Save it for the Blind Podcast
by California Waterfowl
Welcome to the Save it for the Blind Podcast. Dive into the world of duck hunting, conservation, and legislation. Join us for insightful discussions on preserving both tradition and nature. Our podcast isn't complete without tackling the legislative side of things. Discover how local and national policies impact hunting seasons, bag limits, and wetland preservation. Interviews with experts and policymakers will shed light on the intricate balance between hunting traditions and the need for sustainable practices. RSSVERIFY
Episodes
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2026 Waterfowl Opener Recap
Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down for a quick opening-weekend recap, breaking down how California Waterfowl properties performed across the state and comparing this year’s results with recent seasons. From a seven-bird average at Sanborn Slough to strong shoots at Grizzly Ranch, Butte Creek...
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Opening Week: Birds, Refuges & What Hunters Can Expect
With California’s balance-of-state opener right around the corner, Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down for a full preseason check-in with people who have been watching birds and habitat firsthand. The crew talks expectations for opening weekend, what they’re seeing on CWA properties, and why...
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Hunting Dog Health with Dr. Seth Bynum
Carson Odegard sits down with Dr. Seth Bynum, avid bird hunter, outdoorsman, photographer, veterinarian, and Veterinary Communications Manager for Purina, for a practical conversation every hunting-dog owner should hear before the season gets rolling. Seth shares his unconventional path from...
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Klamath Wetlands, Waterfowl & Restoration with Dr. Karl Wenner
Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with Dr. Karl Wenner, longtime Klamath Basin resident, hunter, farmer, and orthopedic surgeon, for a deep conversation about the landscape he has called home since the late 1980s. Karl shares how his background in biology and wildlife eventually brought him…
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Inside the Migration with Cory Overton
Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with Cory Overton, Science Director for California Waterfowl, for a preseason look at what hunters may see across the Pacific Flyway this year. Cory breaks down breeding conditions, mallard and goose numbers, an exceptional year at Klamath, and how weather...
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Hunt Bums with Casey Hartwell
Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with Casey Hartwell, founder of Hunt Bums, to talk about how a passion for waterfowl hunting turned into a growing platform built around gear reviews, field experience, and helping everyday hunters make better decisions. Casey shares his path back into...
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CWA Hunt Program Preview: 2026–27 Waterfowl Season
Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard break down what’s ahead for the 2026–27 California Waterfowl Hunt Program, covering everything from dove and big-game opportunities to the full slate of duck and goose hunts coming this season. They walk through CWA-managed properties from Suisun Marsh and the Delta…
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Ep. 122 Klamath: The Road Forward
California Waterfowl CEO Jake Messerli and VP of Advocacy Mark Hennelly provide the latest update on one of the most critical waterfowl habitats in California – Klamath. While the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge benefited from significant water deliveries organized by CWA and its partners,...
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Ep. 121 Dr. Bob McLandress on Building Early CWA
Mallard nesting at Grizzly Island, the story about CWA’s first biologist, and how research, banding, fundraising, and education all took shape Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with Dr. Bob McLandress—past CWA president and one of the key figures in the organization’s early growth—for a look...
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Ep. 120 Chemistry, Calls, and Canada Geese with Chance Wadsworth
Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with Chance Wadsworth, owner of Quill Creek Championship Calls, to talk goose calling from the inside out—how a chemistry background helped him design the Mach One, why he refuses to sell a call he hasn’t proven at a high level, and how contest calling...
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Ep. 119 Tracking the Flyway with Cory Overton
Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with Cory Overton for a data-driven look at what really happened during this season’s migration. Instead of relying on blind chatter and guesswork, Cory breaks down what tagged birds actually showed—how prolonged fog affected movement, why a warm winter kept...
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Ep. 118 Season Recap: January Averages, Year-to-Year Swings & Pintail Puzzles
Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard wrap the season with a clean, property-by-property breakdown—January numbers, year-over-year changes, species quirks, and the big themes (fog, late rains, road work, king tides) that moved the needle across CWA hunts. Expect straight talk on mallards and pintail, why...
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Ep. 117 Senior World Champ Duck Caller — Craig Wilson
Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with Craig Wilson, owner of River Oaks Outdoors and a Senior World Duck Calling Champion to trace his path from SoCal refuge rat (Wister/Kern) to Idaho mallard country, and what that journey taught him about scouting, pressure, and staying calm on stage.…
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Ep. 116 CWA-New Zealand Hunter Exchange Program with Eben Herbert
Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard welcome Eben Herbert from the New Zealand Hunter Exchange to compare notes on waterfowling half a world apart—what shocked him about the Suisun Marsh, why California’s public access and species variety feel endless, and how late-season calling here differs from New...
