Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s Chief Conservation Officer Ron Leathers for a conversation with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Sergio Pierluissi and AnnMarie Krmppotich about the Service’s announcement last week proposing the monarch butterfly be listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. The group talks about what this proposed listing means, what it doesn’t mean, and what role PF & QF can play in creating habitat for monarch butterflies and upland birds.

Episode Highlights:

• The group discusses public land and private land opportunities to improve grasslands habitat for monarchs, as well as for pheasants, quail, and prairie grouse.

• Learn more about the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s announcement about the status of monarch butterflies at www.fws.gov/monarch and submit comments at https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FWS-R3-ES-2024-0137-0001.

onX Hunt is a proud supporter of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever and they want to thank everyone who gives back to the birds we all love to hunt and the places they call home. Click this link to get a free month of onX Hunt and then use code PFQF to get 20% off, and a portion will go back to supporting Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s wildlife habitat mission.

This is the fifth and final episode of Pheasants Forever’s 15th annual Rooster Road Trip. Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by PF’s Vice President of Marketing Andrew Vavra, PF’s North Dakota State Coordinator Emily Spolyar, and PF’s Social Media Coordinator Nate Akey to put a bow on this year’s adventure across North Dakota.

Episode Highlights:

• For gear junkies, each member of the crew talks about their favorite piece of gear from this year’s hunt. Vavra also talks about features of the new Browning 825 making it a shotgun he’s planning to add to his own personal gun safe.

• The group also fields crowd-sourced questions from PF & QF’s social media channels about Rooster Road Trip, hunting North Dakota public lands, gear questions, and bird hunting strategy.

• Find all four companion videos accompanying the trip at www.RoosterRoadTrip.org. While there, enter to win a Browning Citori 825 shotgun and join/renew/extend your Pheasants Forever or Quail Forever membership featuring the new Browning Bird & Buck knife. DEADLINE is December 16, 2024.

And special thanks to our Rooster Road Trip 2024 sponsors

• Browning

• Orvis

• SoundGear

• Ruff Land Kennels

• Federal Ammunition

• Garmin

• YETI

• Irish Setter

onX Hunt is a proud supporter of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever and they want to thank everyone who gives back to the birds we all love to hunt and the places they call home. Click this link to get a free month of onX Hunt and then use code PFQF to get 20% off, and a portion will go back to supporting Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s wildlife habitat mission.

This is the fourth episode of Pheasants Forever’s 15th annual Rooster Road Trip. Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by PF’s Vice President of Marketing Andrew Vavra and University of North Dakota’s Dr. Susan Felege. Dr. Felege is a professor of wildlife biology & management and is also a member of PF & QF’s National Board of Directors.

Episode Highlights:

• Dr. Felege recounts the history of prairie grouse populations across North Dakota and provides a status report for how sharp-tailed grouse and greater prairie chickens are currently doing in the state.

• Vavra talks about “the pucker factor” of hunting in a region where greater prairie chickens and hen pheasants are illegal to shoot, while sharp-tailed grouse and sharpie/chicken hybrids are both legal.

• Dr. Felege also shares her enthusiasm for working with the Grand Forks County Prairie Partners and how the collection of non-profit groups, state and federal agencies, farmers, and volunteers are helping conserve this very special tall grass prairie.

• Find the companion video accompanying this podcast episode at www.RoosterRoadTrip.org. While there, enter to win a Browning Citori 825 shotgun and join/renew/extend your Pheasants Forever or Quail Forever membership featuring the new Browning Bird & Buck knife.

And special thanks to our Rooster Road Trip 2024 sponsors

• Browning

• Orvis

• SoundGear

• Ruff Land Kennels

• Federal Ammunition

• Garmin

• YETI

• Irish Setter

onX Hunt is a proud supporter of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever and they want to thank everyone who gives back to the birds we all love to hunt and the places they call home. Click this link to get a free month of onX Hunt and then use code PFQF to get 20% off, and a portion will go back to supporting Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s wildlife habitat mission.

This is the second episode of Pheasants Forever’s 15th annual Rooster Road Trip. Host Bob St.Pierre is joined for the conversation by PF’s Vice President of Marketing Andrew Vavra, PF’s North Dakota State Coordinator Emily Spolyar, and North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s Upland Game Supervisor Jesse Kolar.

