Mule Deer Foundation - Talking Mule Deer Podcast

Wyoming with Ike Eastman and Shawn Blajszczak – Season 3 Episode 9 – May 5 This episode features Steve talking with Ike Eastman, president and CEO of Eastmans’ Hunting Journals, and Mule Deer Foundation Wyoming regional director, Shawn Blajszczak. Ike tells us a little bit of history about how his grandfather and his father spent the “heyday” of mule deer wandering around Wyoming filming deer and...

Idaho Mule Deer with Idaho Fish and Game – Season 3 Episode 8 – April 27 On this episode of Talking Mule Deer, Steve is talking with Daryl Meints, Idaho Department Fish and Game’s (IDFG) deer and elk coordinator, and Matt Pieron, IDFG’s Mule Deer Initiative Coordinator. We hear about Idaho’s new Mule Deer Management Plan that was recently completed. Matt and Daryl tell us about how they developed...

State of MDF with President/CEO Miles Moretti – Season 3 Episode 7 – April 16 Today Steve and Jodi are talking with Miles Moretti, President/CEO of the Mule Deer Foundation (from the safety of our homes in three states). While we always try and do a “State of the Organization” interview with Miles, this one is particularly important as MDF grapples along with the rest of the world with how to func...

Understanding the Economics of Hunting and Shooting with Rob Southwick and Jim Curcuruto – Season 3 Episode 6 – March 30 This episode of Talking Mule Deer is focused helping to understand the economic impact of the hunting and shooting have on conservation and why that’s so important. Rob Southwick, a natural resource economist who runs Southwick Associates, and the National Shooting Sports Founda...

Mexican Mule Deer Hunt with Kryptek Outdoors Co-Founder, Butch Whiting – Season 3 Episode 5 – March 16 Today on Talking Mule Deer, Steve Belinda and Arizona Game & Fish Department’s Dr. Jim Heffelfinger are talking with Kryptek Outdoors Co-founder, Butch Whiting, about his quest for a gigantic mule deer buck down in Mexico. Butch talks about how this journey included 30 days of field time over thr...

Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt – Season 3 Episode 4 – March 2 This week, Steve Belinda and Miles Moretti are sitting down with the 53rd Secretary of the Interior, David Bernhardt, along with Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife president Troy Justensen at the Western Hunting & Conservation Expo. It’s Bernhardt’s first trip to the Expo and he talks about how impressed he is with the event. Th...

National Wild Turkey Federation President/CEO Becky Humphries – Season 3 Episode 3 – February 17 On this episode of Talking Mule Deer, Steve and Jodi talk with one of the leading ladies of the conservation community – Becky Humphries, President and CEO of the National Wild Turkey Federation. Becky tells us how she got her start as a wildlife biologist ultimately working her way to lead the Michiga...

Western Hunting & Conservation Expo with Rob Keck and Miles Moretti – Season 3 Episode 2 – February 7 Today we’re previewing the 2020 Western Hunting & Conservation Expo with MDF President/CEO Miles Moretti and Hunt Expo Master of Ceremonies Rob Keck. Hear about what’s new for this year and why 2020 should be the year that you come to Salt Lake for this incredible event. We talk about the exhibit...

Congressional Update with Jeff Crane and Miles Moretti – Season 3 Episode 1 – February 3 On our first episode of our third season, we’re talking with Jeff Crane and Miles Moretti to get an update on what happened in Congress and the Administration for sportsmen in 2019. We start by hearing about S. 47, the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act – a compilation of many bi...

MDF Podcast - Talking Mule Deer with Steve Belinda and Jodi Stemler S2 E30 - Eric Dinger with Powderhook and Outdoor Life Hunting Editor Andrew McKean This week on Talking Mule Deer, we are visiting with Eric Dinger and Andrew McKean about mentoring new hunters. We open by talking with Andrew about his journey as a conservation journalist – as well as his journey to live in “the middle of nowhere”...

MDF Podcast - Talking Mule Deer with Steve Belinda and Jodi Stemler S2 E29 - Ron and Betsy Spomer of Ron Spomer Outdoors This week we are honored to have the incredible Ron Spomer and his wife Betsy talking mule deer with us. Ron has been a nationally known outdoor writer for decades and he tells us about how he got his start in the industry. We talk about the history of conservation and that we a...

MDF Podcast - Talking Mule Deer with Steve Belinda and Jodi Stemler S2 E28 -Talking Arizona with Jim Heffelfinger and Jake Jaeger This week we’re talking with Arizona Game & Fish Department’s Jim Heffelfinger and the MDF cooperative wildlife biologist, Jake Jaeger. First, we get an introduction to Jake who is working with Arizona Game & Fish helping with mule deer conservation through a partnershi...

