On The Wing Podcast

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PODCAST EP. 153: Backcountry Quail Hunting and Camping with Llamas Part 1 of 2 Feb 02, 2022

Show notes

After a 26-hour drive from Minnesota to southern Arizona, Host Bob St.Pierre and PF & QF Chairman of the National Board Matt Kucharski are joined around the campfire by veteran quail hunting buddy Wade Zarlingo for a Mearns’ quail hunt. As a means of getting deeper into the backcountry, Chris Dunn, the owner of Arizona Backcountry Llamas, has brought five llamas to the adventure to haul in camping gear, food, and water for the crew’s three-day hunt. NOTE: This episode was recorded LIVE from quail camp around a campfire. Episode Highlights: • St.Pierre and Kucharski start the conversation talking about their previous Mearns’ hunt in Arizona, and why they felt compelled to drive (rather than fly) all the way from Minnesota. HINT: They wanted to hunt over their own bird dogs! • Zarlingo and Dunn explain how they both got started raising llamas and explain the advantages of using llamas on hunting and camping trips. Special thanks to Arizona Backcountry Llamas for making this hunt possible. Thanks to ALPS OutdoorZ and Thorogood Boots for sponsoring this content.

PODCAST EP. 152: Tips for Late Season Quail Hunting Success Jan 26, 2022

Show notes

As part of our ongoing Path to the Uplands content series, host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Chad Love, Quail Forever Journal editor; Marissa Jensen, our organization’s Women on the Wing and Path to the Uplands leader; and Andy Edwards, Quail Forever’s Quail Program Manager to discuss and debate late season quail hunting tips. Episode Highlights: • Referencing his new Path to the Uplands article titled “The Path to Late Season Quail Hunting Success,” Chad Love leads the conversation by outlining the food and cover attributes he’s looking for when chasing a variety of late-season quail species. • The group also banters about tactics for locating birds that have been pressured all season and the challenges in picking out a single bird on the covey rise. Thanks to our Path to the Uplands sponsors SoundGear, Federal Ammunition, SportDOG BRAND, and ALPS OutdoorZ.

PODCAST EP. 151: Wild Birds, Clean Water, Walleyes, and Wildlife Habitat Jan 19, 2022

Show notes

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever biologists Kent Adams, Jim Inglis, Cody Grasser, and Ben Beaman for a conversation focused on the connection between the organization’s wildlife habitat mission and clean water. Episode Highlights: • Adams starts the episode explaining how the organization’s wildlife habitat efforts improve water quality in streams, rivers, lakes, and even oceans. Ultimately, Adams explains, it’s the organization’s ability to deliver water quality benefits that has made our wildlife habitat efforts relevant across the eastern United States. • Inglis, a PF employee for more than two decades, explains how Pheasants Forever chapters in Ohio linked the organization’s wildlife habitat efforts to improved water quality in Lake Erie benefiting the walleye fishery during the late 1990s. • Grasser talks about the brand new 415-acre Mallett project in Ohio that will now be providing critical habitat for wildlife, water quality benefits to the public, and access to hunters. • St.Pierre and Beaman have fun reigniting their Upper Peninsula and Lower Peninsula jabs as fellow Michiganders.

PODCAST EP. 150: Bobwhite Research with University of Georgia’s Dr. James Martin Jan 12, 2022

Show notes

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Quail Forever’s Dr. Jess McGuire and Andy Edwards for a discussion with Dr. James Martin, a hardcore quail hunter, bird dog owner, and associate professor at University of Georgia. During the conversation, Dr. Martin breaks down four bobwhite quail research projects he’s currently working on, while dropping a few quail hunting gems he’s learned from his studies over the years. Episode Highlights: • Dr. Martin and his students are studying how many bobwhites can be shot in one area and still maintain a sustainable wild population. The group also chat about whether or not season length and bag limits influence the long-term health of a wild population. • The group takes on the ultimate quail “moneyball” question: Is there a magic acre number or a key percentage of habitat for a wild, sustainable population of bobwhite quail? • Dr. Martin also talks about studying the behavior of bobwhites in response to hunting. As part of this project, researchers are investigating what non-productive points mean relative to a bird’s location. Some fun bird dog breed jabs ensue among the crew.

PODCAST EP. 149: Tips for Late Season Pheasant Hunting Success Jan 05, 2022

Show notes

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Tom “Carp” Carpenter, Pheasants Forever Journal editor, and Marissa Jensen, our organization’s Women on the Wing and Path to the Uplands leader, to offer tips for FINDING and HUNTING late season roosters. Episode Highlights: • The crew’s conversation riffs off Carp’s recent blog, “The Path to Late Season Pheasant Hunting Success” starting with tips first focused on where to FIND late season birds that have survived the hunting pressure over the last few months. • The discussion then transitions to both the mindset and mechanics for HUNTING late season roosters, including Carp and Marissa sharing stories about working cover and finding tight-holding birds on the second pass. Thanks to our Path to the Uplands sponsors SoundGear, Federal Ammunition, SportDOG BRAND, and ALPS OutdoorZ.