Episode Highlights:

• Kolar provides status reports for North Dakota’s pheasant, sharp-tailed grouse, Hungarian partridge, sage grouse, and prairie chicken populations, along with an overview of current habitat conditions.

• Spolyar and Kolar also provide excellent tips for selecting hunting spots from the road with specific examples of the types of attributes they look for in cover to find upland birds.

• Check out the companion video accompanying this podcast episode at www.RoosterRoadTrip.org. While there, enter to win a Browning Citori 825 shotgun and join/renew/extend your Pheasants Forever or Quail Forever membership featuring the new Browning Bird & Buck knife.

And special thanks to our Rooster Road Trip 2024 sponsors

• Browning

• Orvis

• SoundGear

• Ruff Land Kennels

• Federal Ammunition

• Garmin

• YETI

• Irish Setter

onX Hunt is a proud supporter of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever and they want to thank everyone who gives back to the birds we all love to hunt and the places they call home. Click this link to get a free month of onX Hunt and then use code PFQF to get 20% off, and a portion will go back to supporting Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s wildlife habitat mission.

This is the third episode of Pheasants Forever’s 15th annual Rooster Road Trip. Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by PF’s Vice President of Marketing Andrew Vavra, PF’s North Dakota Education and Outreach Coordinator Seth Owens, and PF’s Video Production Coordinator Aaron Black-Schmidt to recap the conclusion of the group’s hunt in the Bismarck area and the start of the hunt in the greater Grand Forks region.

Episode Highlights:

• Vavra provides the play-by-play to the group’s very “birdy” third day of hunting with North Dakota Game & Fish Department’s R3 Coordinator Cayla Bendel. Although there were lots of roosters in the air, Vavra hangs the “missed opportunities” banner over the day following some lackluster group marksmanship.

• Owens grabs the R3 baton from Bendel on the fourth day to talk about his effort to pass along the state’s hunting heritage through education events and his stunning photography. Check out Owens’ photography and videography talents on Instagram at @stuff.seth.sees.

• Find the companion video accompanying this podcast episode at www.RoosterRoadTrip.org. While there, enter to win a Browning Citori 825 shotgun and join/renew/extend your Pheasants Forever or Quail Forever membership featuring the new Browning Bird & Buck knife.

And special thanks to our Rooster Road Trip 2024 sponsors

• Browning

• Orvis

• SoundGear

• Ruff Land Kennels

• Federal Ammunition

• Garmin

• YETI

• Irish Setter

onX Hunt is a proud supporter of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever and they want to thank everyone who gives back to the birds we all love to hunt and the places they call home. Click this link to get a free month of onX Hunt and then use code PFQF to get 20% off, and a portion will go back to supporting Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s wildlife habitat mission.

This is the first episode of Pheasants Forever’s 15th annual Rooster Road Trip. True to Rooster Road Trip’s foundation since its creation in 2010, this year’s hunting occurs exclusively on publicly accessible lands. In this first podcast installment, host Bob St.Pierre is joined by PF’s Vice President of Marketing Andrew Vavra, PF’s North Dakota State Coordinator Emily Spolyar, and PF’s Social Media Coordinator Nate Akey to set the stage for this year’s trip and to recap the crew’s first day hunt.

Episode Highlights:

• Vavra, the only person to ever participate in all fifteen Rooster Road Trip events, explains the genesis behind the idea and talks about formulating this year’s plan to hunt across North Dakota.

• The crew take turns recapping the play-by-play from the first day’s hunt, while also offering thoughts about their favorite moment.

• Check out the companion video accompanying this podcast episode at www.RoosterRoadTrip.org. While there, enter to win a Browning Citori 825 shotgun and join/renew/extend your Pheasants Forever or Quail Forever membership featuring the new Browning Bird & Buck knife.

And special thanks to our Rooster Road Trip 2023 sponsors

• Browning

• Orvis

• SoundGear

• Ruff Land Kennels

• Federal Ammunition

• Garmin

• YETI

• Irish Setter

onX Hunt is a proud supporter of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever and they want to thank everyone who gives back to the birds we all love to hunt and the places they call home. Click this link to get a free month of onX Hunt and then use code PFQF to get 20% off, and a portion will go back to supporting Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s wildlife habitat mission.

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Federal Ammunition’s Global Shotgun Shell Director Dan Compton and PF & QF’s Vice President of Corporate Partnership’s Chris Kalis for a conversation about shotshell ballistics, patterning a shotgun, and new ammunition innovations on the horizon.

