The 4,000-year-old art of falconry will be on public display next week in Great Bend
Some of the world’s best hunters will be in Great Bend next week. Rather than humans with shotguns or rifles these will be birds of prey that take their game with razor-sharp talons or garish beaks.
There will be golden eagles, North America’s largest flying predator, with enough power and agility to out race and capture a jackrabbit mid-bound. Peregrine falcons, the world’s fasted wild animal, may be high enough to be just tiny specks in the sky, until they go into a dive of 100-plus m.p.h. to grab a flying duck a few feet above water.
The week-long event is the North American Falconers Association annual field meet, Sunday through Nov. 22.
The public is invited to come meet the birds nose to beak and possibly tag-along on hunts. Falconers from many countries, and most states, will be at the event attended by more than 200 who practice the sport that’s been around since 1,700 B.C.
“We’re the largest falconry organization in the world and I know we’ll have people from a lot of states, also Mexico, Canada,” said Ryan Van Zant, club member and hunt organizer. “I know we’ll have some from Australia, and France and Peru. Most of them are pretty friendly people who like to be around others and come to the Midwest to fly their birds.
Van Zant, of Hutchinson, said the group holds most of its annual hunts in the Midwest where most communities are supportive of hunting, and falconers can get access to their favored game animals and birds — cottontail and jackrabbits, ducks and sometimes pheasant and quail. The event has been held in Garden City and Dodge City in the past, and in Hutchinson a few years ago.
Great Bend was selected because it has enough motel rooms and is close to Quivira and Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife areas. Visiting falconers will also be hunting on private land, when and where it can be arranged.
Van Zant said some people with private land access are stepping forward, to help insure better falconry success and for the chance to watch the birds in action.
All of those flying their birds of prey earned the right after years of preparation, which included an apprenticeship with an experienced falconer, written tests and strict federal guidelines in caring for the birds.]
“This sure isn’t like you can just go into Walmart, buy a hunting license and some shells and go hunting,” Van Zant said. “We have to follow all laws other hunters have to follow plus the regulations for keeping the birds. It’s so much more work.”
As well as golden eagles and peregrine falcons, the event should host good numbers of red-tailed hawks, prairie falcons, goshawks and other species. Some of the birds hatched in captivity. Others were caught in the wilds, under special permit and strict regulations.
Van Zant said only juvenile birds can be captured, trained and kept.
“It’s really pretty nice for the bird, too,” he said. “In the wild about 70 percent of those young birds don’t survive their first year. Often it’s because they don’t develop hunting skills in time and they starve. A lot of falconers catch such a bird, teach it to hunt, keep it a year or two and then let it go back to the wild. They go back to being wild in just a few days. Sometimes you can go back a week or so later and it will still be in the area and fly along with you as you hunt. It’s a pretty neat deal.”
North American Falconers Association annual field meet
When: Sunday, Nov. 17 to Friday, Nov. 22
Where: Headquartered at Best Western Angus Inn, 2920 10th St., Great Bend.
How to get involved: The best way to see the birds, and possibly tag along on a hunt, is to meet falconers south of the Angus Inn, across 10th St. and behind the K.F.C., in the open lot that’s the “weathering yard.” Falconers will be there caring for their birds. Most gladly visit with the public and will allow people to tag along on hunts.
More information: https://www.n-a-f-a.com.
This story was originally published November 15, 2019 at 5:00 AM.