Whiskey distiller and deer farmer Charles Cagnat from southeastern France joins Robbie to talk about French whiskey and deer—a perfect combination in his eyes. His operation, Domaine de la Pèze, specializes in deer meat (and a little bit of whiskey). Charles dives into how to market it, sell it, prepare it, and much more. Learn about the use of fallow deer in the French landscape, from their introduction by the Romans to the present day, by tuning in right here!

In an especially raucous Weekly Roundup, Robbie and Ashlee discuss their past week in South Africa and Montana, opening hunting season in a number of states, the rescission of the USDA public lands Roadless Rule, VT black bears, Asian Carp, CT deer, record-breaking Atlantic halibut and alligator harvests this week…. and Robbie’s small dog.

Returning guest—archaeologist, anthropologist, and historian (basically a knower of all things)—Paul Hubbard joins Robbie to discuss the history of the ivory trade. This is an incredibly important podcast, as it’s the first we know of that truly seeks to tease apart the amount of ivory exported from African shores throughout recent history. They delve into painstaking historical detail about the trade over the years to examine the question often posed by anti-hunters: whether hunters stand to kill off all the “big tuskers” in Africa. So listen in and get the historical evidence to the contrary—some of the figures in this podcast will change your perspective on ivory and, hopefully, get you thinking about what could be driving the occurrence of big ivory in Africa.

Rick Bichel, President of the Sydney branch of the Australian Deer Association, sits down with Robbie this week to dive deep into the ethics of hunting, specifically in the unique Australian context. From social media pressures, the feral species question and its effect on ethics, and much more. 

Robert Mahaffey, the chair of the fairly new South Dakota Antelope Foundation, joins the podcast to talk about his passion for antelope, the origins of the organization, and the heart of a conservationist.

Chuck Dye and Joe Bailey of Wildlife Ranch Solutions in the Texas Hill Country join Robbie to talk about the world of ranching exotics in the United States. Robbie dives into exactly “what is” Wildlife Ranch Solutions - the people who do the work, how the education component works with landowners, and whether native whitetail can exist alongside certain introduced species.

Ashlee is joined by special guest and host of Meateater’s Backwoods University podcast for this week’s Roundup. They discuss the hit show Hunting Wives, a recent social media prank pulled on the MS Wildlife Agency, the upcoming wolf season in MT plus an article by the Guardian claiming hunting wolves do not help with livestock depredation, a new study showing devastating impacts on sportfishing by the menhaden/pogie industry, and more!

Country music star Drake White nearly lost everything after a life-threatening stroke—but hunting brought him back. His story proves how time outdoors, the pursuit of wild game, and the primal act of providing can heal body, mind, and spirit. From growing up hunting Alabama whitetails and wood ducks to touring the world as a country musician, Drake’s life changed overnight when a rare brain condition left him partially paralyzed. In this inspiring episode, he shares how a giant Tennessee buck, long days in the deer stand, and the camaraderie of duck camps gave him purpose and restored his strength.

New Zealand Parliamentarian, the Honorable James Meager, has a very specific designation—the first of its kind, in fact—in the world: Hunting and Fishing Minister of New Zealand. James joins to talk about the “HOSI” (Herd of Special Interest) process happening right now in New Zealand, which stands to greatly benefit many of the conservation organizations you’ve heard of and followed here at The Origins Foundation. Find out from James what it is, how it happens, and learn about the bright future of hunting in New Zealand. This is an incredible podcast, timed specifically to coincide with the Environment Select Committee taking comments on the two HOSI applications.

Pierre Barau is a dog handler from Réunion (a former French colony), an island off the coast of Southern Africa. He currently serves as a dog handler for anti-poaching efforts in the Mkuze Falls area of Zululand, South Africa. Robbie met Pierre while filming the first installment of a rhino docuseries in South Africa. Pierre and Robbie sit down to talk about the stark realities of rhino poaching, what Pierre and his team are up against, and much more!

Peet Van Der Merwe, a professor in the School of Tourism Management at the University of the Northwest, joins Robbie to nerd out on the science behind a paper on hunting tourism in a post-COVID world. Professor Peet is a returning guest, having discussed in earlier episodes the direct contributions of hunting in South Africa and much more. This is the kind of episode you need to listen to if you want to bury information in your brain about the benefits of hunting.

Join Robbie and Ashlee for this week’s Roundup as they discuss the tragic hunting accident in South Africa, the connotations around the phrase “trophy hunting,” a proposed bill to allow guided crocodile hunting in Australia, and the continued debate over baiting bears! 

Mike Arnold, a conservation geneticist, professor, and lifelong hunter from Texas, was blown away by the conservation ethic and benefits he witnessed during a hunting trip with Mark Haldane in Mozambique. He was so impressed, in fact, that he wrote a book about Mark’s efforts, Bringing Back the Lions. Robbie and Mike dive into why he wrote the book, what we can learn from these herculean efforts, and much more.

On this week’s Roundup, Robbie and Ashlee discuss the IL “Rewilding” bill that was just signed into law, the controversy surrounding the take of “Blondie” the lion, a new bill proposing a national ban on baiting bears, increased Bear tags in LA and more!

