Sheep Fever
Sheep Fever is the official podcast of the Wild Sheep Foundation, delivering a diversity of topics, talent, and insights from within the wild sheep hunting and conservation community, as well as broader issues of importance to the outdoor lifestyles and hunting heritage cherished by millions of sportsmen and women around the globe.
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EP78 Quiet Excellence – Silencer Central’s 20 Years of Saving Hearing, One Suppressor at a time
07/30/2025
EP78 Quiet Excellence – Silencer Central’s 20 Years of Saving Hearing, One Suppressor at a time
Celebrating 20 years of suppressor/silencer sales and manufacturing, and most notably making the once onerous BATF application process simple, painless, and seamless, Silencer Central is an award-winning partner of the Wild Sheep Foundation. Sheep Fever co-hosts Gray Thornton and Keith Balfourd visit with Founder and CEO Brandon Maddox to celebrate Silencer Central’s successes and discuss changes to National Firearm Act (NFA) laws signed into effect by President Trump and the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill. If you have been waiting to buy a suppressor for your next hunt or trip to the range, Maddox will tell you there has never been a better time than now!
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EP77 Save The Hunt – A conversation with Dan Gates of Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management
07/16/2025
EP77 Save The Hunt – A conversation with Dan Gates of Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management
EP77 Save The Hunt – A conversation with Dan Gates of Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management Of the Rocky Mountain states, Colorado has been ground zero for animal rights and anti-hunting, trapping, and science-based wildlife management extremists bent on challenging more than 100 years of successful and sportsmen funded wildlife restoration and management. After a stingingly narrow victory of a ballot box biology initiative to introduce grey wolves into the state, conservation minded Coloradans formed Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management (CRWM) led by Dan Gates to become the tip of the spear for anticipated future battles. Using a collaborative approach, identifying key constituencies, and key, and factual messaging, Dan and CRWM found the secret sauce to defeat Proposition 127 this past November that would have ended mountain lion management, as well as two other anti-led with Governor’s office support ballot initiatives. These were not only defeated, they were crushed by CRWM with financial support from across the country including WSF’s contribution of $100,000 to educate the public on the consequences of Prop 127. Sheep Fever co-host Gray Thornton, and guest host Corey Mason sit down in studio with Dan to discuss the 2024 wins, and plans for the next, seemingly never-ended battle to preserve science-informed, sustainable use wildlife conservation. Sit back with a Scotch and cigar, and enjoy!
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EP76 North American Pronghorn Foundation
07/02/2025
EP76 North American Pronghorn Foundation
This week on Sheep Fever we visit with Eric Dippold, Secretary for the newly formed North American Pronghorn Foundation. A uniquely North American goat species often referred to as being in the antelope family, the pronghorn is a cherished big game species by sportsmen from around the world and an out-the-window wildlife viewing favorite of travelers indicating they are now “out west.” As celebrated as they are, there has never been an organization dedicated to their future, until now, and their timing couldn’t be better. Every year in one area or another where pronghorn range, we hear of one population challenge or another. Mostly its losses over an extreme winter. As tough as these deaths are to witness, weather events are often viewed as out of our hands, or are they? Are antelope loosing critical habitat? Yes. Could their historical migration corridors be less obstructed? Yes. Are too many predators an issue? Yes. This sums up the mission of this new organization of which WSF is in full partnership-mode support. Join the NAPF today at this link:
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EP75 Arizona Rocky Mountain Bighorn Raffle Tag
06/23/2025
EP75 Arizona Rocky Mountain Bighorn Raffle Tag
Sheep Fever co-hosts Keith and Gray visit with WSF Chairman, Charlie Kelly (AZ) and COO Corey Mason (TX) about the Foundation’s raffling of the 2025-26 Arizona Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Raffle tag, auctions tags, conservation funding, and where the money goes. Sometimes celebrated, sometimes hated on, auction tags do get a lot of attention. Some cry for more raffle opportunities to be “fair”, while others want to see max dollars raised for wild sheep, which translates to more wild sheep on the mountain and more opportunity for all forms of tags. Regardless, WSF has a mission committed to doing everything in its power for the wild sheep resource. This time, it’s marketing and selling a raffle tag where every dollar raised from the tag goes back to the state. The raffle ends June 30th. The winner will have from August 15 2025 to August 14, 2026, to find their ram. Tickets are $50 each at this link:
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EP74 Wild Harvest Initiative with Shane Mahoney
05/14/2025
EP74 Wild Harvest Initiative with Shane Mahoney
Launched in 2015 with financial support from WSF and others, the Wild Harvest Initiative sought to calculate, for the first time, the total amount in pounds or tons of healthy, wild protein humanely harvested by sportsmen every year in the US and Canada. Keith caught up with Conservation Visions President and CEO Shane Mahoney to go over the numbers documented thus far and most importantly, how this data is being used to generate a broader public understanding and appreciation for sustainable use hunting. The sheer tonnage of wild protein consumed as meals and shared by hunters every year is staggering. It really puts into perspective the value of conservation and healthy ecosystems as nature’s pantry, as it has been for a millennium. People may not hunt or agree on hunting’s modern relevance, but no one can dismiss food as nonessential.
