On The Wing Podcast

In the spirit of kicking off Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever’s annual Bird Dogs for Habitat campaign, host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Tony Peterson, host of Sporting Dog Talk podcast. Peterson is also the host of Hunt for Real podcast and frequent contributor to MeatEater, Outdoor News, Outdoor Life, Gun Dog, and Petersen’s Hunting. Known as one of the country’s foremost public lands whitetail bowhunters, Peterson talks about his equal love for public land bird hunting and his fascination with bird dogs. Episode highlights include:

· Peterson compares and contrasts bow hunting whitetails to bird hunting, especially the role of scouting in both.

· The pair talk about how some spots elicit the “Spidey sense” more than others.

· Peterson discusses interviewing hundreds of dog trainers over the years and how the really good dog folks think differently compared to the average bird dog owner.

· The conversation also expands into how bird dogs need and want a job, and how those jobs go beyond searching for feathers all the way to sniffing drugs, diseases, and endangered species.

· Peterson also explains his vision for connecting the outdoor adventure with the hunting audience through a mutual love of dogs. Dogs are the natural bridge to bring two different audiences together around shared goals for wildlife, habitat and public lands.

· St.Pierre also gives an update on his new German shorthair puppy, Gitche Gumee, and her comical introduction to birds.

While at National Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic last weekend, host Bob St.Pierre snuck away from the show floor to talk about the uplands with Ruffed Grouse Society’s President & CEO Ben Jones. Joining the conversation were Jim Inglis, Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever’s director of government affairs and Andy Edwards, Quail Forever’s regional representative, who also happen to have spent their college years with Jones. This is an incredibly fun episode that starts with college memories then dives into grouse and woodcock habitat management.

Episode highlights include:

· Jim Inglis talks about Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever’s letter to USDA Secretary Perdue requesting a CRP extension which occurred at the start of National Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic

· Andy Edwards talks about how a radio-collared turkey, mistaken as a dead radio-collared bear, led to meeting Jim Inglis, then ultimately resulted in Andy meeting Ben Jones playing a mandolin in the back of a bus. Chris Farley was not involved.

· The Public Lands Pavilion at National Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic and the partnership with Ruffed Grouse Society and Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.

· The difference between ruffed grouse drumming counts and pheasant/quail roadside counts.

· The groups explore the biology of the woodcock migration and how Lake Superior influences the bird’s travels around the Great Lakes.

· Jones provides an update on the impact of the West Nile Virus on ruffed grouse.

· The crew discusses the regional nomenclature for the bird and where grouse, partridge and pats are the most common name.

Quail Forever is part of a collaborative called Missourians for Monarch which is focused on creating pollinator habitat for a wide range of wildlife species. Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Kelly Srigley-Werner, U.S. Fish & Wildlife private land coordinator in Missouri; Donnamarie Duffin, Missourians for Monarchs coordinator, and Kim Cole, Quail Forever education & outreach program coordinator to talk about the habitat connections and conservation efforts linking bobwhite quail and monarch butterflies.

Episode highlights include:

· The monarch butterfly’s fascinating life cycle spanning a multi-generational migration from Canada across the United States to Mexico.

· The importance of Missouri as the geographic center of the monarch’s migration.

· The 45-member Missourians for Monarchs partnership work to improve almost 400,000 acres for monarchs, and in turn quail, in just five years.

· How drones are being developed to count the critically important milkweed stem-by-stem to ensure healthy monarch populatons.

· And speed-dating for conservation . . .

The precipitous decline of America’s bobwhite quail populations has been well-documented over the years. However, the state of Missouri has a few shining examples of reversing that quail decline with landowner enthusiasm for conservation aided by the expertise of local biologists. Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Chris McLeland, Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever’s southern regional director along with Lee Metcalf and Tim Kavan, private lands conservationists with the Missouri Department of Conservation and Quail Forever chapter volunteers, to explain what’s bringing back bobwhites in Missouri.

Episode highlights include:

· An explanation of the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI) and how Missouri fits into the national plan for quail management.

· How adding more forbs and more shrubs to northern Missouri private lands projects has produced three times more quail.

· The benefits of edge-feathering and the disadvantages of brush piles for bobwhite

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Land Tawney, President & CEO of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers to talk about BHA’s origin story and the partnership around the new Public Lands Pavilion at National Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic 2020 in Minneapolis this February.

