Montana Outdoor Podcast

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale is joined by Ice Fishing Pro Eric Magnuson. Eric is an incredible ice fisherman and even does testing for many companies that produce ice fishing gear, like Vexilar, Clam Outdoors, Mack's Lure and others. Eric and Rigger have a great discussion that we are positive you will find very interesting and helpful, w...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks with Bob Loomis from Mack's Lure, inventors of the world-famous Wedding Ring fishing lure. Bob has been on the podcast before and if you listened before then you know if there is one thing Bob knows it is fishing! Bob got his start 43 years ago at the legendary fishing rod manufacturer G. Loomis Fishing...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast you host Downrigger Dale talks to Racheal Vargas of Montana K9 Safety. If you own a dog and take it with you in the Outdoors or along with you anywhere this winter especially if you could not get to the Vet in minutes, you really need to listen to this podcast. It indeed could save your dog's life and save you from a whole lot of heart...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks to Matt Rosencrans, Climate Testbed Director with the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center. Matt used all the National Weather Service's incredible technology and put together a special winter weather forecast just for all our podcast listeners. So what did he come up with? What is t...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks to fishing guide Garrett Ostler of Madison Adventures in West Yellowstone Montana! Often the greater West Yellowstone area is home to the first lakes to freeze and the last to thaw in Montana! In fact, when you listen to this podcast you'll hear Garrett tell the story of the year he started ice fishing r...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks to Ed Hebbe from the Montana Trappers Association to get the truth about trapping in Montana. In this Podcast some VERY important information is delivered that will likely surprise you about trapping. Is trapping really necessary? Some say that trapping is actually important to the survival of wildlife in Mon...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale had a great talk with one of Montana's top fishing guides, Don Wilkins. Rigger found out that Don is still out guiding folks on Fort Peck Reservoir, which you don't find many guides that do that this late in the season. So, Rigger figured that he obviously must be catching something out there. Spoiler Ale...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks with Heath Headley, FWP Fisheries Biologist for Fort Peck Reservoir in Northeast Montana. When you listen to this podcast you will hear Rigger and Heath cover the Chinook, or King Salmon, egg collection effort that recently was completed as well as several other things about the mighty Kings of Fort Peck. In...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale spent an information packed hour with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Wildlife Manager for Region 2, Liz Bradley. Liz and Rigger covered it all from where to find the Elk, Mulies and Whitetail Deer to the best spots to bag some Grouse, Waterfowl and yes even, though rare for the area, the elusive Pronghorn. Liz e...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale got together with Brett Dorak, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Wildlife Manager for Region 7 in Southeast Montana. Rigger and Brett had a great conversation about ALL the hunting opportunities you can find there in Southeast Montana, and boy are there a lot of them. They went through all the usual big game favori...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale continues our series on where to find the game you are looking for this 2024 hunting season. This time he had an incredible conversation with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Wildlife Manager, Neil Anderson. Neil spilled the beans on where to find the Elk, Deer, Black Bear, Wolf, Upland Game Bird, Waterfowl and ev...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks to Montana FWP Wildlife Manager Cory Loecker to find out what the hunting will be like in North Central Montana Region 4. Cory and Rigger covered that region inside and out and Cory gave information on how healthy the Elk, Deer and Antelope herds are as well as where the best places are to find them. Spoiler...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale traveled to the FWP Region 3 Headquarters in Bozeman and sat down with Wildlife Manager Warren Hansen and Information & Education Manager Morgan Jacobsen. They went through all the hunting opportunities in Southwest Montana. As Rigger put it; “Wow! I did not realize just how amazing Montana Region 3 really is!...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale continues his series about all the hunting opportunities across Montana. This week he talks with Region 6 Wildlife Manager Scott Thompson to find out where the best places are to find Elk, Mule Deer, Whitetails, Antelope, Turkeys, Pheasants, Waterfowl and more! Scott gives all kinds of detailed information about al...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks with FWP Region 5 Wildlife Manager Matt Ladd about what the hunting opportunities will look like this year in his region. Matt and Rigger take a deep dive into Region 5 to discover which hunting districts in the region have the best hunting opportunities for Elk, Whitetail Deer, Mule Deer, Antelope, Waterfowl...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks with Tom Kobza owner of TKI CNC. Ever since poor old Downrigger has talked with Tom he has been wondering around with his mouth open in a constant state of amazement. Once we got him to snap out of it for a moment his first words were “Holy sh.. that guy is amazing. Each of the things he told me about that he...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks with Ken Schultz, President of the Montana Bowhunters Association or MBA. Ken and Rigger cover a TON of ground all about bowhunting in the Big Sky Country. Things like, what all does the MBA do for Montana’s bowhunters, the advantages of being a member and what issues the sport is facing now and in the future...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale sits down with former hunting guide and all-around amazing archery hunter and elk caller Shawn Plakke. Some of you may recall when Shawn was on the Podcast with Rigger last year. This year he gives us even more incredible advice and instruction on archery elk hunting. Things like when to use cow calls and bull call...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks to the owners of two different Montana fishing tackle manufacturers, Gary Rueb of Blackjaw Flies and Dr Don Sawdey of 406 Tackle Company and boy did they give some awesome information! If there was ever a time to go after those huge King Salmon in Fort Peck Reservoir now is the time to do it. According to the...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale takes a unique approach to learning all about the Fall Mack Days fishing tournament that will take place on Flathead Lake in Northwest Montana, starting September 5th and going through November 3rd. Rigger talked to 4 different competitors and Tournament Director Cindy Benson. When you listen to the Podcast one of...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks to Dr. Christopher Guy, Assistant Leader of the Montana Cooperative Fishery Research Unit and Affiliate Professor at Montana State University. Chris is one of the creators of the Fishes of Montana App. This is a great App that everyone who loves to fish or just wants to learn more about the fish we have in Mo...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks to Ross Tate one of the best Lake Whitefish, aka, Lake Superior Whitefish, fisherman on Flathead Lake located in Northwest Montana. If you want to learn how to find and catch one of the hardest fighting fish in Montana, you HAVE TO listen to this week’s podcast. Ross was a wealth of information giving great a...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks with FWP Fisheries Biologist Brian Stephens about an incredible chain of lakes in Northwest Montana. These lakes are stunning in appearance and cover approximately 3,000 acres and stretch over 20 miles along Highway 2, halfway between Kalispell and Libby. This includes an extensive State Park that includes sh...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale caught up with Owen Willcox to talk about how he and his teammate Ziek Gordon pulled off a fantastic come from behind victory! Owen called in from the banks of Lake Oahe outside of Pierre, South Dakota where he and Ziek had just finished doing some pre-fishing for the 50th South Dakota Governor’s Cup Walleye Tourna...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale sits down with the Chief Marketing & Communication Officer of the Montana Department of Commerce, Mitch Staley, to talk about the VisitMT.com website and all the amazing things it can do for Montanans and those outside of Montana that want to discover our great state. And believe us when we say they aren’t just...