The Standard Sportsman
Lifelong Arkansas waterfowlers Brent Birch and Cason Short discuss duck hunting's past, present, and future with various thought-provoking leaders in the duck-hunting community. The guys will discuss days afield, waterfowl conservation, and stewardship with the goal of leaving the sport of duck and goose hunting better than they found it.
Presented by Yeti, Tom Beckbe, Lile Real Estate, Sitka Gear, Purina Pro Plan, and Ducks Unlimited.
Episodes
145 episodes
Rules, Regs & Reality: A Late Spring Update
Planting season’s here, but so is a lingering drought that won’t let go. The guys talk tough conditions in the southern flyway, brighter signs from the breeding grounds, and how it all ties together. They also tackle the growing role of politic...
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Raising the Next Generation of Stewards
With so many distractions pulling at kids today and duck hunting facing a downturn, it’s fair to wonder...will the next generation stick with the sport long enough to see things turn around? Cason and Brent dig into that question, sharing stori...
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Hunter Johnson
Habitat manager Hunter Johnson returns to share his spring plans for three very different properties under his care. From dealing with flooding to battling drought conditions, Johnson relies on a deep toolkit of strategies to create ideal habit...
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Five Stages of the Hunter-Easter Replay Edition
Originally aired in October of 2024, the hosts break down the classic, research-backed framework known as the “Five Stages of the Hunter”, a model that explains how a hunter’s motivations and mindset evolve over time. Originally developed by be...
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Grant Sinclair & Lee Kjos on the New Regs in Saskatchewan
Grant Sinclair and Lee Kjos are two well-known voices in the waterfowling world, bound by decades of freelance duck hunting in Saskatchewan. Kjos’s connection to the prairie goes back more than 50 years, hunting alongside his father, while Sinc...
Positivity & Projects
Duck hunters often spend more time arguing with each other than focusing on the things that could actually improve the future of duck seasons. In this episode, the guys discuss what the waterfowl community could accomplish if more hunters ralli...
What's Stirring This Spring
Duck season may be in the rearview and the clocks may have sprung forward, but the forces shaping future seasons are anything but quiet. From a struggling farm economy and tensions abroad to legislation on Capitol Hill and some thorny cultural ...
Justin Reif, Fallout Farms/Create the X
Justin Reif is a self-taught habitat manager who, through years of trial and error, has learned how to consistently attract ducks to his family farm just west of Lake Erie in Ohio. Adapting to shifting migration patterns, changing landscapes, a...
AGFC Commissioner Philip Tappan
Philip Tappan has spent the past four and a half years serving on the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission and now chairs the Rules & Regulations Committee at the AGFC. With the Commission’s proposed changes for the 2026–27 and 2027–28 seaso...
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John Adams, Natural Gear
Arkansas duck hunter John Adams, Head of Sales & Development at Natural Gear, joins the show with the kind of perspective that only comes from decades spent on public ground. From the “glory days” of Arkansas timber to the realities of toda...
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Duck Hunters are Discontent...But Why?
Duck hunters have always been prone to grumbling, but lately the frustration feels different...deeper, more widespread, and harder to shake. Across flyways and duck camps, many waterfowlers share the same sentiment: they don’t feel heard. In th...
The Season That Was - Recapping Duck Season
The 2025–2026 duck season proved one thing: success depended on where you stood and when you showed up. With mallard numbers down and dry conditions gripping much of the Mississippi Flyway and Central Flyway, many hunters faced a hurdle right o...
Lee Kjos-What Really Matters
Iconic North American waterfowler and legendary outdoor photographer Lee Kjos joins the show, carrying with him a lifetime of sunrises, wingbeats, and miles traveled beneath open skies. From the disappearing prairie potholes of Saskatchewan to ...
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Perry Partain and Ideas for the Arkansas Public Timber
Perry Partain was raised in the L’Anguille River bottoms of East Arkansas, tagging along with his Depression-era grandfather on squirrel hunts and growing up in a time when ducks were abundant, unpressured, and limits could be taken without a d...
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Brad Cohen & Doug Osborne-The Bonafide Truth of Duck Hunting's Downturn
Two of the sharpest minds in waterfowl science are back and they aren’t here to sugarcoat what's going on with the sport. Brad Cohen (Cohen Wildlife Lab) and Doug Osborne (Snowden Center for Waterfowl Excellence) dig into the hard truth behind ...
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Midseason Roundup
After a much-needed reset filled with friends, family, and chasing greenheads, Cason and Brent are back behind the mic just in time for the stretch run of duck season. In this episode, the guys kick around a handful of timely topics, from a mea...
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Holiday Replay, Take Two
We hope everyone is experiencing a wonderful holiday season and the ducks are finding your decoys. With all that is going on this time of year, The Standard Sportsman is re-airing shows from this past summer that we believe are worth another li...
Holiday Replay, Take One
With the holidays upon us and schedules packed, we’re taking a moment to revisit two favorite segments from this past summer. We start with Jason Smith, a southeast Arkansas rice farmer and duck hunter, followed by Scott Perry, founder of McAli...
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A Duck Hunter's Dilema
Duck hunters' wish and want lists are a mile long. More water, less water, colder temps, warmer weather; everyone wants something different to tip the odds in their favor. But those wants often ignore the cause-and-effect shaping the hunt. Caso...
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Jordan Case
What do Arkansas’s world-class trout streams have to do with duck hunting? A lot more than most people realize.Fly fishing guide and avid duck hunter Jordan Case joins the show to reveal the unexpected ways these...
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Flyway Report and the Upcoming Reg Cycle
Duck season is officially underway across the Mississippi and Central Flyways, and the guys break down what they’re seeing both locally and across the region. They share early-season observations, discuss emerging patterns, and offer insight in...
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Christian Frierson, Perfect Limit Outdoors
Christian Frierson’s duck hunting journey started with 8-hour weekend hauls from northwest Louisiana to the legendary Dave Donaldson Black River WMA in northeast Arkansas. Those road-warrior trips forged an obsession that eventually carried him...
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Ich Stewart-The Public Timber Project
What does picking up trash at a public boat ramp have to do with reshaping the future of duck hunting? Arkansas hunter Ich Stewart joins the show to break down the rise of The Public Timber Project and how a simple cleanup effort became ...
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The Push and Pull of Early Habitat Plus DU's Into the Vault Auction
Duck hunters love to debate season dates and often, those opinions line up perfectly with their own decoy spread. But for those who manage habitat, timing isn’t just about convenience; it’s about biology, migration timing, and season-long susta...
Laying the Groundwork for the 2025-26 Duck Season
After a lengthy off-season, duck season is cracking open up north and knocking on the door down south. Reports out of Canada and the Dakotas are all over the map—mallards are spotty up there, but a few are finally filtering into Arkansas and be...
