In this episode of Leupold's Hunt Talk Radio, Randy and Marcus sit down with Jim Baichtal to talk about the new conservation group known as the Blacktail Deer Foundation. Originating within the Mule Deer Foundation, Jim is leading the efforts for Sitka Blacktails in Alaska, while his co-workers lead the efforts for Columbia Blacktails in the Pacific Northwest. Topics covered include a lot of hunting stories, where the new idea started, different needs for different deer, Sitka blacktails as an example of a unique species, and a lot of fun and laughs.

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Randy discusses conservation easements with Jennifer Doherty of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Kendall Van Dyk of Montana Land Reliance, both who have extensive careers helping private landowners conserve their landscapes with conservation easements (CE). Topics covered include CEs, CEs as one of many tools working landowners need, willing-seller/donor exercising one of their property rights, when a CE is the best tool, a CE isn't always the solution, tax issues involving CEs, myths around CEs, the role CEs play to conserve lands on vast and expensive landscape, and many other topics about keeping working lands in working hands.

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Randy and Marcus join Joel Webster of Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partners (TRCP) on Joel's Nevada elk hunt. Topics covered include a great elk hunting story, conservation issues creating huge challenges for native wildlife, specifically feral horses, invasive cheatgrass, conifer encroachment, changing fire cycles, and the need to increase priority of those issues. Mule deer, elk, pronghorn, and sage grouse of the Great Basin states are suffering from these invasive species. A call to action for hunters to help.

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Randy sits down with three hunttalk.com regulars - Gerald Martin, Sean Clancy, and Eric Albus to talk about how a group of people with different backgrounds can talk about solutions and not just problems. How do you improve the health of Montana's mule deer herds while keeping the solution socially acceptable, maintaining hunting opportunity, and keeping Montana FWP's operating budget as-is? Coming up with a solution is the goal for this group of hunters.

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In this episode (#253) Randy is joined by David Willms, an attorney with the National Wildlife Federation and avid hunter from Wyoming. The guys explore Utah's latest attempt to demand 18 million acres of BLM lands be transferred to Utah. Utah is known for selling their state lands to fund their school system. What's the motivation? Why now? This is another repackaged effort to rekindle the movement to rid America of its public lands. Utah is spending millions and millions to do this. The attacks are not going away, rather just marketed under new names with different tactics. Listen up folks, they want your land!

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In this episode (#252) of Leupold's Hunt Talk Radio, Randy is joined by Mike Kautz and Paul Kemper of American Prairie, known as AP. Topics focus on access and conservation. AP has enrolled 88,000 acres of their private land in Montana's Block Management access program, along with allowing access across their private land to reach otherwise inaccessible public lands. The focus is on an uncrowded "quality experience," not necessarily big animals. AP has a herd of 800 bison and leases their lands to cattle operators where over 8,000 cattle graze to sustain a grassland system dependent upon grazing. Mike and Paul explain how AP uses hunting as a wildlife management tool, along with many other activities that occur on their lands. Conservation of habitat and species is the primary goal, being accomplished in a very interesting manner.

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This episode (#251) of Leupold's Hunt Talk Radio is the first of hopefully four that explore statewide candidates and their views on hunting, fishing, public lands, and conservation. Both US Senate candidates have been invited as have both Gubernatorial candidates. In this episode Ryan Busse gives his views and ideas on hunting, fishing, conservation and public access. Invitations have been sent to the other candidate, Governor Greg Gianforte, and we hope to have that podcast to follow. 

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In this episode (#250) of Leupold's Hunt Talk Radio, Randy is joined by Curt Meine of the Aldo Leopold Foundation to talk about the legacy of Aldo Leopold as we celebrate 100 years of the Gila Wilderness and 75 years after the Sand County Almanac. Topics covered include expansion of the Land Ethic Leopold started, history of Gila Wilderness, revolutionary thinking, Wilderness Society, Thinking Like a Mountain, humans as part of a big community, indigenous knowledge, and other topics that connect us to the land.

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In this episode of Leupold's Hunt Talk Radio, Randy talks mule deer, research, and migrations with Dr. Kevin Monteith from the University of Wyoming. In addition to some pronghorn and other points, topics covered include habitat being primary importance, fidelity to a core area, migrators learn from mom, fat does mean healthy fawns, mule deer as specialists, migration distance changes peak rut dates, mule deer not as adaptable as elk, elk do impact mule deer, pronghorn management to have our cake and eat it too, and many other fascinating topics coming from the Monteith Shop at U of W.

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Randy and the crew (Marcus, Michael, and Jace) talk about the new video series Beyond Stock, where the guys built their own semi-custom rifles, competed in NRL matches, and share their learnings. Shooting skills are an important part of rifle hunting, and there is a lot to be learned from competitive shooting - everything from handloading ammunition to improving your form.

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