TRCP’s “In the Arena” series highlights the individual voices of hunters and anglers who, as Theodore Roosevelt so famously said, strive valiantly in the worthy cause of conservation.

Cason Short

Hometown: Hunter, Arkansas 
Occupation: Owner of Bill Byers Hunter Club, partner of farming operation Byers Family Ltd., and co-host of The Standard Sportsman Podcast
Conservation credentials: Short developed a passion for hunting greenheads in the flooded timber of eastern Arkansas through the guidance of his father and grandfather, and translated that knowledge into managing the family farm and on-site hunting club for conservation. In 2024 and 2025 he was an advisory council member for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and he shares his knowledge of waterfowl hunting in the wooded bottomlands of eastern Arkansas on a popular weekly podcast.

A lifelong Arkansan, Short is the third-generation operator of the Bill Byers Hunter Club near Hunter, Ark., which has been hosting duck hunters for more than 70 years. The property offers thousands of managed acres of seasonally flooded timber and rice fields, with food plots, a hunting lodge, and strategically placed pit blinds – but much hunting is still done knee-deep in green timber. Short recently began to share his experise and insights on waterfowl hunting in the highly productive habitat of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV), an area adjacent to the Mississippi River that includes eastern Arkansas, through The Standard Sportsman Podcast. Sponsored by names like Ducks Unlimited and Sitka, the podcast features informational discussions about regional waterfowl behavior, habitat, and private lands conservation, as wells as the strong duck hunting heritage in Arkansas. Short endeavors to hang on to hunting heritage and conservation principles and share them with others as widely as he is able.

Here is his story.

My earliest memories of hunting come from being around our lodge as a young boy. I would tag along with any guide who would let me, and I never missed a chance to hunt with my father and grandfather. Duck hunting was a huge part of our life, but my grandfather instilled upon me the importance of stewardship. As a landowner, he felt he was entrusted with taking care of the land and everything on it. Having a farm for a playground lent itself to enjoying everything outdoors, from fishing to whitetail deer hunting.

I’ve been blessed to spend a lot of time on our farm, but my greatest memories aren’t necessarily from my own hunts. Seeing my three sons harvest their first duck and then their first deer are by far the greatest moments in the field. It’s pretty special to see the fourth generation carrying on the role that my grandfather passed down on the farm.

“Reaping the rewards of your own hard work is hard to beat.”

I’m a pretty simple man. I like working to build something, and that makes hunting and fishing at our farm the best. Don’t get me wrong, I hope to take my children out West one day to chase elk, or possibly east to hunt the waterfowl there, but reaping the rewards of your own hard work is hard to beat.

Conservation doesn’t just enhance my outdoor life. It’s better to say it allows me to have an outdoor life. Without conservation production, agriculture would be all we would know. There wouldn’t be any room for wildlife. But it can be difficult to convince a farmer and businessman to leave money on the table and do something in the name of wildlife. Voluntary programs like the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Wetland Reserve Easements (WREs) – both funded by the Farm Bill – offer an economic alternative to ag production. Both in terms of income to offset the loss of taking land out of production, and the overall bottom line when we look at marginal farmland and the losses that may be incurred when Mother Nature has other plans.  

When these programs are implemented as part of an overall conservation plan, the rewards to both the landowner and the wildlife that inhabit it can be amazing. With these types of programs, we have reduced the taxpayer burden by restoring marginal farmland that could have seen a number of crop insurance claims, and we’ve also increased the carrying capacity for wildlife that benefits users well beyond the borders of the property lines. We’ve seen it firsthand with our reforestation projects. Obviously, the target species have thrived, but it’s the effects on non-target species that really open your eyes to the scope of the good that is being done. A simple project targeting whitetails and waterfowl now also plays host to bobwhite quail, rabbits, and box turtles.  

Funding has become the biggest conservation challenge in eastern Arkansas. Or maybe access to funding. There are great programs out there like WREs, but the vehicles to get the funding to the areas that make the biggest impact are failing Americans. We need to conserve where we can have the biggest impact, but that’s hard to do that when we put stipulations in place that dictate where that funding has to be spent. Too often, small tracts of land are prioritized because of their proximity to protected lands, as opposed to their overall impact and value to wildlife. If the goal is “farm the best and restore the rest,” we must be proactive in how we select and fund these projects.

Conservation is a mindset. It’s knowing that you have a duty to the land. Without it, we wouldn’t have the great outdoors. I’m involved in conservation for four main reasons: Byers, Mac, Ford, and Charlie. My four children. And for the entire next generation of outdoorsmen and women. As small towns dry up, and year-round sports continue to attract young kids, hunting and fishing continue to take a back seat. All while we continue to lose habitat. We must conserve what we have, and hopefully restore even more if we want to hang on to the legacy of hunting and fishing for future generations.

Banner image credit: Ed Wall

The Hunter & Angler’s Guide to the Farm Bill

It can be difficult to understand all the acronyms tied to Farm Bill conservation programs and why the reauthorization and improvement of this legislation is a top priority. In The Hunter & Anglers Guide to the Farm Bill, we demystify the Farm Bill and the crucial conservations programs that sportsmen and women should care about.