Artemis

Ten years ago, oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days. Hunters and anglers in Louisiana are still experiencing the aftermath of the BP oil spill. At the same time, they're grappling with a shocking rate of coastal land loss. This week on the show we're joined by two Louisiana women -- Erin Brown from Vanishing Paradise, and Albertine Kimble (aka Albertine the Duck Queen), a fourth-generation hunter and angler for whom the marsh is home.

1:30 - 2010: Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Gulf of Mexico

2:00 - Erin Brown from Vanishing Paradise, another NWF program. Erin grew up in a family of biologists, where Louisiana's land-loss crisis was on everyone's minds. Louisiana is pretty rockin' waterfowl and fishing country.

3:00 - Since 1930 Louisiana has lost about 2,000 square miles of coastal areas

5:00 - Albertine is fourth-generation on her family's place, from a family of hunters and anglers. She's retired from local government as a coastal program’s manager, which oversaw resource extraction protocols in the area

9:30 How many people know the exact date of their best day hunting? 

10:00 Red fingernail polish looks darn good against a green-winged teal

11:00 "You can't get ducks if you're sleeping." True words! 

11:30 How to cook a teal? Take about six birds, stuff them with apples, orange, garlic and onion. Sear the birds on the outside until they're brown all the way around. Then add water a little bit at a time over about three hours to steam them. Then in the last 30 minutes put orange wine and Grand Marnier on them to give them a caramelized coating that drips into your rice.

12:30 Albertine's choice of duck gun is a Browning Belgium 20-ga. But in the field? It's good to have two guns in case something happens to one.

17:00 Flashback: The Deep Horizon oil of April 2010, the well was uncapped for 87 days, 11 men died on the rig, and more than 100 million gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. Sixty-four percent of Louisiana's coastal areas were oiled. Settlement money from the spill is going to coastal habitat restoration. 

20:00 Local impacts were stark. Fisheries and oyster harvest were shut down. For a local parish known as "sportsman's paradise," it was a big loss

23:00 Ten years after the spill, there are still scars on the landscape. It's hard as a sportswoman to wonder if you'll ever catch a trout the size of what you used to catch.

28:00 Before extensive levees were built on the Mississippi, the river would naturally deposit sediment to extend coastlines. Restoration projects sometimes try to replicate that process.

30:00 No wetlands = no people

36:00 Each generation of sportsmen/women has a different baseline for what's normal in terms of game abundance and habitat health

38:00 VanishingParadise.org; on Insta @VanishingParadise; Facebook - Vanishing Paradise

40:00 Hunting is a way of life and a heritage... and if we treasure it that way, conservation is an absolute must

42:00 Also check out Restore the Mississippi River Delta Coalition, Baton Rouge River Center

43:00 Smithsonian video "The Duck Queen of Plaquemines Parish"

45:00 Five-part docuseries, "Last Call for the Bayou"

51:00 Retired with a working boyfriend: You can always go without him! 

Stevie Parsons is an angler and conservationist whose values were shaped by her upbringing in native Hawaiian culture. Stevie joins Artemis to talk about how she got into fishing. It started with a book, a GPS, and a can-do attitude that she could bag a salmon if she gave it a try. (Spoiler alert: She did bring home a salmon.) Sharing the ocean's bounty with friends and family is part of her mojo, and it works to spread the love and enthusiasm for wild places, too.

5:00 Hawaiian Native words for 'love of the land' and 'balance' - which are part of a greater ethos for living/harvesting responsibly, and sharing bounty with friends/family

7:00 "To take and to not give back is to be a thief." With harvesting comes a responsibility for conservation.

12:00 First fish: A two-inch bluegill on a spinning rod. For the win! Then upon moving to Oregon, learning salmon-fishing

15:00 Salmon fishing... Stevie started with a book, a GPS, and a great attitude! No really... that's all you need to get started

18:00 You can do a lot to be ready before your line hits the water... there's YouTube, there are books, etc.

