Roundup 153 || Cheetah’s, Connecticut Sunday Hunting, And Australia’s Hunting Expansion!

Summary

Podcast Summary: Roundup 153 || Cheetahs, Connecticut Sunday Hunting, And Australia’s Hunting Expansion!

Podcast Information:

• Title: Blood Origins
• Host/Author: Blood Origins Inc.
• Description: Blood Origins is a non-profit organization that combines unique storytelling and conservation to transform perceptions of hunting and enhance the funding of global conservation programs.
• Episode: Roundup 153
• Release Date: June 11, 2025

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1. Introduction and Personal Updates

Mike Axelrod initiates the episode by reiterating Blood Origins' mission to convey the truth about hunting beyond the act of killing animals. He emphasizes the broader implications of hunting on conservation and community development.

Travel Experience: Mike shares his recent travel experiences, detailing the extensive journey back home. He discusses logistical aspects, such as choosing helicopter over road travel to expedite the return from Mbadsi Camp to Embadse Camp. Mike highlights efficiencies like Global Entry, stating:

“If you don't have Global Entry and they don't have the electronic kiosks, which Atlanta doesn't, it could take two and a half hours to get through customs.”
(03:00)

Brittany adds personal anecdotes about family activities and the challenges of keeping children engaged, reflecting on the universal experience of parents managing screen time.

2. Cheetah Relocation Project

A significant portion of the discussion centers around Blood Origins' cheetah relocation initiative aimed at conserving cheetah populations in South Africa by relocating them to Mozambique.

Project Status:

• Phase One Completion: 17 cheetahs successfully relocated to Mozambique.
• Mortality Rate: One cheetah died during the first move, resulting in a 5.8% mortality rate, which is below the literature's expected 20% for translocations.
• Future Plans: The team plans to relocate two more cheetahs within the next three to four months.

Operational Challenges: Mike elaborates on the complexities of an open-range relocation project bordered by international boundaries:

“It's surrounded by an international border, which makes fetching cheetahs a little bit more logistically challenging.”
(11:04)

Monitoring and Management: They discuss the use of satellite tracking to monitor each cheetah's movements and behaviors. The team prioritizes monitoring specific individuals based on their activity, ensuring efficient use of resources. Mike emphasizes the importance of documenting these decisions for future presentations at the Wildlife Society Conference in 2026.

3. Hunting Legislation Updates

The episode delves into recent legislative developments affecting hunting across various U.S. states.

Connecticut: Connecticut has passed legislation permitting Sunday hunting on private lands, though it excludes bear hunting for now. Mike humorously remarks on a misstatement regarding which state achieved this:

“Maine will never get Sunday hunting.” (17:36)

Florida: Florida is on the brink of expanding its bear hunting season. Anti-hunting proponents have devised a strategy to flood the tag lottery system by encouraging non-hunters to enter, potentially displacing traditional hunters. Mike expresses skepticism about the success of this tactic:

“I don't think that Mike Lee is going to be able to single-handedly get it through the Senate.”
(38:10)

Michigan: A positive development from Michigan, where the House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a bill mandating hunter education in schools. Brittany highlights the bill's success and encourages listeners to support it further:

“House Bill 4285... passed 101 to 7.”
(23:11)

Other States: Discussion extends to legislative actions in Washington, California, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, emphasizing the ongoing battle between pro-hunting and anti-hunting factions.

4. International Hunting and Conservation Efforts

Australia's Hunting Expansion: A groundbreaking shift in Australia's hunting policies is highlighted, with the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers (SFF) party backing new hunting legislation. Mike shares insights from his interactions with Robert Borsak, leader of the SFF party, who has been instrumental in advancing this agenda.

“Robert Borsak is the leader of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party. SFF.”
(26:11)

Key Points:

• Legislation Scope: Opening up state forest lands previously off-limits to hunting.
• Political Support: Unprecedented backing from traditionally anti-hunting parties, including the New South Wales Labor Party.
• Amendments and Challenges: Libertarian factions within the party propose additional measures to protect national parks from future hunting expansions.
• Expected Outcome: Borsak is optimistic that the bill will be signed by the end of June.

Global Implications: Brittany emphasizes the interconnectedness of global conservation efforts, highlighting how policies in one country can set precedents internationally. She underscores the importance of international treaties and collaborative efforts in tackling issues like invasive species and wildlife trafficking.

“Nobody lives on an island anymore. So that's, I think, our philosophy as an organization.”
(32:35)

5. Zimbabwe's Elephant Population Management

Overpopulation Crisis: Zimbabwe faces a critical overpopulation of elephants, severely impacting local ecosystems. Willie Pabst from Solid River Conservancy spearheads a controversial initiative to cull 50 elephants to mitigate environmental damage.

“He’s been the first person to stick his neck out and go, okay, we're gonna take out 50.”
(35:14)

Impact on Habitat: The excessive number of elephants is degrading ancient baobab trees and altering savannah landscapes. Willie’s actions aim to restore ecological balance, though they are met with significant backlash.

Operational Details:

• Current Population: Approximately 2,550 elephants in SABE, exceeding the recommended 800.
• Additional Reserve: Modique Medique game reserve hosts around 1,500 elephants, far surpassing its capacity of 250.
• Environmental Consequences: The unchecked elephant population is converting large canopy forests into grasslands, affecting biodiversity.

6. Texas Public Lands Expansion

Land Acquisition: Texas has successfully added 10,000 acres to its public lands, enhancing opportunities for hunting and conservation. Key additions include:

• Dinosaur Valley
• Ray Roberts
• Lake S. Park
• Post Oak
• Enchanted Rock
• Government Canyon

Hunting Opportunities: This expansion increases the number of public hunting parks from 45 to 52 over the past five years, providing more venues for hunters and supporting local conservation efforts.

