Today’s guests are two of the driving forces behind the growing upland conservation movement in Canada — Mark Symes and Andrew Lowles, both active leaders with RGS Canada.
Mark comes from a diverse entrepreneurial and forestry background and runs his Pudelpointer, Gus in the grouse woods. Andrew is a biologist with experience across forestry, wildlife, and fisheries management, currently overseeing freshwater fisheries resources for his province. When he’s not at his day job, he’s training an English Setter pup and two labs who have earned their keep as unconventional — but deadly — grouse and woodcock dogs.
Both are licensed guides, avid anglers, passionate waterfowlers, and private land stewards managing their own woodlots for wildlife while still working full-time careers. Andrew also serves as Eastern Canada Director and Treasurer for the Professional Outdoor Media Association of Canada.
Today, we’re diving into the vision and Strategic Aspirations of RGS Canada — from launching new chapters across the country to tackling uniquely Canadian challenges in access, habitat, and forest management.
Topics Covered:
Connect with RGS Canada:
https://www.instagram.com/rgs.canada/
Connect with Mark and Andrew:
https://www.instagram.com/markmsymes/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/lowles.andrew/?hl=en
Proud Sponsors:
Today’s guest is Garrett Baker, a lifelong outdoorsman and passionate upland hunter. Garrett grew up in Northcentral Pennsylvania and picked up a shotgun at just 12 years old—heading now into his 26th hunting season. He hunts over American Brittanys, with his two current companions, Lexi and Gracie, carrying on the legacy of his first bird dog, Lou, who shared the field with him for 12 memorable years.
Outside of the uplands, Garrett works as a Maintenance Supervisor at American Refining Group, but his true passion is introducing others to the upland hunting lifestyle. Nearly a decade ago, he and his father opened The Bird Dog Inn in Erwin, South Dakota, where they welcome DIY hunters from across the country and are building new opportunities for first-time hunters and women in the field. Garrett also serves on his local Ruffed Grouse Society chapter in St. Marys, PA, and is actively training his youngest Brittany through NAVHDA and VHDF.
Topics Covered:
Book The Bird Dog Inn
Connect with Garrett
https://www.instagram.com/g_baker_64/?hl=en
Proud Sponsors:
Today’s guest is Nick Martin, the creator of The Iowa Bird Chaser YouTube channel. Nick set out on a unique mission—to harvest a pheasant in all 99 counties across Iowa. Along the way, he’s sharing the journey, the challenges, and the beauty of upland hunting in the Hawkeye State. Through his channel, Nick is not only chasing birds, but also capturing the stories, landscapes, and community that make Iowa such a special place to hunt.
Topics Covered:
Connect with Nick:
https://www.instagram.com/iowa_birdchaser/?hl=en
Proud Sponsors:
My guests today are Nick Sherrod and Jake Terry, the owners of Gundog Grind Coffee. But their business is more than just another coffee company—it’s a lifestyle rooted in birds, family, friends, and of course, the dogs that make every hunt memorable. Inspired by mornings in the flooded timber and long days on the prairie, they craft gourmet roasts designed to fuel hunters and outdoorsmen with rich flavor and purpose. From light to dark blends, every bag is made with carefully sourced beans and infused with the spirit of time spent in the field. But Gundog Grind’s mission goes deeper than coffee—they’re committed to giving back by supporting conservation organizations that protect the habitats and hunting traditions we all value. At its core, Gundog Grind is about bringing people together, whether around a hunting campfire or a kitchen table, to share stories, celebrate dogs, and enjoy a great cup of coffee.
Topics Covered:
Connect with Jake
https://www.instagram.com/jaketerry_photo/
Connect with Nick
https://www.instagram.com/nick.sherrod/?hl=en
Connect with Gundog Grind
https://www.instagram.com/gundoggrind/
Proud Sponsors
Courtney Bastian’s journey into upland hunting began in 2008 when her German Wirehaired Pointer, Briar, placed a pheasant in her hands—a moment that shifted her life toward bird dogs, shotguns, and wild places. At the height of the 2020 pandemic, Courtney launched The Bird Dog Babe Podcast, building community during the challenges of the pandemic and beyond. This endeavor was then the grounds for the genesis of HerUpland, a nonprofit dedicated to creating opportunities for women and youth through hunting camps, wingshooting clinics, and mentorship.
Based in Montana with her husband, William, and their children, Burke and Blayre, Courtney balances family life with a kennel of bird dogs and a small menagerie of farm animals. With a background in biology and animal science and an MBA in progress, she blends passion and professionalism to advance conservation, community, and confidence in the uplands.
Topics covered:
Connect with Courtney:
https://www.instagram.com/birddogbabe/?hl=en
Connect with HerUpland
https://www.instagram.com/herupland/?hl=en
Proud Sponsors:
Brian Krebs grew up in Minnesota, where his passion for the outdoors began with pheasant and deer hunting. After college, his pursuits expanded westward, where he fell in love with exploring new country and took up shed hunting. But his roots still lie in the pheasant fields.
