Host Connor Jay Liess sits down with Ben Bieri (Digital Content Specialist) and Sam Oberto (Conservation Officer). Sam patrols the second largest enforcement zone in the state—a 2,900-square mile portion in southern Idaho's South Hills—a vast landscape with its own set of challenges. In just two and a half years into his Fish and Game career, Sam Oberto has relied not only on guidance from fellow Idaho enforcement officers but fundamental backwoods ingenuity instilled at an early age growing up in rural Nevada. And sardines. 

Additional topics: Oberto—like the jerky; Ben's trip to Italy; patroling the second largest zone in Idaho; growing up in Nevada; "poor man's Cape buffalo"; becoming a conservation officer; North Idaho claustrophobia; naming every tree in Unit 47; "the land of cracks"; covering 100 miles on a dirt bike; do game wardens get stuck?; Sam's shovel prowess; Old Blue the truck; if officers openly talk about their trucks by name; the public eye is paramount; carrying three spare tires; sardines are nature's chapstick; oil or water?; why you don't mess with an officer who reeks of sardines; high-stress training; Google translate and other technologies; using IDFG's Hunt Planner to solve wildlife crimes; the most remote school in the Lower 48; removing ticks while you're on the Interstate; Sam's steel horse with no personality; tapping into the brain of a hunter as a hunter; and more.

📬 Submit a question for the Hook and Bulletin at [email protected].

🔗 For more information, go to https://idfg.idaho.gov.