I've been around falconry for a long time. And I spent many an hour talking with my sponsor and really getting a feel for what it was going to take both financially and in respect to time. I think I was more prepared than most before my apprenticeship, and it was still a shock. Not financially, if you're halfway handy with a saw and screw gun you can drastically cut down initial financial investments, but time wise. 1300 miles and countless hours, just trying to find a passage bird to trap. Spending 3-4 hours a day holding a piece of meat in front of him waiting for a bite. Dragging yourself outside after a 13 hour work day to get in some creance flights or jump ups to keep progressing to free flight. But then you fly free. And then suddenly he takes a perch at the top of a tree, you kick a bush and a bunny explodes out the other side. You holler, hear his bells go over you, a quick wingover, a crash, a quick scream, and suddenly all of it was worth it. The late nights, the pain of your first time not watching his feet close enough, the heartbreak of a couple good sessions followed by a bad one......then it's too late. You're hooked. You're a falconer. Some may dispute just how much of a falconer you are at that point, but it marks a passage. It's not like anything else where you join a club and buy some equipment and call yourself a member. Without the time and the sweat and the blood, what is it really worth? If you want instant gratification for your efforts or a fast track to success, this ain't the activity you want to be pursuing. But if you want to be a part of something extremely special, where the title carries with it a distinguished mark of pride in that anyone who knows what goes into taking wild game with a bird, will instantly recognize you as a legit member of their ranks, then this is it.