Intro

Here's my best shot at describing myself, and my falconry. I got into this sport back in Highschool, at the tender young age of 16. Thats when I became licensed anyway, I was pouring over falconry books back in grade school. Unforunatley, due to a lack of any concrete references, I didnt know that I could become a falconer as early as age 14 in Oklahoma.

Never the less, I began my journey into the sport amongst undone homework and disgruntled teachers and parents. I was oblivious to it all though, my only concern was spending time afield with my birds. I flew redtails for the two years of my apprenticship, a male and a female. The male was lost in short time, a valuable lesson, but a hard one to accept at that age. My first female was different... a real game hawk she was. She introduced me to the Fox Squirrel in a way I had never known before. And that became my passion. Hawking squirrels in the south canadian river valley.

Once I upgraded my license to the general level, I was relatively unaffected by the common desire to obtain more "valuable" species to fly. Maybe it was a lack of funds....but, I stuck with my first love (the redtail) over the next few years. I flew the occasional harris, and loved them. I compare the harris hawk to a fine bird dog with feathers. They truely set the bar a little higher for the standard oklahoma dirt hawk. But at times the harris's lacked that little bit of mystery that the redtail possessed. If I had a perfectly organized schedule, with a set window of flight time every day I would certainly be flying a female harris right now, as I believe they are the perfect game hawk. But, for now my choice is the Redtail. Their sometimes suicidal approach to hunting combined with their ability to thrive under all conditions is very appealing to me. Not to mention they are extremely forgiving animals compared to other species I've dealt with.

In the past the Female Redtail was my prefered bird. But after flying a male for the last two seasons I now have a healthy respect for their capabilities as well. I have friends who are very fond of their goshawks and falcons and I admire their abality to handle these "higher class" birds. I've never dealt with the accipiters but I've had a couple run ins with some falcons that didnt go to well! In any case Im having a blast here in western oklahoma just doin what I do. What birds and quarry I will encounter in the future are but an anxiously awaited mystery..... I hope you enjoy my journal and good hawking to you all.

Hawking at Calumet Dec. 05.