The Origins Foundation Podcast

There have been significant rumors and discussions about DSC's future since the Atlanta show in January of 2025. The show was not a success, and as such there have been rumbling from exhibitors, partners, and others about what DSC will do next. Robbie reached out to DSC CEO Rob McCanna to come on the podcast and talk about all of it, post the press release that just came out explaining the route f...

The Endangered Species Act has been helping bring species back from the brink of extinction for more than 50 years now… and depending on what you read, it’s either under attack, or being reauthorized with improvements. Ashlee is joined by David Willms, a law professor, author, hunter, & notable expert on all things ESA to breakdown the existing law and the new bill that was introduced 2 weeks ago...

This is a special podcast episode for Blood Origins - its essentially a full circle moment for Robbie. Robbie has always been interested in wildlife conservation, and growing up in South Africa, in a non-hunting environment, his outlets for wildlife conservation were very limited. Robbie first met John Ledger when he was 14 years old (he’s 46 years young now!) and now he’s meeting him for the seco...

In this week’s roundup, Robbie is joined by returning guest Charles Whitwam to discuss what is shaping up to be one of the wildest legislative sessions in recent memory. They explore the challenges facing wildlife commissions, AB 1038 (a controversial black bear bill in California), the importance of public education and how our stories as hunters can help shape perceptions about hunting, and the...

Glen Thurston is the founder of a mental health focused organization in New Zealand called ‘Mental Hunts’ - and today he shares his incredible story with Robbie. His story started with the tremendously big step of admitting he had a problem with his mental health, to an ordeal that resulted in him losing his gun license and all his guns to authorities in New Zealand. As a result of that admission,...

Australia is home to likely the largest population of feral invasive species in the world. From all of the deer species, horses, camels, donkeys, buffalo - and PIGS, Australia has a rich history of introductions, and also a need for significant management of these species. Additionally, typically around the world, chasing any animal with dogs is typically frowned upon, and as such the Australian P...

There are certain topics in this world that are likely the most controversial - wolves, feral cats, and wild horses. Wild Horses for some reason evoke such emotions that there has been little work done on exposing what is actually going on. We are starting to delve into this topic more and more and there is not greater place to talk about this topic than Nevada. Former Federal Bureau of Land Manag...

Bupe and Robbie are joined by Dimas Mulyandambo, the Chairperson for the Kasempa Community Association and Mutende Simwanza, a climate specialist to bring forward the Zambian voice for conservation to talk about the integration of climate change mitigation and adaptation, overviewing how climate change has affected Zambia, and more. This podcast is a collaboration between CIC and Blood Origins giv...

Robbie and Ashlee chop it up about Robbie’s India trip now that he’s back stateside and the human-wildlife conflict the Blood Origins team witnessed during their trip documentary filming in India, including two people being killed within 20 kilometers of their base by tigers, while the team was there. The team then outlines plans for upcoming documentaries focused on sustainable practices and huma...

Kirsty Redman has many titles but the two she is most proud of are - Emerging Tuskers Project Coordinator, as well as the Elephant Hall Museum Director in Letaba Rest Camp for Kruger National Park in South Africa. Kirsty joined Robbie live from her office (yes and its true, Robbie and Kirsty were surrounded by garbage bags of elephant dung - all in the name of research!) to discuss big tuskers in...

Gogo Nomsa Sibeko, a traditional sangoma healer in South Africa, joins Robbie to talk about this rich tradition and - much like hunters - the many times inaccurate perception around them that comes out of Hollywood and movies. Robbie met Gogo back in November at the Custodians conference and was fascinated by her and the fact that she is facing the same stigmas as hunters are - that we pillage the...

Ian Harmer, the foremost walking safari guide for rhinos in Matopos, and owner of African Wanderer Safaris out of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe joins Robbie on the show from his safari in the Matapos Hills - a land full of mystique and magic and rhinos. The Matopos hills are rich with history, stories, and incredible wildlife including Rhinos. What’s so good about Ian is that he has been in Matopos working f...

Luke Care, current Chairman of the New Zealand Tahr Foundation, joins Robbie on the podcast to dive deep into the subject of Himalayan Tahr and educate the public more about these amazing creatures, sustainability of tahr, hunting tahr, and much more. Luke and Robbie release brand new information for the NZ Tahr Foundation, and give you information on how to enter the drawing for a FULLY GUIDED ta...

