The names were drawn by lot

It has finally happened. The winning names have been drawn. We now have three falconers who will be the first to trap peregrine falcons in the state of NC in over 35 years. Two of the falconers hail from each end of North Carolina, and one falconer is a resident of Pennsylvania.

Wild trapped Peregrines are considered by many to be the holy grail of falconry birds, and the time has finally come. Falconers are only allowed a few weeks in the fall to trap these birds, and they all must be trapped on the eastern-most coast. Only three birds can be taken in the entire state, so trapping will have no effect on the wild population. There are myriads of regulations in regards to this particular take.

I will get to be there on the front lines.

We have been planning this trapping trip since last fall. We knew we'd be after merlins this fall, but to be able to take peregrines as well is huge. And.. The first name drawn was Andrew's. You have seen his name on this blog before, and he is the guy who hunts with me most weekends and a picture of his last redtail is on the right side near the bottom. We would have been beach trapping together anyway.

Cool

Then I got a call just yesterday from the guy on the other side of the state. He wants some help. He's going to come all the way out here to trap. But he want to try using a bow net on the beach. We usually trap with Dho Ghazzas (nets stretched across the dunes with bait birds behind them). So working with a bownet will be a new expereince for me.

We also have some of the same crew from last year tagging along to witness the event. It should be a lot of fun.

We'll keep you posted as things progress.