Falconry?

[Metalhead]

Anyone ever looked into this? I always thought it'd be a unique, rewarding, and somewhat useful skill to be able to train and hunt with a bird. Apparently in TN you must apprentice with a Master Falconer for two years before getting granted a hunting license, though from what I understand.

[peejman]

My wife has worked with a few different birds while volunteering over the past few years. They're really magnificent creatures, though they're fairly high maintenance. She hasn't done the hunting aspect, just general care and public education. I think she knows one person that owns a falcon, but I'm not entirely sure.

[atlas3025]

It is very cool, but I have read you'll spend about $4k to get into it. If you have the swag, I say go for it!

[10-Ring]

I studied up on it a while back because I thought that it would be interesting and rewarding to get into. What it boiled down to with me was my lack of feeling comfortable about making that commitment to the bird. I live alone and I like to travel. Because the birds require such special care I was hesitant because I figured finding another falconer to take care of the birds could be a problem. I despise people who get dogs and can't take care of them so they just dump them off wherever, when you take on an animal it is my belief that you make a commitment to that animal to take care of it for the rest of its life and I just don't feel comfortable doing that at this time.