Posted: 7/22/2017 11:09:16 AM EDT
Anyone ever got into falconry? It is a productive hunting technique? Is it hard to keep the falcon trained to come back to you? Why does it not just fly away from you and stay gone? |
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You get a sponsor to help get a license . You get to train a Redtail or a Kestrel for a couple of seasons and progress from there .
People have been doing it for centuries and alot of good info out there . Check out the pet section , the is a falconer thread in there . |
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My brother used to be into it. Had a red tail hawk. It seemed to work alright for squirrels and the like- enough to feed the bird fed with a some left over. It is a bit of a time sink. You're basically keeping the bird underweight so it pays attention to anything involving food. Then working with it every day so that you can teach it "do this, and you get food."
It seems cool from a distance, but getting involved in it looked to be a bit of a pain in the ass. You have to get a license to be able to keep any of those type of birds. To do that you have to do a 2-year apprenticeship with someone who already has a license. During that time, you can catch and keep a bird that your instructor approves of. Forms to fill out when you catch one, when you let it back into the wild, your cage setup has to be inspected, etc. Falconers like to tell people that its the most regulated sport in the country if that gives you an idea. |
| My boss at my first job after the army had several birds. I was young and in good shape so my job was to run up to the bird and take away its kill. If they get full they will stop hunting. It's pretty damn cool. We would walk up to a pond and see if there were ducks. He'd take the hood off, the falcon would see the duck and take off in the opposite direction. When he got to altitude he would circle the pond. The ducks would panic and take off. The falcon would then dive bomb a duck that was essentially in first gear and snatch it right out of the sky. Mesmerizing stuff. |
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Quoted:
http://d2fbmjy3x0sdua.cloudfront.net/cdn/farfuture/pXCwL0geLTsVZTGmYMmC8bR1bAlKall9Dte7nkfg2LM/mtime:1422549362/sites/default/files/Prairie_Falcon_v11-18-009_l.jpg Anyone ever got into falconry? It is a productive hunting technique? Is it hard to keep the falcon trained to come back to you? Why does it not just fly away from you and stay gone? It takes a lot of time and patience, but it can be spectacular scenery and fun when it works. The falcon comes back because you, the falconer, are the reliable source of food. There is always the risk, especially during migration season, that they'll feel the call of the wild again, and leave you. They have gps units now that you can put on your bird to locate them if they've gotten out of sight. |
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Yep, my daughter (15) and I are both falconer here in Texas.
It is a great and fascinating sport that takes an extra ordinary commitment. It's not like hunting or fishing where you can just put up the tool and forget about it. Six months of the year there is daily interaction with the birds, usually hunting but also training. It's very time consuming but rewarding as well. And we aim to catch enough during the hunting season to feed the birds the whole year. I'd post pics but haven't moved Photobucket over yet. |
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When I was a kid / younger teenager my moms brother was into it. He and some of his falconer friends would come up to my grandad's farm on my dads side of the family and raid nests for baby birds. It was very interesting, but as others of have said it's a big commitment, I'd love to get into it but lack the time to even think about the idea.
He used chicken necks as a cheap food when there was not enough hunted food. I still have fond memories of riding down the farm roads in summer in the back of a truck and seeing rats in the road and releasing the hawk. At 12 years old or so a red tail hawk is a lot of bird to hold up on your arm. But so awesome. My uncle that was the falconer and my dad both helped with Ga DNR and their restoration efforts for the golden eagle. |
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My wife hates birds since she was attacked once. I brought it up to her and she said no and is apparently mad at me now. She caught me watching falconry videos and said "I can't handle this" and walked off. It's an extra hurdle but I've got her to come around before (guns and reloading freaked her out but now she's fine, i also taught her to swim and she'll go deep sea fishing which terrified her before).
I don't mind putting in the time. I'd like to at least dabble in it, and if it's too much time sink I'll wait until i retire in 10 years or so. But i just have to know. It's just so cool. |
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There was a thread here several years back.
It was really cool, unfortunately the pics quit working. |
| It's not the kind of thing you can just dabble in, it's something that requires so much of your time it's essentially a lifestyle. Also if you decide to get into it depending on where you are, finding a falconer to apprentice under could prove to be difficult. When I looked into it years ago I decided as cool as it would be, it was something that was never going to happen for me. ymmv |
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Quoted:
My brother used to be into it. Had a red tail hawk. It seemed to work alright for squirrels and the like- enough to feed the bird fed with a some left over. It is a bit of a time sink. You're basically keeping the bird underweight so it pays attention to anything involving food. Then working with it every day so that you can teach it "do this, and you get food." It seems cool from a distance, but getting involved in it looked to be a bit of a pain in the ass. You have to get a license to be able to keep any of those type of birds. To do that you have to do a 2-year apprenticeship with someone who already has a license. During that time, you can catch and keep a bird that your instructor approves of. Forms to fill out when you catch one, when you let it back into the wild, your cage setup has to be inspected, etc. Falconers like to tell people that its the most regulated sport in the country if that gives you an idea. The manning process takes a long time, he has to train it daily, he has to be kept at a VERY specific weight, like, a single digit oz range. If it gets heavier cause eating it won't fly, too light and it's not strong enough and tires easily, or gets sick easily. that bird spray shit EVERYWHERE off the back of their perch, he has a plastic sheet to keep it from getting everywhere, but man, what a lot of shit. it takes a ton of time, attention, money and focus. I love watching him work that bird, but have lost all desire to have one. |
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Quoted:
There was a thread here several years back. It was really cool, unfortunately the pics quit working. |