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Jennings Dale (JD) Solmonsen
1960 - 2020
Falconry came into JD’s life as a young boy of 14. He had grown up in a hunting family, but one moment in time, when another falconer took him along to watch him fly his hawk, became the impetus (a force that moves something along) of his life for the next 56 years.
Over the years, he has hunted with prairie falcons, red tail hawks, goshawks, kestrels, coopers hawks, gyr falcons, hybrids and his all-time favorite, the peregrine. He became a falconer before federal & state regulations required licenses. He was grandfathered in at the level of Master Falconer. For years, as a young father on a tight budget, he trapped his hawk, made all his equipment, flew without telemetry & raised his own feed – did falconry the authentic, hard way.
JD was an OUTDOOR SPORTSMAN & TRADITIONALIST.
As a yearning desire and personal challenge, in 2003 in Washington state, his peregrine captive breeding project was birthed. From one natural peales pair of quality game hawks, the project produced TRUE parent raised birds with His stock was purchased often by other breeders looking to acquire the bloodlines he had meticulously developed.
In 2007, JD, his devoted wife Cheryl, the falcons, English setters, 2 horses and a menagerie of other animals moved to NE Montana. Although they loved the Okanogan Valley and the beautiful log home he had built, gamebirds & good hawking habitat had diminished in Washington to the point that it was becoming difficult to be a serious falconer in the state. This was the 2nd time he was to build a new home & animal facility from raw ground. JD was a hardworking man with abundant skills beyond falconry, but that’s another story…
His lifetime of falconry wisdom & experience was inexhaustible, yet he believed “there is always room to learn something new.”
In Montana, he planned to retire & live the dream of every serious falconer, to reside where upland game birds are plentiful and the wide-open prairies offer ideal conditions for the perfect peregrine flight, high-speed dives attacking their prey in the air.
He named the propagation project Great Plains Peales and bred a line of peregrines that was known throughout the USA, frequently purchased by other breeders looking to acquire the bloodlines he had meticulously developed. He acquired his C.I.T.E.S. and sold some peregrines abroad coming to realize that business and pleasure don’t always go hand in hand.
It has been said “JD was a rare bird that few people truly understood” possibly because his bond with falcons & bird dogs exceeds human understanding and must be felt with the soul.
Although retired from the work force, building the new home & ranch was a HUGE JOB! But in keeping priorities straight ~ RULE #1 was fly the falcons first, then build. And although that didn’t happen every day, it did account for countless JOY FILLED hours on the prairie with his beloved peregrines, English setters & wife Cheryl.
Falconry was SO much more than hunting the falcons to JD. All the interrelated skills a falconer may or may not develop, he became a master at. He was an artist at leatherwork, designing and crafting lures & pigeon harnesses for trapping, traditional falconry bags, even the occasional hood. He designed & built blocks, sliding perches for vehicles, screen perches and a rolled astro turf block-top, selling wholesale to falconry supply houses. His one regret was not taking Frank Beebe up on an offer to teach JD personally to craft a well-known flapping lure Mr. Beebe created & established as the benchmark falconry lure in the field.
If he couldn’t be out hunting with his peregrines, then trapping wild birds of prey filled the gaps. As a young man he rappelled over cliffs to take eyas hawks home to imprint. A favorite trapping story includes a “dig in” the snow and multiple trips back & forth the valley to get more pigeons in his all-day attempt to trap a wild female gyr. The next day she was hungry enough to grab his fool proof pigeon harness and he held her long enough to realize his success and take a quick photo before releasing her to the wild again.
Rarely would JD be seen without his current “flyer” or beloved bird dog. Together they would go to work, on vacation in hotels or camping or while visiting family & friends. At home a falcon was often on his fist while reading his latest falconry book or watching falconry films. Falcons perched on the living room floor was typical. A falcon’s presence was never far from him. A falcon completed his persona and built his nature - one of observation, cunning, patience, strength, toughness and intelligence - with an instinct to hunt and win.
A falcon completed his persona and built his nature - one of observation, cunning, patience, strength, toughness and intelligence - with an instinct to hunt and win.
