The North American Waterfowler

Elliott Snider

The North American Waterfowler Podcast was established on January 1, 2023. Hosted by Elliott Snider, creator of the Freelance Duck Hunting YouTube channel and former co-host of The Duck Gun Podcast. This podcast will bring you content on every aspect of Waterfowl Hunting.

  1. 4 days ago

    Episode #300 Ducks Unlimited, the Prairie Pothole Region & the Future of Duck Hunting

    Contact Elliott: Freelanceduckhunting@gmail.com Support The Show: patreon.com/freelanceduckhunting Episode 300 of the North American Waterfowler Podcast! In this episode, I talk about the upcoming teal season, scouting, current habitat conditions, and one of the most important regions for North American waterfowl—the Prairie Pothole Region. I also dig into Ducks Unlimited and the growing debate among duck hunters about the organization. Why do some hunters distrust DU? Where does the money go? How much habitat is actually being conserved? And how important is protecting breeding habitat in the Prairie Pothole Region to the future of duck hunting? Rather than just giving my opinion, I look at the numbers, discuss some of the criticism directed at Ducks Unlimited, and explain why I believe conservation on the breeding grounds matters to every duck hunter—no matter where they hunt. Thanks to everyone who has supported the North American Waterfowler Podcast through 300 episodes! NAW PARTNERS TideWe.com (Code NAW18) Retay Shotguns (RetayUSA.com) FlightDayAmmo.com (NAW10) Slayer Duck Calls (SlayerCalls.Com) Shotty Gear (ShottyGear.Com Code FDH10) Mammoth Guardian Dog Crates Thanks to all of our partners for supporting the North American Waterfowler Podcast. #DuckHunting #DucksUnlimited #Waterfowl #PrairiePotholeRegion #WaterfowlHunting #DuckConservation #TealHunting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  2. 27 Aug

    Episode #299 Blue-Winged Teal Duckling Survival Jumped From 20% to 70% | Grant Rhodes

    Blue-Winged Teal Duckling Survival Jumped From 20% to 70% | Grant Rhodes Biologist Grant Rhodes returns to the North American Waterfowler Podcast for the third year in a row to share what he learned during his fourth field season studying Blue-winged Teal across the Prairie Pothole Region. Grant and his team are using drones equipped with thermal imaging, radio telemetry, and uniquely marked hens to study Blue-winged Teal broods and better understand what actually drives duckling survival. And this year produced some incredible results. After seeing duckling survival around 20% in previous years, Grant's raw numbers from this season showed survival approaching 70%. What changed? Water. We discuss how wet conditions across the breeding grounds created more seasonal wetlands, increased food and invertebrate availability, provided better concealment from predators, spread broods across the landscape, and allowed young teal to move between wetlands. We also get into: • Why Blue-winged Teal were chosen for this research• How thermal drones are changing the way researchers count duck broods• Why nest predation was so severe during the Saskatchewan years• Ravens and their impact on nesting success• Predator management and nest survival• Why some broods traveled as far as a mile• A hen that went from 11 ducklings to 21 through brood adoption• What ducklings are eating during their first weeks of life• Why Grant believes we could see a significant increase in Blue-winged Teal following this year's production• What harvest really means for Blue-winged Teal populations• Why habitat and breeding-ground conditions remain so important to waterfowl populations• Where Grant's research goes from here This is Grant's fourth field season studying Blue-winged Teal and his third appearance on the podcast. Each year we've been able to follow the research as it develops, and this may be the most interesting year yet. Join the Freelance Duck Hunting Patreon:patreon.com/freelanceduckhunting Thanks to the partners of the North American Waterfowler Podcast: TideWe — NAW18 for 18% offRetay Shotguns — retayusa.comFlight Day Ammunition — flightdayammo.comSlayer Duck Calls — slayercalls.comMammoth Guardian Dog Crates — Search Mammoth Guardian Dog Crate on AmazonShoddy Gear — shoddygear.com — Code FDH10 #BlueWingedTeal #DuckHunting #Waterfowl #WaterfowlHunting #DuckResearch #WaterfowlBiology #PrairiePotholeRegion #NorthAmericanWaterfowler Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  3. 20 Aug

    Episode #298 Can We Save Klamath? A New Solution for Ducks, Water & Wetlands

    Contact Elliott: freelanceduckhunting@gmail.com support the show: patreon.com/freelanceduckhunting Partners of the Show Retay Shotgunshttps://www.retayusa.com/ Slayer Duck Callshttps://www.slayercalls.com/ TIDEWE — Code: NAW18https://www.tidewe.com/ Mammoth Guardian Dog Crateshttps://mammothguardian.com/ Flight Day Ammunition — Code: NAW ⁠https://flightdayammo.com/⁠ Shotty Gear — Code: FDH10⁠ https://shottygear.com/⁠ The Klamath Basin is one of the most important waterfowl landscapes in the Pacific Flyway—but in recent years, drought, water shortages, and devastating avian botulism outbreaks have taken an enormous toll. In 2024 alone, an estimated 140,000 birds died from avian botulism. On this episode of the North American Waterfowler Podcast, I’m joined by Jeff McCreary, Director of Operations for Ducks Unlimited’s Western Region, and Dr. Dan Smith, Ducks Unlimited waterfowl research scientist. We break down why Klamath is so important, the complicated battle over water in the basin, how avian botulism kills waterfowl, and an innovative new approach called Flowthrough that could help provide water for wetlands, reduce botulism outbreaks, improve habitat, benefit fish—and create better hunting opportunities. There is plenty of doom and gloom surrounding waterfowl and habitat today. This conversation is different. There are people working together to find solutions, and there is legitimate reason for hope at Klamath. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  4. 17 Aug

    Episode #297 From Newfoundland to Ontario: A Waterfowler’s Story | Damien Pittman

    Damien Pittman of Punisher Waterfowl joins me for a wide-ranging conversation about his life in waterfowl hunting. Damien grew up in Newfoundland, where hunting looked a lot different than the decoy-and-calling style most of us picture today. We talk about those early years, leaving Newfoundland, his 20-year military career, getting back into duck hunting, and eventually building Punisher Waterfowl. We also get into what waterfowl hunting looks like today in Ontario, early Canada goose season, hunting pressure, the differences between Canadian and American waterfowling, the growth of his podcast, and why he recently brought everything under the Punisher Waterfowl name. Along the way, we talk about the relationships this community creates, the toxicity that sometimes shows up online, taking risks, learning from failure, and why no duck is worth risking your life over. A great conversation with a guy I really enjoyed getting to know. THANK YOU TO THE PARTNERS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN WATERFOWLER PODCAST 🔹 Retay Shotguns — Check out the ACE and ACE-R lineup of 12, 20 and 28 gauge shotguns. 🔹 Slayer Duck Calls — MC, YOLO Bypass and more. Check out Slayer’s Call of the Wild training resources to improve your calling. 🔹 TideWe — Waders, heated gear, blinds and more.Code: NAW18 for 18% off 🔹 Shotty Gear — Waterfowl gear including backpacks, gun cases, shell pouches and more.Code: FDH10 🔹 Flight Day Ammunition — Maximum Payload steel ammunition.Code: NAW10 🔹 Mammoth Guardian Dog Crates — Heavy-duty dog crates with the roll cage attachment for added protection. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

About

The North American Waterfowler Podcast was established on January 1, 2023. Hosted by Elliott Snider, creator of the Freelance Duck Hunting YouTube channel and former co-host of The Duck Gun Podcast. This podcast will bring you content on every aspect of Waterfowl Hunting.

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