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PODCAST

Save it for the Blind Podcast

California Waterfowl

Welcome to the Save it for the Blind Podcast. Dive into the world of duck hunting, conservation, and legislation. Join us for insightful discussions on preserving both tradition and nature. Our podcast isn"t complete without tackling the legislative side of things. Discover how local and national policies impact hunting seasons, bag limits, and wetland preservation. Interviews with experts and policymakers will shed light on the intricate balance between hunting traditions and the need for

sports wilderness

All Episodes

62:41

Ep. 110 California Ducks & Modern Shotshells: A...

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2025/12/08

Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with Mark Regalbuto, CEO of MIGRA Ammunition, for a straight-shooting talk on California waterfowling and the nuts and bolts of building precision shotshells. They cover why California is richer duck country than most folks realize—ocean to marsh to rice—and how public-land access shapes the hunt. They also dig into navigating California ammo regulations, COVID-era growth, sustainability trends like biodegradable components, and where MIGRA sees innovation and

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21:30

Ep. 109 November Recap & December Openings: CWA...

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2025/12/03

Carson Odegard (fresh off dad duty) and Jeff Smith run a quick, no-nonsense update on how November hunts went across CWA properties—and what’s opening up for December. From Staten Island’s lights-out start to new rice blinds coming online (including veteran blinds), this one’s your fast guide to where birds are working and how to grab a spot.What you’ll hearCarson’s back and lining up winter hunts—then straight into a November conditions snapshot.New access coming online: Gatti is filled and running

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44:04

Ep. 108 From Turbochargers to Duck Calls: Inside...

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2025/11/17

This week, Jeff sits down with Kevin Azzopardi and Jason Cline of Pardi Calls (Yuba City, CA) to trace how a family machine shop that built industrial turbocharger parts turned its precision tools toward duck and goose calls. Kevin and Jason break down the design choices that make their calls easy to run—and easy to maintain—plus what’s next from the shop.What’s insideMachine-shop roots → call-making: from trains and tugboats to tone boards, why precision machining shaped their sound and

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47:57

Ep. 107 The Life of a Waterfowl Hunter with Mike Cole

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2025/11/10

Jeff sits down with Mike Cole—CWA Gold Benefactor, rice grower, lifelong duck hunter, and serious decoy collector—for a grounded, from-the-bootstraps story of how passion turns into habitat, community, and a legacy worth passing on. From carving lessons after school to developing clubs in the Butte Sink, Mike maps the moves, mistakes, and mileposts that shaped his waterfowl life—plus why he and his wife poured so much into Chesapeake Bay retrievers and California Waterfowl.What’s insideRoots &

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54:53

Ep. 106 October Recap & November Forecast: Refuge...

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2025/11/03

Jeff Smith checks in with three boots-on-the-ground voices to break down how California’s opener really went—and what to expect as November weather finally shows up. Guests include Garrett Spann (Manager, Yolo Wildlife Area), Derek Seweck (Wildlife Habitat Manager, Upper Butte Basin), and Orlando Rocha (Environmental Scientist, Grizzly Island Wildlife Area).What you’ll hearOpener by the numbers — solid starts in spots, soft elsewhere; teal and wigeon led many straps while mallards were patchy.Why it

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31:18

Ep. 105 California Duck Banding: Klamath Night...

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2025/10/27

Jeff sits down with Brian Huber and Jason Coslovich to unpack this summer’s banding push and preseason pintail work—what changed with more water on the landscape, how night-lighting in the Klamath Basin actually happens, and why your band reports keep California’s harvest models honest.What’s insideSac Valley bounce-back: swim-in traps, summer water, and a strong run of molting mallards and wood ducks.Klamath after dark: airboats, spotlights, big crates—plus what red-painted bands mean and how crews

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92:18

Ep. 104 Season Outlook 2025–26: Refuge Managers on...

