Tick prevention for hunters and bird dogs starts before the first walk through cover. Travis Avery of Sawyer Products joins Nick to talk about permethrin, treated clothing, and what happens when a tick reaches that fabric.

I've sprayed my hunting pants for years, but I hadn't spent much time thinking about what the treatment was doing two weeks later. No smell. Nothing I could see. Travis's explanation helped me connect that familiar routine to how the product works. We also discuss treating boots and socks, along with the dog beds and kennel pads I already spray.

We talk about the difference between a fabric treatment and a topical repellent, why drying matters, and how Travis approaches prevention with his dog Murphy. The conversation also covers tick checks and the extra care involved when cats are around. We open with Sawyer's water filters and a few ways they can fit into a hunting vest, a truck, or a trip with the dogs.

The idea is to spend more time in the woods with a routine that makes sense.

Permethrin is the fabric treatment at the center of this conversation. Travis describes it as a contact insecticide, while DEET and picaridin serve as topical repellents. Nick asks how those approaches fit together when a hunter has treated clothing but still has exposed skin. The distinction helped him better understand the routine he already uses.

The treatment bonds with the fabric rather than depending on a smell that Nick can detect. Travis compares that bond to dye in a shirt. He describes sunlight and washing as factors that reduce its effectiveness over time. For Nick, that explains why an odorless pair of treated pants can still be part of his routine.

Sawyer describes its clothing treatment as lasting up to six weeks or six washings, whichever comes first. Travis discusses that window alongside sunlight, laundering, and time in the field. Nick connects it to the early grouse season, when he is regularly walking through tick cover. The current product label gives the application and retreatment directions.

Nick already uses an oral preventive for his setters and treats their beds and kennel pads. Hearing how permethrin works on contact made him curious about treating the dogs themselves. Travis describes his routine with Murphy and points listeners to Sawyer's dog-specific instructions. That conversation is about an additional layer, with the product label and a veterinarian guiding any individual dog's use.

Travis carries a filter when fly fishing and describes options for a hunting vest, truck, cabin, or group camp. Nick starts from a place where water is usually available, then thinks about western hunts and carrying enough for himself and the dogs. They also discuss the limits of standard filters, including viruses and chemical contamination.

Sawyer Products: https://www.sawyer.com/
Permethrin product details and dog application instructions: https://www.sawyer.com/products/permethrin-fabric-treatment
Sawyer on Instagram: https://instagram.com/sawyerproducts

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/17EVUDJPwR2iJggzhLYil7
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/birdshot-podcast/id1288308609
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@birdshot.podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/birdshot.podcast/
Website: https://www.birdshotpodcast.com/

This episode is brought to you by Upland Gun Company, Final Rise, and Irish Setter Boots.

Upland Gun Company: https://uplandguncompany.com/
Final Rise Shirt of the Month: https://finalrise.com/pages/upland-shirt-subscription
Irish Setter Pheasants Forever Edition: https://irishsetterboots.com/pheasantsforever

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Wild bird contacts can shape a pointing dog in ways a training setup cannot. Mark Payton joins Nick to talk about first seasons, launchers, steadiness, and letting birds teach.

Mark is the author of Favorite Ways to Train Your Bird Dog and a longtime bird hunter who has worked dogs for the public for about 15 years. He returns to the podcast for a listener-question episode built around developing young dogs, carrying yard work into new places, and recognizing what a dog is saying before adding more pressure.

I have a new setter pup at my feet this season, so this one landed at the right time. We talk about how little formal work a young pointing dog may need before its first fall, what early wild-bird opportunity can open up, and why a puppy's light-bulb moment tends to stick with the person holding the gun. Mark remembers Izzy pointing a quail single before she was six months old. With another dog, he went into the field with a puppy and came out with a bird dog.

The conversation also gets practical. Mark explains his wooden backing silhouette, his use of remote launchers, the difference between steady to flush and steady through the fall, and why he treats a launcher as a stand-in for a wild bird rather than a machine for making a dog point. His recurring question is a useful one: what would a wild bird do?

