Hunt Quietly

Matt and Hunt Quietly contributor Erik Scarr talk about the backlash country music star Cody Johnson received from posting images from his grizzly hunt on line.

Matt talks with Stephen Ziegler about issues with the National Deer Association, chronic wasting disease, and the Montana Guides and Outfitters Association.  Stephen has the online platform Rack Junkies, which is easily found on Facebook and YouTube.  

Matt and Hunt Quietly contributor Erik Scarr make the case that we should stop being the hunting industry's whipping boys and instead seek out  companies that are at least neutral, if not beneficial, to things we care about.

Matt and Hunt Quietly contributor Adam Miller discuss wound loss data with Evan Hunter.  Check out Evan's YouTube channel, Elk Nerd, for information on understanding and preventing wound loss.  

Matt and Montana Hunters for Access (HFA) president John Kuntz discuss goings-on with HFA and summarize essential, little-known, recently published advice from turkey hunting experts.  Who knew that "calling works best when it sounds realistic" and that "when the turkey is coming in from the right, you should ease your shotgun to the right?"

Matt Rinella and Jim Durkin discuss the truly perplexing role Randy Newberg plays in the hunting space, and the lengths hunting influencers will go to for attention.

Jim Durkin has been watching hunting TV again, and he discusses how it's worse than ever.  Matt reiterates his beliefs that it's a destructive form of "entertainment."    

Matt talks with Washington anglers Philip Olson and Alex Van Hine about problems with their states wildlife management agency.

Matt talks with longtime fisheries conservation advocate Charles Witek.  To check out Charles' blog, search One Anglers Voyage.  

Matt talks with Emory Wanger about a range of topics, including how TV huntin ain't huntin.

Matt talks with with Michigan outdoorsman Landon Dekeyser about steelhead fishing, and about crowding and opportunity in hunting.

Matt talks with fisheries biologist Paul Kameen about issues in the fishing industry-nonprofit complex.

Matt talks with Ben Gruber, a conservation warden in Wisconsin about the imperiled Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, the state's conservation powerhouse that supports and protects lands, water, habitat, trails, parks, and outdoor access.  Despite enjoying greater than 90% support among the public, this crucial program is on the brink of being destroyed by self-serving, short-cited, and out-of-touch politicians.  

Hunt Quietly contributor Jim Durkin talks with Ken Sporalsky about the difficulty of drawing western tags, reductions in non-resident tag allocations, and the ceaseless price increases for non-resident licenses.  They also discuss spot burning by celebrity hunters and the the negative impacts celebs have on hunt opportunity and quality.     

Matt talks ducks, duck conservation, and duck hunting culture with Justin Adamski from fullcolorwaterfowl.com.

Matt talks with Missouri hunters Heath Henry, Bill Kindell, and Craig Sondker of the Missouri Federation of Outdoor Resources.

Matt and fellow Hunt Quietly contributors Jim Durkin and Nick Buckley discuss the copious data indicating that hunter recruitment and reactivation (R2) are at cross-purposes with hunter retention (R1).  They also discuss new data indicating that hunting social media is eroding our reputation among the non-hunting public.

Matt talks Celebrity poaching with Wyoming hunter David Mercado.

Matt talks with John Long, a lifelong hunter and backcountry guru.  

Matt and Hunt Quietly contributor Adam Miller discuss some paradigmatic examples of hypocrisy amongst hunting celebrities and organization.  

Matt talks with Mark Hall from Wild Origins Canada, a nonprofit dedicated to conveying the truth around conservation and sustainable use of wildlife.

Matt talks with Grant Richardson from the Ethical Predator Movement.

Hunt Quietly contributors Ben Loss and Matt Rinella talk with Ted Koch from the North American Grouse Partnership.  If you care about the future of prairie grouse, this is an awesome nonprofit that is worthy of your support!

Matt talks with hunters for access volunteers Chad Richards, John Kuntz, Jeff Hancock, and Joe Gaff.  Please go to huntersforaccess.org and support our efforts!.

Matt talks with John Bohuniek about realigning the hunting community away from idolizing hunters towards celebrating wildlife.  

Matt talks with Gil Damon from The Downriver Project, a group devoted to fighting environmental degradation of waterways in Florida.   

