The Outdoor Life Podcast

Michael Hirschi just might be the best public-land trophy mule deer hunter on the face of the earth. And he’s ready to share (some of) his secrets.

Rue Mapp’s calling is to get more Black people involved in the outdoors. Her newest personal challenge? Learning how to hunt.

Free-roaming horses and burros are dying hard deaths on Western rangeland that’s already taxed by drought, wildfire, and habitat loss. So why don’t we do something different?

Kristine Fischer risked it all just to make it as a pro kayak tournament angler. Now she just might be the rising star the sport needs.

Season 3 of the Outdoor Life Podcast is dedicated to the diehards: hunters and anglers whose borderline insane passions have led them to develop some pretty interesting perspectives and, often, uncommon skill. Tune in every Wednesday for new episodes.

Bushcraft doesn't just have a place in the 21st century—it might be more important than ever.

A kid walks out of the night and into your hunting camp—lost, scared, and half-frozen. Would you know what to do?

Rising grizzly populations, mountain town sprawl, and more tourists mean we’re seeing a surge in deadly bear attacks. It’s a good theory. The only problem? It isn’t true.

Jessie Krebs is on a crusade to make the backcountry, and the skills required to thrive there, accessible to everyone—especially the people who need it most.

What happens when a backcountry hunt turns into an unexpected survival situation? We talk with Alaska sheep hunter and OL staff writer Tyler Freel about suffering through the hungry side of a fly-in hunt.

For Season 2 of The Outdoor Life Podcast, we're going to try something a little different. We're still bringing you the storytelling, adventure, and reporting you love, but this time our writers and editors will be telling hunting and survival stories that are, in some way, dedicated to our single greatest survival tool: The one between our ears. We have six new episodes about the survivor's mindset coming your way, and we'll be releasing one each week on Wednesday.

Hosted by Editor-in-Chief Alex Robinson.

Edited and produced by Senior Deputy Editor Natalie Krebs.

Theme song by Harrison Black, Zep Jameson, and Emerson Lee.

There’s plenty of debate around crippling rates in waterfowl hunting, but the best duck hunters agree that we can reduce them and put more birds in the bag. Because if the numbers we do have are close to accurate, we duck hunters are losing way, way too many birds. We talked to two veteran duck hunters about how to improve our waterfowl recovery rates. Lee Kjos, a renowned wildlife photographer and the marketing guru behind Boss Shotshells, stresses the importance of identifying the right choke and load combination by pattering your gun. We also talked to legendary bird dog trainer Tom Dokken about how trained retrievers can help us recover more birds, and how to set yours up for success.

Hosted by Editor-in-Chief Alex Robinson.

Produced and edited by Senior Deputy Editor Natalie Krebs.

It took Jace Bauserman 19 years to draw an archery bighorn sheep tag in Colorado. So when he did finally draw, he got to training with his bow, meticulously. He tuned his gear, he perfected his form, and he kept a careful shooting log. But the most important thing Jace did was work on his mental game. Jace knew that he'd feel a wave of anxiousness as soon as the ram of his dreams offered him a shot. But he also knew that with careful training and the right attitude, he could execute a perfect shot—even if he was absolutely terrified in the moment. Here's how he did it. 

Edited and produced by Senior Deputy Editor Natalie Krebs.

Hosted by Editor-in-Chief Alex Robinson.

Music composed and performed by Tandis Jenhudson, Federico Coderoni, Lorenzo Bergamino, Stefano Bergamaschi, Luigi Magnozzi.

The megadrought in the West and High Plains is hurting big game like mule deer and cold-water fish species like trout and salmon. Scorching temps are evaporating moisture from browse and creating dry tinder for the wildfires that are growing bigger and more frequent. Meanwhile, drought is hitting the Dakotas hard and causing problems in the prairie pothole region. The real question: Is this the new normal?

Produced and edited by Senior Deputy Editor Natalie Krebs.

Reporting by contributor Christine Peterson and Hunting & Conservation Editor Andrew McKean.

Wisconsin wolf hunters nearly doubled last winter’s harvest quota. In the West, bounties are being paid for dead wolves. Meanwhile, the wild canines are increasing their range and redistributing big-game populations. Prodded by a celebrity-voiced campaign, the Interior Department is being pressured to return America’s wolves to the Endangered Species List. What will we do about wolves? Read the full story here:

Produced and edited by Senior Deputy Editor Natalie Krebs.

Reporting by Hunting and Conservation Editor Andrew McKean. 

Desmund Manaba was born and raised on Molokai, Hawaii’s fifth largest island and home to a staggering population of axis deer. He started hunting the non-native animals when he was eight, and has been watching their numbers explode ever since. Axis deer are destructive to the island’s terrain, vegetation, crops, and ranchland. But where there are indisputable problems, Manaba has also found opportunity. Senior Deputy Editor Natalie Krebs road around with Manaba during a nighttime cull. Read her full story here. 

Produced and edited by Senior Deputy Editor Natalie Krebs.

Hosted by Editor-in-Chief Alex Robinson.

Supported by Camp Chef, Leupold and Nosler.

Music in this episode by Harrison Black, Zep Jameson, and Emerson Lee via APM Music.

Coming soon, the Outdoor Life Podcast is a brand-new series that brings in-depth journalism to the issues and controversies that are most important to sportsmen and women. It covers hunting, fishing, conservation, and more. 

Hosted by Editor-in-Chief Alex Robinson and the editors of Outdoor Life.

Edited and produced by Senior Deputy Editor Natalie Krebs.