newbie needing advise

[bparrott85]

hello everyone i am a pre apprentice from Ooltewah Tn. i am studying for my exam and getting ready to start my mews. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.(i.e. mews design,study tips, reading material)

[FredFogg]

Welcome to NAFEX! I would suggest reading the thread in the link below all the way through and taking some of the advice on there.

http://www.nafex.net/showthread.php?t=2007

I also would suggest seeing as many mews and weathering areas you can see of other falconers before starting to build your own. You won't believe how much you will wish you saw this or that before you built yours after seeing others. And I guarantee you, you will have to change something after building it, every bird is different and you have to adjust accordingly.

Good luck and ask plenty of questions after you have read through the apprentice threads.

[bparrott85]

I also would suggest seeing as many mews and weathering areas you can see of other falconers before starting to build your own. You won't believe how much you will wish you saw this or that before you built yours after seeing others. And I guarantee you, you will have to change something after building it, every bird is different and you have to adjust accordingly.

thanx for the advise but looking at diffrent mews is going to be no easy task for me other than the pics i find on line, there are only 3 licensed falconers any where close to me and two apprentices. there are only 22 licensed falconers in the state of Tennessee.frus I have read through the list that was linked and ive already got a falconry package from the twra and i ordered the california apprentice guide. ive been hunting with a guy that ,i hope, might take me on as a apprentice when i get to that stage.

[paganlove22]

there are only 22 licensed falconers in the state of Tennessee.frus

Im coming as fast as I can.LOL. Wouldnt do you any good since Im an apprentice also. I think we will be moving to the Cosby area. Where are you at in regards to that area?

[bparrott85]

I think we will be moving to the Cosby area. Where are you at in regards to that area?

I am about 15 miles outside of Chattanooga.So that's probabally about 2 and a half to three hours away from cosby.

[everetkhorton]

Brandon. I guess my advice would be, build the best mew passable when you get ready to start. 2x4 on 16 inch centers, lights, covered wall with the stuff you see in wal-mart bathrooms, food tube.
double door, room for freezer. Work bench. Falconry is a life time experience.

[bparrott85]

I've got a pretty good layout planned for my mews.Its going to be 10' wide by 15' long all enclosed,10' by 10' for the bird and a 5' by 10' work room for me. you enter through the work room and then into the bird room, so i will have the double door system. the a 10' by 10' weathering yard attached to it as well. the whole thing will be elevated off the ground 2' with the floor being 2 by 6 spaced about 1" and then a wire screen layed over it with gravel on top of that so cleaning will be easy. Just spray out and rake the gravel and all the junk runs out the bottom and washes away.and i planned on insulating the whole thing and covering all the walls with shower board and water proofing it all.

[Dirthawking]

I would not recommend gravel as it call dull the talons during bateing. I would say sand works better. Just my opinion and personal experience.

Mario

[bparrott85]

I would not recommend gravel as it call dull the talons during bateing. I would say sand works better. Just my opinion and personal experience.

Mario

thanks for the advise ill do more research in to it. I'm not quite sure how i;d keep the sand in and still be able to have good drainage though but i still have a ways to go so far its just a drawing on a piece of paper so not too hard to change

[FredFogg]

thanx for the advise but looking at diffrent mews is going to be no easy task for me other than the pics i find on line, there are only 3 licensed falconers any where close to me and two apprentices. there are only 22 licensed falconers in the state of Tennessee.frus I have read through the list that was linked and ive already got a falconry package from the twra and i ordered the california apprentice guide. ive been hunting with a guy that ,i hope, might take me on as a apprentice when i get to that stage.

My sponser was only 20 minutes away, but all the other falconers were anywhere from 45 minutes up to 2 hours away. I looked at a couple of their facilities and then built mine. Over the course of my first season, I got to see several more mews and weathering areas and if I had seen them first, I would have built mine differently. So spending a Saturday driving all day to different falconers to see their facilities is well worth the time and gas money, I can assure you.

