Hunting with goshawks
Ed Cook looks at an ancient procedure used to train this lightning-quick bird of prey to be your trusted companion and ally in the field
I’ve always had an interest in hunting with birds of prey. Over the years I have pursued a variety of quarry with birds of all shapes and sizes – from bolting rabbits with Harris hawks, to walked-up hares with golden eagles. However, the most exhilarating challenge is the goshawk.
Goshawks, unless hand-reared (imprinted), are untrusting by nature and skittish in terms of what makes them uncomfortable or nervous in an environment. However, this is outweighed by the fact that little will be off the quarry list of a fit goshawk in the correct hands. They are often referred to as the ‘cook’s hawk’ due to their ability to provide.
Dedication
Training a goshawk has its challenges and requires dedication but when you get it right the rewards are unmatched. I will never forget Luna, my gos, catch her first hare lamping: on lighting up the prey she was off like a sparrowhawk on steroids and secured her quarry like a pro. Her reward was a good feed and plenty of fresh blood, which also encouraged her.
On picking her up I started with what is known as the ‘waking’ process. This is an ancient procedure involving a falconer, team of falconers or, back in the day, even a village would help. On collection of the bird (from a breeder, who is often a friend, or a friend of a friend) at nine or 10 weeks, it must stay on a gloved fist for three days and nights. This is best done with volunteers (or people persuaded to help) in a few hour slots so as to give each handler a rest. The bird is introduced to a variety of busy environments and ones it will likely encounter during its working career. So, for example, walking around built-up areas seeing dogs, people and traffic; walking around the countryside seeing tractors, farm animals and barns.
All this will help the bird acclimatise and reassure it that these situations don’t pose a danger to it. In fact, they will become the norm while at the same time you will gain ‘status’ as a safe perch. I’m out of my comfort zone doing this and feel self-conscious walking around with a bird on my fist and answering all the inevitable questions; but I know the bird will be better, safer and easier to train if work is put in at this point.
Gaining trust
The bird is offered food until it is happy to receive it. When it does, you are on your way to gaining its trust. This is an important stepping stone in the training of a gos. It isn’t long before the bird is flying on a creance, a long cord attached to its leash that prevents it from fleeing during training. If all goes well and the bird is responsive, you can dispense with the creance after a couple of weeks.
The rest is accurate weight management, followed by almost daily hunting and regular kills. Their diet for a lighter weight is white meat (chicks, rabbits) but if I want to build muscle then quail, duck, hare, mice and rats. Females are bigger than males and suited to larger quarry, but are not as nimble.
For a few hundred pounds you can have yourself a supreme avian athlete to aid your hunting. They have explosive speed and, for me, almost mystical abilities. I hunted Luna on the lamp or after hares in the daytime. To make her more settled when I first had her I placed her on a bow perch at night in the house and she would even nestle up next to me on a cushion. This proved to me that this ancient procedure combined with daily handling cemented the relationship. Sadly, Luna has passed on but I am picking up my latest gos at the end of the month and cannot wait. It will be hard work, for sure, but the rewards are more than worth it.