Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Podcasts and Blasts

Latest Episodes:

Archeologist Dr. Larry Todd Jun 09, 2021

Show notes

Archeologist Dr. Larry Todd came home to Meeteetse, Wyoming, after a long career studying ancient hunting peoples all over the planet. Asked to do a quick archeological survey of some high-elevation public lands in Northwest Wyoming, he took a crew of students and headed out, convinced of lean pickings and a fast return to the comforts of home. After all, how many ancient hunters would choose to live at 11,000 feet, on barren ridges swept by winter snow and bitter wind, blistered by summer sun and relentless lightning storms? A week into the expedition, Dr. Todd and his crew found themselves in an unprecedented high-altitude treasure hall of artifacts, the record of thousands of years of habitation, drivelines and traps for hunting, ambush points, winter camps, kill sites of bison and bighorn sheep.

Legendary Outdoor Writer and BHA Board Member Eddie Nickens May 26, 2021

Show notes

For more than 20 years, Eddie Nickens, a member of BHA's North American board of directors, has been the premier storyteller and scribe of American hunting, fishing and conservation, writing for Field & Stream, Garden and Gun, Audubon and dozens of other publications. It's a radical understatement to call him an outdoor writer, although the term fits the man who has published the best-selling behemoth of outdoor skills, Field & Stream's Total Outdoorsman. In our conversation today, Hal and Eddie celebrate the publication of Eddie's new book, The Last Wild Road, a collection of his all-time best stories from an unmatched life afield in the American wilds.

Mike Neiduski, the regional director of the Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society May 11, 2021

Show notes

On this second podcast focusing on the Eastern forests and upland game birds, Hal catches up to Mike "the Polish Hammer" Neiduski, the regional director of the Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society, to talk habitat, public and private lands restoration, small scale timber harvest, and the heart-stopping explosion of wild birds flushing from dense cover, in front of the world's best bird dogs- our own. The talk is public lands bird hunting from the Uwharrie National Forest to the Pisgah and the Nantahala, the Cherokee, and beyond. Join us for a conversation that springs straight from the wild richness of the southern forests, where there is a path to a better future for these iconic gamebirds.

Hunter, forager, and wild food educator Jenna Rozelle Apr 29, 2021

Show notes

Jenna Rozelle lives in southern Maine, where she teaches classes on wild foods, forages, hunts, fishes and chronicles an existence spent close to the land. For her, hunting and fishing go hand in hand with foraging and land stewardship. A board member of the New England chapter of BHA and self described late-onset hunter, Rozelle tells Hal the story of her long and winding road to a gratifying relationship with harvesting wild creatures.

Todd Waldron, Northeast region forest conservation director for the Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society Apr 14, 2021

Show notes

Join Hal and Todd Waldron, Northeast region forest conservation director for the Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society, for a discussion of the rich history of Todd's home territory, a life of hunting and fishing public lands – from upland birds to whitetails, smelt netting to flyfishing for native brook trout – and what the future brings as we confront and overcome the obstacles to re-establishing the biodiversity and health (not to mention upland birds) of this last great wilderness.

Grahame Jones, Former Director of Law Enforcement for Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife Mar 30, 2021

Show notes

Texas offers a diversity and abundance – of topography, fish and wildlife, and experiences – that few other states can match. Grahame Jones, recently retired as the director of law enforcement with Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife, as well as chairman of BHA's Texas chapter, knows this landscape intimately. Jones, a fifth-generation Texan, is a veteran of over 27 years in the field, starting as a game warden in the wild piney woods of east Texas and working his way up to chief of special operations, targeting big game poaching rings and illegal commercial fishing operations along the coast. Jones is one of Texas' most deeply informed voices for coastal and other conservation. His passion comes from his early years hunting and fishing from Houston's Katy Prairie to the Mexican dove fields in Tamaulipas – and from a lifetime spent in the woods and waters across his native state. Join Hal and Grahame for a discussion of critical conservation challenges, for edge-of-your-seat stories about backcountry Texas lawbreakers, and for an exploration of some of the best of the Lone Star State.

Dog Trainer, artist, writer and Minority Outdoor Alliance founder Durrell Smith Mar 17, 2021

Show notes

Durrell Smith is a bird dog trainer, artist, podcaster and writer from Georgia. He founded the Minority Outdoor Alliance, a pioneering voice in connecting Blacks and others in the hunting community. "He lives what he speaks," as Hal says of Durrell, who is also a bobwhite quail hunting fanatic, guiding and chasing birds largely on public lands. Through his work and pursuits, he is carrying on an incredible lineage of Southern quail hunting and dog training, giving voice to the deeply enmeshed and influential role of Blacks in Southern outdoor traditions. Listen as Hal and Durrell wander through the South, discuss Southern art and sporting culture, and consider the crucial role of diverse participants in keeping our outdoor heritage healthy and relevant.

Curt Meine, conservation biologist and Aldo Leopold scholar Mar 03, 2021

Show notes

Curt Meine is a conservation biologist and one of America's foremost conservation and environmental historians. He is the author of the definitive biography Aldo Leopold, His Life and Work and the voice of the outstanding Leopold documentary,Green Fire. Curt is also the co-editor of The Driftless Reader, a collection of writings exploring the cultural and natural histories of the Upper Midwest. He is currently a senior fellow with the Aldo Leopold Foundation and with the Center for Humans and Nature. He lives near Baraboo, Wisconsin, in the heart of the Driftless.

Wildlife biologist, Traditional Bowyer and Hunter Ron Rohrbaugh Feb 16, 2021

Show notes

Author, conservationist and traditional bowhunter and bowyer Ron Rohrbaugh joins Hal on this week's Podcast & Blast.

Research Ecologist and Wildfire Expert Dr. Paul Hessburg Jan 19, 2021

Show notes

Prominent research ecologist Dr. Paul Hessburg began his career decades ago as a U.S. Forest Service entomologist, studying the insects that kill trees on the grandest scale. Over the years, Hessburg broadened his scope, delving deeper into the greatest force for ecological change on Earth: fire and the age we live now in, the Age of Megafire, or the Pyrocene. Listen to this fascinating deep dive into how we got here and where we must go – if we hope to survive.

To get the absolute most out of this conversation, revisit BHA Podcast & Blast Episode 66, our interview with fire historian Dr. Stephen J. Pyne, who coined the term "the Pyrocene."