Shepherds of the Wild Podcast

In this episode of the Shepherds of the Wild podcast, filmmaker Tom Opre has a frank discussion with Pete Geddes. Pete is the Chief External Relations Officer for American Prairie, a non-profit dedicated to "restoring" a large swath of Montana to its previous state, before Lewis and Clark's Discovery of the Great Montana Plains. They'll discuss bison, land acquisition, the area's current residents, as well as the overall impact on the environment, the economy, and the people.

In this episode, conservationist and filmmaker Tom Opre sits down with Mark Sather, a longtime Montana sportsman and employee of the Sieben Livestock Company, to unpack one of the most volatile and misunderstood issues in Western conservation: access, entitlement, and responsibility. Raised hunting the Gates of the Mountains and the Bob Marshall, Sather brings a generational sportsman's perspective shaped by years working inside a large, wildlife-rich cattle operation. He speaks candidly about what happens when public wildlife, private land, federal agencies, state managers, and modern hunting technology collide—sometimes literally—with helicopters, drones, and rising tensions in the field. The conversation moves deep into block management, helicopter access to landlocked public ground, changing hunter behavior, and the real-world consequences ranchers face when gates are left open, cattle are displaced, and trust breaks down. Sather also explains how proactive management—cow elk harvests, hazing with drones, and collaboration with Fish & Game—can reduce conflict while still putting meat in freezers. This is not a theoretical discussion. It's a ground-level look at how conservation actually works—or fails—when emotion, politics, and entitlement replace humility, stewardship, and dialogue. If you care about hunting, public land, private land, and the future of wildlife in the American West, this is a conversation you need to hear.

In this raw, unfiltered conversation, filmmaker Tom Opre sits down with Montana cattle rancher Trina Jo Bradley, who runs a multigenerational ranch on the edge of the Rocky Mountain Front, bordering the Blackfeet Reservation. Bradley offers an unvarnished look into the beauty and brutality of ranch life — raising cattle amid drought, brutal winters, fluctuating markets, and the constant threat of predators.

The Real Yellowstone, the latest documentary from award-winning filmmaker Tom Opre, is now streaming at www.shepherdsofwildlifestore.com. Rock Star and outspoken conservationist Ted Nugent has just screened the film, and the Motor City Madman has thoughts! In this episode, Tom and Ted discuss The Real Yellowstone, conservation, and the role we play in protecting healthy wildlife populations for future generations.

As the hunting and conservation editor for Outdoor Life, and a Montana Rancher for over two decades, Andrew McKean knows a thing or two about the problems facing Ranchers, farmers and hunters in America. In this episode, Filmmaker Tom Opre and Andrew take a deep dive into those topics, as well as water, American Prairie, and the importance of the small community to the American West.

In this episode, filmmaker Tom Opre talks with Randy Newberg. Randy is a C.P.A. with over three decades of experience working with farmers and ranchers. From financial planning to taxes and succession plans, Randy has seen it all, and as a staunch advocate for public land access for sportsman, he offers some common sense tactics for achieving solutions in a landscape fraught with conflict

Filmmaker Tom Opre sits down with Allan to discuss the restoration of biodiversity around the world, the hard choices facing a planet struggling to feed its population, and the steps necessary to fix it.

Noted author and organic farmer from the Galloway, Scotland sits down with filmmaker Tom Opre to talk about land and wildlife management issues and how rewilding fits into the equation.

Tom Opre, filmmaker and director of The Last Keeper, talks to Edinglassie Headkeeper Alex Jenkins about what it is to be a keeper.

Dee Ward, the owner of the grouse moor Rottal Estate in the Angus Glens speaks with filmmaker Tom Opre about land management solutions he employs which consider both climate and biodiversity concerns.

Filmmaker Tom Opre and Photographer Tony Bynum speak with the chairman of the board for Tress for Life Nigel Fraser about rewilding, carbon sequestration, deer and red grouse management, and what will happen to the rural communities if the sporting estate model is regulated out of existence in the Scottish Highlands.

Filmmaker Tom Opre sits down with John Muir Trust CEO David Balharry to discuss Scotland's land use issues.

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