The Hunter Conservationist Podcast

Matt Besko and Dr. Lee Foote are back on the show to discuss wounding loss in hunting. Topics covered include definitions of wounding loss, wounding loss studies, the Finish study, wild predator kill success rates, whether wounding loss avoidable, whether wounding necessary in hunting and the ongoing Dr. Pepper/peanut debate. Matt and Lee always make for an intellectual and a banter fun-filled dis...

Blaine Calkins, Member of Parliament joins Mark in this episode. Blaine is the SCI Legislator of the Year, and he talks about why hunting is important to him and why he defends the hunting way of life. Blaine talks about his career that led him into federal politics, what he enjoys most when he gets outdoors, what some of his current issues are he's working on and his future plans as an MP.  Learn...

In this episode, Dr. Marco Festa-Bianchet joins us as we explore the commonly held belief that taking the oldest aged males from a population has the least impact. Some of the questions covered in this episode include - Do old animals stop breeding? Are old females dry and have old males passed on their genes, and are not needed anymore? How old do some game animals live to and what's the differen...

Mark explores bear baiting by first looking at the way all hunting is conducted and then secondly, by assessing baiting by the 2 principles of Fair Chase hunting.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Luehmann helps us dispel the notion that urban people don't hunt. Chris lives in Vancouver, and he is a hunter and a sport shooter. Chris tells the hilarious story of how he became a hunter and why he persevered for many years without harvesting a big game animal. Chris shares his hunting memories, what motivates him to hunt and his first big game animal. Chris is a fantastic role model for...

BC recently tabled a series of controversial hunting regulations changes that have compounded the hunting opportunity taken away from licensed hunters over the last several years. In this episode, Dr. Adam Ford, who is a scientific advisor on BC's hunting regulations committee, Scott Ellis, Executive Director of the BC Guide-Outfitters Association, and Jesse Zeman, Executive Director of the BC Wil...

In this episode Mark tries to make sense of the Wyoming wolf incident by filling you in on what he has uncovered about hunting laws that contributed to the incident. Mark discusses the heart of this issue - why are snowmobiles allowed as a legal form of hunting in some jurisdictions? The use of snowmobiles to run coyotes and wolves over is evaluated against the two principles of Fair Chase and the...

Mark provides a way to define ethical hunting using 3 key questions.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr Erick Lundgren from Aarhus University in Denmark joins Mark and Curtis to talk about a new research study he was part of. The study addresses the question of whether there’s a need to eradicate non-native large herbivores to protect ecosystems. Topics discussed include small picky eaters vs generalist bulk feeders, the role of individual body mass vs total mass of all animals, the millions of d...

Levi is a relatively new Dad, a Registered Nurse, and a hunter. He lives in British Columbia and shares how hunting is sometimes a means to unpack the events of work but how it mostly about getting into the backcountry to hunt for food. Levi talks about how he shares the world of hunting with others and how he is adjusting his longer hunting trips to balance hunting and family life. Levi discusses...

In this episode Mark covers the smoothing over an incident where endangered Peary caribou were killed in the high arctic, federal sabre rattling over Quebec caribou, whirling disease action and inaction, hunting bison in Banff, a very expensive way to deal with geese in BC, a not so peaceful bunny sanctuary, the predator attack that wasn't, protesting seafood price fixing in Newfoundland, the cost...

In this special podcast, Mark explores the movement to abolish the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and what that really means for the citizens of the United States and Canada.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How can high-tech tools be assessed against the principles of Fair Chase?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you say KI-yote or Ki-Yo-Tee? Courtney Anderson and Abby Thiemkey from the Ohio Coyote Research Project are on the show to talk all things coyote ecology and research. The scientists explain what the coyote project is about and share some of the highlights that the data are starting to highlight including coyote diet composition, population dynamics, behavior and movements. Abbey and Courtney s...

In this episode Mark covers a wasted meat crime in the NWT, the status of Alberta's caribou recovery program, the closure of the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick elver fishery, avian flu in Ontario, Saskatchewan hunter fines, the dilemma of elk in the Yukon, trapping coyotes in Vancouver and new agreement in BC for a First Nation and the implication for issuing tags for hunting.  Learn more about you...

Are larger wolf packs more effective at finding a killing prey than smaller packs?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chad Day, President of the Tahltan Central Government returns to the podcast to provide updates on wildlife management and hunting in Tahltan Territory. Chad talks about his journey in becoming a hunter and teaching his kids to hunt. Chad provides updates on grizzly bear management and the challenges facing predator control in a vast remote area of BC. Chad also discusses the challenges facing the...

Each year Steve Hossack volunteers in the winter bison hunt school program that takes place in the Yukon wilderness. Steve explains what this hunting program is about, the logistics that go into planning it, the immense life changing lessons the kids gain and the changes he sees the kids as they become leaders in their communities. Steve talks about why helping with the school bison hunt program i...

Is bear spray or a firearm better at stopping an aggressive charging brown bear? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Andrew Derocher is a polar bear researcher from the University of Alberta, and he is a hunter. He muses about the stress of researching bears and how research is his work, but hunting is his escape. Andy reflects on his hunting skills and whether they help him as polar bear researcher and explains what his favorite way to hunt is. He discusses the differences between how he hunted 20 years ago...

Dr. Marco Festa-Bianchet from Sherbrooke University is back on the show with Mark and Curtis. Marco is an evolutionary scientist and population ecologist whose research includes mountain sheep and goats. Marco discusses his research on bighorn sheep in Alberta and BC which if often criticized by the hunting community. Marco explains how the mating biology of mountain sheep including the age when r...

In this episode Mark does a deep dive into a controversial subject unfolding in British Columbia. The BC Lands Act is being amended to add decision making powers for First Nations People. Topics covered include the history of Canadian law that has led up to this, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the right to prior and informed consent, shared and consent-based de...

The truth about spring black bear hunting with respect to the claims that hunters orphan thousands of cubs each year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Mark Boyce from the University of Alberta joins Mark and Curtis in this episode. Dr. Boyce is an ecologist working on research areas that include wildlife habitat selection, cougar predation and effects of hunter harvest on wildlife including interactions between wildlife density and hunter harvests. Mark provides his perspectives on intensive selective hunting pressure as one of the causes of...

Dr. Jessica Haines is a wildlife scientist, professor at MacEwan University in Northern Alberta and a hunter. Jessica shares talks about how being a scientist helps her as a hunter and vice versa as well as how her students and co-workers react to her being a hunter. Jess talks about the peacefulness of hunting, reading the subtle clues of nature, hunting with dogs and mentoring students who are i...