Xtreme Performance Outdoor Network

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 experienc...

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...

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...

In this eighth episode of the Cape Falconry Club series, Zayin Vermaak joins us to talk about some of the experiences he's had in the many years he's practiced falconry. He elaborates some about the species he's flown, including black sparrowhawks and lanner falcons, as well as some of the challenges he's faced with them! We have just a handful of episodes left in this series, and we hope you all...

This Cape Falconry Club series continues on with this seventh episode, which features another falconer with a unique experience. Francois Breedt is another falconer who has had the experience of helping to get falconry legalized and a club established in their respective province, which was the Free State province at the time. Along with that experience, in this episode he also discusses his love...

The fun at the CFC meet continues with this sixth episode of the series. This recording was made shortly after a morning of hawking, where Thean Prinsloo bagged the first head of game at the meet. Later in the morning, after his falcon took a duck in a nice flight, we sat down to discuss his first few years in falconry. He talks about his experiences with the CFC and mentorship, some of the lesson...

We're about a quarter of the way through this series brought to you all from the Cape Falconry Club, and in this fifth episode of the series, we bring you a fun new first for the podcast! This episode brings you all Neil and Erin Deacon from Zimbabwe, and they also happen to be our first father/daughter guests on the podcast. They discuss some of the different things that they have to take into ac...

During another rainy day recording this fourth episode at the CFC meet, Trevor Oertel sits down with us to talk about his lengthy falconry history, and quite a history it is! Trevor is one of the falconers responsible for getting falconry legalized in the Western Cape province, as well as helping to form the Cape Falconry Club and South African Falconers Association. He provides a lot of valuable...

We're joined by Dr. Kyle Perrin during a very rainy day at the CFC meet for this third episode of the Cape Falconry Club series. Kyle is another falconer who is also a veterinarian, with experience practicing not just in South Africa, but also the UK. He's also practiced falconry in both countries, so offers insights and stories into his falconry experiences from both perspectives. We hope you've...

In this second episode coming to you from the Cape Falconry Club, we're joined by its chairman, André Cilliers, and he does a great job of going into further detail about how falconry is regulated and conducted in the Western Cape. He also discusses his use of dogs in his falconry and what led him to choose his current dog, his journey to flying longwings, and some of the other challenges he's had...

Thanks for joining us for the start of our journey in South Africa! Our first podcast episode of this series organized by the Cape Falconry Club features a conversation with Richard Huchzermeyer. We were able to get this recorded in between breaks during the joint IUCN/IAF conference being held in Cape Town the first weekend I was in South Africa, and along with hearing about Richard's falconry st...

This episode was recorded the week of the Archives Spring Rendezvous, and we're happy to finally be able to release it for you all! Joe and Alyssa were kind enough to host us at their home that week, and we took the opportunity to have a fun conversation catching each other up on our falconry seasons during the visit. Since Joe and Alyssa also haven't been guests on the podcast before, they also s...

It's only fitting that we conclude this Arizona Falconers Association series with a tribute to the man who kicked the series off, Harry McElroy. When we started putting this series together, it became apparent very quickly that a tribute episode was in order for Harry, who's made so many contributions to falconry and had an impact on so many falconers around the world. We were able to get in touch...

In this last jaunt of our Arizona Falconers Association series, we're joined by Greg Smith, who discusses how falconry life has been for him during his years in Kingman, AZ. This episode was a great learning experience, since Greg has imprinted and flown a fair amount of accipiters. He also is one of the few people we've been able to talk to thus far who has experience imprinting an ornate hawk-ea...

In this next episode of the Arizona Falconers Association series, we make our next stop in Tucson to visit and talk with Brian Wood. After a long day day of traveling and recording, it was nice to finish the day by getting Brian's take on experiences with Cooper's hawks, quail hawking, and career decisions inspired by falconry. It's always nice getting to hear from anyone who's had success with Co...

These next couple of installments of the Arizona Falconers Association series take us down to Tucson, where we met first with Tim Riordan. In this episode, on top of sharing his experiences flying imprint Cooper's hawks and various longwings, Tim also shares some of his initial falconry experiences as another one of the people starting in the sport before a lot of the regulations were put into eff...

In this second installment brought to you all by the Arizona Falconers Association, we make the trek over to Cornville to meet up with Randy Hale! It was great seeing this part of the state again after so many years, and we were fortunate to be able to see some great scenery while also hearing some great falconry stories that Randy was willing to share. During his time in falconry, Randy has flown...

Thanks to the Arizona Falconers Association, we were able to do a series featuring falconers from all across the Grand Canyon State, including our esteemed guest for this episode, Harry McElroy! Harry and his wife Beth were kind enough to invite us into their home to discuss Harry's long tenure in falconry, which spanned several decades. At 93 years old, Harry is recently retired from falconry, bu...

After meeting Krista for the first time at the Spring Rendezvous banquet, it became apparent that she had a unique perspective to offer in regards to her beginnings in falconry, and some of the other experiences that she's had since. We were happy to get a chance to find time late after the banquet ended to record this conversation about some of the adversity she faced initially getting into the s...

While at a recent trip to the Archives of Falconry Spring Rendezvous in Boise, ID, we got a chance to meet up with some longtime friends, and make some new ones. Our guest this episode, Tony James, is one of those new friends, and we're glad we got a chance to pull him aside for a bit to discuss some of his past and present falconry endeavors. This episode was going to happen during the UK series,...

Our second series featuring falconers from Mexico concludes with Eduardo García Espino. Eduardo was heard previously acting as translator for Leonardo Santana, and before heading back home to the US, we get a chance to discuss his falconry career, consisting mainly of flying Harris's hawks and goshawks primarily on quail. Eduardo also utilizes dogs with his falconry, and he's also known for breedi...

This episode of our second series featuring falconers from Mexico brings you veterinarian Ayax Soleil Camacho, who is mostly known for flying aplomado falcons and Harris's hawks. This is another episode that required translation, provided courtesy of our host Gerardo Calderon. Along with discussing his experiences flying aplomado falcons and Harris's hawks, Ayax shared some of his other experience...

This fifth episode in our second series featuring falconers from Mexico brings you Gerardo Calderon. Gerardo was our host for the week, having been referred by Rodrigo Munro-Wilson, and his hospitality and planning are largely what made this second series possible. Having flown several species throughout his falconry career, with his current passion being flying peregrines at snipe and ducks, Gera...

This fourth episode in our second series featuring falconers from Mexico takes us to our host Gerardo's ranch, where some more amazing duck hawking took place. Shortly after Leo's falcon took a duck, we sat down with Leo to discuss some of the different species he has flown, some of his personal preferences and experiences with some of those species, and some interesting techniques he's used with...

Our second series featuring falconers from Mexico continues with Daniel Rassvetaieff, who was kind enough to invite us to his home in Toluca after a good morning hunt. Daniel is most known for his experiences hunting with barbary and peregrine falcons, which he primarily hunts snipe and ducks with. He is also one of the first people in Mexico to fly barbary falcons. On top of being an accomplished...