In this last episode (for now) featuring falconers from Kansas, I sit down and have a fun, lengthy conversation with Bill Brooks to talk accipiters, particularly Cooper's hawks, starting falconry in California during the early days, and the inspiration behind staying busy making blocks, perches, and other things. Thanks for joining me on my birthday today and having a good time listening to another spirited episode of the Falconry Chronicles Podcast!

Another husband and wife falconry couple joins us for this episode of the podcast. They're another couple that were each already falconers when they got together, and they each discuss their individual stories. Bill also talks about writing the book Wildlife Law, Regulation, & Falconry: Legal Principles, and involvement in other organizations. There's some different perspectives and other knowledge that can be learned in this episode, regardless of experience, so come join us!

In this episode that continues telling the stories of Kansas falconers, Ron Krupa details his early beginnings in falconry, how he ended up working with different organizations that eventually led to his tenure in the Phillipines working with Phillipine eagles, and what that fifteen year experience was like for him. This is another unique one that you'll want to hear!

Continuing on in Kansas, we're joined by Doug Burt this episode. Doug has another good story to share, since he had serious illness to overcome and a lot of really tough issues to deal with to navigate in his everyday life, let alone falconry. He also talks about his love for accipiters, transitioning to flying longwings, and lots of other great stuff! This is another inspiring one, don't miss it!

I have been talking to the guest for this episode, Jake Thomas, for over a year now, trying to figure out how I could make it down to feature some of the falconers from Kansas. Well, those plans finally came to fruition, and I was finally able to make it down to Jake's to record over a recent weekend! In this episode, Jake discusses all the factors that led into his falconry, his preferences in dogs, and what it was like jumping into the deep end with goshawks and some of the lessons that went with that. I hope you get something out of these next handful of episodes coming at you from Kansas!

This episode, we're revisiting the recording with Ken Hooke, who also agreed to do a segment for the Falconry Follies series. As many of you now know, per the announcement during this episode, as well as previous announcements, the decision has been made to discontinue the Extras Membership for extra content, so from here on out, the Falconry Follies series will be mixed in as a change of pace from time to time. For those who were members, those previous episodes will remain active via the link that was given and will remain exclusively available to you. I hope you have fun with this new installment in the Follies series before we start getting to more current content next week that was recorded recently with falconers from Kansas! Ken has some more pretty funny stories!

Shortly after writing his book, The Philosophy and Ethics of Falconry, Colten contacted me and introduced himself, asking if I could possibly give him feedback and point him in the direction of others who might also do so. After reading his book, I asked him if he might be willing to let me use him and his book in my first attempt at producing an audiobook, and towards the end of last falconry season earlier this year, we did just that! Colten came down to record over a weekend, and along with the audiobook, we recorded this episode, and did some hawking as well! If you want to get the audiobook for yourself, it can be found on Audible and most other audiobook platforms, and you can also obtain a physical copy through Amazon, Western Sporting, and Northwoods Falconry. Many thanks to him for coming down and being willing to record this project, as well as this episode!

Bill and Rich have been hawking buddies for a VERY long time. They share a lot of history together in this episode, including the roles they helped play in establishing dachshunds in hunting and falconry, what their falconry has been like all these years in the northern part of Indiana, and some of their favorite hunting memories together. Special thanks to Paul Thomas for helping bring this episode together, and for letting us borrow his RV at a dachshund field trial last summer to get this recorded. It was a fun one!

Ms. Francie is another falconer who's been requested by several folks over the past couple years, and she was another guest I was able to track down at the 2024 NAFA meet and finally get to record with! It was fun hearing her reminisce about a lot of fond memories in her many years in falconry, and hearing her talk about her fondness for helping the younger generations and newcomers to falconry was also inspiring. For those who know Francie, you know she's a fun conversation, but for those who've never met her, you're about to find out!

The guest for this episode has been requested many times over the years, and at the 2024 NAFA meet, I was able to carve out some time with Steve Layman in between hunting and workshops! Some of the things Steve and I discussed included research on aspergillosis treatment, his philosophy of falconry being a natural history sport more than even a hunting sport, and of course, some of the stories and experiences he has revolving around operant conditioning, some of which were quite amusing! This episode was a long time in the making, and I hope that it was worth the wait for those who requested it over the years!