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EP73 A Conversation with Jason Matzinger – Part I
04/30/2025
EP73 A Conversation with Jason Matzinger – Part I
Artist, film producer, television host, outdoor communicator, ambassador, hunter, conservationist, father are just a few descriptives of Montana native Jason Matzinger. In this episode Jason and Gray cover a broad range of topics from Jason’s roots, what makes him tick, outdoor media, where it came from, where it is going, and its benefits and burdens. Jason is the real deal and this episode covers topics coast to coast including the status of the outdoor industry. We also learn there is one descriptive that Jason does not consider himself to be…an “influencer.” Find out why. We’re already looking forward to Part II.
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EP72 Best of Sheep Fever 2024
04/16/2025
EP72 Best of Sheep Fever 2024
Tough to choose, but here is a Best of Sheep Fever 2024 special episode. Actually, our listeners choose for us by most popular downloads. A lot of ground covered by some pretty seasoned folks in sheep hunting, conservation’s history and future, wild sheep biology, predator management, shooting technology and marksmanship, to name a few. · Episode 40: Wild Sheep & Predators - Kevin Hurley, Kurt Alt, Tom Lohuis, and Eric Rominger (02:00) · Episode 46: Shooting Tech and the Era of Marksmanship - John Snow (28:19) · Episode 50: WSF Ambassador Talk Sheep Show - Jana Waller (52:08) · Episode 63: What Next for Conservation - Shane Mahoney (1:08:03) You’ll like this one.
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EP71 Whiskey and Wild Sheep – Rob Gerstner of Full Curl Brands
04/02/2025
EP71 Whiskey and Wild Sheep – Rob Gerstner of Full Curl Brands
Often consumed to celebrate victory, sometimes even survival, but just as often to mourn defeat, whiskey and wild sheep do go together. Such was the vision of founder Robert Gertsner when he conceived of wild sheep inspired distilled adult beverages now known as Full Curl Brand’s. Rob is a successful entrepreneur and a passionate and equally successful sheep hunter. A bowhunter, his coveted offerings of bourbon, rye, gin, and vodka match his pension for doing it the right way even if that is not the easy one. Sheep Fever co-host Gray Thornton and Rob discuss how the brand started, sheep and mountain hunting, the liquor business, the Sheep Show, partnerships and how Rob pays it forward by donating a portion of every bottle sold to fund wild sheep conservation. Pour yourself a glass, grab a fine cigar, relax, make no apologies, and sit back and enjoy this episode.
