This episode lets us briefly revisit the Western Cape region of South Africa again, where our guest for this episode, Charl Lotriet, is from. Charl was one of the falconers kind enough to host me while I was in South Africa last summer, and he also took me to experience my first safari trip. Charl is relatively new to falconry, and he discusses his experiences getting into the sport. It was interesting hearing his background as a pilot, along with how he got into the sport. I'm appreciative of his hospitality while I was in South Africa, and hope you enjoy hearing about falconry from his perspective!

This episode takes us back down to Eastern Texas to talk about some good ol' fashioned squirrel hawking! I have to acknowledge and give props to this episode's guest, Randy Watson, for helping to make a lot of these Texas-based episodes happen with falconers on his side of the state, including the recent Gary Brewer episode. Randy was generous enough to contact me and have me down to get these recordings made late last year, and it was great getting to hear how he met Gary and initially got into falconry. Talking squirrel hawking with other falconers never gets old, and this episode is no exception!

This episode's guest features another falconer from Canada, Martin Geleynse. Martin is another falconer who's been at it for a very long time, and during that time, he's sure stayed busy! During his years in falconry, he's worked a lot to get falconry regulations approved in Ontario, and he's also currently serving as president of the North American Falconers Association. It was nice getting another perspective on what it's like to juggle these responsibilities along with falconry and life's other responsibilities, so you'll want to hear what he has to say!

Those who are knowledgeable in the history of falconry are aware that there are few falconers left who were around during the early formative years of falconry's foundation in the United States. There are even fewer left who can say that they had a chance to learn from some of those falconers instrumental in forming those foundations. Thankfully, some of those falconers still around from that era are willing to share what their experiences were like, and the guest for this episode, Ken Felix, happens to be one of those generous individuals! Joining the podcast remotely due to obvious logistical challenges, Ken was gracious enough to talk about those early years, some of his challenges getting into falconry, his motivations to become a falconer, and other great topics! It's a true privilege to be able to share conversations like these, and I can only hope I get to do another follow up episode with Ken in person. Special thanks also goes to Seth Roy for helping to make this episode happen. Have fun!

In this episode, we revisit the world of dachshunds with Paul and Phil Eliya, who also make up the first brother falconry duo to appear on the podcast. These two have contributed back quite a bit to the world of dachshunds and falconry as well, and they started off their falconry journey as apprentices to Teddy Moritz, so they had a great guide through the beginning of their time in the sport. They both offer a lot of great insight in this episode, and were a lot of fun to get to know and talk with. Have fun listening to another great jaunt into the world of these small hunting hounds!

This episode brings us back to Canada, where Brittany Gravel discusses the challenges of falconry in her area. Despite having to contend with some pretty brutal hunting conditions, she has become passionate about hawking snowshoe hares, and has experience hunting with red-tailed, Harris's, and now goshawks! At the time of this recording, hunting with a goshawk was one of her next primary goals, and congratulations to her on not only accomplishing that goal, but also recently catching her first head of game with her new goshawk!

Welcome, and thanks for checking out this first official episode of the newly launched Falconry Chronicles podcast! Be forewarned, this episode is a lengthy one! It's actually a combination of two different recordings, which took place over the same weekend. Gary was kind enough to take a couple of afternoons to talk at length about his history, which encompasses over four decades in falconry, and discusses how he got into squirrel hawking, discovered his passion for red tailed hawks, helped with some of the rules and regulations of falconry in Texas, and of course, shared a couple of pretty wild stories! Special thanks to Randy Watson for bringing me down to his part of Texas to get Gary and others recorded for the falconry community!

This episode was recorded back in the summer in between some of the dachshund episodes. While visiting Seth Roy, Gaylen also happened to be visiting, and it just made sense to get another long-tenured falconer on the podcast who was involved during the very early days of US falconry. It was a privelege to be able to hear about some of his early days of equipment-making, trapping, and what it was like in general trying to get into falconry before any of the widespread popularity and networking. If you value hearing about some of the early history of falconry, this is another episode for you!

Our dachshund series continues with one of several falconers from the New York/New Jersey area that were recorded. Once I contacted Casey and told him my plans and inspiration for doing this series, he was instantly inspired to help make it happen. He helped this series come together by coordinating a lot of these episodes with other falconers in his area who also run dachshunds, so I was very happy to have his help! He's largely known for his social media presence (nj_falconry on Instagram), and has been an avid falconer and dachshund owner for a long time, and mainly flies goshawks over his dachshund Ginger. Enjoy!

Our Canada series continues with another familiar name in the falconry community! A falconer of multiple decades from Saskatchewan, Lynn Oliphant, author of Developing the Modern Gamehawk, takes some time here on the podcast to discuss his background and history, as well as some of the preparation and work that went into putting together his book. The amount of work that goes into such endeavors is always impressive, and hearing more about all the work that Lynn put into his is no exception! We hope you enjoy another information packed episode of this series featuring falconers from Canada!

Our dachshund series continues with a guest who has been requested often on the podcast, but until recently, we couldn't connect with and make a recording happen in person. Tyler Sladen has been a friend for awhile, having started falconry around relatively the same time. However, a recent terrier trial event in Kentucky held on the weekend of my birthday was the first time in seven or eight years that we had seen each other, so we finally got a chance to make it happen. We had a lot of catching up to do, and in that time, we of course talked dachshunds and other breeds, as well as many of the things that we've encountered and dealt with along our respective falconry journeys. It was great getting to catch up with him, and we hope you enjoy it and get something from it!

