Nada Grande Outdoors Podcast

Guess who's back? This week, on the Nada Grande Outdoors Podcast, we discuss your options when you just cant make the hunt. Join us to see what to do with your tag. 

Slick heads. Green heads. Coming in on a string. Shoot 'em in the lips. There are a ton of slang terms used in the hunting world and they can be fairly universal like "bag limit", down to as specific as a family or group of hunters using a term only understood by each other, like "2 hundo". This week we are joined by our friend @nmduckboy aka "Dirty Dave" to have a fun discussion about the many different colloquialisms that are so interlaced with our language as hunters. As we expected, these terms are so ingrained in our speech patterns that as we did this podcast we found ourselves using slang terms to define slang terms! This is by no means a comprehensive discussion about decoding hunting jargon, but it is a fun discussion that may be eye opening to some as to just how many of these terms can dominate discussions around hunting! 

In a first for the Hunt it Forward program, we were able to take a participant out and do some spot and stalk skills learning in the field on a real animal! Shea was with us for an evening to learn about glassing, reading sign, animal behavior patterns, putting a stalk on pronghorn antelope. We were also joined by Cozzy, Shea's longtime friend from back east. While Cozzy has previously hunted white-tail deer, this was his first experience learning about western big game hunting. It was a great experience that thus far we have not had the chance to implement into our program, so we were thoroughly excited to take the opportunity for some hands-on education. We never get tired of the excitement these participants bring to the hunts as it is infectious and reinvigorates our efforts in this worthy cause! Don't forget to follow Shea's Hunt it Forward experience through all our podcasts! 

As a second part to last week's EPLUS soapbox, we take a look at the discussions that are being had regarding wildlife management in New Mexico. You remember the disaster that was Senate Bill 312 from the 2021 legislative session right? Well, that fight isn't over. Proponents of wildlife reform are starting the push again to change the Department of Game and Fish name, purview, and authority. Kyle recently participated on a panel discussion in front of the legislative Water and Natural Resources committee as an opponent of the drastic wildlife management reform that was proposed in SB312 and will continue to be pushed going into the future. What proponents of this reform want you to believe is that Game and Fish only care about game and fish species. The truth is that Game and Fish already has the authority and processes in place to address "species of greatest conservation need" as well as any other species that may need protection. Join us for a very informative podcast! Show Notes: NM Wildlife Conservation Act WNRC Panel Discussion NM State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) Recovering America's Wildlife Act (RAWA)

You guessed it! we are back on the soapbox! Why??! Because they just keep pushing. Had a friend of podcast send us an email that went out from the New Mexico Wildlife Federation that was a call to action asking people to contact the Attorney General's office to petition for the removal of all Private Land Elk authorizations in the state. If you will remember, not too long ago, Senator Martin Heinrich released a letter urging the governor's office to take action against private landowners and do away with the Elk, Private Land Use System (EPLUS). At that time, Jesse Deubel himself publicly stated that the senator's letter was targeting the unit wide aspect of the EPLUS system. We told you then that the ultimate goal was to do away with the private lands systems and gain access on private land for public hunters. We had to say "I told you so", but there is no denying it now. Understand the issues, educate yourself, and make a conscious decision where you stand....just make sure it's not because someone else told you to. 

Join us on the go for a podcast in the field. Rodney is pretty legit when comes to e-scouting, and what's more is he is becoming more fond of it every time we have a hunt. However, it should go without saying that it can't replace the knowledge you get by ground truthing what you see in the imagery. We are out and about for a look around the hunt area. Don't mind the truck noises, there's no substitute for boots on the ground! 

As a follow up to last week's episode where-in we talked with Mike Shine, one of two participants in our Hunt if Forward program this year, we sit down with our second participant Shea Hoffmann. Shea may be the participant that has been the most excited to do Hunt it Forward. He goes all in!! Between the time that we invited him to do the program and sitting down for the first podcast together, he has already bought a couple guns, a bow and a full set of camo. Talk about stoked! We love seeing people this committed and know that that excitement will only grow as we mentor them through the process. Shea had a ton of questions that we think most new hunters probably have, so listen in while we get acquainted with our second Shea to go through Hunt it Forward. This could get confusing! We will have to decide how  to distinguish between the two. What do you think? Should it be He Shea and She Shea or One Shea and Two Shea? 

This week we are joined by Mike Shine. Mike is one of our newest Hunt it Forward participants. Mike is originally from Massachusetts and while he grew up around some exposure to firearms, he has had limited exposure to hunting. The Pandemic really brought Mike to the awareness that he feels strongly about knowing where his food comes from and instilled a desire to be more self sufficient in obtaining his own welfare. He is extremely interested in getting into hunting as it is a way that he feels he can ethically put meat on his table while at the same time be an active participant in conservation. We are really excited to have Mike with us this year for Hunt it Forward! 

This week we discuss a myriad of topics. A long standing issue that we have had conversations about before is re-surfacing....stream access. We talk about our personal stances on the subject particularly in light of New Mexico's lack of flowing water. We also remind people that vigilance is key when it comes to other hot-button issues such  as E-plus and 30 by 30. These conversations are still being had and rest assured we need to keep our fingers on the pulse of what is happening. We also talk about the fact that it is ok to be a hunter without having to explain why. What better time than the off season to pontificate about ongoing issues? Join us!

