Falconry apprentice workshop set for June 27 at Starved Rock State Park
Apprentice falconers spent June 27 at Starved Rock State Park learning the basics of raptor care, hunting gear, and the legal path into the sport.
The Falconry Apprentice Workshop filled the Utica Room in the Main Lodge at Starved Rock State Park in Oglesby on Saturday, giving would-be falconers an all-day look at the apprenticeship path. The Great Lakes Falconers Association scheduled the session from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and told attendees to bring their own lunch or use the lodge veranda.
The workshop was built as a first stop for newcomers who need more than curiosity and a few field notes. Participants were set to hear instruction on falconry history, identification of different raptor species, anatomy and proper care of birds used in falconry, training techniques, and the hunting equipment that supports the craft. Experienced falconers and their hawks were on hand throughout the day, which matters in a sport where handling, weather, weight management, and flight work are learned most quickly beside someone who already lives the routine.
That kind of mentoring fits the path Illinois lays out for apprentices. State rules require apprentice falconers to be at least 14 years old, and anyone under 18 must have a parent or legal guardian sign the application and accept legal responsibility. An apprentice also must have a sponsor who holds a general- or master-class permit, and that sponsor must have at least two years of experience at the general level.
Federal standards add another layer. Applicants must score at least 80 percent on the supervised falconry exam administered by the state, tribe, or territory. Illinois also requires permittees moving up from apprentice status to document at least two years of apprentice-level practice, including maintaining, training, flying and hunting raptors for at least four months in each year.
The Great Lakes Falconers Association, which says it has been “REPRESENTING FALCONRY IN ILLINOIS SINCE 1962,” used the workshop to frame falconry as a regulated partnership between hunter and bird, not a casual hobby. That is where the event’s value sits for new entrants: it connects the classroom side of falconry with the permit side, including the paperwork trail that runs through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s falconry 3-186A database.
For apprentices just beginning to sort out the legal and practical demands of the sport, the day at Starved Rock showed how much of falconry starts with structure. The event page also listed an RSVP deadline of June 18, 2025, a date that did not match the 2026 workshop listing.
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