1 00:00:05,559 --> 00:00:11,440 Speaker 1: Steve Branella is a podcaster, an author. He's generated cookbook. 2 00:00:12,039 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 1: He even created Meat Eater on Netflix. He's also severely 3 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: in love with the outdoors and wild game. I'm ecstatic 4 00:00:23,239 --> 00:00:26,800 Speaker 1: to have him onlines and times because he brings a 5 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: wealth of knowledge of not just what's happening with conservation 6 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:34,960 Speaker 1: in America now, but what has happened in the past 7 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 1: and how far we've actually come. I want to find 8 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 1: out a little bit about your history. What got you 9 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:43,519 Speaker 1: into the outdoors. I feel like I've walked a different 10 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:46,839 Speaker 1: path than most people, and I wonder if there's other 11 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: people who are kind of like me. 12 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:50,599 Speaker 2: So, how did you get involved in the outdoors? 13 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 3: Ah? Man, my dad was. I was born into an 14 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 3: outdoor family. You know. It's kind of a little bit 15 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 3: interesting is people look at sort of the history and 16 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 3: demographics of hunting in America, they think of the modern 17 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:11,400 Speaker 3: American sportsman was kind of born of the World War 18 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:15,039 Speaker 3: two generation, you know, and my dad fought in the 19 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:19,480 Speaker 3: war and came home and just was all in on hunting. 20 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,640 Speaker 3: And there's this outdoor magazine editor at the time who said, 21 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 3: how could you train a whole generation of people to 22 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,840 Speaker 3: camp and shoot guns? And not expect him to become hunters. 23 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 3: And when he got home, that's just what they did. 24 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:37,119 Speaker 3: Like he hunted with other with other veterans and made 25 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:39,760 Speaker 3: that a lifestyle. You know. He was interested in fishing 26 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:42,479 Speaker 3: and hunting before. But by the time I came around, 27 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 3: he had me, and he was pretty old. By the 28 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:46,760 Speaker 3: time I came around, I was like sort of like 29 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 3: being raised by my grandpa, but it was my dad. 30 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 3: He had me when he was fifty, you know, and 31 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 3: he just had at that point in time. You know, 32 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 3: he worked some, but not a ton. You know, by 33 00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 3: the time I was getting in my teens, he's kind 34 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 3: of wrapping up work. He's retirement age, you know, And 35 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 3: so we just had a lot of time to be 36 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 3: out in the woods. And I learned a lot from that, 37 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 3: and I got into other stuff, you know, like got 38 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:13,880 Speaker 3: into trapping, and he wasn't a trapper. Eventually moved out 39 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:18,200 Speaker 3: west from Michigan. But it was just how I was 40 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 3: brought up. There was never a moment of there was 41 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:24,640 Speaker 3: never like a moment of deciding to be a hunter. 42 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:26,799 Speaker 3: It was almost like it was decided for me, you know. 43 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:29,760 Speaker 3: And I never revisited that. I never revisited that question. 44 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 3: I just hunt and fish, and you know that's just 45 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 3: kind of has in some respects defined in my life. 46 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 2: You said your dad was in the military. Are we 47 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 2: talking World War Two? 48 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 3: Yeah, so my old man. Yeah, my dad was like 49 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 3: my dad was born in nineteen twenty four. Yeah, he 50 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 3: had me and he was fifty years old. So you know, 51 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 3: my dad was the age of my buddy's grandpa, you 52 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 3: know what I mean. Yeah, he's a World War Two veteran. 53 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 3: So it was just I was brought up around and 54 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 3: he hung out with a lot of World War two veterans, 55 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:07,679 Speaker 3: and those guys all fished in hundred all the time, 56 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:09,240 Speaker 3: and that's just I was kind of brought up in 57 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:09,840 Speaker 3: that circle. 58 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:14,360 Speaker 1: So we know that at the turn of the nineteen hundreds, 59 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: it kind of got away from hunting as a means 60 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 1: of economy and more towards the conservation or the Western 61 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: model that I think we all know. What do you 62 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 1: think it was about veterans in World War Two where 63 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 1: they came back with this kind of resurgence of wanting 64 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 1: to be in the outdoors and wanting to hunt. 65 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think at that point you developed what was 66 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 3: kind of you develop a real body of recreational hunters 67 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:51,160 Speaker 3: who are motivated by experience. You know, America has this 68 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 3: like incredibly rich