Tommy's Outdoors

Conservation and Science

Newsletter

We are coming to the end of this year, and I would like to close it off with book reviews and interviews with their authors. Books are not only great Christmas gifts but this also feels like it is the perfect time of the year when we’re more likely to spend long winter evenings at home with a good read.

You can access the full list of my book recommendations by going to Tommy’s Book Recommendations page. There, you will find not only the titles of books I’ve reviewed over the years but also handy links to purchase them. Also, I will receive a small commission from every purchase, so it is a great way to support my work.

Further down, in this issue of the newsletter, you will also find an update regarding the exclusive series of episodes about conservation status and coexistence with wolves in the EU.

164: Shotgun Conservationist with Brant MacDuff

The story of Brant MacDuff, the author of the book under the title “The Shotgun Conservationist: Why Environmentalists Should Love Hunting” is in many ways similar to mine. We were both born and raised in the city without any contact or access to hunting. We overcame not insignificant obstacles to get into hunting later in life and both of us decided to share this experience with others who might want to do the same but don’t know where to start. Both Brant and I also understood how important but counterintuitive the connection between hunting and wildlife conservation is.

As you know, I’ve created a downloadable guide on how to get started with deer hunting in Ireland and the topic of the science of wildlife conservation is literally in the title of this podcast. Brant, achieved both of those goals in one go by writing his book. There are, of course, differences between us. For one, Brant lives in the USA where the connection between hunting and conservation is more direct than in Europe. He also started in his youth as an anti-hunter, something which I never was. Nevertheless, while reading Brant’s book and then chatting with him on this podcast, I undeniably felt that we have a lot in common.

The Shotgun Conservationist is one of those books that I would definitely recommend, not only to those who want to try hunting, but also to those who are open-minded enough to explore why so many counterintuitively repeat the mantra of “hunting is conservation”. Finally, despite the realities of hunting, conservation and the public perception of hunting being different in the US compared to Europe, it fascinates me how many of those themes are shared across the globe.

Enjoy our conversation and after you’ve listened to it, go ahead and buy the book using the provided link. This way you’ll not only treat yourself to a fun and thoughtful book, but you’ll also support my podcast as I will get a small commission from every sale. Of course, the price you pay won’t be affected.

164: Shotgun Conservationist with Brant MacDuff

Exclusive Access Episode Series

Thank you to all of you who registered your interest in the exclusive series of podcast episodes presenting the full interviews with guests from the highly popular episode 163: The EU Review of Wolf Protection Status. The registration is still open. If you haven’t registered yet, click on this link and let me know if you would like to be notified once they’re available. It will be a series of five episodes and they won’t be publically available. I will release them no later than January next year - so it’s only a few weeks away!

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