The Hunter Conservationist Podcast

In this episode, Curtis and Mark are joined by biologist Pat Stent for a conversation about the alarming trend in the number of illegal bull elk being killed by hunters in Southeast BC’s East Kootenay Zone of Region 4. To set the stage the guys discuss the geography and ecology of the Kootenay as it relates to what elk need, the history of the 6-point bull elk season, the Raedeke Report, current e...

Brought to you by Community-Minded Alpine Toyota In this episode, Curtis and Mark are joined by Dr. Eric (Rick) Taylor. Eric is a Professor and researcher from the University of British Columbia. Eric provides some background biology on steelhead and what makes them different from salmon. Eric describes the history of the Interior Fraser River Steelhead populations and their precipitous declines a...

Brought to you by Community-Minded Alpine Toyota In this episode, Mark and Curtis are joined by Jenn Thornhill Verma author of the book Cod Collapse. Jenn describes the uniqueness of Canada’s Grand Banks, the history of the Newfoundland Labrador cod fishery, the cod moratorium put in place in 1992, the impacts of the 200-mile limit, the social costs of the lost cod fishery, scientific models, disc...

Brought to you by Community-Minded Alpine Toyota In this episode Curtis and Mark are joined by Mara Cur. Mara is a teacher and mentor who is joyfully passing on the ancient art and skill of natural hide tanning. Mara breaks down the steps of turning a raw animal hide into a textile by explaining smoke, bark, and mineral tanning methods as well as the process of making rawhide. Other topics Mara co...

Brought to you by Community-Minded Alpine Toyota In this episode, Curtis and Mark are joined by Wildlife Ecologist Mateen Hessami. Mateen recently completed his thesis research on the controversial moose reduction and stabilization program which was put in place as part of British Columbia’s endangered caribou recovery strategy in the Revelstoke Valley. Topics Mateen covers include the history beh...

In this episode Mark covers stories of great white sharks in Canadian waters and new science about shark populations, as well as the anniversary of the 1992 Atlantic cod fishery moratorium, commercial herring quota cutbacks, Gulf of St. Lawrence cod fishery, more Northern BC salmon closures, endangered steelhead science being withheld, Southern resident killer whales, different perspectives on oce...

Brought to you by Community-Minded Alpine Toyota In this tribute to late-night, slow-burn FM radio-style broadcasting, Mark and Curtis are joined by John Schneider, host of the Food Afield Podcast and member of the From the Wild Series. The guys learn about all things traditional archery from John including, why get into traditional archery, primitive archery, traditional archery, types of bows, p...

In this episode Mark explores the June 30th announcement by the Tŝilhqot’in Nation condemning the B.C. government’s moose harvest allocation for the Chilcotin Region of British Columbia. Mark provides an overview of the Tŝilhqot’in Nation’s concerns, some background on the history of moose in the Chilcotin, findings from the central interior moose research program, how moose hunting opportunity wa...

Brought to you by Community-Minded Alpine Toyota Mark and Curtis are joined by Jesse Zeman, Executive Director of the BC Wildlife Federation to discuss the government’s controversial decision to put bighorn sheep in BC’s Kootenay Region on Limited Entry Hunting. Jesse discusses the contradictions that the BC Wildlife Federation has recently uncovered regarding how sheep tags were allocated to BC r...

In this episode Mark covers a controversial reduction in moose hunting for BC hunters, polar bear problems, polar bear quotas, polar bear harvest research, narwhal hunting, firearm regulations, problem geese, snow geese deaths, bear attacks, conflict bear management oversight, class action lawsuit over the BC grizzly hunt, a half-baked deer rescue plan,  Newfoundland Labrador’s new helmet laws for...

Curtis and Mark are joined by Andrea Wishart to talk all things squirrel. Andrea is a Ph. D. student at the University of Saskatchewan and an evolutionary and behavioral ecologist studying red squirrels in the Yukon. This is a fun look at one of Canada’s most underrated, abundant, and accessible wildlife species. Topics covered include red squirrel biology, life span, territory size, boom and bust...

Brought to you buy Community-Minded Alpine Toyota   In this episode, Curtis and Mark are joined by their long-time friend Chris New. Chris is an avid fossil hunter and has helped paleontologists identify new trilobite species previously unknown to science. Chris’s journey and passion for fossils started at young age near Cranbrook, British Columbia and now he travels all over the place hunting fos...

