Beasts Of Burden

In this episode, I had the honor of interviewing Dr. Marcus Lashley. Dr. Lashley is host of Fire University is co-host of the Wild Turkey Science. Dr. Marcus is assistant Professor at the University of Florida's Department of Wildlife and Ecology. In this episode, we discussed more about fire ecology, but also discussed fire behavior and safety. Fire is one of the ultimate tools in wildlife manage...

In this episode, I had the honor of interviewing Doug Duren. Doug is a hunter, land specalist, and conservationist of Cazenovia, Wisconsin. Doug manages his family farm and it has been in his family for 115 years. Doug has started Sharing the Land Initiative. Sharing the Land Initiative is a network to connect hunters looking for access to hunt with landowners to acheive stewarding the land togeth...

In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Iowa's Department of Natural Resources own Deer Biologist, Jace Elliott. Jace has a Bachelors of Science in Conservation Biology of University of Wisconsin and a Masters of Science in Wildlife Biology of University of Auburn. Jace and I talked about the need for prescribed fire to promote early successional plant communities. We talked about mana...

In this episode, I interview in training MMA fighter, Micah Washington. Micah is from Burlington, IA. Micah grew up as an athelte being in as many sports as possinle. Micah was introduced to the world of fighting and fell in love with it. Due to a bad shoulder injury and one prescription of pain killers led Micah down a dark path of addiction. His fighting career gone and lost in the darkness. Mic...

In this episode, I interviewed Lindsay Thomas Jr. the Chief Communications Officer of the National Deer Association. Lindsay and I discussed the positive outlook on whitetail management. Land managers, hunters, and land owners are actively switching from monoculture management to quality management promoting prescribed fire, early succesional plant communities, and soil regeneration for food plots...

In this episode, I started off reading one of my favorite essays from Aldo Leopold from his collection of essays called, "The River of the Mother of God". The Ecological Conscience was a collection of personal examples Aldo Leopold experienced under the guise of conservation. After reading this, I came unglued. I was angry. I have my patience with the current status of so-called conservation in th...

In this episode, I chat with a good friend of the show Al Tomechko of Vitalize Seed. Al is a driven citizen soil scientist who has developed food plot mixes with the focus of soil health and quality forage for wildlife ecspecially whitetail deer. In this episode, Al and I talk about Vitalize new products such as the "Fish Fertilzier + Humics", the Seed Feed, and the "All Natural Seed Armor + Inocu...

In this episode, I had the priveledge to speak with Timothy Youngquist of Iowa State University. Timothy is a Farmer Liason for Science Based Trials of Rowcrops Integrated with Prairie Strips or STRIPS. Timothy and I discussed the reality of the relationship of prairie and agricultutre, how the two can bump heads, but also how the prairie benefits the farmer. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I h...

In this episode, I have on a good friend of mine Brian Halbleib of Copperhead Unlimited and the Habitat Podcast. Brian and I discussed not being stuck on one-species hunting (whitetail hunters LISTEN UP) and how pursuting other game can take the pressure off of whitetail season. Brian and I also discussed his hunting seasons in different states such as Ohio, PA, Michigan, and Texas. Brian and I ta...

Lock up your daughters. Lock up your wives. I have the one and only, Joshua Hickenbottom. My brother in law, whom I have adopted as my little brother. Josh is a cinephile (movie lover), a talented photographer, a hard working farmer. Josh and I talked about his work on the Hickenbottom farm, we talked about his love for movies, what captivates him about movies, and also his work in photography. Jo...

In this episode, I interview Chase Burns of Dogwood Land Management, real estate and broker of Land Guys, and podcast host of Land Your Ground. Chase and I discuss his career graduating with a degree in wildlife biology he founded Dogwood Land Management in Western Illinois. Chase primarily managed properties focusing on forestry practices. Chase and I discussed how he moved from land management i...

In this episode, I had the privelege to interview my good friend and long term mentor, Kevin "Bobcat" Andersen of the Iowa DNR Private Land Biologist. Kevin and I discussed the brutal reality of how snow affects our upland game birds such as quail and pheasants. We disucss the difficulty hunting 2023 bow, dove, and duck seasons. Then we discussed the word load of 2023 for Kevin. I hope you enjoyed...

