In this episode, I give a detailed weather update of the flooding we are experncing here in south east Iowa. I talk about food plots, mainly a better stratedgy to have better food plots in the spring to lead to even better food plots in the fall.
I focus the rest of the episoe on the book I am listening too on Audible, "Wilderness and the American Mind" by Roderick Frazier Nash. The book explains the glum view of wilderness from the ancient European mindset, the views of the early settlers and the Church's mindset, and how the view of wilderness transcended wicked and evil into the glorification of God, the Creator. I hope you enjoy the episode thank you for listening!

In this episode, I talk about a new invasive speices introduced for the good hearted intention to help the monarch butterfly, but it actually makes more harm than good! I go into the history of Canadian Thistle in the United States and Iowa. I focus on how main stream agriculture points fingers at conservationist, but in reality where did invasives come from? I wanted to focus on primarily stopping the blame game. We can get our egos hurt and get snippy back, but what good does that do? Let's work together to stop the spread! I finish with having a grand vision for one's property. Goals higher than you; higher than the ego. Literally, setting up your property better than you found it.

In this episode I start out with a terrible Adella impression. I speak about the challenges this summer with invasive work, but over coming challenges with our new addition to the Dbltree Family of Tools the Stihl FS 561 D-EM. I talk about replacing the seals on my Birchmeier Sprayer and where to get the seal kits for.
The rest of the episode I attempt to focus on talking about the subconscious mind. I have learned the hard way what you say has an effect on future outcomes. I have come across a great book called Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill author of "Think and Grow Rich{. In this alleged interview with the Devil, Napoleon unconvers how the Devil uses fear and the habit of drifting to rule over our minds and keep us confined. By thinking for yourself you can embrace freedom. I'll be honest I need to imrpove on keeping my thought process straight for I feel I was on a good rhythm in my dialouge then a random thought appears which probably did have a connection and due to trying to make a joke to make an uncomfortable topic more lighthearted I missed the point. I do apolgoize and it is an art form I need to craft. I feel I am closer, but I need more mental discipline.
At the end I attempt to explain this connection with the subconscious mind and how it's almost child like. It takes in everything and reflects who you really are. What you say leads to cause and effect and that is something I am learning to control so I can create a better outcome. I hope this might give you something to think about and lead you on your own path as I am too.

In this episode, I reflect on a project I drilled in May for a client. I was drilling a standard native prairie mix and I was sharing the importance of getting residue off the soil so it can dry out quickly, better surface contact with herbicides, and most important part seed to soil contact for your native prairie seed. I share about summer projectcs I am burning (see what I did there) to do with growing season burns and taking out the recurring invasive species on the farm. Finally, I share about how to remove cool season grasses in an old field situations or in prairie seedings.

In this episode, I decided to share the frustrations of owning equipment and the rising costs of maintaining equipment. I go over the acres I have drilled over the years and how much the demand for services fluctuate and how much the government through CRP can influence that. I explain the difference for me how manageing forestry is more profitable and larger habitat impact vs driving a tractor up and down the road. I have enjoyed my time doing the custom work, but I'd rather leave the tractor parked for now and enjoy the time with family working the farm and watching my kids grow up.

In this episode, I talk about different options for tree plantings with having the least amount of enviornmental impact for the future. I talk about having an early successional plant community in your tree planting. You may have to use some hardcore herbicides the fall prior to have the most effective cool season grass kill so you do not have to spray again or avoid the annual pre-emergent applications for 3-5 years.

In this episode I give an update on the challenges of a wet spring in southeast Iowa as a habitat contractor and a farm hand. I go over my battle of Candida a viscous little fungus that ruins your gut. I also talk about the turkey season. It was not successful, however the habitat work has paid off and I learned a lot about this bird. I am obsessed and can't wait to pursuit the turkey again.

In this episode, I had the honor of interviewing Dr. Marcus Lashley. Dr. Lashley is host of Fire University is co-host of the Wild Turkey Science. Dr. Marcus is assistant Professor at the University of Florida's Department of Wildlife and Ecology. In this episode, we discussed more about fire ecology, but also discussed fire behavior and safety. Fire is one of the ultimate tools in wildlife management, but there is a time and place. Inappropriate times will lead to disaster. Let's use prescribed fire in the safest way, but also the most effective way.
Fire University Podcast:
https://fireuniversity.libsyn.com/
Wild Turkey Science
https://turkeysfortomorrow.org/wild-turkey-science-podcast/

Forest Service s130 and s190 Online Training:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/angeles/fire/?cid=FSEPRD1059372

In this episode, I had the honor of interviewing Doug Duren. Doug is a hunter, land specalist, and conservationist of Cazenovia, Wisconsin. Doug manages his family farm and it has been in his family for 115 years. Doug has started Sharing the Land Initiative. Sharing the Land Initiative is a network to connect hunters looking for access to hunt with landowners to acheive stewarding the land together as a partnership. Doug has also contributed tremendously to Meat Eater.
Folks, I had a lot of questions for Doug, but I asked him about the Sharing the Land Initiative and I just let him roll! I could listen to him talk all day and I immensely enjoyed this conversation and hope you all do as well!

Doug Duren Website: https://www.dougduren.com/aboutdoug
Sharing the Land: https://www.sharingtheland.com/

In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Iowa's Department of Natural Resources own Deer Biologist, Jace Elliott. Jace has a Bachelors of Science in Conservation Biology of University of Wisconsin and a Masters of Science in Wildlife Biology of University of Auburn. Jace and I talked about the need for prescribed fire to promote early successional plant communities. We talked about manager deer numbers focuisng primarily on does and how to conduct deer surveys. The current state of the deer population across the state of Iowa. Jace and I also talked about EHD and CWD and what the future holds for the health of the deer herd of Iowa. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!