Marco Pani, Director of International Programs for Conservation Force, joins Robbie to discuss their behind-the-scenes conservation work on wide-ranging issues, such as the import-export of trophies, state-level game management and CITES. More specifically, the two dive deep in to their work with elephants in Zimbabwe and more - all from the floor of the inaugural Dallas Safari Club Summer Expo. Conservation Force is a little known organization that has done a yeoman's effort supporting government agencies all across the world in conservation, management of willdife, and policies and regulations of trade of wildlife.

Ashlee, with the Origins Foundations, discusses the conservation impacts of Alligator Alcatraz and whether Florida is about to get a real bear season for the first time in decades.

While Robbie was in Zululand starting to film a docu-series on rhinos, sustainable use of rhinos and all of the controversy around the trade in rhino horns, the team was fortunate enough to witness a couple of Rhino dehornings. The vet that performed the dehornings was Mike Toft, a wildlife veterinarian out of Kwazulu, Natel. A 30-year vet (no pun intended) of the wildlife veterinarian game, he has seen it all when it comes to rhino conservation. Robbie and Mike got together right after a recent dehorning by Mike of two rhinos that he’d darted from a helicopter less than an hour before the recording began. Mike recalls dehorning over 4,000 rhinos, and has arguably dehorned more rhino horns than anybody else in the world. Apologies for any shaking you hear in the background because Robbie and Mike recorded the podcast in Mike's vehicle as they were traveling between two dehornings.

Big News - We’re growing and our name has changed! Blood Origins is officially The Origins Foundation.  Tune in to hear why.

Cullen Kelly is one of the brothers now in charge of Garry Kelly Safaris. Garry Kelly Safaris (or GKS) is one of the oldest safari companies in South Africa, and Garry Kelly, Cullen’s Dad, is one of the original stalwart professional hunters in South Africa (he was involved in the very first Rhino hunt with Ian Player in Zululand). Robbie and Cullen connected on the banks of the Mkuze River, as Robbie and The Origins Foundation team were working on a Rhino documentary. Mkuze Falls is a private, community held conservancy, that has the big five and is a poster child for what wildlife conservation can be like in South Africa. These critical private reserves do amazing things for wildlife conservation, rhinos, lions and more, and the wildlife and communities owning it are all benefitting from it.

John Luyt is one of the professional hunters that works in the APNR - the Associated Private Nature Reserves of the Kruger National Park. These reserves were setup to incorporate into Kruger National Park and allow for more movement of wildlife. With the dropping of fences, Kruger's burgeoning elephant population has spilled into the APNR, where legal, highly regulated hunting of elephants occurs. The hunting of elephants in this area has gone through significant upheaval since 2021, when Humane Society International put a court interdict in place stopping export of elephant trophies. Today, we get a huge step forward towards returning to pre-2021. John brings Robbie breaking news out of the Limpopo Province of South Africa that now, for the first time in quite some time, international hunters may now hunt nonexportable elephants in the Limpopo Province, along with a history of why this is such a significant clawback of ground after several battles in and out of court.

Tune in to the weekly Roundup as Ashlee and Robbie discuss the latest news in the hunting and fishing arena over the past couple of weeks, including their weekend at Dallas Safari Club's Summer Expo, the Budget Reconciliation Act, a new bill introduced in the Senate aimed to increase North American duck populations, Reauthorization of the Sportfish Restoration Boating and Trust Fund, the Grizzly Bear State Management Act, the controversy surrounding Jay Cutler hunting sables in Africa, and more! 

Tarquin Millington-Drake is a UK-based photographer and founder of a communications hub around grouse shooting and moorlands. He and some other former podcast guests have teamed up to build this communications highway around the benefits of shooting - just like The Origins Foundation is doing worldwide! The communication message is simple - Why do moorlands matter? This discussion is a fascinating deep dive into a type of hunting in a place you might not know much about.

Robbie in releasing The Last Wild Islands was connected to Michie. Michie is Zambia's Sweetheart" Zulu on Phoenix FM where she is an extremely popular radio host. Michie and Robbie connect for a short interview about the Last Wild Islands which broadens Michie’s ideas around hunting specifically in Zambia.

Grouse hunting on moors is likely one of the most heated hunting topics in the United Kingdom. Every year the industry comes under attack, and they have to stand up and fight to highlight the benefits that come from Grouse shooting on moors. In Part 1 of a series on "Fighting for the Moorlands", Robbie connects with two key individuals in the "Why Moorlands Matter" movement - Emily Graham and Ian Coghill (or commonly referred to as Coggers). If you have ever been interested in learning more about the fight against hunting in the United Kingdom, have heard about grouse shooting, or may have just heard about moors, this is the podcast to learn more about all of those subjects.

We’re back for PART II of our miniseries covering the historic cheetah relocation that The Origins Foundation has undertaken from South Africa to Mozambique. Wildlife veterinarian, Andy Fraser, joins Robbie on the ground once again to discuss the difficulty of the sheer size of the project relocating the first 12 cheetahs. This podcast will bring you on the ground with them as they discuss the challenges and rewards of such an ambitious conservation project. From the epic photo of napping on a pile of cheetah’s during an exhausting 50 hour trip, to 10 hours of driving in each direction - this is a no-holds-barred discussion. Be warned, this podcast was recorded at 11:30pm at night waiting for a plane to arrive from Zimbabwe to put the last 4 cheetahs onto!