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Shepherds of the Wild PodcastAuthor: Tom Opre
Host and filmmaker Tom Opre discusses dynamic topics with some of the most well-known and recognized experts on wildlife and habitat conservation. It's a no holds barred, reality-based conversation about all the things Wild under man's ever increasing shadow. Language: en Genres: Earth Sciences, Natural Sciences, Science Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Ep 49 - Mark Sather, Sportsman and Sieben Livestock Employee
Tuesday, 16 December, 2025
In this episode, conservationist and filmmaker Tom Opre sits down with Mark Sather, a longtime Montana sportsman and employee of the Sieben Livestock Company, to unpack one of the most volatile and misunderstood issues in Western conservation: access, entitlement, and responsibility. Raised hunting the Gates of the Mountains and the Bob Marshall, Sather brings a generational sportsman's perspective shaped by years working inside a large, wildlife-rich cattle operation. He speaks candidly about what happens when public wildlife, private land, federal agencies, state managers, and modern hunting technology collide—sometimes literally—with helicopters, drones, and rising tensions in the field. The conversation moves deep into block management, helicopter access to landlocked public ground, changing hunter behavior, and the real-world consequences ranchers face when gates are left open, cattle are displaced, and trust breaks down. Sather also explains how proactive management—cow elk harvests, hazing with drones, and collaboration with Fish & Game—can reduce conflict while still putting meat in freezers. This is not a theoretical discussion. It's a ground-level look at how conservation actually works—or fails—when emotion, politics, and entitlement replace humility, stewardship, and dialogue. If you care about hunting, public land, private land, and the future of wildlife in the American West, this is a conversation you need to hear.
