Got a pair of red tail hawks nesting in a tree behind my barn. One was sitting on the nest and the other one was flying from tree to tree screaming it’s head off . I need a good camera because I constantly see things that would make great photos

Times sure have changed. When I was a boy those hawks would have been target practice. Eliminating predators that competed with a food source (rabbits) was a common practice.

Next time use a scope then after the shot you get your close ups.

Feel lucky to have them nesting in your area. JMO

Not sure if you have kids Jbyrd, but I have dealt with one case where they were attacking kids waiting for the school bus with one of the kids suffering from a head injury (laceration) .

I got one flying off with one of my chicks a couple years ago,..took a double tap but it floor dived.
Felt good after that!

I've got a cool story bout proper apex predator control in the 70's, back when things were solid. But I will just agree J, I find the beauty but the beauty doesn't exceed food on the table.

I don't know if it is right or wrong I just know it was common practice. Also know that when it was common practice, granted DDT may have also played a role, there were so many more rabbits. Miss those days of good bunny hunts.

X2

when I was a kid, there were no redtails, sharp shinned, or coopers. there were chicken hawks and we shot them. now there is one on every other light pole and an eagle or 2 in between!

ViE. Lynch, in his books on trapping, listed birds of prey from which ones you should always kill to beneficial ones. There wasn't very many wholly beneficial ones.

Keith

Its pretty sad to see conservative hunters talking trash about shooting birds of prey because they dont want to share the hawks food with them. As if its all ours.

Wrong partner there are way to many of them in 1970 rarely seen one now they are everywhere and think about what you said sharing food that goes for coyotes, wolves, otters and all .

Right or wrong it was common practice in the 70's and before. Of course I grew up in the south which was overall poor. Didn't want Mr Red-tail eating supper.

Yes when I was growing up people would stop in the middle of the road just to shoot at one. Times have changed. Yes raptors will wipe out muskrats. I have several pics on my deer cam of this pair catching blue jays, cardinals, and doves at my feeder. But that 's part of the cycle of life. No kids close to it. Sowed my food plot today and they never bothered me. Of course no chicks yet.


My attitude has changed. Who can say they have a hawks nest behind their barn? If I shot them what have I accomplished? One thing is they are fun to watch when I'm at the barn. Not bothering me , so I won't bother them .

Yes the muskrat decline has to be partly their fault, I am sure there are other factors too but we have a lot of birds of prey that we did not have in the '50 or '60. Dont want to see them all gone but the small game needs a chance to live also at least to reproduce. On dry summer like last year here we had no baby muskrats......jk

guess your a city boy, never experienced that the food you think we should share with them were the chickens, guineas, and turkeys that we fed everyday for meat and eggs to feed a family.

Agreed^^

Agree 100%. How many of you really understand what makes up a bird of preys diet? Not many it appears.
Every year cornell university has a live cam on a pair of nesting redtails, you can watch and see what is brought to the nest by whichever parent is hunting. I can tell you it's mainly snakes, red squirrels, chipmunks, and mice. Very rarely a bunny, and I've never seen anything larger.

Don't condemn a BOP just because they do what we do, hunt and kill to feed their families.

ya ever live in the country? on a farm, where you lived off what you produced? if you did you would consider raptors the same as 3rd generation welfare recipients