Colorado has become a proving ground for ballot-box wildlife management, from wolf reintroduction and efforts to ban mountain lion hunting to recent pushes targeting trapping and predator management.

In this episode of Sheep Fever, we welcome back Dan Gates of Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management to break down what's happening in Colorado, who's behind these initiatives, and why the latest effort to establish a Constitutional Right to Hunt and Fish matters. If successful, Colorado would join 24 other states that have already secured this protection.

The stakes reach far beyond Colorado. Across the country, hunting, science-based wildlife management, and predator control are increasingly being challenged by activist-driven campaigns. This conversation explains why sportsmen and conservationists everywhere should be paying attention.

Even more can be found at https://savethehuntcolorado.com/

We often hear the phrase "for future generations" as one of the purposes for wildlife conservation and the long-term stewardship of game populations. But what about hunting itself?

In this episode, Shane Mahoney joins us for a thought-provoking conversation about the future of hunting in North America and beyond. What will public hunting look like 10, 20, or even 50 years from now? As science-based wildlife management increasingly faces challenges in the court of public opinion, hunters and conservationists must confront a growing reality: the future of hunting can no longer be taken for granted.

Shane explores the cultural, social, and political forces shaping public perceptions of hunting, the critical role sportsmen and women play in conservation funding and wildlife management, and why proactive engagement is essential if we hope to preserve hunting opportunities for future generations.

This is a timely discussion about the challenges ahead—and what it will take to ensure hunting remains a valued and relevant part of conservation's future.

The reestablishment of bighorn sheep in North Dakota was nearly shelved after numerous translocations of bighorn not suited to the terrain and harsh winters which hampered lamb recruitment. A phone call from WSF's Kevin Hurley, then with Wyoming Game & Fish Department to Brett Wiedmann, North Dakota Game and Fish Department's Bighorn Program Lead and Biologist, turned the tide when Hurley advised Wiedmann of an opportunity for some Missouri River Breaks bighorns from Montana. Similar in bloody size to the extirpated Audubon sheep that called the Mandan country home, and with financial support from the Minnesota-Wisconsin chapter of FNAWS, now Midwest WSF Chapter that initial translocation from Montana to North Dakota was what was needed.

Brett Wiedmann and Kevin Hurley join Sheep Fever co-host Gray Thornton for a conversation of the initial challenges, at times failures, and then success of the North Dakota bighorn comeback. Brett gives a history of bighorns in the state, he and Kevin discuss that fateful phone call, and they both share where bighorn sheep restoration and bighorn sheep hunting in North Dakota are today.