The Upland Social

Today’s guest is Jared Anderson, the founder of Ballad of the Bird Dog in Brenham, Texas. Jared’s journey started with a bird dog named Skeet—not just a hunting partner, but a best friend who walked beside him through college, traveled the world with him, and ultimately taught him lessons of loyalty, patience, and simplicity. Skeet showed Jared what bird dogs have shown their masters for generations: that instinct, hard work, and devotion can create moments that last forever.

Those lessons became the heartbeat of Ballad of the Bird Dog, a brand built on tradition and heritage, yet designed with a modern, thoughtful approach. From well-made, dependable goods to a community you can trust, Jared and his team are carrying forward a story of loyalty, simplicity, and connection—values that resonate far beyond the fields and into everyday life.

• Jared's first bird dog Skeet
• Hunting desert quail with Skeet
• Jared's inspiration for his company through his relationship with his companion
• Enjoying the simplicity of life with a bird dog
• Not comparing yourself to other dog handlers

Connect with Ballad of the Bird Dog :

Ballad of the Bird Dog

Instagram

Proud Sponsors:

Gundog Central

Ballad of the Bird Dog

The North American Grouse Partnership is on a mission to ensure a future where all 12 grouse species not only survive—but thrive—across the continent. Through science-driven conservation, smart policy, and strong partnerships, they’re working to protect and restore the habitats these birds depend on. With a special focus on prairie grouse, they’re tackling one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world: our grasslands. Backed by a powerhouse team of scientists and conservation leaders, their work is grounded in real data and real results—turning strategy into meaningful impact on the ground.

Today, we visit with Ted Koch, Executive Director and Taylor Linder, The Lesser Prairie-Chicken Landowner Alliance Coordinator to discuss the organization, grasslands, and the critical status of the Lesser Prairie Chicken.

Topics Covered:

• ​The critical status of grasslands in America
• ​Why grasslands are vital for wildlife and humans
• ​The need for ranching to be more economically viable
• ​The delisting of Lesser Prairie Chickens from the ESA
• ​What you can do to help save ranching and therefore, Lesser Prairie Chickens

Join The North American Grouse Partnership:

https://www.grousepartners.org/

Proud Sponsors:

Gundog Central

Hunt Redi

CJ Moore is a Georgia outdoorsman whose hunting roots run deep in family tradition and a lifelong love for working dogs. A lifelong resident of west-central Georgia, CJ is married to his high school sweetheart, Kasey, and together they’re raising two boys, Lukas and Layne. These days, much of his time outdoors is shaped by fatherhood, sharing the same woods and fields with his sons that first shaped him as a young hunter.

CJ was introduced to hunting at an early age by his dad, who loved chasing deer and running rabbit dogs. His first experiences behind hounds came listening to beagles work a track, and that sound never left him. As a teenager, CJ’s focus shifted to turkey and deer hunting, but he always kept rabbit dogs until life changed with the birth of his oldest son. A few years ago, he discovered woodcock hunting — and it lit a fire that hasn’t gone out since. Today, CJ brings a deep appreciation for tradition, dogs, and passing the hunting heritage down to the next generation.

• ​Woodcock hunting in the south
• ​Raising children in the uplands
• ​Watching a bird dog "flip the switch"
• ​His son's first woodcock harvest
• ​Advice for prospective bird dog owners

Proud Sponsors:

Gundog Central

Hunt Redi

Serving as the Forest Conservation Director for the Atlantic Coastal Plain and Piedmont Region, Sara Cerv brings a deep-rooted commitment to sustainable forestry and wildlife habitat management through the Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society. Inspired by the strong conservation ethic upheld by RGS & AWS, she joined the organization to advance science-based forest stewardship across some of the East’s most ecologically diverse landscapes.

A graduate of Virginia Tech with a background in forestry, she has worked as a forestry consultant and is actively involved with the Appalachian Society of American Foresters. Her career has centered on balancing working forests with healthy wildlife habitat, ensuring that both landowners and wild birds benefit from thoughtful, active management.