And using pea gravel is fine, it all depends on your setup. I use pea gravel, but with my setup, the birds hardly ever are on the ground, so the pea gravel doesn't dull their talons. Here is a link to pictures of my weathering area and mew, to give you another one to look at and get ideas. Mine is far from perfect, but it works for me.

http://home.roadrunner.com/~fredrick...pic01_jpg.html

http://home.roadrunner.com/~fredrick...pic01_jpg.html

[bparrott85]

nice setup Fredi had thought of building attached to my garage originally, but then thought of trying to get my wife get rid of all her junk in there and quickly reconsidered.

I was thinking about free lofting my bird. but i would like to hear the pros and cons of this if anyone has any input. also any pics of mews would be greatly appreceated I've my outside design the way i want it,not to hard since i was a construction worker for about 5 years, but really have no clue about the inside
thanks

[FredFogg]

nice setup Fredi had thought of building attached to my garage originally, but then thought of trying to get my wife get rid of all her junk in there and quickly reconsidered.

I was thinking about free lofting my bird. but i would like to hear the pros and cons of this if anyone has any input. also any pics of mews would be greatly appreceated I've my outside design the way i want it,not to hard since i was a construction worker for about 5 years, but really have no clue about the inside
thanks

The best thing you can do is go ahead and find a sponser. These are things a sponser can tell you how to do. One thing to remember when you are building for a hawk, you build things sort of inside out and by that, I mean you want the smooth part on the inside. If you are going to build walls and cover both sides of the beams, no problem, if not, then you want the wall to be on the inside and the beams on the outside, which is usually the opposite of a normal building. Something to think about and confuse you more. LOL

As far as free lofting, I wouldn't my first couple years. Learn how to keep a bird tethered and feather perfect and you will go a long way in this sport. As you can see in my weathering area, I keep my red-tails tethered to a line where they can fly to the bottom perch and back up to the tray perch. They stay feather perfect and have sharp talons. I free loft my accipiters during the molt as they don't do as well being tethered above hunting weight during their molt.

[KidK]

Hey Dude!

Welcome to Falconry and welcome to NAFEX!

Check out this site.. Not trying to pass you off to somewhere else, but it has some of the best info, hands down!

http://www.themodernapprentice.com/

[bparrott85]

Hey Dude!

Welcome to Falconry and welcome to NAFEX!

Check out this site.. Not trying to pass you off to somewhere else, but it has some of the best info, hands down!

http://www.themodernapprentice.com/

yeah that is a great site already used alot of info from it to put together a study guide thanx any info is helpful i will take all the help i can get. thanks for the welcome

[KidK]

Brandon,

Here is my recommended reading list:

http://www.michiganhawkingclub.com/p...opic.php?t=479

What game is available for you to hunt in your area? Do you have quail in any numbers there?

[outhawkn]

[quote=FredrickFogg;65275]The best thing you can do is go ahead and find a sponser. These are things a sponser can tell you how to do. quote]

This the best advice given so far IMO.

[bparrott85]

[quote=outhawkn;65471]

The best thing you can do is go ahead and find a sponser. These are things a sponser can tell you how to do. quote]

This the best advice given so far IMO.

Yeah, that's great advise and i do appreciate everything but for me its easier said than done. I have a guy thats taking me hunting and showing me the ropes but dont know if hell have time to take on another apprentice cause he works out of town alot but im sure when i prove my self and pass the exam he will atleast help point me in the right direction to finding a sponser. the main reason i posted this thread is to get everyone's opions cause from reading the threads on this site and a few other i can tell that falconry is like everything else is everyone has their own opions and way of doing things. i guess every situation is diffrent.
thank to everyone for all the great advise ill take all i an get

[bparrott85]

Brandon,

Here is my recommended reading list:

http://www.michiganhawkingclub.com/p...opic.php?t=479

What game is available for you to hunt in your area? Do you have quail in any numbers there?

around my area mostly we have squirrel,rabbit,dove,duck,geese,turkey.We have a few quail but not alot . I have around 200+ acres to hunt and have seen all these crittere on it at one time or another. plus im going to join a 24000 acre hunting lease this year

[Richard Eberhart]

Just want to put my thoughts in, I would not free loft a Red Tail. I did for one season and he had lots of feather damage. Also all the advise is great yet you have to see how everything works with your bird. The sponser is a must don't wait too long.

