“Chronic Wasting Disease is going to wipe out whitetail herds”! We’ve all heard the jargon put forth by popular NGOs as well as many of our state wildlife governing agencies. But after 18 years of doing this, I (as well as you) am still waiting for the great CWD die off in a whitetail herd. Take Wisconsin for example, the state with the highest CWD detection rate in the country, yet they have a deer population that keeps growing, and growing to the point that the Wisconsin DNR keeps issuing more and more deer tags to hunters in an attempt to limit population growth. So how is that possible? How can the population keep expanding if the whitetail deer boogeyman (CWD) is killing them all off? The answer to that rhetorical question, of course, is that CWD isn’t affecting their whitetail herd whatsoever. That reality holds true in every other state with positive CWD tests as well. This week, we are joined by a man who’s studied up on the numbers far more than I have. Stephen Ziegler of the popular Rack Junkies Facebook page and co-owner of Delong Lures has not only looked at deer population numbers, but more importantly he’s done the investigative digging on why the CWD narrative continues to be pushed on not only hunters, but also the non-hunting public. He must have uncovered some uncomfortable truth because the National Deer Association blocked not only Rack Junkies, but also his personal profile after Stephen posted what the CEO makes annually and how much tax-payer grant money they get for “CWD Research”. In addition to uncovering the greatest hunting hoax of our generation, we also dive into some other discussion points including: * How did he end up acquiring Delong Lures? * Who should be held responsible for caribou dying off in the Lower 48? * Hunting NGOs he’s found to be on the up and up financially vs those that aren’t * Bucketlist Florida hunting/fishing trip * Nick Shirley of the outdoor community * Corner crossing * What is Public Land intended for?  Should hunters be the only beneficiaries? * State wildlife agencies on the take for CWD grant money * National Deer Association drops 97% of their member base, CEO Nick Pinazotto’s salary goes up! * Trump’s actual legacy when it comes to sportsmen

Over 400,000 Americans now suffer from Alpha Gal Syndrome, the tick-borne illness that causes a red meat allergy (among other symptoms). Fitness guru and ironman athlete Erin Oprea joins the conversation this week to discuss her journey fighting Alpha Gal and subsequently offering anyone affected with the disease some hope of making a full recovery. Erin isn’t some super outdoorsy hunter or angler. She actually was bitten by a Lone Star tick while taking the dogs for a run in downtown Nashville. After pulling the tick off of her leg, she didn’t really think anything of it. A few weeks later, however, she started having odd symptoms. After weeks of not knowing what was going on with her body, she realized that her strict carnivore diet of red meat was actually causing adverse reactions to her body. After getting her bloodwork done, it was also confirmed that Erin not only had contracted Alpha Gal, but Lyme Disease as well. Her recovery process was extremely aggressive, and she proved that Alpha Gal is beatable with the right focus and treatment plan. Erin talks about the importance of having a strong mental approach coupled with Chinese medicine and modern peptides. The result was beating Alpha Gal with a clean blood test after just 3.5 weeks! Her testimony should give all of us who routinely come into contact with ticks a little bit of hope that Alpha Gal is beatable.

Carl Van Zyl and I have spent over 2 months of our lives hunting the South African bush together. Having just wrapped up our 9th safari, we sat down in the library at John X Safari’s Woodlands Camp to talk about our recent adventure. In addition to recapping the ups and downs of our latest safari, we also take a historical look at the historical romance and allure of hunting on the Dark Continent. From the days of Teddy to Hemingway to today’s hunter, what has changed vs what has stayed the same? Highlights include: * Safari number 9! * Who originally is responsible for planting the African safari seed in the big game hunter’s mind? * From the days of Roosevelt to Hemingway * What happened from Hemingway to the 1970s? * The seismic shift when Kenya shifted directions * A door opened for South Africa * The early days of John X and the South African safaris in general * Sleeping in the truck for 3 days waiting on an international client * What the heck was a Delta Pass? * The early SCI convention days * The change in mindset from the early collectors chasing inches to today’s hunter chasing experiences * Shooting from the bottom up * A special impala ram * Cable and Carl stumble upon a new species * An impressive nyala bull * A species list on a truck dashboard * A missed kudu bull * Reminiscing about a spectaculer mountain reedbuck  

Nina Rogers and Meredith Powroznik met at a Field & Stream turkey camp this spring. The pair became fast friends and before they knew it, they’d spent the majority of turkey season trying to accomplish a pretty lofty goal: get Meredith a gobbler with her longbow. During this episode we discuss the ups and downs and close calls of their quest. Highlights from the conversation include: * Their dads’ respective roles in getting them involved in the outdoors * Thank you for your service * Calling turkeys with just your mouth * Meredith’s dedication and successes with the longbow, but why? * Nina as a turkey guide * Women as the fastest growing demographic of hunters * Field and Stream TV * What legacy am I leaving with my daughters? * Elk with a longbow? * Bucklist Hunts  

