Artemis

How many conservationists get so consumed by their jobs that they don't actually get outside? Michelle Doerr is a hunter, angler, and all-around Minnesotan gal whose career is focused on helping conservationists avoid burnout. It starts with knowing yourself, what self-care you need (hint: it probably involves getting outside), and making it happen. 

2:00 Chipping in for a friend's Kickstarter-funded movie, "Cold November" - which is a totally badass matriarchal hunting tale

5:00 That first snow of the season... it's kind of special! Unless it's way too early

6:00 A wildlife biologist makes a career switch to consulting - Anavah Consulting: Connecting people to themselves, others, and Earth

8:00 Self-care for conservationists: When your work is spent battling big issues like climate change, chronic wasting disease, etc, it can be hard not to internalize those work struggles and carry them with us

10:00 Ecophobia: Just presenting the doomsday scenario (eg: our planet is burning up) can be anxiety-inducing. 

13:00 You have to feel that you are worth self-care, and that it's not selfish -- it's a required input for being your best, problem-solving self

15:00 How many conservationists get so consumed with their jobs that they don't actually get outside? #lookingatyou

17:00 Having two kids who are polar opposites

18:00 National Conservation Leadership Institute, a leadership development initiative from the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

22:00 Covid is a total monkeywrench into the best-laid self-care and workplace happiness plans... conservation workplaces tend to be collaborative, and right now everyone is their own island

24:00 Social interaction is a lifeline of energy for some people... working from home is hard on extroverts

27:00 Environmental Identity - Marica undergoes a sample diagnostic!

29:00 What's your earliest outdoor memory? What was your family's culture toward the outdoors?

32:00 There's no 'good' or 'bad' relationship to nature... everyone's relationship is just different

36:00 Your environmental identity is always evolving... it changed when you took your first shot at a big-game animal

38:00 Watching five Wisconsin bucks in the rut - totally in the zone

40:00 Deer fawn meets pheasant rooster

41:00 What's your personal breaking point for time spent sitting in a tree stand? Two hours? Five hours?

42:00 Find Michelle online at AnavahConsulting.com

43:00 "Embracing Embeddedness" - Michelle's take on all the hunting feels

46:00 NEWS! Artemis hires a new coordinator in the Southeast

Does it feel different shooting a whitetail deer versus a squirrel? Everyone has a different take on that… and it’s different for every hunter. This week Artemis is joined by Sam Seaton of the Archery Trade Association. We talk about new hunter recruitment, your headspace in the field… AND some archery-themed topics, like what pop culture means for bowhunting interest (Katniss Everdeen, ya’ll) -- and, something you’ve maybe never heard of…. BOWFISHING.

2:00 Blanket forts: So… “hibernatory?” #yeswecan

7:00 Becca’s first hunt: A gray squirrel in Kentucky… Am I a hillbilly? Or is this kind of fun? 

7:30 Battered and fried squirrel, mmmm

8:30 Western pine squirrels are a little small to bother with… but those urban squirrels in your backyard? Huuuge

9:00 “Tell us about yourself” -- why is it always so hard to distill yourself into a couple of sentences!? 

10:00 For adult-onset hunters, it’s so interesting to revisit your pre-hunting headspace -- the why-would-anyone-shoot-Bambi? Mindset

15:00 The emotional warm-up to pulling the trigger that first time. Is it easier with a squirrel, than, say, a whitetail deer? Is it easier on the fourth day of a hunt versus the first?

18:00 On not taking the shot when you have it because your headgame/confidence quotient isn’t in the right space to take an animal’s life. 

19:00 Do we sometimes take shots that we KNOW will miss to avoid this inner conflict? 

20:00 ‘Thank you for not pressuring me’ - not every successful hunt results in a kill, especially with new hunters

22:00 Person-to-person mentored hunts: Priceless

24:00 Archery Trade Association: Supports the bowhunting and archery industry. 

26:30 Field to fork, or hook-to-cook events - SO MUCH FUN - and a great way to reach new hunters

29:00 “The Hunger Games” books/movies spurred a lot of interest in archery, especially in young women. Don’t we all have an inner Katniss Everdeen? 

