To make a long story a little less tedious, Nothing much has improved this last week. I still haven't been able to get him a clean shot at a Duck. Its not from a lack of trying. I have come to the conclusion that he is better suited to a heavier weight than I have been flying him at. Sometimes it can take a bit to figure out what weight a bird flies best at. Yesterday I choose to not fly him because his weight was 830 grams, so I just took him along with Connie and I as we walked the runway. He does really well as long as he can't see the dreaded hood.
I forgot to close the Pigeon door last night, so there were no Pigeons in the loft. I had nothing to use to keep him in a position to actually catch a duck. I had taken him over to the Ranch for two different days to see if we could get him overhead, high enough to actually get a good chance at a Duck. The wild variety fly a lot differently than even the best pen raised Duck. The ducks that we flushed for him were almost all Mallards, but there has always been at least one "diving duck" to pull him away from the Mallards. It takes a bit more confidence than Bud has at the moment to fly into a flock of birds. Imagine yourself going into a crowd of guy's and ripping one of them out. So- he has never been high enough to have enough time to close the distance on a Duck before they dive into a canal or puddle somewhere.
With no pigeons, I am left with just feeding him, flying him on the drone, or take a chance. You see, one needs to have something for the falcon to chase, so if there are no Ducks, then you toss a pigeon so that the lesson is not wasted. You want them to understand that you are where things are happening, and to keep close to you, because things to kill tend to show up where you are.
I eventually decided that there was a possibility I could do both. Connie was still here, so I talked her into going with us. she could go home after we were done. His weight today was at my goal of 800 grams. He was 802 grams.
I brought the drone in and programmed it for 675 feet above he ground. I thought that would give me time to put the drone up, pick up Bud, and release him to climb to the drone, while I got in position to flush Ducks, if there were any, before he could climb to 675 feet. I put the drone up, and Connie tells me that he got excited when he heard the drone motors starting. I put it up as high as I could, then went to get him. I turned him loose and hurried to get in position. He definitely knows what is next when he hears the drone. He flashed off the fist without looking around, and started climbing.
I had only to walk about 75 feet to be where I needed. I double timed it to get in position. I looked around and he was way the hell up there and coming towards my position. I ran for the pond, which turned out to be totally empty of Ducks. I stopped to see what he was doing, and I could already see the parachute following him down to the ground. Shit!!!! He had grabbed the thing before I got even close to the pond.
However it actually worked out for the best. He got to show me how strong his flight really is, as well that his weight needs to be higher than I have been flying him at. You see, too heavy and he goofs off, too light and he doesn't want to fly. I think that I can trust him to not go anywhere other than home.
When he grabs the lure, he does not try to land any where close to me, but he does want cover from other predators.So I start tracking him with my new receiver. I located him in another pasture filled with Greasewood. I start rolling up the dropper line, while he was eating his Quail leg. Before I could finish he was at my ankle looking up wondering when I am going to offer him the rest of his meal. At least he has one admirable trait.
I think that I am going to work this type of combo flight and see if we can make it work out. You see I have had a lot of attempts at falcons and the one thing I have learned it is that it not hard to teach them to fly low. Once they do, it is almost impossible to get them to take any decent height. They need to be high enough to command the field, but close enough to get to them before they get to another puddle of water.
He is quite capable of flying as high as I could desire, and even more, but it isn't hard to screw that up with the wrong rewards too often. I was blown away at how fast he grabbed the lure today.
A Sunset for you, then-
