Forward by Israel Matson
In the production of the Falconry Told Podcast I’ve had the privilege of meeting and getting to know a lot of interesting and influential falconers, or should I say through the podcast WE’VE had the privilege. Like many of you, I’ve known of a lot of these names our podcast has featured since my early days in falconry. In a sport absent of your traditional “celebrities,” many of our podcast guests have been our sport’s versions of them. One of these guys I’ve known about for many years, who many of you also likely have known—many personally and for far longer—is Steve Tait. Yes, maker of the legendary Tait Hood.
Walking through Steve’s house with podcast equipment under both arms, I was in awe of the hoods and artwork scattered about. Walking back out of his house after recording the episode many of you are now familiar with, I was in even greater awe of the hoods and such scattered about. The backstory, learning of the decades of work, the philosophy behind the design and construction, getting to know the man behind the name he built for himself, it gave me a new respect and admiration for the iconic Tait hood. The hood I’d seen adorning so many fine falconry birds, owned by so many fine falconers the world over.
As we bid farewell at his door to the sweet sound of Tait’s pointers barking in the background, I threw an idea out there… Hesitantly, because of the age old idea of masters guarding their secrets and whatnot. “Steve, you’ve really come close to perfecting your hoods, you’ve got so much wisdom and practical knowledge, have you ever thought about producing a tutorial on hoodmaking? A sort of masterclass, if you will?” To which he smiled and replied, “absolutely, I’d love to put everything I’ve learned over my lifetime of hoodmaking and present it in one place, I’ve just never had the resources to do so.” The rest, as you know from the moment our Steve Tait Hoodmaker Masterclass Teaser dropped, is history.
Where the podcast recording session opened my eyes to the magnitude of what Steve Tait has been able to do with his hoodmaking, filming the entire process of a Tait hood going from nothing, literally, no pattern even, to a finished, perfectly fitting hood, was nothing short of incredible.
Filming taking place in Steve’s basement!
It’s easy to have an idea, it’s pretty easy even to do the filming, and at this point we know it’s easy for Steve to produce a hood, but where the work started for this project was assembling what took Tait decades to learn, into a 3 hour format that would be effective at conveying this lifetime’s knowledge. Of course, hearing someone talk about hoodmaking, reading about hoodmaking, even watching someone make a hood, it’s all going to be totally different from actually picking up some leather and taking a needle and thread to it yourself. That being said, Steve and I agree in that we think we got as close as possible to achieving our goal for this project. We hope you enjoy it!
Israel Matson
A Word from Steve Tait
Hello, my name is Steve Tait, I’m a hood maker, artist, sculptor, taxidermist and falconer. I’ve been making hoods for falcons and hawks since middle school some 45 years now. I’ve always pursued a proper fit for all birds and believed I’ve done a good job of that over the last 2-3 decades. I’ve also always thought that falconers should make their own equipment, especially hoods. Even a basic one piece Indian hood that is properly molded will calm a wild trapped falcon and ready her for manning.
From no pattern, to finished hood. This masterclass covers it all.
This early thought process is what drove me to build a well fitting hood. Some hood makers are happy to make a modern hood with all the ornamentation, but WITHOUT the calming effect of a great fit. I’ve never understood this mentality, but those apparently well made, yet incorrect hoods, are an insult to a newly procured falcon or hawk. And, that is why at this time I am offering this instructional video that will take you through the whole process from start to finish.
Please understand, a well made hood is NOT well made unless it is of a comfortable fit. Period. The time you spend creating a proper fit will pay you back ten fold, whether you want to sell hoods or just make them for your own birds. I’ve even made hoods for sage grouse for biologists to use while trapping those grouse for research and reintroduction. Those biologists would practically fight for the use of those hoods because they could see the calming effect they had on the birds. Those hoods were very simple, but blocked on my beaked blocks and fit like a glove.
A biologist calms a grouse with a Tait Hood.
I feel very strongly about this topic and hope that you can gain some insight and appreciation for it yourself while viewing this video. I created it to help you design your own hoods and cause you to see the importance of a well fitting hood. There’s too many ill-fitting hoods out on the market place and many falcons are ruined by them. I tried to incorporate every aspect of hood making so that you may be able to create your own blocks, patterns, and hoods that will fit the bird and do its simple job... keep the bird calm. Even today I am learning how to improve my hoods through trial and error and seeing what other hoodmakers across the globe are creating.
I didn’t make all this progress all on my own. I watched and learned from the birds, but also from other successful hoodmakers. These birds that we cherish and hold to such a high level of integrity deserve to be started with a comfortable hood....don’t they? Thank you for your interest and good luck for your future as a hood maker.
Steve Tait