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Ep. 115 Mapping the Flyway: CWA Science Director Corey Overton on Telemetry, Pintail, and the Klamath Connection
Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard welcome Cory Overton, California Waterfowl’s new Science Director, for a clear, field-level look at how modern telemetry is rewriting what we know about duck movements—and how that science feeds better habitat work and smarter regs. From the original PINSAT satellite...
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Ep. 114 Uruguay Mixed-Bag Done Right: Closaway Outfitters with Dwight Jones
Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with Dwight Jones, founder of Closaway Outfitters (Uruguay) and CEO of Okmulgee Fields Inc., to unpack a boutique, American-run operation built for wild birds, predictable shoots, and no-surprises pricing. From why shore blinds mean no waders, to how legal...
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Ep. 113 December Property Recap: Floods, Fog, and Averages Across CWA Hunts
Carson Odegard sits down with Jeff Smith to break down December’s numbers across California Waterfowl properties—what got better, what got buried under water, and how long tule fog and rolling storms shifted bird behavior. From Staten Island’s goose grind to surprise surges at Potrero Hills and...
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Ep. 112 Questions from the Blind: Jeff & Carson’s Mid-Season Q&A
Merry Christmas! This episode drops right before the holiday—here’s to safe hunts, full straps, and time with your crew and family. Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard dig into listener questions—from “what time do you pack it in?” to the weather that really moves birds, why consistency (choke + ammo)...
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Ep. 111 Rugged Sound for the Duck Life: DEMERBOX with President Alex Keil
Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with Alex Keil, president of DEMERBOX, to unpack how a garage-built, Pelican-case speaker turned into a made-in-USA workhorse for hunters and outdoor crews. From Zac Brown’s early buy-in to today’s South Florida build shop, Alex walks through durability…
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Ep. 110 California Ducks & Modern Shotshells: A Conversation with MIGRA’s CEO
Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with Mark Regalbuto, CEO of MIGRA Ammunition, for a straight-shooting talk on California waterfowling and the nuts and bolts of building precision shotshells. They cover why California is richer duck country than most folks realize—ocean to marsh to rice—and...
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Ep. 109 November Recap & December Openings: CWA Hunts, Rice Blinds & Staten Highlights
Carson Odegard (fresh off dad duty) and Jeff Smith run a quick, no-nonsense update on how November hunts went across CWA properties—and what’s opening up for December. From Staten Island’s lights-out start to new rice blinds coming online (including veteran blinds), this one’s your fast guide to...
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Ep. 108 From Turbochargers to Duck Calls: Inside Pardi Calls with Kevin Azzopardi & Jason Cline
This week, Jeff sits down with Kevin Azzopardi and Jason Cline of Pardi Calls (Yuba City, CA) to trace how a family machine shop that built industrial turbocharger parts turned its precision tools toward duck and goose calls. Kevin and Jason break down the design choices that make their calls…
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Ep. 107 The Life of a Waterfowl Hunter with Mike Cole
Jeff sits down with Mike Cole—CWA Gold Benefactor, rice grower, lifelong duck hunter, and serious decoy collector—for a grounded, from-the-bootstraps story of how passion turns into habitat, community, and a legacy worth passing on. From carving lessons after school to developing clubs in the…
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Ep. 106 October Recap & November Forecast: Refuge Managers Roundtable (Yolo, Upper Butte, Grizzly)
Jeff Smith checks in with three boots-on-the-ground voices to break down how California’s opener really went—and what to expect as November weather finally shows up. Guests include Garrett Spann (Manager, Yolo Wildlife Area), Derek Seweck (Wildlife Habitat Manager, Upper Butte Basin), and Orlando...
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Ep. 105 California Duck Banding: Klamath Night Lighting, Pintail Nets & Why Reporting Matters
Jeff sits down with Brian Huber and Jason Coslovich to unpack this summer’s banding push and preseason pintail work—what changed with more water on the landscape, how night-lighting in the Klamath Basin actually happens, and why your band reports keep California’s harvest models honest. What’s...
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Ep. 104 Season Outlook 2025–26: Refuge Managers on Water, Habitat & Access
Jeff sits down with a panel of California wildlife refuge managers to lay out what hunters can expect this season—water deliveries, flood-up timelines, food on the landscape, and how weather and pressure will shape bird movement from the opener through the late split. What you’ll hear Water &...
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Ep. 103 80 Years Strong: How CWA Raises Dollars and How You Can Plug In
Director of Fundraising Jason Minsky joins Jeff Smith to break down how California Waterfowl keeps the lights on and the wetlands wet—banquets, sweepstakes, merch, and a statewide volunteer network that turns passion into real habitat, hunter access, and youth programs. From the 80th-anniversary...
