did not want her, she would find a home with one of the others. We jessed her up, uncast her (which means to take her bindings off of her) and raised her to my glove, still keeping her hood on. This allowed her to be more comfortable, and to mute (which is a nice word for hawk poop!) We put her in one of the hawk boxes, and went to lunch.
During the afternoon, the luck Bill and I had that morning spread to the rest of the group. No more opportunities! So, we eventually made our way back to Dave Zilker's home, where we would do the initial manning of my hawk. We set up inside the garage. We removed the hawk from the box, and struck her hood (which means we took it off). She immediately assumed the stance of a freshly trapped hawk. Mouth open, hackles up, wings open. But the few times she bated, that is, tried to fly of the fist, she returned to the fist immediately. This is one of the first lessons a falconry hawk must learn. And she learned it very fast! As she would go on to learn all of her lessons. We then passed her around the room, each of us talking calmly to her, helping her to get over her fear. She did very well!
But, the day was getting late, and we still had a long drive home. So, it was time to pack up all our things and head in that direction. We sorted out our things, and loaded up the two vans, Dave's and Bill's, and headed out. Once at Dave's house, Bill had to get on home, but Phil and I stayed for awhile longer, and did another manning session in Dave's garage.
Overall . . . a very exciting day! But, trapping is a rare and exciting activity. It's great to participate in . . . but especially with friends who are as crazy about hawks as I am! And at the end of this day, I had a new hunting partner to take home and train.
I spent a pleasant couple hours on the journey down to Janesville, chatting with Bill. As we talked and he drove, I added more nooses to my Bal Chatri – my trap. I guess this is as good a place as any to explain trapping. So often, it is the first and primary question I’m asked when I talk about falconry, and how we take wild hawks for training. “How do you catch them?”
One of the best ways to capture a passage (first year) red-tail hawk is to use what is called a Bal Chatri . . . . or BC for short. This is a small cage of any size or design which is covered with monofilament (fishing line) nooses. You bait the trap with mice or other small appropriate items that a hawk would find tasty. Then drive around the countryside, looking for appropriate hawks. You know a passage red-tail by it’s plumage. The juvenile birds do not yet have their red tail, have stripes on their tail, and overall are rather more bland than the adult, lacking the wash of red that comes with maturity. They also have light eyes. When you first start trapping it can be hard to know the difference. But, as you do it more, and work with red-tail hawks more, you become better at telling the passage birds (first year) from the haggards (adults) at a distance. It becomes a game . . . who is the first person in the car to spot the bird, and then tell if it is a passage or haggard.
Bill and I arrived at the pheasant farm, where we had been invited by one of the primary employees, who knows Bill. They experience constant problems with hawks, who sit around on the top netting supports, waiting for the opportunity to catch some of the pheasants or chukars who escape their cages, or become entangled in the top netting. Mostly its red-tails. But there is a line of trees next to the chukar cages, and Cooper’s Hawks nest here. In fact, during the day while we were there we saw two juvenile Cooper’s Hawks bouncing off the cages, and chasing each other. Most likely, raised in the treeline next to those cages. We also spotted a passage dark phase Merlin. But none of these other raptors were interested in mice in the BC’s. If we had a live bird for bait, maybe, but not mice.
Our attempts at trapping on this particular occasion were not successful. At first, we didn’t see many hawks for the first hour or so. Later, as activity picked up, we did have two hawks touch our traps. The first one just helped itself to a dead mouse attached on the outside of the trap, and tried to figure out how to get to the live ones, but was not caught. The other one was caught for awhile, but broke free as we approached and grabbed for the trap, which was laying on top of the pheasant cages. These were the only two close calls for us. We did drive around the area outside the pheasant farm, and merrily chased around one passage hawk inside an industrial park that simply refused to stay in one place, yet never completely flew off either.
Around noon we met up with the other team, who had managed to trap 4 hawks that morning. They had made decisions about which one to keep, and had released all the others, keeping only one. But the one they kept came with an incredible vote of confidence from all of the falconers in Dave's van. As I was the primary person looking for a hawk, I had first claim to her. But, I was assured that if I did not want her, she would find a home with one of the others. We jessed her up, uncast her (which means to take her bindings off of her) and raised her to my glove, still keeping her hood on. This allowed her to be more comfortable, and to mute (which is a nice word for hawk poop!) We put her in one of the hawk boxes, and went to lunch.
During the afternoon, the luck Bill and I had that morning spread to the rest of the group. No more opportunities! So, we eventually made our way back to Dave Zilker's home, where we would do the initial manning of my hawk. We set up inside the garage. We removed the hawk from the box, and struck her hood (which means we took it off). She immediately assumed the stance of a freshly trapped hawk. Mouth open, hackles up, wings open. But the few times she bated, that is, tried to fly of the fist, she returned to the fist immediately. This is one of the first lessons a falconry hawk must learn. And she learned it very fast! As she would go on to learn all of her lessons. We then passed her around the room, each of us talking calmly to her, helping her to get over her fear. She did very well!
But, the day was getting late, and we still had a long drive home. So, it was time to pack up all our things and head in that direction. We sorted out our things, and loaded up the two vans, Dave's and Bill's, and headed out. Once at Dave's house, Bill had to get on home, but Phil and I stayed for awhile longer, and did another manning session in Dave's garage.
Overall . . . a very exciting day! But, trapping is a rare and exciting activity. It's great to participate in . . . but especially with friends who are as crazy about hawks as I am! And at the end of this day, I had a new hunting partner to take home and train.
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