Highlights from earlier years in my role as a director, DP, shooter and editor.
Call of the Uplands
Six years ago, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever unveiled our most ambitious, strategic, science-based and visionary initiative ever: The Call of the Uplands® Campaign. This was our promise to conserve the uplands – one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world – before it was too late.
Today we are proud to celebrate the completion of this record-breaking endeavor.Together, more than 420,000 members, supporters and partners truly "Answered the Call:" Total Acres of Habitat Restored, Enhanced and Protected: Over 11,000,000Total Acres of Access (Walk-in Programs, Fee Title, Easements): Over 2,000,000Total Education & Outreach Events: Over 16,000 events, reaching over 1,000,000 participants.
Let’s build on these tremendous campaign accomplishments as we charge ahead in our fight for theuplands. Our mission is habitat, our goal is Forever.For more information, please visit: https://pheasantsforever.org/celebrate
Rooster Road Trip XV - 2024
The 15th year of Pheasants Forever’s Rooster Road Trip kicks off with the group hunting permanently protected and publicly accessible acres in western North Dakota. Finding Pheasants wasn’t a problem, but keeping them in shotgun range certainly was a challenge! Luckily, the bird dogs were more than up to the challenge of reining in some wily ringnecks – watch for yourself to see how it all played out.
A PATH Forward
Expanding public access to upland wildlife habitat is one of the four strategic priorities that guide the work of Pheasants Forever.
In fact, we have a goal of increasing public access to privately owned upland wildlife habitat to more than one million acres by 2026. It’s an ambitious objective – but thanks in part to last year’s launch of our Public Access to Habitat (PATH) initiative in South Dakota, we’re well on our way.
Currently, PATH has enrolled over 20,000 acres of habitat and access throughout South Dakota’s pheasant and prairie grouse range.With the help of partners like onX Hunt, South Dakota Game Fish and Parks, and South Dakota Tourism, Pheasants Forever has accelerated the enrollment of lands in long-term conservation programs while bolstering participation in South Dakota Game Fish and Parks’ Walk-In Area (WIA) program.
Learn More at https://pheasantsforever.org/path
LITTLE MOSSY SHIP
“Many of us would probably be better fishermen if we did not spend so much time watching and waiting for the world to become perfect.” For many anglers, the driving force is the catch. However, there is a subspecies we like to call the "Adventure Angler." For them, the catch is a welcomed moment of elation along the greater journey.Borrowing from the classic words of Norman Maclean, Edward Abbey and others, Little Mossy Ship is an auditory and visual representation of the Adventure Angler.
Presented on NRS Fishing
SEARCHING FOR MONTEZUMA
We are searching for Montezuma, and – hidden deep in a landscape that has seen eons of human waves crashing against it – he does not wish to be found so easily...More than a quail hunt, Searching for Montezuma will take you through the rugged and lonely border country of southern New Mexico with Ray Trejo, a hard-core bird hunter, pointer man, and passionate advocate for the wildlife and culture of this unique and imperiled region. Read the full-length story and view the photos that accompany this film at https://quailforever.org/montezuma
SNOWBIRDS
A wide variety of terrain, weather, and upland birds are on full display in this adventurous hunt through Oregon. Follow along as three hunters, a pair of German shorthairs, an English pointer, and a Duetsch Drahthaar search for three distinct birds in three different environments over the course of three days. Sponsored by onX Hunt, read the full companion story about these wild birds in wild places and view behind-the-scenes photos at https://www.quailforever.org/snowbirds
Ask a Vet: Episode 1 - What's In Your Bird Dog's First-Aid Kit?
You asked and we answered. In partnership with Purina ProPlan, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever are excited to launch a new 12-part Ask a Vet series in which Purina’s experts weigh in on crowdsourced questions we’ve received from avid bird dog owners from across the country. In this inaugural episode, follow along as Purina's experts Dr. Seth Bynum and Dr. RuthAnn Lobos unpack: What's in Your Bird Dog's First Aid Kit?
Rise Again
Sara Hunter is a therapist and life-coach based in Fort Collins, CO.
The Swim of Their Lives
Siblings Survive After Losing 400-Pound Marlin, and their Boat.
Ten minutes, maybe less.That’s all the time Dan Suski had from the moment he cut the marlin loose until he was treading water in the Atlantic, the 33-foot sport boat Reel Irie already on its way to the bottom some 1,800 feet below.
“That's a pretty surreal feeling, seeing a boat just disappear into the blue,” says Dan, 34. “The sensation of being un-tethered with nothing to hold on to, at the mercy of the ocean—that’s a pretty scary feeling.”
Connections across Maine: Pt 1
A feature look at a wild yet accessible overnight Maine adventure, canoeing a classic Northern Forest Canoe Trail section across Flagstaff Lake and down the Dead River to Maine Huts & Trails' Grand Falls Hut.
Jesse Joe Dallas Coble
In loving memory of Jesse Joe Dallas Coble.March 11, 1997 to December 17, 2023