For more than 25 years, Brian has been dedicated to pheasant habitat conservation. Deeply involved with local Pheasants Forever chapters, he has worked to improve habitat and give back to the upland hunting community that shaped him. In addition to his conservation efforts, Brian has a lifelong passion for training dogs—whether developing a bird dog in the field or working with his shed dog, Griz on shed hunts.
Today, Brian’s life reflects the same values he started with: a love for wild places, the thrill of the hunt, and a belief in leaving the land better for future generations.
Topics covered:
Brian's vivid memories of his first pheasant
Hunting Western birds vs Midwestern roosters
How hunting can be type 2 kind of fun
Brian's ideal pheasant hunt vs. Ryan's
How to introduce our spouse/significant other to hunting
Connect with Brian:
https://www.instagram.com/getdrawnwest/
Proud Sponsors:
Richard Westley Wong was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and is a dual Canadian-American citizen. He is a food photographer based in Minnesota, where he lives with his wife and two sons. In his free time, he enjoys spending time at the family cabin in Northern Wisconsin, fishing, training bird dogs, running hunt tests, and hunting with his three-year-old Vizsla, Trigger.
Topics Covered:
Connect with Rich:
https://www.instagram.com/wisc_me_nord/
Proud Sponsors:
Scott Kinnane grew up in Vinton, Iowa, before moving to a small farmhouse in Minnetonka, Minnesota, surrounded by hardwoods and abandoned sand pits. After raising three children in Eden Prairie, he and his wife settled in Bemidji on a 100-acre farm with a mile of Mississippi River shoreline, where they are restoring native prairie and managing their forest.
Raised by a single mother with one younger sister, Scott credits the ten dogs he’s had over the years with shaping him into a better person. Now a proud grandfather of four, he finds his greatest joy in upland hunting, guided by his dogs, and in the freedom of dirt roads, prairie winds, and deep woods.
Inspired by Gene Hill’s A Listening Walk, Scott hunts slowly, savoring every moment. He is passionate about mentoring—believing it’s more than a single youth hunt, but an ongoing commitment to guide, teach, and share the outdoors with those who need it, whether they ask or not.
Topics covered:
Connect with Scott:
https://www.instagram.com/scott.kinnane.8/
Proud Sponsors:
Today on The Upland Social, we are going to take a different approach. Because the upland community is so awesome, we recently hit 1,000 followers on Instagram. To celebrate, we hosted an "Online Upland Party" where participants could discuss their plans for the upcoming fall. Join us for the party!
Topics Covered:
PROUD SPONSORS:
Jim Burris is a passionate outdoorsman who recently relocated from North Carolina to Wisconsin. He’s hunted with bird dogs for over 25 years going back to his time grouse hunting the Appalachian hills of West Virginia with his Ryman English Setter. Currently, he has a pudelpointer named Manu that he travels the country with hunting any upland bird they can find. He is a lover and collector of rare upland hunting literature and fine shotguns.
Jim is the founder and chairman for the Bird Dog Society, a non-profit dedicated to providing education, outreach, and events to bird dog owners to support an enriched and healthy lifestyle with their dogs. Professionally Jim is the director of a large aquaculture research center studying the physiological processes of fish. If there is anything that can top Jim’s passion for upland hunting it would be his passion for fishing, but it’s a close competition for his time.
Topics Covered:
Check out The Bird Dog Society:
Follow Jim and The Bird Dog Society on socials:
https://www.instagram.com/birddogs.and.flyrods/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/birddogsociety/?hl=en
Proud Sponsors:
Today on the Upland Social, Josh Tatman joins us for some great conversation. A Wyoming resident, Josh is an avid bird hunter, dedicated outdoor writer, and a strong advocate for conservation. With a deep passion for the landscapes and wildlife of the West, he brings a wealth of experience and perspective to the field, both in the uplands and on the page.
Topics covered include:
https://www.instagram.com/josh_tatman/?hl=en
Mike Neiduski is the owner and operator of Ugly Dog Hunting Company, an online bird dog supply shop, providing serious gear for serious bird hunters and dog trainers. He is a NAVHDA senior judge, published writer, and spends most of his fall traveling across bird country with his wirehair, Nash and shorthair, Mack.
Topics covered include:
Connect with Mike's company:
https://www.instagram.com/uglydoghuntingco/?hl=en
Connect with Mike on Instagram:
In December 2008, 21-year-old Kyle Kamp weighed 270 pounds and experienced chest pains while opening Christmas presents. That moment sparked a major life change. Over the next year, he lost more than 140 pounds and became deeply invested in understanding nutrition and exercise.
Frustrated by conflicting information online, Kyle pursued a degree in Dietetics, completed his residency, and became a Registered Dietitian in Idaho. There, he discovered how proper nutrition fuels outdoor performance, especially in the mountains he grew to love.