Later, we get into whoa posts, flank collars, relocation, gun introduction, e-collar timing, trash breaking, retrieving, and the limited role of a wing on a string. The larger idea stays simple. Build the dog's love for birds, give it meaningful opportunity, and pay attention to the small signals along the way.

DOWNLOAD: Mark's Backing Dummy Silhouette

00:00 Let the wild bird teach the dog

How much training does a young pointing dog need before its first season?

Mark keeps the early program fairly light: recall, collar conditioning, bird introduction, gun introduction, and enough bird work for the dog to begin pointing. He prefers to build a love for birds and let the first hunting season provide experience. More formal polish can come later, often when the dog is roughly nine to 15 months old.

Is it a good idea to hunt a puppy during its first season?

Mark believes a first season can be valuable when the puppy is physically ready and has the basic preparation to be safe in the field. The goal is opportunity, not finished performance. His own young dogs pointed wild quail and woodcock before six months, while another dog needed more time before the light came on during a scattered covey.

What does a young bird dog's light-bulb moment look like?

It is the point when bird contacts begin to make sense to the dog. Nick remembers Rose moving from a very young puppy to reliably pointing grouse as the season progressed. Mark remembers one dog sticking quail singles so clearly that he felt he had walked into the field with a puppy and walked out with a bird dog.

Why does Mark Payton use a remote bird launcher?

Mark treats a remote launcher as a tool for simulating the consequence a wild bird would give a dog. If the dog crowds the scent cone, approaches from the wrong side of the wind, or gets too close, the bird leaves. That loss of opportunity helps many dogs learn to stop and point without the handler manufacturing the point.

Will catching one training pigeon ruin a pointing dog?

One caught pigeon is unlikely to create a lasting problem, especially with a young dog still developing bird drive. Repeated catches are different because they can teach the dog that birds are available to grab. Mark moves away from easy catches once the dog's interest is established and uses stronger-flying birds or launchers to preserve the bird's advantage.

What are the different levels of steadiness in a pointing dog?

The terms vary among trainers, but Mark separates them by what the dog remains still through. Steady to flush covers the handler moving in to produce the bird. Steady to wing adds the bird taking flight. Steady through shot and fall asks the dog to remain until the bird is down and the handler releases it.

What small signs can show a gun introduction is moving too fast?

A dog may keep chasing while still showing uncertainty. Mark watches for ears lowering, a brief hesitation in stride, or a small change in the tail after the shot. Those details can be easy to miss. A handler who reads them early can pause rather than escalating from one light shot to several hunters firing at a covey.

What does Mark mean by an honest bird dog?

An honest bird dog is genuinely trying to find, point, and handle the bird for the hunter. A bump can still happen because of wind, distance, or a running bird, but the dog is not deliberately trying to flush ahead of the gun. Nick describes that trust with Rose, especially when she relocates on moving ruffed grouse without being directed.

Email: [email protected]

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/17EVUDJPwR2iJggzhLYil7

This episode is brought to you by Upland Gun Company, Final Rise, and Irish Setter Boots.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Idaho Grouse Fever author Andy Wayment joins Nick to talk about bird dogs, grouse literature, favorite shotguns, and what keeps a life of grouse hunting meaningful.

Andy returns to the podcast with two new projects: Idaho Grouse Fever: An Obsession for All Things Grouse and Breaking Cover, a monthly podcast focused on upland literature and tradition. He explains why his latest book reaches across all five of Idaho's grouse species and mixes hunting stories with classic writing, sporting art, shotguns, named coverts, and the friendships built around them.

I was halfway through the book when we recorded, and what kept standing out was Andy's attention to everything surrounding the bird in hand. We talk about Rainy's growth into a seasoned grouse dog, what Aki learned by hunting alongside her, and what I hope Hazel might pick up from Rose this fall. Andy also takes us into the mystery behind Corey Ford's The Road to Tinkhamtown, including the clues that suggest its fictional covert was rooted in a real place.

