The Art and Practice of HawkingMichell, E. B. (Edward Blair)
History
The Art and Practice of Hawking
Michell, E. B. (Edward Blair)
Falconry
There are still some places where you can shoot grouse over dogs. If
it be your good fortune to have access with your hawks to a moor where
this can be done, you are in luck. As soon as there is a steady point
(you are, of course, on open ground), unhood and throw off your hawk,
which has already learnt to wait on. As long as she is moving upwards,
making each circle a little higher than the last, stand still and let
her go on, or, if the point is far off, walk steadily towards it. The
grouse will have seen the hawk, and be in no hurry to move while she
is mounting; but presently they will be aware also of your approach.
Then there will be a small debate in their minds--or rather in that of
their papa--whether it is best to keep still and eventually be shot
at, or to start off at once and at once be stooped at. The nearer
you approach, and the farther the hawk rakes away, the more does the
decision incline towards making a bolt of it; but papa grouse is not
going to make a fool of himself by bolting at the moment which you
would prefer. Your programme, of course, is to wait till your falcon
is heading in towards the dog, and then rush in upon the hesitating
assembly. Unfortunately, this plan does not fit in with the views of
the worthies in question. They have also been waiting till the hawk's
head was turned away, and now, as she is near the outer part of her
circle which is farthest from the quarry, up they get, and off they go,
whizzing along the top of the heather.
At this stage of the proceedings the modern falconer does, for once,
find the use of his voice. He shouts loudly to call the hawk's
attention and to cheer her on. "Hey, gar, gar, gar!" or "Hoo, ha, ha!"
are old-fashioned cries for encouraging a falcon to stoop from her
pitch, and are still often used. There can be no doubt that a shout of
some kind, or a blast on the horn, if you prefer it, has an inspiriting
effect on hawks, and that not only when they start for their first
descent, but at each successive stoop. I almost fancy that I have
actually seen them cheer up as they heard a loud "Bravo" come from the
field far beneath after a brilliant stoop or a masterly throw-up! It
is with grouse and black-game, more than with any other quarry, that
you see at once when they get up the immense advantage of a high pitch.
When the falcon is some hundreds of feet high she commands a wide area
below. At the height of a quarter of a mile it matters little whether
the range of her circling flight takes her a hundred yards to one side
or the other. She can come down with equal ease upon any one spot in an
area of thirty acres.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account