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EP70 Montana Knife Company– Josh Smith
03/20/2025
EP70 Montana Knife Company– Josh Smith
Admittedly, hunters are gear junkies. When it comes to our knives, as we learned from MKC founder and CEO Josh Smith, it runs deeper than that. Grandpa’s knife can be Dad’s knife; can then be our knife as a rite of passage. Sheep Fever sat down with Josh and a true American brand success story to discuss his humble beginning as a Montana boy knifemaker at age 15 to becoming the youngest Master Knifemaker in the country as certified by the Knifemaker’s Guild, onto becoming one of the most successful startup knife companies in a very crowded field. His story and his philosophy about cutting tools, his team, and what goes into each MKC blade is an interesting journey into tradecraft for the hunter, and now the ranch, the kitchen, and who knows what next. The timing couldn’t be better. WSF has secured a limited number of their famous Blackfoot 2.0 knives for our current Life Member promotion giveaway. Like all MKC knives, if you blink, they’re gone. Full details at this link
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EP69 TOUGH SHEEP Workout /w Mtn. Tough Fitness
03/05/2025
EP69 TOUGH SHEEP Workout /w Mtn. Tough Fitness
Post Sheep Show, Sheep Fever co-host Keith Balfourd and WSF’s Director of Publications and Awards, Julie Tripp reconnect with Dustin Diefenderfer of Mtn. Tough Fitness Labs to walk, or limp back through the first TOUGH SHEEP workout that took place at the Show. The TOUGH SHEEP workout was conceived by Dustin and his team to engage mountain fitness enthusiasts. The event aimed to not only welcome participants to the Sheep Show but also to provide a calendar event for their workout goals, create opportunities for in-person connections beyond their private workout spaces, contribute directly to wild sheep conservation efforts, and offer a chance to win a Dall's sheep hunt. The event raised $50,000 for wild sheep. It was a lot to unpack, but with the maximum of 500 registrants on the books, 428 making it to Reno and starting and all completing the workout, TOUGH SHEEP was a huge success and all the buzz of the 2025 Sheep Show. Plans are in play for an even bigger and better event for 2026.
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EP68 Spotlight on British Columbia – Part II
02/12/2025
EP68 Spotlight on British Columbia – Part II
In Part II of our Spotlight on BC, Kyle, Scott, and Gray weigh into the status of wild sheep and wildlife in the province, and the status of wildlife conservation and management given Ministry, staff, and other recent political changes. The trio of CEOs discuss the prospects for restoring the grizzly bear hunt, other wildlife challenges, dollars to the resource vs. impact to the resource and social license issues effecting conservationists ability to fund our efforts.
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EP67 Spotlight on British Columbia – Part I
01/29/2025
EP67 Spotlight on British Columbia – Part I
British Columbia holds a special focus for the Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF), with three of North America’s four wild sheep calling it home. During the past three years, WSF directed $1.9 Million in Grant in Aid to the province to conserve and enhance thinhorn and bighorn sheep, improve their habitat, mitigate the impact of predation, support the hunting and conservation industry, and fund outreach programs to educate the public on the conservation benefits of hunting. In addition, WSF directed $828,000 to British Columbia’s Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation through the sale of the BC Minister’s Special Sheep License to fund wild sheep projects during the same three-year period for a total of nearly $2.8 Million. This equates to almost $1 million per year. In this Spotlight on British Columbia episode, Sheep Fever co-host Gray Thornton visits with two of WSF’s affiliates, Kyle Stelter, CEO Wild Sheep Society of BC & Scott Ellis, CEO Guide Outfitter Association of BC to talk all things wild sheep in the province.
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EP66 The 2025 Sheep Show® with Field Ethos
01/15/2025
EP66 The 2025 Sheep Show® with Field Ethos
With the Sheep Show just over the next ridge, Sheep Fever hosts Gray Thornton and Keith Balfourd sat down with Mike Schoby of Field Ethos to discuss what’s new and what to expect at the Show, what our new partner, donor, and exhibitor Field Ethos has in store, and announce a special featured auction item. Field Ethos is a relatively new outdoor adventure media company founded by Donald Trump Jr. and Jason Vincent. Their goal was to unapologetically revive the action-adventure into hunting, fishing, and exploration of the outdoors around the world. With print, digital, and social, they have amassed quite a following of raw adventure seekers searching for a rush wherever they can find it. Along those lines, Field Ethos has fully donated a VIP Mongolian ibex hunt with Donald Trump Jr. and Shikar Safaris to the Sheep Show auction for Saturday night’s Grand Finale banquet. Watch live-stream and bid on the Sheep Show nightly live and silent online auctions at this .
