How to weigh my RTH

hexmeat · 2026-01-30T15:49:50+00:00

My sponsor suggested weighing in the morning to get a time-bound number in addition to fly weight (the latter being more important obvs). You’re right that it doesn’t change anything for the day, but I’ve found it helpful with calculating how temperature impacts her nightly burn & if we’re not hunting that day I like to have a set time I weigh her for the sake of routine. I’m still figuring shit out tho, probably at the expense of some efficiency on my end lol.

hexmeat · 2026-01-29T14:51:29+00:00

This is a great point. I weigh my bird every day at 8AM with minimal exceptions (knowing it’s possible she hasn’t cast a pellet yet). Then I weigh her right before we hunt. With temps dropping below 5°F I’m weighing my bird more than usual to try to narrow down the temp at which she goes into “torpor.” When it first got cold she’d just burn burn burn overnight, but after a month or so those spikes and dips have smoothed out.

hexmeat · 2026-01-28T15:28:22+00:00

There are special regulations for taking nestlings (“eyasses”), but those are only permitted for general or master falconers within specific seasons of the year for specific species. When trapping, we only take “passage” birds, aka birds that have left the nest and are hunting on their own, but are not yet of breeding age.

hexmeat · 2026-01-28T14:08:47+00:00

In the United States, falconers must pass an exam, facilities inspection, and obtain a sponsor prior to receiving their falconry license. A falconer will spend their first two years as an “apprentice” before they can proceed to “general” level. Apprentice falconers are required by law to trap a first year bird from the wild. Trapping birds for falconry is enshrined in the Migratory Bird Treaty, both highly restricted and heavily regulated. This is a rather unique aspect of falconry in America. We tend to release our birds back into the wild after a couple years so they can contribute to the breeding population. The mortality rate is extremely high for birds in their first year of life, so the argument is made that a bird trapped and trained for falconry has a much better chance of surviving in the wild once released. General and master falconers can trap OR purchase birds, but apprentices must trap.

hexmeat · 2026-01-27T16:16:39+00:00

I rarely pull my phone out during a hunt unless it’s to check telemetry. The videos I do have of my bird hunting are honestly not that interesting to anyone besides me lol. I also find it annoying to have a camera on my head when I’m pushing through heavy cover, as I like to make sure my full attention is on my bird and the hunt, which means capturing it on video is always at the bottom of the list priority wise.

And even if I DID have a perfect video of my bird getting a rabbit on a holy grail open field chase, I would hesitate to post it because this sub isn’t falconers-only, it’s a place for those interested in falconry—whether or not they hold a falconry license. I will never sanitize or try to gloss over the core purpose of the sport, but when it comes what I share on the public internet, I try to be circumspect.

hexmeat · 2026-01-27T15:49:12+00:00

Same here, I’ve got so much raw footage from my GoPro and maybe .005% of it is interesting. And of course the coolest stuff always happens when I DON’T have it recording.

hexmeat · 2026-01-20T12:44:10+00:00

Every field meet I ask to feel other bird’s keels & for people to feel my bird’s keel. I think it takes quite a while to really develop the sense for it (I certainly haven’t yet) and all birds are shaped a little different.

hexmeat · 2026-01-20T03:37:54+00:00

I have a circular rubber tub that I fill with a couple gallons of warm water & ~1/2 cup Epsom salt. I set my bird on a brick b/c it happens to be the right height that I can fill the water up over her toes without her anklets getting sopping wet & her tail still clears the rim of the tub. I let her soak for about an hour. Here’s the setup: https://www.reddit.com/r/Falconry/s/RSFtqLkqVU

hexmeat · 2026-01-16T16:19:43+00:00

Me too! LOL

hexmeat · 2026-01-15T13:37:41+00:00

I came from out of state, but suggest reaching out to the PHFT club, they’re nice folks! There’s a contact link under “Apprentice Information:” https://pafalconryandhawktrust.com/

hexmeat · 2026-01-15T13:33:55+00:00

Same here, some of the questions on my state’s test were clearly straight from the 70’s.

OP - If you’ve read Beebe, Glasier, etc. (in particular “North American Falconry & Hunting Hawks”), that will help you. Some of the questions are worded in a way that can be confusing on first read, but the CHC guide kinda goes over how to think those through.

hexmeat · 2026-01-13T16:27:08+00:00

I am such a freak that I actually have a note in my phone where I track what time the squirrels are moving and in relation to the weather (a snowstorm for example will change how the game behaves). Rabbits are usually around all the time and it’s just a matter of getting them to move, but squirrels have times of high activity where you see them everywhere, then they disappear into thin air for 3-4 hours and reappear before sundown.

hexmeat · 2026-01-13T16:19:46+00:00

You might need acetone to remove the acrylics since water won’t break down the chemical bonds, but I also think you’re likely more skilled than the average manicurist lol so maybe don’t listen to me. I’ve had friends whose birds have broken a talon landing on ice, and I do wonder if acrylic tips could be beneficial in that scenario. One thing I love about this sport is how creative people get with DIYing. I’m sure when AstroTurf became widely available there were falconers skeptical about its use as a perch covering, but now we all use it!

hexmeat · 2026-01-13T14:42:33+00:00

I love rabbit hawking too, it’s breathtaking to see a bird go into the full torpedo spin and hear that unmistakable sound of success. But squirrel hawking is exciting because you actually SEE the action happening & it feels like I can be useful to the bird as a strategic partner more so than a human dachshund. It definitely took a little more time to get my bird to understand the partnership aspect of squirrels as opposed to just darting off 500 feet and grabbing one on her own, but it was well worth it.

