Discouraging hawks?

Mr. 16 gauge · #1 01-20-2011, 07:09 AM

Bought some homing pigeons to train my Lab puppy with the other day; I currently am holding them in my quail pen while I build a coop for them. Had a big, old Cooper's hawk come and land on the pen the other day (he can't get too them).
What can I do to discourage him and get him to go elsewhere? I can't legally shoot him, but is there something I can do to get him to go elsewhere? I really didn't buy these homers to give him an easy meal.
I won't be flying them for a few months, do I do have some time, if that is what it takes.
Thanks in advance.................

Larryjk · #2 01-20-2011, 12:12 PM

A pellet rifle generally discourages hawks from coming back.

Nulle · #3 01-21-2011, 10:56 AM

Not a good idea if ya get turned in. That hawk could get Very costly by the time the Feds get done with you. There are some devices out there that are supposed to deter them and I will check today and see what they are called.

skeet · #4 01-21-2011, 12:09 PM

To heck with the pellet rifle. Shotgun the sucker. I know..I know..protected etc but they are fair game if they are depredating.. Sounds good huh??

Larryjk · #5 01-21-2011, 01:00 PM

Nulle, I know the facts of life on hawks, eagles, etc. I used to have aspen trees on my yard that the deer were killing. I told the game warden I was going to shoot them in the arse with rock salt for doing that. She said she would arrest me for shooting in twon and harrassing wildlife. I told her she didn't understand; that I had no intention of inviting her to watch. I think the same would apply to shooting a hawk in the rear end with a pellet gun --- or a shotgun as Skeet suggests.

buckhunter · #6 01-21-2011, 03:34 PM

In Mass if wildlife is killing crop or livestock you are entitled to kill it. Had a farmer kill a cougar (they swear they aint here)last year. They are protected from hunting but because he was killing livestock he was justified. In fact the warden helped him.

Just a wag but suspect the Feds would frown on it.

popplecop · #7 01-21-2011, 07:48 PM

Do yourself a huge favor and DO NOT SHOOT THE HAWK! Why not cover the top of the pen with some plastic tarps. Pigeon coops that I've seen have solid roofs. Another thing I'd suggest that you go on the webb to both the state and federal authorites for help with your problem. Also homeing pigeon raisers probably have a wealth of info.

Mr. 16 gauge · #8 01-21-2011, 08:28 PM

I live in suburbia, so even if I wanted to shoot said hawk (I don't, for reasons I'll get to in a minute), I couldn't......not to mention jepordizing my CCW, hunting privileges, ect.

I don't think a few pigeons in my yard would be considered "stock" by any judge, anywhere, and said hawk does provide a service by taking care of the squirrels and woodchucks that have decimated my garden in the past.

There is a top on the coop, so that idea won't work....checking out the pigeon fanciers websites is a good idea, however.
I was thinking about maybe stretching some chicken wire above the coop and hooking it up to a small battery to shock anything landing on it......not enough to cause death, but discourage it hanging around the pen. Then again, if my 'homers' try to land on it, they might get discouraged and fly elsewhere as well!

skeet · #9 01-21-2011, 11:21 PM

We used to have a few hawks that liked our chickens..big time. I ...discouraged them constantly..permanently. Then somebody stole 'em... they were kinda beautiful show type chickins. and too big for most of the hawks cept the Red Tails. and an occassional eagle. Must admit..never killed an eagle. Even the buzzards would kill a half grown chicken every now and then. They would hit 'em just like a hawk...or so it looked.

jplonghunter · #10 01-22-2011, 07:29 AM

Don't know for sure if this will eliminate the hawk,but set an owl decoy. If hawk is not intimidated the decoy will attract crows which will harass hawk.

jplonghunter

Nulle · #11 01-22-2011, 11:42 AM

Don't get me wrong I do not love hawks when it comes to game birds ect. BUT we are supposed to be Sportsmen on this site and a blatant disregard of the law is not a good example. Deer causing some problems and hawks are a total different story in the respect you will be dealing with local game wardens on the deer and the Feds and game wardens on the hawks.
Check the web and there are a ton of things out there you can use rather then guns and traps.

skeet · #12 01-22-2011, 05:49 PM

Nulle.. I kind of agree with you except for one thing..it used to be incumbent upon the SPORTSMEN of this country to shoot hawks and crows. When the use of DDT was banned to help them(hawks) recover there was wording put in the ESA to protect hawks and owls etc..even the common crow was given protection in the name of saving the mexican crow. I have never seen so many hawks as we have now. Crows either. Where I came from in Md the poor bobwhite quail had so many critters after them they really can't make a real comeback...even when they have good places to live breed and hide. The foxes were terrible there because they were protected by law. because I tried to control the predators of the quail I actually had 3 coveys on approx 40 acres of CReP land. That was 3 coveys more than the neighboring farmer had on his 260 acres next door to me. Sportsmans dollars are being wasted daily in the name of predators, from hawks to wolves. We withj our license dollars and other fees are paying for poor science to the detriment of game animals and birds as well as song birds etc. I really don't worry about the eagles but I have 5 Goldens that live on the cliff behind my house. That is a lot of Eagles in less than a square mile. If i had a little ankle biter i sure wouldn't let iut out around here. We had skwerls here but the little horned owls have wiped 'em out..prairie dogs too..on my place.. Do I want to wipe 'em out??..of course not..but we have wayyy too many predators now. And we surely didn't need the wolves that the do gooders gave us. They want 'em protected and they don't even live here.

