Falconry remains lifestyle for some Ind. residents

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — When most people go hunting in Indiana, they become the predator who stalks, chases and catches the prey.

That’s not the case for a select group of hunters who are keeping alive an ancient tradition, falconry.

For these people, the bird of prey they care for and train is the hunter, while they assist in flushing and retrieving prey.

Alan Pope, of Bloomington, is president of the Indiana Falconers Association. He has a goshawk, Ghost, that he showed recently during a talk for Sassafras Audubon Society members and others at the Monroe County Public Library.

“Falconry is not a hobby; it is much more of a lifestyle,” Pope said. “It’s expensive and takes lots of time and energy.”

As he explains, there are many regulations that have to be followed to just own a bird of prey, let alone to properly hunt with it.

Pope is considered a master falconer, a designation that takes years and lots of work and dedication to achieve. Although Pope is a project engineer for the Indiana University Student Recreation Sports Center, he has to take time every day to care for his bird.

“Most falconers only have one bird,” Pope said. “It’s such a time-consuming activity.”

“I’ve had many birds in the past, but I’ve released them back into the wild.”

To become a falconer, a person first has to obtain a falconry license, not an easy task. There are licenses, both state and federal, that are required following an exam administered by an Indiana Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist. The test is extensive and covers the various species, handling, health care, training, husbandry and all aspects of the sport and state and the federal laws that regulate falconry.

Once a candidate passes the exam, he or she can apply for the falconry licenses. After that, there are more forms and reports to fill out. And a conservation officer must inspect the prospective falconer’s arrangement for housing the bird, which must meet federal standards

For a first-time falconer, the process has just begun at that point. He or she must apprentice at least two with a falconer in order to learn all aspects of the sport.

Part of the apprenticeship is the trapping of a bird in the wild. Falconers take only first-year birds, Pope said, because studies show that 70 to 80 percent of all birds of prey in the wild die before they reach a year old.

“We want to make sure that the gene pool has the fittest birds,” Pope said. “We take from birds that are likely to die anyway.”

Pope said that the birds he’s captured and then released back into the wild actually have a better chance of making it than birds left in the wild.

“You’re really giving it a lease on life,” he said. “It’s always going to get healthy food on a regular basis, be protected from predators and weather.”

The birds also learn how to successfully catch game, Pope said. In Indiana, the game that birds are allowed to hunt include rabbits, pheasant, squirrel, ducks and other waterfowl.

“They’re better equipped,” Pope said of the birds released back into the wild after their stint with a falconer. “They know that they’re capable of finding and securing food for themselves.”

Hunting seasons for birds of prey in Indiana run from September through February. During the off-season, the birds are provided with food by their handlers, often from prey they captured during their previous hunts. It’s also during this off season that the birds go through molt, when they lose all their feathers, with new ones growing in their place.

“It’s almost like blossoming leaves,” Pope said. “They sprout new feathers through shafts that look like drinking straws. It pushes out the end of the shaft. It takes a lot of food and energy to do.”

The birds’ molt usually takes place in the spring and summer months. Then they are ready for flights once again.

Although there are about 100,000 deer hunters licensed in Indiana, there are only 88 licensed falconers in the state. Across the country, there are between 4,000 and 4,500 falconers, making it an exclusive group.

In Indiana, the Indiana Falconers Association also offers an associate member designation for people who are not falconers but who are interested in the sport, Pope said. The group allows members to be social and also share the thrill of hunting with their birds of prey.

The group partnered with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and helped in the revision of the falconry regulations for the state, something that took two years to complete, Pope said.

The revision was begun because the federal regulating agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, required that all states revise their rules to match the federal regulations, according to Linnea Petercheff, operations staff specialist with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Fish and Wildlife.

Petercheff said state regulations have extended the seasons that allow apprentice falconers to trap a bird from the wild and additional species of birds were added to the list that master falconers are allowed to trap.

There are currently 23 pages of regulations that falconers must follow.

But even with all the stipulations, Pope believes it’s worth the effort.

“We get a front-row seat to the nature show,” he said. “We get to see what they do in the wild every day.”