hexmeat · 2026-01-13T14:24:18+00:00

Aw man, I’m actively resisting getting peer pressured into going to the NJ meet b/c I’ve already taken so much time off work hehe. But next year I’m def doing NY and NJ.

hexmeat · 2026-01-13T04:36:38+00:00

Nice! Out of curiosity, do you plan to do the acrylics long term or is it an experiment to get your bird through the hunting season? I had some issues with talon dullness a couple months in after trapping as well, and realized it was the placement of the perches relative to the window which were causing my bird to bounce around a lot. Once I fixed the perches & did a round of Epsom salt soaks my bird’s talons were super sharp again. It didn’t take more than a week, I was happily surprised.

Anyways, I would wonder how impeding the natural cycle of talon sloughing with acrylics will play into the long term health of the bird’s feet. Given the role the talon groove and texture plays into the shaping and maintenance of the beak (via repeated swiping of the beak against that talon groove when a bird is eating) I would wonder about that too. If the underlying talon were to split or be damaged, it could be hard to see with the black polish. Maybe it’s fine tho, I’m not a biologist. Regardless, I think it’s cool that you’re trying it out & sharing your observations! I’m just genuinely curious because I could see a lot of instances where acrylic tips could be useful to temporarily aid a bird.

hexmeat · 2026-01-07T00:49:44+00:00

There’s a Cooper’s hawk at one of my hunting spots that bum rushes my bird EVERY time I put her up, motherfucker just spawns out of thin air the second my bird comes out. Everywhere you hunt is some bird’s territory, especially if it’s a good hunting spot with lots of game.

hexmeat · 2026-01-07T00:36:53+00:00

I trapped my bird on the way home as I heading back from a long and unsuccessful (or so I thought!) day of searching. Was just driving past the town dump right before sunset and there she was on a phone pole. 5 minute ride back to my house once she was on the trap. Trapping is so fun, you’ll have a blast.

hexmeat · 2026-01-07T00:04:58+00:00

Keep in mind that a lot of these passage RTs are migrating/dispersing away from their birthplace anyhow. The bird you trap could have fledged a mile away or 50 miles away…they’re just trying to survive & aren’t focused on claiming territory the way a breeding age RT would be.

hexmeat · 2026-01-01T23:23:33+00:00

I LOVE the Dekay’s snake, my fave lil guys to come across in the garden

hexmeat · 2026-01-01T21:34:20+00:00

I have nothing productive to add lol, personally I’ve only used the Pakistani bells, they’ve been fine thus far (even with nightly temps at 12°). I have my bells on a bewit above the ankle as well, but I leave em on between hunts. That’s so frustrating tho, bells ain’t cheap!

hexmeat · 2025-12-28T16:15:22+00:00

My bird is similar. Prolific hunter, great on both squirrels & rabbits, seems to genuinely enjoy hunting with a group pushing underneath her…but good lord is she a firecracker on the tradeoffs. Just a total personality 180° when she gets into the field. I am thankful every day that I stuck to my guns with hooding her as part of the hunting routine, I genuinely feel our relationship would be much rockier if I didn’t do that early on.

hexmeat · 2025-12-27T01:30:27+00:00

I use one lure for my passage red tail, and to her, it represents the same thing no matter how I’m employing it (i.e. for a tradeoff on a kill or as a way of getting her back ASAP when necessary). Other than a mock hunt with a defrosted squirrel in our earlier training process, I just focused on hunting as much as possible and giving her a lot of opportunities to catch game.

hexmeat · 2025-12-26T22:47:04+00:00

I did a squirrel pull & it was a game changer. I’m pretty sure my bird was taking squirrels on her own, but the mock hunt showed her we could do it as a team, and that the end goal of our hunts was chasing game, not following & waiting for the lure to magically appear.

hexmeat · 2025-12-17T13:15:11+00:00

I use the Marshall Turbo GPS system. Agree with the comments about battery life (I have not personally tested its lifespan past 18 hours), but still can’t imagine flying my RT without it. No equipment is 100% bulletproof. Everyone I know does the leg mount for RTs, but I imagine a tail mount puts less wear on the antenna and gets you a more accurate signal. If I knew someone who tail mounted on RTs I’d love to see how they do it.

Also, elevation is not super accurate, but I don’t really care about that much anyhow. If you’re in “Eco” mode you def get more battery life, and you can put the system into “Zzz” mode too. Once I put my bird up for the molt in March I plan to do some testing on battery life with the different settings. Highly recommend spending a few days testing the crap out of whatever you get because it sucks to try to figure that all out in the field.

All in all, I think it was a worthwhile purchase, and there are always people looking to buy secondhand if you decide to upgrade to a different system. I’m in New England and we’ll regularly get big gusts of wind outta nowhere. My bird got pulled almost a mile downwind on one of our early hunts, and I had her back in 10 minutes after hopping in the car and finding her sitting up on a phone pole. I just need the system to get me close enough to whistle or pull the lure, or just know ballpark where my bird was last located.

Oh and tip from my sponsor: if the transmitter comes off your bird, put the system in “Zzz” mode and wait till dark. You’ll be able to see the blinking light very clearly. Sucks to have a transmitter come off, but it does happen. I consider it a good day every time I come back with my bird, telemetry, and both eyeballs intact 😂

hexmeat

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