HOWE, Idaho - Jack Oar has trained hawks and falcons all of his life.

Enchanted by their flight when he was in the third grade, Oar has devoted his life to hunting the "way the knights once did."

"I just love everything about it," said Oar, who lives 25 miles north of Howe in the Little Lost River Valley. "It is the ultimate bird-watching. It is more bird-watching than bringing home the bacon."

It has brought him a lifetime of joy. The past three weeks, however, have been the worst of his falconry career. On Oct. 16, Oar was sage grouse hunting with a 5-month-old gyrfalcon near the mouth of Sawmill Canyon. The young bird broke away and landed more than a mile away, according to its radio transmitter.

Oar went to find the wayward bird and was shocked to find it dead under a fence post, killed most likely by a deer hunter with a high-powered rifle.

"I could see a dust cloud on the two track leading away from the area, so I knew something was wrong," Oar said. "By the time I homed in on her, she was laying under a fence post. She was shot through and through. Apparently it was a deer rifle."

Oar still struggles to square the sight of the dead bird and the fleeing poachers.

"I was really devastated," he said. "It made me see blood. I think somebody went deer hunting and didn't get a shot at a deer and decided to take a shot at her."

Oar is most angry he won't get to see the young bird grow.

"She was probably the nicest, best-mannered bird I've ever had," he said. "Her attitude toward people was really nice."

He said the youngster was learning fast, a part of falconry Oar loves the best.

"We don't have to kill something every day," Oar said. "For me, it is best to see, day by day, how they improve. You can see their mind working."

Oar holds no illusions the poachers will be caught.

"The chances are slim," he said. "The only way they will be caught is if they brag about it in some bar and somebody is reviled by their actions.

"I can hope," Oar said.

If you have information about the incident, call Citizens Against Poaching at (800) 632-5999. CAP will pay $100 for information leading to an arrest.

The Idaho Falconers' Association is offering an additional reward of $1,000.

"Jack and other falconers throughout the state have worked for decades to try to educate and inform people about these magnificent birds and the key role they play in the environment," said Dave Smith, president of the Idaho Falconers' Association. "It's time for everyone to step forward and say that we won't tolerate this kind of senseless destruction."