In this episode, I am again join by Ronnie Moore, author of "Memoirs of a Hunting Falconer".  At the end of Part 1, Ron described how he came to acquire “Ailsa”, We start this conversation today with Ron's first interactions with her as he began the process of training her for falconry.  Once he had gained Ailsa’s trust, and she was ready to fly free, he encouraged her to hunt from the soar as he had done with “Mort” many years prior, and he recounts how he got her entered on quarry.  Ron tells us the story where he feels that all his Christmas’s came at once.  Initially Ron had typically allowed her to take a full feed off of her first kill, but he eventually got to the point that he needed to remove kills from her if he was to be able to hunt for long periods over which multiple kills had been made...he tells us how you went about that process.  As with all training of all hawks, setbacks and mistakes are inevitable, Ron recounts once such experience, and explains why he opted to stop using his dog "Linnet" while hunting with "Ailsa".  Ron recounts  how lucky he was  to be allowed into Ailsa's world. and follows that with a tale about why hunting alone is not without its risks. We learn about Ailsa’s first encounter with a blue hare, and conclude the episode hearing about Himalayan monkey skin, burning arm pits, the downside of wearing a damp tweed  jacket.

In this Episode Ronnie Moore joins me to tell us about his early childhood experiences and how they led to his love of the outdoors and hunting pursuits.  Ron describes how he came to acquire one of his first falconry birds, a European buzzard he named "Mort" - Ron released "Mort", but that was not the end of their time hunting together.  Although  Ron is likely best known for his golden eagle “Ailsa”, he also flew goshawks and falcons achieving much the same standard of falconry with them that he achieved with "Ailsa".  We talk about his goshawks, "Ratty" and "Kojak", his falcons "Alice" (a prairie falcon) and "Nasty Louis" (a tiercel peregrine) - Ron is natural story-teller, and his adventures with his birds are most entertaining to say the least.

In this episode Vickie Joseph joins me to talk about Clinical Avian Pathology Services and she tells us which items falconers should carry in a Med Kit.  We also talk about "supportive care" and what it entails. We talk about the importance of hydration, the various types of fluids that can be administered, and how to administer them.  We talk about diet and discuss the quality of wild food compared to quail. We talk about impact injuries and bite wounds including those associated with venomous snakes. Vickie walks me through a basic triage protocol, and talks about use of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medications.  We conclude our discussion with two cases involving falconry birds that were injured whilst hunting, and my rapid fire questions.

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 This week I am joined by Doug Manzer of the Alberta Conservation Association (ACA). Doug  is well-known for his Sharp-tailed Grouse expertise, but he has also spent about two decades working on other wildlife species and, of course, habitat conservation and management in the province of Alberta, Canada. We talk a little philosophy and ask the question, "Why Hunters Hunt", we also talk about upland game birds that primarily inhabit open areas including Doug’s own work on sharp tailed grouse. Tune is to hear just how successful the ACA has been in regard to managing farmed landscapes...the densities of grey partridge that are achieved will amaze you.

This episode brings my discussion with Steve Chindgren to an end. We began the episode talking about a club that Steve and his childhood friend, Jim Hutchins, established as very young boys. Steve tells us about hist 25-year relationship with his gyr peregrine tiercel, Jomo, and tells us about a few close calls. including one where Jomo was lost in the sage without telemetry.   We then hear story of "Rocky",  who was killed by a golden eagle after along tail chase and killing a sage grouse. "Tava", was an absolutely gorgeous falcon, also killed by a golden eagle, seconds before Steve could reach him. Steve recounts a hawking story of how "Somach" flew prairie chickens at the 2012 NAFA Meet in Kearney, Nebraska. We hear how Steve introduce "Zander" to the drone in his eleventh season, and get an update on his progress to date. Steve tells us about "Comet", a white Jerkin, his physical condition, and how it contributed to his death. At the time the book was published Steve was flying "DC"; we hear about "DC's" love of chasing pigeons, and his struggles with late-season grouse. Steve introduces us to "Badger", who he acquired since publishing the book.  The episode concludes with Steve's outlining his thoughts expressed in the final chapter of the book (a dedication to the art of falconry", and his answers to my rapid fire questions.

 Buy the book here.

In this episode Steve compares and contrasts the various species of falcon that he has flown on sage grouse, and why he believes that the tiercel gyr/peregrine hybrid is the ultimate sage grouse hawk.  He also explains how he trains and conditions his birds to hunt sage grouse, how he uses his dogs when hunting, and he also tells us about two  his favorite falcons, BBG (a wild-taken gyrfalcon harvested in Alaska), and Kallikak, his spectacular prairie/peregrine hybrid.

Author and falconer, Steve Chindgren joins me to talk about his career producing and conducting bird shows, his camp on the Big Sandy, and how he began hawking sage grouse. Steve talks about basic sage grouse biology, the sage habitat they rely on, and the threats to the species. He compares hunting sage grouse to hunting red grouse and sharp tailed grouse. No conversation about hawking winter sage grouse could exclude the topic of golden eagles - Steve shares his experiences with golden eagles, and how he goes about trying to minimize lethal encounters with them. 

 This week British falconer, Simon Tyers, author of  "The Specialist Falcon – A Personal Approach to Lowland Hawking”, joins me for another wide ranging discussion. In Part 3, Simon details two hawking stories, offers his views on the future of UK falconry, and talks about those to whom the book is dedicated.

Links to the book
The Specialist Falcon Website
Marshal Radio

 This week British falconer, Simon Tyers, author of  "The Specialist Falcon – A Personal Approach to Lowland Hawking”, joins me for another wide ranging discussion. In Part 2, Simon discusses his philosophy of matching the falcon to quarry, lure and drone training, dogs, field craft and quarry.


Links to the book
The Specialist Falcon Website
Marshal Radio

 This week British falconer, Simon Tyers, author of  "The Specialist Falcon – A Personal Approach to Lowland Hawking”, joins me for a wide ranging discussion on his philosophical approach to falconry in general, and, more specifically,  how he prepares his hunting birds, including a description of his "Perfect Day". Simon explains some terms specific to UK falconry, constraints that falconers in the UK must face, and the uphill battle to re-initiate a peregrine falcon harvest despite total recovery of the species. He provides an example of just how costly it can be to participate in hunting, given that landowners retain shooting rights on their land - North American hunters will likely find it difficult to comprehend the costs.

Links to the book
The Specialist Falcon Website
Marshal Radio