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From: rcb33483@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (ArchTeryx)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Falconry...
Message-ID: <1990Nov17.002351.25330@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 17 Nov 90 00:23:51 GMT
Sender: news@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (News)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Lines: 26

Just my two cents on falconry...

I consider, for small-to-medium sized game, falconry to be far, far more 
"sporting" than hunting with a shotgun.  If you point a shotgun at something, 
and shoot it, that thing is either instantly dead or instantly mortally
wounded.  What sport is there in that?

On the other hand, if you point a hawk at something and fly it, the prey
has a more than even chance of getting away.  And, if hawk makes its kill,
it will be quick and merciful...far more so than the death of a mortally
wounded goose lost in the field, or, worse, the duck that dies from 
respitory paralysis after eating the "waste" of the shotgun (i.e. lead
poisoning).  And, you get the satisfaction of taking care of the bird,
as well.

And, as my father (who used to be a dedicated falconer) and a few friends of
mine would attest to, hawks DO have individuality and personality, if not
that many smarts.  But, then, how smart is a shotgun?

--
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R. Cody Buchmann                             ^.^  
   "Kehaar"                 
                                       "He tell *me* the plan...I *know* the 
email: rcb33483@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu        plan!"  -Watership Down. 
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