The conversation closes with broken and lost Ruger Red Labels, a first ruffed grouse double with a 16-gauge side-by-side, the beauty of Idaho's Franklin grouse, and Andy's belief that the highs and lows are what make progress in the grouse woods feel earned.

00:00 Keeping grouse hunting honest

What is Idaho Grouse Fever about?

Idaho Grouse Fever: An Obsession for All Things Grouse collects Andy Wayment's stories about hunting all five of Idaho's grouse species. The book also reaches into bird dogs, sporting literature, shotguns, art, named coverts, mistakes, and friendships. Andy describes it as a book for people who think about grouse hunting eight days a week.

Why does grouse hunting become about more than finding birds?

The hunt grows to include everything surrounding the bird: companionship with dogs, time with friends, the history of a place, and the search itself. Andy says the highs and lows make successful moments sweeter because growth comes through both. Nick adds that if grouse hunting were easy, much of the fun would disappear.

Can a golden retriever that is not from hunting stock learn to hunt grouse?

Andy's golden retriever Aki did. She first learned by hunting alongside Rainy, watching for the pointing dog's bell to go quiet, and racing in to find birds. Over time, Aki became more independent, worked mostly within about 30 yards, flushed birds in range, and developed into the retriever Andy trusts most with a bird.

What is Tinkhamtown, and why does it matter to grouse hunters?

The Road to Tinkhamtown is Corey Ford's classic fictional grouse story. Andy found clues in an unedited version of the story and in writing by Ford's hunting companions that suggest the covert drew from a real place. That turns the story into something close to a treasure hunt for the grouse hunter's ideal cover.

Which shotguns does Andy Wayment hunt with?

Andy rotates among a Ruger Red Label 12 gauge, a Ruger Red Label 28 gauge with a straight grip, and a 16-gauge TriStar Bristol side-by-side. Fit and confidence determine which gun he carries. The Bristol produced his first ruffed grouse double, while the lighter Red Label 28 remains his go-to grouse gun.

What is the Breaking Cover podcast about?

Breaking Cover is a monthly conversation about upland hunting books and literary tradition. Andy co-hosts it with Matt Millbauer. Their first episode covered Pheasants of the Mind by Datus C. Proper and Pheasant Hunter's Harvest by Steve Grooms, with later episodes planned around other writers and seasonal themes.

Where can listeners find Idaho Grouse Fever?

Andy says the book is available through Amazon, while signed copies can be ordered through his Upland Ways website. Use the Birdshot affiliate link below to buy the book on Amazon, or order a signed copy directly from Andy.

Upland Ways: https://uplandways.com/

Breaking Cover on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/breaking-cover/id6789762324

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/17EVUDJPwR2iJggzhLYil7

This episode is brought to you by Upland Gun Company, Final Rise, and Irish Setter Boots.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

New Brunswick guide Jason Curtis shares what 39 years around grouse, woodcock, and wild birds have taught him about developing young bird dogs.

Nick welcomes Jason back to the podcast eight years after their first conversation. They start on the Miramichi River, where a fall trip can combine Atlantic salmon fishing with grouse and woodcock hunting, then move into the part of the conversation that hit closest to home: raising a puppy for her first season.

Jason explains why he begins exposure work early, how he introduces a wing, birds, a bell, and gunfire without turning puppyhood into a formal training program, and why short sessions woven into everyday life can build the foundation for later work. He and Nick also talk about what younger dogs pick up from older dogs, why solo hunting time still matters, and how real contacts with wild birds can change a dog quickly.

The conversation also covers New Brunswick's changing woodcock migration, the timing of a Miramichi cast-and-blast trip, and what visiting hunters need to know about guides, lodges, and the short October window.

00:00 How wild birds change a young dog

When does Jason Curtis begin working with a bird dog puppy?

Jason starts as soon as the puppy comes home, but he keeps the work light and playful. He uses short sessions with a wing, a small check cord, and simple moments around food or doorways to introduce the idea of standing still and paying attention. At that age, the goal is exposure and foundation, not polished performance.