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2025/10/13

Jeff sits down with a panel of California wildlife refuge managers to lay out what hunters can expect this season—water deliveries, flood-up timelines, food on the landscape, and how weather and pressure will shape bird movement from the opener through the late split.What you’ll hearWater & habitat status across key refuges: unit-by-unit flood-ups, moist-soil production, and sanctuary plans to hold birds after the first volleysAccess updates: road work, blind repairs, closed-zone adjustments,

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31:19

Ep. 103 80 Years Strong: How CWA Raises Dollars and...

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2025/10/06

Director of Fundraising Jason Minsky joins Jeff Smith to break down how California Waterfowl keeps the lights on and the wetlands wet—banquets, sweepstakes, merch, and a statewide volunteer network that turns passion into real habitat, hunter access, and youth programs. From the 80th-anniversary celebrations to new “bingo + Let’s Make a Deal” nights, this one is a clear map for anyone who wants to help.Episode highlightsWhy fundraising matters: where event dollars go across conservation, hunts,

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22:26

Ep. 102 The Legacy of California Waterfowling: A talk...

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2025/09/29

Waterfowl historian Yancey Forest-Knowles closes the series with a tour of California’s fog belt and beyond—Humboldt Bay, the lagoons north and south of Crescent City, Laguna de Santa Rosa, and the Central Coast from Elkhorn Slough to Morro Bay. We trace how tides, eelgrass, railroads, and reclamation shaped these marshes—and what that means for today’s hunters.Episode highlightsNorth Coast primer: why this stretch is a critical coastal link in the Pacific Flyway and how fog, rain, and working

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69:00

Ep. 101 Integrated Wetlands at Bird Haven:...

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2025/09/22

Carson and Jeff sit down with John Veon (UC Davis PhD candidate, wetlands & waterfowl) and Andy Atkinson (manager, Bird Haven Ranch) to unpack a five-year experiment in integrated wetland management—using swales, shorter irrigations, and year-round connectivity to cut mosquito production while boosting macroinvertebrates and duck use.What you’ll learnWhy the Valley needs a reset: California flipped its natural water rhythm and now only ~7–10% of naturally functioning wetlands remain—so managers

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46:01

Ep. 100 Save It For The Blind's 100th Episode

Save it for the Blind Podcast ·

2025/09/15

We’re celebrating 100 episodes of Save it for the Blind with a friendly, fast-paced trivia throwdown. Our hosts Jeff Smith & Carson Odegard welcome a stacked CWA panel—Brian Huber (Wood Duck Program Coordinator & Waterfowl Biologist), Jason Coslovich (Egg Salvage Program Coordinator & Waterfowl Biologist), and Kevin Vella (Regional Biologist & Land Trust Coordinator)—to test what we all think we know about ducks, geese, history, and the laws that shaped American waterfowling.What

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55:23

Ep. 99 Working Dog Fundamentals with Karl Gunzer —...

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2025/09/08

Karl Gunzer, Director of Purina’s Sporting Dog Group, joins Jeff and Carson to trace his path from Montana duck hunter to California trainer to industry leader—and to lay out clear, field-tested basics for keeping a retriever healthy, steady, and ready for season. We also talk California’s under-appreciated waterfowl culture and public access opportunities that still produce strong hunts.Episode highlightsFuel that works: why performance diets (e.g., 30/20) prioritize fat as a dog’s primary energy

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59:20

Ep. 98 The Legacy of California Waterfowling: A talk...

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2025/09/01

Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with waterfowl historian Yancey Forest-Knowles to unpack the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta—its island clubs, levees and tides, and the public access that still lets you chase mallards and specks on big water today.What you’ll hearHow the Delta was built — from early private island claims and hand-built levees to today’s twin pressures of saltwater intrusion and export pumping.Club lore & big names — Twitchell Island’s first club (1880), Venice and

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54:38

Ep. 97 MOJO Outdoors with Terry Denmon: Big Blades,...

