ok heres a question for everyone, i found this link about falconry becoming legallized in connecticut, and it says that you have to have a sponsor before you can become an apprentice (duh). my question is, how are they supposed to get a sponsor if no body in the state can practice it? heres the link dep.state.ct.us/burnatr/wildlife/fguide/falconry.htm
"On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone is zero" -Tyler Durden (Jack)
Conneticut is small. I would pressume that you could find a sponsor from out of state. I have heard of people who live in denmark i think where falconry is illegal who hunt thier birds in different countries because they live on the border.
Even so, a sponsor should be able to reach you quickly if something happens to your bird. Conneticut has got to be crowded so that could take a while to get to you. Sounds like Conn. falconry is going to have a tough time getting off the ground.
They are required to seek a sponsor out of state as no falconers live in the state yet. To accuire their first bird, they must go out of state to trap as it is illegal to trap raptors in Conn. Apprentices are not allowed to hunt on their own until a letter is sent to the game department stating that they are competant to do so by their sponsor. The only bird allowed for an apprentice is an RT. All birds must be banded. Records must be kept for regular inspection on such things as weight, food, hunting, and lineage of captive bred birds. They are basicly saying OK, we'll let you have falconry in this state but were going to make it as hard as possible for you. Bunch of D@#k headed political beurocracy. Take a read through their regs.....I had a good laugh a them
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion................ and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."
As a Connecticut resident I can vouch for the fact that our falconry regulations (when they are finally approved by the U.S. F&WS) will be the most restrictive in any of the the 49 states that allow falconry. There is one more stipulation that hasn't been mentioned yet. If we jump through all of the hoops reuqired to practice falconry in CT - i.e., get an out of state sponsor, build a mews, pass the exam, get a state permit, get a federal permit, get an out of state capture permit (and non-resdent hunting license depending on the state), trap a bird, get an import permit from CT - if we do all that and God forbid, we lose the bird, we aaaaaren't legally allowed to re-trap the bird within CT even though we lgeally obtained it from another state!!!!! Can you believe that??
If you live in CT and are interested in practicing falconry, my advice is to start looking now for an out of state sponsor. Depending on which part of the state you live, your choices are Rhode island, Massachusetts or New York state. I have spent the least three seasons driving out to Rhode Island to beat brush for a falconer there. He has agreed to be my sponsor when our regs go through. There's some time to meet out of state falconers and get out in the field with them since, our regs probably won't be approved by the feds until March 2005, which means no falconry until Fall 2005.
[quote author=Guest-Jon Darp link=board=general&thread=1094588016&start=7#0 date=1094763076 we lose the bird, we aaaaaren't legally allowed to re-trap the bird within CT even though we lgeally obtained it from another state!!!!! Can you believe that?? [/quote]
WHAT!? That's just stupid. I feel bad for you guys
Ummmm?? Actually you can re-trap it in state. I read it in ya'lls regs the other day. The birds must be banded to do this.
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion................ and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."
"Actually you can re-trap it in state. I read it in ya'lls regs the other day. The birds must be banded to do this. "
Actually we can't because of the state law prohibiting the trapping of birds in Connecticut. It doesn't make any difference if there bird was banded or not when it comes to re-trapping. The only exception would be if the bird lost is captive bred and/or a hybrid. Believe me, I've had numerous discussions/debates about this with our Dept. of Environmental Protection (D.E.P.).
- JonDarp
"In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
(d) No falconer shall take any raptor from the wild in Connecticut pursuant to section 26-92 of the Connecticut General Statutes except that a falconer may capture by use of a bow net, mist-net, dho-ghazza net or bal-chatri trap a legally possessed captive-bred or hybrid raptor that has escaped provided that the raptor has been banded with a seamless band pursuant to section subsection (b) of section 26-67e-15 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies and the raptor is wearing an item of falconry equipment.
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion................ and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."
My apologies. I should have been more specific in my original post about re-trapping passage birds versus captive bred or hybrid raptors. Either way, they're not going to make things easy for us here in CT.
No one likes the regs they've stuck us with and we fought them tooth and nail for the better part of six years. It finally came to the point where we decided to move ahead with the regs and "chip away" at the less desirable aspects (and as you have seen there are many of them) after we get our program up and running. At least we'll get a chance to fly some birds and learn the sport instead of waiting another six years for better regs.
- JonDarp
"In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
Absolutely!!! It's called something is better that nothing. In Texas, we used to have some very stingent rules. Over time, our members formed a falconry commitee to work with the TPW dept. to work out the rules to make them better suited to real life. I feel confident that over time it will change for the better in your state. Are you a falconer? Or are you in the process of becoming one? Cheers, The Weasel
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion................ and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."