30:00 National Archery in the Schools Program - huge force in getting new people into the sport

31:00 The Avengers movie (character: Hawkeye) and The Walking Dead are other media hits that boosted the public’s perception of archery as something totally badass

32:00 Katniss Everdeen: Just seeing her wield a bow… does it plant some kind of seed in girls and women? Like, “Hmm… maybe I could do that…?” The more we see people like us doing something, the more it seems real

33:00 But Katniss isn’t enough. You need access to a PLACE you can shoot a bow, you need access to EXPERTISE (even if it’s YouTube), and you need COMMUNITY, which is different where you go

36:30 Bowhunters United - a consumer-facing group for bowhunters to advocate for the sport in general, from recruitment to conservation (aaaand discounts! Plus a coffee mug)

39:00 Bowfishing = you shoot fish with a bow and arrow. No, really. It’s a thing! Totally different arrows. They have a string on them... the idea is to hit a fish and reel it back in.

43:00 Bowfishing at night with a spotlight helps you see them better. Regulations are different state-to-state -- in Idaho, for example, bowfishing regs are specific to invasive fish species like carp

47:00 We’re not sure, but there MIGHT be a guided fishing trip opportunity for bowhunting Asian carp… there are already carp-only tournaments. Maybe a work party, even? Anyone?

53:00 Hunting season is upon us! It’s a special, magical time of year -- and we can’t wait to hear more from you. Tag @artemis_sportswomen, join our Facebook community, or shoot us an email, [email protected]

Alyssa LeBlanc is Canada-famous for her appearance in season six of MasterChef Canada. In the hunting and fishing world, she's known for her incredible wild food recipes and YouTube videos. Alyssa tells Artemis about her family's culture of hunting, why she started spending more time in the kitchen, and how making good food starts with some basic skills anyone can master.

2:00 GSP = bird-dog-speak for German Short-haired Pointer

3:00 Calling all Artemis hunters in New Mexico! Stay tuned for more info on an awesome quail hunt event coming up in February

5:30 Freezer diary of a deep-sea fisherwoman: Haddock, cod, mackerel, tuna, swordfish, etc... but low on terrestrial game coming into hunting season

6:30 A word on freezer storage - vacuum-sealing is great for fish (or a well-pressed Ziploc), the Saran/paper method is better for game

7:30 Developing wild game recipes for Hunt to Eat... dream gig, or what? Find Alyssa's work on the Hunt to Eat YouTube page

10:00 When a major life event changes the trajectory of your life... in this case, a car accident

12:00 Conventional food pushes some of us to wild food

14:30 Baking: so many rules! Cooking: a bonafide blank canvas

16:00 Recovering from a traumatic brain injury 

20:00 Are you a recipe loyalist? Or a recipe renegade?

23:00 If you're truly shooting in the dark cooking with your game, start simple. Take a good recipe... sub your beef from venison. Grow from there.

25:00 Snipe: A small game bird with a big-game taste

28:20 Donair  - A Nova Scotia specialty you need to add to your repertoire

30:00 Alyssa was on MasterChef Canada (season 6) - check it out!

32:00 Marcia's confession: Setting up Great British Bake-Off challenges in her own kitchen

33:00 Keeping a cooking journal - it helps when you're winging it to write down what works, especially if part of your job is writing recipes!

34:00 Game cookbooks: Hank Shaw of Hunter, Angler, Gardner, Cook and Steve Rinella's books

35:00 It helps to know the basics of cooking: Tough cut of meat? Low and slow. Tender cut? Way more options. This also goes back to good butchering.

40:00 Sharing the joy of harvest with those who taught you to hunt... it's priceless

43:00 New to bird dogs? Try groups like National Hunting Dog Association to keep you connected to birds in the off season

45:00 On being your own bird dog... those water retrievals can get cold!

It's hard to say which is sweeter about Jackson - the epic fishing, or the honey hole of amazing women anglers. This week we speak to one of the staples of that community, Clairey Grubbs. Fly-fishing is the even keel of Clairey's life, and she talks about what it's like to be a part of her community and raise her son in the same lifestyle. Plus, we talk about dutch oven cooking at hunt camp, winning yourself a husband after cooking an amazing sea bass, and what it's like to learn from your significant other (or not).