How does Jason introduce a young dog to birds and gunfire?

He begins with sound at a distance while the puppy is occupied and confident, then closes that distance gradually. Around 12 weeks, he may introduce planted birds at a preserve. By roughly 16 weeks, when the individual dog is handling each step well, he likes to begin finding wild birds in real cover.

Why are wild birds valuable for a young bird dog?

Wild birds teach lessons that planted birds cannot fully reproduce. Their scent, movement, escape behavior, and use of cover require the dog to adjust naturally. Jason has watched young dogs make visible progress after several consecutive days of good wild-bird contacts, especially in New Brunswick covers with strong grouse and woodcock numbers.

Do young bird dogs learn from older dogs?

They can learn a great deal about range, recall, routine, and backing by watching experienced dogs. Jason still believes the puppy needs solo time so it develops independence instead of simply following. The older dogs help establish the pattern, while individual contacts teach the puppy how to hunt for itself.

When is the best time for a New Brunswick cast-and-blast trip?

The overlap runs from the September 15 woodcock opener through the October 15 salmon close, but the full grouse, woodcock, and salmon window is October 1 through October 15. Hunters can float and combine both pursuits in one day, or hunt the cooler morning and fish the river later.

Does a nonresident need a guide to hunt in New Brunswick?

Yes. Jason explains that hunters coming from outside New Brunswick need a licensed guide. A lodge is the simplest all-inclusive route, while an Airbnb paired with the right independent guide can also work. Guide availability is limited during the prime October weeks, so the relationship and timing matter.

Email: [email protected]

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/17EVUDJPwR2iJggzhLYil7

This episode is brought to you by Upland Gun Company and Final Rise.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

TFL Shotgun Fest 2026 is coming to central Minnesota this July, and this year two shotgun Hall of Famers are teaching the clinics. Steve Gould joins Nick to walk through the whole weekend.

On this episode, host Nick Larson brings back Steve Gould, creator of the Target Focused Life YouTube channel and part-owner of the Alexandria Shooting Park, to preview the second annual TFL Shotgun Fest. The event runs Friday, July 24 (development day plus VIP night) and Saturday, July 25 (the main shooting day) at the Alexandria Shooting Park in central Minnesota.

The headline this year is the talent. Corey Cruz, a two-time national champion, world champion, and National Sporting Clays Hall of Fame inductee, is running sporting clays clinics. Richard Marshall Jr., a 35-time All-American and multiple Grand American winner on the trap side, is running trap clinics. Both are kept small on purpose: five shooters per session, half a day, real range time and real feedback. Del Whitman is on-site doing gun fittings.

Beyond the clinics there are manufacturer demos where you can get hands-on and actually shoot a rack of different shotguns, an Upland Gun Company booth with a new RFM shotgun to see, and over $10,000 in prizes, including a custom 250th-anniversary shotgun for high overall. Then there's the unconventional stuff Steve's crew is known for: the Can Cannon Challenge, the Benelli AI Challenge, and the Wheel of Shotgun Fortune. The day closes with an Annie Oakley tournament and a social hangout.

There's a thread running under all of it that matters more than the prize wall. Steve talks about how people are starved for in-person connection, and how an event like this is really about getting folks who love shotguns in the same place for a weekend.

We also get into Steve's first trip to Italy and the Benelli and Perazzi factories, the Minnesota high school trap tournament that ran 7,700 kids through the range, a good stretch on barrel length and gun fit, and the ShotTracker training tool that might one day track a flushing grouse. Clinics, camping, and tickets are limited, so check the website for current availability.

Chapters:

Resources & Links:

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Quail habitat is the whole story. Kyle Hedges and Frank Loncarich spent five years following bobwhite quail across the Midwest, and the data pointed at one thing over and over: disturbed ground grows birds.

On this episode, host Nick Larson brings back Kyle Hedges and Frank Loncarich, two biologists who helped run one of the largest quail habitat studies in the region. From 2014 to 2018 they monitored 500 nests, radio-collared chicks, and even collared raccoons to see how predators move through cover. What came out of it is a genuinely hopeful finding: you can grow quail if you're deliberate about it.

