On The Wing Podcast

Our Women on the Wing Program Manager Marissa Jensen leads this episode’s fun conversation with MeatEater’s Danielle Prewett for a conversation about the organization’s upcoming virtual event on May 6th.

Episode Highlights:

• Danielle talks about her Deutsch-Drahthaar named “Zissou” as a nod to both the movie “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” and the oceanographer. There are some good laughs about “Z” stealing the show during last year’s virtual event.

• Danielle discusses her plans for preparing the virtual event’s quail appetizer and provides some advice on wine pairings for the evening’s festivities.

For more details and to register for the Women on the Wing event coming up on May 6th, please follow this link: https://bit.ly/3neMB7q

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Amanda & Andy Doak for the story about how they fell in love through a mutual affiliation with the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA). Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s Hunting Heritage Program Manager Colby Kerber also joins the conversation to talk about Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s partnership with NAVHDA.

Episode Highlights:

• Amanda talks about how welcoming NAVHDA is to women, her affinity for Pudelpointers, and her personal story of falling in love with Andy at first sight as he worked his shorthair during a NAVHDA event.

• Colby talks about NAVHDA’s support of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s “Learn to Hunt” events with chapters across the country and the organization’s Bird Dogs for Habitat campaign.

• With Andy’s affinity for shorthairs and Amanda’s affection for Pudelpointers, the couple struggle to come to a consensus on a singular bird dog breed they’d embrace if they had to select only one breed to love together.

• Learn more about the partnership between Pheasants Forever, Quail Forever, and NAVHDA at https://bit.ly/3xd9Z9T

Nicole Qualtieri tuned in to Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s recent Call of the Uplands campaign video launch at the same time she was studying America’s massive decline in bird numbers resulting from habitat loss. Our campaign’s bold effort to improve 9 million acres of habitat resonated deep within Nicole and she’s emerged as a vocal advocate for wildlife habitat conservation. During this episode, host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s Director of Marketing Andrew Vavra for a conversation with Nicole covering her journey as a hunter, her career path that included a stop at MeatEater, and her menagerie of pets.

Episode Highlights:

• Qualtieri articulates her view of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s habitat mission as “restoring the soul of our landscape.”

• Nicole tells the guys about her new Boykin spaniel named “Bob” and some obvious hilarity ensues.

• Qualtieri also puts voice to the guy’s favorite story of hers, “An Open Letter of Solidarity to a 9,000-year-old hunter.” - https://gearjunkie.com/outdoor/hunt-fish/9000-year-old-female-hunter

We crowdsourced bird dog training questions from the Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter channels for this special “Ask the Experts” episode featuring professional dog trainers Tom Dokken and Josh Miller. Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever Director of Marketing Andrew Vavra joins host Bob St.Pierre for this entertaining conversation covering flushers, pointers, and retrievers.

Episode Highlights:

• Josh and Tom discuss whether playing around with a “wing on a string” is helpful or harmful to a young pointing dog’s development.

• The guys discuss how to properly introduce a dog to an e-collar and the steps building toward that introduction.

• The group debates the merits of hunting pointers with flushers.

• And the conversation ends with a fun discussion about training bird dogs to avoid skunks.

Thanks to SportDOG BRAND for sponsoring this episode and for their support of this month’s Bird Dogs for Habitat campaign. SportDOG BRAND is the official tracking and training collar partner of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, as well as a long-time national sponsor of the organization’s wildlife habitat mission.

Biologist Monty Gregg closes out our western quail species series with a deep dive into California valley quail. A passionate bird hunter, Gregg talks about habitat, hunting, and the life cycle of valley quail. He also explains how the U.S. Forest Service is connected to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and America’s National Grasslands.

Episode Highlights:

• Gregg talks about growing up as a big game hunter then falling in love with bird hunting through friendships, bird dogs, and his passion for running.

• The guys talk about Oregon’s public land bird hunting opportunities and how to find valley quail on the Crooked River National Grassland.

Check out the entire western quail podcast series:

• Gambel’s quail podcast with Arizona Game & Fish Biologist Wade Zarlingo

• Mearns quail podcast with Arizona Game & Fish Biologist Kirby Bristow

• Scaled quail podcast with New Mexico Biologist John Sherman

• Mountain quail podcast with Oregon Biologist Mikal Cline

Grasslands are inherently dynamic in space and time, evolving with frequent disturbance from fire and herbivores (bison, cattle, etc.). As a consequence of human actions, many remaining grasslands have become homogenous, which has led to biodiversity loss and decreased ecological services. Enter the concept of grassland heterogeneity. Host Bob St.Pierre is in over his head for a fun master’s level conversation about grassland diversity and the concept of “heterogeneity” with Luke Zilverberg, a Pheasants Forever biologist. And it all leads back to better habitat and more birds to chase with a good dog.