2:00 If your phone goes overboard on a night-time fishing trip, try calling it. You might see the screen light up under the water, and it'll work well enough go on a podcast successfully in the coming days #truestory

4:00 Clairey Grubbs of Lady Anglers of Wydaho, and Stripping for a Cure (and many more things)

5:00 A fisherwoman with no fish recipes! Catch-and-release life

6:00 Wooing your husband over a sea bass carcass. #hot

8:00 How many of us identify as being 1/4 cowgirl + 1/4 hippie + 1/4 redneck + 1/4 princess?

12:00 Getting hooked on fishing at age 4 - it started with a boy and hooking that first whopper

13:00 When fishing is the even keel the rest of your life needs

15:00 The great spiritual conversion from spin-fishing to fly-fishing

16:30 Humanities Montana toolkits - the social grease you need to have those deep, interesting, important conversations

18:00 "Grounding" - bring yourself back to center

21:00 The 'high' of fly-fishing is being mellow

24:00 Totally ok not to learn from someone you're dating, AND, the mind-blowing revelation of how easy it can be to learn from other women

27:00 Insta/FB friends CAN become real friends

30:00 Teaching your kids to fish... magic + frustration

34:00 Want to get your kids into something you're into? Best advice: Don't push it too hard... or you risk creating resentment 

36:00 Breastfeeding + fly fishing

37:00 On kids and water -- you have to trust in your gut what feels right for your family

37:00 Another tip for raft/baby life? Bring rocks for throwing. Lots of rocks. And sticks. 

39:00 The dragonfly's anatomy as a predator

40:00 Facebook group: Trout-Forum World Leaderboard

41:00 BALA: Badass Lady Anglers (Leaving the 'ass' in badass!)

43:00 United Women on the Fly - an amazing group for connecting women anglers

46:00 Stripping for a Cure helps women who are struggling through breast cancer. Breast cancer is just... it's something we should collectively care about. ('Stripping' is not taking off your clothes in this case!) 

49:00 United Women on the Fly - Clairey's best Insta work

50:00 Stripping for a Cure - huge fundraising for a little Jackson non-profit, which gives to the local hospital's women's fund and oncology department

54:00 Deep-dish cornbread cast-iron pan... total antique treasure!

1:05:00 "It was a mondo-toad, for sure... dinosaur-status..." -- fish stats in guide-speak

1:06:00 SassyMamaOnTheFly - Clairey on Insta

1:13:00 Pheasant and turkeys showing up in Jackson Hole, where they're not supposed to be... good, or bad?

1:15:00 Humanities Montana... get your toolkit!

Imagine this: You see a film that fosters such big thoughts and ideas that you have to share it with others, and discuss! That's the idea behind Tracy Nguyen-Chung and Ciara Lacy's work. In ‘Connection,’ both filmmakers follow Autumn Harry, a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, on her journey as a fly-fisher. Along the way, they bring to the forefront the multitude of connections intersecting with and highlighted by our experiences on the water. In this episode we talk about the importance of these connections and some of the prevalent stereotypes in fishing and how to change them.

1:00 Humanities Montana - check out their 'Gather Round' toolkit -- it's meant to inspire big discussions that matter to people in the great outdoors (well, all of us)

5:00 The art of telling a culturally specific story that resonates universally

7:00 From Vietnam to the U.S., a father's passion for fishing is passed along to his daughter, Tracy

8:30 And in Hawaii, Ciara grew up in a 'catch and release' family when it came to tilapia... which has oddly made a comeback in fine dining

10:00 Tracy and Ciara's film is "Connection", it started with a vision to uplift the image of people of color in fishing. It's the story of an indigenous woman and her discovery of fly-fishing.

14:00 Connections... to geography, to culture, to water, to environment, to self

17:00 Brown Folks Fishing - most storytelling is through Insta; it's a volunteer-run non-profit to gather and support a community of BIPOC anglers

19:00 Growing up in a family hobby, like fishing, and then promptly leaving it during college... and making a full circle as an adult

21:00 Public-facing parts of the fishing community -- industry, Insta profiles, groups, etc -- they're predominantly white (and male). The conservation space is similar.