MDF Podcast - Talking Mule Deer with Steve Belinda and Jodi Stemler S2 E27 - Outdoor Writer -Jim Zumbo On this episode of Talking Mule Deer we are honored to talk to renowned outdoor writer, Jim Zumbo. Jim tells us about how he began his career working on forestry in Utah and as a forester/game warden at West Point, NY, before heading back to Utah as a wildlife biologist for the Bureau of Land Man...

MDF Podcast - Talking Mule Deer with Steve Belinda and Jodi Stemler S2 E26 - Bureau of Land Management Wildlife Program Today Jodi, Steve and Miles Moretti talk with Frank Quammen, national wildlife program lead with the Bureau of Land Management. We learn a little bit about what the BLM is and what it’s overarching multiple-use and sustained yield management objective means. Frank also talks abou...

MDF Podcast - Talking Mule Deer with Steve Belinda and Jodi Stemler S2 E25 - North American Non-Lead Partnership Today’s episode of Talking Mule Deer features a conversation with the North American Non-Lead Partnership’s Leland Brown (Oregon Zoo) and Chris Parish (The Peregrine Fund). The partnership’s two main functions are to preserve our wildlife conservation and hunting heritage at the same ti...

MDF Podcast - Talking Mule Deer with Steve Belinda and Jodi Stemler S2 E24 - MDF’s Women Board Members, Kirstie Pike and Kelli Poole This episode of Talking Mule Deer features two of MDF’s board members, and the two ladies of the board – Kirstie Pike, founder of Prois Hunting Apparel , and Kelli Poole. We learn a little bit about how Kirstie, a nurse by training, decided to launch one of the first...

MDF Podcast - Talking Mule Deer with Steve Belinda and Jodi Stemler S2 E23 Utah Mule Deer Conservation with MDF Volunteer Darren West and Utah DWR’s Covy Jones We are talking this week to MDF’s volunteer habitat conservation coordinator in Utah Darren West, and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resource’s big game coordinator Covy Jones about the collaborative work to improve and increase mule deer ha...

MDF Podcast - Talking Mule Deer with Steve Belinda and Jodi Stemler S2 E22 - Identical Draw Today on Talking Mule Deer we visit with Thomas and Nathan Krick, identical twins from Lincoln, Nebraska who produce an online outdoor television program known as Identical Draw . Their first season was featured on Carbon TV and the second season is available on Bear Archery’s Youtube Channel. The brothers...

MDF Podcast - Talking Mule Deer with Steve Belinda and Jodi Stemler S2 E21 - Ryan Bronson and Jon Zinnel, Federal Premium Ammunition On this episode of Talking Mule Deer, Steve and Jodi are talking with Federal Premium Ammunition’s Ryan Bronson and Jon Zinnel. Ryan has served for six years on the MDF Board of Directors and, prior to joining Federal, Jon was MDF’s director of youth programs and hel...

MDF Podcast - Talking Mule Deer with Steve Belinda and Jodi Stemler S2 E 20 - Celebrity Guide, Dan Harrison with Harrison’s Hunting This week we have our first co-host – MDF President/CEO Miles Moretti – and we’re talking with MDF board member and celebrity guide, Dan Harrison with Harrison’s Hunting . Dan talks about how he got started by doing private land timber management and habitat improveme...

S2 E19 - Butch Whiting, Kryptek Outdoors Today we are talking to Butch Whiting, co-founder of the hunting and tactical apparel manufacturer Kryptek . Butch served in Iraq and Afghanistan flying Army Attack helicopters and he and his junior officer Josh Cleghorn would spend down time dreaming about being back in the U.S. hunting. Their vision was to spiral the features and functions of special oper...

S2 E18 - Muleyslayer Marc Smith This week Steve and Jodi are talking to Muley Slayer Marc Smith. We find out how he got the Muleyslayer handle as he was developing his social media following. Marc is a regular contributor to MDF magazine and seminar speaker at the Western Hunting and Conservation Expo. He tells us some of the tactics he’s learned over many years of chasing big mule deer bucks in t...

S2 E17 - R3 Efforts with NSSF’s Bill Dunn and Samantha Pedder with CAHSS This week we are talking about Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation (R3) efforts being coordinated through the Council to Advance Hunting and Shooting Sports (CAHSS) and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). Samantha Pedder with CAHSS and Bill Dunn with NSSF are talking with Steve and Jodi about what hunting orga...

S2, E16 - Conservation Visions, Shane Mahoney We are honored to feature the renowned conservationist Shane Mahoney on this week’s Talking Mule Deer episode. Shane describes how he grew up in Newfoundland and how his childhood experiences formed the foundation for his own conservation vision. Shane is one of the most eloquent philosophers in the hunting and outdoor community who has been carrying f...

S2 E15 - California Conservation with Randy Morrison and Kevin Zeman This week’s Talking Mule Deer brings in Randy Morrison, MDF’s Senior Regional Director for the state of California, and Kevin Zeman who used to work for the U.S. Forest Service and now is working for MDF. Kevin’s focus is helping to implement habitat stewardship agreements, partnership opportunities with the Forest Service and Bu...