On The Wing Podcast Ep. 301: Opening Private Land to Public Hunting Access, is live. Listen now at the link below, or wherever you get your podcasts. https://bit.ly/3PMJRNL Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever’s North Dakota State Coordinator Emily Spolyar and North Dakota’s Department of Game & Fish Private Land Section Leader Kevin Kading for a conversation about the state’s Private Land Open To Sportsmen (PLOTS) program. The discussion covers the history and goals of the PLOTS program, as well as some special memories each person wouldn’t have experienced without private landowners opening their acres to public land hunters. Episode Highlights: - Kading kicks off the discussion with a look back to PLOTS’s creation in 1987, evolution through the years, and program goals for the future. Kading also explains how the state’s pheasant populations and access acres have mirrored the state’s enrollment in Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres. - and Kading recap the state’s first-ever Habitat & Access Summit, which took place in December 2024. They both were extremely pleased to hear the new North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong talk about the importance of hunting and access to the state’s values and culture. On the Wing Podcast is proudly fueled by Purina Pro Plan

We’re on the hunt for a Social Media Coordinator, and it could be you! If you are social media savvy, up on current trends, creative full time, analytically minded, love the uplands, and have ever wanted a career in conservation, apply at the link below! https://pheasantsforever.applytojob.com/apply/6N4fVRPaGc/Social-Media-Coordinator?source=Our%20Career%20Page%20Widget This position will manage both Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s social media strategy, execution, analytics, paid strategy, and evaluation. The goal for this position is to help conceptualize and deliver timely and engaging campaigns and content to our organization’s supporters through multiple channels in an organized and cohesive way. The ideal candidate must be able to lead and collaborate with a wide variety of coworkers, volunteers, and external partners with the goal of educating, inspiring, and expanding our community of upland habitat conservationists. The position requires advanced knowledge of social media, attention to detail, creativity, critical thinking, strong communication skills, and an analytical mind. This individual will serve as the voice for our organization across our social media channels, showcasing a personal ethic matching our organization’s work, mission, and values. Therefore, our ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of wildlife habitat conservation, upland bird hunting, general hunting ethics, and bird dogs.

Passes are available now for the biggest upland event of the year, National Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic, happening at the Kansas City Convention Center March 7-9! Pheasantfest.org

Pheasant Fact Friday!💡 Many people prefer the mild taste of the pheasant’s light colored meat to the strong taste of a duck’s dark meat. Why is there a difference in color? Color depends on the amount of work that a muscle has to preform. The hard working muscles are the darkest colored. Hard working muscles need more blood to deliver energy to the working cells, and to remove the CO2 and heat produced while metabolizing that energy. So more blood makes the muscle darker. Since duck muscles do more work (long migration routes) than pheasant muscles, duck meat is darker and stronger tasting. Even within ducks, those that migrate each year have darker meat than domestic, non-migrating ducks. In many birds like the pheasant and chicken, the leg muscles are dark meat while the breast is white. The legs do more work than the breast (flight) muscles. Hunters know that pheasants do more running than flying, and commercially raised chickens do no flying. Consider also the animals with red meat. The slow, sedate cow has lighter colored meat than the fleet-footed, energetic deer. #pheasantsforever #pheasants #pheasantfactfriday

Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever are happy to announce the Bird Dog Parade will kick-off the 2025 National Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic. The annual event will take place at 11 a.m. on Friday, March 7 at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas, City, Missouri. Register your dog today at the link below! https://bit.ly/4anIzC9 The parade is the grand opening of the nation’s largest upland hunting event, and displays the incredible diversity of sporting dog breeds. In past years, over 100 dogs have participated representing nearly 40 different breeds. Presented by Purina Pro Plan and Travel South Dakota, the bird dog parade pays tribute to our beloved friends and hunting companions, without whom so much of the upland tradition would be lost.

