By Derrick Howard – Photos By Rob Palmer:
Roger Tucker lifts the side panel of the truck canopy to reveal his goshawk Nova sitting quietly on her perch. A few brown feathers from her juvenile plumage intermix with the dark gray that will become her adult color. Her beige eyes will eventually deepen to a dark orange-red. (With maturity, the eyes of a male goshawk transform to blood-red.) Roger likes passage hawks, those caught during migration in the first year of their life. “They’re ready to hunt; they’ve made a living hunting on their own,” he says. He is proud of Nova, having trained her to hunt from the fist in just three weeks. She is focused and adept and ready for the chase.
Roger is the apprentice director for the Colorado Hawking Club. He is a master falconer and has been hunting with birds of prey for 23 years.
At the end of summer, he works with Nova to get her ready to hunt again after the molt. Once a year, Nova molts, or sheds her old feathers, for new ones. This begins in April or May and continues through the summer. New feathers push out the old feathers in a sequential pattern.
Roger explains that when a hawk drops a feather on the right wing, it drops one on the left to stay balanced. The 12 tail feathers drop out in pairs. She maintains her ability to fly in this way. In the wild, the molt occurs during times that baby prey animals are abundant, making hunting easier. In the mews, the shed that is her living quarters, Roger feeds Nova well and does not handle her as much during this time. When hunting season approaches, however, Roger and Nova begin their training regimen.
He brings her weight down and practices “jump ups” where she flies to his fist from the ground for a treat. They start at 10 per night then move up to 20 or 30. After about three weeks of exercising, flying and getting used to people and dogs again, she is ready for the new hunting season in September.
While driving to the hunting grounds from his home south of Colorado Springs, Roger describes how to use falcons to hunt ducks. After scouting a small pond for adequate game, a hunter releases his falcon into the sky. The bird climbs perhaps 1,000 feet into the air and begins to circle. When the hunter flushes the ducks, the falcon stoops, or tucks its wings, falling into a dive straight down, reaching speeds of up to 200 miles an hour before striking its prey. “When it all works right, it is beautiful to watch,” says Roger.
Falconry is a term used for the training of any raptor, such as falcons, hawks, eagles or owls. Today, Roger and some friends will hunt with hawks, more of a “close-in” affair. Two other hunters converge on the site near Pueblo. Chuck Butler, who is from the Pueblo area, and Dan Brooks, from south Denver, operate as general falconers. Colorado law requires a trainee to complete a two-year apprenticeship with a master falconer and pass a test before becoming a general falconer. “The Colorado test is harder than most,” says Roger.
The state also inspects the mews and equipment that the owner will use for the raptor. While the mews are the birds’ indoor living quarters, a weathering area is an enclosed outdoor zone exposed to the elements. Chuck owns a Harris’ hawk, which waits patiently on he hillside then drifts down to join the hunters at their powwow. These dark-brown raptors bear splashes of chestnut color on the wings and thighs. White tips accent the black tail feathers. Harris’ hawks are social, often hunting with others of their kind.
Today, the hunters will form its group. “Like wolves, they hunt in packs, usually comprising four to six individuals, each playing an appropriate role in the flush, the chase and the kill,” states falconer Tony Hill. “What they lack in speed and single-minded aggression, they tend to make up for with brains and guile.”
While each man dons a leather glove, in case the bird wants to come to them, Roger retrieves flushing sticks from his vehicle. Although special falconry gloves are available, a welder’s glove or a bull-riding glove would suffice, says Roger. He warns that you must hold our hand up or the bird will walk up your arm to gain the highest perch.
The quarry today will be quail and jackrabbit, each a good test of the birds’ hunting skills. When everyone is ready, the friends form a line and walk through the brush, tapping and poking the cholla cactus with the flushing sticks as they go, hoping to flush out game. Roger enjoys the camaraderie of working with other falconers. They share common ethics about what they do and a love of hunting with hawks. He appreciates “the lifelong friends who practice the sport and understand your commitment and obsession.”
Roger often hunts quail with the aid of his Brittanies. The younger dog, Piñon, will join the group later, when it is Nova’s turn to hunt. “The dog-hawk relationship is a lot of fun,” says Roger. A dog will point or flush and the hawk can learn to watch the dog. The hawk has an instinctive fear of canines, however, and must be taught to get used to them. Nova will not hunt rabbits with the dogs, because she has had dogs take rabbits away from her. She will hunt quail or pheasant with them, though, as long as they keep their distance.
The hunt on this field is unsuccessful, so the group drives to another location to try again. They hunt mostly on private land where outside activities will not scare the hawk. Roger walks potential sites, looking for habitat with rabbitbrush, sage or cholla cactus. He keeps an eye out for rabbit scat and hints that one can listen for quail in the morning or evening if that is the intended quarry. Nova waits patiently in the truck on her perch while Dan’s red-tailed hawk named Wicked gets her chance. Wicked is primed to go. She sits atop Dan’s fist as he walks, her head bobbing and turning, searching for prey.
“Most apprentices fly red-tailed hawks,” says Roger. “They’re easy, they’re fun. You can hunt all kinds of things in all kinds of places.” These raptors are strong and rugged and will hunt even with distractions. Red-tailed hawks, like some other birds of prey, have light and dark color morphs, or variations. The Krider’s redtail is largely white-tailed and white-headed and virtually unmarked underneath.
As a jackrabbit jumps up and sprints toward a fence, Wicked lunges into the air. The hunters break into a run, following to aide the hawk if she is successful. The rabbit tries to use the fence to escape the bird’s clutch, but Wicked pursues, yanked through the fence by the animal. The hunters converge on a successful capture.
Dan is stoked, the pride and affection for his raptor apparent in his voice. Back at the trucks, Dan sprays down Wicked lightly with water and places a leather hood over her head to calm her. The hawks do not generally eat the quarry but their trainer will reward them for their catch with food.
Finally, Nova gets her chance. Some call goshawks the gray ghosts for their elusive ways in the forest. Attila the Hun wore an image of this raptor on his helmet. Nova probably hatched in May or June 2011, left the nest in July then became independent of her parents in September or October, migrating down from the mountains for the winter. Roger captured her from the wild in November 2011.
Although smaller than the redtail, Nova uses her quick acceleration off the fist to her advantage. He thinks her weight is perfect for the flight today. Flying weight is critical to the hunt, and Roger speaks of it in tenths of an ounce. He estimates her weight at 28 1/2 ounces. Too heavy, and a bird is lackadaisical; too light, and the condition is unhealthy for the hawk.
The hunters walk again, jabbing at cacti, keeping an eye out for quarry. Before long, another jackrabbit bolts, and with the shout of “Ho!” Roger releases Nova and scrambles after her across the field.
The goshawk swoops low over the cholla, using her long tail feathers to outmaneuver the rabbit as it races away. The rabbit is fast, but Nova maintains pursuit.
“She is relentless,” Roger later remarks.
With a final lunge, Nova grasps the prey and tumbles to the ground. The rabbit is nearly four times her weight, but she manages to hang on. Nova has captured the biggest prey of the hunt.
Roger smiles. “She is the best bird I have ever had.”
Derrick Howard is a land surveyor, teacher and avocational archaeologist. He is currently writing a mystery-adventure book for the juvenile audience.