Post by Pogo on Oct 25, 2004 12:07:14 GMT -5
As most of you know I've just returend from Reno Navada where I attended a falconry school. The insturcters name was Jim Tigan, I'm sure some of you california falconers know who I'm talking about and if you don't you should, he is your rep. and discusses problems, new ideas and changes in the law with the feds in california. He is a great mentor and a knowledgable expert. Jim has been flying birds for over 25 years and really knows what he is doing. He also is invovled with Travis Airforce base where he clears runways of pigeons and seegulls, along with two different factories that have problems with pigeons.
I arrived in Reno thursday night and met up with Jim in the morning. We breifly talked about where I would like to go in falconry, what I would like to achieve and when and where I got interested. Another student "Sarge" as we came to call him because of his previous line of duty in the military meandered on in and we started class. Jim had two three ring binders on the table that were for us, full of outlined notes which in no time we began filling in. We started witht the different species, their latin names (which I now know almost all by heart) their habitat, characteristics and living enviroment. We then moved to health and medication, feild identifacation and the basic requirements to becoming an apprentice falconer.
Later that day we were introduced to some of Jims falcons and hawks. He had brought a two beautiful sakers, one tiercel and one hen that was huge, a really good looking barbary and a tiercel immature harris names Tex. We had alot of fun looking over these birds and their weight charts and feeding charts and learned quite a bit about wieght management. At about 4:00 class ended and I hit the books hard that night, taking notes and reading as much material as I could until about 1:00 am.
The next morning I awoke to a scrumpshish continental breakfast with Jim and Sarge and class began. We reviewed our notes and the previous class, took a few more notes. We then went down to the car and were introduced to Jim's astonishing Europian Gos. WOW!!! I can't say enough about this bird, she was amazing. At that point we loaded her up in the giant hood and off we went to one of Jim's many hunting grounds. Jim's Euro had a few really nice chases right of the bat but to no avail. As we were walking and talking we flushed a nich of quail and off she went. It was about a 300 yard chase but the quail put in at the last second and got away. With the excitement of the hunt the bird started to get rilled up and ready to kill. We flushed a jake and in no time she slammed him. Jim and I ran as fast as we could to find a very happy gos atop a 9 lb. jake. We let her pluck and break in before trading her for a tidbit. We all walked back to the truck with silly grins apon our faces but espeacially Jims, as this was his gos' third hunt. We all had lunch and a few laughes and back to the class room we went. We hit the books hard and took more notes on trapping and manning throught the rest of the day. (Class ended).
Thats night my mother and I had dinner with Sarge in the hotel and talked about the many things we had learned that day and the one previous. After dinner my mom and I reviewed my notes and she quized me on my new knowledge. I took some more notes that night, read a few articles in falconry magazine and hit the sack.
Our final day of class began with donuts and orange juice provided by jim. We reviewd once more and started class with food nutrition and training. Throughout the day we took near to 15 pages of notes. Close to lunch time Jim had a guest speaker come in a show us her newly trapped Rt. Her bird was in very good condition. She had only had her for two weeks and she was flying accross the room in front of our class. After lunch with Jim we headed out to one of the factories that Jim works at with the falcons. We had a few chases but didn't bag any quarry. We did a little lure training and headed back to the hotel where we took our final exam to complete the course. I scored a %99. We made some jesses, anklets and leashes before we said our goodbyes and thanks. 30 minutes later I was in plane on my way home.
I had a great time and learned so much. The hunting experience was like no other and the knowledge og birds and falconry are well abundent in my mind. Though he may not read this I would like to thank Jim for his encouragement and his willingness to pass his knowledge on to me. I will never forget this amazing trip.
I arrived in Reno thursday night and met up with Jim in the morning. We breifly talked about where I would like to go in falconry, what I would like to achieve and when and where I got interested. Another student "Sarge" as we came to call him because of his previous line of duty in the military meandered on in and we started class. Jim had two three ring binders on the table that were for us, full of outlined notes which in no time we began filling in. We started witht the different species, their latin names (which I now know almost all by heart) their habitat, characteristics and living enviroment. We then moved to health and medication, feild identifacation and the basic requirements to becoming an apprentice falconer.
Later that day we were introduced to some of Jims falcons and hawks. He had brought a two beautiful sakers, one tiercel and one hen that was huge, a really good looking barbary and a tiercel immature harris names Tex. We had alot of fun looking over these birds and their weight charts and feeding charts and learned quite a bit about wieght management. At about 4:00 class ended and I hit the books hard that night, taking notes and reading as much material as I could until about 1:00 am.
The next morning I awoke to a scrumpshish continental breakfast with Jim and Sarge and class began. We reviewed our notes and the previous class, took a few more notes. We then went down to the car and were introduced to Jim's astonishing Europian Gos. WOW!!! I can't say enough about this bird, she was amazing. At that point we loaded her up in the giant hood and off we went to one of Jim's many hunting grounds. Jim's Euro had a few really nice chases right of the bat but to no avail. As we were walking and talking we flushed a nich of quail and off she went. It was about a 300 yard chase but the quail put in at the last second and got away. With the excitement of the hunt the bird started to get rilled up and ready to kill. We flushed a jake and in no time she slammed him. Jim and I ran as fast as we could to find a very happy gos atop a 9 lb. jake. We let her pluck and break in before trading her for a tidbit. We all walked back to the truck with silly grins apon our faces but espeacially Jims, as this was his gos' third hunt. We all had lunch and a few laughes and back to the class room we went. We hit the books hard and took more notes on trapping and manning throught the rest of the day. (Class ended).
Thats night my mother and I had dinner with Sarge in the hotel and talked about the many things we had learned that day and the one previous. After dinner my mom and I reviewed my notes and she quized me on my new knowledge. I took some more notes that night, read a few articles in falconry magazine and hit the sack.
Our final day of class began with donuts and orange juice provided by jim. We reviewd once more and started class with food nutrition and training. Throughout the day we took near to 15 pages of notes. Close to lunch time Jim had a guest speaker come in a show us her newly trapped Rt. Her bird was in very good condition. She had only had her for two weeks and she was flying accross the room in front of our class. After lunch with Jim we headed out to one of the factories that Jim works at with the falcons. We had a few chases but didn't bag any quarry. We did a little lure training and headed back to the hotel where we took our final exam to complete the course. I scored a %99. We made some jesses, anklets and leashes before we said our goodbyes and thanks. 30 minutes later I was in plane on my way home.
I had a great time and learned so much. The hunting experience was like no other and the knowledge og birds and falconry are well abundent in my mind. Though he may not read this I would like to thank Jim for his encouragement and his willingness to pass his knowledge on to me. I will never forget this amazing trip.