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EP65 WSF Ambassadors Talk Sheep Show® 2025
01/02/2025
EP65 WSF Ambassadors Talk Sheep Show® 2025
With the 2025 Sheep Show just around the corner, Sheep Fever co-hosts Gray and Keith visit with newly welcomed WSF Ambassadors Jana Waller Bair and Rachel Ahtila to discuss their journeys as hunter-conservationists, and to get their thoughts on why the Show is such a highlight on their travel schedules. Is it the positive vibe for wild sheep conservation or hunting in general, seeing old friends, making new ones, sharing stories where everyone is family, or simply a week of feel-good packed into three days? Along the way, the group covers many of the fan-favorite events that happen in Reno every year, plus what’s new for the 2025 Show. If you’re planning on attending, we’ll see you there. If not, there is still time. Full event details are available at this
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EP64 Conservation’s Future Part 2 with Shane Mahoney
12/11/2024
EP64 Conservation’s Future Part 2 with Shane Mahoney
In our previous episode, we discussed that conservation is at a crossroads. More people are turning to nature and the outdoors for health and fulfillment, yet far too many are demonstrating a lack of knowledge of the differences between conservation and preservation and the benefits of both. As a result, emotion is trumping science, sound conservation actions are being pulled in all directions or tied up in court, and harmful measures are showing up on ballot initiatives. In this episode, we drill deeper into this topic with Shane Mahoney, president and CEO of Conservation Visions. We begin by reflecting on a quote from Aldo Leopold’s book, A Sand County Almanac, published in 1949. “There must be some force behind conservation— more universal than profit, less awkward than government, less ephemeral than sport; something that reaches into all times and places, where men live on the land, something that brackets everything from rivers to raindrops, from whales to hummingbirds, from land estates to window-boxes. I can see only one such force: a respect for land as an organism; a voluntary decency in land-use exercised by every citizen and every landowner out of a sense of a love for and obligation to that great biota we call America. This is the meaning of conservation, and this is the task of conservation education.” We end up with the need to create an overarching conservation policy, a conservation template that puts wildlife, the environment, and more people all on the same page. How we get there is the challenge.
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EP63 Conservation’s Future; what’s missing with Shane Mahoney
11/21/2024
EP63 Conservation’s Future; what’s missing with Shane Mahoney
Is conservation at a crossroads? If challenges to wildlife and the environment are evolving and, in many cases, mounting. If we believe that conservation is everyone's responsibility and that it is a progressive journey rather than a final destination, then we are at a crossroads. The conservation movement in the early 1900s was born out of crisis. We were taking too much off the land and taking too much for granted. The Environmental Revolution of the 1906s and 70s was another gut check. Both resulted in the establishment of new laws, organizations, and institutions to address the challenges of those days. We knew what was bad and wasn’t working, and we set out to fix things with nothing more than the motivation that using natural resources wisely and not wasting them was the right thing to do. In those days, there wasn’t a roadmap to follow, nor was there a conservation policy or constitution to hold up as a litmus test for decision-making. Would something like an overarching conservation policy, something a board cross-section of stakeholders could agree upon, take conservation into the next century? In this episode of Sheep Fever, we talk with Conservation Visions president and CEO Shane Mahoney about where conservation is today, what it is facing, how it is being pulled in all directions, and the need, for the lack of a better term, a conservation template that puts wildlife, the environment, and people all in the same house. After all, we are living in the same house.
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EP62 Dream Rams of the North – Bill Pastorek
11/07/2024
EP62 Dream Rams of the North – Bill Pastorek
Bill Pastorek, author of Dream Rams of British Columbia will soon release his recent and highly anticipate work, Dream Rams of the North. Bill caught the sheep bug early in his life and his chosen career path of self-employment and building a successful gardening business allowed him plenty of time in the mountains to pursue his passion for wild sheep. An avid conservationist, and one who walks the talk of giving his time, talent, and treasure to the resource he loves and the organizations focused on their conservation, Bill has dedicated Dream Rams of the North to those volunteers, staff, and organizations focused on putting and keeping wild sheep on the mountain. Sheep Fever co-host Gray Thornton sits down with Bill to talk about his new release, its inspiration, how he curates the stories in it, and his plans for at least two more books in his Dream Rams series. Dream Rams of the North in the regular, limited, and conservation editions are available to pre-order at . Bill will also be doing book signings and sales alongside his friend and fellow author Jim Manley at the January 16-18, 2025 Sheep Show® in Reno Thursday, Friday, and Saturday near the WSF Membership Booth.
