43 Upland Bird Hunting in England w Oliver Ringsby-Burgess

In this episode, Kevin Kossowan and I are in the grasslands of southern Alberta and we're after birds. Waterfowl and upland seasons are open and no time is wasted before our first success. Kevin's first Cranes ever! The season for Sandhill Cranes here in Alberta is only two years old. 

Wingshooting and stalking birds on the prairies is intensely challenging, and Kevin was perfect on his first opportunity of the trip. 

This episode was filled with firsts. Those are always the best episodes! It was the first time we stayed in the newly constructed Grasslands Shack. Kevin has worked tirelessly for months to get the old building moved and then renovated to the point where we can live comfortably in the wind and harsh environments of the Canadian prairies. It was also both of our first sharptails of the season. 

Part one of this expedition episode covers the first day of our trip. Next week you can join us again as we break down crane butchery and have our first taste ever of Sandhill Cranes. We'll also share our attempt at field decoying geese and another intercept tactic that worked to near perfection. 

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This is a new-old episode. Previously unheard footage of Kevin and I in the kitchen talking about whitetail venison while we cut up the front end of my whitetail buck. Then, a few weeks later, in early December, we're in the kitchen out at the farm putting together whitetail breakfast sausage.

These are some good discussions about both dry aging, braising, and cutting up your whitetail venison as well as sausage ideas. Perhaps a few thoughts on these subjects that you hadn't considered...because we hadn't either! We get into the details about salt and fat ratios for the perfect sausage as well as flavours and storage ideas.

I love this episode because Kevin and I are riffing off of one another while we are making sausage. There is some creative energy going on that I appreciate. I know that there are a few tidbits of information in here that you'll build from when prepping your own whitetail venison products this fall.  Let us know what you think! Kevin is over at IG @fromthewildca and www.fromthewild.ca

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November 24th, 2021 was a day that I'll remember for a very long time. I had hunted hard the entire fall. The goal was simple, harvest a deer with my antique recurve bow. I hadn't connected with a whitetail with my recurve for 12 years! Mostly because I hadn't really tried. 

For the previous two years, my focus and energy to be successful at traditional bowhunting had been re-ignited. In the fall of '20 I had missed a large buck...and then had another miss at a doe at close range. I was discouraged about that, but optimistic that I could get the job done in 2021. 

Sit after sit in treestands and ground blinds came and went. My spirits remained high, but time was running out. The season for whitetails ends on November 30. Finally, on a chilly winter afternoon, grey and bleak, it happened. Here was my chance at the whitetail buck of a lifetime! 

This episode happened at the beginning of my in-the-field-podcasting recording career. Unfortunately, inexperience shows through in places. I've learned a lot since last November. But still, you get to be in the woods with Kevin and me as we track and recover this beautiful whitetail buck. 

This episode was originally aired in January of 2022. However, very few people had a chance to listen to it with the limited audience I had at the time. I am also sort of surprised that people don't go back into past episodes more than they do. The re-releases seem to be popular, however, so I will continue with that now that we are doing better with our audiences here at buzzsprout. 

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I am re-releasing this episode without the ads. It is from earlier this Summer when my good friend, Tom, was back in town after moving to Ontario. We prioritized a fishing trip together and spent the day on familiar waters for both of us!

There is some spectacular audio of the day on the trout stream, and a great story on the way home about Tom's recent trip fly fishing in Scotland. Tom is a competitive fly fisher and is a wealth of knowledge on fishing efficiently and productively...and we still get skunked! This episode is a perfect example of how a negative production outcome doesn't mean a negative experience. It was a completely memorable day, and I think you'll agree after listening to the episode.

The Food Afield Podcast is an outdoor adventure podcast. Episodes are published weekly. Most episodes are recorded live in the field in ultra-wide stereo. You can get sneak peeks into the behind-the-scenes production of the show on both Instagram and Vero!

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In this episode, Garreth and I head out into the Grouse Woods in search of Ruffed Grouse.

This episode contains a few stories of upland bird hunting from my youth, especially when we travel back to Nana and Papa's farm to hunt. Being in that space always makes me nostalgic, and having Garreth around to ask me to share stories is a good excuse to talk about past times spent in the woods with a shotgun and dog. Plenty of tips in this episode on how to hunt upland birds too. 

At the end of the trip, we did find a few birds, but a bit of a blunder occurs with the new shotgun. More accurately, with the owner of the new shotgun.

The Food Afield Podcast is now on YouTube! There are already a few videos there. Over time, we'll put some behind-the-scenes content along with documentary and how-to videos.

An important change to the podcast. Things are still new and evolving here with the Food Afield Podcast. We are enjoying the weekly schedule that we've set for ourselves. New episodes will continue to be released each Monday. Because we have committed to so much content moving forward, along with the difficulty in production because of our format, we will scale back the episodes to 30 minutes and make them more of a series. This way, you can follow along with our year and the outdoor wild food adventures that we go on. Hopefully that makes sense. As always, please get hold of us with any questions, comments or concerns!

