Senior Environmental Scientist (Specialist) Melanie Weaver joins Jeff and Carson to explain how California’s Breeding Population (BPOP) survey is flown, what this year’s numbers say, and how those data drive next year’s hunting frameworks. Weaver details the fixed-wing transect method, why multi-year wet cycles matter, and why harvest regulations follow a structured, flyway-wide model rather than gut checks.

In this episode:

How the survey works — nine strata statewide, low-altitude fixed-wing transects, and trained observers reading birds at speed.

2025 headline numbers — total ducks up ~27% from 2024 but still ~11% below the long-term average; mallards up ~49% yet ~16% below the long-term average.

From data to regulations — California’s counts feed the Western Mallard AHM model, which sets next season’s duck frameworks across the Pacific Flyway.

Harvest vs. habitat — average bags run ~2–4 ducks per hunt, so changing limits from 7 to 5 rarely moves the needle; habitat and weather are the bigger drivers.

Whether you’re planning opener or following policy, this conversation gives a clear, data-driven picture of where California’s ducks stand and how decisions get made.

🦆 Enjoy the show? Please follow, leave a quick review, and share it with your hunting crew—your support keeps these conversations (and the flyway) moving.

Regional Biologist Greg Heydeman (California Waterfowl Association) joins Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard for a deep look at habitat work and hunting realities in the high desert of Modoc, Klamath and Shasta Valley.

In this conversation you’ll learn:

• Why the 2025-26 season starts with optimism—heavy snowpack and strong water deliveries are putting more acres back under flood across the Northeast Zone
• The Butte Valley makeover—over 2,000 acres of former ditch water converted to managed seasonal wetlands and improved hunter access
• Public-first project strategy—roughly 80-85 percent of CWA habitat dollars in Greg’s region go to state and federal areas, not private clubs
• How ice drives every decision—from property acquisitions to draw systems, one hard freeze in early December can shut an entire ranch down
• New migration quirks—summer-resident snow geese and specks are now common sights, underscoring shifting flyway patterns

Pull up a chair and hear how smart engineering, targeted grants and on-the-ground hunting experience combine to keep birds—and opportunity—on the landscape.

🦆 Like the show? Tap follow, leave a quick rating, and share this episode with your blind partners. Your support helps California’s wetlands—and the conversations that protect them—keep thriving.

A deep-dive with Chadd Santerre (Director of Wetland Programs & NAWCA Coordinator) and field-rep Chad Thomas

Carson Odegard sits down with Chadd Santerre for a data-driven look at the engineering, funding, and on-the-ground work now reshaping waterfowl habitat from San Jacinto to the Colorado River. In the back half, Chad Thomas details the banquets, workdays, and youth hunts that let Southern California hunters roll up their sleeves and keep the momentum going.

Episode highlights

• Funding surge fuels action – NAWCA and California Wildlife Conservation Board grants have steered $18.9 million since 2022, locking in projects through 2029
• Imperial (Wister) overhaul – miles of buried pipeline and consolidated units are cutting evaporation losses and speeding flood-ups for managers and hunters alike
• San Jacinto recapture system – a new storage complex is designed to recycle 700-1,000 acre-feet each year, creating reliable brood water and a much-needed sanctuary
• Palo Verde Ecological Reserve – 500 acres of former cropland now function as seasonal wetlands and high-yield dove plots after full pipeline and grading upgrades
• Public-land priority – more than 70 percent of CWA habitat dollars land on refuges and wildlife areas every year, keeping improvements accessible to everyone
• Get involved – summer banquets, August habitat days at San Jacinto and Wister, and the unique San Vicente Reservoir draw hunt where hunters pick their own dates from a boat

Whether you’re chasing teal at Wister, volunteering at a San Jac workday, or planning your first San Vicente boat hunt, this episode lays out the roadmap—and the resources—to keep Southern California’s flyway thriving.

🦆 Like what you’re hearing? Follow the show, leave a quick review, and share the episode with your hunting crew—your support powers these conversations and the conservation work behind them.

Jeff’s off chasing summer vacation, so Carson Odegard grabs a mic with CWA egg-salvage guru Jason Coslovich - Egg Salvage Program Coordinator, Waterfowl Biologist and Robert “Rob” Jones—the volunteer dynamo keeping the North Delta Duck Hatchery clucking along since the early 2000s. Pull a chair up to the brooder and hear how a ramshackle 1996 shed on Tyler Island now kicks out 500 wild mallards a year, why 92 percent of rescued eggs actually hatch, and what it takes to relocate the whole outfit before next spring’s first quack.

Talking points

• Eggs to wings: the combine-to-incubator relay that turns field-found clutches into fly-ready ducks—and the ten-by-ten room that makes it happen.
• Volunteer grind: daily pen scrubs, smartweed jungles, and the slick system that’s banded 15,000 birds (plus one 93-year-old mentor who still shows up).
• Where bands wander: mallards released in June near Sacramento, shot five years later in Idaho, Oregon—even Arkansas.
• Moving day: why the Tyler Island pens are closing, the plan for a fresh build next door to the annual barn dinner, and the $100 K they need to pull it off.
• Get your hands dirty: how farmers, hunters, and city folks can salvage nests, run feed buckets, or simply donate a few bucks to keep the pumps humming.

🦆 Stoked on the story? Hit follow, drop a quick ★★★★★ review, and text this episode to your blind buddies—your support keeps these conversations rolling and the flyway thriving.

In this new episode—part three of our California history series—Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard close out the Klamath Basin saga and head south to the 240,000-acre Grasslands, where water rights, teal limits, and hard-fought tradition still rule the marsh.

