Preparation

Over the next several months, I read and studied everything I could get my hands on about falconry.  I visited websites and called several falconers in South Carolina.  The one thing that was made abundantly clear was that this was not something to be taken lightly.  I was warned at every turn that the level of commitment required to care for a bird of prey was extensive.  It was all quite intimidating at first.  I discovered that there are very few practicing falconers in South Carolina and I despaired of finding someone from whom to learn.

Call it serendipity, call it fate, call it God's hand, but one day at the gym a friend, who had heard of my interest, walked up and told me of a falconer in the area.  Now by this point, I had left countless messages for falconers all around the state trying to learn more and hopefully find a sponsor.  I called Al as soon as I got home and he invited me over to hunt with his bird, Rowdy.  Al's excitement over the sport was infectious to say the least and after a few more hunts, I found myself a sponsor.

The months leading up to trapping season found me making traps.  Lots of traps.  Way, way too many traps.  I made two different Balchatri traps (only refraining from a third by a brief, but momentary, return of sanity), four different pigeon harness traps, and the piece de resistance, my bow net.  Or nets, as I actually made three of them.  Obsessive much?  The last was the inspiration for Laura's question, "Exactly how many traps does it take to trap one bird?"

I read alot.  A whole lot.  I bought every book anyone would recommend.  I began to make all of my equipment and buy that which I could not make.  I drove to Columbia to take my falconry test in May thinking I was far ahead of the game in getting my trapping permit.  Thank goodness I did, as building the mews took quite a bit of time.  I got my inspection soon after my surgery and got my permit right before trapping season started.