Been a long time coming, but we got ole' Dodo back on the air! Caught him at the right time too, as he just got back from what sounds like a pretty cool trip to South Africa! Very entertaining and informational episode! Join us!

What does fly fishing have to do with Unicorn crap? Join us for this week's podcast! Summer is always a slow time for hunting, so why not pick up a rod and go "hunting" for trout. We were joined by friend of the podcast Dave Stambaugh and welcomed first time guest Brian Palmer. Brian is a native New Mexican who has been fly fishing since childhood. He has been a professional fishing guide for the past 23 years. We discuss casting basics, mimicking natural food sources, and enjoying the experience. There are also no shortage of laughs as we cover what to do with your hands, unicorn crap, and stripping! You don't want to miss this one! 

We wanted to bring a little levity to the podcast as we have seen too much negativity in hunting recently. We wanted step back and take out the politics and arguments and just talk about why we love hunting. We got back to telling hunting, AND fishing stories! 

Sometime, there is something you think you will really like, then you try it, and you don't. That was us this week. Come check out this weeks podcast about backpack hunting, turkey and the draw results. 

You asked for it, we deliver! It's half way through Spring Turkey season here in New Mexico. Hopefully you are having success! If not, this podcast might help. This week's episode features a special guest with 30+ years experience chasing the long beards. Josh Waldrip is a Sergeant with New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. He is a native of New Mexico having grown up in Artesia. Josh started hunting turkey with his family when he was a child and has carried that passion full circle as he is now passing his knowledge along to his children. While he doesn't claim to be an "expert" on the subject matter, he certainly is well versed in the topic and passed along some great information and tips about turkey hunting great for both beginners and longtime hunters alike. We talk life cycle, habitat, diet, roosting, and of course hunting techniques. What makes this podcast so great is that Josh brings a perspective for hunting western birds which is a completely different ball game from eastern birds! He has been there and made those mistakes! We hope you find some tips you can use! I sure know we did.

In this week's podcast we are joined by Ellary TuckerWilliams and Kent Keene of the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation. Ellary recently brought to our attention a nation wide initiative that is now being championed by the Biden Administration among others to "protect" 30% of our lands and waters by the year 2030. As with many such broad based, ambiguous movements, sportsmen and conservationists including ourselves have our trepidations, and rightly so. There has recently been an onslaught of legislation introduced, fought, and in some cases, passed attacking our long standing heritage of hunting, fishing, and trapping. Join us as we discuss where the movement started, issues with it, and what you can do as a sportsman to stay engaged and informed. We also discuss Congressional Sportsman's Foundation purpose and involvement in the issue. We want to thank Ellary and Kent for a great podcast that was extremely engaging and informative!   If you are interested in learning more about CSF and other sportsman group involvement in the 30 by 30  initiative go to www.huntfish3030.com If you would like to stay informed about more than just 30 by 30, visit congressionalsportsmen.org. You can also sign up for their newsletter and the Tracking the Capitols report to stay up to date with legislation impacting sportsmen in your state. You can also find a copy of the American System of Conservation Funding fact sheet for New Mexico on our website. Did you know that in New Mexico, 99.3 of NM Game and Fish's budget is sportsmen and women generated dollars? This fact sheet breaks down how conservation in New Mexico is paid for! Check it out!

We had the pleasure of chatting with Brandon Waddell who runs Mountain Archery Fest events which are family oriented 3D Archery events. These events are unique in that they encourage involvement of the whole family and feature some seriously awesome 3D courses and much more. Check out their website here ! We thoroughly enjoyed this podcast and hope you do too!

After a couple months of some pretty heavy and passion filled topics, we decided we wanted to do an episode of "light and fluffy" to loosen back up a bit. It was a long legislative session here in New Mexico and we were physically and emotionally drained from the fight, so after taking a week to recoup, we are back to re-touch on how we got started. We discuss Nada Grande Outdoors Podcast beginnings, our evolution as a podcast, our passion for the Hunt it Forward initiative and more! Tune in with us as we connect back to what started it all!

This podcast is a little late and we hope to start next season with a podcast on the proclamation when it comes out, but we still come in under the wire for one of the Big Game draw deadlines! We give the proclamation a once over as is needed on an annual basis so you can make sure that not too much has changed. Reminder that the deadline to put in for the draw in New Mexico is fast approaching! Good luck everyone!

Season 3 wrap up. We talk about a recent big win for the New Mexico hunting community when SB312 was tabled in the Senate Conservation Committee. We also run through the crazy year that was 2020, Hunt it Forward, Hunt giveaways, and personal hunting adventures. We have been blessed to do this for three seasons, and thoroughly look forward to season 4. A big thank you to all of our listeners! 

Just like a magic trick, they get you looking at all the extra tags you will have a chance to draw and then sneak in some real dingers. This one gets a little rowdy for sure. Come check it out.