Quote Originally Posted by Lloyd View Post
I'm kind of having trouble following your post, but I get the impression you think that you won't be handling a bird during your 2 year apprenticeship. You are required to hunt with a bird each year of your apprenticeship.

I don't have a full list of books in front of me, but I suggest starting with any legal documents regarding falconry in Florida and the United States. From there, move on to more falconry books (North American Falconry & Hunting Hawks by Beebe and Webster is a great one) to gain an understanding of what the sport is about.

Reading and talking about it is a great way to understand the dedication and work involved in falconry. Getting out in the field with another falconer helps, too... but you would be surprised how much you can learn from the publications available.

Information is more readily available now than it ever has been.

Good luck and have fun on your journey!
What I think he may be thinking of is the fact that I told him it takes an average of two years to find a sponsor in our state. Many falconers are not sponsoring right now, and those that are require a fair amount of work, like hunting with them for a full season before being sponsored, etc. I explained that this was not going to be a quick process, and that patience is very important in the sport of falconry.

Quote Originally Posted by Ezly88 View Post
Yea maybe so be nice to have some one show me how to understand it in person I feel like reading and talking about it you wont really feel the dedication and actual physical work it takes to cater to the hawk and train it which is why I'd wana speed up the 2 year process and get started on the physical work the actual handling and the feel of your hunter on your hand as you get familiar with him you know how ppl used to do it back in the days guess time changes ppl change
Again, you NEED to do the reading before hand. I linked you a website with all the information a beginner could possibly want, including book recommendations and test study guides, etc. As much as you feel you'd do better learning with a bird on the fist, I disagree. A fair amount of learning should happen during an apprenticeship, sure, but knowing as much as possibly before getting started will set you up for a more successful first season as an apprentice. If you were completely new to everything you'd likely make more mistakes than necessary with a first bird.

Also to even get a sponsor you need to have passed the state falconry exam.