22:00 If you're flailing to fly-fish, why not pick up a spinning rod? What you learn from spin-fishing totally carries over to fly-fishing

24:00 Sturgeon fishing: Trying to land a big, strong dinosaur

26:00 Lingcod are about as fun in the kitchen as they are on the line. Miso lingcod is just... [smacking fingers to mouth]

29:00 Where to find lingcod - just about anywhere off the Pacific Coast

31:00 Lingcod can be bluish-green when you cut into them, they have some gnarly teeth, and they're adventurous in what they'll bite. A super-fun game fish!

33:00 Use your bait in scale to the fish. Want a big fish? Need some big bait on that hook, like herring or salmon bellies

38:00 Big fishing rods, little people

41:00 Part of what makes fishing so awesome is that you're always learning new things... no one has seen it all

42:00 Chinook versus sockeye/coho fishing

43:00 Stevie's salmon-smoking secrets! Rub recipe: 3 c. brown sugar, 1 c. Johnny's seasoning salt, 1/4 c. fresh ground pepper (don't skimp!). Mix it up, put it in a bottle, then sprinkle it over the salmon. Put it in the fridge overnight. Next morning: Put salmon out to drain (no toweling it off!) -- you need that tacky surface for good smoking. Stevie uses a Traegar for smoking, and she watches it closely. It's done when the white oiliness starts to appear on the surface. (Also a winning recipe for sturgeon!)

51:00 Albacore tuna fishing off the Pacific Coast

56:00 Bear-on-car vandalism!

1:00:01 Artemis Book Club: "Black Faces, White Spaces" by Carolyn Finney  Discussions start this week.

Emerald LaFortune is a fishing guide in Idaho's Salmon River. She's also a whitewater rafter, an outdoors writer, a deep thinker, and a conservation advocate - and just a gem of a human being. (#gemstonepuns?) There's pretty much nothing her sharp mind doesn't dive into. This week we take a deep-dive into Emerald's career as a female fishing guide - what she's learned, how she's grown, and what experiences she hopes to share with others. Emerald asks, "If a picture's worth a thousand words, what's an experience worth?"

2:30 There's no better lead-in to a salmon discussion than serving wild-caught Alaskan salmon on a salmon-fishing trip in Idaho

4:00 On river trips... salmon cooked over the fire? Or on the griddle? Go! 

6:30 Adult-onset angling... If you're a river person, fly-fishing has a way of making it into your repertoire

7:00 Emerald's life: A mix of guiding fishing trips, outdoor writing, and salmon recovery/conservation work on the Salmon River in Idaho

7:45 What would my life be like if I'd taken a fly-fishing elective in college instead of step aerobics?

13:00 Guiding summers out of college - growth versus burn-out

16:00 Emerald's Insta: @EmeraldLensMedia; Online at EmeraldLaFortune.com

17:00 What's it like to be a river guide? Transformative. There's your young, fresh-out-of-home self... there's growth in self-knowledge, confidence and ability. And then, years later, there's a career-minded, conservation/writing-hustling self who has made a life out of this field

20:00 Male fishing guests with small-in-stature female fishing guides

24:00 Becoming an expert... failure is a part of the equation. Do learning failures get labeled as incompetence more often with women guides than men? It can feel that way. And it can make us feel paralyzed about making mistakes. 

27:00 The Redside Foundation - help and support for Idaho's guiding community... in health, finances, everything. It's an extraordinary program.

34:00 Legends of the Tetons: A Lady Angler’s Storytelling Night in Jackson, Wyo.

36:00 Artemis Queers and Camo podcast with Taylor Morton and Sarah Keller

37:30 Hunt to Eat's Pride fishing shirt... you need this in your closet

38:00 Community: it's everything. Places like Missoula Fly Gals, Queers and Camo, and Artemis try to build inclusive communities. Isolation sometimes makes us think there's one way, or one culture, in these sports... and that's not the case

41:00 "Shit Fly Fishing Gals Say" video by Emerald

44:00 Hilary Hutcheson’s fly shop and guided tours: Lary’s Fly and Supply

49:00 "If a picture is worth a thousand words, what's an experience worth?"  The Pride of Being a Guide

50:00 The conservation world can be chock full of stress and noise... staying connected with the 'why' is so important to staying fresh and effective 

55:00 It's usually a series of experiences over time that culminate in making us who we are or what we're passionate about

58:00 Growing up in a whitewater family... running the Middle Fork of the Salmon with kids ages 7 and 4

1:00:02 Lean into the fear. It's where growth happens.

