Hey Bobby,

I think your name "Gradhawk" is quite fitting (and funny). I have been there myself, stumbling into falconry while in my Junior year of college. I had to be realistic about my commitments and time available to dedicate; passion only gets you so far in falconry.

You are absolutely doing the right thing, learning as much as you can until the time is right.

You will find a ton of information here on nafex about flying and training birds. Also a lot about husbandry, and health issues. If I would recommend 1 book to an aspire apprentice to start with, it would be "The Red Tailed Hawk: Americas most versatile game hawk" by Liam McGranaham. This book is not the most scientific, but it was a huge asset when I was learning as to what the "day-2-day" is like in falconry season. It's a great read to begin with, and incredible informative for Tri-state area terrain.

Hope you find what your looking for.

Welcome to nafex!