Mule Deer Foundation - Talking Mule Deer Podcast

Welcome Back! MDF Talking Mule Deer is back on the airwaves in 2023. The last 15 months have been a crazy time at MDF and a lot has happened in our quest to conserve black-tailed and mule deer and it's time to bring you all up to speed. This episode's Guest is MDF's President & CEO, Joel Pedersen, who visits with Steve and Jodi about the exciting times at MDF including a record setting mule deer tag. We cover the latest with MDF's conservation program, which has expanded rapidly, and highlight the wins MDF has had over the past year and upcoming events which will make 2023 an even better year.

Spring has sprung, and Talking Mule Deer is back with President/CEO Joel Pedersen, who takes time to discuss his first Western Conservation and Hunting Expo as the leader of MDF, and talks in-depth about the first annual Mule Deer Summit that was held at the WHCE. Big dollars were raised at the show, and Joel talks about how MDF will be utilizing those funds to accomplish work on the ground across the mule deer habitat range. We also take a few minutes to talk to MDF Outreach Coordinator JJ Hinton about how we are utilizing digital media, and specifically social media, to expand the reach of our organization in the future.

Just in time for your holiday travels, for our final episode for 2021 we are spending time checking our lists, and reviewing the work being accomplished in Wyoming. We chat with one of the newest MDF Biologists, Habitat Partnership Coordinator Nicole Reed on her work in WY and CO, and WY Regional Director Shawn Blajszczak gives an update on how to get your hands on some special edition Wyoming Whiskey, and other initiatives in the state.

Today we are headed to Nevada to check in on the status of the mule deer herd with Nevada Department of Wildlife Director and President of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Tony Wasley and Game Division Chief Mike Scott. Tony and Mike spend time discussing project work occurring in Nevada, how these projects are financed through auction tags, MDF Chapter Rewards, and grant funds provided by partner agencies. Any conversation about habitat health in Nevada also has to include the status of feral horse populations in the state.

MDF President/CEO Joel Pedersen, and Arizona Game and Fish Department Wildlife Science Coordinator Jim Heffelfinger to talk about the 2021 Range-wide Status of Black-Tailed and Mule Deer produced by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ Mule Deer Working Group.

On this episode of Talking Mule Deer, we are joined by Nosler Inc. President and COO John R. Nosler. John starts off with an overview of the history of Nosler and how his grandfather, truckdriver John A. Nosler, turned the first Nosler bullet out of spare car parts in the late 1940s, launching a family-owned and operated bullet manufacturing dynasty. John details how Nosler has grown from the first Partition bullet to a full-service ammunition producer and more recently a firearms manufacturer.

This episode of Talking Mule Deer features our conversation with the co-founder of Public Land Tees, Sam Soholt. Sam tells us about how he got his start in the outdoor industry as a photographer and videographer, and about his modified school bus that he used as his base to hunt and raise awareness about public lands with an active social media presence.

On this episode, we are talking with Jason Matzinger, host of Into High Country and an ambassador for the Mule Deer Foundation. Spring brings the chance to get back into the field looking for shed antlers and Jason describes how he uses shed hunting as a way to scout and learn about behavior.

MDF Magazine Redesign with Chet Hervey of the Northwoods Collective, and MDF’s COO Brian Fienhold – Season 4 Episode 2 – February 9 On this episode of Talking Mule Deer, we are visiting with the folks behind the recent redesign of the MDF Magazine that hit mailboxes last month. Brian Fienhold, MDF’s Chief Operating Officer describes how the relationship with the Northwoods Collective began and we hear directly from Northwoods Collective managing partner Chet Hervey. Chet describes his company and the work that they have done with other wildlife conservation organizations and in the hunter recruitment, retention, and reactivation efforts. We hear about the vision that they brought to the table for the magazine redesign and what some of the new layout offers as far as content, outstanding photography, and readability. Brian tells us how the move to a quarterly magazine, rather than the six issues a year in the past, will help provide value to members in cost savings while also increasing the total page count per issue – and how we hope the new design will help us build membership, and provide even more member benefits. We wrap up by hearing from both Brian and Chet about the future of MDF Magazine as well as other outreach tools including an updated website design, all with the intention of building the MDF brand and the work the organization can accomplish on the ground.

