Talk Is Sheep

Mountain Ready Ep. 5 — Grit, Growth, and Getting It Done with Kaden Romain

We’re back with the fifth installment of our Mountain Ready series — built for sheep hunters preparing for the rigours of fall in the high country. This time, we welcome seasoned mountain hunter Kaden Romain to the show.

Kaden shares insights into the mindset of a veteran sheep hunter, recounting the highs and lows of a memorable trip marked by a brutal 48-hour snowstorm. Where many would have packed it in, Kaden and his partner stayed the course...

Podcast Episode: Healing in the Wild with Todd Hisey, Founder of The Veteran Hunters

In this episode, we sit down with Todd Hisey, Founder and CEO of The Veteran Hunters Canada — a non-profit organization run by retired Canadian Armed Forces Veterans and First Responders who have experienced their own mental health journeys.

The Veteran Hunters exists to serve fellow Veterans, Military Members, and First Responders by offering peer support and outdoor therapy through guided hunting and wilderness experiences. Their mission is simple: provide healing in the wild through connection, ca...

Mountain Ready: Judging Rams with Mike Bridger

We welcome back experienced sheep hunter and BC Wildlife Biologist Mike Bridger for the fourth installment of our Mountain Ready series. In this episode, we focus on how to prepare for your fall sheep hunt, with a deep dive into field judging and legal harvest practices.

With high rates of illegal sheep harvest over the past decade, it’s more important than ever to hone your skills in the field. Mike shares practical, experience-based techniques that will help you accurately judge rams th...

We’re thrilled to welcome back legendary guide Tanis Barkman to the podcast for the third installment in our Mountain Ready series — designed specifically for sheep hunters gearing up for their fall mountain hunts.

In this episode, we dive deep into one of the most critical skills for alpine success: glassing. Tanis shares her proven strategies for making the most of your optics in the high country, offering insight that can make the difference between spotting a ram or going home empty-handed.

But as always, the conversation doesn’t stop t...

Talk is Sheep welcomes Keith Balfourd, Director of Marketing and Communications for the Wild Sheep Foundation, to the podcast. A seasoned veteran in the conservation community, Keith has been deeply involved in numerous fundraising initiatives that benefit wild sheep and other wildlife species.

In this episode, Keith discusses the Wild Sheep Foundation’s support of the 2025–2026 Arizona Game and Fish Commission Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Raffle Tag. Every dollar raised through this raffle will go directly to the Arizona Game & Fish Department Habitat Partnership Committee, furthering their mission to steward and protect the state’s wild sh...

We sit down with renowned BC hunter, hunting ambassador, filmmaker, and backcountry legend Adam Foss. The Foss family name is synonymous with chasing adventure and achieving remarkable success in the mountains.

This is Part Two of our Mountain Ready series, where we dive into the thoughts and preparations leading up to the sheep opener—topics that resonate with anyone planning a mountain hunt.

Adam covers a wide range of topics that will help set you up for success in the mountains. We explore what success really means, and discuss mountain hunt preparation, pl...

Greg and Kyle welcome Washington Wild Sheep Foundation Treasurer Joe Hill and his son (also Washington Director) Mike Hill to the podcast while at the Wild Sheep Foundation Chapter and Affiliates Summit XVII in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

We often refer reverently to our Wild Sheep Family and the Hill family is truly a family dedicated to wild sheep. They are very active in their home state of Washington and the Washington Wild Sheep Foundation Chapter.

Joe and Mike discuss how they got involved in Washington Wild Sheep. We also...

We sit down with BC Sheep Guide Nolan Osborne. Nolan spends his fall on the mountain and we pick his brain on sheep hunting, aging sheep and being selective.

This is part one of our Mountain Ready series. We talk about the things we are all thinking about as we approach the sheep opener or topics that pertain to anyone planning a mountain hunt.

Nolan talks a lot about how he learned to age sheep, his go to strategies for aging and what tips he uses when trying to...

We welcome Mitchell Jones to the podcast. Mitchell is a regular guy - day job, family, loves to hunt and explore the outdoors. But, he now has the distinction of being on the receiving end of an encounter with a Black Bear.

This spring Mitchell and a buddy were out chasing early season bears with his dogs. They happen across a boar and after short work, the bear is down. Mitchell's three dogs are on the kill, but something was not quite right when they arrived at where the bear went down. Needless to...

We welcome Wild Sheep Foundation Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, Corey Mason to the podcast. We discuss Corey's decorated history in the conservation space, his journey to the WIld Sheep Foundation and some of the pressing issues currently in the spotlight.

We talked lots about a current issue we are seeing a lot of, Public Lands. Corey shares some of the threats emerging and what we really should be advocating for. We talk about some of the current issues and concerns for the wild sheep community and recent wins for wild sheep.

