Outdoor news with teeth and field sense.
Cal of the Wild turns conservation news into fast, blunt field notes. It tracks public-land fights, wildlife management, hunting legislation, oddball crimes, and Houndations segments about dogs, training, and life outdoors.
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Cal of the Wild is an outdoor-news show with a strong conservation backbone and a sharp sense of what is worth getting worked up about. It treats public land as a practical issue, not an abstract value. Access matters. Wildlife law matters. Habitat matters. Recent episodes move from a public-game-land campaign to sage grouse restoration, ferret eradication, Forest Service questions, and legislation that could change how wildlife officers work. The show is comfortable with complexity, but it does not sound detached. Grizzly reintroduction, for example, becomes a larger argument about predator interactions, black bears, mountain lions, deer, hunting, and the limits of anyone claiming certainty. That is the show at its best: opinionated, fast, and still willing to say when the answer is not clean. It also has an appetite for the bizarre. Bigfoot hoax claims, venison theft cases, tipsy hawks, helicopter hunting, very old birds, and deeply disturbing wildlife crimes show up as narrative fuel. The point is rarely just shock value. Those stories usually lead back to enforcement, ethics, public resources, or the strange ways humans collide with wild animals. The Houndations episodes widen the frame. Tony Peterson talks through dog behavior, unintentional training, the benefits dogs bring to human health, and the ordinary outdoor moments that become lessons. Those segments are more domestic, but still rooted in woods, dogs, family, and observation. Across the feed, the tone stays conversational and unsanded. It can be wry, irritated, grave, or warm depending on the story. It is especially suited to hunters, conservation-minded outdoors people, public-land advocates, dog owners, and anyone who wants wildlife news with a clear point of view.
Made for: For hunters, public-land advocates, conservation-minded outdoor users, and dog owners who want wildlife news without a neutral-newsroom polish. It also fits listeners who like strange nature stories when they lead somewhere useful.
What sets it apart: The show combines policy argument, field-level examples, hunting culture, and oddball wildlife news in one fast-moving feed. Its Houndations thread adds practical dog behavior and training reflections without pulling the show away from the outdoors.
Welcome to “Cal of the Wild” where you can join Ryan “Cal” Callaghan each week for his unique brand of outdoor news and interviews designed for folks who need to know what’s going on and those who want to pretend they do. Also, get your dose of dog and dog training tips from Tony Peterson’s Houndations podcast. Both part of The MeatEater Podcast Network.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Cal of the Wild connects outdoor headlines to the laws, conservation choices, and enforcement questions beneath them.
Ryan Cal Callahan turns outdoor news into an informed, plainspoken briefing, moving between wildlife management, hunting law, conservation work, and the stranger behavior that lands people in court.
A stolen venison case walks into a grizzly debate, and your news diet gets considerably muddier.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A wildlife-crime case where stolen donated venison carries consequences beyond the hunt.
A deer donation program built to stock local food banks gives this wildlife-crime episode unusually concrete stakes. It follows donated deer carcasses from Ohio hunters through DNR checks and collection, into processing at the Pickford Center in Harrison County, and then into…
A clear, behavior-focused look at why grizzly reintroduction resists a tidy forecast.
The episode frames California's grizzly reintroduction debate around a hard ecological question: what happens when apex predators start competing over the same ground?
A grisly Kentucky call gives way to a sharp look at CWD policy and game-warden access.
Cal's Week in Review begins with a Kentucky roadside call so grim it almost sounds misheard: a 911 report from Central City described a man apparently having sex with a dead deer.
A fatal Alpine climb and a hidden-sheep trophy scheme turn outdoor judgment into two different kinds of legal fallout.
An alpine fatality and an illegal wildlife trophy case give Ryan Cal Callahan's roundup a sharp, uneasy shape. First, Thomas P. and Kirsten G.
A strange safari-ticket lawsuit opens into a practical look at hunting policy, public comment, and why attention matters.
Ryan Cal Callahan's week-in-review finds an unusual doorway into hunting policy, starting with a Wyoming small-claims fight over Zimbabwe safari tickets before moving into Massachusetts proposals on access, setbacks, and updated hunting rules.
A dusty desert rally shows how trash, fast cars, and trust can shape an outdoor community.
Cal's Week in Review follows a desert rally where cleanup, cars, and loose community spirit all run through the same dusty lane. The episode is at its best when it stays close to the scene: rough cars moving across the desert, friends racing for trash, and a party atmosphere…
Ryan Cal Callahan interviews Jenny Lesieutre about wild horses and other feral animals on public lands, continuing a previous discussion on conservation.
Host Ryan 'Cal' Callaghan interviews Tate Morgan, founder of the Gambler 500 and Sons of Smokey.
Host Ryan 'Cal' Callaghan covers a Wyoming state representative's lawsuit over a canceled $6,000 safari trip, including bizarre details about a previous hunt.
Hal Herring says hunters represent 6% of Americans, making public support important to their conservation influence.
Cal discusses robo-grouse used to attract sage grouse to restored habitat, ferret eradication efforts, and updates on the U.S.
Tony Peterson discusses the scientific benefits of dog ownership for physical and mental health.
Cal discusses Neanderthal medicine, Idaho crime, new legislation, and the rise of alpha-gal syndrome from ticks.
Cal discusses a new documentary proving the 1967 Bigfoot footage is a hoax and promotes a fundraiser to turn 4,000 acres in North Carolina into public game lands.
Tony Peterson discusses how dogs learn behaviors unintentionally from their owners, using a personal anecdote about his lab.
A Wyoming rancher was charged after allegedly hiding an elk head from hunters who arrived by helicopter.
Cal Callahan opens with Cesar Gustavo Diaz, a 25-year-old L.A.
Ryan Cal Callahan reports on a Kentucky arrest involving 32-year-old Alan Lynn Osborne, then shifts to Oklahoma's proposal to release captive deer bred for possible chronic wasting disease resistance.
Cal Callahan opens with a Grossglockner Mountain manslaughter case in Austria, where Thomas P.
Tony Peterson interviews Bob St.
Tony Peterson interviews dog trainer Josh Miller about developing well-trained sporting dogs through a slow and steady approach.
Representative Gabe Vasquez discusses federal-level news and hunting/angling opportunities in New Mexico.
Cal discusses a news story about squirrels painted red and blue in Connecticut, and promotes a fundraiser to keep public land in North Carolina.