“They have increased the number of parks that you can hunt from 45 to 52 just in the past five years.”
(37:49)

7. Upcoming Projects and Partnerships

Wild Origins India Partnership: Blood Origins is set to collaborate with Wild Origins India, expanding their conservation and hunting initiatives globally. This partnership involves:

• Collaborative Hunts: Indian hunters will engage in their first hunting experiences in Texas.
• Culinary Integration: Plans to feature an Indian Michelin-starred chef preparing game meat, fostering cultural exchange and promoting sustainable hunting practices.

“We are very happy with that. They're coming out on Sunday to hunt for the very, very, very first time in Texas.”
(39:52)

Future Events: The collaboration includes filming hunts and culinary sessions, with intentions to host exclusive events like a chef’s table in Houston to showcase the fusion of hunting and gourmet cooking.

8. Personal Health Updates

Brittany's COVID Recovery: Brittany shares her battle with a severe COVID-19 infection, emphasizing the lingering effects and her ongoing recovery process. She humorously recounts the unpredictability of recent events, balancing personal anecdotes with professional discussions.

“I had really bad Covid last week and didn't even know that people still got it, but I did.”
(41:26)

Mike’s Resilience: Mike lightheartedly remarks on enduring numerous challenges, likening his perseverance to having his "appendages fall off," underscoring the relentless nature of their conservation efforts.

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Conclusion

Mike Axelrod and Brittany wrap up the episode by reaffirming Blood Origins' commitment to truthful storytelling and effective conservation through hunting. They encourage listeners to engage with ongoing projects and stay informed about legislative changes affecting the hunting community.

“Do what's right to convey the truth around hunting.”
(42:43)

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This episode of Blood Origins' Roundup 153 offers a comprehensive overview of current conservation projects, legislative battles, and international efforts shaping the future of hunting and wildlife management. Through insightful discussions and firsthand experiences, Mike and Brittany provide valuable perspectives for both hunters and conservationists alike.

Transcript

[Mike Axelrod]

Fishing trips anywhere, anytime. Fishingbooker.com so there's a reason why I started Blood Origins. And that reason is simple, that I wanted to convey the truth about hunting.

[Brittany]

It brings awareness to non hunters that.

[Mike Axelrod]

It'S more than just killing animals.

[Brittany]

How do I start it? Brittany?

[Mike Axelrod]

My name.

[Brittany]

Does my hair look okay?

[Mike Axelrod]

My name is Mike Axelrod. Start again. Yeah, I hated it too. Braxton, you said something in the car to me. You said that you were living on borrowed time. There's a perception around who hunters are, what we're supposed to be. And a. A feminist that works for a nonprofit that is a hunter that has only eaten wild game for the last 20 years is likely not the thing that people think about when it comes to a hunter. All right, well, the technological bug has hit you again.

[Brittany]

I mean, it's never ending. It's never ending.

[Mike Axelrod]

We might just. Just do this. Like, instead of the. Forget the fancy microphone. Forget the fancy headsets, maybe. Cody says this sounds bad, but sounds good to me.

[Brittany]

Well, I'm happy not to wear the earphones and talk into the microphone. So this, this works for me.

[Mike Axelrod]

So it sounds great. So if anybody out there sounds terrible, text us. What's our text number?

[Brittany]

Let us know. What is our text number? Hold on, I've got to look it up.

[Mike Axelrod]

Come on, you should know that off by heart.

[Brittany]

You should. But no, we don't get very many messages.

[Mike Axelrod]

6017-906076-01790-607, text us.

[Brittany]

I have to look it up. It's on our Instagram profile, I think.

[Mike Axelrod]

Text us. Text us about ideas, news.

[Brittany]

Yeah.

[Mike Axelrod]

Thoughts, questions that you have.

[Brittany]

We'll answer them and ask. Ask Robbie how it feels to be back home. Welcome home.

[Mike Axelrod]

Thank you. Thank you. I've been home since last Thursday.

[Brittany]

So after about two days of flying. How many flights home?

[Mike Axelrod]

Oh, so let's. I'll just start with, I think the whole journey. Even though there was a break in it, I think it's important to know. So we were in this camp called Mbadsi Camp. And Budsy Camp is way east of this conservancy. It's about a three and a half hour drive from Embadse camp to the other camp. So we took a helicopter instead of using a vehicle. So the first was a chopper flight to Embatsi. Okay. That was early morning. Then we waited for two hours at the Panyami camp to then fly in a 206, which is a Cessna kind of plane, which is an hour and a half from Panyami. Runway to Tet in Mozambique, which is just a hole in the wall. Town in the middle of Mozambique. We then boarded an international flight that was an hour and a half from Tet to Johannesburg. Landed Johannesburg. I spent the night in Johannesburg. The next day, I flew from Joburg to Doha, which was eight and a half hours at two hours on the ground. Then Doha to Atlanta, which was 15 hours of flying, and then two hours on the ground in Atlanta. And I'll tell you what, Atlanta and the security process. Now in America, I have Global Entry, which means I don't even have to show my passport. I just take. They take a picture of me. I got off the plane at 4:14 and I was through customs, got my bags rechecked with Delta and through the security on my way down the escalators to the Atlanta train at 4:44.

[Brittany]

Do you think that's because your Global Entry?

[Mike Axelrod]

No, because if I'll go through Global Entry, I'll be at the baggage carousel in literally 15 minutes.