Well, you all have been asking for it, and we listened.... This is the start of a series featuring falconers from Canada! We heard the requests before, but as always, we try to do as many episodes in person as possible. However, after much debating, discussing, and planning, we conceded that the only way we were going to be able to ever initially put out episodes for Canada was to start remotely. Therefore, thanks to the help of our guest for this episode, we were able to get in contact with some falconers from Canada, and link up over the internet. We've done the best we can with the audio quality of these episodes, but that being said we think you'll enjoy them, especially this initial episode with Mark Williams! On top of being a very experienced falconer, Mark is also the communications director and NAFA trustee for the Falconry Fund. In the past, he's also worked abroad in the Middle East for an established telemetry company, and the stories of that experience alone are enough to make this episode well worth the listen! We hope you enjoy this series, and will do our best to bring you more episodes featuring falconers from Canada that are recorded in person in the future!

We're shaking things up a bit over the next few months of the podcast! This episode brings the start of one of a couple of new series, with this series featuring one of the favorite dog breeds used in falconry: Dachshunds! After meeting the guest for this episode of the podcast for the first time, the inspirational spark for a series featuring this breed was lit. While attending my first dachshund field trials, we fortunately found the time in between Teddy's judging obligations to discuss her long history with this breed and falconry. Credited by many for being the "Godmother" of dachshunds being used in falconry, Teddy Moritz has a wealth of knowledge spanning decades in regards to these little dogs and their uses in falconry and hunting, so you all are in for a treat! Hopefully someday we can capture more of her memories and stories. In the meantime, we have many more episodes of this series coming up for you in the coming weeks with some new types of conversations and discussions, so we look forward to getting these series out to you! Happy hawking!

This episode has taken awhile to come to fruition, but thanks to some mutual friends (and some bourbon!), Mike McDermott has agreed to come on the podcast to discuss his falconry experiences with us. Amongst other things, we talk about passage Cooper's hawks, imprint goshawks vs. chamber/parent reared goshawks, and the motivations for writing books. He also discusses his change in mindset throughout his years in falconry as well. There's a lot of great stuff in this episode, but just a heads up, there's some "colorful" language at times in this episode, so just consider yourself warned! A lot of fun was had during the recording and editing of this episode, and we're confident you'll get some good info and laughs out of it too!

We're switching gears again, bringing you a couple of individual episodes before starting into a mix of a couple of new exciting series for you all! Recently, we were fortunate enough to be able to meet up with Seth Roy while recording with several falconers around the New Jersey area. He was nice enough to show us around his amazing property, discuss some of the aspects of his breeding project, North Mountain Goshawks, and talk some about his approach to falconry. We're also happy to announce that North Mountain Goshawks is now a sponsor of the podcast, so if you're in the market soon for a new goshawk, head to http://www.northmountaingoshawks.com and fill out the contact form or drop them a message on Facebook. He has produced some great birds, so if you give one a shot, we're sure you won't be disappointed!

The Cape Falconry Club series concludes with this second bonus episode featuring another falconer from the UK, Steve Eastwood. In this conversation, we discuss Harris's hawks, ferrets in falconry, and experiences coming to South Africa. Steve also talks some about what falconry is like for him in the northern part of England, where he currently resides. Thanks again so much for listening to the series, and we hope you've gotten a lot out of it! We're switching gears in the coming weeks with some individual episodes we know you'll enjoy, as well as starting a couple of new series for you too, so we look forward to having you with us again during our coming travels!

This Cape Falconry Club series concludes with two bonus episodes, both with falconers from the UK in attendance at the meet. This first bonus episode is with Robert Kenward, a falconer who has volunteered a lot of time with the IAF and IUCN, helping many falconers with their conservation efforts. We discuss some of his background and experiences with those efforts, as well as some of his experiences with goshawks, which also happens to be among the raptors he's most passionate about. Just one bonus episode left in the series, so don't miss it, and the exciting things we have coming up after!

This Cape Falconry Series is almost at an end, with this being the last falconer in the series from South Africa. Originally from Zimbabwe, Dr. Adrian Lombard has a lot of experience volunteering with the IAF, and has served in multiple capacities, including chairman. We discuss that, as well as some of the details of his medical practice, and we also discuss one of the favorite species of raptor he's enjoyed flying over the years: the black sparrowhawk. After this episode, we have two bonus episodes left with falconers from the UK who were in attendance at the CFC meet to conclude the CFC series, so be sure not to miss them!

As we come closer to ending this series showcasing some of the wonderful falconry in South Africa, Dr. Edmund Oettlé joins us in this ninth episode of the series to discuss some of his experiences in the sport, and experience is something he has no shortage of! On top of being one of the falconers responsible for getting falconry legalized in the Western Cape, he has also had an interesting career as a veterinarian. To add to this, he also decided later on to switch careers and start making wine, so juggling all of that along with his falconry and family responsibilities produced a very intriguing conversation! We have just a few episodes left before this series concludes, so enjoy!