Beavers are amazing! Artemis is diving straight into the beaver pond with Dr. Emily Fairfax, ecohydrologist, science story teller, and beaver dam enthusiast. Join us to hear how this keystone species shapes our landscape, supports wildlife, and improves watersheds wherever they slap a tail.

2:00 "Beavers are a keystone species, which means they modify their environment in a way that influences the whole ecosystem."

3:30 First beaver experience... when your animal guide finds you

5:30 Idaho's beaver reintroduction efforts involved parachuting them in the Frank Church

7:00 Hauling a canoe over a beaver dam (over and over) in the Boundary Waters makes you realize what incredible engineers beaver are

9:00 Beavers are masters at helping lands retain water longer, which benefits a slew of other animal species – including fish, birds and ungulates!

11:00 In Nevada, beavers started improving cattle grazing land... but their real hero moment was during a drought, when areas with beavers stayed greener longer.

14:30 Now there's just two species of beaver: North American Beaver and the Eurasian Beaver. They're different enough that they can't interbreed, but both are dam-builders

15:00 There used to be 20-odd beaver species... some dug spiral burrows into the earth, others were Pleistocene-size beavers as big as linebackers! 

16:00 Dam-building was a hugely advantageous skill, evolutionary-wise... it meant beavers could build their own habitat pretty much anywhere there was water

17:00 Beaver populations remained stable pre-settlement, when some indigenous cultures had ways of self-regulating harvest. The European fur trade marked the start of beaver decline

19:30 "Ecological amnesia"... when people can't remember whether or not an animal is native to a landscape

21:15 Beaver dams generally don't stop the flow of water completely. Beavers then dig channels out from the dam, dispersing water, and also giving them routes back to the dam (so they're not just chicken nuggets waddling around on land). This is the chief mechanism of how beavers turn streams into wetlands.

26:00 Water retention, water temperature, and soil health in beaver habitat

28:00 How beavers overwinter... it's brilliant

31:30 Beaver family units... they mate for life! 

33:00 Adult beavers can be enormous... up to 110 pounds, especially in northern climates. (They're also a favorite food for some wolf packs.)

38:00 BDA = beaver dam analog (basically a human-constructed beaver dam to replicate the species' effect on the landscape)

39:00 Beavers and people/private lands... we have some tricks for management, like the "beaver deceiver"

41:00 Beaver presence in Nevada... it's a big of a mystery how they got there. Beaver dispersal is difficult because they're not well-adapted to moving over land

45:00 Beaver misconceptions are a huge obstacle for beaver conservation. Education is an important arm of conservation.

48:00 Beaver ponds are remarkable fire deterrent, and they're refuges for wildlife, "emerald sanctuaries"

51:00 The West has lost 60-90 percent of its natural wetlands... this has likely affected how fire behaves on the landscape

52:00 Beaver ponds = duck city!

53:45 "Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter" by Ben Goldfarb

55:00 How accurate is our perception of what a Western stream looks like? Those smooth-banked places we like to fish? They're not as natural as they look.

58:00 Find Emily @emilyfairfax on Twitter, or by email [email protected]

59:00 Emily's film on beavers and wildfires

59:30 Beaver ponds are full of pointy sticks! But they're very stable to walk across

This week on the program, co-host Becca Aceto and Michigan hunter Sarah Topp talk about training their first bird dogs. Sarah's dog, Timber Doodle, is named after her favorite quarry, the woodcock. Training a high-energy dog has its ups and downs, but Becca and Sarah are each finding that it adds a richer dimension to their time in the field. (Disclaimer: Listening to this episode may cause you to Google bird dog breeds incessantly.)

1:30 "Northwoods Unleaded" video

2:00 Artemis Great Lakes Instagram and Facebook

4:00 You can cook/eat woodcock whole... entrails included!

7:00 No bone saw? No problem! A Sawzall works for breaking down those big roasts

8: 20 Michigan United Conservation Clubs – NWF’s Michigan Affiliate!