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2025/08/25

Jeff and Carson sit down with Terry Denmon, CEO of MOJO Outdoors, for a nuts-and-bolts look at modern motion decoys—why the Big Blade matters, how to run spinning wings around pressured ducks, and where water-motion tech is headed. Terry also walks through MOJO’s newest gear—the reengineered Mallard Machine, the diving Dabbler decoy, and the 25th-anniversary Silver Mallard—plus the season outlook that’s shaping early hunts.In this episode:Big Blade, built for the flash game — quiet design, ~700 RPM

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69:36

Ep.96 The Legacy of California Waterfowling: A talk...

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2025/08/18

Southern California Duck Country: History, Habitat, TraditionWaterfowl historian Yancey Forest-Knowles joins Jeff and Carson to map the rise and fall of Southern California’s coastal duck country—from the artesian-fed ciénegas of the Los Angeles plain to the estuaries of Ballona, Bolsa Chica, and Newport, and on to the Salton Sea and the San Diego reservoirs. It’s a guided tour through clubs that once dotted the coast, the culture that filled their cookhouses, and the policy and development

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39:06

Ep. 95 From Survey to Season: CDFW’s Melanie Weaver...

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2025/08/11

Senior Environmental Scientist (Specialist) Melanie Weaver joins Jeff and Carson to explain how California’s Breeding Population (BPOP) survey is flown, what this year’s numbers say, and how those data drive next year’s hunting frameworks. Weaver details the fixed-wing transect method, why multi-year wet cycles matter, and why harvest regulations follow a structured, flyway-wide model rather than gut checks. In this episode: How the survey works — nine strata statewide, low-altitude fixed-wing

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52:36

Ep. 94 Managing Northeastern California Wetlands with...

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2025/08/04

Regional Biologist Greg Heydeman (California Waterfowl Association) joins Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard for a deep look at habitat work and hunting realities in the high desert of Modoc, Klamath and Shasta Valley.In this conversation you’ll learn:Why the 2025-26 season starts with optimism—heavy snowpack and strong water deliveries are putting more acres back under flood across the Northeast ZoneThe Butte Valley makeover—over 2,000 acres of former ditch water converted to managed seasonal wetlands

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63:27

Ep. 93 Building Southern California’s Wetland Future

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2025/07/28

A deep-dive with Chadd Santerre (Director of Wetland Programs & NAWCA Coordinator) and field-rep Chad ThomasCarson Odegard sits down with Chadd Santerre for a data-driven look at the engineering, funding, and on-the-ground work now reshaping waterfowl habitat from San Jacinto to the Colorado River. In the back half, Chad Thomas details the banquets, workdays, and youth hunts that let Southern California hunters roll up their sleeves and keep the momentum going.Episode highlightsFunding surge

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41:35

Ep. 92 Boots, Bands & Baby Ducks: Robert Jones on...

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2025/07/21

Jeff’s off chasing summer vacation, so Carson Odegard grabs a mic with CWA egg-salvage guru Jason Coslovich - Egg Salvage Program Coordinator, Waterfowl Biologist and Robert “Rob” Jones—the volunteer dynamo keeping the North Delta Duck Hatchery clucking along since the early 2000s. Pull a chair up to the brooder and hear how a ramshackle 1996 shed on Tyler Island now kicks out 500 wild mallards a year, why 92 percent of rescued eggs actually hatch, and what it takes to relocate the whole outfit

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40:15

Ep.91 The Legacy of California Waterfowling: A talk...

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2025/07/14

In this new episode—part three of our California history series—Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard close out the Klamath Basin saga and head south to the 240,000-acre Grasslands, where water rights, teal limits, and hard-fought tradition still rule the marsh. Topics include: Klamath’s boom-to-bust timeline—from 100,000-duck openers in ’52 to today’s drought-strangled refuge drama Miller & Lux’s canal gamble that turned alkali flats into duck country and sparked 180 active clubs Jay Martin Winton vs

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