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EP61 Guest Podcast by Spike Camp
10/23/2024
EP61 Guest Podcast by Spike Camp
Spike Camp is an online community of hunter conservationists. On Wednesday, September 16th Spike Camp founders Chuck and Blake Peeling conducted a live stream podcast featuring WSF Ambassadors Jana Waller Bair and Rachel Ahtila as well as WSF Women Hunt® Committee members Julie Chapman, Brandi Love, and Women Hunt® founder & chair, Renée Thornton. The seven of them talk hunting, conservation, the Wild Sheep family, the Sheep Show®, and the impact hunting has had on their lives. They also covered the three current programs under the WSF Women Hunt® umbrella: 1) Women Hunt® sponsored FTW/SAAM Field to Fork class in Texas, 2) the Women in Hunting® community, and 3) the Ruby Mayflower Blake Legacy Fund. Sheep Fever co-host Gray Thornton visits with Chuck and Blake on their vision for Spike Camp and they tee up their guest podcast featuring these exceptional women hunters and leaders. For more information and to join Spike Camp visit . For more information on WSF’s Women Hunt® programs visit
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EP60 Win a Dall’s sheep hunt from Mountain Tough & WSF
10/09/2024
EP60 Win a Dall’s sheep hunt from Mountain Tough & WSF
In this episode of Sheep Fever, co-host Keith Balfourd visits with Mountain Tough Fitness Lab founder Dustin Diefenderfer to learn more about their specific fitness programs for mountain athletes and the new TOUGH SHEEP workout scheduled for the 2025 Sheep Show® in Reno on January 17th. Inspired by modern-day military readiness and NFL training programs, MTNTOUGH designed physical and mental fitness programs geared for the mountain athlete/hunter that better prepared them for the strenuous weighted pack movements encountered and the duration on the mountain these hunts represent. When we are tired and worn down mentally and physically after just a few days on a long hunt, even though we’re still in the field, we can quit hunting or are, at a minimum, not as sharp, alert, and willing as we were on Day 1. With so much invested in these hunts, investing in yourself and your preparation can make all the difference. Taking this readiness and the success of their fitness programs to the next level, MTNTOUGH has engineered a multi-stage TOUGH SHEEP workout for the 2025 Sheep Show® where anyone who registers and completes the workout will be in a drawing for a 2025 Dall’s sheep hunt in NWT with Stan Steven and Mackenzie Mountain Outfitters. TOUGH SHEEP is limited to 500 participants, so the odds of winning are tough to beat. 100% of the registration fee ($100) will be donated to WSF to help “put and keep more wild sheep on the mountain”. Visit this link to learn more and register before TOUGH SHEEP is sold out.
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EP59 We Welcome Corey Mason to Team WSF
09/25/2024
EP59 We Welcome Corey Mason to Team WSF
New Chief Operating Officer and Executive VP of Conservation, Corey Mason joined the WSF Team in August, bringing decades of conservation and industry experience. Spending time on his grandfather’s farm and hunting with his father, Corey quickly grew into a passionate hunter. Continuing to avidly hunt, but now largely enjoying time afield with his wife and daughter and making family memories. At an early age, Corey desired a career in wildlife conservation. Beginning with undergraduate and graduate studies in wildlife conservation followed by years at Texas Parks and Wildlife and Dallas Safari Club, he has worked on private and public lands and across the globe on international conservation issues and opportunities. In this episode, Sheep Fever co-host Gray Thornton visits with Corey on his background and family, professional career, and plans and goals at WSF. Corey also shares some of his past experiences and perspectives on conservation, policy, work in international arenas and many of the relationships built and maintained along the way.
