Great post - thank you for sharing your experience with us. My wife said to tell you thanks as well - she really loved the story and pics.
Falconry has always interested me and in the past I have read some about it and the total commitment it takes, and the training a person has to go through before they can even get a bird. Not a sport for me as I can't commit that much of my life to any animal or bird - but I sure do admire a person who can.

Warren,
Glad to hear you & your wife enjoyed the photos & yeah, the commitment required to practice falconry is pretty ridiculous. Just ask my wife that has to deal with gophers, quail, squirrel, duck, pheasant, snake, rabbit & anything else my bird catches thawing in her kitchen on a daily basis (they need to be fed whole animals every day) not to mention a whole host of other raptor related messes (don’t ask), emergencies & daily exercise/care.
Just having a family that’s willing to put up with it all is quite remarkable & luckily I hit the jackpot with my wife & kids. They all like hitting the field with me when they can & my wife particularly enjoys photographing our hunts.

Weather permitting, my wife will be tagging along this weekend & if she’s able to get some decent photos I’ll get them posted on this thread as well.