66. Game Hawker Edition with Heath Garner (Part 3)
Heath Garner returns to Game Hawker Edition to round out his 3-episode series. After a brief reminder describing Heath's hawking circumstances, he and I talk about the mystery book that Heath received just after he returned from the NAFA meet. Heath then gives us an update on his approach of removing his dog from the field to encourage better pitch from his falcon, "Finn". He also describes progress with regard to his bird's beak injury from a collision with hog wire fencing. I incorrectly assume that "Finn" had stopped carrying and had made it home after each day's outing. Heath gives us a run down of the 4th Annual Snipe Hawking Invitational, and describes his plans for next season. We finish off with a description of Heath's most memorable day of he 2024/25 hawking season. I hope you enjoy this episode of Game Hawker Edition.
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33:08
65. Game Hawker Edition with Corey Roelke (Part 3)
Corey Roelke is back to finish off his 3-part series. He begins the episode by telling us about "Hela" and her new litter of pups. Then we talk about how the season finished for each of his three peregrine falcons, his plans for each of them, and his plans for next season. Corey talks about why he chose to fly three birds and the relative risks of flying ducks despite the presence of avian influenza. We finish off, discussing the relative importance of consistent hunting weight versus consistent hunting time, and we get Corey's book recommendation for the off-season.
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27:41
64. Game Hawker Edition with Jeff Broadbent (Part 3)
Jeff Broadbent returns to wrap-up his Game Hawker series. I provide a synopsis of Jeff's accounts of his season told in Parts 1 and 2, and then we discuss progress of his recent addition to his team, "Captain Jack", his English setter. Jeff then describes the events of a particularly disastrous day for him and his hawking partner, Arnaud Van Wetter. We then turn our attention to Jeff's plans for next season, including some change he intends to make. Jeff then offers his opinions on the relative tradeoffs between managing for hunting weight, hunting time, and feeding time. Before concluding with Jeff's suggestions for off-season reading, he recounts his most memorable day afield this season. Thanks for listening to Fat Bird, Ugly Dog - I hope you enjoy this episode.
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33:30
63. Game Hawker Edition with Dale Guthormsen (Part 3)
In this episode Dale Guthormsen joins me to finish out his three episode contribution to Game Hawker Edition. After I briefly remind listeners of Dale's hawking season, he and I discuss this season relative to others he has experienced and what he intends to do differently next season. We then turn our attention to a common theme that I've been talking about with guests on Game Hawker Edition; the relative importance of keeping a hawk within a narrow range in body mass and the idea of maintaining a consistent hunting time. I then get Dale's opinion on managing hunting weight using ounces rather than grams. We then talk about what Dale means when he discusses the concept of "first day high" and "second day high". I ask Dale to comment on the quality of falconry today in comparison to what is was three or four decades ago, and I find out what are the "aesthetics" that Dale is looking for in his falcons. We finish off the episode with Dale's most memorable day this season.
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43:31
62. Game Hawker Edition with Steve Chindgren (Part 3)
Steve Chindgren joins me for the last episode of his 3-part series of Game Hawker Edition. We begin the episode with a brief discussion of what each passing season means to Steve who is now in his 70s and still hawking hard. We then talk about the attributes of a good falconer as passed down to Steve from his mentor. Steve tells us why he switched from flying in the mornings to flying in the evenings, and we talk about the tradeoffs between managing for hunting weight versus hunting time. We then talk about Gerald Richards and the Utah Sky Trials. Steve then outlines his plans for next season, and gives us his opinion on the quality of North American falconry today in comparison to what it was half a century ago. Steve then describes his most memorable day of hawking for the 2024/25 season. I hope you enjoy this episode. Thanks for listening.
The goal of this podcast is to present alternate viewpoints on falconry. Topics covered range from training philosophy, husbandry, and health of birds and bird dogs to conservation and management of raptors, their main prey species, and the respective habitat that they rely on. In addition, I’ll cover-off themes related to hunter ethics, fair chase, and access to public and private land. I’ll outline efforts that falconers can make to contribute to all of these topics of conversation.
South Africa