This is a bonus episode of Leupold's Hunt Talk Radio, with Steve Decker of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, explaining the annual "Win A Hunt With Randy" sweepstakes we do with RMEF.  This year's winner will win a 2022 rifle elk hunt in Kentucky. Steve talks about the benefits of this sweepstakes and how important membership is to RMEF.  Also discussed are the rules, the manners to enter for existing and new members, and details of how the Kentucky elk reintroduction is one of the amazing conservation stories of our times.  To enter, go to www.RMEF.org/win-a-hunt

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In this episode (196) of Leupold's Hunt Talk Radio, Randy has a conversation about protecting wildlife and other public assets from the politicians through grassroots advocacy that is rooted in the Public Trust Doctrine; a principle the courts have applied to affirm that wildlife and other public resources are held in trust for the citizens of the state. With recent efforts to privatize public wildlife resources via the legislative process, Andrew Posewitz and Jeff Herbert have formed a citizens-based organization to protect the public interest in wildlife in Montana.  To see citizen advocacy in action, this is another example no matter where a person lives. Be your own advocate.

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In this episode (195) Randy shares the mic with Shannon Waters of Gastro Gnome and Ty Stubblefield of Wild Bison Ranch to talk about backcountry food, food quality, starting businesses around wild food ideas, hunting stories, stories of how they got into hunting, what it takes to start a small business, bison conservation stories, how to make great food from great products, and some other fun stories from two great people.

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In this episode (194) of Leupold's Hunt Talk Radio, Randy invites John Barklow, lead designer for Sitka Gear, and Tyler Johnerson, Randy's former camera guy and amazing hunter, for a discussion about how product testing works for high performance products.  We all benefit from these intensive testing processes, yet we seldom get to hear how it works, when it succeeds, and when it is time to go back to the drawing board. John and Tyler talk about the many products John has designed for Tyler to test and the process used to improve the Sitka Jetstream Jacket that launched this summer. Many hunting stories get told along the way, explaining the tough conditions that brought about a new idea.

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In this episode (193) of Leupold's Hunt Talk Radio Randy is joined by Todd Wilkinson of the Mountain Journal. Topics covered include the consequences of human development on western landscapes, loving it to death, lack of care about wild things, running out of habitable land, destruction of the things we love, no restraint to say NO, critical need for private land conservation, loss of migration corridors, and a host of other topics focused around destruction of wild places by the sheer volume of human activity, and other topics related to the rapid destruction of America's wild places.

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In this Episode (192) of Hunt Talk Radio Randy shares a mic with Jim Heffelfinger,  a member of the Mexican Recovery Team and Wildlife & Science Coordinator for Arizona Game & Fish.  Topics covered include the history of Mexican wolves in the southwest, history of the recovery efforts, and status of recovery.  Any Endangered Species issue requires discussion of the Endangered Species Act, the struggle between politics and science. We explore the likelihood of recovery, the impacts Colorado gray wolves could have on Mexican wolves. and a wrap up of the status of mule deer and blacktail deer based on Jim's projects with the Association of Western Fish & Wildlife Agencies.

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In this episode (191) of Leupold's Hunt Talk Radio, Randy shares the mic with Chris Servheen, PhD who dedicated his entire career to the cause of grizzly bear recovery in the Lower 48.  Topics covered include the history of Gbears, population trends, human encroachments and habitat impacts, Gbears need big country, human caused mortalities, working on "delisting" and getting sued for doing so, why Gbears get in trouble, intricacies of the ESA, risks of living and recreating in grizzly country, why we should celebrate Gbear recovery, the risks politics brings to wildlife management, and a ton of other great topics from the expert on Grizzly Bear management in the Lower 48.

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In this episode of Leupold's Hunt Talk Radio, Randy and Johnathan O'Dell are talking about food, culture, traditions, people, and how hunting is a common thread that weaves through so much of our lives.  Topics covered include Johnathan's travels to other hunting cultures, what those cultures have/miss compared to US hunting, history of hunting storytelling, the founders of conservation, having uncomfortable discussions, excluding opposing views, how it works in England, Johnathan's new podcast "From The Backburner," selecting interesting guests rather than popular guests, abundant wild food in Europe, commercial sale of game in other countries, and another history filled discussion that reflects Johnathan's views and his new podcast topics.

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In this episode (189) of Leupold's Hunt Talk Radio, Randy has Lorenzo Sartini of GOHUNT to talk about technology that impacts hunting as much as it impacts society.  Topics covered include hunters as a cross-section of society, conservation as a means to improve all our draw odds, impacts of diminishing access, the need for DIY hunting and hunters, the value of non-resident hunting, technology as a tool for better hunting and conservation, we are all non-residents in 49 other states, and many other timely topics related to allocating hunting opportunities.

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In this episode (188) of Leupold's Hunt Talk Radio, Randy visits with Adam Foss to talk mountain hunting and wild sheep conservation.  Adam explains a rare opportunity to win a sheep hunt with him in the McKenzie Mountains, a hunt he will film or photograph thanks to the Wild Sheep Foundation. Randy's Montana goat hunt with Adam and friends gets a day-by-day recite. Other diversions include growing up hunting mountains, commitment to conservation, telling stories, risk management, allure of sheep hunting and sheep hunters, and many other perspectives from a man immersed in hunting the mountains.

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