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Phillip Kenney
In my youth I was a Boy Scout and had a love for the outdoors and a special attraction to birds of prey. In the
scouting program there is an honor camper's society called Order of the Arrow. This society is based on American
Indian Lore. In my quest to make an Indian outfit I meet a fellow in school who mentioned that he had some feathers
that I might find of some use and I could come over after school to get them. The first thing I saw upon arriving at
my friend's house was an adult female red-tailed hawk. That was the end of my life as I knew it!
As a falconer I took the usual course of prey: rabbits with a broadwing, then ducks with a longwing, and on to the
most challenging of all quarries, wild grouse with a waiting-on falcon. I have made many of life's decisions based
on my need to be near grouse populations. Fortunately as an aerospace engineer I have been located in the heart of
greater prairie-chicken country (tympanuchus cupido is the fastest grouse in the United States) as well as the
aerospace capital of the world, Wichita, Kansas. I begin my day at 4:30 a.m. in order to get off work and make it
to the vast prairies of this part of the U.S. in time for a flight with my preferred falcon, the female gyrfalcon or
imprinted female gyr-prairie, at dusk.
Grouse hawking demands a methodical and determined nature in its participants. I like to think that these qualities
have been carried over into every detail of the "ground up" approach we have pursued with Flint Hills Falcons. I have
learned through the years that a second-rate approach is a waste of my time. If one seeks the best and has the will to
be tenacious in one's pursuit of a dream, the rewards will always be worth the initial sacrifices.
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