This episode was recorded seemingly forever ago, almost three years to be exact. Now that I've made my way completely through my backlog and had a chance to listen back to this episode that I've held in reserve for so long, it felt like an appropriate time to put it out. I recently published another episode featuring a longtime Indiana falconer, so I figured this would be a good time to publish another! Doug agreed to do this recording while I was still working a travel position in Terre Haute, and after doing some hawking, we sat down to discuss Doug's young start in falconry, what falconry was like in Indiana all those years ago from his perspective, and most importantly, to get some fond memories of Don Garvin, another longtime Indiana falconer who passed in 2022. 

Falconers and their opinions... You all have heard that sentiment mentioned many times now on the podcast, and for those of you who have been active falconers longer than five seconds, you know this sentiment all too well! There are some opinions that are more rooted in fact and that are widely agreed upon, but others are up for much more debate. There are always going to be disagreements within the falconry community, as there are in any life endeavor. I have no doubt there will be many who both agree and disagree with some of the thoughts and opinions shared by the guest of this episode, but nevertheless, I appreciate Karl taking the time to come on and spend a couple of hours sharing some pretty crazy hunting stories, some of his changes in his own opinions over the years, and some of his opinions on what he thinks we could or should be doing differently with falconry here in the United States. Whichever side of the fence you're on, I hope that, as always, it may at least get you thinking!

This episode takes us back to Germany once again, this time in the more central part of the country, where Kai Schmid resides. Kai comes on the podcast to talk about his affinity for goshawks and vizslas, and details how he incorporates ferrets in his falconry. He also discusses some of the challenges that Germany faces currently with declining rabbit populations, as well as how avian influenza is affecting falconry there.

We're not only back in the US for this episode, but also my home state of Indiana! This episode was recorded at the end of last season at the last Indiana Falconers Assocation meet of the year in Terre Haute. It was requested by other IFA members that I get a conversation recorded with Mike Jones to get his memories of the early formation of the IFA and NAFA, his early days of falconry in the state, and some other good memories.

This episode brings you more falconry from Germany with Malte Tober! After getting home from a business trip in Belgium, Malte expounds a little more on how they go about testing to become a falconer in Germany, starting falconry with a goshawk, hawking Egyptian geese and their status as an invasive species, and much more!

This week brings you some falconry from Germany, with Claas Niehues joining us remotely! Claas has been a falconer for around 30 years, and has gotten to see and practice falconry in many different countries. He discusses that, along with flying Harris's hawks, why Harris's are his favorite species to fly, what led him to write a book about them, his experience with vizslas, and other topics!

In the coming weeks, we're going to be jumping around some other countries, since logistics and time have been preventing more face-to-face conversations lately. I've been getting back in touch with some of my international falconry friends, and was introduced to Cameron Coley remotely. He talks about falconry in the province where he's from in South Africa, some of the species he's gotten to fly, including his red-breasted sparrowhawk he flew for multiple seasons, getting to see some falconry in the US, and other topics. Thanks again to Andre Cilliers for the recommendation, and hopefully we'll get to hear from more falconers from around the world in the coming weeks!

This episode is the last episode from Oklahoma, for a little while at least. In this episode Brooke Reed joins us to talk about her short tenure in falconry thus far. Even though she's only been at it for a few years, she's been pursuing her falconry career rather tenaciously, and also already giving back in terms of helping with her state club and other things. She also talks about doing a slightly longer apprenticeship due to various circumstances, juggling falconry with an unconventional career, and other good stuff. Thanks again to Rob Rainey and the rest of the Oklahoma folks for a great bunch of episodes and for their hospitality while recording them!

We have just a couple of episodes left that were recorded in Oklahoma earlier this summer. Dave Eslicker, falconer and former physician/dermatologist, joins us this episode to talk about some important topics, mainly being his involvement in getting falconry regulations turned over more to the states, the process of how that came about, and what led up to it. Of course, he also talks about his personal falconry flying gyr/peregrine hybrids, and shares some other stories and experiences in his time practicing falconry in both Maine and Oklahoma.

In this episode with Mark Waller, we get to hear from another falconer who has been at it since the early days of falconry in the US. Mark talks about being involved with birds of prey since his early childhood, balancing that with his career as an attorney, and the early days of the Oklahoma falconry community.