24:00 People from BIPOC communities are totally out there fishing (hugely!), but they're just not represented in most of the industry

26:00 Two privileged and flawed points of view from naysayers: fishing is a place where we should go to 'escape' and BIPOC anglers don't exist in this space unless it's affordable.

28:00 Storytelling as an advocacy tool. For Ciara, it started with seeing her mom as an organizer for the Native Hawaiian community

30:00 Part of good storytelling is letting people know what they should be thinking about... those life challenges that slip the radar for some. (Pssst... that's what the 'Gather Round' toolkits are all about!)

36:00 What even IS a 'conservation angler'? It’s not something that’s automatically given to you the minute you step into the river. It takes intention and practice.

40:00 Spin-fishing: it's totally cool, everyone!

45:00 'Connections' the film started as a passion project... its trajectory has far surpassed early expectations

47:30 Adventures from documentary filmmaking: Getting an inmate a last-minute bouquet of flowers on his release day so he could give them to his fiancée.

49:00 On being human first, filmmaker second

50:30 "Out of State" documentary, which first aired on PBS

51:00 Find Ciara's work at CiaraLacy.com

52:00 Making fishing films? Four seasons in a day! (And a hard-knock life for film equipment)

54:00 Find Tracy online at tracynchung.com

55:00 "Connections" was underwritten by Orvis, which has been a long-time supporter of Brown Folks Fish. The film will be released later this year on Orvis' website, and also at the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival and the Hawaii International Film Festival before then

57:00 Brown Folks Fishing fellowship lab and the Angling for All Pledge

1:00:00 Gather Round has a 'connection kit' focused on four water-themed films... you've got to check it out! Request your free toolkit fromHumanities Montana today

Indiana hunter Cindy Stites found her way into the field after exiting an abusive marriage. With every hunt, she slowly saw the return of her old self -- someone who's confident, happy, and adventurous. The more she got into hunting, the more she adopted a new attitude to opportunities that came her way: "Start saying yes." She said 'yes' to becoming a hunter ed instructor, 'yes' to mentoring youth in the field, 'yes' to getting involved with conservation groups. This tactic opened up a number of new doors, and Cindy realized it was the healthy human relationships she formed through hunting that were bringing her happiness.

6:00 Froggin' in Alabama-speak is "giggin'"... and there's a special frog-sized pitchfork for this activity

10:00 A youth bow for small-framed ladies (Cindy is 5"3') is the Bear Apprentice 2

11:00 A thought that's crossed every adult-onset hunter's mindspace: "What if I'd been doing this for the past 15 years?"

12:00 An ill-fated rabbit hunt with a child: The rabbit started screaming, then the child started screaming, and the parent wonders if maybe just maybe hunting alone is better for everyone.

12:30 Cindy's piece on becoming an engaged conservationist Step up and Volunteer for Conservation, (which was preceded by an incredible moment: April Vokey says, "What's your dream job, Cindy?")

15:00 "Start saying yes" -- it can totally change your life. For Cindy, it started with someone asking if she wanted to volunteer teaching archery to 4-H kids. Then someone asked if she wanted to teach hunter's ed. "Yes" can lead you a lot of places!

16:00 'Yes' leads to organizations like BHA, Pheasants Forever, National Turkey Federation... a bonafide snowball scenario

17:00 The learning curve of being a well-informed conservationist? It's a lingo'd journey. Research, research, research. And if you're a storyteller? Break it down for others.

18:30 Cindy's piece on caribou conservation – coming soon!

24:00 Your "in" to spreading the conservation love... it may be getting someone outside, sparking their interest... OR, it might be that moment when someone says "What's a Pebble Mine?" and you're totally ready for that one

27:00 Getting into something new -- hunting/fishing/anything -- at a rocky/transitional time in your life can be totally transformative. 

30:00 Hunting as an adult: A series of failures until things slowly start to click, then your confidence goes up, and it gets to be FUN.

40:00 Meaningful hunting experiences with family = highlights of life. Relationships are at the center of everything

48:00 The squirrel "sploot"... you can't go wrong Googling this for 10 minutes (or more)

49:00 That moment when you have food poisoning, even though you didn't eat out, and you realize YOU gave YOU food poisoning... #cheffail

Sharenda Birts bought a gun, and then let it sit in her closet for a year. She wanted to learn to shoot, but just didn't know how people did that. Her fortunes changed when she met group called The Well Armed Woman. Shooting led Sharenda to re-loading her ammo, and then to hunting. She's hunted deer, dove, pheasant -- and totally has plans to keep expanding. Sharenda's story is a powerful testament to what you can accomplish when you take control of your own learning and experience.

