The Origins Foundation Podcast

Ashlee is joined by George Warthen, CCO of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, to discuss their 2025 black bear season, how it differed so drastically from the 2015 season, the science surrounding the tag numbers issued, the harvest reporting data and the changes on the horizon for the 2026 season.

Do you have questions we can answer? Send it via DM on IG or through email at info@theoriginsfoundation.org

Text us at 601-790-0607 with thoughts, comments and ideas for guests and episodes

Support our Conservation Club Members!

Classic African Hunting: https://classicafricanhunting.com/

The Wildlife Center at Legends Ranch: https://www.wildlifecentermi.org/

Everyone Deserves to Play: https://theoriginsfoundation.org/conservation-projects/everyone-deserves-to-play/

See more from Blood Origins: https://bit.ly/BloodOrigins_Subscribe

Music: Migration by Ian Post (Winter Solstice), licensed through artlist.io

This podcast is brought to you by Bushnell, who believes in providing the highest quality, most reliable & affordable outdoor products on the market. Your performance is their passion. https://www.bushnell.com

This podcast is also brought to you by Silencer Central, who believes in making buying a silencer simple and they handle the paperwork for you. Shop the largest silencer dealer in the world. Get started today! https://www.silencercentral.com

Don't forget to go subscribe to our new The Origins Foundation Podcast Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginsFoundationPodcast - who knows, you may be a lucky subscriber who wins some cool stuff from our partner companies!
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Rich Froning, the man synonymous with the CrossFit Games, and Cross Fit as a lifestyle, has switched his entire mindset as a member of The Origins Foundation Family. Raw, authentic, we explore Rich’s transition into a hunter and the intricate details of our heart as hunters during this short and sharp conversation. This conversation specifically dives into the why behind why hunters hunt, especially Rich - asking the question - why do you hunt?

Do you have questions we can answer? Send it via DM on IG or through email at info@theoriginsfoundation.org

Text us at 601-790-0607 with thoughts, comments and ideas for guests and episodes

Support our Conservation Club Members!

Classic African Hunting: https://classicafricanhunting.com/

Schnee: https://schnees.com/

Everyone Deserves to Play: https://theoriginsfoundation.org/conservation-projects/everyone-deserves-to-play/

See more from Blood Origins: https://bit.ly/BloodOrigins_Subscribe

Music: Migration by Ian Post (Winter Solstice), licensed through artlist.io

This podcast is brought to you by Bushnell, who believes in providing the highest quality, most reliable & affordable outdoor products on the market. Your performance is their passion. https://www.bushnell.com

This podcast is also brought to you by Silencer Central, who believes in making buying a silencer simple and they handle the paperwork for you. Shop the largest silencer dealer in the world. Get started today! https://www.silencercentral.com

Don't forget to go subscribe to our new The Origins Foundation Podcast Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginsFoundationPodcast - who knows, you may be a lucky subscriber who wins some cool stuff from our partner companies!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kody Bidwell, who replaced Travis Thompson at All Florida, joins Robbie to talk about the new black bear harvest season out of Florida. This will be the second year of the Florida Black Bear Season and the politics are already at play. Last year, after a crazy controversy where anti hunters bought up a bunch of tags, backfiring into the quota actually going UP this year because of science (a 25% increase!), Robbie and Kody get into the nuances of this second season, with Kody telling us the lay of the land and what things are looking like on the ground in Florida.

Do you have questions we can answer? Send it via DM on IG or through email at info@theoriginsfoundation.org

Text us at 601-790-0607 with thoughts, comments and ideas for guests and episodes

Support our Conservation Club Members!

