Several years ago the Texas Hawking Association came to Abilene for their annual meeting. I was awesome watching them work.

Man this is a cool thread. I really thought running a falcon was as close to as myth as one can get. I've seen YouTube videos an its pretty sweet watching the way they hunt and zone in. So are they not like a bird dog I. The sense you have to obtain and new one every season and retrain. I keep seeing "release". I couldn't imagine that I'd get pretty attached. Also how do you train a bird caught in the wild to come back to you? I'd love to see a falconer in action someday.

I was thinking the same thing on trying to get a bird to return. And if you release them, what keeps then from hanging around you after you do?

Same thing I'm wondering. Man that sounds too cool lol

I realize this is a bit older now, but I haven't logged on much lately. Summer is a busy time.

It is not necessary to trap and release a bird each season, but many of us do. I do it for a variety of reasons, but I have kept birds for a couple of years before too. Different falconers handle that aspect of it differently. I just like to try a new bird each year.

The raptors work for us for food. We maintain their weights throughout the day, and when they get close to "hunting weight", we take them out to hunt (once trained to come when called, of course). The bond between a bird and its trainer varies dramatically among species and individual birds. Some raptors have been called back to the lure after very long periods in the wild. Others lose interest immediately once their weight is brought up and they are released.

I kept a redtailed hawk for a couple of years many years ago. I released her 20 miles from my house. A few days later, she was sitting on my mews (hawk cage) in my backyard. She hung around for a couple of days and then I never saw her again.

Here's a youtube video of the process of trapping and training. Pretty cool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=addu_M9ZSEM