9:30 "Rabbitat" - rabbit habitat improvement lingo

11:00 Michigan elk populations. Yeah! Elk... in Michigan! They've been there for a hundred years now.

15:00 Harvesting an animal as a kid versus as an adult

18:00 Woodcock in Michigan, aka "timberdoodles"

19:00 Let's talk bird dogs: Upland game hunting versus waterfowl hunting with a dog... and flushing dogs versus pointing dogs

20:00 #coronapuppies... did EVERYONE get a bird dog this spring?!

22:00 Training a bird dog starts with basic obedience... next is to spend a lot of time outdoors picking up scent. Then you can graduate to working your dog on specific bird scents, using wings from previously harvested birds.

24:00 Bird dog groups and clubs = priceless

25:00 "Water Dog" by Richard Wolters

29:00 E-collar training at six months, Garmin and Sport Dog collars

34:00 Dog training blunders (and wins!)

38:00 The pointing instinct... how 'there' is it? Plus, puppy's first point! 

41:00 Finding the right dog breed for your flavor of hunting (or, perhaps, for the degree of hair-shedding you're willing to manage)

44:00 "GSP" in birddog-speak is German Shorthaired Pointer

45:00 That moment you realize your 4- to 6-mile daily runs aren't enough to wipe out your dog's energy, so you invest in a pair of rollerblades and let the dog pull you six miles in 25 minutes. 

48:00 Woodcock = "they fly like drunk birds"

50:00 Favorite shotguns for birding

55:00 Hanging with your bird dog: Leisure vs. work. For one dog, it's a catch-phrase, "Find the birds."

56:00 Gun sensitivity training 

1:00:00 Cabin fever fix? Campgrounds with cellphone service, baby!

1:08:00 Follow Sarah on Instagram @trisarahtopp3

Kami Elsisie is a paramedic by day, and a hunter in just about every other spare minute. New Mexico offers an incredible array of game, both native and exotic. Kami tells us about an epic ibex hunt, plus her story about coming to the sport as an adult. Also... have you ever been out fishing/hunting/[insert outdoor pursuit here] and have someone ask, "So... did your boyfriend take you?"

2:00 - Want to introduce someone to eating wild game? Meatloaf is the winner here.

5:00 - Maggie's favorite pronghorn green chili recipe, add a teaspoon or so of juniper berries for an extra flavor kick.

8:00 - Adult-onset hunting... another story of getting into it! Kami's hunting life is punctuated by paramedic shifts in Albuquerque.

10:00 - Teaching the boyfriend to hunt... twice the tag draw opportunities!

11:30 - Depredation hunt for ibex in New Mexico... yes, ibex.

16:00 - Those once-in-a-lifetime tags? Sometimes they happen ALL IN THE SAME YEAR

17:00 - This is probably the best New Mexico ibex story you're going to hear this year

24:00 - Out-of-state ibex tags

26:00 - New Mexico is something of a hotspot for exotic game - Himalayan tar, oryx, ibex, Barbary sheep

28:00 - Heavier rifle, less kickback

31:00 - Adding a bird dog to the family, and finding out your trusty pitbull has a knack for hunting squirrels

33:00 - Carrying a heavy gun... get that comfy shoulder strap, baby. And hitch it over your pack, too.

38:00 - Falconry... one of those pursuits you can't resist if the opportunity comes up. It's a crazy-amazing synergy between humans, dogs, and raptors.

45:00 - Wildlife Wednesdays with the New Mexico Wildlife Federation … anyone can join via Zoom since Covid has pushed the events online. Follow NMWF for more! FB: @nmwildlife; Insta: @nmwildlifefed

49:00 - The women's hunting/fishing space... let's dish for a minute.

52:00 - "Did your boyfriend take you fishing?" ... OR, "Who guts your animal?" 

1:07:00 - Follow Kami on Insta: @kamkam520

Rifles - they seem so simple, right? You put the bullet in. You pull the trigger. You (hopefully) kill the animal. But there's a lot of nuance in how a rifle performs, and it can often feel overwhelming to new hunters. This week we're talking to two experts from the firearms industry: Rachel Schmidt, formerly of Kimber Manufacturing, and Neal Emery of Hornady. 