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Ep. 102 The Legacy of California Waterfowling: A talk with Conservationist Yancey Forest-Knowles Pt.6
Waterfowl historian Yancey Forest-Knowles closes the series with a tour of California’s fog belt and beyond—Humboldt Bay, the lagoons north and south of Crescent City, Laguna de Santa Rosa, and the Central Coast from Elkhorn Slough to Morro Bay. We trace how tides, eelgrass, railroads, and...
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Ep. 101 Integrated Wetlands at Bird Haven: Mosquito-Smart Water, More Ducks
Carson and Jeff sit down with John Veon (UC Davis PhD candidate, wetlands & waterfowl) and Andy Atkinson (manager, Bird Haven Ranch) to unpack a five-year experiment in integrated wetland management—using swales, shorter irrigations, and year-round connectivity to cut mosquito production while...
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Ep. 100 Save It For The Blind's 100th Episode
We’re celebrating 100 episodes of Save it for the Blind with a friendly, fast-paced trivia throwdown. Our hosts Jeff Smith & Carson Odegard welcome a stacked CWA panel—Brian Huber (Wood Duck Program Coordinator & Waterfowl Biologist), Jason Coslovich (Egg Salvage Program Coordinator & Waterfowl...
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Ep. 99 Working Dog Fundamentals with Karl Gunzer — Nutrition, Training & Hunt-Test Basics
Karl Gunzer, Director of Purina’s Sporting Dog Group, joins Jeff and Carson to trace his path from Montana duck hunter to California trainer to industry leader—and to lay out clear, field-tested basics for keeping a retriever healthy, steady, and ready for season. We also talk California’s...
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Ep. 98 The Legacy of California Waterfowling: A talk with Conservationist Yancey Forest-Knowles Pt.5
Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with waterfowl historian Yancey Forest-Knowles to unpack the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta—its island clubs, levees and tides, and the public access that still lets you chase mallards and specks on big water today. What you’ll hear How the Delta was built —...
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Ep. 97 MOJO Outdoors with Terry Denmon: Big Blades, Water Motion & Smarter Spreads
Jeff and Carson sit down with Terry Denmon, CEO of MOJO Outdoors, for a nuts-and-bolts look at modern motion decoys—why the Big Blade matters, how to run spinning wings around pressured ducks, and where water-motion tech is headed. Terry also walks through MOJO’s newest gear—the reengineered...
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Ep.96 The Legacy of California Waterfowling: A talk with Conservationist Yancey Forest-Knowles Pt. 4
Southern California Duck Country: History, Habitat, Tradition Waterfowl historian Yancey Forest-Knowles joins Jeff and Carson to map the rise and fall of Southern California’s coastal duck country—from the artesian-fed ciénegas of the Los Angeles plain to the estuaries of Ballona, Bolsa Chica…
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Ep. 95 From Survey to Season: CDFW’s Melanie Weaver on California’s 2025 BPOP
Senior Environmental Scientist (Specialist) Melanie Weaver joins Jeff and Carson to explain how California’s Breeding Population (BPOP) survey is flown, what this year’s numbers say, and how those data drive next year’s hunting frameworks. Weaver details the fixed-wing transect method, why...
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Ep. 94 Managing Northeastern California Wetlands with Greg Heydeman
Regional Biologist Greg Heydeman (California Waterfowl Association) joins Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard for a deep look at habitat work and hunting realities in the high desert of Modoc, Klamath and Shasta Valley. In this conversation you’ll learn: Why the 2025-26 season starts with…
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Ep. 93 Building Southern California’s Wetland Future
A deep-dive with Chadd Santerre (Director of Wetland Programs & NAWCA Coordinator) and field-rep Chad Thomas Carson Odegard sits down with Chadd Santerre for a data-driven look at the engineering, funding, and on-the-ground work now reshaping waterfowl habitat from San Jacinto to the Colorado...
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Ep. 92 Boots, Bands & Baby Ducks: Robert Jones on North Delta’s Hatchery
Jeff’s off chasing summer vacation, so Carson Odegard grabs a mic with CWA egg-salvage guru Jason Coslovich - Egg Salvage Program Coordinator, Waterfowl Biologist and Robert “Rob” Jones—the volunteer dynamo keeping the North Delta Duck Hatchery clucking along since the early 2000s. Pull a chair…
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Ep.91 The Legacy of California Waterfowling: A talk with Conservationist Yancey Forest-Knowles Pt. 3
In this new episode—part three of our California history series—Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard close out the Klamath Basin saga and head south to the 240,000-acre Grasslands, where water rights, teal limits, and hard-fought tradition still rule the marsh. Topics include: Klamath’s boom-to-bust...
