Hal comes down to Missoula to talk with BHA's Ty Stubblefield (who hosts his own podcast, Shoot'n the Bull), about his roots in Oregon's Umpqua Valley and his life there as a millhand, logging contractor, bowhunter and conservationist in the Coast Range. Now based in Florence, Montana, in the northern Bitterroot Valley, Ty is living the hard balance of family, work and a lifelong obsession with hunting in the farthest reaches of America's wildlands.

Hal meets up with Tom McGuane in McLeod, Montana, on the Boulder River. They begin with an eye-widening discussion of how McGuane's "The Heart of the Game" (widely recognized as one of the greatest-ever essays on hunting) came to be written and published in Sports Illustrated in the early 1970s. The stories – as well as the funny and thought-provoking observations – continue from there. The poet Jim Harrison once said, "Thomas McGuane writes better about fishing than anyone else in the history of mankind." Start 2019 off right with this conversation between two lifelong sportsmen and masters of the written and spoken word.

BHA's Jason Meekhof of Michigan, Chris Hennessey of Pennsylvania and Josh Kaywood of Tennessee talk Eastern hunting and fishing, the explosive growth of BHA west of the Mississippi River, and the many challenges, threats and issues facing sportsmen in the eastern United States, including loss of access, dwindling numbers of hunters speaking out for wild places, and the role of public lands and waters in an increasingly privatized landscape. The conversation explores a history of triumphs in restoring fish, game and habitats and the extraordinary beauties of Eastern forests and wetlands (Kaywood is a passionate public lands waterfowl hunter in the Mississippi Delta), whitetails in the wild Adirondacks, and the powerful, centuries-deep Pennsylvania hunting culture.

In St. Paul, Minnesota, with bird dogs whining in the hall outside, Hal visits the headquarters of Pheasants Forever to interview a trifecta of America's most committed and passionate upland bird hunters and habitat and public access advocates. Bob St. Pierre, PF vice president of marketing and communications, tells it like it is: "We're in trouble. Habitat is being plowed under and wetlands drained, we're failing to ensure the future of upland bird hunting, and with that failure we're letting a whole host of ecosystems and wildlife – all of it hard earned in the wildlife restorations and conservation efforts of the last decades – go down. But we're not going to let that happen." Bob is joined by fellow PF staffers Andrew Vavra and Anthony Hauck, who tell us what it's really like to hit the Rooster Road Trip: thousands of miles of travel, worn-out dogs, cold camps and bad motels, and a whole lot of public land bird hunting opportunities that way too many hunters are convinced do not exist.

Join Hal on a camping and hunting trip for Mearns quail deep into the Chihuahua Grasslands smack-dab on the Mexican border. With him is BHA member Ray Trejo, the huntin'est conservationist in New Mexico; Gabe Vasquez, the youngest member of the Las Cruces' City Council and a New Mexico conservation leader; and Fernando Clemente, a self-employed wildlife biologist and habitat specialist who works on both sides of the border to restore wildlife and ecosystems on private lands and has deep insight into public lands hunting and management in the U.S.

A native son of the Palouse country in Idaho and a contributing writer to Outdoor Life, Ben Long is a founding board member of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, a former newspaperman and one of America's leading conservation voices and strategists.

Steve Piragis, of Piragis Northwoods Company, is an institution in Ely, Minnesota: the grand old man of Boundary Waters outfitting and perhaps the most eloquent and knowledgeable spokesman for the region's public lands wilderness since the legendary Sigurd F. Olson. Piragis and Hal meet in Ely to discuss all matters related to the Boundary Waters, including why anybody would want a Chilean company to build a vast copper-nickel mine on a river at the very edge of the most visited wilderness in the United States.

Rachel VandeVoort is a native of Whitefish, Montana, with four generations of family history in Montana. She is also director of the Montana Office of Outdoor Recreation. With a background working for Kimberand in the ski industry, no one could be better suited for this job. Hal goes to Whitefish to talk with Rachel about being a parent of wild outdoor children, outdoor jobs and the outdoor economy, guns, fishing and hunting on public lands.

Hal Herring visits the headquarters of Vista Outdoor to talk with Vista Director of Conservation Ryan Bronson. Vista represents dozens of the most popular brands of ammunition, guns and other outdoor gear and clothing, including BHA corporate partners Savage Arms, Federal Ammunition and Camp Chef. Bronson, a wildlife biologist by training, brings a unique perspective to the role of hunting and shooting in restoring and building America's wildlife.

This bonus episode of the BHA Podcast & Blast is being released in celebration of Public Lands Month. Listen as Hal talks to Ryan Callaghan and Kenton Carruth about the founding of Firstlite, the confusing and alarming statements made by Sen. Mike Lee of Utah about public lands, and the coming together of outdoor enthusiasts by forging relationships with brands like Patagonia.