fabsroman · #13 01-24-2011, 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skeet

Nulle.. I kind of agree with you except for one thing..it used to be incumbent upon the SPORTSMEN of this country to shoot hawks and crows. When the use of DDT was banned to help them(hawks) recover there was wording put in the ESA to protect hawks and owls etc..even the common crow was given protection in the name of saving the mexican crow. I have never seen so many hawks as we have now. Crows either. Where I came from in Md the poor bobwhite quail had so many critters after them they really can't make a real comeback...even when they have good places to live breed and hide. The foxes were terrible there because they were protected by law. because I tried to control the predators of the quail I actually had 3 coveys on approx 40 acres of CReP land. That was 3 coveys more than the neighboring farmer had on his 260 acres next door to me. Sportsmans dollars are being wasted daily in the name of predators, from hawks to wolves. We withj our license dollars and other fees are paying for poor science to the detriment of game animals and birds as well as song birds etc. I really don't worry about the eagles but I have 5 Goldens that live on the cliff behind my house. That is a lot of Eagles in less than a square mile. If i had a little ankle biter i sure wouldn't let iut out around here. We had skwerls here but the little horned owls have wiped 'em out..prairie dogs too..on my place.. Do I want to wipe 'em out??..of course not..but we have wayyy too many predators now. And we surely didn't need the wolves that the do gooders gave us. They want 'em protected and they don't even live here.

What we need is one heck of a balancing act, and we aren't very good at figuring it out. In Maryland, there is a pretty good problem with deer and resident canadian geese. Problem there is the lack of predation. Then, there is the lack of pheasants and quail in Maryland, and the problem there is over predation. On a farm I waterfowl hunt on, a trapper caught 21 foxes on 110 acres in less than a week. That is a lot of foxes.

I have seen an eagle by my place in Maryland, and I am nowhere near the Eastern Shore. I was shocked when I saw it, because I was outside with my daughter who was under 2 at the time and it made me realize that if the eagle had decided to grab her, there wouldn't be a thing I could do about it. It still makes me sick today to think about it. We have a couple pretty large foxes that run around our place and deer that come up to the cars and the front door. Ultimately, I think we are doing a piss poor job of game management, but that is just my opinion.

skeet · #14 01-24-2011, 12:17 PM

Hey Fabs..the only predators you have for deer in your area is cars..not nuff hunting to keep the deer in check..same with the geese. Not nufff hunting. The foxes are running rampant in many areas of Md because of the areas they have adapted themselves to...urban sprawl no hunting etc there either. Red foxes were not native to that area ya know..but people brought in the reds and the grays suffered badly. Man always seems to overdo things in the name of "conservation". We have wilderness areas here that are becoming sterile areas. You know the indians weren't the conservationists that they are portrayed as being. Know what a buffalo jump is?? They ran entire herds over a cliff to get the meat..Even an entire village couldn't eat a 100 buffalo. Man has always interacted with nature..changing the face of things. Even the Indians started fires ..hunted in what are now National parks..and in the name of saving critters we put them in jeopardy. Think I am pushing an agenda? Look at the history of Yellowstone. And the things that have gone wrong in the past are still happening..in the name of conservation. The largest herd of elk in a Park(approx 20,000) are now down to about 8,000..and there is no hunting in Yellowstone. Whatcha think has caused the loss of all the elk?..It's still man as the ultimate cause..some idiots turned loose a few wolves and simultaneously put wolves on the ESL.. Not only has it hurt the numbers in the yellowstone ecosystem..but for 100's of miles from there. Into Utah..Colorado even into eastern Montana and Washington(no not DC). I have wolves in my area pretty much constantly. Oh well..maybe one day somone will finally get it right

Larryjk · #15 01-24-2011, 01:05 PM

Skeet, Your figures are off a little. The 20,000 head of Yellowstone elk have dwindled to less than 5,000. And we are supposed to believe it is caused by "too much hunting" and the wolves in Yellowstone. I wasn't aware we could hunt in Yellowstone. (I am also tired of some folks blowing smoke up my jumper). IN the late 60s, the NPS was shooting elk in Yellowstone because there were too many. The BLM in Colorado took about 300 head and placed them on Waugh Moutain north of Cotopaxi and there are huntable numbers there today.
The BLM in Rawlins has placed hawk nesting structures in areas where the hawks had little nesting success because they were nesting on the ground. Where the nesting structures were installed the nesting success went up dramatically for a short time (2 to 3 years) and then plummeted because the hawks ate all of the prey animals. More playing God.
It has been pointed that the Mexican raven is protected and recent research has shown the Mexican raven is predating about 2/3 of the sage grouse nests. But we don't dare touch the ravens , and the official reason for sage grouse levels is the impacts of oil and gas drilling. More smoke up my jumper.