3:00 - Mushrooms in lasagna? OR CAPERS?!

5:30 - Piscivorous: You were probably missing this from your vocabulary.

7:00 - On growing up in a hunting family, "I never knew there wasn't hunting."

14:00 - Rifle calibers... what do those numbers mean? 

15:00 - First off, you don't need to be a rifle caliber/reloading expert to have enough working knowledge to go hunting. So don't sweat it. Start with knowing what you want to hunt.

18:00 - Calibers are confusing. It's like learning the English language... there are some general rules, but lots (LOTS) of exceptions.

19:00 - Hornady website, go to "Rifles" and "Ammunition" for a basic caliber chart

21:00 - Start with the basics: How does your rifle work? What does the firing pin do? How does the safety stop it from firing? Check out this great animation from hunter-ed.com.

27:00 - Caliber is just a size. The same caliber bullets can come in different weights, which are called grains (i.e. 220 grain versus 110 grain)

32:30 - Rifle fit and recoil. Heavier guns generally absorb recoil better (the downside: you have to carry them places).

35:00 - Muzzle brakes screw onto the tip of your barrel, and they dissipate the pressure of the air as the bullet exits the barrel, lessening recoil

37:00 - Recoil pads can go on the back of the gun to soften the recoil impact on your shoulder

37:15 - And different ammunition has different recoil... minimizing the weight of the bullet can reduce recoil some. And different gunpowder has different burning properties that can affect how a bullet feels leaving the barrel. In short: Lower recoil loads exist.

39:30 - Does noise make recoil feel worse? Wear ear protection!

44:00 - Bullet construction: This controls how fast (and when) a bullet opens up...aka mushrooming.

50:00 - How well a rifle shoots certain ammo is subjective. The only way to know what works best for your gun is to try a bunch of different bullets.

1:00:00 - Checklist for choosing a rifle: Game you're hunting, stock fit against your body, weight of the rifle, budget.

1:04:00 - Length of pull: distance between the trigger to the butt of the gun

1:06:00 - Hornady cheek pieces

1:12:00 - Rifle myth busters: "A good cartridge for women and kids is the .243"

1:24:00 - Marcia's Moroccan Fish Tagine with halibut.

Katelyn Sheehan of Anchorage took a circuitous route to becoming a hunter. Her first time shooting a Sitka black-tailed deer on the island of Kodiak was a game-changer for her, and it's an experience she's been able to bring into her social work. Katelyn tells Artemis about why spending time in the outdoors can be healing, both in her own life and the lives of the veterans she takes into the backcountry. 

3:00 - A hunting genesis story that starts with great people

5:00 - Sitka black-tailed deer hunt on Kodiak. A first-time harvest, and a chance to absorb the hunting lifestyle from a family who lives it intimately

10:30 - A journey into outdoors healing. Katelyn started in the military, then social work, then the outdoor guiding, eventually with No Barriers in Colorado

15:00 - "The Body Keeps the Score" by Bessel Van Der Kolk

15:30 - Trauma is something we hold on to, but there's a lot we can do to release it

17:00 - Sometimes the absence of spending time in nature is what makes us realize how much we need it (lookin' at you, Covid!)

23:00 - Sometimes the outdoors strip away what's distracting us, and it lets us see what we need to work on

28:00 - Great American Outdoors Act plus Katelyn' advocacy on LWCF; plus, Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski's decision to stand with GAOA

30:30 - LWCF 101: How it's (supposed to be) funded and what that's meant the sporting community, and pretty much everyone who wants to spend time outside

33:30 - Anchorage's Chester Creek Trail: LCWF beneficiary, and about the raddest place to go salmon fishing within Anchorage city limits

35:00 - Moose run-in on a bike during moose calving season

37:00 - Episode 12 with Kyla West - Don't Run (unless it's a moose)

39:00 - Artemis storytelling contest for GAOA advocacy

This week we tackle listener questions -- from gearing up for a 9-day elk-hunting trip, to why it can feel so dang hard asking for help. Got a question? Send us a note at [email protected]. 