Topics Covered:

• ​The importance of disturbance in wildlife habitat
• ​Seasonal migration patterns of American Woodcock
• ​The charismatic sky dance of the woodcock in the spring
• ​Habitat concerns for woodcock
• ​The Eastern Woodcock Migration Research Cooperative

Connect with and join Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society:

https://ruffedgrousesociety.org/

https://www.instagram.com/ruffedgrousesociety/

Proud Sponsors:

Gundog Central

Hunt Redi

Tony Mullinax is a South Carolina outdoorsman, artist, and man of deep faith whose life has been shaped by family, loss, and a lifelong connection to the land. Raised in Cherokee County, where he still lives with his wife, Tony is the proud father of three grown children and grandfather to two. Many of his best days are spent hunting and fishing with his sons, continuing traditions first passed down by his uncles and grandfather after he lost his father in a tragic hunting accident at a young age.

The outdoors became both a place of remembrance and refuge for Tony, while art offered an early outlet for processing grief and anger — a journey that ultimately led him to lasting healing through faith in Christ. He grew up in the heyday of Southern quail hunting, remembers when woodcock were dismissed as “trash birds,” and carries a deep appreciation for the changing landscape of upland hunting. After years without a dog, art unexpectedly helped open the door for working dogs to return to his life. Today, he hunts behind Grim, a black Lab, and Creek, an English Setter, blending tradition, storytelling, and a heartfelt perspective on the role of dogs, faith, and family in the outdoors.

Topics Covered:

• ​Tony's upbringing in the outdoors
• ​Tragically losing his father at just two years old
• ​How artwork opened the door for him to get a bird dog
• ​His unique artwork type
• ​Hunting woodcock and quail in his area

Connect with Tony:

https://www.instagram.com/tonymullinaxart/

Proud Sponsors:

Gundog Central

Hunt Redi

Evan Moak is a Washington-based upland hunter who came to bird hunting later in life and isn’t shy about the steep learning curve that came with it. Living in Puyallup (PEW ALL UP) with his wife Amber, their daughter Martha, and two dogs, Evan’s journey into the uplands truly began with Pete, his American Brittany and first bird dog. What started with preserve birds quickly grew into an obsession with chasing wild ruffed grouse in the thick cover of the Pacific Northwest. Each season has been a mix of hard lessons, struggle, and the kind of small wins that keep a hunter coming back, all shaped by the experience of figuring it out in real time rather than growing up in the tradition.

Evan’s approach to bird hunting blends effort, curiosity, and a deep appreciation for the dogs and landscapes that make the pursuit meaningful. He spends the off-season sharpening his wingshooting through shotgun sports, invests in good instruction, and is steadily building a 2021 Ford Bronco into a capable rig for multi-day hunting trips. Photography is becoming part of the journey, too, with a long-term goal of one day ending a hunt by picking up a camera instead of loading another shell. For Evan, bird hunting is less about limits and more about the process — the cover walked, the dog work witnessed, and the lifelong education that only wild birds can provide.

Topics Covered:

• ​Evan's selection of the Brittany breed
• ​Barriers to bird hunting with his dog
• ​The extreme challenge of hunting ruffed grouse in the Pacific Northwest
• ​His recent first ruffed grouse harvest
• ​The secret bird of Texas
• ​Encouragement for new bird dog owners

Connect with Evan:

https://www.instagram.com/upland_evan/?hl=en

Proud Sponsors:

Gundog Central

Hunt Redi

Ryan Sparks is a storyteller of the sporting life, using both writing and photography to capture his passions for fishing, hunting, wild food, rivers, mountains, and bird dogs. He’s the editor of Quail Forever Journal and a senior contributor to NEBRASKAland, and he previously founded and led Strung Sporting Journal.

Ryan’s work has appeared in many of the most respected outdoor publications in the world, including Gray’s Sporting Journal, Outdoor Life, Field & Stream, The Flyfish Journal, Sporting Classics, and Shooting Sportsman, and Meateater. As a photographer, he’s worked commercially with kennels, gunmakers, outfitters, and sporting brands across North and South America.

Whether he’s behind a camera, a shotgun, or a fly rod, Ryan is dedicated to telling authentic stories about wild places, wildlife, and the people who care about them.

Topics Covered:

• ​Ryan's Rooster Roadtrip in Kansas
• ​How he became an outdoor storyteller
• ​What kind of story stands out to him as the QF Journal Editor
• ​The integration of media types to tell a hunting story
• ​The art of asking permission to hunt private land

Connect with Ryan:

https://www.flywatermedley.com/

https://www.instagram.com/1.ryan.sparks.1/?hl=en

Proud Sponsors:

Gundog Central

Hunt Redi

Aaron Hepler has been drawn to the outdoors since he began hunting at 12 years old, a passion that also sparked his love for writing. A Pennsylvania native, he spends his free time bowhunting, chasing upland birds, fishing, camping, and hiking with his family. His relationship with God is paramount and believes that the created world is something to be cherished. He also holds that time spent outdoors builds not only better hunters and anglers, but better people.