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EP58 Special WSF Board of Directors Elections Edition of Sheep Fever
09/11/2024
EP58 Special WSF Board of Directors Elections Edition of Sheep Fever
Wild sheep matter, and so does selecting the future leadership of the Wild Sheep Foundation in our upcoming fall 2024 WSF Board of Director elections. Last year, we started something new by introducing the candidates, not only in print with their biographies on our website and mailed ballots, but with brief interviews on this podcast. We have four (4) current director terms expiring April 30, 2025. The Nominating Committee approved five (5) candidates for the fall ballot for these four open director positions. The fall elections open October 1, 2024, and close on December 15, 2024. New this year is a hybrid-style election process to make voting even easier. All WSF members in good standing will receive a paper ballot with a postage-paid envelope. Plus, members for which we have a valid email address will also receive their ballot and bios via email. You can vote by email or mailed ballot…but of course, only one ballot will be allowed per member. In alpha order, by last name, the 2024 candidates with recording time codes are: Bralli Clifford from Wyoming 4:09 Larry Johns from Nevada 15:54 Kevin Kehoe from Alaska 25:40 Kyle Stelter from British Columbia 35:57 Dr. Peregrine Wolff from Florida 46:50 Lastly, as a special thank you to all WSF members who vote in this fall 2024 election, our independent election vendor, YesElections, will randomly draw one name to win a WSF/Weatherby Bighorn Edition rifle package valued at $5,400. Read candidate bios and learn more about the Election and the Weatherby Bighorn Edition drawing on our Elections page.
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EP57 Tracks on a Mountain - Jim Manley
08/28/2024
EP57 Tracks on a Mountain - Jim Manley
Acclaimed and award-winning journalist and author, hunter, and sheep hunter Craig Boddington had this to say about WSF Summit Life Member Jim Manley’s first book: “Tracks On A Mountain is one man’s mountain hunting odyssey. Jim Manley and I have climbed some of the same mountains, enjoyed some of the same triumphs, suffered the same disappointments, and so often wondered why we are doing this to ourselves. Jim far exceeded my efforts in North America’s mountains…Wish we’d shared some campfires on chilly mountain nights out, but through his book, we all can.” In this episode, Sheep Fever hosts Gray N. Thornton and Keith Balfourd sit down with Jim to talk about his inspiration for the book and the 12 hunts over six decades contained in it. Jim shares the how of his uncanny ability as a first-time author to bring the reader with him on the mountain, experience the climbs, taste the food, smell the smells, feel the burning legs and lungs, rejoice in the victories, as well as the anguish of the defeats. In his book Jim captures the essence of sheep hunting and the sheep fever infliction in spades - you’ll see why when you listen to this episode. To order Tracks On A Mountain go to . Jim will be conducting book signing sessions at the 2025 WSF Sheep Show® convention January 16-18, 2025 in Reno.
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EP56 Azyre Gear – An Inspired Brand
08/14/2024
EP56 Azyre Gear – An Inspired Brand
Azyre Gear founder and accomplished sheep hunter Cari Goss’ goal is to inspire and empower women to pursue their hunting and outdoors passions with confidence. A great deal of that confidence comes from functional clothing that fits, keeps one warm, and dry. For years Cari felt that the hunting apparel industry had overlooked women and that she and others had been left to wear apparel designed for men only later to be modified for women. She also feels that women have been often offered designs that don’t reflect their true femininity. Rather than complaining about the status quo, she wanted to do something about it. It became clear to her that she needed to create apparel as capable as the women who would wear it. In 2016 Azyre Gear was born. Sheep Fever co-host Gray Thornton visits with Cari on the inspiration for her brand, what makes Cari tick, and how her passion for sheep hunting helped launch her clothing line. Cari and Gray talk sheep and sheep hunting and what’s next for Cari and her brand. For more information on Azyre Gear and to order visit .
