Hawking is the practice of
hunting animals with
hawks or other birds of prey (eg
falcons,
owls). It used to be practiced greatly in
England for both
sport and
pest control (damn
rabbits) and is not done as much now.
There is still a use for hawking and it is still used as pest control today, many people also do it as a sport. It can be done at stocked game reserves and in the wild. It's even possible to make quite a good living at it. Apparently a hawker can make upwards of £1000 a week for flying their hawk every day as pest control at such places as landfill sites, golf courses, sports fields and other open areas where rabbits and the like are considered a pest.