Thursday, March 5, 2009

Blogger Meet-up Continued



Matt and Ernie



Matt has already covered our late February blogger meet-up at Gregg and Soo Barrow's place, but, late as usual, I thought I'd add a few more thoughts and photos.




Turns out, you can glean a lot from folks by reading their blogs and comments. When I met Gregg and Matt for the first time, in the Barrow driveway, I felt like I'd known them for years. A couple bottles of stout and a walk with the dogs only strengthened the feeling.




This was my first time afield with hawk and falconer, and I have to admit that I was surprised at the efficiency. I know that Matt is a fine falconer and, by extension, that Ernie is a fine hawk. I just didn't expect such a high success rate. Right before I left to head back to Plano, I told Matt that if I truly had to feed myself, I'd learn to fly a Harris hawk.
I have to admit that I get a real kick out of touching a hawk.

Hawkers don't need a hunting lease - even in Texas



Working a field


Gregg and Caleb


In short, a great trip with great friends and great conversation about dogs, books, and hawks. Gregg, thanks for all of the solid dog training advice. Soo, thanks a million for putting up with me.

3 comments:

Eliezer M. Morgan said...

Soo and Matt did the cooking. Rina, Cate and Ernie took care of the entertainment.
Looks like we were in high cotton Henry :)
Weekends like that are rare events and Soo and I look forward to them.
We need to do our best to make it an annual squirrel hunt.

stevea said...

Matt's just about the best there is.

Aside from taking every hawk he's offered up to me, I've learned much from him.

Glad you had a great time.

Matt Mullenix said...

For the record, I paid Steve 2 hawks for that nice comment.

(But it still isn't true)