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EP 55 Andy Moeckel – Flip Flop Guy & Best of the West
07/31/2024
EP 55 Andy Moeckel – Flip Flop Guy & Best of the West
Andy Moeckel is well known in the hunting and conservation community as The Flip Flop Guy and his unique cooking style called the Flip Flop. He has turned a culinary technique, that has been passed down for three generations, into a thriving business that sells a full line of sauces, spices, flip flop mops, and even whole bone in Maui Nui Venison legs perfect for Flip Flop. It all started with his grandfather, Al Giddings shortly after WW II when he got off the ship in San Francisco and decided to join the California Department of Fish and Game in 1948. He became the main warden for the North Bay area, Marin, and Sonoma counties. He knew all the ins and outs of Marin county’s big game hunting, from mountain lions that he issued bounties on, to blacktail deer. In his time spent in west Marin, Al helped oversee fish ladders coming into the streams for the spawn as well as became familiar with all of the local hunting clubs and ranches. It was at a small sheep ranch in Nicasio, CA where it is believed that he picked up this amazing style of cooking from a Portuguese rancher. This family would do entire sheep legs on a spit and feed their families and local community. Al being the outdoorsman instantly had the idea that, “if sheep is this good…venison will be better.” And it is… Andy is a third generation Flip Flopper learning the technique from his grandfather and father. Andy performs Flip Flop BBQs around the country for special events as well as industry and political celebrities. In this episode of Sheep Fever, Co-Host Gray N. Thornton talks with Andy about his past, an amazing turn of events and life challenges, Flip Flop cooking, sheep hunting, gear, calibers, long range shooting, and Andy’s recent role as Sales Director for Best of the West Arms out of Cody, WY. This episode has plenty of short dirt roads, unanticipated nuggets, and antics you will be sure to enjoy! For more information on Best of the West visit www.bestofthewestarms.com. For more information on Flip Flop visit .
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EP 54 Growing Wild Sheep – Nursery & Source Herds
07/17/2024
EP 54 Growing Wild Sheep – Nursery & Source Herds
Sadly, wild sheep numbers are down in many of their ranges. For our thinhorns up North, environmental factors, some of which are beyond short-term human control, have taken a toll in recent years. In other wild sheep ranges, fragmentation, contraction, and loss of habitat, both from a changing climate and land use policies (fire suppression, conifer/shrub encroachment, human footprint, public land grazing allotments, feral horses and burros), as well as disease from exotic and domestic ungulates in bighorn range, are all contributing factors. What can we do? Ensuring wild sheep have quality habitat is #1, but can we improve the resiliency of wild sheep to environmental factors? Can we “grow” wild sheep? These are contemporary and often controversial topics that wild sheep advocates and some agency/ministry wild sheep managers are trying to define and address. In this episode of Sheep Fever, co-host Gray N. Thornton speaks with WSF’s “Tres Amigos of Conservation” - VP of Conservation Kevin Hurley, Conservation Director Kurt Alt, and retired Conservation Director Clay Brewer, on these topics. With nearly 150 years of combined wild sheep management and experience, the three speak of “growing” desert bighorn in the US southwest and Mexico and the successes, challenges, and failures experienced. They also speak of attempts to do the same with Rocky Mountain bighorns, and whether intensive management practices for desert sheep (water developments, captive propagation facilities, supplemental nutrition and minerals, etc.) are feasible, practical, sustainable, or even possible for thinhorn sheep.
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EP 53 The Changing Face of Wildlife Management – Shane Mahoney & Andrew McKean
07/03/2024
EP 53 The Changing Face of Wildlife Management – Shane Mahoney & Andrew McKean
There is no question that forces are being placed on our systems, institutions, philosophies, and the science that manages wildlife. Situations and conditions change over time, and adjustments are necessary improvements. Balancing change and maintaining stability is crucial to ensuring the best outcomes for wildlife and people. But this doesn’t appear to be where we’re heading. Sheep Fever co-host Keith Balfourd visits with two guests who keenly understand historical precedents and the current pressures calling to rewrite wildlife management policy. Is all coming from anti-hunting efforts? What about wildlife commissions being stripped of diversified stakeholders to change the game against sustainable use? Is the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation a complete handbook, or is it vulnerable to criticism, misuse, and a tool for misdirection? If you're pushing for change in the court of public opinion and using ballot initiatives, does acknowledging ecological and social realities, past achievements, and who was responsible for these successes undermine your narrative? Is what's being left out of the conversation by design? Are there things that we, as hunter-conservationists, can do better? Are there things we should be distancing ourselves from? As a significant minority of the population, do we have allies? If doing right by wildlife is our mantra, does digging our heels in on everything sustainable? Change is inevitable. Sportsmen and women have had the lead in wildlife conservation. How do we maintain this lead? These are all good questions. Some, but not all, were answered in this episode. Like conservation itself, this topic is on a continuum.
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EP 52 Southeast Chapter of WSF Launched!
06/19/2024
EP 52 Southeast Chapter of WSF Launched!
