The things we do

My sponsor has an interesting blog post today that i would recomend people read. Not only is he a falconer but he is a rehabber as well.

In falconry it sometimes all to easy to get caught up in the hunt and the head count. Some people treat it like a competition and gauge there success by that head count and all to often you hear my Hawk took this many head of rabbits, or i shot this many deer. I read different forums and different blogs, not all about falconry but some about hunting taking from the land. I think allot of people miss the point.

This year has been a hugh learning curve for me even more than the previous year. It's not been an easy year both from the amount of game, but medical issues and my own lack of hunting skills. In this area i have learnt the going is tuff rabbits are few and far between. Squirrels are culled before deer season so as not to alert deer to the presence of the deer hunter.

I have learnt water snakes have liver flukes that can be bigger than 2.5 millimeters long that turn a raptors poop to a watery black mess. I have learnt that a rabbit will evade 2 people on either side of it with a hawk over head waiting to pounce. I have learnt if it moves my hawk is going to attack it regardless of size and regardless of if it’s a living thing (Hence the rocking horse in the head count).

But most of all i have learnt i actually like being out in the fields drugging through mud, ice and snow.