Show 17: Migratory — Flyway Series | Flooded Corn Short-Stopping & Market Hunting Never Really Ended

Show 17: Migratory (Flyway Series)Aired July 10, 2025👥 Hosts: Duke Lowrie & Josh Goins🎧 Produced by Rex MoncriefIn this episode of The Outdoor News – Flyway Series, Rex Moncrief, Duke Lowrie, and Josh Goins continue the deep-dive that helped ignite national attention on one of the most controversial issues in modern waterfowl management: flooded, unharvested corn and short-stopping in the Mississippi Flyway.This Flyway Series didn’t happen in a vacuum.It is part of the ongoing discussion and documentation that helped spawn U.S. Senator John Kennedy’s letter to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, pressing federal regulators to re-examine flooded corn, baiting definitions, and the downstream impacts on migratory waterfowl and southern flyway states.This episode is about history, policy, and receipts — not slogans.We examine:--The Migratory Bird Treaty Act and why its original intent still matters--1930s federal findings on baiting, migration delay, and bird mortality--How short-stopping was openly acknowledged in historic waterfowl science--Why flooded, unharvested crops create unequal access to a public resource--The uncomfortable parallels between historic market hunting and today’s monetized flyway model--Why southern states — especially Louisiana — continue to lose birds, opportunity, and tradition--And why calls for financial and policy accountability trigger such fierce resistanceThis series challenges the modern narrative by doing something radical: looking at the historical record instead of the press releases.Whether you agree or disagree, this episode asks one unavoidable question:👉 If the science and warnings existed nearly a century ago… why are we pretending this is new?⏱️ Chapters / Timestamps00:00 – Live countdown & show setup03:01 – Flyway Series overview & recap of prior episode05:35 – “Mushrooms in the dark”: controlling the narrative06:40 – Disappearing data & deleted flyway resources08:10 – Conservation organizations & selective history10:52 – Open debate rules & audience engagement11:20 – Migratory Bird Treaty Act: origins & authority14:26 – Market hunting photos & historical overharvest17:01 – 1935 USDA findings on baiting & migration delay19:29 – Cold snaps, baiting, and bird mortality23:28 – Commercialization of waterfowl: then vs now26:28 – What’s legal today — and why legality isn’t the same as conservation28:57 – Telemetry data & delayed migration32:29 – Who profits — and who doesn’t35:22 – Organized opposition & personal attacks38:23 – Public accusations & demand for evidence48:26 – Canada’s stance on baiting & equal access51:42 – Bait piles vs flooded corn: legal contradiction54:45 – Modern market hunting and monetized access57:22 – “Harvest doesn’t matter?” — science vs statements1:00:05 – Overharvest, history, and inconvenient facts1:05:45 – Conservation dollars & missing accountability1:09:30 – Transparency demands and unanswered questions1:12:28 – Louisiana’s decline and regional consequences1:16:35 – Lost generations of waterfowl hunters1:17:03 – Missouri v. Holland & federal responsibility1:20:51 – Treaty obligations vs state practices1:22:30 – Feeding programs, refuges & policy shiftsWhy This Episode MattersThis Flyway Series has moved beyond social media arguments and into federal-level discussion — because the issues raised here are rooted in law, history, and documented science.Public wildlife is a shared national resource. When policy concentrates birds, access, and money upstream, someone downstream pays the price.