The number that anchors the conversation: 95% of their brood locations were in habitat that had been burned, grazed, or otherwise disturbed within the previous 12 months. Grassland managed with fire and cattle beat the old broken-up dairy-farm model on nest success, on survival, and on eggs per nest. The thick, idle CRP field that looks so birdy in January? The chicks can't get through it.

Before the quail talk, Nick and the guys swap turkey-season stories and take on the old myth that turkeys are eating quail and grouse into decline. The short version: the timing doesn't add up, and it never did. It's a habitat problem wearing a predator's costume.

Chapters:

Resources & Links:

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Bird dogs come and go over a hunting life, and every new puppy is a chance to do it better than the last. Fresh off bringing home a new setter pup, Nick Larson sits down with Steve Snell of Gun Dog Supply to talk through what 50-plus dogs have taught Steve about raising the next one, from the first weeks at home to a lifetime in the field.

It had been since 2018 — episode #12 — that Steve was last on the show, and a lot of ground gets covered here. The conversation opens on bird dog safety: heat and when to call a hunt, the real risk math on rattlesnakes versus ticks, and the hazard most owners underrate (porcupines, not snakes). From there it works its way through nearly every stage of a dog's life — breed selection, the first few weeks with a puppy, crate training, sound exposure, table work, and the gear that actually matters — before closing on Garmin's new TT25 beeper and why Steve runs mini flex bands on every dog he owns.

A throughline keeps surfacing: the hunter's job is to make good decisions on the dog's behalf, because the dog won't make them for itself.

Expect to Learn:

- Why Steve sees protecting the dog as the hunter's responsibility — the dog won't protect itself.

- How heat, sun, wind, and terrain change the call on whether to run a dog at all.

- Why porcupines may be a bigger day-to-day problem than the rattlesnakes everyone fears.

- How Steve thinks about matching a breed to where and how you actually hunt.

- What Steve focuses on in a puppy's first few weeks, and why he keeps sessions to five or ten minutes.

- Why he raises every dog inside the house, and how exposure to noise, crates, kids, and vehicles builds a bulletproof dog.

- The only two pieces of gear Steve insists on for a new puppy — and why a drag line does so much work.

- What's new with Garmin's TT25 beeper, and why Steve recommends a mini flex band for every bird dog.

Frequently Asked:

When should you stop hunting a bird dog in the heat?

Steve uses roughly 65 degrees as his cutoff in Texas and says he'll never run a dog over 70 when it's sunny with no wind. The number isn't fixed — humidity, cloud cover, and wind all change it. His larger point: bird dogs won't quit on their own, so it's on the hunter to make the call, even when that means not hunting at all.

What's the most underrated danger for a bird dog in the field?

Porcupines, in Steve's experience. Snakes get treated as the boogeyman, but porcupine encounters are far more frequent, and they smell appealing to a pointing dog. The real trouble is the dog that doesn't learn its lesson — the one that goes back for revenge. He'd take a skunk encounter over a porcupine any day.

How do you choose the right bird dog breed?

Steve's rule is to match the breed to where and how you actually hunt the majority of the time — not to the breed you find most appealing. He also starts his search geographically, buying pointers out of lines hunted in tough country like Texas, Oklahoma, and the Southwest, because a dog bred where you hunt is built for it.

What should you do with a bird dog puppy in the first few weeks?

Steve keeps it simple and short. Sessions run five to ten minutes, broken up across the day, so the puppy never gets burned out or sour. He focuses on self-control and exposure over drills, and he always leaves them wanting more — and he prefers raising the dog inside the house from day one.