history of hunting, and I've done a 69 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 3: bunch of you know, my work and books and things 70 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 3: dealing with these hunters like that. People know Daniel Boone 71 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 3: and Jim in these famous commercial hunters, market hunters, you know, 72 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 3: as fascinating as the lives, as those lives are, as 73 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 3: fascinating as Daniel Boone is, as fascinating as Jim Bridger is, 74 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 3: as these pioneering frontier figures. You know, they decimated American 75 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 3: wildlife and for most of American history, people would look 76 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:24,839 Speaker 3: at wildlife as a commodity. It was like a thing 77 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:27,800 Speaker 3: you could go get. There was very little regulation or 78 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 3: no regulation. You could go kill stuff and make money 79 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:33,599 Speaker 3: selling it. And that drove all these crazy adventures. But 80 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:36,040 Speaker 3: it also drove that we kind of were on the 81 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:39,360 Speaker 3: verge of wiping wildlife out. And there came a point 82 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 3: when the birth of the conservation movement was really hunters saying, 83 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,920 Speaker 3: if we're going to have hunting in the future, it 84 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 3: will need to be. It will be because we decide 85 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 3: to save wildlife. And for most of the country's histories, 86 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:00,360 Speaker 3: like we had wild places, and we had wildlife because 87 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 3: we hadn't gotten around to killing it yet. Now we 88 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 3: have wildlife, and we have wild places because we sacrifice 89 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:11,599 Speaker 3: things in order to have them, right, we make room 90 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 3: to accommodate them intentionally. And that was a huge shift, 91 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:17,839 Speaker 3: and that like World War two generation was part of 92 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 3: that group of people that wanted to have experiences in 93 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 3: the outdoors, and they weren't necessarily motivated by like commodifying wildlife, 94 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 3: you know, killing ducks with punt guns in order to 95 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 3: sell them into the market. And it just shifted, you know, 96 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:35,480 Speaker 3: and out of that came like guys like me, you 97 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 3: know who hunt for you know, I hunt for food 98 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:42,279 Speaker 3: for my family. I hunt to be out. I hunt 99 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 3: as a way to like raise my kids in an 100 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 3: environment that I think is really beneficial to them, right. 101 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:49,800 Speaker 3: And it's just a different set of motivations than what 102 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 3: motivated a hunter in say seventeen fifty. 103 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:55,840 Speaker 1: So are you and your family solely eating wild game 104 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 1: or do you actually supplement some of your food sources 105 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: with farmed animals? 106 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:03,719 Speaker 3: No, no man in our home. We're very strict about 107 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:06,279 Speaker 3: wild game. You know. We'll go out and eat in 108 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:08,920 Speaker 3: restaurants or whatever. But sometimes I'll be out of town 109 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 3: and I'll come home my kids will be like, Mom 110 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:13,279 Speaker 3: doesn't want you to know, but she bought a chicken, 111 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:17,520 Speaker 3: you know, because she knows. She knows i'll freak out. 112 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:20,240 Speaker 3: But uh no, we eat a real strict wild game diet. 113 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 3: And it's not like, you know, it's not like we 114 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 3: don't need wild game in our house as a way 115 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 3: to like make a comment about what other people eat. 116 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 3: It's just like that's just what excites us. And every 117 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:34,200 Speaker 3: time we eat, there's a conversation about where it came 118 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:36,840 Speaker 3: from and what it is. And you know, we package 119 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 3: our deer so it's like Rosemary's Rosemary's mule deer, Jimmy's whitetail, 120 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 3: and then we get it out. The kids always want 121 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 3: to know who got it and what it is. And 122 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:48,599 Speaker 3: it just it just it connects us with our food 123 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 3: and connects us as a family and and and and 124 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:53,800 Speaker 3: it works for us, and it's good for us. And 125 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:56,320 Speaker 3: you know, I would never make the claim that it's 126 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:59,160 Speaker 3: the only way to you know, it's the only way 127 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 3: to be a real America or something. That's not where 128 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 3: my head's at. But that's what we like to do. 129 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:03,839 Speaker 3: In our household. 130 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:06,480 Speaker 1: One of the reasons why I ask you so much 131 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:09,120 Speaker 1: about your father being a World War Two veteran is 132 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: the reason I got into hunting. Was an uncle of mine, 133 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:17,120 Speaker 1: and he was significantly older than my cousin who he 134 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: ended up marrying. 