hi from central california

[bigjay]

just wanted to drop in and say hi, ive been reading for awhile but figured it polite to stop bieng such a lurk :D. my name is Jay and ive been involved with falconry and raptors in one way or another for 15 years, although yet to be licensed and have my own bird, that will change soon. i raise and have raised a myriad of other avian species and currently keep a number of varietys of pigeons and hookbills as well as waterfowl and reptiles. im slightly odd in that i have a long time affinity for pigeons and have flown and exibited a combined 30 breeds in my 17 years with them, but have an even stronger love for raptors, im probably one of a small handfull of such people. its come to the point where ive given an utimatum of get your face smashed dont shoot that coop to another pigeon guy at one point fairly recently. im a 6'7" 345lb defender of all things raptor, lol. i know a few local falconers and definitly look forward to meeting more. my life has just now finally come to a point where i can invest the time needed for full on falconry, i thought it had last year but sometimes life throws giant rocks at us and we have to wait for God to show us where the keys to a tractor are to move them. with that said, take care all and happy hunting;)

[Bodarc]

(welc) Jay !!

I know you're going to love handling and flying these hawks. I would say it's addictive but I think you've had bird fever for years already.

My daddy once told me "Don't say anything to anyone that you wouldn't say to the biggest baddest man in the crowd and you'll get along with everyone" I'll keep you in mind when I'm talking to a little guy. peacee

[wesleyc6]

Glad to have you Jay!

[Bryant Tarr]

You don't sound odd at all to me! Welcome aboard. (welc) I think you just found the rest of the handful of people who share your affinity for raptors.

[everetkhorton]

Jay:
(welc) to the site, we have fun on this site,we put in a dig now and then, but it is all in fun.

[chamokane]

Welcome, Jay.

I know several falconers who started with pigeons and when they saw hawks chasing the pigeons, they decided they wanted to be on the side of the winners.:D

I also know one guy who started as a falconer, using pigeons to train his birds, and then decided that he liked the pigeons better and spent his life racing homers. I guess that's why there's more than one hobby in the world.

[bigjay]

thanks for the welcome guys! good to know im among birds of a feather ( pun intended). ive heard of a few people going from falconry to pigeons but dotn know any who went from pigeons to falconry.

I at one point had 350+ pigeons of various breeds, then cut it down to just flying breeds and in the last year cut it down even farther to 3 breeds and my own little creation ive been working on specifically for falconry use, im hoping they will be ready by next years meet so i can offer a few of them up for the sky trials, if all goes as planned ill have about 15 that can be expendable. this year ive watched 2 of them outfly passage peregrines untill the bird gave up ( could have been the same longwing on 2 occasions), i did lose one to a wicked tiercel a few weeks ago and it was sweet watching him adjust his technique to catch the bird, he ended up nailing it on the third try at roughly 400 feet up with a speedy 45 degree stoop, that put a stupid grin on my face for the rest of the day.

Ive been looking through the storys and following some of the progress reports and it seems theres alot of great hawkers here, take care


Jay

[sharptail]

thanks for the welcome guys! good to know im among birds of a feather ( pun intended). ive heard of a few people going from falconry to pigeons but dotn know any who went from pigeons to falconry.

I at one point had 350+ pigeons of various breeds, then cut it down to just flying breeds and in the last year cut it down even farther to 3 breeds and my own little creation ive been working on specifically for falconry use, im hoping they will be ready by next years meet so i can offer a few of them up for the sky trials, if all goes as planned ill have about 15 that can be expendable. this year ive watched 2 of them outfly passage peregrines untill the bird gave up ( could have been the same longwing on 2 occasions), i did lose one to a wicked tiercel a few weeks ago and it was sweet watching him adjust his technique to catch the bird, he ended up nailing it on the third try at roughly 400 feet up with a speedy 45 degree stoop, that put a stupid grin on my face for the rest of the day.

Ive been looking through the storys and following some of the progress reports and it seems theres alot of great hawkers here, take care


Jay

That is cool Jay. I have for many year thrown my Pigeons for wild falcons.

[bigjay]

Jeff, when i was reposessing cars ( and boats and rv's and motorcycles) and on the road 7-12 hours a day i would carry a couple of culls with me alot of times and toss them for coopers and the occasional longwing i would run across in my travels for the day, i "fed" one passage prarie for almost a week untill i saw her get blown out of the area by a resident marsh hawk, i didnt see her any more after that, she was getting good too :)

[Eagle Owl]

Welcome to the forum, Jay!

[sharptail]

Jeff, when i was reposessing cars ( and boats and rv's and motorcycles) and on the road 7-12 hours a day i would carry a couple of culls with me alot of times and toss them for coopers and the occasional longwing i would run across in my travels for the day, i "fed" one passage prarie for almost a week untill i saw her get blown out of the area by a resident marsh hawk, i didnt see her any more after that, she was getting good too :)

It is great to think that you could have trained her to wait on and that trapped and tamed her.

[trillionairess]

(welc)Welcome aboard Jay!

[bigjay]

Jeff, wouldnt that have been great, that bird, by all appearances, seemed to be one of those minority of birds that are a perfect fit for falconry, like an idiot though i named her ( as ive found in the past if i name something i lose it ) "Danika" after Danika Patrick because of how fast she was, if that had gone on much longer i would have found someone that wanted her and brought a bal chatri or harness with me, ah well the good ones tend get away huh.