Notable Quotes:

"To me it's the hunter's responsibility to protect the dog 'cause the dog's not gonna protect himself." — Steve Snell

"Developing a puppy — that's my favorite part of the game." — Steve Snell

Resources Mentioned:

- Steve Snell's "7 Puppy Tips" puppy-raising article (Gun Dog Supply): https://www.gundogsupply.com/2026-04-23-7-puppy-tips.html

- Garmin TT25 Mini (the beeper/collar Steve discussed): https://www.gundogsupply.com/garmin-tt25-mini.html

Follow Steve: Gun Dog Supply — https://www.gundogsupply.com

Follow Nick: Instagram @birdshot.podcast — https://BirdshotPodcast.com

Listen:

- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/17EVUDJPwR2iJggzhLYil7

- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/birdshot-podcast/id1288308609

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkIF3w6P9rkuciwX-jEMG3g

Support the Show:

- onX Hunt — use code BSP20 to save 20% on your onX Hunt subscription.

- Trulock Chokes — use code BS10 to save 10%.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of Birdshot Podcast, Nick sits down with Keith Marcott to talk about woodcock hunting, bird travel, and a lifetime spent chasing upland birds across North America and overseas. Keith shares stories from hunting woodcock in New Brunswick, Quebec, and Scotland, along with memories from Wyoming, the western bird country, and the years before GPS and OnX made it easier to find cover.
Keith Marcott is a retired engineer and lifelong upland hunter now based in Wyoming. After growing up bird hunting in the Northeast, he eventually built a life around western birds — Huns, chukar, sharptails, prairie grouse, and mountain hunts with Llewellin setters. Some of his most meaningful bird hunting memories, though, came from repeated trips into New Brunswick and Quebec, and later to Scotland, where woodcock hunting shaped the way he thinks about dogs, habitat, and travel.
In this conversation, Keith and Nick talk about:
- Woodcock hunting in New Brunswick, Quebec, and Scotland
- What separates woodcock hunting from grouse hunting
- How hunters found productive cover before GPS and OnX
- Bird hunting travel, border crossings, and old-school camp logistics
- Western bird hunting, dogs, landscapes, and the pull of woodcock country
Episode breakdown:
- [00:05:02] Keith Marcott’s background and a lifetime of bird hunting
- [00:07:01] Moving west: Wyoming, huns, chukar, and prairie birds
- [00:09:42] Keith’s bird hunting road trip across multiple states
- [00:11:07] Camping, snake country, and hunting dogs in the West
- [00:13:00] Snake avoidance training and a rattlesnake encounter in the field
- [00:19:20] Western hunters, ticks, and the difference between regions
- [00:27:07] The first New Brunswick woodcock trip
- [00:29:27] Hunting with guide Danny Bird and chasing woodcock full-time
- [00:36:47] Repeated trips into Canada and DIY hunting in Quebec
- [00:42:05] Alaska, British Columbia, and border-crossing logistics with dogs and guns
- [00:48:01] Finding woodcock cover before modern mapping technology
- [00:49:27] Why woodcock still matter to a western bird hunter
Links:
- Birdshot Podcast: https://birdshotpodcast.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/hwy22outdoors/
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/17EVUDJPwR2iJggzhLYil7
- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/birdshot-podcast/id1288308609
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@birdshot.podcast
Support:
- Use promo code BSP20 to save 20% on your onX Hunt subscription: https://onxmaps.com/hunt/app
- Use promo code BSP10 to save 10% at Meadow Creek Mounts: https://meadowcreekmounts.com/
Birdshot is presented by onX Hunt.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of The Birdshot Podcast, host Nick Larson sits down with Todd Bumgardner, founder of Pack Mule Training Co., for a deep dive into physical preparation for the uplands. They discuss the shift from extreme "murder yourself" workouts to a philosophy of long-term consistency, focusing on how small, frictionless habits can pay massive dividends come September. Todd brings nearly 20 years of experience training hunters and elite military units to help upland hunters move better, stay resilient, and extend their longevity in the field.

I’ve been following these principles for three years now, and the biggest change for me wasn't some fancy new gear—it was realizing that consistency is the most important variable. I used to tolerate sore shoulders and heavy legs during those first few grouse hunts, but by keeping a simple routine and rucking year-round, those opening-day miles now feel like a breeze. Todd and I dig into the "why" behind Zone 2 cardio, the efficiency of the 20% body weight ruck, and how to outsmart your own willpower by making your training environment frictionless.