Dr. Keith Tidball recently was named Executive Director of the Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation. The Ivy League educated outdoorsman certainly bucked the norm during his time at Cornell. Highlights from today’s conversation include: * Upstate New York * How many Ivy League Schools can Cable name? * Educated rednecks * Bambo flyrods * Tying your own flies * Old guns * Safari Club International invests in the next generation of sportsmen and women * Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation and its role introducing American youth into the outdoor lifestyle * Answers on wild game nutrition * SCI Chapter support of OTF * Where does he see OTF moving forward? * Educating the non-hunting public * Ancient Grip and Grins

Matt Ward didn’t grow up hunting. The California native discovered his calling in his late 20s. But for the better part of the last 3 decades, he’s traveled the globe 10 times over in search of the next big game experience. His travels have taken to over 50 countries where he’s been charged by elephants, had guns drawn on him by the cartel and seen people executed in small town Islamic communities in the Middle East. On today’s episode the ‘A Hunter’s Quest’ personality and I  touch on those things, plus a myriad of other topics including: * His advocacy and film for Catalina Island titled “Save Catalina’s Deer Herd, Fight Eradication” * The son of Sri Lakan immigrants and living out the American dream * How he got into big game hunting as an adult * Polar bears and African lions * Mountain hunting in the Middle East * How many big game species has the taken? * Zebra duiker in the Libyan jungle * Conservation dollars in action * What legacy will he leave? * Upcoming Russia trip * Deadly jungle elephants in Gabon * The grind of leopard hunting (he’s taken 6 cats on 8 hunts) * Why join SCI?

Mark Lamb is an experienced Sheriff and an authentic, unapologetic, proven conservative leader. As Sheriff, he has seen the dangers of illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and violent crime with his own two eyes. Currently running for Congress in Arizona, his #1 priority to keep Arizonans safe from the D.C. swamp and all it encompasses.

I’ve been highly critical of TWPD of late. Primarily regarding the attempt to force mandatory mountain lion harvest of a non-game species, which has drawn alot of interest, even on a national level by now. Recently, I made a post criticizing another recent proposal in the form of allowing high fence ranches in Texas four archery only counties (Grayson, Collin, Rockwall and Dallas) to hunt with rifles. These landowners knew the counties were archery only when they high fenced their ranches, so why should they expect to be above the law of the land? After seeing my commentary, Texas Parks & Wildlife Whitetail Deer Program Leader Blaise Korzekwa reached out to set the record straight on why TPWD is considering these changes and how/if it will affect the passionate bowhunters of those counties going forward. I certainly appreciate him wanting to have a candid discussion on the topic. In addition to that discussion, we also dive into some other highly important topics concerning the new world screw worm inching closer to our Southern Border and what that means for livestock and whitetails alike. We take a historical look at previous screw worm outbreaks and what we did to combat them in the 1960’s compared to what we are doing today. Lastly, we get down to the nuts and bolts of Chronic Wasting Disease. Is support of CWD research losing steam among the hunting public? How/if has TPWD changed their approach to CWD management in recent years?  

Louisiana outdoorsman Barret Fritscher joins the program this week. A tugboat captain who takes off a month every waterfowl season to chase ducks/geese from the Dakotas back home to Louisiana, the man lives and breathes hunting. By his side the whole time is his faithful black lab “Juice”. So, what’s the big deal? Plenty of guys head north with their duck dogs every fall. That is true, but do their faithful 4 legged duck hunting buddies also hunt bullfrogs? Yeah, it seems like something only a Cajun would come up with it, but it’s freaking awesome, nevertheless. I stumbled across Barret & Juice on social media and was mesmerized by their video of Barret spotlighting bullfrogs and Juice jumping out of the boat to catch the frog and bring it back to Barret’s hand. What gave Barret the idea this was even possible? Do dogs like the feel/texture of a frog in their mouth? Does he alligator hunt? Why do Cajuns get that “if it’s brown, it’s down” label? All that and much more with Barret.

Tammy Bartels joined me at the recent NRA Convention in Houston, Texas. She is the Operations Manager for Women for Gun Rights. Highlights from the conversation include: * Growing up in a hunting family, but not really understanding the 2A was for her as well * Women empowered by carrying * What is Women for Gun Rights? * Women  highest percentage  of new gun owners * Firearm instruction * Women at the polls