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Oliver joins the podcast again! This time we chat about upland bird hunting in the UK and my upcoming bird hunts here in Canada.

Upland birds and how they are hunted in Great Britain have an intense history and are full of heritage and customs. Not so much here in Alberta, but the images of British bird hunting is definitely engrained in my brain. The foggy, grey days, tweed suits, the dogs and beaters working through thick cover. Classic European side-by-side twelve gauge shotguns. These images attracted me to the idea of upland hunting as a kid. They drove me to own and train both a pointer and labrador in years past. The idea of hunting and eating upland birds is re-ignited inside me. I knew I wanted to chat with Oly to get a taste of this style of hunting overseas as a starter to the upcoming expedition episodes over the coming weeks.

I found it compelling to listen to Oliver describe a typical bird hunt near his home. The differences are startling. Not better than here, not worse...just different. This conversation has me fired up to get out into the forests and fields over the next month or so. I have a new over-under 20 gauge to try out and I am anxious to prepare some new Ruffed Grouse recipes inspired by Oliver's pheasant schnitzel!
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If you are looking for a hunting and fishing podcast that celebrates wild food ingredients and how to acquire them, check out the Food Afield Podcast.

We take you into the field with us while we adventure for food in the backcountry. The focus is on traditional bowhunting and fly fishing, but we explore all of the ways to fill your freezer. We take you out into the field with us while we hunt and fish and explore the tastes of wild food ingredients. 

You can listen to the Food Afield Podcast on Spotify and Apple or wherever you find your podcasts.

#traditionalbowhuntingpodcast #wildfoodpodcast #backcountryhunting #flyfishingpodcast #flyfishing #campfirecookingpodcast #venison #uplandbirdhunting

Visit the Food Afield Podcast website for great articles, recipes, and much more. While you're there, don't forget to sign up for the monthly (at most) newsletter that provides access to exclusive content and offers.

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Curtis Hall is a professional fly fishing guide on the world-famous Elk River near Fernie, British Columbia. In August I was able to spend two days fishing with him near his home. This episode, perhaps more than any others I've produced, is truly educational. Curtis and I really got into the technicalities of fly fishing for Westslope Cutthroat Trout. I was challenged constantly with Curtis' coaching and experience. It was fascinating for me to learn so much about the things I didn't know I didn't know when it came to fly fishing. 

I did my best in this episode to take you with Curtis and me out onto the rivers that we explored on the trip. We talk about fly fishing strategies and techniques, and we catch a bunch of fish! If you are interested in gleaning some tips on ways to improve your fly fishing, then this is the episode for you.

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The Food Afield website is home to additional photography and outdoor, wild food articles, and more! Check it out here while you listen to the show.

You can listen to Curtis and Mark Hall on their own podcast, The Hunter Conservationist Podcast. 

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The lost episode! This episode has been on the website all year. Originally, it was produced as a newsletter exclusive episode. But with so few people actually signing up for the newsletter, or viewing the website, it seemed a shame to keep it hidden. Sigh, the life of someone not lip-synching and dancing on tik tok. 

And so here it is. The story of my big whitetail buck and the hindquarters and loins that aged for 42 days. Kevin Kossowan joins me in the farmhouse kitchen for this one. It is shortly after Christmas, the tree is still up, and we're cutting and wrapping venison for the freezer. 

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This is the twelfth expedition episode of the year! Hard to believe where the time has gone.

This episode finds me in Fernie, British Columbia, Canada. I have wanted to fish the Elk River for almost as long as I can remember and I finally have my chance. Earlier in the season, on the interview episodes stream, I spoke with Curtis Hall who is a professional guide on the Elk. He is also the co-host of the Hunter Conservationist Podcast. I have appeared on their show a few times now. 

In the episode with Curtis, we talked about planning this trip and it has been on the forefront of my mind ever since. In late August, the plans were set and I made my way down to southern BC in the old Suzuki Vitara. I met up with Curtis and got to meet his partner, Paige. She fishes too and she is good at it. Through sheer determination, and a longtime desire to figure out fly fishing (along with expert advice from Curtis), Paige has become a fly caster who appears to be well ahead of the curve. 

We catch several fish on the Saturday of our trip, out of the drift boat, along with several walk and wade excursions when we came across good pools. 

This is the first of two episodes. In the second part, we will take you along with Curtis and me as we walk and wade the upper stretches of the Bull River searching for Cutthroat Trout that have been isolated since the time that Westslope Cutthroat first populated the area thousands of years ago. 

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Visit the Food Afield Podcast website for great articles, recipes, and much more. While you're there, don't forget to sign up for the monthly (at most) newsletter that provides access to exclusive content and offers.

We're also over at Instagram, Vero and Twitter!