COURTESY OF EMILY SPOLYAR ( LEFT , CENTER , BOTTOM RIGHT ); HANNAH HAYES ( TOP RIGHT ) |
lived in New Mexico and flew a goshawk over a pointing dog . Cooper was only in his first season of real bird hunting , but I thought to myself , I guess I have to figure this out , too . I was still living in Texas when I got my apprentice falconry license and trapped and trained my first redtail hawk .
I took the first job that could get me out of Texas and closer to the prairies of Montana . By the end of 2020 , I was living in Bismarck , North Dakota . The job that I took was really flexible . I was able to hunt every day .
As an apprentice falconer , you can only fly certain birds . In North Dakota it ’ s a redtail and an American kestrel . Neither of those birds can really do upland , they ’ re not fast enough to catch them . So , I had to learn a new quarry : squirrels and rabbits .
Vizslas are a versatile breed . Cooper isn ’ t a master at anything , but he can do anything . He will tree squirrels like a hound dog , stand up on them , bark at them and keep them up in the tree . He ’ ll point rabbits , he ’ ll dig into logs , crawl through them and flush them out . Cooper has been important to my success in falconry . My first bird I flew for two years before releasing her . Then
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I trapped another redtail , which I have now . She ’ s hunted with Cooper , but if we don ’ t get game up for her , she starts attacking him . So , I ’ ve left Cooper at home several times trying to find spots where I can consistently put game up for her . We ’ re so much less successful without Cooper . There ’ s only so much that I can do with just my eyes .
I was recently upgraded to a General Falconer , and can now fly all the birds of prey , including hawks and falcons that can take up upland game . I have two puppies currently , once I get them going , I ’ ll make a shift to these other birds of prey species that I can work the uplands with the dogs .
As a sporting dog owner and hunter , I am concerned about the bills being introduced . When it comes to dog laws and regulations , some representatives don ’ t understand what sporting dogs are used for and what we need as owners for tools .
Personally , the tethering regulations are problematic because I rely heavily on a chain gang . It ’ s a coated wire that you stake in the ground that ’ s about 15
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feet long and that has drop-chains that aren ’ t more than in length than from the dog ’ s feet to its neck . The dogs can ’ t run around or get tangled when on it . I tie my dogs on those every day . One , so that they get outside time without me having to worry . Two , it ’ s important in training , they learn that they must stay in one small spot and no matter how much they cry , it ’ s not going to get them anything .
Some regulations are supposedly to “ protect ” a dog , but if I didn ’ t have access to tools like tethers , my dogs would be running loose or locked indoors all day . These tools that they think threaten a dog ’ s well-being are , in my opinion , creating a safer space for them to be outside . I look at other countries that have banned electronic collars entirely . I don ’ t know how I would be able to function with my dogs without e-collars . I hope we don ’ t get that bad , but it could be where we are heading .
You can follow Hannah ’ s hunting adventures with her dogs and falcons on Instagram at @ hunnunuhh .
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