71. South African Game Hawker Cape Falconry Club Field Meet Day 1

Ed Pitcher joins me to announce that he and Ricardo Velarde have given me permission to read and publish "The Flying of Falcons" as part of the Fat Bird, Ugly Dog Podcast. We begin the episode discussing Ed's use of mantras to guide the way he develops and flies his birds.  We then focus of two mantras that Ed used in the book, and now regrets to some degree - the first is “being touched by the Angel of Death”, a metaphor he used in the chapter about a female prairie falcon called “Amos".  The second is "a sharp hawk is a smart hawk", which Ed used in his chapter on "weight Management".  We conclude the episode talking about two people with whom Ed trained and flew falcons - Terry Heath and Steve Sanders - and we talk about the way the three friends influenced one another.  Thanks for listening, I hope you enjoy this prelude to the reading of "The Flying of Falcons". 

Anton Muller, known for his expertise in hawking with lanner falcons, joins me to talk falconry in the Free State Province. After introducing himself, Anton talks about his farming practices, and how an experience with a spotted eagle owl influenced his decision to fly lanners. We then talk about his hawking grounds, his preferred quarry. Lanners naturally make use of thermals to gain pitch, and Anton talks about the way that they do so. Anton describes how the loss a particularly good peregrine falcon led to his focus on lanners.  We talk slipping a lanner on sand grouse and use of dogs when hunting sand grouse.  Anton provides some insight into the commonly held belief that lanners can be lazy.  We conclude the episode with a broad ranging discussion on gamehawking with lanners.  I hope you enjoy this episode with Anton - thanks for listening.

 In this bonus episode of South African Game Hawker, I am again joined by Andre Cilliers, Thean Prinsloo, and Scott Mc Farlane Chase.  I talk to each of them about their flights of the day, and their plans once the meet is done.  Andre's birds connect, his dog earns a good rest day, and he ducks out a day early as work interrupts his falconry. Thean continues his strategy of putting game up under his falcon opting to provide as many opportunities as he can. Scott has a clear sense of his path ahead, and we speculate as to the origin of his lanner.

In this bonus episode of South African Game Hawker, I am joined by Andre Cilliers, Thean Prinsloo, and Scott Mc Farlane Chase.  I talk to each of them about their flights of the day, and their plans for Day 2 of the meet.  We also get some insight into some South African cuisine and translation of a few Afrikaans words.  I hope you enjoy this episode and the glimpse it provides into a South African falconry meet.

 In this, the third episode of South African Game Hawker, I am joined by Cam Coley. We begin the episode talking about Cam's new pup, and we find out just how much Cam spoils his dog.  We then learn a little about Kwazulu- Natal, the province that Cam lives in. Cam follows this by describing the landscapes he hunts in, and the main species of quarry that he pursues with his hawks. Cam has both a winter falconry season and a summer falconry season, and he talks about his falconry calendar.  We then turn our attention to his hawking, and Cam outlines what he is currently doing with his wild-caught female peregrine as well as what he plans to do with her before the season is over.  We conclude the conversation learning about Cam's preferred approach to hunting with wild-taken hawks. I hope you enjoy this episode, and thanks for listening to the Fat Bird, Ugly Dog Podcast. 

Andre Cilliers joins me again this week to talk about his personal game hawking circumstances.  We begin the episode talking about the landscapes in which Andre hawks and the quarry available to him. We then talk about Andre's annual falconry calendar.  I ask Andre about the preferred long-winging aesthetic in South Africa relative to that of North America. We then turn our attention to the circumstances surrounding the death of one of Andre's birds, and he tells us how the South African falconry community handles such situations. We finish off the episode talking game hawking. I hope you enjoy the second episode of South African Game Hawker.

This episode marks the start of a new series, South African (SA) Game Hawker. Thanks to Andre Cilliers for suggesting that we follow the northern hemisphere version of game hawker with a  South African edition.  Andre and I are joined Cam Coley and Francois Breedt in this introductory episode.  Before asking the guys to introduce themselves, we begin with a geography lesson to give listeners a sense of country.  We then turn our attention to the SA regulatory framework, and then talk about the raptors and the quarry available to falconers in SA. We finish off the episode with some game hawking stories from each of the guests.

In this final episode of Game Hawker Edition, Matt Mullenix joins me to finish out the second season of the Fat Bird, Ugly Dog Podcast. Matt and I begin the episode talking about Matt's mindset as he continued to hawk his American Kestrel, "Coco", after having lost his merlin to a Cooper's Hawk.  Matt then tells us about the benchmark he uses to evaluate the degree to which he is doing his hawk justice (Intended Quarry Per Hunt), and we discuss how far below and above that benchmark one has to be before they are no longer gamehawking). Matt then weighs in with his opinion on the relative importance of "place, time, and weight", including the ideas he calls "take two" and "take four". We then discuss "Coco's" season and Matt's plans for next season. We finish the episode with Matt book recommendation.

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.

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.