falconry

seldom_seen · Fission Joined: Apr 12, 2005 Posts: 2037

A falcon would be a good way to acquire small game...rabbits....ducks...etc. Plus falcons are cool and you would be a hit with the post peak ladies rollin' up with your falcon on your shoulder.

Seriously though...are there any falconers on this forum? Calling all falconers? Do they eat a lot at home....can they hang out outside the cage?

skyemoor · Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 7:27 pm Post subject: Re: falconry

I have no falconry skills but I did find this. Quite a bit too it, it seems...
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EndOfGrowth · Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 7:02 am Post subject: Re: falconry

I used to own a male Kestrel when I was a kid. There's lots to learn in this hobby. A broody hand and lots of patience is what is needed as hawks can be temperamental buggers at the best of times. My bird's diet consisted of mostly day old cockerel chicks which I bought by the hundred and stored in the freezer. I sometimes shot the odd sparrow with an air rifle or trapped the odd starling aswell. Falconers keep their birds in a mews (hawk house) which is like a purpose built shed with sand substrate, a mesh front and a few branches strung up. On the fine days, he ('Zack')would spend most of his day outside in the garden tethered to a 'block'. Like

this one.

Unfortunately I had to give up the hobby early due starting work for my Father straight after I left school. I only got as far as flying the bird on a creance, which is like a kite string which is tethered to his jesses (kind of leashes for the ankles). This was part of his lure training, which consisted of placing the bird on a fence post and walking 30 or so yards away from him, and the idea is to get the bird to fly to you and land on your glove by presenting food at first and then eventually just by calling or whistling. Birds of prey are most cooperative when they are hungry so it helps to keep their weight down, which means constantly weighing the bird and not over-feeding him. This takes time and patience and for me, was an area of the hobby that needed more practice on because my bird was not always cooperative.

This is just a vague insight into the hobby as I'm not a professional falconer. It takes years to fully master and I hope to return to it one day.

Kesterels are an ideal bird to start out and train with, however if you are wanting to hnt game, you will need a larger and more robust bird, like a Goshawk or Buzzard.

I suggest you get hold of a copy of the classic movie KES which is highly entertaining and portrays a story of a young northern lad who steals a Kestrel chick and raises and trains it successfully.
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seldom_seen · Fission Joined: Apr 12, 2005 Posts: 2037

Interesting info thanks. It sounds like falconry is not something you can just dabble in on the weekends. :)

I think given enough time raising a raptor and hunting with it would be an amazing experience. Hope to have the chance to do that some day.