135 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:25,800 Speaker 2: But my uncle was I guess he was right after 136 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 2: World War Two. 137 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 1: It was the conflict we had before Vietnam and it's 138 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 1: escaping me right now. 139 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 2: Korea. 140 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 1: Yes, so he was in the Korean conflict and he 141 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:41,240 Speaker 1: was an MP and he would escort Marilyn Monroe around 142 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: for her USOS and when he came back, you know, 143 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,600 Speaker 1: she lived such an incredible life. And he passed away 144 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 1: when he was about eighty eight, a pancreatic cancer. But 145 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:54,840 Speaker 1: the reason why he got me so interested in hunting, 146 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 1: and we actually never hunted together, was I would go 147 00:07:57,440 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 1: to his house and he had this den and I 148 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: would walk in. It's no bigger than a ten x 149 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 1: fifteen room, I mean, super tiny. But he had a 150 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: black bear, he had geese, he had ducks, he had 151 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 1: white tail, he had a turkey. He had all the 152 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 1: North American domestic animals that we have on the wall 153 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: and Steve, I would stand in there for hours on end, 154 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:20,400 Speaker 1: and I would look at every feather. 155 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:23,640 Speaker 2: I would look at the guns that he had in 156 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 2: that gun. 157 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 1: Case with the glass and it was all etched, and 158 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:31,040 Speaker 1: I would look at the bullets that were just laying around, 159 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:33,680 Speaker 1: and I would just inspect everything. And I got so 160 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:36,959 Speaker 1: interested that when my parents moved us to the middle 161 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 1: of nowhere, Virginia, my middle school offered hunter safety in school. 162 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:45,600 Speaker 1: It was and replace a gym, so I took that. 163 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:49,680 Speaker 1: And my parents were not outdoors people, but they always 164 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: saw that if I had a passion in something, they 165 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:53,960 Speaker 1: were like, Hey, we want to get you tied in 166 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 1: with the right people, the experts in the field who 167 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: know what's going on, so at least what you're doing 168 00:08:59,679 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: is say but you can also kind of learn your way. 169 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 1: So I've never hunted with family members. I've always hunted 170 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 1: with other people. So it's interesting that you were basically 171 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: chosen you have to live this life, not that you 172 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:15,280 Speaker 1: always had to live that life, but it was kind 173 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:16,559 Speaker 1: of chosen for you a birth. 174 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 3: Yeah, it was. You know, I've explained to people before 175 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:25,160 Speaker 3: it if I like, if I didn't go on outings, 176 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:26,960 Speaker 3: you know, if I didn't go on the hunting outings, 177 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 3: or if I even thought about not going on like 178 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:32,960 Speaker 3: hunting and fishing outings, I would get like a guilty 179 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 3: conscience like I imagine some people feel when they skip church, right. 180 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 3: I would feel bad, you know, like I remember waking 181 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:42,000 Speaker 3: up and kind of hoping that the weather would be 182 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 3: bad and we wouldn't need to go out in the morning, 183 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 3: you know, And I'd feel guilty for thinking that. I'd 184 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:47,440 Speaker 3: feel guilty for feeling that way. 185 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:51,079 Speaker 1: But there has to be a switch where as you've 186 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:54,320 Speaker 1: grown up and lived the hunting lifestyle and you eat, 187 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:58,319 Speaker 1: breathe and sleep this stuff. People don't realize this when 188 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 1: they asked me, why do you want to wake up 189 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:04,000 Speaker 1: before the crack of dawn and go sit in the woods? 190 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: And I tell him all the time, because you don't 191 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 1: witness God painting a beautiful picture until you actually see 192 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: it with your own two eyes. 193 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:14,920 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, so yeah, you never. It's not the kind 194 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:16,959 Speaker 3: of thing you ever regret. You know. The other day, 195 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 3: my little boy, but my wife does this local hike, 196 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:21,840 Speaker 3: you know, in the evening, and she took my little 197 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:23,680 Speaker 3: boy with him there day and her there day, and 198 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 3: he came back and he's talking about he's kind of 199 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:28,680 Speaker 3: being like, why do you all feel so good after 200 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:31,600 Speaker 3: you go on a hike, you know, and we're trying 