Introduction to the forum

[TMoritz]

Hello,

I was prompted by a moderator to introduce myself to the forum. My name is Troy Moritz and I'm an American falconer. As of this coming Tuesday, (my birthday) I'll have been a licensed falconer for 16 years.

Over the years I've flown many longwings on crows, my all time favorite tiercel harris hawks, a finnish gos, a female black ferrug, redtails, kestrels, and did a lot of wildlife rehabillitation on other birds.

This winter I'll be training my first golden eagle for use on Canada Geese. I also hope to try ducks after seeing the tiercel golden's acceleration I suspect it may be possible if slipped like a goshawk.

I'm a no-nonsense dirthawker that believes "quality of flight" increases statistically through increased headcount...so yes...I'm one of the evil "headcounters" out there.

Training philosophies: I use systematic training adapted to the individual species as appropriate. I use the recipe for accipiters, and my own design of recipe (see American Falconry) for Harris hawks and other raptors.

Motto: "It's all about sustainable harvest...kill often, waste nothing, make no apologies"

Regards,

Troy Moritz

[jmacfabe]

welcome to the forum. looking forward to reading some threads.
how old were you when you bacame a falconer. im on my way to becomeing one.

[TMoritz]

According to Federal law, the youngest an American can become a licensed falconer is the age of 14. Some states have stricter laws (18 years) but no state can be more lenient.

I took my exam on my 14th birthday and received my license a few days thereafter. Prior to that I did raptor rehabillitation to get additional raptor handling experience...even though the majority of rehabbers are eccentrics that don't care much for falconry or genuine science. (of course there are exceptions)

[Gaz]

Sheeetttt...there goes the neighbourhood:twisted: Welcome...stay clear of this bloke..he encourages drinking and smoking of contraband(no,not rastafarian old holbourne,..Fidels finest:supz: )...

..i got to be nice to him ..hes taking me trapping in Nebraska:yawinkle:
GAZ>>(gary)

[BrianM]

Hi Mate .. Love The Name . Lol

[RedNoseK9]

Welcome aboard mate get posting enjoy it here

[Richard]

Welcome to the forum, I'm not familiar with black ferrug's?

Tell me more :twisted: :lol:

thanks

[Accipter-Gentilis]

welcome troy

your name was wrecking my hed i new i had heard your name somewere:rolleyes:
enjoy your say.


http://www.onlinefalconry.com/harris.html

[FlameHairedFalconer]

Hi Troy

Welcome to the forum!

Any photos of the ferru? I have seen photos of the dark morph before, absolutely stunning!!

FHF

[Whistler6752]

Hi Troy, welcome to the forum.Any relation to Teddy?

[Osiris]

Hi there Troy and welcome to the forum! I hope you enjoy your time here!! http://www.falconryforum.co.uk/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif

All the best

Jamie

[Saker-Mad]

hi welcome to the forum:supz:

[FredrickFogg]

Sheeetttt...there goes the neighbourhood:twisted: Welcome...stay clear of this bloke..he encourages drinking and smoking of contraband(no,not rastafarian old holbourne,..Fidels finest:supz: )...

..i got to be nice to him ..hes taking me trapping in Nebraska:yawinkle:
GAZ>>(gary)

Welcome to the Forum Troy! And let me know when you are taking Gary trapping, as I would love to come along if you are taking him during the NAFA meet. I LOVE trapping! :lol: When I went to the Garden City Meet two years ago, I trapped several red-tails and even had a ferrug on the trap, but it got away. I wanted to trap a dark morph red-tail or a Harlans, but they were really hard to get a trap down on as they bumped easily. I emailed Ralph Rogers and he told me there was no out of state trapping in Nebraska. Grrrrr! If you know otherwise, let me know.

Again, welcome to the forum, lots of great people here with loads of experience and information.

Fred

[Tasha55403]

Hey Troy!
Great to see you on here:) (did you get my PM?) When are you trapping your golden??? Are you going for a male or female?

[Argee]

Dear Troy,
much thanks for the contributions over the later years (and probably before as well ) ....
I have read ,downloaded and printed ,for posterityand my easy reference , some of your stuff ....
Thanks again ,
(*v*) ...

