Sheep Fever

Tough to choose, but here is a Best of Sheep Fever 2024 special episode. Actually, our listeners choose for us by most popular downloads. A lot of ground covered by some pretty seasoned folks in sheep hunting, conservation's history and future, wild sheep biology, predator management, shooting technology and marksmanship, to name a few. ·  Episode 40: Wild Sheep & Predators - Kevin Hurley, Kurt Al...

Often consumed to celebrate victory, sometimes even survival, but just as often to mourn defeat, whiskey and wild sheep do go together. Such was the vision of founder Robert Gertsner when he conceived of wild sheep inspired distilled adult beverages now known as Full Curl Brand's. Rob is a successful entrepreneur and a passionate and equally successful sheep hunter. A bowhunter, his coveted offeri...

Admittedly, hunters are gear junkies. When it comes to our knives, as we learned from MKC founder and CEO Josh Smith, it runs deeper than that. Grandpa's knife can be Dad's knife; can then be our knife as a rite of passage. Sheep Fever sat down with Josh and a true American brand success story to discuss his humble beginning as a Montana boy knifemaker at age 15 to becoming the youngest Master Kni...

Post Sheep Show, Sheep Fever co-host Keith Balfourd and WSF's Director of Publications and Awards, Julie Tripp reconnect with Dustin Diefenderfer of Mtn. Tough Fitness Labs to walk, or limp back through the first TOUGH SHEEP workout that took place at the Show. The TOUGH SHEEP workout was conceived by Dustin and his team to engage mountain fitness enthusiasts. The event aimed to not only welcome p...

In Part II of our Spotlight on BC, Kyle , Scott , and Gray weigh into the status of wild sheep and wildlife in the province, and the status of wildlife conservation and management given Ministry, staff, and other recent political changes. The trio of CEOs discuss the prospects for restoring the grizzly bear hunt , other wildlife challenges, dollars to the resource vs. impact to the resource and so...

British Columbia holds a special focus for the Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF), with three of North America's four wild sheep calling it home.  During the past three years, WSF directed $1.9 Million in Grant in Aid to the province to conserve and enhance thinhorn and bighorn sheep, improve their habitat, mitigate the impact of predation, support the hunting and conservation industry, and fund outreach...

With the Sheep Show just over the next ridge, Sheep Fever hosts Gray Thornton and Keith Balfourd sat down with Mike Schoby of Field Ethos to discuss what's new and what to expect at the Show, what our new partner, donor, and exhibitor Field Ethos has in store, and announce a special featured auction item.   Field Ethos is a relatively new outdoor adventure media company founded by Donald Trump Jr....

With the 2025 Sheep Show just around the corner, Sheep Fever co-hosts Gray and Keith visit with newly welcomed WSF Ambassadors Jana Waller Bair and Rachel Ahtila to discuss their journeys as hunter-conservationists, and to get their thoughts on why the Show is such a highlight on their travel schedules. Is it the positive vibe for wild sheep conservation or hunting in general, seeing old friends,...

In our previous episode, we discussed that conservation is at a crossroads. More people are turning to nature and the outdoors for health and fulfillment, yet far too many are demonstrating a lack of knowledge of the differences between conservation and preservation and the benefits of both. As a result, emotion is trumping science, sound conservation actions are being pulled in all directions or...

Is conservation at a crossroads? If challenges to wildlife and the environment are evolving and, in many cases, mounting. If we believe that conservation is everyone's responsibility and that it is a progressive journey rather than a final destination, then we are at a crossroads.   The conservation movement in the early 1900s was born out of crisis. We were taking too much off the land and taking...

Bill Pastorek, author of Dream Rams of British Columbia will soon release his recent and highly anticipate work, Dream Rams of the North . Bill caught the sheep bug early in his life and his chosen career path of self-employment and building a successful gardening business allowed him plenty of time in the mountains to pursue his passion for wild sheep. An avid conservationist, and one who walks t...

Spike Camp is an online community of hunter conservationists. On Wednesday, September 16 th  Spike Camp founders Chuck and Blake Peeling conducted a live stream podcast featuring WSF Ambassadors Jana Waller Bair and Rachel Ahtila as well as WSF Women Hunt® Committee members Julie Chapman, Brandi Love, and Women Hunt® founder & chair, Renée Thornton. The seven of them talk hunting, conservation, th...