2:30 Obligatory adulting knowledge: There are TWO cities called 'Kansas City' -- one in Kansas, the other in Missouri

5:30 How did 'cream of mushroom' get to be the secret ingredient in so many game recipes?

6:00 Idaho pheasant hunting 101

9:30 Learning gun culture when you come from a culture that's not into it... it's hard to walk into a gun range when you don't know how to handle a gun. And if nobody in your network is a gun person? Added obstacles.

10:00 Buying your first gun.... and then letting it sit in the box for a year

10:30 AND THEN... you get invited to a meeting to a group called The Well Armed Woman ... and all of a sudden, you have your people. It was a totally diverse and welcoming group of women, an 'in' to the shooting range

12:00 "Hey, you should probably get into re-loading." Yet again... how do you get that new skill set?

13:00 Then, a commitment: Even though I'm a beginner, I'm going to try to share what I know. The response? Oh boy.

14:00 "You can't be in the firearm community and not be sociable. Firearm people do not let you not be sociable." So true. AND, you also can't not want to try something because you don't have that skill set. Nope. Be a beginner. It's totally ok.

16:00 Back to the re-loading... calling a local Fish and Game department, "Hey, I heard you used to offer these classes. I'm interested," and having it snowball from there

17:00 Facebook communities to check out: "The Re-Loading Podcast" and "The Georgia Shooting Connection"

19:00 Re-loading know-how... there's beginner-level, and PhD-level

21:30 Shooting those first few rounds you've reloaded yourself. Please don't let it blow up my face.

25:00 Reloading ladies night - all the husbands are wanting to crash that party!

26:30 RESOURCES: Hodgdon powder company -- you can call and talk to a human with any questions; "The ABCs of Reloading" book; "Reloading with Rosie" series; Lyman series of books; and your local conservation office is priceless

32:00 Getting into hunting? Even harder than getting into shooting and reloading

34:00 Bore sight - total game-changer 

36:00 Learning the hard way... Wait... you mean other people are using gun rests? BECAUSE I WAS STANDING THE WHOLE TIME!

40:00 When the first hunt is a dud because of the crew... it's the worst. But we ALWAYS learn something (in this case, that you CAN put a scope on a shotgun)

43:00 Second hunt? Finding the she-crew you knew you needed to get into this sport

45:00 You NEED to hear this story of Sharenda's first deer hunt. It's amazing. 

52:00 Coyote fur hats... don't miss that ep with Cindy Barlow!

55:00 WildHERness - a skill-building organization for women and girls... ALL KINDS OF SKILLS - from driving/docking a boat to identifying migratory waterfowl (Find them on Facebook and Insta)

56:30 - Sharenda is @pinkshears on Insta

1:00:00 Vortex Fury range-finding binoculars or Maven Optics... and with those big purchases like binoculars? "Cry once, buy once."

1:06:00 Maggie Heumann's list of 'must-have' flies

1:08:00 Artemis Podcast Facebook group

Melissa Hulsey is a rifle, bow, and muzzleloader hunter from Georgia, where she's just retired and moved to a farm. (Living the dream, Melissa!) Her scenery has switched from tree stands at private hunting clubs to her own backyard. In this episode we talk about the currency of human capital when it comes to developing hunting expertise, and how Artemis is trying to foster strong hunting communities through connection. One-off mentorship experiences in the field aren't enough to build self-sufficient hunters. So how can we better bridge the gap?

2:00 Moving to a farm-slash-game preserve from the Atlanta area 

3:30 A meal to impress: A good cut of venison steak, parmesan risotto, asparagus done just so, and pumpkin cheesecake. "Did you know you just ate venison?"

