That is a great question, and one that I asked Steve on the thread that was deleted. I can see no fault in the way that I handled the trapping insodent and it could have happened to an 'in state' falconer when trapping just as easily. When I brought up the subject on Steve's public profile page(
http://www.nafex.net/member.php?u=1050), he counter with this post on mine(
http://www.nafex.net/member.php?u=323).
The thing is that I had received this quote off of the longwingers forum from a friend;
A friend put me onto the photographer Terry Sohl's original post shortly after his encounter with Jeff O'Dell, and I must say that it immediately alarmed me. I have always understood the desire for non-resident take in the US, but when the subject first came up among Canadians, I had a hard time offering my support, regardless of the political barriers that would likely prevent it. I have always felt that residents harvesting wild raptors would be careful, respectful and diplomatic in the effort of preserving their legal privilege. At the same time I fearfully pictured non-residents trapping with a "nothing-to-lose" attitude. I realize that not all residents are angels and not all non-resident are rogues, but I have seen examples of this non-resident carelessness with respect to landowner hunting permission at field meets, and it's very scary. Watch one meet visitor tear a 4X4 vehicle across private cattle pasture that you respectfully tiptoe around daily, and you'll know what I mean. Have any SD falconers' trapping efforts rocked the boat with a member of the birding community this way before? I'm doubtful.
At the risk of being verbally chastised, I also feel that it is the American way to feel that if the law allows it, then nobody's say matters otherwise. While this is true in a legal sense, we must also be forever conscious of what implications might exist if we dig our heels in. Bird watchers/photographers, I believe, form the second largest group of recreational hobbyists in the world. Falconers, well we're probably at the bottom of that same list. We both focus on the same wild resource, so a competition for that resource naturally exists. The gyrfalcon in question is a beautiful bird. I'm glad Terry Sohl got the fantastic photos of it that he did, and I hope the best for Jeff O'Dell in his efforts to turn her into a great falconry bird. I just hope that the heated excitement of both parties doesn't create damaging waves amongst a community that we falconers should do everything to keep on good terms with.
The irony of it all is that by passage gyr "laws of probability", the bird's days as a wild falcon are far from over.
Regards,
Steve