We welcome Wild Sheep Foundation Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer Corey Mason to the podcast. We explore Corey's dedication and passion for wild sheep conservation, his career progression that brought him to the Foundation and everything in between. We even talk about his fall hunting plans.

Corey has dedicated his life to conservation and we talk about current issues that he and the Foundation are currently challenged with. We dive into public land and some immediate needs that require attention in addition to the state of conservation in present day times.

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We welcome a friend of wild sheep to the podcast, Ram Hunter Pallister. Shane is well known throughout the sheep hunting community. Recently on a sheep hunt in Mexico, he was struggling more than usual and a after struggling throughout the hunt, he was convince that he needed to seek medical attention.

After rounds of tests in Mexico, traveling back to Canada, it became clear that Shane was suffering from stage four lung cancer - that's right there is no stage five. One thing we all know about Ram Hunter Pallister is that he...

We sit down with WSSBC Life Member Andre Brosseau to talking hunting, wild sheep, conservation, elections and more. Andre shares his early days and the experience of heading out on his own while in his teens in search of a Bighorn Sheep. He was bit very early by the Sheep Hunting bug and still is inflicted with the illness.

Andre shares his experiences on the mountain and how he achieved his FNAWS. We talk about hunting in a modern era and the importance of educating yourself on selecting mature rams. We also discuss how...

Steve is the co-founder and owner of Exo Mtn Gear. Besides running the operations of the company he remains extremely passionate about product development and spends as much time as possible imagining new concepts, creating new designs, and thoroughly testing both new ideas and old assumptions — all to make any and every improvement possible to Exo Mtn Gear products.

We sit down and talk about the origin store of Exo Mtn Gear including modern innovation strategies and the vision for the company. We of course dive into Steve's Frank Church Bighorn ram and his af...

Steve is the co-founder and owner of Exo Mtn Gear. Besides running the operations of the company he remains extremely passionate about product development and spends as much time as possible imagining new concepts, creating new designs, and thoroughly testing both new ideas and old assumptions — all to make any and every improvement possible to Exo Mtn Gear products.

We sit down and talk about the origin store of Exo Mtn Gear including modern innovation strategies and the vision for the company. We of course dive into Steve's Frank Church Bighorn ram and his af...

We welcome four conservation superheroes to the podcast - Chris Procter (Ministry of WLRS), Ben Berukoff (Canadian Wildlife Capture), Jeremy Ayotte (Phyla Consulting) and Chris Barker (WSSBC). We dive into the 2024/2025 Fraser River Test and Remove project. This project is moving the needle for Fraser River California Bighorn Sheep.

A huge shout out to these four gentlemen for the contribution to wild sheep conservation. Also a huge thank you to our funding partners that have made this project possibly which include Wild Sheep Foundation, Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, Midwest Chapter of Wild Sheep Foundation...

We welcome world renowned hunter T.J. Schwanky to the podcast to touch on far reaching subjects including pronghorn conservation, the importance of maintaining over-the-counter hunting, the federal election here in Canada, optics and much more.

T.J. is a Conservation Projects Coordinator, producer Outdoor Quest TV and freelance writer and responsible for an important pronghorn antelope initiative in Alberta that is making a difference for the species. We discuss Africa as T. J. and Vanessa have a trip just two weeks out. We would be remiss if we did not dive into some...

We sit down with Chad St. Amand to talk about sheep hunting, conservation, family and more. Chad has been a long time sheep hunter and a long time conservationist. He has avtively supported many organizations over the years, and he has been generous to WSSBC.

Chad sits down to talk to us about taking his frist Stone's ram. He discusses his pursuit, the challenges he faced and the joy of his success. Chad discusses harvesting mature rams and the importance of keeping harvest pressure front of mind when sheep hunting.

We welcome Ryan Leef to the podcast to talk about hunting, federal elections, elite competition and more. Ryan recently having got the nod as the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for the Yukon for the 2025 Federal election. Ryan shares his vision of what is in store in the next few months politically for Canada,

Rogue River Outfitting (Jim Shockey Hunting Adventures) generously supported the Society with a late season 2025 Mountain Caribou Hunt in the Yukon. Ryan discusses what the hunt will look like and what the winner can expect with Rogue River. For tickets...

Greg and Kyle welcome team Alberta Wild Sheep Foundation to the podcast hot on the heals of their records breaking fundraiser in Red Deer. We sit down with WSFAB President Mike Smith and Vice-President Brian Scott to talk about Alberta's Bighorn Sheep populations.

We touch on a myriad of topics including current Bighorn projects in Alberta, challenges for Alberta's wild sheep, WSFAB's epic fundraiser, youth camp and more.

We also are giving away some gear on this one. Sign up for a WSFAB membership and email us at kstelter...