On this week’s Roundup, Ashlee is being joined by co-hosts Chris Borgatti, the Director of Policy for the 36 states in the Eastern Region of North America for Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, as well as Brock Wahl, the North Dakota state chairman for BHA, who will update us on the CWD bills moving through the ND state legislator and how to form a strong BHA chapter. Chris covers a commission restr...

William McKinley, the Director of the Whitetail Deer Program for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks joins Ashlee on this episode in our CWD series. William is a veteran deer biologist and has been with MDWFP for over 24 years. He regularly consults with the deer program directors from the adjacent states as well as deer biologists across the country on best management prac...

Bronson Strickland is arguably one of the leading extension deer biologists in the entire country. Robbie and Bronson used to be in the same Wildlife and Fisheries department at Mississippi State University, and so Bronson was invited onto the show by Robbie for this special second installment of our CWD Series to explore some of the major questions around the management of white-tailed deer with...

Ashlee and Robbie chop it up this week on everything from our CWD-focused series release, where listeners can get educated on the threat of Chronic Wasting Disease and proven conservation-focused strategies to mitigate it, to the upcoming Connecticut bear hunt and its part in the greater Northeastern bear wars, to a new bill around Oregon lion hunting with hounds, and more. Don’t forget to catch A...

Doug Duren of Blood Origins fame (kidding, but he is a frequent guest of ours and we love him!) joins us for the landowner perspective in Wisconsin - one of the hot beds of the Chronic Wasting Disease crisis affecting our nation, where 80+% of counties are testing positive for CWD. Doug shares what he’s seen from his decades of hunting the same piece of land. The CWD discussion is a very hot topic...

Robbie is joined by Adri Kitzhoff-Botha, CEO of the Custodians of Professional Hunting South Africa and Craig Kelly-Maartens, the current chairman of the same association - recorded on-location in South Africa - to discuss the new rebrand of the Custodians and what it means for wildlife and conservation. Adri and Craig go into the ‘why’, the evolution of the association, answer the question of ‘wh...

After the old folks catch up and compare notes on ‘back-in-my-day’ childhood home remodel assignments, Robbie and Ashlee discuss all the news fit to print around hunting in the country, including CWD and new bills affecting hunting (LOTS OF THESE), public reaction to Fish and Game changes down in New Mexico (particularly a proposed commission shakeup), the intersection of gun safety education and...

In this edition of Our Voice, the collaborative podcast highlighting indigenous voices and perspectives on wildlife conservation with CIC, Robbie and Bupe interview Daniel Kobei, a community representative from Kenya, about wildlife conservation efforts in the nation and the perspective of the local indigenous communities. They discuss the ban on hunting in Kenya, the challenges of human-wildlife...

If you grew up in South Africa and loved wildlife you likely wanted to be a veterinarian. Robbie did, but quickly realized that to be a wildlife vet and not a typical cats and dogs vet, 1) there were very limited chances of you getting into vet school, and 2) an even smaller chance of you working in that field when you graduated. Dr. Fraser was one of those guys that succeeded on both of those lev...

Robbie and Ashlee are back after a busy three weeks of travel for the entire Blood Origins crew, home renovation madness, recent conventions and, of course, all the news that’s fit to print around wildlife conservation around the world. Ashlee and Robbie chop it up on everything from the ‘show season bugs’ from traveling around for meetings to the implications of changing weather patterns on duck...

Richard Sowry, a 22 year veteran of Kruger National Park and current Pafuri section ranger in Kruger National Park, took Robbie on a game drive outside the Letaba Rest Camp in late November. Richard is an incredible conservationist, has fought the height of the Rhino poaching battle in Kruger National Park, loves argentinian doggos, and is just a pragmatic guy when it comes to wildlife conservatio...

Ashlee is joined by Dana Dykema, her counterpart (head of policy) at Blood Origins Canada for this week’s Blood Origins around the world roundup! The ladies get revenge on Robbie for relentlessly teasing Ashlee, talk about Dana’s intro into hunting, discuss sheep hunting, black bear conservation and controversy in Washington state and Japan, spring turkey hunting, Colorado wolves, and more! Do you...