Eliminating the draw is a…

Eliminating the draw is a important improvement. It enables all apprentice falconers to be able to trap their first bird of prey which allows them to really immerse into the biology of the species in the process. Many will release the bird back into the wild at the end of the hunting season, knowing that they'll be able to trap a new bird for the next season. This is the way that falconry has been practiced for thousands of years. Releasing birds back to the wild to breed in the spring, and trapping a young bird the next fall season is an important falconry tradition. In this way, the effect of falconry on the wild raptor population is inconsequential.

Since falconers have played a huge role in raptor conservation in the past, this proposal will encourage more people to get involved in citizen science. The Ontario Hawking Club has been very active in monitoring goshawks and access to wild goshawk will surely encourage more falconers to participate. I strongly support the proposal to allow adjustment of the numbers of goshawks based on new information as it becomes available in the future.