2020 Rangewide Status of Black-tailed and Mule Deer– Season 3 Episode 16 – August 17 Steve and Jodi visit with Jim Heffelfinger from the Arizona Game and Fish Department and Miles Moretti, President/CEO of MDF, about the recently released 2020 Range-wide Status of Black-tailed and Mule Deer. This report produced by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ (WAFWA) Mule Deer Working Group provides an overview of the current black-tailed and mule deer population status and general abundance trends. Intended for and compiled by deer experts for WAFWA’s 24 states, territorial, and provincial agencies, this report is the “state-of-the-state” update and provides important information and insight for management of deer populations. Jim and Miles explain some of the complexities and nuances of how biologists collect the information that goes into deer management decisions and how this information is meant to inform decisions and is often controversial and misunderstood. The discussion covers a few select states important for mule deer and also includes how MDF uses this information and the relationships with the state agencies to help focus our habitat work and to maximize MDF’s conservation impact for deer.

Relive Talking Mule Deer's first “live” podcast from Wednesday, July 22 in coordination with the final vote on the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) by the U.S. House of Representative . Join Steve and Jodi while they visited with their guests - MDF President Miles Moretti, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation President Jeff Crane, and Wildlife Mississippi Executive Director and Chair of the Boone and Crockett Club’s policy committee James Cummins, as the vote happened and ultimately passed 310-107. The bill will now head to the President for signature to become law. This is a huge legislative win for the conservation community and one that has been fought for decades. The GAOA will permanently fund Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) at its authorized level of $900 million per year for land conservation as well as state and local parks. In addition to LWCF funding, the GAOA authorizes significant funding ($1.9 billion/year) over five years to address the backlog in maintenance on federal public lands. We also visited about the recently released report Wildlife for the 21st Century: Volume 6 report that was released last week by the American Wildlife Conservation Partners where conservation funding was the first of 10 key wildlife policy issues.

The Boone and Crockett Club’s CEO, Tony Schoonen – Season 3 Episode 12 – June 18 This week, we are pleased to welcome our partner in conservation, Tony Schoonen the Chief Executive Officer of the Boone and Crockett Club. Tony gives us a little bit of the Club’s history and how it was founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887. He explains how the Club was started by “people of influence” and the bylaws today continue to have just 100 regular members, along with a strong group of professional members, who help steer policy and priorities for the Club. Tony also talks about the Boone and Crockett records program and how that was established not just to honor the largest animals, but also a science-based process to evaluate the health of ecosystems and the wildlife that live there. From there, we discuss Boone and Crockett’s Hunt Fair Chase program and the fundamental ethics of fair chase hunting, as well as their new Poach and Pay program that is intended to increase detection and prosecution of poaching. These efforts also help to protect the image of all ethical hunters. We wrap up talking about the 30th Big Game Awards program and the Boone and Crockett National Collection of Heads and Horns at the Wonders of Wildlife Museum in Springfield, Missouri. Tony and Miles Moretti wrap up by talking about the overall health of mule deer and that, while there are concerns like Chronic Wasting Disease, that there are still outstanding mule deer bucks being harvested in recent years.

Mule Deer Memorial Day Marathon – Season 3 Episode 10 – May 21 This is our 59th episode of Talking Mule Deer and we are encouraging our listeners to get on a Mule Deer Memorial Day Marathon. This week, Jodi and Steve are reflecting back on the two years of the TMD podcast and hoping listeners go back and binge listen to some of our favorite episodes. We revisit those early days of putting together our first interview with Miles Moretti, and how the podcast has grown and developed over the last two years. We talk about what have been some of the most popular downloads as well as the episodes that have provided different important topics that we hope our listeners have appreciated. For the future, we will be launching listener interaction opportunities and encourage people to ask us questions, suggest new topics, or tell us who you’ve liked that you think we should bring back on the show. The new podcast@muledeer.org email address, along with MDF social media channels will allow listeners to submit their comments or questions – and if we use them on air, we will be sending you some MDF swag to thank you for your engagement. So, listen up, remember some of the old episodes and help us move forward this year in expanding our reach to mule deer enthusiasts across the country!