Hawks....

[lolita117]

Agree. "People" in my area kill hawks like they kill coyotes and there are still tons. They have really put a hurting on rabbit and quail populations in my area.
And for the person "shooting at a hawk" you will get in just as much trouble. You might as well be caution and go ahead and kill them, instead of waving a gun in their direction. Pull a gun out of your truck aim it towards a deer and watch a game warden pull up then say "I wasn't going to shoot it, just towards it." You get just as big of a penalty.

S.S.S. - Shoot, Shovel, Shut up.

 

[wvtim]

Unless you live next to a Federal game warden or a USFW officer you really dont have anything to fear. I have several Red Tails in the area but they dont bother me, they seem to prefer dead carcass. But the Cooper Hawk - if you seem them watching your chickens from a tree, its only a matter of time.

 

[sourland]

Unless you live next to a Federal game warden or a USFW officer you really dont have anything to fear. I have several Red Tails in the area but they dont bother me, they seem to prefer dead carcass. But the Cooper Hawk is what I have had to declare war on - if you seem them watching your chickens from a tree, its only a matter of time. The one positive I have found about Cooper hawks is that they will kill a hen and leave it and come back the next day to eat for the last time.

This is what a group of pigeon fanciers thought. Do a search on 'Operation High Roller' to find exactly how wrong they were.

 

[harveyhorses]

http://www.fws.gov/news/NewsReleases/showNews.cfm?newsId=BE935795-974F-4768-DE4A89664B1CFC29



Also most people think of the Game Warden as sort of a joke and don't realize he has the same authority as Sherifs.

 

[chigger bait]

When they have target fixation on prey, they don't scare off.

Two years ago I was sitting in the bottom below the house bow hunting.

A broadshouldered hawk lit on a dead snag just 10 feet in front of me.

We sat there and studied each other for what seemed for every.

Then nonchalantly, it flapped it's wings a couple of times towards a low hanging cluster of fox grape vines, and with the speed of a boxers jab, it grabbed some small song bird out of the tanglement, and sailed off through the mature stand of Black Locust.

I was awestruck, to say the least.

 

[chigger bait]

http://www.fws.gov/news/NewsReleases/showNews.cfm?newsId=BE935795-974F-4768-DE4A89664B1CFC29



Also most people think of the Game Warden as sort of a joke and don't realize he has the same authority as Sherifs.

Here in Tennessee they have more.

If there is a game law violation, they don not have to have a search warrent to come on your property to conduct a search for ill gotten game.

I think it is like that in several states and commonwealths.

 

[wvtim]

Well - these guys in this story took it too far, I agree. I'm just protecting my farm and I dont go looking for them. Not all hawks kill chickens.

 

[chigger bait]

The old timers would kill them when ever they saw them.

No prisoners taken.

My grandfather was one of them.

He kept a single shot .22 at the grainery and if he ever saw a hawk sitting in the trees on the back side of the place, silhouetted against the sky line, they were done for.

The pole cats had fodder for their kittens that night.

 

[FarmingForFun]

wvtim - I know that you must think that my birds being killed by hawks...coming in groups of three at a time was not a serious problem, and I guess we all have our own definitions. I just need to say that if you do kill a hawk it is not wise to tell anyone or hint about it on blogs due to the $15,000 fine, jail time, and revocation of your right to possess firearms. Sometime it is best to only offer legal advise...especially on public forums.

 

[wvtim]

Did not in any way intend to imply that you didnt have a serious problem with hawks trying to kill your birds, only to say from my experience that if a hawk has locked down on a food source like your chickens, from my experience, it's impossible to scare it away.