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Dear President Perkins: You asked in last April’s issue that we consider some evident problems with the state of sponsorship today. I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately. This season I gained two apprentices, twice the number I’ve had in nine years. One is a high school student early in his teens and the other a man in his mid-twenties. Both are good natured, polite and well meaning. Both sincerely want to be falconers. Otherwise, they have little in common but the same sponsor. The high school student has time, energy and all of his income to spare, but he can’t yet drive and won’t necessarily have a car when he comes of age. The other has a car, but between work, rent and raising his son, has little free time or money to devote to the sport. One suffers from a mild heart condition that may limit his activity in the field; but his actions there will benefit from the practical experience of his father, uncle and cousin who are hunters. The other is plenty strong and able to move through cover, but has no personal or family field craft to direct him. These facts make each about equally handicapped in my view. The younger apprentice is an avid reader and a fast learner, but he has a history of dropping out of activities he finds boring or difficult. The older man seems less inclined to study, but is undeniably persistent and willing to learn what he needs to clear the regulatory hurdles. Again, it’s a dead heat. Clearly, neither of these guys are ideal apprentices. To meet that standard, both would have to be wealthy with time, money and family support; both would have reliable and appropriate transportation; both would have a passion for learning falconry lore, have Master’s degrees in wildlife biology, lifetime experience as hunters and catlike reflexes in the bush. By the same token, I am far from the ideal sponsor. To meet that standard I would have to turn out my wife and kids and open my home (and extensive land holdings) to my live-in pupils. I would take a six-month sabbatical from my job and give up my hawking to supervise the day-to-day activities of my apprentices. Maybe it would not be necessary to Lear jet them to the NAFA meet, but I’m sure they would appreciate that. In fact, I have almost no time for my apprentices. My family, job and own falconry come first when scheduling the time I do have. I certainly have no extensive land holdings to share, and expect that my apprentices will actually compete with me for the few spots I can use. There is little on the face of things to recommend me to them or them to me. But here we are anyway. At least we’re in good company. How many American falconers enjoyed an ideal upbringing in the sport? How many of us are able to give a novice everything he or she needs to become an excellent falconer? Too few to mention on both accounts, I would guess. That leaves the lion’s share of us faced with the choice of offering (or accepting) a sub-optimal education or no education at all. Most who read this will have opted for the compromise. Yet many will have become competent falconers nonetheless, due in varying degrees to good instruction, but also to hard work and personal experience – two invaluable quantities no sponsor can provide. I will risk the statement that my own ability as a falconer is due at least in equal measure to good teachers, much work and time served. I believe this is typical. What I have to offer my apprentices is mostly an opportunity to succeed. What they do with the opportunity depends on them at least as much as on me. My sponsor believed that: I know because I recently asked him. When I asked why he chose to sponsor me, his reply was something like, “You were good natured, polite and well meaning. And you really wanted to be a falconer.” Sincerely, Matt Mullenix
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