Episode Highlights:

• Compton provides step-by-step guidance on how to pattern a shotgun with different distances, chokes, and shotshells.

• The guys also discuss Federal Ammunition’s creation of Prairie Storm in 2011 and how it almost got named “Ringneck Rocket.”

• Additionally, Compton reveals that Federal Ammunition will be releasing a bismuth and steel blend of Prairie Storm featuring the Pheasants Forever logo next year.

• Finally, Compton explains how Quail Forever members can help get more QF shotshells on store shelves.

onX Hunt is a proud supporter of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever and they want to thank everyone who gives back to the birds we all love to hunt and the places they call home. Click www.onxmaps.com/hunt/r/p56q9fg to get a free month of onX Hunt and then use code PFQF to get 20% off, and a portion will go back to supporting Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s wildlife habitat mission.

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by “The Captain” Billy Hildebrand and his sons Erik and Chad Hildebrand for a discussion about the ingredients making opening day of a bird hunting season so special. The guys also recap the original PF & QF film, Opening Day, featuring the Hildebrand family’s Minnesota pheasant opener traditions.

Episode Highlights:

• “The Captain” Billy Hildebrand recounts the hilarious story of how he became the host of FAN Outdoors radio on KFAN more than 33 years ago.

• The guys share their favorite memories of bird dogs, hits, misses, mixed bags, wild game meals, and practical jokes. They also talk about their own reactions to watching the film for the first time.

• Thanks to SoundGear and SportDOG BRAND for sponsoring our first installment of our annual Opening Day film and podcast.

onX Hunt is a proud supporter of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever and they want to thank everyone who gives back to the birds we all love to hunt and the places they call home. Click this link to get a free month of onX Hunt and then use code PFQF to get 20% off, and a portion will go back to supporting Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s wildlife habitat mission.

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by veterinarians Dr. RuthAnn Lobos and Dr. Seth Bynum for the second podcast installment of our “Ask a Vet” video series being presented by Purina Pro Plan to recap video episodes 7 through 12.

Episode Highlights:

Ask a Vet Episode 7 – How can I prevent bad breath? tinyurl.com/4uc5mpn4

Ask a Vet Episode 8 – How much should I feed my bird dog? tinyurl.com/56vv9dsf

Ask a Vet Episode 9 – How do I keep my bird dog fit year-round? tinyurl.com/yy43chb3

Ask a Vet Episode 10 – How do I keep my bird dog hydrated? tinyurl.com/5h463aut

Ask a Vet Episode 11 – How do you deal with heat stress in hunting dogs? tinyurl.com/yc835ce3

Ask a Vet Episode 12 – Should I give my dog the rattlesnake vaccine? tinyurl.com/33ns4c4c

onX Hunt is a proud supporter of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever and they want to thank everyone who gives back to the birds we all love to hunt and the places they call home. Click www.onxmaps.com/hunt/r/p56q9fg to get a free month of onX Hunt and then use code PFQF to get 20% off, and a portion will go back to supporting Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s wildlife habitat mission.

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Quail Forever Journal Editor Ryan Sparks, QF Program Manager Andy Edwards, and Gun Dog Editor and host of Wild Upland on Outdoor Channel Kali Parmley to preview the 2024 quail hunting season. Each participant also offers their top four quail hunting tips for hunting any of America’s six species of quail during the inaugural game of Quail Hunting Battleship.

Episode Highlights:

• Ryan Sparks kicks off the conversation with an overview of Quail Forever’s 2024 Quail Hunting Forecast based upon input from 28 different states. Edwards follows up with the anecdotal reports he’s heard during conversation with biologists and QF chapter members across the country.

• Parmley talks about how she fell head over heels for bird hunting as an adult through the love of her first bird dog. She also discusses starting with a flushing breed and moving to pointers, and what she enjoys about both styles of bird dogs.

• The group covers a wide array of quail hunting tips, but Sparks steals the episode with his “smoke a cigarette” suggestion. How do lung darts and quail hunting go together? You’re just going to have to listen to this one for it to all make sense.

onX Hunt is a proud supporter of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever and they want to thank everyone who gives back to the birds we all love to hunt and the places they call home. Click this link to get a free month of onX Hunt and then use code PFQF to get 20% off, and a portion will go back to supporting Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s wildlife habitat mission.