[paganlove22]

[quote=bparrott85;65533]

im sure when i prove my self and pass the exam he will atleast help point me in the right direction to finding a sponser.

I did the same thing with taking the test prior to looking for a sponsor. I thought it would show that I was at least responsible and independent enough to at least do that before I went fishing for a sponsor. Will TN. let you take it before you have a sponsor? I know some states won't let you take it if you dont.

[bparrott85]

[quote=paganlove22;65687]

I did the same thing with taking the test prior to looking for a sponsor. I thought it would show that I was at least responsible and independent enough to at least do that before I went fishing for a sponsor. Will TN. let you take it before you have a sponsor? I know some states won't let you take it if you dont.

Yeah that is what i was thinking to was to show them i was really willing to learn before i ask for a sponsorship. I am pretty sure you can take the exam before finding a sponsor but im not a 100% sure i will ask the guy thats been taking me hunting and fin out for sure

[Agapeace]

Welcome to NAFEX! I am pre apprentice as well, and for what ever reason I am very excited to get a mews ready. I have found some pretty cool mews pics on NAFEX. I realize you may have found all of these as well. Just in case here are some links. Again, welcome and good luck
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/8...ture001pk4.jpg
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/5...ture006wx7.jpg
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/1...ture005qn3.jpg
From Post http://www.nafex.net/showthread.php?t=2952

Mews Post http://www.nafex.net/showthread.php?t=2657

Mews Post http://www.nafex.net/showthread.php?t=2668

http://www.nafex.net/showthread.php?t=2646

Octagon Mews
http://www.nafex.net/showthread.php?...t=construction

Take care
Tim Marshall

[bparrott85]

Thanks to everyone for all the advise and pics they are helping me a lot on trying to design my mews. I finally got my apprentice study guide today thats been ordered for about two weeks along with an apology letter from mikes falconry for the delay in shipping. They said they experienced one of the worst snow storms they have had in 40 years and the postal services weren't even running. I guess its time for me to buckle down and do some time studying to get ready for my exam.

[bgibson]

this WA is 12wide10deep10high. if tennessee has similar regs as NC , the jump box must be 32" high for a redtail and that will require some space for a tethered bird not to hit the sides. 8x8x8 is the minimum in NC and completely inadequate. the only wall the bird can hit in my WA is the bottom back and it's covered with fiberglass screening to protect the feathers from going thru the 2x4 wire.[IMG][/IMG]

[bparrott85]

well i just got some great news. when i take my exam the guy ive been hunting with is going to take me on as an apprentice

[paganlove22]

Thats awesome Brandon.

[everetkhorton]

well i just got some great news. when i take my exam the guy ive been hunting with is going to take me on as an apprentice

WTG

[Bryant Tarr]

Congrats! Let the journey begin

[bparrott85]

Well Ive been studying my apprentice guide and decided to take the online practice test, i did OK but not good enough i made a 72 frus the part on the disiases and medical treatment part still is a little confusing but ill figure it out just have to keep studying. Also still trying learn all the terminology

[paganlove22]

Have you made flash cards? When I was studying I took the diseases and put them on one card, the symptoms on other cards and the treatments on seperate cards. I mixed them all up and and then just went through and played little matching games. Seemed to help. I didnt put all the symptoms for each disease on 1 card I put them individually since some diseases will manifest almost the same symptoms. I figured that would ensure I knew what I was talking about.

[bparrott85]

Have you made flash cards? When I was studying I took the diseases and put them on one card, the symptoms on other cards and the treatments on seperate cards. I mixed them all up and and then just went through and played little matching games. Seemed to help. I didnt put all the symptoms for each disease on 1 card I put them individually since some diseases will manifest almost the same symptoms. I figured that would ensure I knew what I was talking about.

that sounds like it would work pretty well ill try that thanks