Brought to you by Community-Minded Alpine Toyota In this episode, Mark and Curtis are joined by Dr. Howie Harshaw from the University of Alberta, Dr. Lee Foote, and Matt Besko to discuss the decline in waterfowl hunter numbers in Canada. The group discusses waterfowl population trends, social science as a tool for wildlife management, hunter recruitment, retention, and reengagement strategies, the...

In this episode Mark covers the H5N1 avian bird flu outbreak in wild birds, new findings for COVID in deer, possible new gun registry system, trapping, beaver castors in the NWT, mackerel fishing, herring closures, the failure of Canada’s Species at Risk Act, goose poop and coexisting with wildlife bison moving to Alaska, hunting bison in Banff National Park, the rat poison debate in BC, Newfoundl...

Brought to you by Community-Minded Alpine Toyota In this episode, Curtis and Mark are joined by Romy Vaugeois. Romy is the Program Manager at the Seals and Sealing Network. Romy explains a bit about Canada’s seal species and the state of their populations. Romy describes how Canada’s seal harvesting industry works and its impact on East Coast and Indigenous culture and livelihoods. Romy describes...

Brought to you by Community-minded Alpine Toyota In this episode, Curtis and Mark are joined by Dr. Clayton Lamb. Clayton talks about his involvement and research in the Indigenous-led caribou recovery program for the Klinse-Za herd in Northeastern British Columbia. Clayton describes how the Indigenous-led program started, the details of citing, constructing, operating, and monitoring a caribou ma...

In this episode Mark covers a couple of coyote stories as bookends to the podcast including a lawsuit filed over a coyote killing contests and a coyote introduction Darwin Award. Other stories Mark covers include an amendment to BC’s Wildlife Act, BC’s controversial moose hunting proposal, a coastal mountain goat study, grizzlies in Manitoba, new research on caribou recovery, a lawsuit over night...

Brought to you by Community-Minded Alpine Toyota In this episode Curtis and Mark are joined by John Schneider, host of The Food Afield Podcast and member of the From the Wild film series in northern Alberta. The gang compares hunting spring black bears in BC’s Rocky Mountings versus the Alberta’s Northern Boreal Forest. John talks about the atmosphere and tempo of hunting spring bears versus fall...

Brought to you by Community-minded Alpine Toyota In this episode, Curtis and Mark are joined by Jesse Zeman, Executive Director of the BC Wildlife Federation. Jesse explains the situation with the current proposal to reduce hunting opportunities for moose and caribou in the Peace Region of northeastern British Columbia. As a backgrounder for listeners not from Canada, Mark provides a synopsis of F...

Brought to you by Community-minded Alpine Toyota In this episode, Curtis and Mark are joined by Hayley Gavin. Hayley lives in Alberta and she was the Lead Administrator for the Alberta Northwest Species at Risk Committee. Hayley describes how and why the NWSAR committee was formed and how the communities that were involved stepped up to help with scientific studies on endangered species. She descr...

Sponsored by Community-Minded Alpine Toyota In this episode Curtis and Mark are joined by Dr. Matt Scrafford, a Conservation Scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada. Matt has studied wolverines all over Canada and talks about their biology, ecology and distribution in Canada, their home range sizes, general behavior, threats, sources of mortality and the wolverine’s conservation st...

In this episode Mark looks at what’s being going on with the coyotes in Stanley Park, new science looking at competition between coyotes and wolverines, reducing wolf density through restoration, wolf control program extension in BC, the Yahey decision, venison for Nova Scotia families,  keeping ducks warm in Newfoundland, penning caribou in Quebec, the last chance for Fraser River steelhead, life...

Brought to you by Community-Minded Alpine Toyota In this episode, Curtis and Mark are joined by Mateen Hessami, Dr. Adam Ford, Matt Besko, and Dr. Lee Foote. Mateen and Adam are co-authors of a new paper titled Indigenizing the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. Matten and Adam walk through each of the seven tenets of the North American Model and explain how and why they modified the t...

Brought to you by Community-Minded Alpine Toyota In this episode, Curtis and Mark are joined by Jeff Senger star of the From the Wild series. The crew talks about the ethics and philosophy of killing. Jeff covers running a small family business slaughterhouse in Alberta and the care that goes into treating animals humanely. The varied topics that the guys talk cover include the dichotomy between n...

Brought to you by Community-Minded Alpine Toyota In this episode, Curtis and Mark are joined by Bill Abercrombie – president of the Alberta Trappers Association. Bill provides a snapshot of the Alberta Trappers Association and everything that they are involved including owning and operating their own trapping and bushcraft centre. Bill describes several of the major conservation and research proje...