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$33.00

Desert Hawking IV: Quail

This book is a continuation of the Desert Hawking series, and it could be viewed as a culmination of my hawking techniques. From the beginning of my falconry career, I have favored the direct pursuit hawks such as the accipiters, Harris and aplomado. Because of my senior status and the length of our flights, I hunt with four good legs under me.

 

My preference is the Peruvian Paso. Desert Hawking IV: Quail begins with a focus on the Harris at quail and then moves on to hawking this game bird with the aplomado. There are 327 illustrations including color photos, drawings, and works of art. It is slightly shorter than its predecessor with 368 pages. The book closes with a chapter written by my friends hunting other prey with the aplomado, but the reader is forewarned that this work is narrowly focused on hawking desert quail.

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This book is a continuation of the Desert Hawking series, and it could be viewed as a culmination of my hawking techniques. From the beginning of my falconry career, I have favored the direct pursuit hawks such as the accipiters, Harris and aplomado. Because of my senior status and the length of our flights, I hunt with four good legs under me. My preference is the Peruvian Paso. Desert Hawking IV: Quail begins with a focus on the Harris at quail and then moves on to hawking this game bird with the aplomado. There are 327 illustrations including color photos, drawings, and works of art. It is slightly shorter than its predecessor with 368 pages. The book closes with a chapter written by my friends hunting other prey with the aplomado, but the reader is forewarned that this work is narrowly focused on hawking desert quail.

Part One: The Harris Hawk

  • Trapping the Harris
  • Taming and Training
  • Diet, Rations, and Weight Control
  • Hunting
  • Molt
  • Dogs
  • Hayburners
  • Harris Hunts

Part Two: The Aplomado Falcon

  • Introduction and Descritpion
  • Taming and Training
  • Dove
  • Hawking quail
  • Equipment
  • Resources
  • References
  • Contributors’s Articles

Reviews

  1. Matthew Mullenix –

    The latest in Harry McElroy’s career-length chronicle of real American falconry is yours to keep. In whole or in part, there is no work more accessible, accurate, informed or charming than this seminal contribution to the literature of our sport. Desert Hawking: Quail is the fourth installment in almost forty years, and we’ve been anxious for it.

    Harry, however, is quick to question his enduring appeal as a falconry writer. He muses on this among friends while his books sell like pancakes to lumberjacks and resell for ten times their face value. Consider that as you hold this one. If falconry is paramount to a few of us fanatics, then falconry books are a near equal obsession, and the Desert Hawking series holds pride of place on the bookshelf.

    What is it about Harry’s writing that rings with such authority and authenticity? Jennifer Coulson, in a recent tribute, suggested these virtues extend naturally from the man: “Harry McElroy is a model falconer . . . His falconry is guided by independence of thought, imagination, keen powers of observation, and a critical analyzing of the job at hand. He doesn’t re-invent the wheel when something works well, but he’s not afraid to diverge from deep rooted falconry traditions.”

    Coulson likens McElroy to the great explorers, neither timidly following a map nor stubbornly maverick. This book proves the point: The pursuit of fast gallinaceous birds with dynamic raptor species is classic falconry. But the Bobwhite and Scaled quails are new; the high desert setting is exotic; and the Harris’ hawk and Aplomado falcon fairly rewrite the definition of dynamic raptor.
    With the addition of horses and hawking dogs, Desert Hawking: Quail charts undiscovered country and makes it seem familiar.

    It is an honor, and I kid you not, a real thrill to introduce this book to you. Ideally, Harry would ask a finer, more experienced falconer than himself to recommend it. But for obvious reason, that just isn’t possible.

    Matthew Mullenix
    Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2007

  2. Mike McDermott –

    Harry’s newest installment in the Desert Hawking series is by far his best. The latest edition surpasses its intermediary predecessors: DH II and DH III because it inspires the reader with the reader with same enthusiasm and cutting edge material that made DH I so special. Desert Hawking IV is the definitive work on the aplomado falcon. No contest.

    A historical perspective may help the reader in understanding why I believe this is his best work. The first Desert Hawking book brought to the falconry community the basics of a training program that kept the problematic Cooper’s hawks alive and got most trainers to the point in which they could actually catch game with these difficult birds. Prior to this publication, most died early and few caught much game- at all. Harry’s DH I book had a profound affect on the level of the sport in regards to these accipitrine hunters.

    It does include roughly 130 pages of Harris’ oriented quail hawking, dog and horse ancedotes. Most of this is reasonably familiar. But make no mistake, this will long be known as “Harry’s aplomado book”.

    By Mike McDermott Saint Paul, MO

    Excert from: A Book Review Review, Volume 53, American Falconry

  3. Jamaica Smith –

    This unpretentious book is filled with every little detail one might possibly need in order to hawk quail in the American southwest. And although Harry did not write it with the apprentice in mind, the beginning austringer will greatly benefit from reading this book cover to cover. Any falconer planning to fly a Harris’ hawk, particularly a passage tierce, will find Quail extremely helpful, even it it is not one’s first Harris’. Those planning to fly an aplomado falcon would also be wise to read this book. Even a falconer looking to hawk from horseback will find a great deal of valuable information in Desert Hawking IV.

    Within each chapter, Harry breaks his topics into a logical order and follow up each topic with a brief, bulleted review. This makes the book relatively easy to read and also an excellent reference book. A quick glance at the index will likely reveal a page to which one can turn for further information.

    Harry liberally salts his how-to chapters with brief stories illustrating his ideas and concepts. These are in addition to those chapters that are solely dedicated to hawking stories. In fact, one might even describe the book as a collection of hawking stories interspersed with instructional sections. The tales of derring-do both educate and entertain, because Harry is quite at ease with sharing his personal faux pas.

    I cannot emphasize enough that this book belongs in every falconer’s library. So, no excuses, treat yourself to one of falconry’s accomplished master’s finest books.

    By Jamaica Smith, Kingman, Az

    Excerts from: A Book Review VOL. 53 American Falconery

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