On The Wing Podcast

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by three of the country’s foremost quail biologists to talk about past, present, and future efforts to count bobwhite quail and how that population data is used to create high quality quail habitat, more birds, and better hunting opportunities. Those quail biologists include Quail Forever’s Working Lands for Bobwhite Quail Framework Coordinator Dr. Jessica McGuire, Georgia DNR’s Quail Coordinator Dallas Ingram, and University of Georgia Associate Professor Dr. James Martin.

Episode Highlights:

• Ingram and Martin explain how bird dogs are used to help count fall bobwhite coveys, while taking fun jabs at each other’s favorite bird dog breeds in the process.

• McGuire also discusses how landowners who are interested in fostering higher quail populations on their property can get involved with counting quail as a means of better understanding what factors need to be improved on a particular piece of land.

• Martin also talks about how his grad students at the University of Georgia are using new technology to make significant strides in our understanding of quail population dynamics.

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Nate Akey, PF & QF’s first-ever employee to hold the title of “Social Media Strategist” for a discussion about his new job and his relatively newfound passion for mountain quail.

Episode Highlights:

• Holding a master’s degree in aquatic biology, Nate tells his compelling story about how a love for photographing his bird dog changed the trajectory of his career.

• Nate also talks about his move from Michigan to Oregon and what he’s learned about mountain quail habitat, hunting, and cooking along the journey.

• The guys finish up with a lightning round conversation about strengths, weaknesses, and audiences currently following Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

This is the fifth and final episode from Rooster Road Trip XIII. Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever’s Vice President of Marketing Andrew Vavra, Graphic Design Manager Logan Hinners, and Video Production Specialist Aaron Black-Schmidt to recap this year’s trip to Montana. The group tackles a wide array of crowd-sourced questions sent our way through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We laughed and we cried (literally) during this super fun conversation putting a bow on this year’s Rooster Road Trip.

Episode Highlights:

• Vavra kicks off the conversation with controversy by asking everyone to name THE SINGLE BEST BIRD DOG BREED for the uplands . . . chaos ensues.

• Can a bird dog smell the difference between a rooster and a hen? You may be surprised by the group’s answer.

• And there were lots of questions about preferences in gear, guns, and states to hunt. We tackled them all, including our favorite memories from this year’s Rooster Road Trip.

Check out all of our Rooster Road Trip videos, podcasts and photo galleries at www.RoosterRoadTrip.org. While there, enter to win a Browning Citori 725 shotgun and join/renew/extend your Pheasants Forever or Quail Forever membership featuring an attractive new field knife made by Browning.

And special thanks to our Rooster Road Trip 2022 sponsors:

• Browning

• SoundGear

• Ruff Land Kennels

• Federal Ammunition

• Garmin

• Apple Auto

This is the fourth episode from Rooster Road Trip XIII. Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever’s Director of Marketing Andrew Vavra, Senior Regional Representative Renee Tomala, Corporate Partnerships & Product Development Coordinator Erica Hill, and Montana Regional Representative Chad Harvey to recap the trip’s final day in Montana. A mixed bag of pheasants, sharpies, and Huns were all in the air, but was the group finally able to complete the full Montana mixed bag during one walk?

Episode Highlights:

• With temperatures touching 80 degrees just three days earlier, the group is greeted by the first snowstorm of the season making for challenging conditions for hunters and bird dogs alike.

• St.Pierre blames a missed rooster over a point on wearing too many layers of clothes and Vavra compares him to Ralphie from “The Christmas Story.”

Check out the companion video accompanying this podcast episode at www.RoosterRoadTrip.org. While there, enter to win a Browning Citori 725 shotgun and join/renew/extend your Pheasants Forever or Quail Forever membership featuring an attractive new field knife made by Browning.

And special thanks to our Rooster Road Trip 2022 sponsors:

• Browning

• SoundGear

• Ruff Land Kennels

• Federal Ammunition

• Garmin

• Apple Auto

This is the third episode from Rooster Road Trip XIII. Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever’s Director of Marketing Andrew Vavra, Senior Regional Representative Renee Tomala, and Graphic Design Manager Logan Hinners to recap the third and fourth days of the group’s Montana hunt. Day 3 was spent battling strong winds on the picturesque Wolf Creek Block Management Area, while rain-soaked roosters highlighted Day 4’s hunt across the stunning Coffee Creek Block Management Area.

Episode Highlights:

• Vavra recounts the hilarious story of finding an impressive, but stinky, pair of pronghorn sheds. How bad did they smell? So bad that Tomala wouldn’t approach a dog on point that was downwind from Vavra.

• Tomala takes us through a rooster-filled sequence during a rainstorm at Coffee Creek where her shooting skills and her bird dog Quill’s pointing prowess were both put on display.

Check out the companion video accompanying this podcast episode at www.RoosterRoadTrip.org. While there, enter to win a Browning Citori 725 shotgun and join/renew/extend your Pheasants Forever or Quail Forever membership featuring an attractive new field knife made by Browning.

And special thanks to our Rooster Road Trip 2022 sponsors:

• Browning

• SoundGear

• Ruff Land Kennels

• Federal Ammunition

• Garmin

• Apple Auto

This is the second episode from Rooster Road Trip XIII. Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever’s Director of Marketing Andrew Vavra, Corporate Partnerships & Product Development Coordinator Erica Hill, and Montana Regional Representative Chad Harvey to recap the group’s hunt at the Teton River Wildlife Area. The Teton project was created through PF & QF’s Build a Wildlife Area program and is a wonderful illustration for Vavra’s selection of the “mixed bag” theme for this year’s Rooster Road Trip as the area provides critical habitat to a wide array of wildlife species, ranging from pheasants and Huns to moose and grizzly bears.