Classic African Hunting: https://classicafricanhunting.com/

Schnee: https://schnees.com/

Everyone Deserves to Play: https://theoriginsfoundation.org/conservation-projects/everyone-deserves-to-play/

See more from Blood Origins: https://bit.ly/BloodOrigins_Subscribe

Music: Migration by Ian Post (Winter Solstice), licensed through artlist.io

This podcast is brought to you by Bushnell, who believes in providing the highest quality, most reliable & affordable outdoor products on the market. Your performance is their passion. https://www.bushnell.com

This podcast is also brought to you by Silencer Central, who believes in making buying a silencer simple and they handle the paperwork for you. Shop the largest silencer dealer in the world. Get started today! https://www.silencercentral.com

Don't forget to go subscribe to our new The Origins Foundation Podcast Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginsFoundationPodcast - who knows, you may be a lucky subscriber who wins some cool stuff from our partner companies!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Safari Club International Liaison (and South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment alum) Mpho Tjiane, based out of Jo-Burg, South Africa, joins Robbie to talk about recent news in CITES quotas for South Africa. South Africa released their 2026-2027 export quota this week, and Mpho dove into what that means for hunting and conservation. Mpho is the perfect person to explain this, including the context of how we got here because he was in the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and Environment, as the CITES lead when the quotas were pulled and the litigation occurred.

Do you have questions we can answer? Send it via DM on IG or through email at info@theoriginsfoundation.org

Text us at 601-790-0607 with thoughts, comments and ideas for guests and episodes

Support our Conservation Club Members!

Classic African Hunting: https://classicafricanhunting.com/

Schnee: https://schnees.com/

Everyone Deserves to Play: https://theoriginsfoundation.org/conservation-projects/everyone-deserves-to-play/

See more from Blood Origins: https://bit.ly/BloodOrigins_Subscribe

Music: Migration by Ian Post (Winter Solstice), licensed through artlist.io

This podcast is brought to you by Bushnell, who believes in providing the highest quality, most reliable & affordable outdoor products on the market. Your performance is their passion. https://www.bushnell.com

This podcast is also brought to you by Silencer Central, who believes in making buying a silencer simple and they handle the paperwork for you. Shop the largest silencer dealer in the world. Get started today! https://www.silencercentral.com

Don't forget to go subscribe to our new The Origins Foundation Podcast Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginsFoundationPodcast - who knows, you may be a lucky subscriber who wins some cool stuff from our partner companies!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is a thing called the "Governor's Tag" in our wildlife management system. It’s an often expensive tag that is accused to be antithetical to the North American Wildlife Model - because only the rich get to play in that proverbial sand-box. This is why Robbie went to New Mexico to start a documentary around this "Governor's Tag" - there is no better place to do this than in New Mexico. Robbie sits down live with John Mark Matkin, following his three-year journey to hunt New Mexico’s coveted Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep after ultimately winning the state’s Governor’s Tag for $1 MILLION. Robbie and John Mark are joined by outfitters/guides Jim Breck and GT, John brings us through the failed bids, setbacks, surgeries, and determination that finally led him to an extraordinary 200-plus-inch ram in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico. There is so much more to this story than this podcast, but this is the beginning.

Do you have questions we can answer? Send it via DM on IG or through email at info@theoriginsfoundation.org

Text us at 601-790-0607 with thoughts, comments and ideas for guests and episodes

Support our Conservation Club Members!

Classic African Hunting: https://classicafricanhunting.com/

Landtrust: https://landtrust.com/

Everyone Deserves to Play: https://theoriginsfoundation.org/conservation-projects/everyone-deserves-to-play/

See more from Blood Origins: https://bit.ly/BloodOrigins_Subscribe

Music: Migration by Ian Post (Winter Solstice), licensed through artlist.io

This podcast is brought to you by Bushnell, who believes in providing the highest quality, most reliable & affordable outdoor products on the market. Your performance is their passion. https://www.bushnell.com

This podcast is also brought to you by Silencer Central, who believes in making buying a silencer simple and they handle the paperwork for you. Shop the largest silencer dealer in the world. Get started today! https://www.silencercentral.com

Don't forget to go subscribe to our new The Origins Foundation Podcast Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginsFoundationPodcast - who knows, you may be a lucky subscriber who wins some cool stuff from our partner companies!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices