In this week's Nevada Wild, Aaron Keller and Bobby Jones sit down with the 2024 Wayne E. Kirch Nevada Wildlife Conservation Award Winners Ken and Jill Wilkinson. The conversation covers how Ken and Jill initially met working at NDOW, the various volunteer projects the Wilkinsons have focused on recently, and we dive into Ken’s extensive conservation-centric career. Make sure to listen to this week's episode to hear what these very deserving award winners have to say about conservation in Nevada.

In this week's Nevada Wild, Aaron Keller and Bobby Jones sit down to talk with NDOW Public Information Officer Ashley Zeme. She tells the guys what a typical day for her looks likes and shares how even after eight years how she still gets nervous right before she hits send on emails going out to hundreds of thousands of people. Ashley is the primary driver behind growing NDOW social media channels, communicating information through email campaigns, overseeing NDOW’s website and acting as the point person for most of the Department’s media requests. Listen to this week’s episode to learn all about Ashley!

In this week's Nevada Wild, Aaron Keller and Bobby Jones sit down with Nevada Department of Wildlife Veterinarian Nate LaHue to talk about Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), a transmissible neurological disease that is always fatal to animals in the deer family. Currently, CWD is found in 34 states and 4 Canadian provinces, but not in Nevada. Nate explains the recent positive samples just over Nevada's western border in California, NDOW's efforts to prevent the disease from entering Nevada and what it means for Nevada's deer, elk, and even moose, if the disease enters the state. He also explains the new transport restriction zone and the different ways hunters can help, including the program that allows hunters to sample their own harvests.

Find more information about CWD and prevention efforts in Nevada here: www.ndow.org/blog/chronic-wasting-disease/

or here: www.cwd-info.org

The Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) is excited to announce the debut of Nevada Wild, a brand-new television series coming to Animal Planet on Tuesday, November 4.

Produced by Engel Entertainment, the creators of Lone Star Law and North Woods Law, the show highlights the incredible work of NDOW staff across the state.

In this week’s Nevada Wild podcast, NDOW’s Bobby Jones and Aaron Keller sit down with Engel Entertainment Executive Producer Ben Shanks for an in-depth conversation about what went into bringing the series to life.

In this week's Nevada Wild, Aaron Keller and Bobby Jones sit down with NDOW's Migratory Game Bird Staff Specialist Russell Woolstenhulme to talk about the great conditions waterfowl hunters can expect this season. Russell shares some important information about waterfowl hunting for each Nevada hunt zone! The crew talks about bag limit changes, habitat conditions, discusses water levels at our Wildlife Management Areas and why they’re so excited to go waterfowl hunting this fall.

Find updates for WMA's here: www.ndow.org/discover-your-public-land/

In this week's Nevada Wild, Aaron Keller and Bobby Jones sit down with NDOW’s Upland Game Staff Specialist Justin Small for a detailed conversation about the 2025 chukar hunting forecast. Justin talks about all the work that goes into the forecast from "boots on the ground" brood surveys to the chick production in Nevada counties. Listen to this week’s podcast to find out why this years’ forecast calls for another good year of chukar hunting in Nevada!

After 30 years of dedicated service, Conservation Education Division Administrator Chris Vasey is retiring from the Nevada Department of Wildlife. A native Nevadan, avid sportsman, and passionate outdoorsman, Chris brought his love for the wild to every aspect of his work. For the past 10 years, he has led NDOW’s education and outreach division, helping it grow into a nationally recognized, award-winning program admired by other states. Under his leadership, NDOW’s education, outreach, and social media efforts have flourished. His enthusiasm for the job was infectious, and his laughter was a familiar and welcome sound in the halls.

Thank you, Chris, for everything you’ve done. You will be deeply missed.

In this week's Nevada Wild podcast, Aaron Keller and Bobby Jones are joined by the Southern Region Hunter Education and Shooting Sports Coordinator Martin Olson to have a conversation about muzzleloader hunting in Nevada. Martin talks about NDOW’s free muzzleloader introduction classes and why he thinks shooting a muzzleloader is so fun. The guys also talk about how choosing to apply for muzzleloader tags can help both kids and adults go big game hunting more often in the Silver State.

Thank you for supporting Nevada's wildlife!

The Nevada Department of Wildlife is a proud member of BearWise®, a program of the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies.

Black bears have been in Nevada long before we lived here, but by the early 1900s they had been extirpated from the state. Conservation efforts and habitat regeneration allowed black bears to begin coming back into Nevada and reinhabit their old stomping grounds. Since the 1980s we have watched Nevada’s bear population in the western part of the state increase dramatically. It is now up to Nevada’s residents and visitors to live and recreate responsibly in bear country!

In this episode of Nevada Wild, Aaron Keller and Bobby Jones are joined by Game Biologist and Bear Expert Becca Carniello. Becca explains her unique position in the Department, and they discuss solutions to human-caused problems for bears in Nevada and how we can all live with wildlife and what it means to be BearWise.

Find more resources on living with bears and other wildlife here: https://www.ndow.org/learn-discover/wildlife-discovery/living-with-wildlife/

In this week's Nevada Wild podcast, Aaron Keller and Bobby Jones are joined by Statewide Boating Education Coordinator Aaron Meier to talk about Operation Dry Water and boating safety. Aaron explains that Operation Dry Water is a national campaign designed to combat boating under the influence (BUI) through increased boat patrols over the three-day weekend. The guys talk about how much fun boating in Nevada can be and outline a few simple steps you can take to stay safe on the water.