For anyone who is just learning about this and is interested i would strongly suggest checking the NAFEX (north american falconers exchange) website and reading but not posting for a long while. Also look into the modern apprentice to see more of what it really takes to get into falconry. If you haven't been turned off yet by the sheer amount of time and effort this takes then contact your state wildlife peoples and request a falconry packet, this will include the federal and state laws regarding falconry. STUDY THE LAWS!!!! Read books about falconry, and read the forums, see if your state has a falconry association and join it or at least watch it. Try to get out to a falconry meet and talk to people. If you still haven't decided it's a bad idea for you then purchase the california hawking club apprentice manual and study guide. This will be the absolute best preparation for the exam. Read the book a few times over and complete the study guide, then go over it again. and again. and again. The vast majority of people don't pass their test the first time and you have to wait 3 months before you can take it again.
Once you do pass the test you can begin searching for a sponsor and this is the hardest part. Falconers for the most part are rather guarded about their sport, and rightly so, they have worked hard to create their own regulations so that the government doesn't get involved and take it away (like what we are experiencing in the reptile hobby) Thousands of people take an interest in falconry and never follow through with it. If a falconer hears from 200 people that are looking for a sponsor MAYBE one or two ever actually get through all the work to where they finally need that sponsor. In short, they are not very receptive to new comers until you have proven yourself and that takes more time and effort than anything else.
And probably the most important thing... Falconry IS NOT PET KEEPING. If you get into falconry you are hunting, you are not having a bird just for the fun of it. You are trapping and manning a wild bird of prey, learning how to work with it for the best result, she is your hunting partner not your pet.
This is coming from an almost apprentice point of view. I have been researching and studying and persevering for 2 years and FINALLY to the point where the very last step is to find a sponsor and that has been the most difficult thing in the entire journey. I passed my exam, took the hunter safety course to get my hunting license, passed my facility inspection and cannot proceed any further without a sponsor (yes they are legally required). So maybe some day soon I will get my apprentice permit, but that ever elusive sponsor is still evading me for the time being.....
Once you do pass the test you can begin searching for a sponsor and this is the hardest part. Falconers for the most part are rather guarded about their sport, and rightly so, they have worked hard to create their own regulations so that the government doesn't get involved and take it away (like what we are experiencing in the reptile hobby) Thousands of people take an interest in falconry and never follow through with it. If a falconer hears from 200 people that are looking for a sponsor MAYBE one or two ever actually get through all the work to where they finally need that sponsor. In short, they are not very receptive to new comers until you have proven yourself and that takes more time and effort than anything else.
And probably the most important thing... Falconry IS NOT PET KEEPING. If you get into falconry you are hunting, you are not having a bird just for the fun of it. You are trapping and manning a wild bird of prey, learning how to work with it for the best result, she is your hunting partner not your pet.
This is coming from an almost apprentice point of view. I have been researching and studying and persevering for 2 years and FINALLY to the point where the very last step is to find a sponsor and that has been the most difficult thing in the entire journey. I passed my exam, took the hunter safety course to get my hunting license, passed my facility inspection and cannot proceed any further without a sponsor (yes they are legally required). So maybe some day soon I will get my apprentice permit, but that ever elusive sponsor is still evading me for the time being.....
