October 12, 2016
By Paul Joseph, News Director
The Falcons are coming!
Western Oklahoma will soon be the host sight to two Falcon hunts, one the Oklahoma state association of falconers, OFA and then next one, about a month later is the national association of falconers.
Jim Mason, Elk City’s Director of Community and Economic Development says the state group will come into the area the weekend of October 21 and 22 to hunt and check things out for the larger group coming November 13 through the 18.
Mason is anticipating about 250 falcons hunting the skies of Western Oklahoma.
Mason says in preparation of the two hunts, he’s looking for area land owners with access to land that holds a variety of prey, cottontails, jackrabbits, small duck ponds and upland game. He says it doesn’t have to be in the Elk City area. In fact, Mason says, the falconers are expected to hunt a wide range including Guymon and Amarillo.
As is the case with many birds of prey, falcons have exceptional powers of vision; the visual ability of one species has been measured at 2.6 times that of a normal human. Some falcons have recorded diving at speeds of 200 miles per hour, making them the fastest-moving creatures on earth.
Mason says he’s expecting to see a lot of people in Elk City and throughout Western Oklahoma and the Easter Texas Panhandle during the hunt and says it’ll be good for the area hotels.
He says the reason the two groups decided upon western Oklahoma is because of the Elk City Convention and Visitor’s Bureau director being in the right place at the right time.
According to a website, there are about 40 species of falcons which are birds of prey. Falcons have thin, tapered wings, which enable them to fly at high speed and to change direction rapidly.
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