On The Wing Podcast Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s Conservation Leadership Program Manager Levi Day for a discussion about the organization’s effort to foster more interest in conservation careers, ranging from biologists to marketing professionals and accountants to educators.
Episode Highlights:
• Day recounts becoming a hunter, pursuing a career as an education professional, then developing a hunting friendship via social media that resulted in his jump into a conservation career of his own with PF & QF.
• Day also explains PF & QF’s Journey to Conservation Careers program and recaps a successful career curriculum session that occurred on the morning of the podcast in Sioux Falls, South Dakota’s Harrisburg High School.

Continuing Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s special Women on the Wing podcast series, host Ashley Chance is joined by co-host Britta Petersen for a conversation with North Dakota Senior Field Representative Renee Tomala. Renee talks to us about growing up in the outdoors, DIY dog training and how she works with Pheasants Forever Chapters to carry out our organization’s mission.

SPOILER ALERT: There are now 13 Women on the Wing Chapters across the country with more on the way!

Episode Highlights:
• Being in the path of totality – Britta's eclipse experience.
• The crew talks about getting comfortable eating unusual animal parts.
• Renee talks about what a privilege it is to work with chapters to carry out our mission and all the ways she goes about that, leaving us to wonder what doesn't a regional representative do?
• Renee gives us a brief history of Women on the Wing and Women on the Wing Chapters, which originated with an all-women staff years ago in North Dakota.
• Today there are Women on the Wing Chapters in ND, TX, MN, MI, NC, WA, GA, WI, AZ, SD and OH doing all kinds of neat things including hosting events like “Unstuck your truck.”
• Renee chronicles the (mis)adventures of Quill, her German Wirehaired Pointer aka ‘Porcupine Lover.’
Find a Women on the Wing Chapter near you on our website, and if you’d like to start a Women on the Wing Chapter where you live, reach out to Renee at rtomala@pheasantsforever.org!

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Tony Jones, an adult-onset hunter, theologian, author, professor, podcaster, and former pastor. Jones has just released a new book, The God of Wild Places with the subtitle “Rediscovering the Divine in the Untamed Outdoors.” In the book, Jones writes about the role pheasant hunting, bird dogs, and wild meat have played in shaping his new perspective on life following a tumultuous divorce.
Episode Highlights:
• The guys start off the episode with a spirited flusher vs. pointer debate.
• Jones tells the funny story of trading preaching services for pheasant hunting expertise and land access.
• The discussion ends with a preview of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers annual Rendezvous taking place at the Minneapolis Convention Center on April 19 & 20 where Tony will be selling his books and where PF & QF will have a membership booth.
Learn more about Tony Jones, his new book, and the Reverend Hunter podcast at www.ReverendHunter.com.

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Clay Thompson, a SportDOG Brand pro staff dog trainer, for a conversation about his Oklahoma quail roots and his current South Dakota waterfowl and pheasant passions. The guys also discuss the new SportDOG Brand FieldSentinel, which Thompson equates to a dog’s “check engine light,” as it monitors a pup’s heart rate and the intensity & duration of exertion.
Episode Highlights:
• Thompson explains how skipping a day of college to go on a duck hunt with a well-trained bird dog changed his life for the better.
• Thompson tells the story of how an impromptu South Dakota sharp-tailed grouse hunt on a hot day put his Labrador retriever into a scary situation, which was the genesis story for the new SportDOG Brand FieldSentinel.
Check out the new SportDOG Brand FieldSentinel.

Continuing Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s special Women on the Wing podcast series, host Ashley Chance is joined by co-host Britta Petersen for a conversation with Iowa Senior Farm Bill Biologist Allie Barth. Barth is one of the longest tenured biologists in the organization and brings a wealth of knowledge to the discussion focused on prescribed fire and the ins and outs of the Conservation Reserve Program. The trio also discuss how our organizations’ biologists use their skills and passion to create wildlife habitat, and Barth also shares some of the important things she’s learned from working with landowners.
Episode Highlights:
• Barth shows off her biologist chops throughout the conversation, while also talking about how lighting a prescribed fire can be thrilling, scary, and extremely beneficial.

• The crew discuss why Labs should be everyone’s next dog.

• Upcoming adventures: exploring the outdoors with Labs and kids, more fire, and turkey hunting!

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined Ben Wheeler, a Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever wildlife biologist and prescribed fire expert from Nebraska, for a conversation with author Maura O’Connor. The discussion focuses on O’Connor’s new book, Ignition, which is subtitled “Lighting Fires in a Burning World.” The trio talk about the importance of prescribed fire for wildlife habitat, as well as the importance of regular burning of prairies and forests to prevent massive wildfires.

Episode Highlights:
• Wheeler recounts famed biologist Herbert Stoddard’s advocacy for fire as a critically important wildlife habitat management tool, as well as Stoddard’s dubbing of the bobwhite quail as “the fire bird.”
• O’Connor explains the role prescribed fire plays in protecting grasslands from woody encroachment, mitigating climate change, and protecting water resources.
Check out O’Connor’s book, Ignition, on Amazon.