The Wild Sheep Foundation is growing and is pleased to announce the formation and official charter of the Southeast Chapter of WSF! The mission of the Southeast Chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation is to build a community of conservationists to raise resources in support of scientific wild sheep management practices and habitat improvement. This is to ensure that future generations will enjoy the healthy populations of North America's sheep herds. We are a volunteer organization dedicated to sharing our passion for mountain hunting, educating the public and youth about the sustainable use of mountain resources, and highlighting the important role hunters play in wildlife conservation, regardless of where we live. Sheep Fever co-host Gray N. Thornton visits with SE Chapter Steering Committee member Patrick Morse of Ponte Verde, Florida, on why the chapter was started, its goals, plans, and events for the coming year, as well as the inaugural chapter banquet in May/June of 2025 in Islamorada, FL which will coincide with the Chapter & Affiliate Summit XVII. While the chapter will serve members from Louisiana to Virginia and down to Florida, membership is open to everyone. Join us today! For membership options:
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EP 51 Back Where They Belong
06/05/2024
EP 51 Back Where They Belong
We’re going to Texas in this episode to talk about restoring desert bighorn sheep to a mountain range that hasn’t seen sheep since the early 1900s. Sheep Fever co-host Keith Balfourd visits with Texas Bighorn Sheep Society president Sam Cunningham, WSF’s VP of Conservation Kevin Hurley, and Texas outdoor writer and WSF contributor Chester Moore to discuss the Franklin Mountains State Park desert sheep restoration project. From water guzzler installations awaiting the translocation of 80 sheep to herd surveillance and predator management, there is a lot of ground to cover in what will be a historic move for the Lone Star State’s desert sheep population. The goal is a new nursery herd in a disease-free range for future translocations across the state.
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EP 50 A Conversation with Jana Waller Bair
05/22/2024
EP 50 A Conversation with Jana Waller Bair
Jana Waller Bair is the Host and Executive Producer of Skull Bound TV and Skull Bound Chronicles, a hunting and conservation series on Carbon TV that is currently in its 15th season. Jana has been a lifelong hunter and was appointed as a Wildlife Commissioner in Montana in 2021. After serving her term, she moved to Utah, where she resides with her husband and WSF auctioneer, John Bair. Jana is a proud member of the Wild Sheep Foundation as well as many other conservation and hunting organizations. Jana is an active supporter of WSF’s Women Hunt® program and serves on the recently launched Rubye Mayflower Blake Legacy Fund committee, a program of Women Hunt®, which provides healing hunts, and other outdoor experiences, to women who have experienced abuse or other life trauma. In this episode Jana and Sheep Fever co-host Gray N. Thornton talk bear hunting, conservation, her start, leadership, and award-winning work in outdoor media, as well as the pivotal role women play in, and the powerful narrative they give, to the traditional outdoor and shooting sports. Jana also talks on a current Epic Hunt Series collaboration with WSF where a lucky raffle winner will join her in the Northwest Territories in the fall of 2025 for a bucket list all expense paid mountain caribou hunt with Mackenzie Mountain Outfitters. Both the winner and Jana will hunt caribou. Tickets are only $60 and non WSF members receive an annual membership with their first ticket purchased. The raffles concludes June 30, 2024 so don’t delay! Get your tickets .
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EP 49 Banning Mountain Lion Hunting in Colorado
05/08/2024
EP 49 Banning Mountain Lion Hunting in Colorado
In this episode of Sheep Fever, we visit with Mark Truax, President and CEO of Pac/West Strategies, to discuss the attempted ban on mountain lion, bobcat, and lynx hunting in Colorado. This ban, proposed through a voter’s ballot initiative and backed by out-of-state animal rights groups, raises important questions. Why mountain lions? Why Colorado? Why a voter’s ballot process? The answers; because it’s winnable. Mark and his company are on the ground in Colorado, trying to prevent this measure from becoming the law of the land and opening the door for other attempts in other states. As sportsmen, we understand the role of predator/prey relationships, ecological realities, and the necessity of science-informed wildlife management to prevent situations where too many are just as bad as too few, regardless of the species. But do Coloradoans have all the facts, especially those who have recently moved to this western state? Or does saving these beautiful cats from “trophy hunters,” as this initiative is being sold, look like the right thing to do?
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