[Brittany]

Right. Then I wonder if people who don't have Global Entry. So, I mean, we have had amazing customs experiences the last couple of times through Houston, but the last time we went through Atlanta, we got stuck in line and had to get a hotel room. It took so long. But we. We don't have Global Entry.

[Mike Axelrod]

So, yeah, if. If you know at all, if you don't have Global Entry and they don't have the electronic kiosks, which Atlanta doesn't.

[Brittany]

Yeah.

[Mike Axelrod]

And if you land with three other.

[Brittany]

Flights right at the same time, it.

[Mike Axelrod]

Could take two and a half hours to get through customs.

[Brittany]

Right. We literally did not make our flights and had to get a hotel room. It was late at night. But now we have had amazing. I mean, there was literally no line, not a single person in line. Tons of open kiosks going through Houston and then also Dallas. Last couple of times we came back in, but that's coming from South America, so in Central America. So it wasn't at all.

[Mike Axelrod]

It's my bags. All, you know, because of how much I fly are priority bags. So my bags are literally then top 20 bags coming off, and I just. Off we go.

[Brittany]

You're so bougie now.

[Mike Axelrod]

Bougie. Yeah, Bougie.

[Brittany]

International traveler.

[Mike Axelrod]

So, yeah, good to be home. Now. I've got a week of catching up.

[Brittany]

And it's like an eternity for you over here.

[Mike Axelrod]

Yeah, an eternity for my wife, too, to be at home, I think.

[Brittany]

I know. I know they're glad, especially since the kids are out right now.

[Mike Axelrod]

Oh, yeah. Well, one kid we sent off to scout camp. So he is in the middle of Alabama at a scout camp.

[Brittany]

Nice. I sent one off this morning.

[Mike Axelrod]

The littlest one is here and we're trying to figure out how, what to do with his, with his days instead of just spending all day in front of computer screens. So.

[Brittany]

Yep, yep. I think there are parents all across the country in the same boat.

[Mike Axelrod]

Yep, 100%. I know. It was a great, an amazing, amazing, amazing sort of final peg in the cheetah relocation project. So like phase one is now finished. We have one cheetah left in South Africa that we didn't move, which is the one that broke his leg. We got to figure out how to get him to Mozambique. We're also looking for another, another female. We're supposed to get another female too. So hopefully maybe two cheetahs will move in the next three or four months.

[Brittany]

But all of the other ones, they're all in Mozambique.

[Mike Axelrod]

They're all in Mozambique. 17 are in Mozambique. One died, unfortunately.

[Brittany]

Oh, okay.

[Mike Axelrod]

But that was on the first move. But you know, translocation deaths, according to the literature, around 20%. With our one death, we're at 5.8%. Look guys, I'm a hunter, right? And when I go hunting, I like to figure out how to get my trophies back home as expeditiously as possible. Well, you don't have to look much further than Safari Specialty Importers. We know that trophy importation can be quite a headache. That's why Safari Specialty Importers strives to make it as easy and hassle free as possible. They have access to a bonded warehouse. You won't be charged storage fees and you get a dedicated team that's readily available and will update you at every step in the process. They'll even go one step further. Safari Specialty Importers is working with us at Blood Origins and they are going to donate $100 from every shipment that they work with to conservation projects that include anti poaching, community development and wildlife conservation. At the end of the day, choose to spend your money with a team that's dedicated to you and is dedicated to helping show how hunting is a great conservation model. Hassle free logistics, fuel and conservation go with Safari Specialty Importers. Did you know that in 42 states it is 100% legal to buy a suppressor and protect your hearing. Silencer Central pioneered the simplified silencer buying process. It allows you to buy a suppressor online or over the phone. You go through all the paperwork with a certified expert and that suppressor ships Directly to your front door. I don't even believe it, but I've done it and it's come to my door. You can buy a suppressor and have it shipped to to you. They offer the best in service, a suppressor expert to make sure you get the suppressor you want. And from there they take care of everything. They take care of the paperwork, the applications to the atf. They even set up a free trust if you want one. And if you don't have the money, put down an interest free payment plan. It's incredible. You get access to your own customer portal online. It tracks your progress. So why not go get started today? Go to silence central.com or call 866-811-6536. And with today's fast approval times, you're actually going to be shocked at how quickly your suppressor arrives at your door. Bushnell has been a longtime supporter of Blood Origins. And in keeping with the spirit of our collaboration, we've come up with an amazing idea. Bushnell is eager to help you get set up for conservation success. That's right. They want to help you. The conservation and research community is dominated by good people doing good things and investing significant time and effort for the benefit of habitat and the species. So what do you need to do? Pretty simple. Send us your conservation story and or your conservation wish. Could be managing whitetails, could be understanding your environment or species or something else related to conservation. What would you be able to do if you had a great trail camera setup? We will select the best story every other month and send you a camera bundle. Cell camera, normal SD camera, SD cards as well as optics. Everything you need to get set up for success. I can't wait to see what you submit. You can email [e-mail] DM US, message us whatever you want. We are not hard to find. Good luck.

[Brittany]

Which is great. You said something earlier. This is only the third largest, right?

[Mike Axelrod]

Well, I believe it's the third open range relocation project, which means there's no borders, there's no fences. The cheetahs can go wherever they want. You know, it's nothing for a cheetah to walk 60 kilometers, 70 kilometers, right? Which 50 miles, right. 40 to 50 miles from origination of when you release them. And so we've had one cheetah that we had to fetch, Gogo. We call her Gogo because she's an old female and Gogo stands for grandmother in a South African term. But it's also appropriate because she was the first one to Go, go.

[Brittany]

Grandma went roaming.