Episode highlights include:

· The son of a family with deep roots in conservation, Tawney recounts his dad’s role in the early days of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and his own career steps toward his leadership role with Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.

· Tawney also talks about how Backcountry Hunters & Anglers was started over an Oregon campfire in 2004 and the three areas of focus for the organization’s mission

· The duo gives an overview of the new Public Lands Pavilion and Public Lands Stage making its debut at National Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic in Minneapolis this February with BHA, Ruffed Grouse Society, and Minnesota DNR as sponsors.

· St.Pierre also talks about how Pheasants Forever’s Build a Wildlife Area concept was created and how Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, Ruffed Grouse Society, Minnesota DNR and a handful of other partners are going to help create a new public wildlife management area during the three days of National Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic.

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever President & CEO Howard Vincent for a conversation with Randy Newberg, a renowned public lands advocate, television host, and hunter. Newberg is slated to keynote this year’s National Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic banquet on Saturday, February 15th in Minneapolis.

Episode highlights include:

· Vincent and Newberg share startling similarities as two guys who grew up in northern Minnesota and became public accountants. Incongruently, at least in Bob’s mind, they also developed into terrific public speakers and two of the most respected people in conservation.

· Newberg talks about his outdoors roots hunting partridge in Minnesota, desert quail in Arizona, and pheasants in Montana.

· Newberg also recounts how he got into the outdoor television world to save his failing health and how his son was the catalyst for the initial show concept.

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Dr. Kate Kaufman, veterinarian with Blue Pearl Pet Hospital; Jeff Zajac, regional wildlife manager for the Minnesota DNR; and Jared Wiklund, PF & QF public relations manager for a conversation about native grasses featuring large awns. The group discusses both the biological side of grass awns and the potential health ramifications for bird dogs.

Show highlights include:

-Zajac talks about the species of grasses featuring large awns, their ecological role, and their historic use in CRP mixes.

-Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever eliminated species of grass featuring large awns from the organization’s seed mixes, where applicable, to help mitigate risk to bird dogs.

-Most of these grass species, particularly Canada wild rye, occurs naturally on the landscape, so Dr. Kaufman provides important tailgate tips for preventing awn problems in your bird dog.

-Dr. Kaufman also talks about other important field injuries and diseases, and best practices for keeping your pup safe and healthy all year.

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever chapter volunteers Scott Rall, Scott Roemhildt, and Kenny Reed for a conversation about how their volunteer efforts brought them together as close friends and traveling hunting buddies.

Show highlights include:

· Scott Rall was a Field & Stream Hero of Conservation finalist, known as “The Protector of the Prairie.”

· Rall was also part of Pheasants Forever’s very first land acquisition, Pheasant Run One in Minnesota’s Noble’s County, now a public Wildlife Management Area.

· The group talks about their motivations for volunteering, interests in wildlife habitat, and passion for permanent land acquisitions to create new public lands for hunters.

· There’s also an interesting debate between the group, who all own land they manage as pheasant habitat for hunting, about what’s more of a trophy: a public lands rooster or a rooster they “created” on habitat they nurtured

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Andrew Vavra, PF’s director of marketing; Logan Hinners, PF’s graphic design manager and trip photographer; and Jake Schiller, PF’s video production specialist for a recap of the final day of this year’s Late Season Longtails themed online event.

Show highlights include:

· Pheasants Forever’s distinction as a Public Land Creator accounting for more than 200,000 acres of new permanent public lands.

· Tips and tricks for filming an upland bird hunt.

· Commemorating a bird dog’s 100th rooster retrieve.

· Waterfowl Production Areas are great for pheasants and quail too!

· Highlights of the 2019 Rooster Road Trip.

We start this episode with major news for the uplands – the USDA will hold a Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) General Signup beginning on December 9th for the first time since 2016. This news brings more than 8 million acres of habitat opportunity! Following the CRP update, host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Andrew Vavra, PF’s director of marketing; Laura McIver, Quail Forever’s regional representative for Oklahoma, and Chad Love, editor of the Quail Forever Journal for a spirited conversation about our Rooster Road Trip turned Quail Quest. Recapping the day’s hunt leads to a wide-ranging conversation comparing pheasants to quail. We cover habitat, hunting, bird dogs, cooking, and every other debate between the two birds.