In this episode, I have had the honor to interview Dr. Dwayne Estes of the Southeastern Grasslands Institute. We talked about Dr. Estes upbringing, what led him into acedemia, and what led him to co-found Southeastern Grasslands Institue (SGI). SGI goal is to bring awareness and reclaim the forgotten grasslands of the south east part of the United States. People are not aware, but the heavy wooded...

In this episode, I chat with my good friend Bob Hicks host of Tales from the Dark podcast and Youtube Channel and new host of Missing Persons Msyteries. Bob and I chat about mysterious disappearances of people in our National Park system and other places as well. We discussed about what could be happening that is the most logical explanation, but also explore the paranromal side as well. Bob and I...

Folks I made an attempt in talking about health and wellness on this episode. I will be brutally honest I went off old notes and my chicken scratch got the best of me. The seed oil section was rough and I apologize, the segment on phthalates was better. I did misquote a tad, but bare with me. I should do this episode over again, but I deciced to post it as a reminder to improve. I will continue to...

I had the distinct honor to have Matt Williams of Shiitake Creek and MycoHabitat on the show. Matt and I discussed his origins from his beginnings in south western Indiana, moving to Wisconsin running a white water rafting buisness, then moving into market place farming eventually settling with raising mushrooms. Matt follows the golden rule in Permaculture, "The problem is the solution". Matt was...

Today, I talk about ownership in archery hunting. If you've been at it long enough you know what I mean. I also talk about getting a gameplan for next bow season, while discussing this years bow and shotgun. I talkj about the dopamine highs and lows from social media. Perhaps it's best to leave the phone down this time of year. Finally, I talk about my new journey in MMA style training for cardio...

The last upload of chemical warfare I was not happy with. It was rushed and also there was some information I presented that was not entirely transparent. I deleted the old episode and created a new one with more facts, figures, and price crunching to help you make the best descsion which chemical to use for your habitat project such as invasive foilar control, hack n squirt, or basal bark sprayin...

Happy Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos to our listeners! This is our 3rd Halloween Special where I share my personal spooky encounters. This year I talk about potential UFO and maybe some Bigfoot activity. And I say a big maybe I am not dying on this hill by any means. This is for fun and I hope you have fun listening!

In this episode, I give a brief life update. I focus on a question for a listener about how to market his services to obtain more FSI or TSI work. I talk about doing your own work first to show to other landowenrs, get to know your forester, the work your forester sees will help to build trust to refer you among other contractors. Also having an understanding of the natural history of your area, k...

In this episode, I share a reading from A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold. The essay is, "Thinking like a mountain". Afterwards I discuss the big life changes my family is experincing. Hope you enjoy. I will be honest I ranted a bit about over fixated whitetail management and neglecting other species. Deal with it my show my thoughts.

In this episode I talk about my short (thank God) brassica food plot season. All no-till. Most shortest and successful brassica season. I then explain the new market I've stumbled into mainly cattle producers. I talk about bringing my dad's Paul Knox Dbltree, Lick Creek mix into the cattle world. However, greatly modified to allow certain aspects to produce more tonnage and some diversity.

In this episode, I talk about some of my daily experiences that we all go through. I talked about the differences in habitat on our bottom oak savana from the bottom ridge to the top ridge. How quickly creating an opening and buring did! I then talk about all the different options with EQIP from bat houses to concrete stream crossings! I also talked about bat houses and the importance of bats!

In this episode I talk about my spring turkey season. I did not get a tom, but my goodness it was night and day difference to the turkety activity and excitement I experienced on my farm. It was encouraging and motivates me more to take care of my farm to its deepest potential. Also I get into woodcock management at the end so hope you enjoy!

Folks today is a rougher episode. I open my heart to express the potential I need to tap into for my farm and the county it resides in. I also tear into us, myself included, for not having a tighter grip on invasive species. We have sacrificed our native ecology for the norm. I am sick and tired of not seeing my fellow Americans getting serious about invasives, but I am also one to blame. This is...