We welcome WSSBC Peter Gutsche to the podcast to talk about Okanagan Bighorn Sheep. Peter is our lead on our Psoroptes Treatment Trial for struggling California Bighorn Sheep in the Okanagan. This is a massive 18 month program in conjunction with the Okanagan Nation Alliance where we have 28 Bighorn Sheep in captivity undergoing a drug treatment trial with a goal of reducing psoroptes on the landscape.

Supporters of this program include the Wild Sheep Foundation and their Chapter and Affiliates as well as the Washington Wild Sheep Foundation. Peter gives us the run down on...

We welcome WSSBC Peter Gutsche to the podcast to talk about Okanagan Bighorn Sheep. Peter is our lead on our Psoroptes Treatment Trial for struggling California Bighorn Sheep in the Okanagan. This is a massive 18 month program in conjunction with the Okanagan Nation Alliance where we have 28 Bighorn Sheep in captivity undergoing a drug treatment trial with a goal of reducing psoroptes on the landscape.

Supporters of this program include the Wild Sheep Foundation and their Chapter and Affiliates as well as the Washington Wild Sheep Foundation. Peter gives us the run down on...

Greg and Kyle jump into the studio to visit about our two 2025 fundraisers. We review two great weeks of conservation including our Northern Fundraiser in Dawson Creek and our Salute to Conservation and Mountain Hunting Expo in Penticton.

We review the highlights over the two weekends, touch on some current events including the cougar issue that has emerged in Alberta and talk about our summer plans including our Mountain Monarch Golf Tournament, Wild Sheep Jurassic Classic and our Horn Aging events across the province.

Talk is Sheep is the...

While in Reno we welcome Michael Edwards to the podcast. Last year we welcomed Jon Edwards to Talk is Sheep while at Sheep Week and it is fun to bring in the next generation of Schnee's. We focus on the family run business that incorporates the entire family and how they are all working together to support the brand.'

Michael discusses Ram Rendezvous in downtown Bozeman. We talk about the legacy that Jon has created with Schnee's, the importance of hunting to the Edwards family. Michael shares his fall hunting experience and the...

During a packed Sheep Week Greg and Kyle welcome Ryan Holm, Director of Marketing Sport Optics for Leica Camera to the podcast. Ryan is no stranger to Talk is Sheep, but this is the first we dive into the realm of optics.

We discuss Leica's rich and long history and how it dates back to Germany in the 1800. Ryan shares some interesting facts about the company and how they patented auto-focus and then sold the rights as they believed their clientele preferred to focus themselves.

We discuss the latest...

Attending Sheep Week, Greg and Kyle welcome Fierce President, John Mogle to the podcast. John is passionate, dedicated and committed to success and his enthusiasm for building a premium firearm comes through in this podcast.

We discuss John's early beginnings, the evolution of Fierce and what's new at their Utah headquarters. We dive into Fierce's rifle line-up, discuss their long-range shooting school, Dirtnap Outfitters and Mogle Ranch. We also dive into John's most recent hunts and what's on the docket for 2025.

John and the Fierce crew will be at...

On episode 224 we welcome the Safari Club International (SCI) crew to the podcast to talk about First for Hunters wth Jason St. Michael and Chris Everett. Jason serves as SCI's Member and Chapter Services Director while Chris is the Chapter/Advocacy Services Specialist – Canada.

We talk about what is new at Safari Club International, what it means when SCI says first for hunters, and the importance of sticking together. Both Jason and Chris are very active in Ottawa lobbying to ensure hunters rights and privileges are not further eroded. We reflect on why we ha...

While at Sheep Show in Reno we welcomed John and Jules Barklow to the podcast. We discuss a multitude of topics and do a bit of a deep dive into what is new for back country gear.

John has spent the last thirty years teaching backcountry hunters, military operators, and SAR teams how to live and thrive in the austere wilderness, where failure is not an option, and there are no excuses for failure. He has been developing technical hunting systems at Sitka Gear for the last ten years while aggressively pursuing his hunting...

At Sheep Show in 2025 last week we welcomed Ben Stourac to our booth to talk Dall Sheep Hunting. Ben is the owner of Arcadia Outfitting and Iron North Outfitting. Greg and Wardo dive into Dall Sheep Hunting in the Yukon, Ben's new concession in the Territory and what Dall Sheep backpack hunt looks like.

Ben dives into pack raft hunting in the Yukon for Dall Sheep and what his 2025 year looked like chasing Dall Sheep. The area holds incredible moose with 3 of the moose harvested last fall were record book bulls.

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We welcome Sam Cunningham and Glen Landrus to the podcast. Sam is President of the Texas Bighorn Society and he is joined by Chair of the WIld Sheep Foundation, Glen Landrus.

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) and Texas Bighorn Society (TBS) partnered with Wild Sheep Foundation as catalysts and funding partners for the establishment of a new disease-free population of desert bighorn sheep.