[Mike Axelrod]

Grandma went go, go. And we went and got. Got her and brought her back. So she's in the Boma for the next five weeks under bad behavior to try and keep her, you know, try and get her to locate home. But now there's a bunch of cheaters on the landscape, you know, hopefully setting up communication hubs and maybe she won't feel as, you know, a need to.

[Brittany]

Go straight south, straight away right to another country.

[Mike Axelrod]

But it's just such a cool project, man. We've got such. It's just so many different things. As I said, it's open range, it's surrounded by an international border, which makes fetching cheetahs a little bit more logistically challenging. You can't fly across international borders, so you have to go into Zimbabwe and hire a helicopter in Zimbabwe to go get them.

[Brittany]

And they helped with her, right?

[Mike Axelrod]

Yeah, we, we, we. The. The Rogers that are on safaris in Mozambique have great contacts in Zim. They're from Zim. And the people that went and. And got go go were just enthralled by the ex, you know, just doing it and having a cheetah in the back seat of the. Of the chopper. And yeah, big shout out to the Hemsworths because they donated the time. They donated the cheetah, the helicopter time and their time to us for that effort.

[Brittany]

So kind. We were visiting earlier and, you know, it's. It's so good for the cheetahs and amazing that they're able to just roam freely and have, you know, the landscape and the habitat to do so. But it's so hard for the team because you want to, like, watch them and keep them close and, you know, sort of almost like protect them. Like, yeah, you want to put them in cotton balls, but you've got to give them all this room to do their thing. I mean, to let nature take over. I mean, that's the whole point of this entire project, is that we've taken these captive cheetahs now and release them into the wild. And so it's time to let Mother Nature take over. But it's hard for the team after putting so much time and money into this project.

[Mike Axelrod]

Yeah, yeah, look, they're not captive, number one. We'd have to be careful about using captive because there's a difference between captive, which are like in pens, kind of thing that people pet and rewild, or wild cheetahs. All these are wild cheetahs. But you're right, like, we've spent so much money. You don't want them to just go awol. So you typically go fetch them. Would you do this for the second generation of cheaters that are born from the first generation? Probably not. And it's a sort of risk scenario. Like how. How much are you willing to risk?

[Brittany]

Yeah. And how many are you going to go fetch?

[Mike Axelrod]

I mean, and how many are you going to let. Just let them do what they do. And if they die, they die. If they get, I don't know, caught in a snare or speared by a farmer or. I don't know.

[Brittany]

Yeah, it's going to be heartbreaking if that happens. But, yeah, it's going to be interesting.

[Mike Axelrod]

I mean, it's part of conservation.

[Brittany]

That's why it's hard conservation. And at the end of the day, it's all experimental. And we hope, though, that we make very wise, calculated choices.

[Mike Axelrod]

And they are. You know what I love about Justin is he is playing it smart. For instance, we have 11 cheetahs out on the landscape right now. We've got five left in the boma. Okay. The original that we just took over. They're going to spend another couple of weeks there just getting fat and healthy.

[Brittany]

Tell people what the boma is. I don't know that we've defined that.

[Mike Axelrod]

So a boma is. It's used colloquially and will you spell it?

[Brittany]

Because sometimes you're accidental.

[Mike Axelrod]

B, O, M A. And colloquially it's just an. A sort of enclosure. Think of a boma as an enclosure. So you would. If we. When you go to Africa.

[Brittany]

When. Right. When you go to Africa, people have spoken.

[Mike Axelrod]

The people have spoken. You will have a fire and probably eat a dinner inside a boma.

[Brittany]

Okay.

[Mike Axelrod]

Which is this grassed or wooded enclosure around the fire. Our bomas are obviously pension, where we've got cheaters in individual camps. And so the cheaters, again, I think they've been really smart. Once the cheaters are super relaxed and super chilled and are showing signs that they're pretty relaxed, that's where we let them out. You don't want a super nervous cheetah being let let out and because you just don't know what they're going to do. The other thing is, because you've got 11 cheaters on the landscape, you don't have, you know, three people monitoring. We've got a team of two. One really is a dedicated monitor. And so every day, if not every. Yeah, pretty much every day right now we will decide who the priority cheetahs are to be monitored so you don't have to monitor Them all just like, okay, this one we're watching because it's going south. This one's really south already. That's who we were looking for. And that's, I think, very smart. And I think all of these little decisions. I told Justin we need to be cataloging all of these little decisions because in a year's time, in 2026, we should be presenting at the Wildlife Society conference about the results of this cheetah relocation project. And we should be telling the world about it. We should be telling, this is what happened and this is how it happened. And we've got, you know, satellite tracking on all these animals. And so you can pick examples like the this cheetah did this, it was released, then it did this, it did that. You know, we fetched it. We didn't fetch it.

[Brittany]

Yeah, right. Well, I think it's very exciting. I think people like to hear about it. While you were gone, there have been some, I think, pretty good things happening around the world. And here, what. Just remind us which sat you said and. And I don't actually remember, so I don't know if you were wrong or not. Which state did you say was never going to get Sunday hunting?

[Mike Axelrod]

I'm never wrong.

[Brittany]

That's not true.

[Mike Axelrod]

I'm just looking at my cheetahs right now and she is headed. She's still. The KZN female is still headed. And unfortunately, you can't see this. You can't even see this because I don't have my phone on me. She's heading north still. So that is good.

[Brittany]

I don't let them go south. Right.

[Mike Axelrod]

Maine will never get Sunday hunting.

[Brittany]

Maine. Okay, okay. It wasn't Connecticut. I wasn't sure because Connecticut did just pass. Their legislature just passed Sunday hunting on.

