This week we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the publishing of Aldo Leopold’s timeless classic book, A Sand County Almanac. We are joined by Dr. Curt Meine and Buddy Huffaker of the Aldo Leopold Foundation and our own Daniel Haas who has a fascination with the topic. We learn about Aldo’s early years, his interest in hunting and the journey of how he came to be known as the father of modern wildlife management while helping create awareness of environmental ethics. It’s an inspiring discussion and a story that anyone who loves land and wildlife needs to hear. Listen, Learn and Enjoy.                

Show Notes:
The Aldo Leopold Foundation: https://www.aldoleopold.org/   
A Sand County Almanac: https://www.aldoleopold.org/products/a-sand-county-almanac?variant=46004015366457 
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Aldo Leopold Foundation and University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives 

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This week we have David Smith, the president of the Mississippi Dog Hunters Association, to discuss deer hunting with dogs.  Chasing deer with dogs is a long lived tradition in the Deep South. Clubs exists that lease/hunt thousands of acres and turn out hundreds of dogs. We ask the obvious questions about traditions, how it started, how they operate, their strategy, do they try to manage their herds and of course, how they get along with neighbors that don’t dog hunt. There is a lot more discussed and we found it very informative. Did you know George Washington killed his first buck in front of a pack of deer dogs? Listen, Learn and Enjoy.                  

Show Notes:
The Mississippi Dog Hunters Association: https://themhda.com/ 

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On this bonus Dr. Steve Ditchkoff of Auburn University joins us to explain the phenomenon piebald deer. We’ve all either experienced one in the wild or seen a picture on social media. They can be odd looking deer with short legs, humped noses, noticeable overbite and they can also be beautiful animals with white colorations that range from just a few spots to almost total coverage. Are the genetically inferior? Should we shoot them? Are they protected? What other animals can be piebald? It’s an interesting discussion with great information. Listen, Learn and Enjoy.                

Show Notes:
Dr. Stephen Ditchkoff: https://deerlab.auburn.edu/dr-stephen-ditchkoff/ 

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This week we are joined in studio by whitetail specialist, Alan Summerford, who takes obsessing about hunting strategy to another level.  It doesn’t take long listening to Alan talk to know this guy pays more attention and understands whitetails better than the vast majority of hunters. If you’re interested in growing bigger deer, harvesting mature bucks and creating whitetail heaven on the place you hunt, this podcast is for you. Listen, Learn and Enjoy.                

Show Notes:
Follow Alan on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alan.summerford/ 

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This week we’re joined by retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife wolf expert Ed Bangs who was appointed as the Wolf Recovery Coordinator in the mid ‘90’s.  We were surprised to learn that wolves had the greatest natural range of any land mammal in the northern hemisphere with distribution seemingly everywhere at one point. They are an incredibly adaptable animal and hearing Ed explain the dynamics of the wolf pack is truly fascinating. He explains how wolves were feared, hated and eventually extirpated. Later wolves became a symbol to many people who have pushed to restore them. Obviously this reintroduction has created lots of issues. Ed does a great job of explaining wolves, why we have conflicts, where there are typically problems, where it works and some of the urban legends we have heard about wolves. Not living in the West, wolves are obviously not part of our daily discussions but we wanted to learn about them. If you are interested in wildlife, this one makes sense. Listen, Learn and Enjoy.    

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This week we are joined by the unbelievably talented bowhunter Glenn Garner. Glenn manages the Jeff Foxworthy farm in Georgia and knows how to grow and kill big deer. To further prove the point, he has killed 26 Pope and Young qualifying animals with most coming from the property he manages. We have a great discussion about identifying and targeting specific bucks, rut parties, food plots and how to enter and exit a stands. He also explains his thoughts on killing momma doe early so she doesn’t disperse the buck fawns.  Oh and the story of the 200 inch buck named Moe will make you think about what’s a big deer worth to you. It’s a good one. Listen, Learn and Enjoy.  

 Show Notes: 

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On this week’s bonus episode, herpetologist Jimmy Stiles brings a giant alligator snapping turtle into the studio to teach of about these turtles. We’ve all seen them and we’re all fearful of those powerful jaws. Old timers say if they bite you they won’t let go until it thunders and some of us are willing to sacrifice one of Dudley’s appendages to see if this is true. Do you know how they make a catch food, where they prefer to live and how long they live? We also discuss burning in hardwood bottoms. Jimmy is about to get his PHD and he has studied the effects of fire on invasive privit and bottomland hardwoods and shares his insight. It’s an interesting discussion. Listen, Learn and Enjoy.               

Show Notes:
Follow Jimmy Stiles on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jrstiles75/

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This week we take a deep dive into understanding the physics of bows, arrows and broadheads. After losing a buck of a lifetime on a well-placed shot, guest Kenny Thompson spent years collecting data and researching how it all works together, and has developed a system that’s working great for him and his bow shop clients. Kenny takes a hard stance on his preferred fixed blade broadhead choice, and we agreed with much of what he said, but not necessarily all of it because there is also data to back up the effectiveness of quality mechanicals. Understanding that the bow and arrows need to be tuned for balance and for maximum efficiency to enhance penetration made so much sense to us. We talk down range arrow speed, tuning, balance, penetration, and also momentum. All this is discussed to explain where and why to try to hit a whitetail. Everybody should aspire to be an as effective as possible when a chance at a shot presents itself. We enjoyed the conversation and it reiterated to us that we all need to spend more time with our equipment.  Listen, Learn and Enjoy.              

Show Notes:
TopFlight Archery: https://www.facebook.com/TopFlightArchery/ 

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On this week’s bonus episode we talk about scopes and binoculars and how they can improve a hunt. Our guest is Bruce Pettet, CEO of Leupold and he has some great insight that can benefit hunters. Bruce is an avid hunter and understands the demands hunters place on their products. We ask about reticles, wind drift, fixed vs variable, small binos for turkey hunting, eye relief, what power is best for light gathering, why these modern scopes have three knobs, parallax and what’s his favorite hunting scope and how to teach kids about eye relief. We even asked him if he had scope eye! Listen, Learn and Enjoy.              

Show Notes:
Leupold Optics: https://www.leupold.com/ 

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This week we take another deep dive into managing ponds for trophy fish and learning about the importance of water quality. Our guest Troy Goldsby explains his thoughts on what it takes and how he is growing some giant bass. He has some interesting insights that can be applied to any pond. Troy has managed Bill Dance’s ponds for years and has seen the extremes people are willing to go to grow large record class fish. Listen, Learn and Enjoy. 

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