Traditionally, female eagles are captured from their nests while a few months old – old enough to survive away from the nest, but not yet able to fly. They are nurtured and trained by their hunter-owner, and a close relationship develops. Hunting only takes place in the winter months, when the vast landscapes are blanketed in snow; once spring arrives the prey species give birth, the eagles are moulting, and hunting ceases. Throughout the summer, the eagles will be chained to a wooden stand, or sometimes a rock, and will be fed to boost their strength. Kazakh eagle hunters are also livestock herders, so there is a constant supply of meat. The eagle will stay with her owner for anywhere between four and 10 years, when she is of breeding age. She is then released as far as possible from her ‘home’ in order to discourage her from returning. Her owner will continue to check up on her to ensure she is feeding and reintegrating.
This is the standard in falconry. Raptors are caught in adolescence and only kept a few years. If hatched and raised by human hand they develop a lot of bad habits.
I was humbled to be able to go hunting with a hawk and his keepersand my brother a few weeks ago. The hawk reached sexual maturity this season and had been detached and acting off lately, per his keeper. She planned to release him in spring because of it, as is routine in the hobby. She showed me his jingle bells attached to his legs by straps that are specifically meant to biodegrade or be chewed off, just in case they don't come back. She loaded him up in his carrier and explained that a good day hunting was a bird back in the box.
We did not have a good day hunting. We flushed at least 4 rabbits for him; no interest. He flew the property, seeming to case it out. We all trudged for hours through the snow and woods and brush, following the bells sounding from him. No matter what his keepers did, he refused to come down. They even went home and got a live quail and brought it back. He had no interest. There would be no bird back in the box that day.
His handler confessed to me that he had seen a female on the property a few weeks before I told my brother that we weren't getting him back. Bird done up and eloped in the middle of our hunt. My brother laughed at me. We left the bird overnight and his handler went back the neck morning. Hawk politely declined to come down again. She went back the next day and he was spotted with a female. They mate for life so she hopes to see his babies this summer.
It didn't end the way I expected as a guest, but it was a very real day in the life of a falconer.
FriesWithThat on February 10th, 2021 at 02:27 UTC »
captainmikkl on February 10th, 2021 at 02:39 UTC »
This is the standard in falconry. Raptors are caught in adolescence and only kept a few years. If hatched and raised by human hand they develop a lot of bad habits.
brainonvacation78 on February 10th, 2021 at 03:26 UTC »
I was humbled to be able to go hunting with a hawk and his keepersand my brother a few weeks ago. The hawk reached sexual maturity this season and had been detached and acting off lately, per his keeper. She planned to release him in spring because of it, as is routine in the hobby. She showed me his jingle bells attached to his legs by straps that are specifically meant to biodegrade or be chewed off, just in case they don't come back. She loaded him up in his carrier and explained that a good day hunting was a bird back in the box.
We did not have a good day hunting. We flushed at least 4 rabbits for him; no interest. He flew the property, seeming to case it out. We all trudged for hours through the snow and woods and brush, following the bells sounding from him. No matter what his keepers did, he refused to come down. They even went home and got a live quail and brought it back. He had no interest. There would be no bird back in the box that day.
His handler confessed to me that he had seen a female on the property a few weeks before I told my brother that we weren't getting him back. Bird done up and eloped in the middle of our hunt. My brother laughed at me. We left the bird overnight and his handler went back the neck morning. Hawk politely declined to come down again. She went back the next day and he was spotted with a female. They mate for life so she hopes to see his babies this summer.
It didn't end the way I expected as a guest, but it was a very real day in the life of a falconer.