Episode Highlights:

• The crew discuss gathering for the morning’s hunt started with bear spray distribution and overall safety precautions to take on a bird hunt in grizzly bear country.

• Hill also shares the thrilling story of her Lab, Oak, making his first water retrieve on a rooster dropping into the Teton River during the day’s hunt.

Check out the companion video accompanying this podcast episode at www.RoosterRoadTrip.org. While there, enter to win a Browning Citori 725 shotgun and join/renew/extend your Pheasants Forever or Quail Forever membership featuring an attractive new field knife made by Browning.

And special thanks to our Rooster Road Trip 2022 sponsors:

• Browning

• SoundGear

• Ruff Land Kennels

• Federal Ammunition

• Garmin

• Apple Auto

This is the first episode from Rooster Road Trip XIII. True to the Rooster Road Trip’s ethos, this year’s event takes place all on publicly-accessible lands in search of an upland mixed bag of pheasants, sharp-tailed grouse, and Hungarian partridge in Montana. To kick off this year’s trip, host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever’s Director of Marketing Andrew Vavra, Montana State Coordinator Hunter VanDonsel, and the organization’s new Social Media Strategist Nate Akey for a conversation about the intersection between upland birds, pronghorns, water quality, and public access in Montana.

Episode Highlights:

• VanDonsel explains Montana’s “Hydration for Migration” initiative to help address inadequate water for livestock, which also produces critical grassland habitat for pronghorns, sharp-tailed grouse, and a wide array of other upland wildlife species. Thanks to participating landowners, this approach has resulted in 29,681 acres of grasslands enrolled in long-term protection agreements with thousands of these acres also enrolled in Montana’s Block Management program providing public access to hunters.

• The crew recount the first day’s hunt producing fast and furious sharp-tailed grouse action; including, St.Pierre’s own two-mile sharpie retrieve.

Check out the companion video accompanying this podcast episode at www.RoosterRoadTrip.org. While there, enter to win a Browning Citori 725 shotgun and join/renew/extend your Pheasants Forever or Quail Forever membership featuring an attractive new field knife made by Browning.

And special thanks to our Rooster Road Trip 2022 sponsors:

• Browning

• SoundGear

• Ruff Land Kennels

• Federal Ammunition

• Garmin

• Apple Auto

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by three Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever employees to chat about last weekend’s upland bird hunting openers in Nebraska and Texas, while also previewing the November 12th opener in Kansas.

Episode Highlights:

• PF & QF Nebraska State Coordinator Kelsi Wehrman kicks off the conversation with a recap of her opening weekend in which she completed the state’s “Upland Slam” by bagging a bobwhite quail and a ring-necked pheasant to go with a sharp-tailed grouse and greater prairie chicken taken earlier this autumn. Wehrman also talks about the need to pre-scout for quality habitat this season as the on-going drought has had a dramatic impact on some of the state’s traditional upland destinations.

• Texas Regional Representative Dustin McNabb echoes Wehrman’s thoughts about the impact of the drought on habitat conditions and upland bird numbers. He also offers an entertaining story of a unique bobwhite quail and sandhill crane mixed bag and closes with a reminder that Texas is home to some big rattlesnakes . . . so come prepared.

• Michael Coleman, PF & QF’s conservation coordinator in Kansas’ Red Hills, rounds out the episode with a preview of the Kansas pheasant and quail season set to open on Saturday, November 12th. Coleman joins Wehrman and McNabb with concerns about the on-going drought but offers a few tips where bird numbers may be stronger based upon better habitat conditions.

There are many PF & QF chapter banquets being held around the country in conjunction with upland hunting seasons. Find a calendar of all PF & QF chapter banquets and events at www.PheasantsForeverEvents.org

Host Bob St.Pierre is fresh off the Minnesota pheasant hunting opener with a recap of his weekend at KFAN’s “The Captain” Billy Hildebrand’s family cabin in Sauk Centre where the group focused on federal Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs). In this quick-hitter episode, St.Pierre throws out a few tips to help other bird hunters find early season success.

Episode Highlights:

• Echoing Renee Tomala’s recap of the North Dakota opener during last episode of the podcast, St.Pierre’s hunting group also found lots of young roosters in the field during the Minnesota opener.

• With the corn harvest ramping up, St.Pierre predicts this coming weekend will be a banner opportunity for bird hunters across the upper Midwest.

• And, of course, Bob has a story about following the dog when the line of hunters wanted to walk a different direction . . . did Bob listen to his own advice?

We’ve finally reached the best time of the year – opening day! Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Renee Tomala, PF’s regional representative for North Dakota; Matt Morlock, PF’s state coordinator for South Dakota & North Dakota; and Eric Sytsma, PF & QF’s regional representative for Iowa; to provide opening weekend forecasts from three big pheasant hunting destinations. The conversation also includes tips for opening weekend success and highlights PF’s banquet calendar of events being held in conjunction with opening weekend celebrations.

Episode Highlights:

• North Dakota’s season opened last weekend, so Tomala provides the first in-field report for 2022. Spoiler Alert: she talks about how hunting this year’s lush habitat SLOWLY is a key ingredient to success.

• Morlock reports on this weekend’s upcoming “traditional” pheasant hunting opener for South Dakota and why this year looks to be the best in a decade for the nation’s “Pheasant Capital.”

• Sytsma rounds out the conversation highlighting the upland hunting prospects for Iowa that includes pheasants, quail, and Huns.

Find a calendar of all PF & QF chapter banquets and events at www.PheasantsForeverEvents.org