This year’s 2025 Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic Women on the Wing Brunch is going to be an event you won’t want to miss! In honor of the 20th anniversary of Quail Forever, our theme this year is Rise Together. We will encourage participants to make connections as we discuss all things quail conservation with women who are experts in their field. This year’s event will be held on Sunday, March 9 from 9:30-11:30am. The event will showcase an inspiring line-up of women speakers: former director of Missouri Department of Conservation, Sara Parker-Pauley, keynote speaker, will be joined by a panel of speakers including Dr. Jessica McGuire, Dallas Ingram, Bridget Costanzo, Dr. Susan Felege, and other dynamic experts! learn more and get your passes at the link: https://bit.ly/42lcAkb

Join us for the BIGGEST upland event of the year! 2025 National Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic, presented by Federal Ammunition, is headed to Kansas City March 7-9, and promises to be an event you won't want to miss! Passes are available now at the link below, as well as all the information on events and vendors. We can't wait to see you there! pheasantfest.org

On The Wing Podcast Ep. 300: Inside the Creation of a New Protective Vest for Hunting Dogs, is live. Listen now at the link below, or wherever you get your podcasts. https://bit.ly/3C9AyUV Host Bob St.Pierre visits with husband and wife duo Mark & Laura Flom who have created the new Tyro Dog Vests company. The Flom’s share the story behind the creation of their new hunting vests to protect their Springer spaniel and golden retriever. They also talk about how the tragic death of St.Pierre’s own shorthair, “Izzy” in 2013, served as inspiration for their design. Episode Highlights: - This episode serves as the introduction of a new podcast opening song, “Forever,” by Trampled by Turtles off their new album, Always Here / Always Now. Sincere THANK YOU to the band and Dave Simonett for the gracious donation of this awesome tune. - The new Tyro hunting dog vests will be available to check out at National Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic coming up this March in Kansas City. The Tyro Dog Vests booth will be located at #1118 on our show floor. - The Floms also talk about successfully working with Pheasants Forever Farm Bill Biologist Cody Tromberg on conservation programs for improving the upland habitat on their own property in Wisconsin. The On The Wing Podcast is proudly fueled by Purina Pro Plan

Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever are proud to be named a 2024 Best and Brightest Company to Work For in the Nation, according to the National Association for Business Resources (NABR). Only about one out of every ten companies in the country are selected to be on this list, highlighting their success in employee engagement. “The Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever team is honored to receive this award alongside so many wonderful companies and organizations,” said Sarah Mills, PF & QF’s vice president of human resources. “One of our team members said it best in the feedback from our engagement survey: ‘I truly enjoy the people we get to work with each day and the opportunity to make a positive impact on our habitat mission.’ I don’t think I could say it any better – this is a special place to work.” The winning companies were assessed by an independent research firm, which reviewed several key measures relative to other nationally recognized winners. Examples of assessed categories include employee enrichment, recruitment and selection, and communication and shared vision. Learn more about this award and what it means for PF & QF at the link: https://bit.ly/4j8tk46 And if you'd like to start your career in conservation with PF & QF search our job openings today here: pheasantsforever.org/careers

Breaking News: Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever sign Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Learn more about what this means at the link below. https://bit.ly/4gS5h7T Pheasants Forever (PF) and Quail Forever (QF) are proud to announce a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The MOU solidifies decades of partnership collaboration to mutually conserve quality wildlife habitat through 2029 via habitat management of grasslands and uplands, conservation program promotion, personnel training, and providing technical assistance to landowners. PF & QF will collaborate with USDA agencies, including the Forest Service (FS), Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). “For many years, our partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been essential to working towards our mission goals,” said Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s President and CEO Marilyn Vetter. “I’m thrilled we will continue to collaborate on key initiatives for conservation programs across the nation – the importance of working together to deliver these programs on private and public lands can’t be overstated.” As part of the MOU, the agencies will work together with PF & QF to increase working lands under conservation and habitat management. This includes implementing projects for pheasant, quail and other wildlife habitat conservation, providing technical assistance from biologists, delivering information and educational materials to landowners, collaborating on habitat and wildlife research, and developing habitat restoration and enhancement techniques. Both PF & QF and USDA will collaborate to recruit, educate, train and retain wildlife professionals who are imperative to successful conservation work across the country. U.S. Department of Agriculture