[Mike Axelrod]

Private bears, but no bears.

[Brittany]

No bears. No bears. Connecticut, even though you have many, many, many bears, you don't get bears yet.

[Mike Axelrod]

If you sounded like Trump right, then you have many, many, many, many, many.

[Brittany]

I know, I did. I did. I think, you know, many, many, many bears. But you did get Sunday hunting, which is a very good thing. Very, very good. It's a very good thing. It's a beautiful thing. Sunday hunting. So, Connecticut, you have Sunday hunting on private lands. And I think, you know, you're going to study the issue on bears a little bit more. So sorry about that.

[Mike Axelrod]

So is that dead in the water? Is that what.

[Brittany]

For now. For now, I mean, you know, next year is a new year. Tomorrow is another day, as we say. Florida, though, is moving right along, even though we have this crazy plan that has been hatched by the anti hunters who now.

[Mike Axelrod]

But isn't there, isn't there like a caveat? So carry on, carry on.

[Brittany]

Yeah.

[Mike Axelrod]

What is this plan?

[Brittany]

A lot of people have read about this and I think this is so, I mean like at first glance you're like well I mean it's kind of smart and you're like, but is it really. They're going to flood the lottery system. All these anti hunters are going to flood the draw system and they're going to try to draw all the bear tags so that anti hunters draw the tags and then they're not going to hunt. So but then you're like, well I mean all that money is still going into the bear program and they ha. You know, there's these series of requirements you have to satisfy. Then once you draw the tag to be able to hunt you have to take the hunter's edge course. I mean I feel like Florida could figure out very.

[Mike Axelrod]

So if you draw the tag, do you have to have a hunter's ed course to get the tag?

[Brittany]

You do, you do.

[Mike Axelrod]

So what if you don't?

[Brittany]

Well, you can go through it. I mean there's a but if you don't. But then if you don't take the course then you can't shoot the bear. So no.

[Mike Axelrod]

But is your tag invalid then?

[Brittany]

Yes, yes.

[Mike Axelrod]

And they would draw the next person for another tag.

[Brittany]

I feel like, like Florida can get around this. They can just say like okay, you have to take this course by this period of time or we're going to go to the next person. So. And I don't know if they've gotten that far, you know, because this is all still in the works. I mean the final, the final vote on the bear season I don't think is expected until August. So let's make it a final rule. But, so I mean look.

[Mike Axelrod]

But we think it's inevitable, right?

[Brittany]

Oh yes, yes, I think it's inevitable. I mean the commission wants this, the agency wants this, the science supports this. It's, it's happening. And I'm just really glad that the anti hunters are so vocal about their tactics so that people can respond to it and say okay great and here's what we'll do then. So it's just, it's kind of humorous to me but I'm just like well I shouldn't laugh about it but I like reading about is pretty funny.

[Mike Axelrod]

They did this before like when I think the first time Wyoming had a grizzly, like there was the only Time grizzly bear hunting was opened up, it was like nine tags and I think two of them got bored by anti hunters.

[Brittany]

Yeah. Do you know what happened to the two? Did they give it to somebody else or did they just.

[Mike Axelrod]

No, no, they just didn't. No, they didn't give it to somebody else.

[Brittany]

Okay.

[Mike Axelrod]

Because I think they were like 25, 000 tags or something like that.

[Brittany]

Okay. Well, you know how Georgia tried to get hunter safety education in schools this past year and they came up a little bit short but. Well, Michigan just got it passed by their House of Representatives. Overwhelmingly passed it. So it's, I think there's, they named the bill something, you know.

[Mike Axelrod]

Is Michigan a red state or a blue state?

[Brittany]

Well, they go back and forth. Yeah, they're pretty evenly split, but it's.

[Mike Axelrod]

Not, it's what I'm trying to say is it's not uber blue and it's not uber red.

[Brittany]

No. Right. They're a toss up state. We call them, you know, a toss up state.

[Mike Axelrod]

So they, and they passed hunter education in schools.

[Brittany]

Have a Democratic, they have a Democratic governor right now, but they don't have a, I don't think they have a complete slate of blue leadership. But they, they're a big hunting state though. They have a very strong hunting and fishing heritage. Obviously they're a Great Lake State. And so the bill passed 101 to 7, so. I know. So I, I think that's really good. It's going to go forward now. It, they are going to offer it as part of PE classes or as part of something else. PE or as an option in some other curriculum. Part of the curriculum, but of course it's optional. So you know, they're not forcing any kids to take it, but it's going to be something that they can choose to take. So it will be in all these schools if it passes, if it passes in the Senate. So this is a good opportunity if you live in and around Michigan or hunt in Michigan to call, call up your senators, tell them, tell them you like it and you want to see it pass. So nice. It's great. I know.

[Mike Axelrod]

Outstanding.

[Brittany]

It should pause. I don't, I, I don't guess I've wrote down the others. It's PE in something else. I don't know what else it would be but I would figure, well, it's.

[Mike Axelrod]

Maybe environmental sciences or.

[Brittany]

Yeah, anyway, anyway, so I think that's, that's good news. I like it. Rep. Kurt Vanderwall from Ludington introduced that.

[Mike Axelrod]

Very nice.

[Brittany]

Yeah, I like that. It's House Bill 4285.

[Mike Axelrod]

You know, somebody was asking me, I think this morning or I was talking to, I was talking to somebody yesterday. They were like, are we like, how are we feeling? Are we feeling like, you know, some. I think. What did he say? He said something along the lines, I'm not seeing as much anti hunting stuff maybe because my algorithm isn't attuned to it or whatnot. And I said, you know, it's funny, it's still there. It's still going to come at it from the states that we think it's going to come at us from. Washington State, California, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico. I said, but we've got some bloody big runs on the board lately. Louisiana about to go into the second bear season. It's expanding. Different zones are getting expanded more tags. Florida is about to get a bear season. You know, Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania. Right. Just got. Or is it just Connecticut?

