![]() ![]() To capture a bird, falconers use a trap made of fishing line tied in a series of nooses. "There is a pretty long process," Martello said. It's unclear when it was first practiced in North America, though the North American Falconers Association notes that Christopher Columbus brought at least one falconer with him prior to 1500 who reportedly hunted in what is now Haiti.īecoming a falconer takes practice - and training. Falcons often were presented as diplomatic gifts between leaders of nations. By the Middle Ages, it had spread to Europe, where it became known as the sport of kings. When a scrap fell to the ground, Donnie and Marie were quick to clean it up.įalconry has been around for centuries, appearing in Mongolia as early as 1000 BC. They glided in and landed on his leather work glove and took food from his other hand. ![]() With his arm extended, he called his birds and held out lunch. He pulled from his pocket a small plastic sandwich bag with finger-length strips of flesh from the rabbit the birds caught the day before. ![]() That day's hunt yielded no prey, but Shuell didn't let his companions go hungry. Shuell finally called off the dogs to avoid them getting hurt from protruding nails and broken glass. On a recent weekday, the rabbit being hunted sought refuge under scrap wood and other debris dumped in the forest. If a dog is able to flush out a rabbit, the falcons swoop in for the kill. "The birds know what that means," Shuell said. As it draws closer to the prey, it starts a staccato yelping. When one of the dogs picks up a rabbit scent, it starts to follow it. Shuell hunts through walks in the woods with his two hunting dogs and Harris Hawks. They leave it to their birds to eat in the field or they take it home and butcher it for the birds to eat later. Most hunters don't eat the prey their birds catch. The prey can include rabbits, field mice, squirrels, rodents and even other birds like pigeons. The sport is known as falconry, but it covers other birds of prey as well, including hawks, owls, even golden eagles. "We have about 100 members, give or take, during the year and of those 100 members, about half actively have birds and practice the sport during the course of the year." "We're a very small hunting group," said Chris Martello of the Michigan Hawking Club, a group that helps promote the sport in Michigan. While Michigan has more than 600,000 licensed deer hunters, falconers are a rare breed. Shuell is one of 119 hunters in Michigan with a permit to hunt with birds of prey, making him part of Michigan's most exclusive group of hunters. If you like the outdoors, this is absolutely fantastic," said Shuell, 72. They prowl the woods not far from his home in White Lake Township with the help of two dogs, Gracie and Norman. DETROIT - John Shuell's hunting companions weigh just over 1 pound each, but they are anything but lightweights.ĭonnie and Marie, a pair of Harris's Hawks trained to hunt rabbits, accompany him almost every day during Michigan's small game season. ![]()
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