Black Friday weekend is almost here! That means soon people will rush to the stores to find the best deals on gifts for their family and friends. NDOW wanted to help you out with some gift ideas!

In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with Conservation Education Division Administrator Chris Vasey, and Nevada Wild regular Julie Watson to share gift ideas for hunters, anglers, and anyone who just enjoys spending time outside.

With many hunters bringing home their harvested game, and the holidays approaching, we thought it was the perfect time of year to share our favorite wild game recipes.

In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW Engineer and 2019 Chili Cook-off Winner Bob Ragar. We share some creative recipes for both small game and big game. Bob also explains some easy recipes for those who are new to cooking, and we discuss ways to utilize all of the meat from your harvested animal.

The bighorn sheep herd in Nevada's Stillwater Range is so healthy, NDOW has relocated 51 wild sheep to establish a new herd in unoccupied habitat in the Mineral Mountains of Utah. Last week we captured the sheep in Nevada, and then transported them to Utah.

In this week's Nevada Wild Aaron Keller and Ashley Sanchez sit down with NDOW Staff Specialist Mike Cox to talk about the project, more capture and transplant projects coming up within Nevada, and shares how you can get involved.

We're celebrating Bat Week and Halloween in this week's spooky edition of Nevada Wild. Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW Diversity Biologist Jason Williams to talk about his extensive work with bats roosting in caves and mines. Jason also explains some of the other findings he's made in his cave explorations over the years!

Fall is one of the best times of year for fishing across the state, and Nevada fisheries are thriving! Whether it's a stream or a lake, NDOW biologists are able to determine the health of fish populations in different bodies of water with a process called electroshocking.

In this week's Nevada Wild, Aaron Keller and Ashley Sanchez sit down with NDOW Fisheries Biologists Chris Crookshanks and Travis Hawks to talk about electroshocking. They explain how it works, where we do these projects and why, and how you can get involved.

Fall is well underway, which means bears have entered hyperphagia. This means they're trying to fatten up for the upcoming winter, ultimately needing up to 25,000 calories a day! Ensuring that the community is living responsibly in Bear Country is a team effort, and requires NDOW to work with different agencies to educate the public and locate problems spots, where attractants are bringing bears into urban areas.

One partner that has greatly helped NDOW in its mission is Douglas Disposal, Douglas County's refuse collection service. In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW Bear Biologist Carl Lackey and Douglas Disposal's Boomer Schultz to talk about how they work together to help residents understand the importance of securing their trash, and what you can do to help us keep Nevada bears wild.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife is rolling out the second year of its Nevada Knockout program. Thirty-two animals who call Nevada home have been chosen to compete in a single elimination tournament. Kind of like March Madness, but with animals! The program encourages not only students to learn about wildlife, but the entire public. This year more than 3,000 students across the state will complete the program. The general public can also take part in Nevada Knockout by filling out a bracket, which has been posted on NDOW's Facebook page. The first battles will be posted on September 30th, with more battles to follow every Monday.

In this week's Nevada Wild, Aaron Keller and Ashley Sanchez sit down with NDOW Wildlife Educator Julie Watson to explain the program, its purpose and its success and growth since it started last year!

Nevada's waterfowl season is kicking off this weekend in part of the state, and quickly approaching in others.

In this week's Nevada Wild NDOW's Aaron Keller and Ashley Sanchez sit down with NDOW Waterfowl Biologist Russell Woolstenhulme and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 8 Waterfowl Biologist Chris Nicolai to talk about the work the agencies do to understand and manage waterfowl populations in the state. They also talk about what hunters can expect for the season, and go over tips and great spots for waterfowl hunting.

Buy your hunting license today at ndowlicensing.com. Find season dates and information here: http://www.eregulations.com/nevada/small-game/

National Public Lands Day (NPLD) is the nation's largest single-day volunteer effort. It celebrates the connection between people and green space in their community, inspires environmental stewardship, and encourages use of open space for education, recreation, and general health. While the event is officially recognized this year on September 28, a number of events and volunteer opportunities will be hosted by different agencies on that date and in the week leading up to it.

In this week's Nevada Wild, NDOW's Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller talk to Gabby Lukins with the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM)Winnemucca District and Walker River State Recreation Area Park Supervisor Randy Denter about events and volunteer opportunities happening around the state. These include the Walker River State Recreation Area's One-Year Anniversary Celebration and multiple community clean-ups organized by BLM.

Very few people are willing to sacrifice so much of their personal time for wildlife as Brett K. Jefferson, who has made a second career for himself by volunteering his time for conserving wildlife. He has a long and productive history of working with numerous bighorn sheep non-governmental organizations including the Wild Sheep Foundation, Fraternity of the Desert Bighorn, Nevada Bighorns Unlimited (NBU) – Reno, Fallon – NBU, NBU – Midas, and Elko Bighorns Unlimited. His work coordinating partnerships and fundraising has made him a powerhouse in getting conservation projects done.

Jefferson's notable work and commitment to wildlife will be recognized during the September Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners meeting in Las Vegas, where he will receive the Commission’s 2018 Wayne E. Kirch Conservation Award.

In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with Jefferson and NDOW's Wildlife Education Coordinator Julie Watson to talk about the award and the work Jefferson has done to earn this recognition. Jefferson also explains his passion how his passion and commitment to Nevada's wildlife all started!