What to do Before Finding a Sponsor
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Falconry is Overly RomanticizedFalconry is a sport that is rarely practiced in the USA. About 120 falconers are licensed in Virginia (as of 2022, per Randy Francis DWR), many of which are licensed but do not have a bird. That leaves at most 100 flying falconers in Virginia.
So, the general public does not get exposure at all to real falconers. The public’s perception of falconry is often merely the romanticized form shown through the press and media. In reality, falconry is hard. On any given hunt, the falconer can stumble over a downed fence, get poison ivy, trip over barbed wire, fall in a creek, get footed... Worse, the falconer can lose the bird. It just flies away... Or the raptor can get hit by a car or become poisoned by a baited pigeon or rodent. The kestrel Katie pictured at the top of this page got eaten by a Cooper's Hawk in the middle of town. All heartbreaks. The ups and downs of flying a raptor make falconry an amazing sport that is difficult to participate in. To Do ListHere is a list of tasks you can do before asking for a sponsor:
Go visit other falconers and look at their mews. Compare the types, pros and cons. Also, NAFA has a Video Archive with virtual mews tours you can view. Then, build a mews that keeps your bird safe and comfortable. Get proper hunting clothes. That includes briar pants, falconry glove, sturdy shoes, jacket and brush beating stick. Learn to butcher an animal. If need be, buy local roosters off craigslist and butcher them humanely. Ask for help if you need to learn. Falconry is a hunting sport, and often prospective falconers cannot process game. Maybe falconry is not for them; maybe it's wildlife rehabber, avian vet assistant, trainer, a.o. Explore. Get your Virginia Small Game Hunting License. This is a legal requirement demanded by the state. You will need to complete a safety course and obtain the hunting license. You need to maintain your license active while practicing falconry. This requirement could mean you need to renew yearly if you do not have a lifetime hunting license. |
Go HuntingA falconer is a person who hunts with a raptor.
The pre-apprentice needs to go hunting with a falconer dozens of times to actually learn and convey their serious intent to participate in the sport. There are steps you’ll have to take on your way to learn to hunt before getting permitted. Get your Virginia Small Game Hunting License. Visit, read, learn and print-out the online DWR Falconry Regulations, Facilities & Equipment document. It will instruct you on the legal parameters we falconers are bound to work within. Your Initiative Will Be Your stepping StoneAlso, become a member of your state club and NAFA and absorb their literature. Learn the vocabulary of falconry. Practice the falconry knot until it is effortless. From the time this author had an incling to becoming an apprentice, two years of daily pillow reading magazines and going out weekly during the hunting season was the order of learning. The two meets and picnic are essential to networking: inability to mingle there sets you back, both in inability to network and demonstration that falconry is not a number one priority.
These are but a few preliminary steps. Completing these steps will show prospective sponsors that you are 1) able 2) serious and 3) determined enough to already have put in some blood and sweat to achieve your goal. No step is easy. Falconry is hard. Proceed with determination one step at a time! Then you’ll go the mile. |
Page in Hawk Chalk, the publication of the North American Falconry Association, about Sponsorship
Pre-apprentice Ryan and Corine Holding Apprehensive Cleopatra After a Hunt by Manassas
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