New falconer apprentice

[Tarnoth]

Hello everyone. My name is Jason Shunk and I was referred here by another apprentice falconer I met at work. I just wanted to poke my head in here and say hi. This is something completely new for me, and I am hoping to be able to absorb some of the knowledge here as well as from the CHC guide I have.

Any tips or tricks for apprentices would be very Welcom and warmly received. Just be warned, I tend to ask a lot of questions, so please try and be patient with me.

[Dirthawking]

Welcome to NAFEX! One tip I can give you is to click on the link in my signature. It will give you a quick quide that some of the falconers put together here on NAFEX for people interested in falconry.

[Tarnoth]

So just as far as the test is concerned, is there any other info I should be looking over other than the CHC study guide?

[Lowachi]

So just as far as the test is concerned, is there any other info I should be looking over other than the CHC study guide?


check out apprentice section on here.

[Idontwanna]

The best advice I can give is read all of the books on the chc website listed under the apprentice book shelf. The study guide is good for learning the law and terms associated with falconry but the other books will help you with care and training. You may or may not get a sponsor that will teach you the inns and outs of the sport. Ultimately it's up to to educate your self and do what's best for your bird and yourself.

I'm only a second year apprentice going into my second season. And by no means am I educated as much as many of the fine folks on this site. But the apprentices that I have met that didn't follow the clubs advice about the other books had a far wors time trying to fly there birds than I.
Humbley
Josh

[Tarnoth]

For the moment I am just worried about passing the test on the 19th. I know for certain I will be doing a LOT more reading after that. I have been told by several people not to get into too many of the newer books because of the fact that the test is based on old info, and some of the newer books say something entirely different.

I just don't want to feel stupid by failing the test and needing to wait 3 months to take it again.

[th0j72]

Welcome to NAFEX and good luck on your test.

[Rzst]

Jason
hows it going first of all my name is Terry and i live in Murrieta just an hour north of u or so I'm still pre-apprentice myself having just passed the exam a few weeks ago my best advice i can give is study ur chc study guide also get the packet from the dfg and read up on the regs includ. in that packet lastly don't stress to much about it its 50 questions all true or false or multiple choice so if u do study you should pass best of luck to you

[Tarnoth]

Thank you Terry for the advice. I contacted fish and game for their packet and was promptly told they don't have a package to send out, nor could they refer me to more material to look up. Something seems strange there because everyone has been saying to request the packet first thing.

Second thing, as I mentioned to one other falconer in the area, I have looked up a practice exam just to see what I should be looking forward to and holy hell, I think I could only positively answer about 1/5 of the 200 questions on there.

http://www.diversityinutah.com/test.html

That's the practice test in question. Is this the level of info I need, or is this something completely different?

[Zarafia]

It's been a very long time since I took my test, but that test you posted is just ridiculous IMHO.
On question 6 it gives you an illustration of a traditional jess, which is illegal to fly with, and it asks you where to place the grommets?!?
As I read further I was even more dismayed. I definitely hope that this test is no longer in use!
BTW, you say that you are an apprentice. Who is your sponsor?

[Tarnoth]

No, I am a potential apprentice. I haven't taken my test yet. I want to take the test first and pass before I go looking for a sponsor so it makes it obvious that I am serious.

Good, I was hoping that was just insane. I have had the CHC apprentice guide for about a month now and only about a fifth of those questions were even touched on.

[Betelgeuse]

I took the California test three years ago and all of the questions were taken from the CHC study guide. Reading Beebe won't hurt. Western Sporting sells the pack, you can also check out the CHC website to get the study materials.

http://www.westernsporting.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=1111&Product_Code=FB4010

[Rzst]

Jason
Sorry I should have specified u need to contact dfg in Sacramento not san Diego as only they will send u a packet and mine came in less than a week u can get there number from there web site also yes all questions on the test were from the chc guide I read through it several times and simply used that as a practice test also sounds like your on the right track another great source of free reading material is the library the local ones have about 10 or so different books to read best of luck to u and like I said earlier be prepared and be confident and u should do just fine :D

[Dirthawking]

It's been a very long time since I took my test, but that test you posted is just ridiculous IMHO.
On question 6 it gives you an illustration of a traditional jess, which is illegal to fly with, and it asks you where to place the grommets?!?
As I read further I was even more dismayed. I definitely hope that this test is no longer in use!
BTW, you say that you are an apprentice. Who is your sponsor?


By my understanding of the new federal regulations it is now legal to fly with traditional style jesses. Again, federally. State by state may be different.

[Bryce]

You are correct Mario on both counts. The states under the old regs still must follow those, obviously. But the new ones don't say anything about what types of jesses you are supposed to use. I even think the required equipment list got shortened.

[Zarafia]

So should I think all this is a good thing?

[Bryce]

I do. Much less restrictive. To study for my state's test I read the chc guide, the chc manual, Matt mullinex's book, my state and federal regs, and beebe's book. I passed just reading those. The real key I found was to actually understand what it was they were actually asking for, which the chc guide helps with quite a bit.

[Tarnoth]

Hell yeah! Ended up taking the exam today and was nervous as hell. Always hated tests. Walked out of there with 122 out of 130 possible points! So damn excited now. It was a hell of a lot easier than I was dreading, or even hoping for.

[Bryce]

Congratulations Jason. It really is a great feeling to have that major hurdle out of the way.

[calebstroh]

Nice!

[Rzst]

i hate to say i told you so but i told you so great job and
let the journey begin. clapp

[Hawj_Hawking]

Congrats Tarnoth, I'm hoping to take the test soon too