Episode Highlights:

• Zilverberg talks about hunting and fishing during his college years at South Dakota State University, while squeezing in his master’s in biology which focused on this concept of heterogeneity.

• The guys talk about the biological importance of grassland diversity for pheasants and quail, then detail how prescribed fire and livestock grazing can be used to maximize the benefits for wildlife, soil, and water quality.

We continue our series of western quail species with this episode’s focus on the mountain quail. Mikal Cline, an upland biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, joins host Bob St.Pierre and PF & QF’s Western Regional Director Al Eiden for a conversation about mountain quail biology, habitat, and hunting tactics.

Episode Highlights:

• The group discuss the mountain quail’s geographic range from northern Washington to southern California and some of the bird’s interesting attributes, including being the largest quail species in the United States, it’s elevational migration during the seasons, and it’s showy two feathers making up its head plume.

• Cline talks about her fascinating career path which has included stops studying the endangered Atwater’s prairie chickens at the Houston Zoo, tracking bobwhite quail at the Ames Plantation in Tennessee, studying Canada geese in urban Chicago, and working on wild turkey projects for the National Wild Turkey Federation.

• Cline also gives some tips on how and where to find mountain quail across Oregon’s vast public land hunting acres.

Also check out our Gambel’s quail podcast with Arizona Game & Fish Biologist Wade Zarlingo, our Mearns quail podcast with Arizona Game & Fish Biologist Kirby Bristow, and our scaled quail podcast with New Mexico Biologist John Sherman for more great quail content.

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s Western Regional Director Al Eiden for a conversation about scaled quail with John Sherman, a wildlife biologist with the Bureau of Land Management in New Mexico. A lifelong New Mexican, Sherman talks about his passion for scaled quail and the thrill of hunting them.

Episode Highlights:

• The trio talk about scaled quail being notorious “track stars” and the only bird you need tennis shoes to hunt.

• Sherman details the geographic range of scaled quail, explains their biology, and discusses the habitat needs for scaled quail, which are also known as blue quail or cottontops.

• A recurring theme of the episode is that New Mexico is underappreciated as a bird hunting destination although it is a state where a traveling bird hunter could earn a “Grand Slam of Quail” all in a day’s hunt (bobwhites, Gambel’s, Mearns, and scaled).

Also check out our Gambel’s quail podcast with Arizona Game & Fish Biologist Wade Zarlingo or our Mearns quail podcast with Arizona Game & Fish Biologist Kirby Bristow for more great quail content.

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s Western Regional Director Al Eiden for a conversation with Arizona Game & Fish Department’s Biologist Wade Zarlingo focused on Gambel’s quail. Zarlingo, a lifelong Arizonan, talks about how to hunt these fabulous desert birds and their habitat needs.

Episode Highlights:

• Zarlingo talks about the upswing in Arizona’s Gambel’s quail numbers and the optimism he holds for a boom next hunting season if weather conditions align to close out this winter.

• A hardcore bird hunter, Zarlingo discusses how to hunt Gambel’s quail, his fondness for Pudelpointers, avoiding snakes, and being ready to chase these wily desert game birds.

• The guys close out the episode with a good laugh as Zarlingo explains why a Google search of his last name produces YouTube hunting videos with Wade on top of a llama.

Also check out our Mearns quail podcast with Arizona Game & Fish Biologist Kirby Bristow for more great quail content.

On February 25th, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever announced the Call of the Uplands comprehensive campaign to raise $500 million to improve 9 million acres of upland habitat, introduce 1.5 million new people to the uplands, and permanently protect 75,000 acres of land FOREVER. It’s the boldest, most important initiative in the organization’s history. Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by volunteer Steve Shafer, Government Affairs Representative Bethany Erb, and Chief Development Officer David Bue to add color to the campaign and the organization’s vision for the future.

Episode Highlights:

• The group talks about the 53 million acres of grasslands have been lost since 2009 – an area the size of Kansas – and how the Call of the Uplands campaign will help to replace 9 million acres of that habitat through conservation initiatives and legislative advocacy efforts.

• Bethany Erb explains the 30 X 30 initiative for conservation, the North American Grasslands Act concept, and the organization’s goals for improving the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) for landowners and hunters.

• “Don’t let this die,” are the words used by Steve Shafer, the campaign’s volunteer campaign chair, to inspire upland hunters everywhere to get involved in the campaign.

Learn more about Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s nationwide call to action, the Call of the Uplands campaign.