In this episode of Sheep Fever, co-host Keith Balfourd visits with Mountain Tough Fitness Lab founder Dustin Diefenderfer to learn more about their specific fitness programs for mountain athletes and the new TOUGH SHEEP workout scheduled for the 2025 Sheep Show® in Reno on January 17th. Inspired by modern-day military readiness and NFL training programs, MTNTOUGH designed physical and mental fitne...

New Chief Operating Officer and Executive VP of Conservation, Corey Mason joined the WSF Team in August, bringing decades of conservation and industry experience.  Spending time on his grandfather's farm and hunting with his father, Corey quickly grew into a passionate hunter.  Continuing to avidly hunt, but now largely enjoying time afield with his wife and daughter and making family memories. At...

Wild sheep matter, and so does selecting the future leadership of the Wild Sheep Foundation in our upcoming fall 2024 WSF Board of Director elections. Last year, we started something new by introducing the candidates, not only in print with their biographies on our website and mailed ballots, but with brief interviews on this podcast. We have four (4) current director terms expiring April 30, 2025...

Acclaimed and award-winning journalist and author, hunter, and sheep hunter Craig Boddington had this to say about WSF Summit Life Member Jim Manley's first book: "Tracks On A Mountain is one man's mountain hunting odyssey. Jim Manley and I have climbed some of the same mountains, enjoyed some of the same triumphs, suffered the same disappointments, and so often wondered why we are doing this to o...

Azyre Gear founder and accomplished sheep hunter Cari Goss' goal is to inspire and empower women to pursue their hunting and outdoors passions with confidence. A great deal of that confidence comes from functional clothing that fits, keeps one warm, and dry.   For years Cari felt that the hunting apparel industry had overlooked women and that she and others had been left to wear apparel designed f...

Andy Moeckel is well known in the hunting and conservation community as The Flip Flop Guy and his unique cooking style called the Flip Flop. He has turned a culinary technique, that has been passed down for three generations, into a thriving business that sells a full line of sauces, spices, flip flop mops, and even whole bone in Maui Nui Venison legs perfect for Flip Flop.  It all started with hi...

Sadly, wild sheep numbers are down in many of their ranges. For our thinhorns up North, environmental factors, some of which are beyond short-term human control, have taken a toll in recent years. In other wild sheep ranges, fragmentation, contraction, and loss of habitat, both from a changing climate and land use policies (fire suppression, conifer/shrub encroachment, human footprint, public land...

There is no question that forces are being placed on our systems, institutions, philosophies, and the science that manages wildlife. Situations and conditions change over time, and adjustments are necessary improvements. Balancing change and maintaining stability is crucial to ensuring the best outcomes for wildlife and people. But this doesn't appear to be where we're heading. Sheep Fever co-host...

The Wild Sheep Foundation is growing and is pleased to announce the formation and official charter of the Southeast Chapter of WSF! The mission of the Southeast Chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation is to build a community of conservationists to raise resources in support of scientific wild sheep management practices and habitat improvement. This is to ensure that future generations will enjoy the...

We're going to Texas in this episode to talk about restoring desert bighorn sheep to a mountain range that hasn't seen sheep since the early 1900s. Sheep Fever co-host Keith Balfourd visits with Texas Bighorn Sheep Society president Sam Cunningham, WSF's VP of Conservation Kevin Hurley, and Texas outdoor writer and WSF contributor Chester Moore to discuss the Franklin Mountains State Park desert s...

Jana Waller Bair is the Host and Executive Producer of Skull Bound TV and Skull Bound Chronicles, a hunting and conservation series on Carbon TV that is currently in its 15th season. Jana has been a lifelong hunter and was appointed as a Wildlife Commissioner in Montana in 2021. After serving her term, she moved to Utah, where she resides with her husband and WSF auctioneer, John Bair. Jana is a p...

In this episode of Sheep Fever, we visit with Mark Truax, President and CEO of Pac/West Strategies, to discuss the attempted ban on mountain lion, bobcat, and lynx hunting in Colorado. This ban, proposed through a voter's ballot initiative and backed by out-of-state animal rights groups, raises important questions. Why mountain lions? Why Colorado? Why a voter's ballot process? The answers; becaus...

Conservation has increasingly become a global topic and a global effort. In this episode, Sheep Fever co-host Keith Balford visits with Shane Mahoney, CEO of Conservation Visions, to discuss various topics, including the growing connectivity between conservation efforts here in North America and those happening beyond our borders. You'll learn how influential our North American Model of Wildlife C...