[Brittany]

Pennsylvania has not passed it yet. They're still working on.

[Mike Axelrod]

They're working on it. Connecticut just passed it.

[Brittany]

Right.

[Mike Axelrod]

You know, Arizona, the commission said no to the petition about banning hunting with, with, with hounds on mountain lions.

[Brittany]

Right.

[Mike Axelrod]

Obviously, I think they'll go the ballot initiative process. California had AB 1048 or whatever, 1028 lost by just not. It didn't lose it one vote away from it going forward. Which is crazy in California that we got that close.

[Brittany]

Right. Michigan had two bills dropped one in the House and the Senate to expand coyote hunting from seasonally to year round to classified as a nuisance species to.

[Mike Axelrod]

Allow kinds of stuff like I think, you know, I don't think this kind of stuff. Maybe we're just super aware of it now, but I don't think this kind of stuff has happened in the past.

[Brittany]

Well, and I think, and you can speak to this probably better than I can, but the, the Australian situation.

[Mike Axelrod]

Oh, let's just talk about that for a second.

[Brittany]

Okay. And, and I really think that you can talk better about it than I can, but when I read it, I was like, whoa, this is, this is huge. Right? I mean, huge. This is a party that has never supported anything hunting related. Right.

[Mike Axelrod]

Huge.

[Brittany]

Is now backing this.

[Mike Axelrod]

Yeah. So Robert Borsak is the leader of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party. Sff.

[Brittany]

They have an. For everyone listening, there's an actual political party in Australia. Hunters, Shooters, Fishers.

[Mike Axelrod]

Shooters, Fishers and farms.

[Brittany]

Shooters, Fishers and farmers. Okay, I love.

[Mike Axelrod]

Robert Borsak is the leader.

[Brittany]

Can we start that?

[Mike Axelrod]

Yeah, we definitely need to. Borsak's been on the podcast twice. He's a good friend of ours. He's a good friend of mine. I've had lunch at his house in Australia I really like. And there's only two of them. There's Borsak and there's another guy. I apologize for not remembering your name. That are the SFF guys in New South Wales. And Borsak's been working on this for a long time because we had this long conversation about obviously, the great Australian pig hunters just happened with the Pig Doggers and Hunters association of Australia that showed massive ecological impact, massive economic impact.

[Brittany]

I shouldn't be giggling. That was a mouthful.

[Mike Axelrod]

Yeah. The Australian pig Doggers and hunters.

[Brittany]

Pig dogs, Doggers and hunters. Okay.

[Mike Axelrod]

And I said to Borsak, I was like, man, there's an opportunity here because. Especially because of the Australian system built around feral animals and invasive animals and non indigenous animals and.

[Brittany]

Right.

[Mike Axelrod]

It's government money's being poured into control of these animals. They'll never be eradicated. They'll never be eliminated. And then in New South Wales, you can't hunt certain public ground. You can't hunt crown land. It's like. And that's where all the invasives are or their feral species. And so Borsak's just like, I want to work on something. And true to his word, he has done his politics so well that the New South Wales Labor Party, who have, again, like you said, have never backed something like this, are backing the proposal. I watched the Libertarian Party, the video this morning of the Libertarian guy standing up there saying, I'm back in the proposal. They've got amendments to it. Right. It's not just hunky dory as is.

[Brittany]

Right.

[Mike Axelrod]

As we all know, bills get changed and yeah, like the guy this morning, Libertarian guy, was like, why are we not. So this is just certain state forest land that's unavailable to hunting right now, that will be opened up. So massive increase in Hunter.

[Brittany]

And the Labor Party is very powerful.

[Mike Axelrod]

Very.

[Brittany]

Libertarians are powerful.

[Mike Axelrod]

Yep.

[Brittany]

They occasionally get one or two members from ssf. Right. But not. That's not like a huge.

[Mike Axelrod]

It's coalition government.

[Brittany]

Build a lot of power. Right, Right.

[Mike Axelrod]

It's coalition governments in.

[Brittany]

In Australia where you've got two parties, you have a lot of different parties. But labor is a big one. They get a lot of members.

[Mike Axelrod]

Correct. But they don't have majority.

[Brittany]

Right. Who has majority right now? Nobody.

[Mike Axelrod]

I think labor has it. You could call it labor has it, but labor has it because of a coalition.

[Brittany]

Right. It's not like a true Majority, they just have more members than anybody else.

[Mike Axelrod]

Correct, Correct.

[Brittany]

So that's big.

[Mike Axelrod]

And so big.

[Brittany]

The labor that's traditionally anti hunting is coming out and supporting this bill. Like, I don't think people understand in America how anti hunting the environment over there has become. Yeah, I mean, they're like fighting for their lives. They're fighting just for the existence of waterfowl hunting, the existence of bow hunting.

[Mike Axelrod]

Exactly. So the regional New South Wales minister, Tara Moriarty, I think, or Morati from Labor said, acknowledged there were strong and different views about recreational hunting, which is what we've just been alluding to. But the bill was a sensible common ground, sensible middle ground. So the libertarian guy this morning, which is interesting, the libertarian guy this morning said, why are we not adding national parks into this mix right now? Because. And he got it a little bit wrong. But he was like, if everyone starts shooting animals on the, on the state forest and public ground, where do you think all the feral animals are going to go? They're going to go to the national park and in four years time we're going to have the same debate right now saying let's start hunting there. So let's just do it now.

