Good Boy Elmo!

Elmo did well today. We tested the live lure, and he only hesitated for a few seconds before he went. I let him eat on it for a little bit, and then we had a PERFECT trade off to the lure. Hopped to to the fist after that, and we called it a perfect session :-)
He is not going to be at weight tomorrow, but I plan on flying him to the kite for the first time on Friday (Still on the creance though.....). Good times, good times!
-D-

NICE!!!

Update

Elmo is doing pretty darn well! I added an extra 30 feet or so to the creance this morning, and we headed out to a new training field to see how he would do. We had instant response to the lure, and he hit it out of the air with the most intensity that I have seen so far! He was completely focused, and I left the field very pleased with our morning session.
I'm going to use next week to strengthen his "intensity" toward the lure, and after I check and make sure his reponse to a live lure is there, then I plan to have our first free flight next Saturday. He will be ready to fly free before then I'm sure, but we are in a "clutch" time period at work right now, and I don't want to risk a fly off at any point next week. I'm normally in a rush to get through training, but this 100+ degree weather we have been having for the past month doesn't appear to be going anywhere, so I'm taking my sweet time.

So that's about it right now .....flying Elmo, working crazy amounts of hours at work, and chillin with the family. I have been able to squeeze in a little bit of time to work on equipment though, and I managed to whip up a couple jess sets in the last week or so. I thought I would share them with you all......the blue and green set is normal sized, and it was made for a buddy of mine who is flying a hybrid. The other set was a new one for me......this is my first "micro" parachord set that I have made, and it ended up turning out alright. I had tested out the "idea" to make sure that I could do it, but I had never actually tried to make a whole set. The chord that I used didn't have the tightest of weaves, and being that it's for a kestrel, could end up being an issue (if he/she ends up being a "picker"). Hopefully not, but I will be on the look out for some better stuff......possibly in a color other than white too!!!! It's going to get dirtly lookin quick.......... -D-

Move 'em Out

I just unloaded a couple of birds.  Rainbow, the Cooper's Hawk has moved on to a true austringer.  Someone who can really appreciate what that Cooper's Hawk is truly capable of.  I liked the bird just fine.   I imprinted her my way, and hawked her my way, and really had relatively few problems.  Nothing like the imprint horror stories that you hear so often.  That bird was only hawked from March through May and ended up catching 136 head.  Not too shabby for such a short time.  But, in the end, hawks are just not my thing.  They don't get me excited to go out and fly each day.  Not to say I wouldn't fly another one...but any hawk I fly in the future will be a passage bird.

Now falcons are a different story.  Something about the true falcons have had my attention since I was a young teenager.  I just don't get tired of them.  So I was glad to help out a friend by raising this Gyrkin for him.

He was fully summed a few weeks ago and moved back to his home where hopefully he'll father lots of baby Gyrs and Gyr hybrids in the future.  (Don't worry my daughters are used to lovin' 'em and leaving 'em, so there is no emotional harm)  Now if we could just get rid of these crazy temperatures, get the ducks migrating, and get this hawking season underway already...

-RVZ

Is It Winter Yet?!?!?!?!?

This is my new hybrid! He was made by Steve Sherrod this year, and he is freakin awsome!!!! Elmo is his name (thanks to my one and a half year old son), and he is going to be my duck catching buddy. I'm pretty stinking psyched about the upcoming season, and looking forward to the long road of training ahead of us. I'm going to learn a whole lot this season, and I'm excited to FINALLY be flying my first big falcon! He is coming about 10 feet or so to the lure outside, and we will be going for 20 feet tomorrow. Hoping for perfect response, but we will see how it goes.
-D-