This episode is another change of pace, remotely bringing you some falconry from Germany! Klaus and Elisabeth Leix join us to discuss what falconry is like for them in Germany, their experience with volunteering for the oldest German falconry club, which has existed for 100 years, hawking crows with falcons and goshawks, their preferred breeds of dogs to hunt with, and much more! This is a nice, lengthy episode that you're sure to get a lot out of, so enjoy!

After getting a hood from Ken for my Harris's hawk, I thought it would be good to have him on remotely to discuss hoodmaking, his history flying accipiters, longwings, and eagles, and what his falconry has looked like over the years living in Canada. Since this recording, he has since decided to retire from hoodmaking again, so if you haven't been able to get a hood from him, you might still be able to pick one up at mountainstatefalconrysupply.com. Don't sleep on it though, they're great hoods!

Revisiting this episode was a lot of fun, and getting the chance to record these types of conversations is a huge part of the reason why I continue doing this podcast. This was the second episode I recorded after a long, hot day of dachshund field trials, and instead of sitting down with these two friends separately, I decided to go ahead and have a group discussion and just go wherever it led us! We ended up talking about Rick and Rich's victories that weekend, Rick's ADHD attempt to convince Rich to start cast flying Harris's hawks on squirrels, what led Rich to start making equipment and get his own falconry business going, and other things our overheated, whiskey influenced brains decided to talk about! Enjoy!

While at some other dachshund field trials last year, I had a chance to record a couple of episodes with a few fellow falconers who I'd been trying to connect with for awhile, one of those being Mick Brown. Mick served as president of the Ohio Falconers Assocation for a long time, and is another falconer who has had to overcome a lot of physical wear and tear to continue in the sport. We talk about those things, as well as his thoughts on running Jack Russels before dachshunds, running his own falconry abatement and education businesses, and plenty of other good stuff!

Being as we have mutual friends in both falconry and the music business, I was very happy that our guest for this episode, Jen Keenan, agreed to join me remotely back in December and share her story so far. Jen is still very new in falconry, and is still learning a lot, and has had some very early challenges in her falconry career. In this episode, you'll get to hear more about her discovering falconry by hiring a falconer to do bird abatement for their vineyard, then deciding to get into it herself after her battle with cancer, the challenges of maintaining her falconry with all the businesses she runs and being married to a touring musician, and other things. This episode is proof that even though some might not have a ton of experience yet, everyone can learn a little something from everyone's experiences, so you won't want to miss it!

In August of 2024, I got another captive-bred Harris's hawk from this episode's guest, Austin Moates. While at his house, we spent the afternoon talking about his background hunting cottontails and squirrels with red-tailed hawks and Harris's hawks, some of his mentors in getting started with his breeding project, standards in falconry, his time serving in Tennessee's state falconry club, and more! He was also kind enough to take part in the Falconry Follies series, and that episode is now available to those who signed up previously for the Extras membership.

This was the last episode recorded in July of 2024 in Reno, NV, and it's another unique one! Martin Stiasny is originally from around Prague, in what is now Czechia. In this episode, he talks some about getting started in falconry around that area, what he had to go through in his journey to move to the United States, and what it was like learning raptor propagation from Dave Jamieson. There's other things discussed in this episode as well, but you'll just have to listen to hear the rest!

This episode is one of the last couple that were recorded July of 2024 in Reno, NV, and features James Tigan. James was a practicing falconer for 32 years, and while he was able to pursue falconry, he also founded the Alaska Raptor Rehabilitation Center, as well as other falconry businesses, including Tactical Avian Predators and Raptor Adventures. For more info on these, head to raptoradventures.com. Enjoy!

Along with recording the episodes you just recently heard while at Ian Anderson's last July, there were also more episodes recorded while in Reno the same month. While meeting up and recording at Dave Jamieson's place, I was also able to record a few others, including Mark Moglich. Mark discussed his experiences over the years with breeding, his passion for flying goshawks, gyrfalcons, and another rarely flown species that you'll just have to listen to hear more about! Special thanks again to friend Vahe Alaverdian for helping to make these recordings happen!

The last episode recorded while at Ian Anderson's place in Iowa features Minnesota resident Joe Hance. This was a very fun and animated conversation, in which we talk about hawking cottontails with a cast of Harris's hawks, some of his short prior experiences hunting with red-tailed hawks and goshawks, and getting Joe's take on different aspects and outlooks on falconry. Just a heads up, this is also another episode with some colorful language in it, but this fun and energetic conversation will be one that is sure to be enjoyed!