Expect to Learn:

Episode Breakdown with Timestamps:

[00:02:06] – Nick’s Turkey Season Prep and Meadow Creek Mounts Update

[00:05:06] – Meet Todd Bumgardner: Founder of Pack Mule Training Co.

[00:08:37] – Why Consistency is the Most Important Variable in Your Training

[00:13:02] – Reducing Friction: The "Floss One Tooth" Approach to Habits

[00:35:13] – Step-by-Step: The 3-Mile Rucking Assessment

[00:45:10] – The Science of Zone 2 Cardio and Aerobic Efficiency

[01:03:00] – Incline Training: NordicTrack at 40% vs. Stair Climbers

[01:08:43] – The One-Minute Coffee-Brew Mobility Routine

[01:14:00] – Nick’s Minimalist Strength Routine: Pull-ups, Zerchers, and Incline Bench

[01:31:26] – Todd’s Bird Dog Search

Follow The Guest, Todd Bumgardner:

Follow the Host, Nick:

Listening Links:

SUPPORT:

The Birdshot Podcast is Presented By: onX Hunt

Todd’s free PDF download: The Upland Hunter Off-Season Basic Training Program.

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In this episode of The Birdshot Podcast, host Nick Larson sits down with Greg Maher of Meadow Creek Mounts for a conversation about the practical shift from traditional beads to optics in the turkey woods. They dig into the engineering behind rib-mounted sights, the "equalizer" effect of a red dot on gun fit, and why seeing more of the bird is a significant advantage when the shot counts.

Greg Maher is an engineer and a lifer in the turkey woods with over 20 years of experience. After identifying a need for better optic placement on shotguns that weren't originally drilled and tapped, he launched Meadow Creek Mounts in 2020. Based in South Carolina, Greg is a dedicated public land hunter who has pursued turkeys in over 20 states, bringing a perspective focused on gear reliability and the "why" behind every piece of equipment in his vest.

Expect to Learn:

Why a red dot acts as an "equalizer" for head position and consistency in the field.

The technical differences between open and enclosed reflex sights and how they handle the elements.

Why mounting an optic on the rib provides a superior field of view compared to receiver mounts.

A practical "one-shot" method for zeroing your optic to save on expensive TSS ammunition.

How to use a bore laser and a reference sheet to ensure your zero hasn't shifted during travel.

Episode Breakdown with Timestamps:

[00:02:46] – Greg Maher and Meadow Creek Mounts in a Nutshell 

[00:07:02] – From Beads to Red Dots: The "Aha" Moment in the Woods 

[00:15:39] – The Engineering of Rib Mounts vs. Receiver Mounts 

[00:21:47] – Understanding Reflex Sights, Astigmatism, and Reticle Options 

[00:31:32] – Battery Life, "Shake Awake," and Avoiding "Amazon Specials" 

[00:40:55] – Step-by-Step: Zeroing and Patterning for Precision 

[00:50:07] – Greg’s Personal Setup: The Mossberg SA-20 and Hand-Loaded TSS 

[00:56:41] – Red Dots for Wingshooting? 

[01:00:27] – Perspective on "Slams" and Returning to the Spring Woods 

[01:04:36] – Where to Find Greg and Closing Thoughts 

Follow The Guest, Greg Maher:

Website: https://meadowcreekmounts.com/ 

Email: [email protected] 

Follow the Host, Nick:

Instagram: @birdshot.podcast

Website: www.birdshotpodcast.com

Listening Links:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/17EVUDJPwR2iJggzhLYil7

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/birdshot-podcast/id1288308609

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkIF3w6P9rkuciwX-jEMG3g

SUPPORT

Use Promo Code | BSP20 to save 20% on https://www.onxmaps.com/hunt/app

Use Promo Code | BSP10 to save 10% on https://meadowcreekmounts.com/ 

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