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Ep.90 The Legacy of California Waterfowling: A talk with Conservationist Yancey Forest-Knowles Pt. 2
In this new episode and part two of this series, Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard dive deeper with Yancey Forest‑Knowles to unpack decades of waterfowling history and hard‑won conservation lessons from California’s most fought‑over wetlands. Topics include: The rise of the Butte Sink and why rice...
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Ep. 89 The Legacy of California Waterfowling: A Conversation with Historian & Conservationist Yancey Forest-Knowles
This week, Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with California outdoors legend Yancey Forest‑Knowles—a waterfowling and conservation icon with over 70 years in the field. Dubbed the “embodiment of the authentic outdoorsman,” Yancey’s journey began duck hunting at age 10 in the Bay near Palo…
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Ep. 88 Carvers, Collectors & the Culture of the Flyway
In this episode of Save it for the Blind, Jeff and Carson sit down with Jim Burcio and Rob Capriola—two pillars of the Pacific Flyway Decoy Association—to talk decoys, tradition, and the upcoming 53rd Annual Wildfowl Festival in Sacramento, California. Jim Burcio, PFDA’s Vice President of...
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Ep. 87 From the Blind to the Bush: Jeff in New Zealand Pt. 2
In Part 2 of our Save it for the Blind: New Zealand series, co-host Jeff Smith is back from the bush and sits down with his brother Colby Smith—his travel partner and fellow hunter—to debrief their epic trip to New Zealand. The brothers recount their hunts across breathtaking terrain, swap…
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Ep. 86 Drones, Ducks & Developing the Next Generation: A Conversation with Dr. Kevin Ringelman
In this episode of Save it for the Blind, hosts Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with Dr. Kevin Ringelman—Associate Professor of Waterfowl Ecology and Management at LSU, and the successor to Dr. John Eadie’s longtime position at UC Davis. From drone-powered brood surveys to mentoring the…
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Ep. 85 From the Blind to the Bush: Jeff in New Zealand
In this unique episode of Save it for the Blind, co-host Jeff Smith checks in live from the hills of New Zealand as he takes us through the first week of his adventure abroad. From breathtaking landscapes to unexpected wildlife encounters, Jeff shares what it’s like hunting, exploring, and…
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Ep. 84 Dialed In: Federal’s ULTRASTEEL, Sub-Gauge Trends, and the Future of Waterfowl Loads
In this episode of Save it for the Blind, hosts Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with Joshua Vickers, Shotshell Product Line Manager at Federal Ammunition, to dig into the latest innovations in waterfowl ammo—starting with the highly anticipated ULTRASTEEL. Joshua breaks down what makes...
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Ep. 83 Legacy in the Marsh (Part 2): A Conversation with Dr. John Eadie on Mentorship, Waterfowl, and What Comes Next
In Part 2 of this special two-part series on Save it for the Blind, hosts Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard continue their conversation with UC Davis professor and waterfowl biologist Dr. John Eadie. This time, they dive deeper into his most memorable fieldwork stories, the conservation challenges…
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Ep. 82 Legacy in the Marsh (Part 1): A Conversation with Dr. John Eadie on Mentorship, Waterfowl, and What Comes Next
In Part 1 of this special two-part episode of Save it for the Blind, hosts Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with Dr. John Eadie, UC Davis professor and leading authority in waterfowl and wetland ecology. With a career that’s impacted thousands of students and shaped critical conservation...
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Ep. 81 Pintails, Wood Ducks, And Million Milestones: A post season deep dive
On this episode of Save it for the Blind, hosts Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with two of California Waterfowl’s leading waterfowl biologists—Brian Huber, Wood Duck Program Coordinator, and Jason Coslovich, Egg Salvage Program Coordinator—for an in-depth look at the science, stories, and...
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Ep. 80 Fish and Game Commission Recap & Waterfowl Regulations
In this episode of Save it for the Blind, host Jeff Smith dives deep into the latest developments in conservation policy. Joined by co-host Carson Odegard, they sit down with Mark Hennelly VP of Advocacy for California Waterfowl. They unpack the recent Fish and Game Commission's approval of the...
About this show
Welcome to the Save it for the Blind Podcast. Dive into the world of duck hunting, conservation, and legislation. Join us for insightful discussions on preserving both tradition and nature. Our podcast isn't complete without tackling the legislative side of things. Discover how local and national policies impact hunting seasons, bag limits, and wetland preservation. Interviews with experts and policymakers will shed light on the intricate balance between hunting traditions and the need for sustainable practices. RSSVERIFY
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California Waterfowl
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