[TMoritz]

Hey Troy!
Great to see you on here:) (did you get my PM?) When are you trapping your golden??? Are you going for a male or female?

I hope to trap a small tiercel, preferably 1-2 years old. Unfortunately the Feds force us to take whatever lands on the trap if it is under 7 years old. :(

[Tasha55403]

You mean you have to take the first bird to hit the trap that's within the age specs??? That's idiotic, but not surprising I suppose:roll:

[BuzzBee]

Welcome to the forum8-)

[AndyUK]

welcome to the forum troy hope you like the place

now i have somone else to pester for articles :lol:





Andy.........

[TMoritz]

Yep, to my understanding the first eagle under 7 years old (a juvenile) regardless of sex that is trapped must be harvested.

A couple of things can happen during trapping such as if the bird accidentally gets away from you when removing it from the trap or if another falconer with the licenses is around to take the bird at the time of harvest and wants the age/sex of the bird you have in hand. I have no interest in a female because even the smallest tiercel is overkill for what I'm trying to accomplish...unfortunately there are no four to six pound raptors available for hawking in the US. (we need bonelli's or changeables!)

You can only harvest birds in Wyoming at the present time but in the coming years it will likely open in Utah, the Dakotas and other western US states.

-Troy

[Hobby]

Welcome to the IFF,
I look forward to your posts,have enjoyed your articles before in the past,
Happy birthday for tomorrow!

[IAmTheWeasel]

Welcome to the list Troy! It's about time you got on here!!!!
What ever happened to the broken bone? Heal up OK I am guessing?

[TMoritz]

I'm still a bit gimpy from the leg surgeries but doing better. I can hawk again and that's really all that matters.

P.S. - Weasel, who are you? :)

[IAmTheWeasel]

Noel Murphy's the name. Greg and I roomed at the NAFA meet. Met you at the Kansas meet. I remember not long ago you where looking for someone to fly your ferrug while you had surggery.
Cheers,
Weasel

[TMoritz]

Hey Noel!,

Great to hear from you. It has been awhile. Hopefully I'll see you at NAFA this year since my attendance looks promising. Not sure what I'm going to do until I get the eagle. I may trap a red shouldered just to see what they are all about. I figure I'll cut it loose at Christmas so I have no distractions come eagle time.

[Jimmy]

I may trap a red shouldered just to see what they are all about. I figure I'll cut it loose at Christmas so I have no distractions come eagle time.

Keep an open mind, and you'll have fun with the redshoulder. They are quite capable little birds.

Looking forward to hearing about the eagle adventures. I'm also intersted in going after geese with an eagle. I have a few years left before I'm eligible though.

And, welcome to the forum!

[Lee Slikkers]

Keep an open mind, and you'll have fun with the redshoulder. They are quite capable little birds.

What prey are you thinking of flying the Redshoulder at? Small birds mostly? What type of pursuits?

Thanks...mostly curious as very little is ever mentioned about these hawks and what is mentioned isn't always in a positive light.

Lee

[IAmTheWeasel]

Yea, I hope to be at the meet this coming year too since I missed the Vernal meet due to a divorce situation. Still broke here on this end, but I will find a way to get there...Good luck with the RS...they are a noisy one! Does the USFW call you when an eagle is ready to trap?

[Jimmy]

Lee,
A redshoulder in the right hands would make a really fun small bird hawk. I have 'played' with 2 of them. A very late trapped passage, and an eyass. The eyass was my first attempt at raising a baby, and wasn't the best example of proving what a redshoulder is capable of. The passage bird on the other hand was fun! He didn't think twice about jumping on a pigeon, and could easily handle them. Their small feet are their drawback, but they are very fast and agile. Very close to a male harris in that respect. I'm sure they could definitely excell at carhawking. They are an overlooked species here in the US. I'm told there are a few guys in Texas doing very well with them out the window. My only experience with them has been the males, so I'm not sure what the females are like.

[Lee Slikkers]

Thanks Jimmy...they sound like a bird with some potential given the right prey and place to take them. We don't see many here and I am 99% sure they are not on our list of birds to take in MI but they sound like a fun option for a bird chasing bird.

Thanks for the info...

Lee