Here we are at yet another milestone with the podcast..... Episode 150! Thanks again for coming along for the ride! This 150^th episode brings you another falconer who worked with the Peregrine Fund, which was instrumental in gaining him the knowledge to start his own propagation project with gyrfalcons. Dan Konkel has been producing birds for falconers around the world for many years, particularly in the Middle East, and is someone else with tons of collective knowledge. I hope you enjoy hearing about these things, plus a lot more, in this new milestone episode!

This first episode in 2025 continues on with another falconer who started back in the early days! Pete Widener talks about his long falconry career and love of peregrines, his early career choices and settling in Wyoming, where he's lived now for the better part of his life, and how and why he got into the propagation of peregrines. The great stories and experiences continue on into 2025, so thanks so much for continuing to listen! Stick around for a couple of other new milestones over the next couple of episodes!

Happy New Year everyone! We're gonna bring in the new year here with an episode that was recorded in Pinedale, and features John Dahlke. John has been very involved with sage grouse conservation over the years, which has also helped with his sage grouse hawking pursuits. John also has a gyrfalcon propagation project, and primarily flies gyrfalcons in his own falconry. We discuss these things, as well as some of his unique learning experiences under some early pioneers of falconry in the United States, so come hang out with us as our conversations with Wyoming falconers continue!

Continuing on in Wyoming, this episode was one of a handful recorded while in Sheridan. In this fun conversation with Pete Jenny, he talks about his time working with the Peregrine Fund, what it was like starting out in the early days of falconry in the US, traversing the country pursuing different falconry and schooling opportunities, and much more! This is another very fun and informative episode, and there's plenty more of that coming your way in the coming weeks!

These next handful of episodes are going to come at you from Wyoming! Due to various work circumstances that came up in early 2024, life took me back out to west work again, so I made the most of it while out there. As part of a productive jaunt through different parts of Wyoming on some off days, John Coffman had me out to his stomping grounds to talk about his longwing pursuits, ranch life, being a part of some work for the Peregrine Fund, and what falconry looked like for him traversing many states early in his tenure. This is the start of some more great content, and Jeff and Lauren Redig earned a lot of credit in helping to set many of these recordings up, so many thanks to them for helping make some of these happen! There's a lot of falconers with some great history and experience in Wyoming, so enjoy!

Having been a fan of Tucker Taylor's hoods for awhile before having a chance to talk to him, I was pretty excited about getting a chance to record with him on my way home from Wyoming earlier this year. While being kind enough to host me, he also was nice enough to talk about what his experience was like getting into falconry, flying red-tailed hawks and Cooper's hawks, his path to hoodmaking, and some of what he's learned during those times. If you're interested in hoodmaking, you should make it a priority to listen to his insights! Tucker makes a pretty darn good hood!

While working in Wyoming earlier this year, I was able to take a bit of time on some days off and visit friend and fellow Houndsman XP/Xtreme Performance Outdoor Network collaborator Chad Reynolds. Chad was able to take some time and record with me after one of his usual busy days at the ranch, and we talked dog/animal training, the rigours of growing a successful business, and what his falconry has looked like in the different parts of the country he's been in. There's a lot of great discussions in this lengthy episode, and it was great getting a chance to sit down in person to record this, see some of his dogs run, and get an idea of what a day in his life looks like!

The last episode recorded at the THA meet was with Spence Wise, a longtime falconer from Florida. It was fun talking to him about a lot of the changes he's had to adjust to during his many years of falconry, including having to adapt to habitat loss (and finding out that one of his favorite hunting areas used to be where my parents now live), transitioning to hunting with merlins, and beach trapping for merlins, amongst other topics. Thanks again to the Texas Hawking Assocation for helping to make these episodes happen, we hope you've enjoyed them!

This is the last of the episodes recorded at the THA meet earlier this year featuring falconers from Texas, and it's a fun one! Tony and Mel Lyons joined me to talk about their unique experiences getting introduced to the world of falconry, particularly in regards to their respective apprenticeships and the harder path they had to take during that time. We have some fun at this expense of our mutual friend Sheldon, who you all heard from earlier as a guest, and they also talked about their experiences flying falcons, Cooper's hawks, and other fun stuff! Thanks again to Corey Roelke and the Texas Hawking Association for having me down, and join us next week for the last episode recorded at the THA meet!

We're down to the last few episodes that were recorded earlier this year at the Texas Hawking Assocation meet! In this episode, Nichole Moore sits down and discusses hawking with Harris's hawks, Cooper's hawks, and also what it's been like to pursue her career in zoology. These last few episodes that were recorded at the THA meet were just as fun as the rest, so look forward to getting them out to you all!