5:00 Melissa is an entrepreneur who sold her company in 2017, around the same time as her husband took early retirement. Now she's pursuing her hobbies full-time, which is where the farm comes in

6:30 Georgia hunting: Turkey, deer, squirrel, doves, armadillos... aka "possum on the half-shell"

7:00 Archery, muzzleloader, AND rifle... archery is the fav for Melissa, and she started pretty soon after picking up hunting in general. The impetus was getting out in the field early in the season

9:00 (Perceived) barriers to archery hunting: Cost, upper-body strength, time/attention/mental bandwidth, confidence in stalking skills; decreasing range from 150 yards to 40 yards

13:00 Access to expertise (aka friends) is also a barrier to trying something new in hunting

14:00 Part of Melissa's WHY of linking up with Artemis is to find that she-tribe of hunter-friends. Nationally, about 20% of hunters are women. In Georgia, it's more like 7%

17:00 Artemis Georgia: four women strong - a team of PhD'd wildlife rockstars

19:00 Georgia and Montana = Artemis Alliance focus states. They're so different!

27:00 When looking at R3 efforts, Artemis is gunning for 'retain' through building communities of women hunters. Georgia Artemis has another take - E3 Initiative: Engage, Empower, Encourage

27:30 Are you a hunter in Georgia? Artemis has a short survey on what programs you're most interested in

28:00 Pssst... Artemis is hiring! Southeast regional outreach coordinator

29:00 Who misses hugs around here? 

30:00 Georgia hunting is HOT. A Thermacell helps keeps the bugs away. Not a lot of walking. Tree stands are big. So is hunting over agriculture fields.

31:00 A short story from Georgia hunting, titled, "Underestimate Me, It'll Be Fun." That moment when Melissa's husband realizes she DID know how to reload her muzzleloader rifle.

36:00 Western hunting versus Georgia hunting: Gear isn't nearly as important. T-shirt and yoga pants, baby. The obstacles are different. Like, in Georgia, you're guaranteed to shove your face through some spiderwebs on the way to a tree stand.

41:00 Public lands in Georgia-speak are "WMAs," or Wildlife Management Areas. They're open to hunting on certain days, and some of those days will be earmarked for youth-only, women-only, seniors-only.

43:00 How do you build successful mentorship programs? We're all trying to figure it out. One-hit experiences don't work. It comes back to community and building competency/self-sufficiency after those first few outings.

44:00 Nicole Qualtieri Ep 10 on Retention

53:00 Are women further along establishing themselves in the angling world versus hunting? Some of those river-centric initiatives have been around longer.

54:00 The chicken that went missing for four days is BACK! We missed you, Rosalie!

56:00 The bear shoulder roast... staring at you from the freezer. Sarah Topp’s winning recipe

1:03 WANTED - Bear taco pics in the Artemis Podcast Facebook group

This week's guest Michelle Zimmerman says she was not quite ready to serve when she was called on to fill a seat on the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission. That was eight years (or two terms) ago. Prior to serving on the board, Zimmerman had worked at a land trust, and then in solar development. Serving on the Commission brought her into the world of hunting, which has become a part of her identity. This week she tells Artemis what it's like serving on a game commission, why the work matters, and why you ARE qualified to throw your hat in the ring. Plus, a discussion on grip'n'grin hunting shots and taxidermied wall mounts.

5:00 Being on the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission (for EIGHT years) -- it's a volunteer position with appointment from the governor, maybe 8-10 hours a week of service

7:00 The winding road of a career: From land trust management to conservation work (with a little wheat farming) to... *gasp*... working as a developer!

8:00 Michelle's 'in' to hunting was through her service on the Wildlife Commission.

11:00 That moment when the governor's people say, "Hmmm... could you carry your shotgun THIS way?"

13:00 Taking the life of a big-game animal can be emotional. It's totally ok to love the hunting, the harvesting, the cooking, the eating... and still hate that half-second of killing

18:00 Chats with a trophy hunter - a taxidermied mount is a way to capture a cherished memory, similar to a photo

20:00 Months and months of preparation time filter into a small moment, and a wall mount can be a continual reminder of that moment of personal change/growth

22:00 "Grip and grin" photos = perennial discussion fodder 

27:00 Journey to becoming a state Wildlife Commissioner

34:00 Informed decision-making on a Commission to do what's right for a resource... you can't please everyone (and hate mail goes with the territory)

43:00 Public outreach involves website updates and a newsletter, plus LOTS of public meetings

47:00 Attending a game commission meeting is a great window into what commissions do, why we rely on them to responsibly manage resources, and what the public shows up to weigh in on

50:00 Public comment DOES change management decisions (all the time). It's important and it matters.

