In a world where customization and real human communication is becoming rare, one-on-one communication with our customers has never been more important to me. Not only are we real people you can reach out to at Mountain State Falconry Supply, but we’re hawkers, too. If you come to us with a falconry need, we’re going to do our best to meet that need, even if it’s in an unconventional way. Helping other falconers step up their hawking game makes me happy. So, when a customer reached out requesting an extension for our micro hawking bag, I was up for the challenge. Last week, I ordered a roll of webbing strap and some new buckles, and this morning after hawking Ally and nabbing three starlings, I dusted off my old sewing machine my mother-in-law got for me as a Christmas gift almost 20 years ago. Can I sew? Nope. Sure can’t. Do we have a sewing contractor? Nope. Sure don’t. Do I want our customers to love their experience and products? Absolutely. And that customer is paying it forward because now you can get a waist extension for your micro hawking bag, too! Available today as an add-on to our micro hawking waist bag. Check it out at www.mountainstatefalconrysupply.com and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram, too.

Leash setups and equipment vary widely among falconers, and there are many systems that work. Remember that ultimately, it's up to you to find the right setup for your particular bird. Today, I want to show you my red-tail tethering system for my mews. In this blog post:

SEPTEMBER 1, 2022 Books are a peculiar thing. In the hands of collectors, they can hold both monetary and sentimental value. I find this particularly so among collectors of falconry books. I consider myself among those ranks, if only in the beginner’s realm. The most valuable books in my collection won’t fetch the most dollars. The first: “In Season,” by Matthew Mullenix, in all its paperback, Western Sporting glory. The book is tattered, highlighted, underlined and stained (with blood, dirt, coffee and some admittedly unidentifiable spots). If that weren’t enough, it also contains no less than four readings worth of margin notes. I was more than embarrassed when I sent it to Matt for an inscription a couple years ago, but to my surprise, he met the task not only with grace, but curiosity and awe. I’ve read “In Season” every year since becoming a falconer, and each year it hits different. The power of this book lies in its ability to teach, entertain, be relatable to my own experiences and take me back to personal times and places long since passed. That’s an incredible ability for words on a page, but that’s the skill of a writer like Matt. The second most valuable book in my collection, the journal from my most successful hawking season to-date: “Squirrel Hawker,” only two copies in existence. It’s filled with my favorite moments from the season along with plenty of hardships and tragedies to even it out. It’s particularly special to me because I know my time with the bird it’s about is limited, and I wager she’s the best squirrel bird I’ll ever fly. I’ve wanted to honor these books in a unique way for some time. I’ve also wanted a piece of Scott McNeff’s work for nearly as long. I remember an encouraging phone conversation Scott and I had when I published my first book. We talked about writing and hawking and found much common ground. In the end, I could think of no better way to honor my two most valued tomes than reach out to the ultimate book defacer himself and have him make his mark. The impression when I opened the books to see the result was laughter, heartache, longing and downright pure happiness. I gave Scott free reign, and I couldn’t be more pleased with his interpretations of the parts of these books that meant the most to me. My favorite line of “In Season,” is, “Cotton rats are important to my falconry,” because of the line that precedes it. Scott delivered perfectly, and bonus: some new margin notes from the artist. Scott also took the time to read my journal which was very humbling to me. In the process, we exchanged messages about ridge trapping, hawking, our favorite red-tails and tailgate beers. The connection has been just as important to me as the artwork that now graces the pages of my books. Thank you my dear friend! I’ll cherish these books forever. APRIL 1, 2024 If you'd have asked me in 2022 what I'd be doing today, I'd have undoubtedly said "hawking." What I wouldn't have said was, "Starting a falconry supply business with a focus on helping people solve some of the problems I've personally faced in the sport." Today is pretty special. Today, I'm launching the sale of one of Matt Mullenix's books on my online falconry supply shop. I'm very proud to be sharing "Four Falconry Fundamentals," with others, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to take a trip down memory lane by looking through my two favorite books I just mentioned above. In doing so, a flood of memories hit me. I was reminded on multiple occasions why I love books, and why I'm still so very thankful Scott "defaced" my books for me. The bird he painted in my "Squirrel Hawker" book is now gone. It still rips my heart out just to type it. I had to have her put down after a terrible injury last year. She was without a doubt the best bird I've ever flown. I cried when I opened the book and looked at the painting this evening. Every hunt I had with her flashed before my eyes simply looking at her likeness. Scott outdid himself on that little piece of my heart. "In Season: A Louisiana Falconer's Journal," has since gone through another reading and round of annotations. It's been read and marked up so much now, the whole darn book is practically highlighted. The interesting part about this year's annotations is that many of them refer to prior year's readings and what I was feeling each time I read it. It hits different each year. This year's reading also resulted in an indexed system so I could go back and find my favorite parts easily. Even Scott's margin notes got a special indexing (zoom in on the drawing of Charlie to see my indexing system for a laugh). Bottom line: Things change. People change. I'm glad for books. Not only do they teach us and entertain us, but they have a very special way of hiding memories between the lines. Featured in this post: