Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Podcasts and Blasts

Hunting. Angling. Public Lands. That's the meat of what BHA's Podcasts & Blasts is about, and we cover the gamut. With guests that range from outdoor writers to backcountry hunters to legendary anglers, we seek to uncover the stories, the truths, the controversies, and the epic conversations that our public land heritage provides.

Backcountry Report - Ep. 7 Public Lands, Fisheries & Conservation News from the Road 09/17/2026

Conservation Cooperative: Episode 7, Part I - CWD Preparedness in the Northeast 09/10/2026

Backcountry Report - Ep. 6 A Farmer's Death, a Park for Sale, and a Billion-Dollar Barricade 09/04/2026

Backcountry Conversations - Ep. 2: Debunking the Case to Rescind the Roadless Rule with TU's Chris Wood 08/27/2026

Backcountry Report - Ep. 5 Roadless Rule, Refuge Access and Big Bend Under Pressure 08/20/2026

Conservation Cooperative, Ep. 6: The Field of Human Dimensions 08/13/2026

Backcountry Report - Ep. 4: Scent, Setbacks, and Stewardship 08/06/2026

Backcountry Conversations - Ep. 1: 12 Bulls in a Row? BHA's Trey Curtiss 07/30/2026

Backcountry Report – Ep. 3: Monuments, Management, and Membership Opportunities 07/23/2026

Conservation Cooperative, Ep. 5, Part II: Brook Trout & Climate Change 07/16/2026

Backcountry Report - Ep. 2: CWD Research, Roan Plateau Threats, and Policy Roundup 07/10/2026

Backcountry Report - Ep. 1: Kicking it Off 06/19/2026

Conservation Cooperative, Ep. 4, Part I: Brook Trout & Climate Change 06/15/2026

Conservation Cooperative, Ep. 3: Wildlife Crossings 06/02/2026

The Real Cost of Public Land Transfer 05/26/2026

Conservation Cooperative, Ep. 2: Striped Bass 04/28/2026

Conservation Cooperative, Ep. 1: Trails 04/24/2026

Wearing Out a Pair of Boots 03/18/2026

Wearing Out a Pair of Boots After nearly a decade behind the mic and more than 225 episodes digging into the people, places and fights that define our public lands and waters, Hal Herring is stepping away from BHA’s Podcast & Blast and onto his next adventure. For this final episode, we turn the microphone around. Hal joins former BHA Vice President of Communications and longtime Podcast & Blast producer Katie McKalip, along with BHA Brand and Editorial Manager Zack Williams, for a conversation about how the show came together, what made it matter and a few of the moments they’ll carry forward. What emerges is more than a look back at a podcast. It’s a reflection on the kind of storytelling that has always powered BHA: grounded, firsthand and rooted in real places and real people. Over the years, Hal sought out voices with deep experience on the land — people who knew a watershed, a forest, a migration route or a community intimately, and who could explain what was at stake in plain, honest terms. Episode after episode, the show reminded us that conservation is not an abstraction. It lives in boots, horses, boats, gravel roads, campfires and long miles — and in the people willing to show up for the future of public lands and waters. We’re sad to see Hal go, but grateful for everything he helped build and excited to see what happens as he wears out his next pair of boots. Listen to his final episode wherever you get your podcasts, and stay tuned as we chart what’s next for BHA’s podcast. The views and opinions expressed in the Podcast & Blast are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. The Podcast & Blast with Hal Herring is brought you by Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and presented by Silencer Central, with additional support from Decked, Dometic, and Filson. Join Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, the voice for your wild public lands, waters, and wildlife to be part of a passionate community of hunter-angler-conservationists. BHA. THE VOICE FOR OUR WILD PUBLIC LANDS, WATERS AND WILDLIFE. Follow us: Web: Instagram: @backcountryhunters Facebook: @backcountryhunters /episode/index/show/backcountryhunters/id/40528045

Public Water, Private Land: Utah’s Stream Access Fight 02/18/2026

Songs from the Saddle with Jackson Holte 02/03/2026

Mining the Margins of Wilderness: an Update from the Boundary Waters 01/14/2026

Mining the Margins of Wilderness: an Update from the Boundary Waters BREAKING: Since this interview was recorded, a new attempt to permit a copper-nickel mine upstream of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is underway. On Monday, Jan. 12, Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn) introduced , which would lift the federal moratorium on mining in the Rainy River Watershed, just upstream from the wilderness border. , and call your elected officials directly on the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is a 1.1-million-acre expanse of lakes, rivers, and boreal forest—accessible only by paddle and portage—and one of the most intact wild places left in America. It’s a world-class destination for fishing, hunting, camping, and solitude, but more than that, it’s a place that shapes people. Generations of families, anglers, and paddlers have learned stewardship here, guided by a simple truth: some landscapes are priceless precisely because they demand restraint, responsibility, and care. Today, that ethic is being tested. Proposed sulfide-ore mining at the doorstep of the Boundary Waters—backed by foreign mining interests and enabled by shifting federal policy—poses serious risks to a water-rich ecosystem that cannot absorb failure. This isn’t just a Minnesota issue. It’s a national question about how America balances resource extraction, public lands, and long-term economic reality against short-term gain. As administrations change, protections have ping-ponged, leaving this place—and others like it—perpetually on defense. In this episode of the Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Podcast & Blast, host Hal Herring is joined by Lukas Leaf and Matthew Schultz of Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters to unpack what’s really at stake. From the personal experiences that bind people to the Boundary Waters to the complex web of policy, permits, and public process governing its future, this conversation makes one thing clear: after today, none of us can say we didn’t know. , and call your elected officials directly on the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. The views and opinions expressed in the Podcast & Blast are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. The Podcast & Blast with Hal Herring is brought you by Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and presented by Silencer Central, with additional support from Decked, Dometic, and Filson. Join Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, the voice for your wild public lands, waters, and wildlife to be part of a passionate community of hunter-angler-conservationists. BHA. THE VOICE FOR OUR WILD PUBLIC LANDS, WATERS AND WILDLIFE. Follow us: Web: Instagram: @backcountryhunters Facebook: @backcountryhunters /episode/index/show/backcountryhunters/id/39730300

92 years in the Selway Wilderness with Jim Renshaw 12/30/2025

92 years in the Selway Wilderness with Jim Renshaw It was the late spring of 1932 when Idaho outfitter Jim Renshaw first saw the upper Selway River from the back of a horse. The packstring was led by his father, Alvin, who had been working for the U.S. Forest Service since he was 13 and had bought the Pettibone Ranch, deep in the wilderness, where Bear Creek drops into the Selway River. Jim Renshaw was two months old at that time. For the next 16 years, he, his mother and father, and two sisters lived at the Pettibone Ranch, guiding hunters in the fall and fishermen and wilderness wanderers in the summer. Jim would become one of the most famed and skilled horsemen and wilderness mule packers in the history of the Selway country, as well as an elk and mule deer guide with few equals. Today, at age 93, he remains actively engaged with his horses and mules and in his home wilderness country. This interview was recorded live at Jim’s home near Kooskia, Idaho, during a visit in June 2025. The stories kept coming, the maps stayed on the table, and the coffee remained on the stove for the better part of two days. Hal was able to capture much of it in this podcast episode—nine decades of weather and work, triumph and tragedy, wildlife and even wilder people, family, camps, crashed planes, and horse wrecks—a life writ large in some of the finest and most remote country left on Earth. The views and opinions expressed in the Podcast & Blast are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. The Podcast & Blast with Hal Herring is brought you by Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and presented by Silencer Central, with additional support from Decked, Dometic, and Filson. Join Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, the voice for your wild public lands, waters, and wildlife to be part of a passionate community of hunter-angler-conservationists. BHA. THE VOICE FOR OUR WILD PUBLIC LANDS, WATERS AND WILDLIFE. Follow us: Web: Instagram: @backcountryhunters Facebook: @backcountryhunters /episode/index/show/backcountryhunters/id/39502315

The Forgotten Lands with Josh Jackson 12/18/2025

The Congressional Review Act and Central Yukon RMP with Dr. Kevin Fraley 12/02/2025

The Congressional Review Act and Central Yukon RMP with Dr. Kevin Fraley Hunters and anglers across the country may never set foot on Alaska’s Dalton Highway—but what’s unfolding there affects every American who cares about public land. In this episode, Hal Herring sits down with fisheries ecologist and writer Dr. Kevin Fraley to unpack a sweeping threat to some of the most accessible caribou and fishing country in the entire state. A new push in Congress aims to throw out the Central Yukon Resource Management Plan—a plan built over a decade with input from hunters, anglers and local stakeholders—and potentially reopen millions of acres around the Dalton to industrial leasing, restricted access and the kind of locked-up landscapes already seen on the North Slope. Fraley brings deep on-the-ground knowledge of the Brooks Range, the Dalton corridor and the fish and wildlife that depend on it, explaining in clear terms what’s at stake and why this unprecedented use of the Congressional Review Act matters for anyone who values public access, wild fish and fair-chase hunting. Whether you’ve dreamed of a DIY caribou hunt, care about responsible management of America’s lands or just want to understand the real story behind a fast-moving political fight, this episode lays out exactly why this moment demands attention. The views and opinions expressed in the Podcast & Blast are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. The Podcast & Blast with Hal Herring is brought you by Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and presented by Silencer Central, with additional support from Decked, Dometic, and Filson. Join Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, the voice for your wild public lands, waters, and wildlife to be part of a passionate community of hunter-angler-conservationists. BHA. THE VOICE FOR OUR WILD PUBLIC LANDS, WATERS AND WILDLIFE. Follow us: Web: Instagram: @backcountryhunters Facebook: @backcountryhunters /episode/index/show/backcountryhunters/id/39238710

BHA's NEW President & CEO Ryan Callaghan 11/12/2025

Patriotism and Conservation with Braxton McCoy 10/28/2025

Controversy over Midwest Forest Management 10/14/2025

Controversy over Midwest Forest Management A controversy over public lands’ management in Indiana’s 204,000-acre Hoosier National Forest turns out to be a microcosm of a burning (pun intended) national debate over using fire and targeted logging operations to create habitat for wildlife and a healthier, more diverse and more resilient forest. From the 1960s to 80s, The U.S. Forest Service, in the grip of the so-called “timber beast” style of management, clear-cut millions of acres of publicly owned forestland, leading to widespread loss of wildlife, sediment-filled streams, and a furious backlash from conservationists. A barrage of successful lawsuits from environmental and conservation groups radically changed public land management, often for the good of the land, water and wildlife. But that same backlash, and the habit of filing lawsuits to block or guide public lands management, have posed extreme challenges in the decades since—critically-needed projects to restore native ecosystems and wildlife habitats have been blocked, management has in some cases been brought to a standstill, and a growing body of evidence shows that we have gone too far on certain parts of our public lands in simply “letting nature take its course.” It’s not a debate over “wilderness versus logging and roads” as it is sometimes framed. It’s not about the fallibility of human-directed land management versus the eternal wisdom of nature. It’s about a lot more than that, and it has national implications. Join us for a conversation with three Hoosier hunters and conservation leaders who’ve found themselves on the frontline of this controversy—BHA Chapter Coordinator Jameson Hibbs, BHA Indiana chapter board member Brian Stone, and Michael Spalding, of the Conservation Law Center, a professional forester from a multi-generation Indiana farming family who has worked in 55 of Indiana’s 92 counties over the course of his career. --- The Podcast & Blast with Hal Herring is brought you by Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and presented by , with additional support from and . Join Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, the voice for your wild public lands, waters, and wildlife to be part of a passionate community of hunter-angler-conservationists. BHA. THE VOICE FOR OUR WILD PUBLIC LANDS, WATERS AND WILDLIFE. Follow us: Web: Instagram: @backcountryhunters Facebook: @backcountryhunters /episode/index/show/backcountryhunters/id/38581205

The North American Pronghorn Foundation 09/30/2025

Understanding the Roadless Rule. Take Action Today! 09/17/2025

Suppressors: Hearing Protection for Hunters with Silencer Central CEO Brandon Maddox 09/09/2025

Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Podcasts and Blasts

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