53:00 Women of the world! Serving on a game commission IS for you. Here's Michelle's take on why your voice matters... what you do can truly effects change. 

55:00 How to do it? Get on your state government's website, see the commissions/boards that are there, see what you might be interested in, and go to a meeting 

58:00 Nobody is ever 'ready' to be a commissioner... but that doesn't mean it's not the right time

59:00 "Say something out loud and put your intention toward it... and it begins to unfold." (Pssst.... those words might be, "Hey... I think I want to be a commissioner some day for XYZ state board/commission.")

This week we're joined by the charming and witty voice of Laura Mendenhall. Laura is a biologist by day, and a conservationist in her spare time. In college, she describes herself as an "aggressive vegetarian," which changed when she was doing condor conservation work in California and went on her first abalone hunt. These days, Kansas is her home hunting territory, where she's Board President of the Kansas Wildlife Federation. Laura shares with us what it's like to join a board of directors, and why you should consider it, even if your first reaction is, "Uhhh, what is a board?"

2:30 Anyone else feeling a little soft and doughy before September?

3:00 "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" with Samin Nosrat on Netflix and in print (it takes your turkey-cooking game to another level)

7:00 On being a Jane of all trades - hunting, gardening, birding, AND... (wait for it)... sourdough. Boom.

8:00 College memories: "I know I had classes with hunters...because there were always dudes who showed up in camo. But I never interacted with them."

8:30 From being an "aggressive vegetarian" to being a hunter

9:30 One of the biggest threats to condor recovery in California was lead ammunition

10:00 Check out the Artemis episode 9 on lead-free ammo with Kodi Jo Jaspers

11:00 Michael Pollan's book, "Omnivore's Dilemma" and his hunt for a feral pig in California

12:00 Diving for abalone in Pacific waters... it involves two wet suits, a special pry bar, and crossing a thermocline, kelp forests, pearls... and SHARKS. Abalone = basically a rock with guts the size of your face

18:00 Going from an abalone hunt to pheasants and beyond - hunting fills a void when your life circumstances need it most

24:00 Totally ok to dislike hunting with your husband

26:00 Finding female hunting friends... not always easy, almost always rewarding!

28:00 Feeding 100+ wedding guests on home-harvested turkeys... it can be done! (Eight turkeys did the job.)

30:00 MeatEater's "hunting purity score"  - the more primitive/ethical/harder you make it, the higher the purity score

32:00 Kansas deer hunting scene: Bowhunting season overlaps with the rut, people are big into tree stands and bait piles. Hunting on private land (especially ag land) is more common than public land hunts

36:00 Kansas... "we're more than I-70, you guys!"

37:00  Hunting shelter belts or hedgerows -- they're breaks in ag fields, and great hunting spots (kind of thorny sometimes!)

38:00 Kansas Wildlife Federation

40:00 On volunteering by serving on a group's board of directors.... and having that moment, "Want to join the board?" and you're all, "Wut is a board?" Not as scary as it sounds! And a great way to give back.

44:00 If you're thinking about possibly joining a board, try sitting in on a meeting or meeting some of the other board members. And don't fall victim to imposter syndrome! Reach out. Start talking.

46:00 Non-diverse boards taking on diversity

48:00 Artemis book club, "Black Faces in White Spaces" by Carolyn Finney 

51:00 Laura's super-secret method for prepping yourself for any kind of speaking or interview engagement. (Spoiler alert: It starts with Beyonce... and there's hand-motions involved!)

55:00 Kansas Wildlife Federation: 70 years strong! Plus, they run an outdoor adventure camp for kids.

57:00 R3 - Recruitment, retention, reactivation

1:00:00 Axing mountain goats to save sheep in the Grand Tetons

1:01:00 Federal judge overturns Trump administration changes to Migratory Bird Treaty Act 

1:04:00 Artemis is hiring!

1:05:00 Monday, Aug. 24, webinar on sports dog safety with a veterinarian/bird hunter/general badass Meg Puchlerz of On Point Vet. Register here!