1:40 - Maggie's 22-pound lake trout story + making the front page of the Sun Valley newspaper

4:00 - Old-timers with handlebar mustaches are the best kind of trolling tutors

4:30 - Mackinaw = lake trout, which aren't really a trout... they're a char species

7:20 - Ain't no party like a fence-pull party!

13:00 - The Yellowstone firetruck fish tale

14:00 - Range finder AND bino -- OR -- range-finding binos?

16:30 - Vortex Furies - Marcia and Maggie's range-finding binos

19:00 - Why is it so hard to ask for help?

24:00 - First-time 9-day backcountry elk hunting trip - what should a new hunter know?

26:00 - Layering: hunting vs. backpacking

27:00 - Let's talk about traction for a minute

28:00 - Butchering and pack-out: Revisit Episode 19: Butchery with Anna Borgman and EP 5: Packing Game Out with Sarah Keller

31:00 - How to hang your food/game for bear safety – Great article from goHunt

32:30 - Terrorizing bunny at camp, another reason to hang food

34:00 - Fly-fishing: How do you bring your line in to mimic different bug movements? (Add 'skittering' to your vocabulary)

37:30 - "So you think you want to fish?"

42:00 - On keeping up with the Joneses, tricks for using your strength to your advantage (or phoning a friend when necessary)

45:00 - Gear Review: Hiking and wading stilts

52:00 – Episode 12 - Don't Run with Kyla West

53:00 - Montana Artemis Alliance

55:00 - Artemis map

Sarah Keller and Taylor Morton join us on Artemis this week to talk about growing a LGBTQ+ community in the hunting and fishing world. Their initiative is called is Queers and Camo. At a time of social unrest on a national scale, we discuss why inclusiveness matters more than ever in our industry, and what that looks like right now.

1:30 Our guests today are Sarah Keller, who you'll remember from EP 5: Packing Game Out, and Taylor Morton, author of this great Artemis blog Meat on the Table

2:00 - June is Pride month

5:30 – The history of Pride. Riots back then, riots now -- and what change comes out of those movements

9:40 - Being queer and being visible in the hunting/conservation space. It started with a longstanding desire to connect with more LGBTQ people who are hunters and outdoors people

11:00 - Queers and Camo -- making our community a safe, enjoyable space for everyone, and fomenting important dialogue that helps build that 

15:00 - On being a hunter before coming out -- one thing builds on another. These aren't compartmentalized pieces of self, they're entwined with each other

15:30 - On Insta, @queersandcamo happy hour forthcoming

16:30 - Growing up around a hunting culture that's white and male makes you cognizant of race/gender/sexuality and how safe you feel outdoors (or, in grocery stores, walking to your car, etc)

17:30 - How does it affect us when our community doesn't reflect who we are?

19:45 - On feeling like you need to present a different version of yourself depending on your geography. Those Confederate flags? Not exactly a welcome mat. Being a hunter in California? That can feel funny, too.

21:20 - Outside Online article on being out and gay, and crossing those two worlds: A Queer Hunter Reflects on Coming Out

25:30 - Discrimination takes more forms than using foul language or denying your services

30:00 - Sometimes the outdoors -- like a long trek tracking elk -- can be a quiet enough space for hard conversations that don't ordinarily get the space to air, like the difference between gender and sexual orientation

31:30 - On including LGBTQ+ voices in any platform with the public eye - it's important

34:00 - Why is it important to have a community specifically for LGBTQ hunters/anglers?

38:30 - Hunting traditions are often passed down through families... part of creating a community is giving others access to that infrastructure. Not everyone has a sporting tradition in their family unit, but they might find it in their chosen family

41:30 - Taylor's piece for Autostraddle called “On the Hunt” and voices from queer women who hunt on a series called "The Outsiders"

45:30 - Resources and online communities: Queer Appalachia, Queer Nature, Pattie Gonia, Unlikely Hikers, The Venture Out Project, The LGBTQ Outdoors Summit, OutSportsman

47:30 - Books: Anything by Audre Lorde, like Zami; Autostraddle REI segment called "The Outsiders"; and just keep up with the news. Read the hate crime stories. Know what's happening.

54:30 - Find Sarah @sj_keller, and Taylor @_taymo_