The Fowl Life

Chad Belding
  • 4.4 (199)
  • Sports
  • Updated Weekly

As Chad chases the waterfowl migration, each new episode, brings you a behind-the-scenes experience at different Duck Hunting Camps across the U.S. Here you’ll get to hear from industry leaders, expert waterfowl hunters, professional athletes and folks that are just as obsessed as you are about waterfowl hunting. You’ll find advice on choosing the right gear, learn new hunting strategies, duck calling techniques, how to prepare wild game and so much more. So, join the conversation and subscribe to the podcast so you’ll get future episodes downloaded directly to your computer, phone or tablet.

  1. 11h ago

    E579 - Pudgie Pies, Toasties & Wild Game | The Ultimate Camp Cooking Guide with Chef Ellie Lawton

    Up north they're called Pudgie Pies. Down south they're Toasties. Either way, they're the ultimate camp food, and wild game is the star of the show. Chef Ellie Lawton and Midwest Host Joel Kleefisch show you how to become the Pie Iron master of camp in this Fowl Life Eat Wild Series. Don't miss this one! This episode is brought to you by Travel Wisconsin and Camospace!`

    E579 - Pudgie Pies, Toasties & Wild Game | The Ultimate Camp Cooking Guide with Chef Ellie Lawton

  2. Aug 11

    E578 - Patrick Durkin | 40+ Years of Outdoor Writing, MeatEater, and What It Takes to Stay Relevant

    He's been writing about the outdoors longer than most people have been hunting. Patrick Durkin is a Navy veteran, a Wisconsin native, and one of the most respected voices in outdoor media. With over 40 years of writing under his belt and a longtime role with the hit show MeatEater. Midwest host Joel Kleefisch sits down with Patrick for an exclusive look at his life, his career, and what it takes to stay relevant in a space that keeps changing. Patrick doesn't hold back on the industry, on what makes good outdoor writing, and on why it's all important. This is The Fowl Life Podcast, Travel Wisconsin Edition. This episode is brought to you by Travel Wisconsin and Camospace!

    E578 - Patrick Durkin | 40+ Years of Outdoor Writing, MeatEater, and What It Takes to Stay Relevant

  3. Aug 8

    E577 - Are You a Good Shotgunner? | Four-Time World Champion Derrick Mein Has the Answer

    Derrick Mein just got back from Europe. World Cup in Italy. World Championships in Portugal. Third in the world out of nine hundred competitors. One target behind the new world champion. Chad sits down with the four-time world champion and two-time Olympian and asks the question every hunter has wondered about themselves — are you actually a good shotgunner? Derrick breaks it all down. Stance, eye dominance, sight picture, muzzle movement, follow through. Why you stop your gun and miss. Why both eyes open isn't always the right answer. Why the mental game catches up with everyone, even the best in the world. They also get into ESP Hearing Protection, Federal ammunition at competition level, what it costs to compete when most of those nine hundred shooters in Portugal paid their own way, and the 156-inch archery eight pointer hanging on the wall behind him. This episode is presented by Federal Premium Ammunition and brought to you by Benelli Shotguns, HiViz Sights, Rob Roberts Custom Gunworks, ESP Hearing Protection, Avery Outdoors, Realtree Camo, Jack Link's Protein Snacks, CamoSpace, Oakley Sunglasses, and Featherlite.

    E577 - Are You a Good Shotgunner? | Four-Time World Champion Derrick Mein Has the Answer

  4. Aug 4

    E576 - Tony Vandemore | The State of Duck Hunting, Canada's New Laws, and What This Season Has in Store

    Chad sits down with Tony Vandemore of Habitat Flats, for the conversation we are all wanting to hear right now. The season is just around the corner, and things are more exciting than they have been in years. Tony was up at 1 a.m. watching radar and hoping for rain. That's the preseason nobody sees. The prairies are wetter than they've been in fifty years. Baby ducks on every piece of water. Tony breaks down what that means for the season, why mallards only move as far as they have to, and what five billion extra bushels of corn in the northern states is doing to migration. They get into Canada's new ten-day license rules, the possession limit debate, instant credibility on social media versus the way they actually came up, and whether we're really living in the golden age of waterfowl hunting right now. Tony started Habitat Flats in 2007. He knows this stuff as well as a person can. It's his entire life, and we are so grateful to have him back on the show to share his knowledge. This one's worth every minute. Book a hunt at habitatflats.com or email tony@habitatflats.com. This episode is brought to you by Benelli Shotguns, Federal Premium Ammunition, Banded Brands, Mojo Outdoors, Avery Outdoors, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Realtree Camo, CamoSpace, Rob Roberts Custom Gunworks, and GATR Coolers & Drinkware.

    E576 - Tony Vandemore | The State of Duck Hunting, Canada's New Laws, and What This Season Has in Store

  5. Jul 31

    E575 - Protect Your Hearing or Lose It | Chad Belding on ESP Hearing Protection

    Chad's been around guns his whole life. Shotguns, handguns, sporting clays, turkey hunting, duck blinds. Tens of thousands of rounds, and for most of that time, hearing protection was an afterthought. That changed when he met Jeff and the team at ESP Hearing Protection and got custom fitted for the first time. This episode is his full, honest take on what that experience was like, why he resisted it for so long, and what's different now. He gets into how the custom molds work, what it's like to call turkeys while wearing them, why he's hearing gobbles from further away on the roost, and how his handgun training has completely changed. He also talks about the guys he knows in their 50s, 60s, and 70s who can't hear their phone ring without hearing aids and why he's not willing to go down that road. At 50, Chad's not slowing down. He wants to hunt hard for the next 30-40 years. And that means taking care of everything! From the body and mind to his eyes and ears. And this one is presented by ESP Hearing Protection. This episode is brought to you by Benelli Shotguns, HiViz Sights, Nutrien Ag Solutions, CamoSpace, Avery Outdoors, Realtree Camo, Rob Roberts Custom Gunworks, and Bodyguard Bumpers.

