Falconry: Keeping the ancient art alive

Hank Minor is a master falconer. While he understands the mythical lore and occasional romanticism of falconry, he is very clear what the sport is all about - capturing and training a bird to hunt and kill other animals.

Falconry has been practiced for 3-4,000 years - maybe longer - and was, and is, often the sport of nobility especially in the Middle East. Originally, a falconer only flew a falcon, primarily the peregrine falcon, and those flying hawks were "hawking" or "gamehawking." Today the monicker "falconer" is ascribed to all such hunters.

Minor came relatively late to falconry. It was...