[Brittany]

Okay, well, we'll take it. I mean, you know.

[Mike Axelrod]

Exactly. No, it's massive. It is massive. Kudos to Robert Borsak. Kudos to ssf, sff. Just really, really good stuff, man. And honestly, he is so confident with the amendments that he believes we're in June right now. He believes by the end of June it will be signed.

[Brittany]

Good. That's fantastic. Sometimes I get questions over here, of course, from Americans, us, we are so self, sometimes self absorbed. Why do we care about what's going on? And I've gotten this question from a family member. Do we care about why do we care about what's going on in Australia? But we care because one, we are becoming increasingly a global society and so many of our wildlife and conservation laws are internationally based. We work together with other countries, we have treaties, CITES as a set of international laws on conservation. And we have all of these rules and regulations about what can be imported and exported. And so it really is becoming more and more and more important because countries do actually work together on these things, especially as climate starts to change. We have different weather patterns and oceans are affecting things. And so we all have just, we have, we are becoming more and more and more attuned to what other people across the world are doing and paying attention to these things. And so something that someone across the pond starts to do do our lawmakers over here pay attention and vice versa. So we have to make sure that we are protecting both our right to hunt and fish over here and that citizens across the world, that their rights to hunt and fish are also being protected. And invasive species, gosh, they can spread, as we know they're carried across different continents all the time. That's why they're called invasive species, because they've come from somewhere else. So, I mean, nobody likes them. And we have to make sure that everybody's, we're all in it together as hunters and anglers, like, and we just have to care. I mean, I believe that. I don't think that we can. No one lives on an island anymore. So that's, I think, our philosophy as an organization. What do you think?

[Mike Axelrod]

Yeah, I think we're a global thing. We've got a global footprint. I think that as we've already seen, certain policies and regulations around hunting, regardless of where they are in the world, serve as precedents for other parts of the world. And so, and again, as, as has, you know, hunting's under pressure everywhere. And yeah, it's important to increase hunter opportunity in the US but it's also important to increase hunter opportunity everywhere. And we're all in the same boat. If you speak to a hunter from anywhere in the world or you go hunting anywhere in the world, you'll speak the same language. It's even though you don't speak the same language.

[Brittany]

Right, right. I mean, things that people don't even think about. And we have started to raise this, this issue like import bans on trophies and, or pelts or. I mean, there's been a, there have been pelt and I'm just not even going to name species right now because people will go through the roof on some things. But I mean, there have been, there's been controversy over certain types of species pelt import bands over years and years and years. But what people don't realize is that hunters go over into other countries and spend an inordinate amount of money that goes into the ground in those communities to help species over there and the species conservation and also those communities. So that's, that's hugely important. And you know, we have started to raise awareness of the, the rhino trade situation and the rhino horn trade. So it all goes into the, the international situation. So we've got to be involved in all of it. So that's why this is such exceptional news coming out of Australia. And so glad to see it. So glad to see them working together over there.

[Mike Axelrod]

Yeah, it'll be huge. We'll get, we'll get Robert on the podcast. We may do a roundup with him. If it does pass, it'll be pretty cool to have him.

[Brittany]

Good. That would be, that would be amazing. Love to hear him speak to that and congratulate him. Speaking of other countries, I know this one is probably going to get just a ton of negative press, but Zimbabwe is going to call 50 elephants to distribute the meat and deal with the overpopulation crisis. I know you've seen this firsthand over there.

[Mike Axelrod]

Yeah. And look, the guy behind it at Solid River Conservancy, Willie Pabst. We've talked about this already. He's been on the podcast already. Go back and look at it. It's an owl story. Our voice piece with cic, it's, what's his name?

[Brittany]

Robbie with Pabs.

[Mike Axelrod]

Willie Paps P A B.

[Brittany]

People want to listen to that. So.

[Mike Axelrod]

Willie's mid-80s, looks like mid-60s. Just an enigma of an individual. And is the first person who's just really put his foot down and go, I'm done. Like, we have too many elephants. They have 2,550 elephants on SABE. They're supposed to have 800. And one of the things that Save Prides itself in is its baobabs. Huge, huge old, thousand year old baobabs.

[Brittany]

That's a tree, right?

[Mike Axelrod]

And they're being smashed and he's just like, I'm done. We've got to get rid of these elephants. And now he, he probably wants to get rid of a lot more. I think he wants to get rid of a five hundred to a thousand. But he had to start somewhere. And so he's, he's been the first person to stick their neck out and go, okay, we're gonna take out 50.

[Brittany]

How many did you say they have? 2,550 and they're supposed to have 800.

[Mike Axelrod]

That same situation as Modique Medique, a game reserve in Northwest province has two, a thousand five hundred elephants. They're only supposed to have two hundred and fifty elephants. So they've turned their savannah and, and you know, large canopy forest to grassland essentially.

[Brittany]

Is Zimbabwe still suffering from effects of the drought, everything?

[Mike Axelrod]

I think most of them are, but they've had great rains this year. Great rains, great late rains. Everybody's, you know, the bush is lush, animals are looking healthy. But Zim has the second largest elephant population in Africa.

[Brittany]

Okay, so this is, this is an overpopulation. This is.

[Mike Axelrod]

No, they're at like a hundred thousand elephants.

[Brittany]

Okay.

[Mike Axelrod]

Okay, so it's. It's some. Somebody needed to start the. This. This thing. This train, and Willie was the guy to do it.

[Brittany]

Okay, well, I'm sure they're going to take some heat, so I'm glad.