Matt talks with Nephi Cole, co-host of the Your Mountain podcast.

Jim Durkin and Matt Rinella celebrate recent cuts to the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation, the nonprofit that administers that Take Me Fishing program.  They also take issue with Outdoor Life coverage of this development.  

In addition to discussing research suggesting celebrity worship makes people dumber, Matt and Jim Durkin discuss the recent initiative to sell of public lands, an American express survey quantifying people's motivations for choosing travel destinations, DOGE cuts to fishing recruitment, and some ridiculous quotes by hunting promoters.  

Matt talks with Jason Lupardus, CEO of Turkeys for Tomorrow.  This group is developing science-based solutions to the problem of declining turkey populations.

Matt and fellow Hunt Quietly contributor discuss feral cat trapping, hunting ethics, mushroom and asparagus spot-burning, juicing dogs, the new pope, what Phil is currently eating, and b.s. hunting orgs.

Matt talks with 2024 Montana gubernatorial candidate Ryan Busse.

Matt Rinella and fellow Hunt Quietly contributor Adam Miller discuss growing threats to non-pay hunting from access commodification companies.

Matt talks with Robert Mahaffey from the South Dakota Antelope Foundation.

Matt hones his amicable disagreement skills and finds some common ground with Brady Davis and Matt McCormick of Flying V, a ranch management and ducking hunting media company.   

Matt and Jim Durkin discuss the eye-popping salaries paid to some hunting nonprofit CEOs.  Other topics include the National Wild Turkey Federation, Hunters for Access, and Adam Weatherby literally eating feces to grow his Instagram followership.  

Matt Rinella and Jim Durkin discuss hunting influencer Cam Hanes, the dishonesty of hunting TV, new farm bill provisions, and technology in hunting.      

Matt talks with forester Tyler Ritchie about goings on with timber, public access, wolves, and deer in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Matt talks with ex-staffer for senator John Tester about a range of topics, including some of the b.s. that goes on at conservation nonprofits.  

Hunt Quietly contributors Matt Rinella and Adam Miller discuss hunting advocacy, a topic that couldn't possibly be more relevant in this time of threats to public lands.

Matt talks hunter behavior with Hunt Quietly web designer and all around contributor Phil Lewer.

Matt talks with Jeremiah Goin, Erik Scarr, and Nick Buckley in this second of a two-part series involving hunters from throughout the country.

Matt talks with a panel of hunters from throughout the country.  Thanks to Joe Hogan, Robert Reardon, Scott Fitzwilliams, and Cameron Weddington for providing their insights in this episode!

Hunt Quietly contributor Jim Durkin chats with Justin Adamski of Full Color Waterfowl.  Justin is an outdoor photographer and digital creator focusing on waterfowl and waterfowl conservation.  Their conversation is centered around the alarming, disgusting trend of people posting videos with crippled waterfowl.  Justin has posted a series of videos condemning this behavior.     

Matt Rinella and Hunt Quietly contributor Matt Love struggle to identify a compound bow company that isn't terrible for hunting.

Matt talks with Mark Norquist from Modern Carnivore.  This is Marks second time on the podcast.,

Matt Talks with Land Tawney, former President/CEO of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and current leader of American Hunters & Anglers.

Hunt Quietly contributors Nick Buckley and Matt Rinella talk about a range of topics including a bit about Real Tree's involvement in commodifying hunting lands.

Hunt Quietly contributors Matt Rinella and Ben Loss talk with whitetail guru John Eberhart.  

The Hunt Quietly team conducted in-depth research into NWTF over the last several months.  This research uncovered widespread problems with their reporting.  NWTF grossly overreports the acres they conserve and the dollars they devote to their mission.   Evan Curtin, Nick Buckley, and Matt Rinella explain all of this and try to determine if these problems stem from corruption, incompetence, or both.  Hunt Quietly recommends against donating to organizations that do hunter recruitment, and NWTF does lots of that.  And in the case of NWTF, there are many additional reasons for Americans to spend their precious conservation dollars elsewhere.  A sincere thanks to David Fontenot, Chris Brewer, and Thomas Doyle for assisting  with research for this episode.