Historically, desert bighorn sheep were native to Texas. With the settlement of the Trans-Pecos Region of Texas, native wild sheep populations declined rapidly, becoming extirpated by 1960. T...

Joining Kyle in this episode of wide-ranging topics is returning guest Renée Thornton, Founder and Chair of the Wild Sheep Foundation's Women Hunt® program. 

During a year overshadowed by the impact of a cancer diagnosis and major surgery, Renée prioritized her well-being through the things she loves best: travel, hunting, wildlife conservation and giving back.

Kyle and Renée talk about achieving the notable accomplishment of travelling to all seven continents; African hunting and the striking beauty of Namibia; volunteering on a critical Desert Bighorn Sheep restoration project...

We welcome Professional rodeo and auctioneer emcee, Caleb Dorenkamp to the podcast to talk about rodeoing, conservation, emceeing and hunting.

On this episode Caleb discusses his connection to a rural lifestyle growing up in Colorado. He shares an experience with us from this fall while out hunting found two mature bucks with locked horns. You are going to enjoy hearing this story. Caleb was able to capture it all on film and can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/ELzGQCUH-uk?si=yNTZg-Y72nxiIZwl

Talk is Sheep is the Official...

Merry Christmas to our wild sheep family.

On this one Kyle and Greg, over whiskys have a fun chat about the year that was and the year that will be.

We chat about all things wild sheep - Sheep Show in Reno, our new whisky release, plans and guests for our Salute to Conservation and Mountain Hunting Expo.

Do you think you know the name of our 2025 whisky release? The first person that can guess the new name correctly we will send you a...

We welcome Mackenzie Clarke to the podcast to talk about Bighorn Sheep in the Okanagan. Mackenzie is the Senior tmixʷ Biologist for Okanagan Nation Alliance and she is tackling the issue of Psoroptes Mange in Bighorn Sheep in the region.

Recently Okanagan Nation Alliance and the Wild Sheep Society of BC signed a Memorandum of Understanding focusing on the recovery on these wild sheep populations. Mackenzie dives into the multitude of issues that are plaguing these herds, what ONA is doing and her specific role in the project.

The Wi...

This is a bonus update for Talk is Sheep to:

-announce the winner of our Jurassic Classic Rifle and 50/50 raffles

-introduce our Gift of Conservation promo where you can win a $500 Sitka Gift Card

-update our listeners on our plan for Sheep Show in Reno

-highlight our upcoming raffles

-wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

WIN a $500 USD Sitka Gift Card through our Gift of Conservation Promotion.

Check out the details at...

We sit down with Landon Birch and Morgan Anderson to discuss Stone's Sheep, specifically those in Region 7A in the Central Northwest part of British Columbia. Landon is completing his Masters Studies on these wild sheep and is working closely with Morgan Anderson of BC's Ministry.

Population surveys revealed what appeared to be declining Stone Sheep population in the study area. This led to a deeper dive into these populations which ultimately resulted in Landon specifically studying how habitat quality was impacting these populations. He brings us up to speed on the status of...

It is a long journey from the London Zoo to Africa studying bushmeat harvesting to the Comox Valley woodlands. We sit down to speak with Vancouver Island hunter Janna Rist about her personal journey into hunting.

Janna grew up in a family where her father would often go into the woods in pursuit of protein. While she always had a keen interest, Janna herself was never the one pulling the trigger. A few decades later she found herself in British Columbia and having developed a strong connection to canines and interest in blood tracking...

We welcome Chad Hall to the podcast to talk Sheep Hunting and the courage involved to face your challenges whether they are in the mountain or in the operating room.

Chad, a lifelong passionate hunter, was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer when he was just 19. He spent the next two years fighting the cancer. He underwent several surgeries to remove a large tumor from his femur and endured more than 300 days of extensive chemotherapy before finally bringing the disease into submission. His entire knee had to be replaced, and he lost...

This is a special release of the Talk is Sheep podcast and a bit of a change from our regular content. We sit down with WSSBC Director, Justin Kallusky to talk about mental health and how outdoor places, wildlife and conservation can play a role in a healthy state of mind.

Justin is most easily recognized as the World Record Mountain Goat holder, however at the Society we certainly know Justin for his deep thinking, respect for wildlife, ability to communicate and his passion for all these things. He shares his personal journey to...

We welcome Thomas Lees to the podcast to talk about hunting in Alaska - in particular, Dall's Sheep hunting. Thomas has grown up hunting with his Dad, Jerry an Alaska legend that has a passion for sheep hunting having taken 40 rams to date.

We talk about how Thomas's upbringing, his most memorable hunts, and what it is like to hunt with a guy like Jerry that is obsessed with sheep hunting and harvesting old, mature rams. We talk about the current state of wild sheep in Alaska and discuss conservation. Thomas is a young...