By day, Aaron works as an intensive care nurse, a demanding career that makes his time outside even more meaningful. Though he grew up around dogs, he didn’t hunt behind one until getting his first Labrador at 22. She became his trusted hunting partner for 14 seasons. After sadly losing her, Aaron and his wife welcomed two new pups into their home, including a French Brittany that introduced him to the world of pointing dogs. He’s developed a deep appreciation for the training process and the instinct-driven style of hunting behind a pointing breed.

For Aaron, the outdoors is where memories are made, lessons are learned, and stories begin.

Topics Covered:

• ​Moving from a flushing to a pointing breed
• ​Recent extreme weather impacts on wildlife
• ​Challenges in relationships with our dogs
• ​The pheasant stocking program in PA
• ​Aaron's future upland plans

Connect with Aaron:

https://www.instagram.com/incamp_podcast/

Proud Sponsors:

Gundog Central

Hunt Redi

Collin Kelly is the founder and owner of Elkhorn Coffee, a specialty-grade coffee roaster based in Elkhorn, Nebraska. He studied exercise science at the University of Nebraska Omaha before pursuing an MBA at Colorado State University, where the idea for Elkhorn Coffee was born.

Inspired by its hometown and the historic Elkhorn Ranch, where Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation ethic took shape in the Badlands of North Dakota, Elkhorn Coffee is rooted in stewardship of the land and wildlife. The brand believes coffee is the start of every day spent hunting, fishing, and living outdoors—a moment to slow down and reconnect.

Elkhorn Coffee partners with wildlife conservation organizations across North America, donating $1 from every bag sold, while remaining deeply involved in fundraising and conservation leadership efforts nationwide.

Proudly, Elkhorn Coffee is fueling mornings, conversations, conservation, and the future of the outdoors.

Topics Covered:

• ​Collin's inspiration behind Elkhorn
• ​The role of coffee in outdoor culture
• ​How Elkhorn matches each roast to each animal on the bag
• ​The process of partnering with conservation organizations
• ​Exciting roll outs for Elkhorn at Pheasant Fest 2026

Connect with Elkhorn Coffee:

https://www.elkhorncoffee.com/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21133774223&gbraid=0AAAAApk6oi-w_3m_UvrEJwleX7PFzeau7&gclid=CjwKCAiAs4HMBhBJEiwACrfNZTJ_w4pwX5xZLn7BePKPpQRyZ_3KlUUpj50x7Sztenr-A7dDooN7sRoCaO8QAvD_BwE

https://www.instagram.com/elkhorncoffee/?hl=en

Proud Sponsors:

Gundog Central

Hunt Redi

Kyle Hedges and Frank Loncarich are lifelong upland hunters and professional wildlife biologists whose careers have focused on quail, grasslands, and habitat conservation across the Midwest. Kyle was raised in southeast Kansas hunting quail with his family and later attended Kansas State University. He began his career managing more than 60,000 acres of public land at Fort Riley, Kansas, before moving to Missouri in 2000 to continue his work with the Missouri Department of Conservation, where he is nearing retirement.

Frank was born and raised in southwest Missouri in a family of bird hunters. He earned his master’s degree from the University of Arkansas, where he studied greater prairie chickens, and has spent more than 20 years working with bobwhite quail in Kansas and Missouri. He currently serves as MDC’s State Grassland Coordinator, helping guide grassland conservation efforts statewide.

From 2014 to 2018, Kyle and Frank co-led the largest quail research project ever conducted in Missouri, radio-collaring over 1,500 quail and monitoring more than 500 nests. In addition to their agency work, they consult nationally with Land & Legacy, developing wildlife management plans for deer, turkeys, and upland birds, while continuing to hunt together across the country.

Topics Covered:

• ​Kyle and Frank's upbringing in quail hunting
• ​How the two meet and became lifelong co-workers and friends
• ​A massive, 4 year quail research project they headed up
• ​The surprising behavior of studied quail in this period
• ​Kyle and Frank's North American Quail Slam

Connect with Kyle and Frank:

https://www.instagram.com/uplandflush/?__d=1

Proud Sponsors:

Gundog Central

Hunt Redi