how to attract red tail hawks

[Lee Barner]

crank up a combine. as soon as the farmers around here start cutting soy beans, the hawks return from wherever they have been for the summer. you will see an average of five or six per combine flying around or sitting in trees around the field waiting for field mice or hopefully(for them) rabbits. unfortunately for me they are protected by law but they eat my rabbits. lee

 

[Steve in Vermont]

I've another way to attract hawks. Go to one of our nearby gun clubs and shoot trap. It appears the hawks are drawn to the fields around the range when the mice are startled by the shooting and break from cover.

 

[usm1rifle]

Certainly wish we had hawks here to eat our "wascally wabbits"!

 

[UncleEd]

Better yet.....just dress as a mouse.

 

[Jimmyjones]

Yesterday coming back from the range, there was a hawk on every phone pole where the fields were being worked, pretty cool.

Got to watch a few drop down for lunch.

 

[panther]

We took a ten mile drive in the country here in Missouri one day and counted thirty on poles or in trees.

 

[LouisianaJoe]

When the unsold lots in my subdivision are mowed (maybe once a month), the egrets come in the hundreds to catch the insects that are in the grass.

Birds learn how to get an extra meal because of human activity.

 

[kozmic]

I was flying a 4-1/2' delta kite in my front yard back when my kids were small. It was out about 400-450 ft and a Sharp-shinned hawk landed on the string about 10 feet from the kite body. He "hung out" for a few minutes then flew away. Thankfully it was 50# test line. The damnedest thing.

 

[Jinglebob]

Get some chickens. They're like a magnet to a hawk.

 

[Mule Packer]

A buddy of mine and I used to shoot ground squirrels out of the hay farmers' alfalfa fields with our .22's. These stinkin' little varmints could ruin a hay crop in just a matter of days, so the farmers always welcomed us with opened arms.

We'd take our shooting tables and set them up on the edge of a hay field along with a couple of bricks of .22 ammo. (Those were the days when you could find .22 ammo at every hardware store, sporting goods store, and filling station.)

We'd spend the morning, shooting "squeakies" with our scoped .22's, then break for lunch and drive into town to the local cafe for a burger, fries, Coke, and a piece of pie. We'd usually go through a couple of hundred rounds apiece before lunch, scoring a hit almost every time. When you'd walk through the field after shooting for two or three hours, it looked like the carnage after the Battle of Armageddon.

Anyway, after lunch, when we'd get back to the fields, hawks would be all over those fields like trailer trash on Velveeta. When we checked out the fields the next morning, they were picked clean. You wouldn't have even known we'd been there if it hadn't been for the spent .22 casings all over the place.

Great hawk bait.

 

[Iggy]

Same type of thing in our part of the country with pasture poodles.

Some fellers go out and shoot a bunch and the next day the eagles and buzzards are stuffed so full they can't hardly get off the ground.

 

[LostintheOzone]

Here it's Bald Eagles catching mice in the pastures after the hay is mowed. It's common to see three or four in the pasture at once.

 

[6518John]

You can tell he is thinking "You can't find .22 ammo, so you boys can kiss my ***!"

 

[Salty RI]

Around here the Osprey's are gone now, seeing some red tails and a lot of Sparrow hawks.

 

[lawandorder]

Lee I don't have to worry about the Hawks eating rabbits, one of my Schnauzers has caught, and gnawed on 5 since May. Fast little bugger.

The day he brought one's head in, and dropped in the floor did not win him any favors with the wife.

 

[skrazo]

Anything that eats Rodents is my friend! A couple usually show up when I brush hog my fields.

 

[Marshwheeling]

Anyway, after lunch, when we'd get back to the fields, hawks would be all over those fields like trailer trash on Velveeta. When we checked out the fields the next morning, they were picked clean. You wouldn't have even known we'd been there if it hadn't been for the spent .22 casings all over the place.

Great hawk bait.

"trailer trash on Velveeta."

I wish I'd said that.

 

[H Richard]

I remember it was unusual to see a hawk when I was growing up back in the 40's and 50's. Now if I don't see about 50 or so per mile in the country it is unusual. I was told the outlawing of DDT chemicals for farmers is what brought them back. Unfortunately we now have very few rabbits, and I haven's seen a quail for over ten years.

 

[3dots]

My sailplanes will spark aggression in red tails PDQ. They love to play in thermals and are in the sky all the time no matter where you are. Your normal focal distance just doesn't allow you to see them at 2000-2500' AGL but they're there. If you want to attract one, just get high and behind one and see what happens .

 

[wyccad915]

Hi

Lee I don't have to worry about the Hawks eating rabbits, one of my Schnauzers has caught, and gnawed on 5 since May. Fast little bugger.

The day he brought one's head in, and dropped in the floor did not win him any favors with the wife.

I work security and we have this cat that hangs out near the booth. I don't feed it, but the other guards do. It comes and goes in the booth as it pleases. It's ought a couple mice indoors and brought a couple in too. Just the other day another guard told me she brought in a live rabbit. I guess the guard managed to let it out alive, but its strange what pets will bring in. By the way with all the mice and rabbits around, yes there are hawks at this guard booth. They even nest here and its been the biggest bird nest I've ever seen.