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!