Host Bob St.Pierre has a “get to know you” chat with Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s new Vice President of Government Affairs Ariel Wiegard. Following career stops with TRCP, Syngenta, and American Soybean Association, Wiegard joined PF & QF’s leadership team in late 2023. During the conversation, she talks about her hunting roots, her bird dogs, and how her career path in agriculture and conservation has culminated in her dream job at PF & QF.  

Episode Highlights:
•	Wiegard shares the terrific story behind her veteran German shorthair’s name, Argos. In Homer’s Odyssey, Argos is the only one who recognizes Odysseus after his ten-year journey.    
•	Wiegard provides legislative updates on the Farm Bill, Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Voluntary Public Access-Habitat Incentives Program (VPA-HIP), and North American Grasslands Conservation Act. She also shares her vision for growth in the organization’s efforts to influence conservation policy at the state level.

EP. 249: Conservation Policy with New Government Affairs VP Ariel Wiegard

Welcome to the On the Wing Podcast with Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever.

On the Wing is your destination for conversations about upland bird hunting, wildlife habitat, public lands, bird dogs, wild game cooking and epic adventures in search of pheasants, quail and grouse. These are the stories of Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever’s 145,000 members, volunteers, team of professional wildlife biologists and experts in the field. Our shows are recorded in person and often on the road from the end of tailgates, backs of horse trailers and after a day in the field chasing birds.

Sports

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Nick Hoffman, a singer-songwriter, fiddle player, and host of “Nick’s Wild Ride” on Outdoor Channel and Bally’s Sports. At the age of 17, Hoffman ran away from his Minnesota home to chase musical dreams in Branson, Missouri, and then later to Nashville where he landed as the fiddle player in Kenny Chesney’s band. From there, Hoffman takes us on his “wild ride” in the music industry, and growing up in a non-hunting family to hosting an award-winning outdoor television show. 
Episode Highlights:
•	Hoffman discusses his growing interest in hunting while touring with Chesney for 12 years, then while as a co-founder of the trio The Farm. He then explains how he jumped from a successful musical career into outdoor television.  
•	The guys also talk about the importance of being a mentor beyond the initial introductory hunt, especially through failures. 
•	Hoffman also explains the role his grandfather, Harry Hoffman, played in the early days of Federal Ammunition and how it has all come full circle with Federal Ammunition as the longest tenured partner of “Nick’s Wild Ride.”

EP. 264: Nick Hoffman on Pet Pigs, Touring with Kenny Chesney, and Being a Hunting Mentor

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever Senior Regional Representative Will Clayton for a conversation with chapter volunteers Nina Hoekstra and Dave Scherf. All four participants in this episode recently contributed to projects as part of PF & QF’s Hands-On Habitat effort to improve upland acres across the country. 

Episode Highlights:
•	The crew talk about clearing barbed wire, old tires, and other trash during habitat workdays, then they go around-the-horn with tales of the weirdest garbage they have picked up on public lands.
•	Nina Hoekstra, a volunteer with Minnesota’s McLeod County Chapter of Pheasants Forever, talks about the intimidation of first getting involved as a PF volunteer, then being so inspired to change careers focused on her passion for wildlife habitat and upland bird hunting. Follow Nina on Instagram @in.ninas.nature
•	Dave Scherf, a long-time volunteer with Minnesota’s Metro Minneapolis Chapter of Pheasants Forever, talks about his love for public land and how Hands-On Habitat projects brings him so much personal joy. 
Special “THANK YOU” to onX Hunt for supporting PF & QF’s Hands-On Habitat efforts across the country throughout the entire month of May. As part of their commitment, onX Hunt is funding three grants for PF & QF chapters participating in Hands-On Habitat projects. 
Learn more and find an event near you at:
www.PheasantsForever.org/HandsOnHabitat or www.QuailForever.org/HandsOnHabitat

EP. 263: Volunteers Get Dirty Improving Public Lands Habitat

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s Conservation Leadership Program Manager Levi Day for a discussion about the organization’s effort to foster more interest in conservation careers, ranging from biologists to marketing professionals and accountants to educators. 
Episode Highlights:
•	Day recounts becoming a hunter, pursuing a career as an education professional, then developing a hunting friendship via social media that resulted in his jump into a conservation career of his own with PF & QF. 
•	Day also explains PF & QF’s Journey to Conservation Careers program and recaps a successful career curriculum session that occurred on the morning of the podcast in Sioux Falls, South Dakota’s Harrisburg High School.

EP. 262: Careers in Conservation with Levi Day

Continuing Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s special Women on the Wing podcast series, host Ashley Chance is joined by co-host Britta Petersen for a conversation with North Dakota Senior Field Representative Renee Tomala. Renee talks to us about growing up in the outdoors, DIY dog training and how she works with Pheasants Forever Chapters to carry out our organization’s mission. 

SPOILER ALERT: There are now 13 Women on the Wing Chapters across the country with more on the way!

Episode Highlights:
•	Being in the path of totality – Britta's eclipse experience.
•	The crew talks about getting comfortable eating unusual animal parts. 
•	Renee talks about what a privilege it is to work with chapters to carry out our mission and all the ways she goes about that, leaving us to wonder what doesn't a regional representative do?
•	Renee gives us a brief history of Women on the Wing and Women on the Wing Chapters, which originated with an all-women staff years ago in North Dakota.
•	Today there are Women on the Wing Chapters in ND, TX, MN, MI, NC, WA, GA, WI, AZ, SD and OH doing all kinds of neat things including hosting events like “Unstuck your truck.”
•	Renee chronicles the (mis)adventures of Quill, her German Wirehaired Pointer aka ‘Porcupine Lover.’
Find a Women on the Wing Chapter near you on our website, and if you’d like to start a Women on the Wing Chapter where you live, reach out to Renee at rtomala@pheasantsforever.org!

EP. 261: Women on the Wing Series Part 3: Working with Chapters to Accomplish Mission Delivery

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Tony Jones, an adult-onset hunter, theologian, author, professor, podcaster, and former pastor. Jones has just released a new book, The God of Wild Places with the subtitle “Rediscovering the Divine in the Untamed Outdoors.” In the book, Jones writes about the role pheasant hunting, bird dogs, and wild meat have played in shaping his new perspective on life following a tumultuous divorce.   
Episode Highlights:
•	The guys start off the episode with a spirited flusher vs. pointer debate. 
•	Jones tells the funny story of trading preaching services for pheasant hunting expertise and land access.  
•	The discussion ends with a preview of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers annual Rendezvous taking place at the Minneapolis Convention Center on April 19 & 20 where Tony will be selling his books and where PF & QF will have a membership booth. 
Learn more about Tony Jones, his new book, and the Reverend Hunter podcast at www.ReverendHunter.com.

EP. 249: Conservation Policy with New Government Affairs VP Ariel Wiegard

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