PODCAST EP. 148: Bobwhite Quail Science with Mississippi State University’s Dr. Mark McConnell Dec 22, 2021

Show notes

While gamebird research isn’t a part of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s mission statement, the organization often collaborates with research scientists from the most acclaimed universities in the country to inform the organization’s habitat creation and restoration efforts. In this episode, Bob St.Pierre is joined by Mississippi State University’s Dr. Mark McConnell as well as Quail Forever’s Dr. Jess McGuire and Andy Edwards, for a discussion focused on five different research projects Dr. McConnell and his students are currently working on related to bobwhite quail, habitat management, and precision agriculture. Episode Highlights: • Dr. McConnell talks about his love of quail hunting and how that passion for hunting influences his research science. He also talks about hunting with his standard poodle and coins the phrase “it’s cool to like quail again.” • Through Dr. McConnell’s “Scale of Effect” project, he explains that the research is attempting to understand how habitat management on public WMAs in Mississippi influences bobwhite populations on those public lands. As importantly, he’s also trying to gauge how that management influences bobwhite populations beyond the boundaries into the surrounding private property. • Singing from the same scripture as every other quail biologist we’ve ever had on our podcast, Dr. McConnell speaks passionately about the critical importance of prescribed fire to bobwhite quail habitat management for population health and growth. • The crew also talk about the theory that vocal bobwhites are the ones that get eaten by predators first in a population. Do silent bobwhites live longer or is that mythology?

PODCAST EP. 147: Michigan Pheasant Hunting and Adopt-A-Game Area Program Dec 15, 2021

Show notes

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever’s Michigan State Coordinator Ben Beaman for a conversation about hunting pheasants, ruffed grouse, and woodcock in the duo’s home state. The guys also discuss Michigan’s Adopt-a-Game-Area Program and the importance of intensive habitat management in preventing grasslands from becoming woodlands void of pheasants, especially in states east of the Mississippi River. Episode Highlights: • Beaman starts the conversation talking about his college years in Wyoming which leads to an interesting tangential discussion asserting that Wyoming may be one of the most underappreciated destinations for upland and waterfowl hunters. • St.Pierre also explains why he is a “Yooper” and Beaman is a “troll” in Michigan parlance. • The discussion also covers the “Michigan Pheasant Restoration Initiative” and how it produced the Adopt-a-Game-Area program. Likewise, Beaman explains the different types of habitat work occurring on these public areas, their importance for the state’s wild pheasant populations, and how people can help.

PODCAST EP. 146: Taking Care of your Game Birds from Prairie to Plate Dec 08, 2021

Show notes

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Jonathon Tremblay from Walton’s Inc. to talk about caring for game bird meat from the moment it leaves your bird dog’s mouth to the time it hits your plate as a delicious meal. Tremblay also discusses Walton’s deep connections to hunting and conservation as a company, and how the pandemic changed the way Americans approach meat. Episode Highlights: • Jonathon talks about the two seasonings Walton’s developed specifically for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever: Roasted Ringneck Rub and Bold Barbecue Quail. • Bob reminisces about the comical old days of freezing birds in a block of ice, which resulted in a full freezer early into the hunting season. Check out Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s “A Bird in the Bag” video series with Walton’s Inc. • Crispy Half-Roasted Pheasant • Quail Meatballs

PODCAST EP. 145: Rooster Road Trip XII –Recapping the Trip with Social Media Q&A Dec 03, 2021

Show notes

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by PF’s Andrew Vavra, Logan Hinners, and Aaron Black-Schmidt for a lively discussion answering questions submitted by the organization’s social media followers about this year’s Rooster Road Trip. And for the first time in our podcast’s history, watch the conversation on our YouTube channel. (LINK) Episode Highlights: • The crew tackle questions about bird dogs, public lands etiquette, hunting forecasts, upland gear, and road tripping soundtracks. • Watch, listen, and read all about this year’s Rooster Road Trip through North Dakota and South Dakota at www.RoosterRoadTrip.org. While there, enter to win a Browning Maxus II shotgun and join/renew your Pheasants Forever membership featuring an attractive new field knife made by Browning. Thanks to our Rooster Road Trip 2021 sponsors: • Browning • Thorogood • SoundGear • Ruff Land Kennels • Federal Ammunition • Garmin • South Dakota Tourism • Apple Auto

PODCAST EP. 144: Rooster Road Trip XII – Part 4. Find Cattails, Find Birds in South Dakota Nov 25, 2021

Show notes

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by PF’s Andrew Vavra, Ben Lardy, and Hunter Buth for the final leg of the 2021 Rooster Road Trip in South Dakota’s Glacial Lakes Region. The crew talks about finding birds around cattail edges in this beautiful landscape filled with lakes, hills, and public land habitat. Episode Highlights: • Buth, the newest and youngest member of the Pheasants Forever employee team, provides some interesting thoughts on viewing the uplands through the eyes of a hardcore waterfowler. • Lardy, the organization’s soil health & habitat specialist and one of the funniest employees on the Pheasants Forever team, talks about his love for the region and some fun local trivia involving vinegar and polka. • Check out the companion video that accompanies this podcast episode at www.RoosterRoadTrip.org. While there, enter to win a Browning Maxus II shotgun and join/renew your Pheasants Forever membership featuring an attractive new field knife made by Browning. Thanks to our Rooster Road Trip 2021 sponsors: • Browning • Thorogood • SoundGear • Ruff Land Kennels • Federal Ammunition • Garmin • South Dakota Tourism • Apple Auto

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