Greetings from Iowa!

[KarliRae]

Hello there! My name is Karli-Rae Kerrschneider. I am a 28 year old Registered Nurse. I have been interested in falconry for a long time but it was never really a possibility since I was in college, and moving alot, and then graduating a getting a job, getting married, etc kept me quite busy. Now my husband and I have been married for almost 3 years, things have settled down, and as I started to look into the requirements of falconry again I realized I could actually do this!
I don't have a bird yet. I do have a sponsor though who is a Master Falconer. This August my husband and I are moving to a 30-acre farm which is just perfect for falconry, secluded, lots of woods bordering the property - and I have already started measuring and constructing my mews there. So in Iowa, the mews inspection and test have to take place at the same time. So after I pass those I will receive my permit to catch my first passage red-tailed hawk.

In the meantime I have been reading North American Falconry and Hunting Hawks, and basically soaking up every bit of info I can about falconry, falcons, etc.

I look forward to participating in the forums and learning from you all!

Karli-Rae

[Saluqi]

Welcome aboard! There are some great falconers from Iowa, and it sounds like you have a great start.

[Ross]

Welcome Karli-Rae. I live up in the Northwest corner of the state. The Iowa Falconers Association has been inactive for the last few years. I have been talking to some of the old members and we would like to try to pull off at least one meet this season. We are waiting for game counts to determine when and where. I hope we can get you there. Where are you located and who is your sponsor? You can PM me the answers if you don't want that out on the forum. NAFEX is a great forum Like anything on the internet you can't trust everything,but it is way better than most for civility and regulation of content. Plenty to look at for a newbie.

[cvandermerwe]

"Like anything on the internet you can't trust everything "

WHAT????

[Flintknapper]

What part of the state of Iowa are you located.

[Steve L.]

I'm going to guess Davenport area and the sponsor is Tom Deckert. The internet is a scary place.

FYI, Karli-Rae, everyone likes Tom. He's a good guy. Make sure you make him introduce you to other falconers. It will improve what you get out of the apprenticeship.

[Ross]

I was at Tom's place last weekend, he mentioned a female apprentice. I guess it all fits. Karli Rae, you have a good guy as a sponsor there. Welcome again.

[KarliRae]

LoL, yeah Davenport.
And Tom is a great guy with a lot of years of experience and wisdom that he is wonderfully generous about sharing. I am excited and grateful to be sponsored by him!

Thanks for the welcomes! And I would love to attend the meet! I have some family/friends in Central IA so we might be able to secure some free lodging if price is an issue at all. :-) What about making a teaching event out of it at Iowa State? Promote this incredible "sport" (if it can even be called that) and teach the respect of it, even if the learners don't end up becoming falconers themselves.

Karli-Rae

[Ross]

LoL, yeah Davenport.
And Tom is a great guy with a lot of years of experience and wisdom that he is wonderfully generous about sharing. I am excited and grateful to be sponsored by him!

Thanks for the welcomes! And I would love to attend the meet! I have some family/friends in Central IA so we might be able to secure some free lodging if price is an issue at all. :-) What about making a teaching event out of it at Iowa State? Promote this incredible "sport" (if it can even be called that) and teach the respect of it, even if the learners don't end up becoming falconers themselves.

Karli-Rae

Karli, we have had a meet in Ames before. The tough thing is finding quarry for longwings, rabbits for the hawks are nearly always easier to find. Pheasants are few and far between in that part of the state, and I don't know any duck spots there. I hawked there throughout college. Always had lots of bunnies and back then there were pheasant. I do lots of programs [scouts, schools, nature groups etc.] Sometimes we have done a little something like that for the locals when we have a meet. I expect we will watch pheasant numbers in particular to help decide where to go. Always nice if we have an insider to the area to help set things up. I hope to meet you wherever we end up.

[weathervaneman]

Hi KarliRae.
Welcome to this thing called falconry.

[cvandermerwe]

LoL, yeah Davenport.
And Tom is a great guy with a lot of years of experience and wisdom that he is wonderfully generous about sharing. I am excited and grateful to be sponsored by him!

Karli-Rae

Karli-Rae,

Tom is a great guy, he was my sponsor over 20 years ago. The man can fly birds! He stands among a very small group of great falconers that I have ever met. Tom has settled down quite a bit but it's still fun to see the falcons or the dogs get him riled up. I think he put more than 2000+ miles on his truck helping me get my first RT (worst year anyone around here could remember for passage birds). Looking forward to meeting you this year, I like kicking rabbits up for RTs. If you get a bird this fall there will be a whopping 4 of us around the QC.

Later,

[beechhawk]

Hi Karli-Rae, Welcome to the sport! You have a great sponsor in Tom and a great area up there to learn the sport. I look forward to meeting you and seeing your birds fly. Hvae fun building the mews and all the other parts of preparing and learning this passion we call falconry.

[Silver Sage]

Welcome to the lifestyle! You will find being an RN and falconry work great. I work 6 nights on then have my 8 days off. The 6 days I work I fly my falcons close to home every other day then the week I'm off I hawk most days.

[ikcus]

I am just enjoying this thread for the names of the towns. Ames, Davenport, etc. I used to hunt these areas as a kid with my Grandpa, and they bring back good memories.
Welcome to the addiction and enjoy the ride.

Maybe the new Gos, and myself need to take a road trip to good ol Iowa this Fall. Hunt, and go get a dog at the Milwaukee Wiener House in Sioux City. Hunt, and go eat a steak at Hungrys in Dakota City. Go see some Great Uncle's in Le Mars and Remsen, then hunt again.

[Ross]

I am just enjoying this thread for the names of the towns. Ames, Davenport, etc. I used to hunt these areas as a kid with my Grandpa, and they bring back good memories.
Welcome to the addiction and enjoy the ride.

Maybe the new Gos, and myself need to take a road trip to good ol Iowa this Fall. Hunt, and go get a dog at the Milwaukee Wiener House in Sioux City. Hunt, and go eat a steak at Hungrys in Dakota City. Go see some Great Uncle's in Le Mars and Remsen, then hunt again.

Joe, If you ever do decide to come, let me know. I will try to point you to some pheasants and have a guest room and some mews space for while you are here.

[KarliRae]

Thanks for the warm welcomes everyone! I'm excited for the adventure ahead!

[Steve L.]

Go see some Great Uncle's in Le Mars and Remsen, then hunt again.

Better hit Blue Bunny while you're in Le Mars! If you plan a trip to Iowa keep us posted.