Description
Falconry is a sport and art which can be practised on many levels. It is all about the spectacle of flight after the achievement of training what is, in reality, a wild hawk. It is essentially a hunting sport, but a great amount of enjoyment can be found in the flights without hunting at all. If you are hunting, it should not be about catching large amounts of quarry, which would say that it is too easy and that the quality of flights must therefore be poor. We have decades of experience, and our aim is to help you begin and to practise the sport at a high level. Our courses can be in a small group, or one-to-one, and we tailor courses to the student’s requirements, so whatever you need we can help you move forward.
3-day Beginner Courses
We usually suggest that a 3-day course will go a long way towards attaining enough information and experience to be able to look after, train and fly your first bird of prey. This would cover the following subjects:
- History and background of falconry
- Correct accommodation for raptors
- Use and maintenance of equipment
- General good handling practice
- Maintaining the raptor’s condition, health and disease
- Outline of manning and training
- Nutrition
- Flying hawks and falcons
- Hunting theory
- Practical radio tracking
This amount of tuition can often be sufficient for the student to be able to take and train their first bird, although we recommend that you choose to have more days of tuition so that we can cover the topics in more depth. In addition, you will get extra help from us afterwards by phone or email if you need. Of course, any tuition you undertake here counts towards a Raptor Award. This is the only nationally-recognised qualification in falconry, and we teach it and assess it here. It usually takes another 2 days to complete the Raptor Award, as we have to give you more hands-on experience, and will to video your practical skills to provide these to the authorities at Raptor Awards if required.
To book your course you can go ahead and purchase the course here on the website and then email benlongfalconry@aol.com to arrange the dates. Or, email to find out the available places on your chosen dates, and then purchase the course. Either way, once you have booked we will send a number of information sheets which can be read as many times as possible before attending the course. These will give you a great amount of knowledge before you start, will make the course easier and more fun, and are there for reference after the course, especially when you are training and flying your first hawk.
Scheduled Beginner courses
We have certain fixed dates in the year for beginner courses, which are held monthly on weekdays, usually Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. If you pick one of these we give a reduction in the tuition fee down to £250.00 per person (or less if more than one of you book together). The number of students will vary, but it’s unlikely to exceed five on any one course.
Dates for Scheduled Beginner Courses
Dates for 2024 are:
April 16/17/18 – FULL
May 14/15/16 – FULL
June 11/12/13
July 2/3/4
August 6/7/8
September 10/11/12
October 15/16/17
November 12/13/14
Special Beginner Courses
We try to tailor any course to the student’s individual requirements, and it may not be possible for you to attend the Scheduled Beginner Course, or you may prefer one-to-one tuition. In this case we may be able to run the beginner course especially for you, or you and your friends or colleagues. For this, you will need to contact us to arrange mutually-convenient dates. Obviously, we are busier at weekends, so it will be easier to find dates during weekdays. However, we have a great deal of flexibility.
Pricing
3-day Scheduled Beginner Course:
- 1 student: £250
- 2 students (booked together): £450
- 3 students (booked together): £550
3-day Special Beginner Course (mutually convenient dates to be arranged):
- One-to-One: £450
- 2 students (booked together): £650
- 3 students (booked together): £750