    E575 - Protect Your Hearing or Lose It | Chad Belding on ESP Hearing Protection

  6. Jul 29

    E574 - The Duck Factory Is Under Threat | Chad Belding with Ducks Unlimited Scientists Scott Stephens & Mike Brasher

    The deadline is August 7th. Act now. ducks.org/save-the-duck-factory https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/24/2026-14995/national-wildlife-refuge-system-request-for-information-on-implementation-of-drain-tile-setbacks The prairie pothole region; stretching across Montana, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and up into Canada, is responsible for producing up to sixty-five percent of the ducks that fly down every flyway in North America. Since the 1960s, duck hunters have invested in 1.7 million acres of wetland easements through duck stamp purchases to protect those wetlands permanently. No drainage. No impact. Forever. That protection is now being threatened. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has published a request for information regarding the 2024 rule that governs tile drain setbacks on those easements, and has signaled an intent to repeal it. If that rule is weakened, those wetlands could lose up to twenty-eight percent of their inundated area in the first year alone. Fewer wetlands means fewer pairs. Fewer pairs means fewer ducks. This is the science. This is what's at stake. Chad sat down with Dr. Scott Stephens, Sr. Director of Prairie and Boreal Forest Conservation Strategy at Ducks Unlimited, and Dr. Mike Brasher, Senior Waterfowl Scientist at Ducks Unlimited, for one of the most important conversations ever recorded on this podcast. They break down what easements are, what tile drainage is, what the 2024 rule does, why it matters, and exactly what you can do right now to protect it. If you've ever bought a duck stamp, you are an investor in this habitat. Your voice matters right now. The comment deadline is August 7th. Go to ducks.org/save-the-duck-factory to sign the petition and submit your comment to the Federal Register. The direct Federal Register comment link is also in the show notes. This episode proudly features Ducks Unlimited and is brought to you by Benelli Shotguns, Nutrien Ag Solutions, MOJO Outdoors, Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels, Corning Ford, LEER Truck Toppers, and GATR Coolers & Drinkware.

    E574 - The Duck Factory Is Under Threat | Chad Belding with Ducks Unlimited Scientists Scott Stephens & Mike Brasher

  7. Jul 22

    E573 - Wisconsin DNR's Taylor Finger on Tracking Waterfowl Migration | The Travel WIsconsin Series

    In this episode, Midwest host Joel Kleefisch and the single most important tool for migratory patterns. What happened to bird banding?! In this exclusive Fowl Life Podcast, Midwest Host Joel Kleefisch pins down Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources Chief Game Bird Ecologist Taylor Finger about what you can expect when it comes to bands, neck collars, and GPS backpacks. Don’t miss this fascinating insider info! This episode is brought to you by Travel Wisconsin and Realtree Camo!

    E573 - Wisconsin DNR's Taylor Finger on Tracking Waterfowl Migration | The Travel WIsconsin Series

  8. Jul 16

    E572 - Dusty Tuckness | The Most Voted Bullfighter in NFR History on God, Grit, and Getting Back Up

    Chad doesn't spend a ton of time in the rodeo world, but sitting down with Dusty Tuckness, it's hard not to see how much it mirrors everything The Fowl Life stands for. Dusty's a hunter, so this one was a natural. Dusty has been voted into the National Finals Rodeo by the top bull riders in the world 17 years in a row. This is a record that's never been touched. A lot of people in the stands don't even know who he is. That's the job. Step in, take the hit, protect the guy everyone else is watching. They sit down the day after Dusty took a hard one. A subluxed hip, stretched hammy, sprained MCL — and went back out and fought 11 more bulls. They get into the split-second decisions, the two-man team, and what it really means to do a job nobody sees coming, but everybody needs when things go wrong. Dusty talks openly about his faith, getting through a compound fracture of his tib and fib, and why he considers himself a Christian who just happens to fight bulls. Chad brings the mallard duck story, the veterans he's hunted with, and what this lifestyle has actually given him. Animal ethics, the hunting and rodeo crossover, Rocker Steiner, Stetson Wright, and Caesars Rodeo all come up too. This episode is brought to you by Benelli Shotguns, Federal Premium Ammunition, Banded Brands, Avery Outdoors, Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels, Corning Ford, Resistol Hats, Rob Roberts Custom Gunworks, LEER Truck Toppers, GATR Coolers & Drinkware, and HiViz Sights.

    E572 - Dusty Tuckness | The Most Voted Bullfighter in NFR History on God, Grit, and Getting Back Up
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4.4
out of 5
199 Ratings

About

As Chad chases the waterfowl migration, each new episode, brings you a behind-the-scenes experience at different Duck Hunting Camps across the U.S. Here you’ll get to hear from industry leaders, expert waterfowl hunters, professional athletes and folks that are just as obsessed as you are about waterfowl hunting. You’ll find advice on choosing the right gear, learn new hunting strategies, duck calling techniques, how to prepare wild game and so much more. So, join the conversation and subscribe to the podcast so you’ll get future episodes downloaded directly to your computer, phone or tablet.

Information

  • Creator
    Chad Belding
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    500
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    The Fowl Life

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