Topics include:

Klamath’s boom-to-bust timeline—from 100,000-duck openers in ’52 to today’s drought-strangled refuge drama

Miller & Lux’s canal gamble that turned alkali flats into duck country and sparked 180 active clubs

Jay Martin Winton vs. the Bureau of Reclamation—the bare-knuckle fight that created the Grasslands Water District and still floods your blind every fall

Small-gauge, big smiles—why teal limits, wigeon straps, and tight-knit club culture make the Grasslands the most approachable duck scene in the state

Habitat truths—cocklebur takeovers, raven predation, and the management grind needed to keep mallards finishing today

The next battle on the horizon: a 20-foot high-speed-rail viaduct aimed straight through prime wetlands—and how locals are pushing back

Plus: steamboat blinds on Lower Klamath and the mystery of the lost-and-found clubs.

🦆 Like what you’re hearing? Hit follow, drop a quick review, and share the link with your blind buddies—your support keeps these conversations rolling and the flyway thriving.

In this new episode and part two of this series, Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard dive deeper with Yancey Forest‑Knowles to unpack decades of waterfowling history and hard‑won conservation lessons from California’s most fought‑over wetlands.

Topics include:

The rise of the Butte Sink and why rice water still floods those blinds each opener

Inside stories from private clubs: habitat tricks that keep mallards finishing

How competing water laws and drought squeeze the Klamath Refuge—and what can fix it

Take‑home tips for keeping birds working in any marsh

🦆 Like what you’re hearing? Hit follow, drop a quick review, and share the link with your blind buddies—your support keeps these conversations rolling and the flyway thriving.

In this new episode and part two of this series, Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard dive deeper with Yancey Forest‑Knowles to unpack decades of waterfowling history and hard‑won conservation lessons from California’s most fought‑over wetlands.

Topics include:

The rise of the Butte Sink and why rice water still floods those blinds each opener I

nside stories from private clubs: habitat tricks that keep mallards finishing

How competing water laws and drought squeeze the Klamath Refuge—and what can fix it

Take‑home tips for keeping birds working in any marsh

🦆 Like what you’re hearing? Hit follow, drop a quick review, and share the link with your blind buddies—your support keeps these conversations rolling and the flyway thriving.

This week, Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with California outdoors legend Yancey Forest‑Knowles—a waterfowling and conservation icon with over 70 years in the field. Dubbed the “embodiment of the authentic outdoorsman,” Yancey’s journey began duck hunting at age 10 in the Bay near Palo Alto and evolved into a life filled with adventure, leadership, and preservation (cohof.org).

A former elementary-school principal from Santa Rosa, Yancey’s passion for wildlife runs deep. He’s leased marshland for duck clubs, guided white-water rafting trips for over a decade, and even raced yachts across the Pacific and Atlantic. A champion sporting-clays shooter, he’s traveled the world hunting and fly fishing, and he co-authored Pacific Flyway – Historical Waterfowling Images.

In leadership roles like Chairman of the California Waterfowl Association, Secretary of the Klamath Water Committee, and as a key advisor with the Pacific Flyway Center, Yancey has fought for water rights and wetland restoration—meeting with Interior Secretaries to secure dedicated water for Lower Klamath Refuge. He’s also been inducted into the International Order of St. Hubertus and contributed to the Golden Gate Salmon Association, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, and more. We dive into:

• The journey from early marsh leases to modern duck-club management
• True tales from Suisun Marsh and the Pacific Flyway
• How Yancey helped shape California’s waterfowl heritage through policy
• Field stories and lessons from seven decades sharpened by boots-on-the-ground experience

Love the craft of duck hunting and conservation? Tap follow, drop a review, and share this episode with your duck camp crew. Your support fuels the conversation and keeps these voices alive.

In this episode of Save it for the Blind, Jeff and Carson sit down with Jim Burcio and Rob Capriola—two pillars of the Pacific Flyway Decoy Association—to talk decoys, tradition, and the upcoming 53rd Annual Wildfowl Festival in Sacramento, California.

Jim Burcio, PFDA’s Vice President of Membership, walks us through the history and heart of the festival, happening July 12–13, 2025. From carving competitions to conservation booths and antique showcases, it’s a celebration of waterfowl art and community like no other.

Joining him is Rob Capriola, a seasoned decoy carver whose work reflects over 50 years of craftsmanship and a biologist’s understanding of the birds. Rob shares his story—from carving his first rig to showcasing fine decoys at shows across the country—and gives a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into making a decoy that’s both beautiful and biologically spot-on.

Whether you’re deep into decoy culture or just appreciate the craft that supports the hunt, this episode is packed with stories and insight from two men keeping tradition alive.

👉 Like, subscribe, and drop us a comment—especially if you’ve been to the Wildfowl Festival or have a decoy story of your own to share!

In Part 2 of our Save it for the Blind: New Zealand series, co-host Jeff Smith is back from the bush and sits down with his brother Colby Smith—his travel partner and fellow hunter—to debrief their epic trip to New Zealand.

The brothers recount their hunts across breathtaking terrain, swap stories from the field, and reflect on what sets New Zealand’s hunting culture apart. From gear highs and lows to local traditions and surprising differences in access and conservation, this conversation brings a full-circle look at their overseas adventure.

If you’ve ever dreamed about hunting abroad or want to hear what happens when two duck-obsessed brothers take on the Southern Hemisphere, this is your episode.

👉 Make sure to like, subscribe, and leave a comment—especially if you’ve got questions about hunting in New Zealand or where we should head next!