[Mike Axelrod]

Yeah. Look, it's been on every major news website in the world already.

[Brittany]

So Texas is adding 10,000 acres of public lands.

[Mike Axelrod]

Oh, Texas, you have hardly any public land. Now they're getting more. Who was involved with that Nature conservancy, right?

[Brittany]

I don't know. Probably. They do so much good work in that area.

[Mike Axelrod]

I think the nature conservancy, it's down at the. I thought it was like, around Big Bend or something like that. In which they've added the huge amount of acreage.

[Brittany]

I see they are adding them to Dinosaur Valley, Ray Roberts, Lake S. Park, Post Oak, Enchanted Rock, Government Canyon.

[Mike Axelrod]

Oh, so it's all over.

[Brittany]

Yeah, I think it's. I think it's around. They have increased the number of parks that you can hunt from 45 to 52 just in the past five years.

[Mike Axelrod]

Which is Great Valley State Park. That's near Austin.

[Brittany]

That's good.

[Mike Axelrod]

Glen Rose, Texas. That's pretty cool. Just outside of Fort Worth. Cool.

[Brittany]

So you don't. You know, all we're hearing in the news is, oh, gosh, they're trying to decrease it. Mike Lee's going to put it in the Senate bill. I don't think that it is going to get into the Senate bill. I mean, there were more people trying to.

[Mike Axelrod]

Why is he then talking about it so heavily? Like, what's the deal here?

[Brittany]

He's from Utah and he would just like to sell public lands and, you know, make some money and decrease the. Decrease the national debt. But there are, I think, far more members of the Senate who are not going to allow that to happen. So I. I just. I could be wrong. I've been proven wrong, but I don't think that it's going. I fall back in my chair one more time. Sorry, I gotta get in the chair. Um, I think that. I just don't see it happening. It. You got. It's a much bigger battle in the House, and they got it taken out, and I just don't see it moving forward in the Senate. So it's just. That's just my take. So that's why we are not shouting it from the rooftops in on our social media channels. But I'm glad other people are. And please keep calling and make sure you continue to tell your members you don't want to see it in There. But I just don't think that Mike Lee is going to be able to single handedly get.

[Mike Axelrod]

Because he's the only voice right now.

[Brittany]

Yeah.

[Mike Axelrod]

Okay.

[Brittany]

Yeah. So what's the. What's the next big thing you're. Can you give any little previews to some of our cool. And we have some very cool upcoming projects. I don't know if you can tease.

[Mike Axelrod]

Yeah, I think the Indians, you know, everyone knows I went to India in February.

[Brittany]

Yeah.

[Mike Axelrod]

The cool part of that.

[Brittany]

Have you announced our big partnership with them yet? So.

[Mike Axelrod]

No, not yet. You jump in the Gandhil.

[Brittany]

I mean, that's.

[Mike Axelrod]

But we will say the Wild Origins India guys, the Wild Origins guys that took their name from us and very complimentary of what we do, have modeled themselves after us, are going to become a part of our family. The Wild Origins India crew, part of the Wild Origins under our umbrella. So we're very happy with that. They're coming out on Sunday to hunt for the very, very, very first time in Texas. They've never shot weapons before.

[Brittany]

And yeah, they do some cool, really cool stuff. Follow them. Go follow them on social media.

[Mike Axelrod]

Yeah, they're gonna eat axis dough and pig. And there we are for the very first time. And we're gonna film them eating it for the very first time. So. And it's going to be cooked Indian style with an Indian chef. A couple of Indian chefs coming to camp.

[Brittany]

So how about that invite? I love Indian food.

[Mike Axelrod]

Oh, wow.

[Brittany]

I love it.

[Mike Axelrod]

I'll send you pictures.

[Brittany]

Can I just come in? Just for the feast?

[Mike Axelrod]

I'll say this, I'll tell you this. We are bringing in an Indian Michelin star chef from Houston. Okay. But he has also just recently become a hunter. So we're gonna do like a side project with him. Will film him there doing cooking, but then we're gonna do like a chef's table with him in Houston and I'll get you a seat at that chef's table.

[Brittany]

Okay, I will come.

[Mike Axelrod]

Okay.

[Brittany]

I will come for that.

[Mike Axelrod]

Okay. Let's make sure you're not sick.

[Brittany]

I'm not. I got. For all the listeners out there. I had really bad Covid last week and didn't even know that people still got it, but I did. It's been two and a half years since I've had it and it was. Put me down. It put me down.

[Mike Axelrod]

Well, good deal.

[Brittany]

I'm over it. So thankfully, Robbie is over me being sick as well.

[Mike Axelrod]

Yes, yes. And things just happening to you. Shit. Things happen to you all the time.

[Brittany]

I feel like they do to you as well. I feel like. I feel like one of your body like appendages is going to fall off at some point.

[Mike Axelrod]

N I'm on the men now. I'm. I'm good to go. Good to go.

[Brittany]

But it's been a long time since anything has happened to me. Just all has happened in like two weeks. You go out of town and like everything crazy happens. But I'm about to go to New Orleans and I'm taking my computer and I'm going to be working from the big Easy and so I cannot promise that I will be sending any sort of emails without a that ridge of my hand.

[Mike Axelrod]

Well, enjoy it. Good to speak to you again finally.

[Brittany]

Good to speak with you again as well. I'm glad you are home. Thanks everybody.

[Mike Axelrod]

Will do. Ciao.

[Brittany]

Bye.

[Mike Axelrod]

Well, that's it for today. I appreciate you listening as always, leave a review, share it with your friends and most importantly, do what's right to convey the truth around hunting.