Kyle founded V2P to cut through nutrition fads and misinformation. His goal is to deliver science-based guidance that helps people reach their physical and performance goals—especially in demanding outdoor pursuits.
Topics covered include:
Connect with Kyle:
https://www.instagram.com/v2pnutrition/?hl=en
Heath Seiner is a self-proclaimed average dude in constant need to escape to wide open spaces. Driven by the hunt, he is ever nudged to explore new landscapes and continuously tinkers with gear to further enable those pursuits. And now with the founding of Hunt Redi upland vests, he equips others to explore those landscapes as well.
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Jake Bartells and his family reside in Eastern Pennsylvania with his now five French Brittanys. His story is anything but typical in the sense of his now wife, but then high school sweetheart introduced him to bird dogs. The introduction blossomed into a passion for training, testing, and hunting his dogs all over the country. He's a senior judge for the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association, a past board member of the Club de l'Epagneul breton of the US, and an avid conservationist. He considers himself quite blessed to share these passions with his family and friends, and is always excited to take on the next adventure.
Topics covered include:
https://www.instagram.com/jakebartells/
Brian Maze has spent over a decade guiding clients through memorable outdoor adventures, beginning with turkey hunting, and later diving into fly fishing. But his true passion emerged with the arrival of Miss Rebel, a German Shorthaired Pointer whose first point ignited his love for bird dogs and upland hunting.
With the addition of a second dog, Miss Luna, his obsession with Ruffed Grouse hunting took root, shaping the vision behind Amaazen Outdoors. At its core, Amaazen Outdoors is about the simple joy of running bird dogs and sharing the woods with others who cherish the same experience.
Brian is also a dedicated advocate for public land conservation, working with organizations like the Ruffed Grouse Society, American Woodcock Society, and Pheasants Forever to protect the wild places that fuel his passion.
For Brian, it’s all about the dogs, the birds, and the land—and creating space for others to experience that same deep connection.
Topics covered include:
Chris Midgette is an avid bird hunter, lifelong waterfowler, Boykin spaniel owner, a self-proclaimed bourbon snob, gas station pork rind connoisseur, and the worst duck caller east of the Mississippi.
He's also an outdoor writer, whose stories are equal parts heart and humor have appeared in the Upland Almanac, Wing and Clay Magazine and more.
Topics covered include:
Drew Conner is from a small town in South Carolina named Edgemoor. God comes first in his life with his family close behind. Hunting and work constantly battle for that third position with fishing inching its way there, especially in the spring and fall. He has a wonderful wife who deals with his constant hunting and fishing trips. He has a two year old daughter and a 13 year old son that he drags along with him every chance he gets. He has an English setter and a black lab and they hunt all over the Southeast on a regular basis. While he spends most of his time chasing bobs and woodcock, Appalachian ruffed grouse are by far his favorite.
Topics covered include:
Hunting with flushers and pointers
Bobwhite quail management
Healthy fires on the landscape
The unhealthy stigma of fire
Appalachian grouse advocacy
https://www.instagram.com/alconner84/?hl=en
Dave Mayers is a Pennsylvania native, where he cut his teeth bird hunting behind his friend's close working black labradors. He hunted ruffed grouse and wild pheasants in the PA hills before moving to Missouri in 1986. Dave also spent a couple of years in central Wisconsin.
Since 1996, he has walked behind his own german short-haired pointers and has been fortunate enough to travel with them to several Midwestern and Western states, chasing pheasants, woodcock, bobwhite quail, ruffed grouse, and a few sharp tails. Dave retired as fisheries biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation in 2014 and has had more time to devote to his dogs and see what awaits them over the next rise.
Topics covered include:
https://www.instagram.com/seize_the_moment_outdoors/?hl=en
Andrew M. Wayment (Andy) graduated from law school in May of 2001. He is currently a partner at Tolson and Wayment PLLC in Idaho Falls, Idaho, focusing on estate planning, probate, business, and real estate. His favorite area of practice is in conservation, working with numerous land trusts in the great state of Idaho to create conservation easements. Andy is also a freelance writer and has written numerous articles for various magazines and published three books:
Heaven on Earth: Stories of Fly Fishing, Fun and Faith, Idaho
Ruffed Grouse Hunting: The Heartbeat of the Woods
Idaho Upland Days: Reflections on Bird Dogs, Banner Days, and Other Roadside Revelations.
His fourth book, Idaho Grouse Fever, has just been accepted for publication with the History Press and is expected to be released in 2026. Andy has a wife, Kristen, and his six children, four daughters and two sons, ranging in age from 28 to 13. He also has two bird dogs, Rainy, a French Brittany, and Aki, a golden retriever. Andy is the assistant coach for the Skyline High School trap shooting team that took second in state last year.
And Andy loves the outdoors. When he's not working or hanging with his family, he's either chasing grouse or some kind of fish on the fly or writing about his misadventures. You can find some of his work online at www.uplandways.com.
Topics covered include:
https://www.instagram.com/andywayment/?hl=en
https://uplandways.com/