hi all. I found this forum by chance, while searching online about hunting rabbits in Texas. My name is Jimmy, and I live near Atlanta, Ga. I'm a falconer, and use trained hawks to hunt small game. I'm planning a trip to west Texas in a couple of weeks in hopes of hunting jackrabbits with my birds. Right now I'm looking at areas near Odessa, Midland, Crane, and San Angelo. I'm open for other areas of the state as well. I've hunted in Lubboch and Amarillo in the past. I'm looking at places around Midland because I've heard there are rediculous numbers of jacks/bunnies in that area.
I know this is a long shot, but I was wondering if there is anyone here who owns property with a rabbit problem, or just an abundance of rabbits. Or, if you know someone that does. To be point blank about it, I'm looking for places to hunt. I'm a responsible hunter that respects people's property. There will be NO firearms involved. We simply walk around with a hawk and try to kick up rabbits, and let the birds chase and catch them. If you have serious rabbit problems, we're not gonna put a dent in them. But we certainly try to catch what we can.
If you've never had the chance to experience falconry, and you own land or have access to some, I would love the opportunity to show you what rabbit hawking is about. I'm currently flying a female Redtail Hawk, and I have 3 female Harris' Hawks that fly in a group. I will most likely have a friend with me as well, and they will also have a Redtail.
If you, or anyone you know, wouldn't mind a couple of out of towners walking around and chasing rabbits on your property, please let me know. I hope to be out that way in a couple of weeks, and will likely stay a week. As I said, I'm responsible, always respect other's properties, and there will be no firearms.
Thanks.
Jimmy
-Ga.

Thread has potential

You're gonna need more birds.

Sorry I can't help. Wish I could because this sounds awesome, but two comments:

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Midland because I've heard there are rediculous numbers of jacks/bunnies in that area.

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There are lots of prairie dogs in that area too, are they huntable?

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I'm currently flying a female Redtail Hawk

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This just sounds badass!

The Wonderer said:

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ATX_AG_08 said:

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There is definitely an abundance of rabbits in the area you're looking. There was a thread on here some while ago with pics from a multiple day rabbit hunting tournament and teams had whole truck beds and trailers overflowing with them. Good luck in your search. If I had land up there I would most certainly let yall come out just for the show. I sent this to a friend who has a big place just north of San Angelo. I'll get you contact info if it pans out. Either way, somebody put this guy on rabbits and I look forward to pics!

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16,000 rabbits in just 18 hours.

Holy *****

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Here's the thread: https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/2744905

Excuse me!!!

Sounds like packrats

I would very much like to go drink beer and watch your birds work.

Okay, first, thanks for the heads-up Deats, concerning the 5 post limit. I'll try to cram as much as I can into this post.

Raidernarizona, We tried hawking prairie dogs in Amarillo back in '08. They hit their holes long before the birds even get close to em. Didn't take long to figure out they weren't worth the effort, and we weren't gonna catch any.

Blue smoke, I'm sure there are tons of rabbits in the subdivisions, but those aren't good places to hunt em, lol. People don't take too kindly to tromping through their yards trying to kill the cute little furry bunnies. Plus, ya can't always control where the birds want to go, and they'll end up in someone's back yard on their toy poodle or something like that, lol.

Atx_ag_08, the rabbit round up thread is what I stumbled across and made me join this forum. If your friend in San Angelo doesn't mind, I'd love the chance to meet them and hunt.

Jd05ag, you would be more than welcome to watch! And help! Lol.

Guys, let me be perfectly clear about something. Everyone would be more than welcome. There is no way I would ever tell someone they couldn't watch/help after they were generous and kind enough to allow us to hunt. I was raised way better than that! It's a ton of fun to watch the birds do their thing. Most people enjoy it if they've never seen it. Some folks don't seem to care, but most find it interesting. At least for a little bit.

Kenneth_2003, sounds like you need some thinning done around your place........lol

Bluesmoke, where the bird starts to break in, depends a lot on the individual bird. Rabbits are so thin skinned, the bird can break in just about anywhere. In my experience, most will break in in the chest area or under a front leg. With our hunting birds, we usually don't allow them to do so most of the time. When they make a catch, we'll make in on them and dispatch the prey. Then we'll typically trade the bird off of the catch with a small meal, and continue hunting if our goal is to catch another.

Eric76, the birds usually kill by squeezing and often suffocating the prey. They have 8 talons to hold them with, and will put a death grip on whatever they catch. They also don't care if the prey is dead or not. They will attempt to eat, wether the prey is dead or not. That's how nature is. Often cruel....... As the falconer, it's my job to quickly dispatch the catch to prevent any unnecessary suffering.

Plowboy1065, is that an offer?

C4d, as far as legalities, all I would need is a non resident hunting license. And that will be covered before I make the trip. From what I know, Texas has no closed season on rabbits, and no limits.

Where I live in Georgia, we mainly hawk squirrels. Rabbits are scarce where I live. Almost like hen's teeth. In the spots where you can find rabbits, you need dogs to find em and get em moving. It's nothing like it is where you guys are at. The last time I went west for jacks/bunnies, we caught more the first day than I had seen the two years prior here.

I'm trying to get my Harris' Hawks going now. I haven't flown them in about 3 years, and they're being a bit stubborn with me. How quickly I can get them going will dictate when I make the trip to Texas. I definitely want to make it out there during December. Hopefully in about 2 weeks. I just started flying my redtail hawk again for this season last week. I've had her out a few times, and she's caught a handful of squirrels do far. We went out this afternoon and she bagged 2. I would post some pics, but I'm not sure how to. I'm guessing they need to be hosted off site?

I am the guy that started the rabbit hunting contest thread.

We have some farms east of San Angelo and some pasture land in Vancourt that you can come hunt as long as I get to watch. We don't have near as many rabbits as Glasscock, Midland and Upton counties do, but we can get your birds on plenty.

contact me by email if you would like to set something up.

trillbill979@gmail.com

Can you put a GoPro on a Falcon?