Texas Fish and Game Unfiltered with Kevin Burke

Oak Wilt: The Disease That Travels by Root, Beetle, and Firewood

It spreads underground through fused root systems, hitches rides on beetles drawn to fresh wounds, and moves long distances in firewood. Oak wilt is one of North America's most destructive tree diseases — and it's expanding. Here's what it is, how it works, and how to stop it. Subscribe to Texas Fish and Game Unfiltered on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevinburke_tfgn Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TexasFishGameUnfiltered/ Get Outdoors and Find Your Peace

Tyler Jones of The Element — Faith, Public Land, and What Texas Deer Hunting Actually Looks Like

Tyler Jones of The Element [https://theelementwild.com/] sits down with me this week, and we get into all of it. Where Texas actually ranks as a deer hunting state. The feeder debate and when they work and when they don't. The reality check every first-time public land hunter needs before they walk into the woods. And what the future of hunting recruitment looks like from inside one of the biggest platforms [https://www.themeateater.com/] in the industry. But the moment that'll stay with you is when I ask Tyler something he probably doesn't get asked very often — as a devout follower of Christ, does he think killing big bucks is luck, knowledge, or God's blessing? His answer is one of the best things I've recorded on this show. The Element links below. Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/6jQHvttdePZiwa17y7dwLD?si=385502abed754b4d] YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@TheElementWild] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/theelementwild] Subscribe to Texas Fish and Game Unfiltered on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevinburke_tfgn Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TexasFishGameUnfiltered/ Get Outdoors and Find Your Peace

Camo- What Deer Actually See

Every hunting brand in America wants you to believe that if your camo pattern doesn't match your exact terrain, the deer will bust you. They're lying — and the peer-reviewed science has been saying so for decades. In this episode I break down what white-tailed deer actually see, pulled straight from research out of the University of Georgia, the USDA National Wildlife Research Center, and behavioral studies where scientists literally trained deer to respond to specific wavelengths of light. I cover why deer are dichromats and what that means for your orange vest, why visual acuity at hunting distances makes pattern detail irrelevant, the one UV problem that actually is real and most hunters completely ignore, and why Texas box blind hunters are paying for camo the deer will never see. Subscribe to Texas Fish and Game Unfiltered on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevinburke_tfgn Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TexasFishGameUnfiltered/ Get Outdoors and Find Your Peace

Coyote Management

That coyote howl at 3am — it means something different to every Texas land manager. In this episode, we dig into the actual science behind coyote predation and whitetail deer in Texas, pulling from Caesar Kleberg research, King Ranch studies, and TPWD data to answer the question every deer manager is asking: should I be killing every coyote I see? The answer is more complicated than you think — and understanding it could change how you spend your predator control budget this season. Subscribe to Texas Fish and Game Unfiltered on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevinburke_tfgn Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TexasFishGameUnfiltered/ Get Outdoors and Find Your Peace

Is Baiting Even A Debate?

Everybody's got an opinion on baiting deer — but most of those conversations are less about science and more about ego. In this episode, I puts my cards on the table and then dig into all of it: the real pros, the honest cons, the food plot vs. feeder debate, and the one angle that should matter most to every Texas deer hunter right now — CWD. Is baiting ethical? Is it hunting? Is there actually a difference between a spinning feeder and a food plot? And when Chronic Wasting Disease is moving closer to your property every season, does concentrating deer at a bait site change the calculus? Topics covered: * What baiting actually is — and where the line gets blurry * The legitimate case for feeders in Texas terrain * Trail cameras, herd inventory, and why bait is a management tool * The CWD concentration risk and what science actually says * Where the ethical question really lives — and who gets to answer it Subscribe to Texas Fish and Game Unfiltered on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevinburke_tfgn Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TexasFishGameUnfiltered/ Get Outdoors and Find Your Peace