The Wildfowl Podcast

A 2020 feature story dubbed biologist Dr. Chris Nicolai of Delta Waterfowl, “The Indiana Jones of Waterfowling.” One of our favorite stories to ever run in WILDFOWL Magazine tells of a dedicated waterfowl warrior who has deployed airplanes, helicopters, and net-guns to study waterfowl and lived right among nesting goose colonies. Don’t miss his tales of snoring pintails, the state of bird banding, avian flu, decoy carving, and the Duck Factory’s current status heading into the breeding season...

Join Skip, Big Jim, and Ratch as WILDFOWL doubles down on podcasts, announcing a new one for retriever owners hosted by Associate Editor Nathan “Ratch” Ratchford. This new show was created to help you with things like vetting breeders, incorporating steadiness in daily life, cutting edge training (“dog coaching”), and choosing the right breed for you. Nate will host expert guests and hopes to build a community around the spirit of training your dog yourself while supporting his new D.I.Y Duck...

Host Skip Knowles is on-scene in Alberta with MOJO Outdoors and Hidden Prairie Outfitters. It’s the thrilling end of the snow goose migration, where millions of geese fuel up on grain and stage before “leaping the trees” on the long flight to the tundra where they breed. Learn why the geese drop their guard and adult birds become so much more cooperative to decoy, and just why this may be the ultimate destination for superior snow goose hunting. The gang also tries out some new snow goose mot...

“TAKE ‘EM!” What, you didn’t hear that? Skip and Big Jim tackle hearing loss with the caped crusader who is out to change the culture of waterfowling. Bill Dickinson of TETRA Hearing tells the story and the passion behind that company’s superb hearing enhancement products, built by duck hunters for all outdoors folks, even those running tractors and loud machinery in the off-season to manage their lands. Together, we can fix this and HEAR THE HUNT!Thanks for listening!If you like what you hea...

Rockstar young gun photographer and duck nut Brandon Fien shot his first four WILDFOWL cover shots as a teenager, including the banded wood duck he killed in California on the 2023 Big Dog Issue now available on newsstands. Hear that story and join him and Editor Skip along with big Jim McConville to learn how Brandon started and how to improve your photos, as well as the greatest mistake upstart photographers make. Thanks for listening!If you like what you hear, be sure to subscr...

Wildfowl’s own larger-than-life Jim “Big Jim” McConville gets a turn to tell his story about the long road to waterfowling from a rich Ohio upbringing. A much-loved character in the industry, Big Jim is descended from market gunners, had to balance hunting with an elite football career, has built his own lethal giant goose decoys, and as our national sales manager, has some wild yarns about heading out over a mile on Great Lakes ice to kill ducks with his dad. He also provides some advice for...

SHOTGUNS! It’s a passionate subject for all of us! Join us as we connect with the guys at Retay to talk about one of our absolute favorite things as duck and goose hunters. Duck season is ripping along, the migration alerts are beeping, and the rest of a great season is just ahead. We’ll learn why Retay is worth a look with their better-built barrels and better shooting shotguns. Our talk also turns to the Eastern Shore for hand-carved decoys, waterfowl festivals, and more!Thanks for listenin...

Skip and Big Jim visit with Matt Cagle of Rig'Em Right. Matt is a surfer and hunter with a saltwater soul and one of the coolest guys we’ve ever met in this industry. He's a real duck man who used bread bags and other “terrible gear” as a kid to find inspiration to start his company that now builds some of the toughest gun cases, blind bags and backpacks, decoy rigging, hunting blinds, and other essential gear for the diehard hunter. Find out how Duck Commander played a role in helping him ge...

In the Retriever Gear installment of our 2022 Giant Gear Issue Series, we linked up with Rehan Nana from Garmin. Rehan shares about his decision to send his dog off to an elite pro dog trainer, outlines how to pick one (both a dog and a trainer), and talks about his move from pointing dogs to Labradors. We also dive into dog training technology and catch a migration report, including Skip’s special banded harlequin duck in Alaska!Thanks for listening!If you like what you hear, be sure to subs...

Join us on another installment of the 2022 Giant Gear Issue series. On this episode we delve into waterfowl hunting camo and clothing trends with our friends from Browning and their pro staffer country music singer Meghan Patrick, a rising star in Nashville, who is a great ambassador for this sport we all love. We joined Meghan on a wild goose chase in North Dakota last year and it was an unforgettable outing testing new clothing and camo patterns (detailed in big story in our October issue o...