I just wanted some feedback on whether I was reading the 2014 regs correctly. I like a lot of the changes as it makes things easier for me to find a sponsor (I live down by St Louis and there don't seem to be many active IFO members in my area, but there are quite a few on the Missouri side), but I found the apprentice selection of birds to be a little perplexing. As it reads, accipitriformes are not allowed (omitted), but falconiformes and stigiformes are permitted. With the somewhat recent reclassification by the scientific community of all hawks out of falconiformes and into accipitriformes, that essentially means by the strictest interpretation of the law I can use a Peregrine Falcon, a Great Horned Owl, or a hybrid falcon as my first falconry bird, but not a Red-Tailed Hawk. Am I reading this correctly?

I understand preventing use of accipiters by an apprentice since they're high strung and often hard to manage, and the common practice (at least with gos) is to imprint them as an eyass which is something that you don't want just anybody doing...but removing the buteos and parabuteos as potential first falconry birds (or more accurately, not amending the regs to make them permitted on a species by species basis the minute they got reclassified) and only leaving falcons and owls as permitted species seems like saying 'So you'd like to learn how to drive? Here are the keys to that Ferrari over there.'

If the IDNR is using the scientific community's classifications, it seems like Red-Tails, Red Shoulders, and Harris' at the very least should probably be called out specifically as species permitted for apprentices. If they're using their own list based on what was published and accepted when the regs were approved, that list should be available somewhere for reference, as well as referenced in the regs so I know what to look up. Just my two cents in a few places. Hoping to make 2015 my first season as an apprentice and I just want to have all the rules ironed out so I can move on with planning and study.