201 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:36,120 Speaker 3: to explain that to him. But no matter how early 202 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:37,439 Speaker 3: you get up and get out in the woods, man, 203 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:40,160 Speaker 3: no one ever at the end of the day said 204 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:44,679 Speaker 3: would say, oh, I wish we hadn't done That's true. 205 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:47,440 Speaker 3: No one. No one's like, oh, I was really bummed 206 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:48,880 Speaker 3: that we got up early and went out in the 207 00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:52,000 Speaker 3: woods this morning. It's just not like a sentiment anyone has. 208 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:54,040 Speaker 3: You know, you do all kinds of stuff in life 209 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:56,199 Speaker 3: or later like I wish I hadn't done that. Here 210 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:57,719 Speaker 3: you go out and drinking at the bar. You wake 211 00:10:57,760 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 3: up and be like, I wish I hadn't done that. 212 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 3: But no one, No one goes out in the woods 213 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:03,959 Speaker 3: and comes home and they're bummed that they went. It's 214 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:06,840 Speaker 3: just not how it goes. Everybody feels fulfilled, man, I 215 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:09,160 Speaker 3: mean virtually everybody feels fulfilled by it. 216 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:12,160 Speaker 1: Well, I mean the fulfilling part is and I'm sure 217 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:14,160 Speaker 1: you get this question too. When people are like, oh, 218 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:16,679 Speaker 1: were you successful on your hunt? We all know what 219 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:18,680 Speaker 1: that means. You know, did you come back with a 220 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:21,200 Speaker 1: bull elk? Did you get the animal? That you were 221 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,200 Speaker 1: looking for. Did you guys, have you know an eight 222 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:27,240 Speaker 1: man limit in the duck blind? I always look at 223 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:29,360 Speaker 1: it as the success that I had is that I 224 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:32,680 Speaker 1: formed really good relationships with a couple key people that 225 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 1: I was with, or I got to see something so majestic, 226 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:38,520 Speaker 1: or I got to see something that the majority of 227 00:11:38,559 --> 00:11:40,600 Speaker 1: people don't get to see. I mean, I think the 228 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: time when you're sitting in a deer stand and you 229 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 1: see two mature white tails fight each other, that's something 230 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:52,320 Speaker 1: that ninety nine percent of Americans have never witnessed. 231 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:55,640 Speaker 3: Yeah, so when they say were you successful, you might 232 00:11:55,679 --> 00:11:58,840 Speaker 3: be like, not the way you think, right, but yes, right. 233 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:01,040 Speaker 2: I want to get back to the food side. 234 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:04,440 Speaker 1: You were mentioning that you guys live a wild game lifestyle. 235 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:07,800 Speaker 1: I'm sure you have people who will say, well, I'm 236 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:09,360 Speaker 1: okay with you hunting as. 237 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:10,719 Speaker 2: Long as you eat everything. 238 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 1: And my answer back to them all the time is 239 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:14,880 Speaker 1: have you ever thrown away a pack of chicken in 240 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:18,560 Speaker 1: the freezer that you forgot about eight months ago? Because 241 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:22,280 Speaker 1: it's tough to eat every single piece of wild game, 242 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:25,040 Speaker 1: But until your cookbook came around. 243 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:26,199 Speaker 2: I thought it was impossible. 244 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:28,480 Speaker 1: Now with your cookbook, I was like, Man, this guy 245 00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:32,680 Speaker 1: is opening my eyes to actually looking at wild game 246 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:36,960 Speaker 1: as a better way to create more fat free, hormone 247 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,360 Speaker 1: free type of meats than I think most hunters have 248 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:41,120 Speaker 1: ever looked at it. 249 00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:44,240 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, there's I mean there's some knacks to it 250 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:47,440 Speaker 3: for sure. Man. And if I look at over my career, 251 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:50,560 Speaker 3: you know, I guess where I feel like I've been 252 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:54,600 Speaker 3: impactful in some ways? Is I feel like I've helped 253 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:57,320 Speaker 3: a lot of Like I imagine a lot of my work right, 254 00:12:57,360 --> 00:12:58,959 Speaker 3: a lot of the work I do. I imagine I'm 255 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:02,600 Speaker 3: like like talking to my fathers and sisters who want 256 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:04,040 Speaker 3: you know what I mean, Like we're I'm having like 257 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:07,920 Speaker 3: a dialogue with like minded people. And if I if 258 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:09,480 Speaker 3: I think of a thing that I'm proud of that 259 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:12,280 Speaker 3: I've done over with my work, is I'm proud of 260 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:17,080 Speaker 3: having helped a lot of people come to realize, you know, 261 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:22,920 Speaker 3: that that that diet, that a wild game diet is good. 262 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:26,079 Speaker 3: It can be rewarding, it can be delicious, that it 263 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:29,280 Speaker 3: shouldn't be a burden, you know, like like eating up 264 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:30,920 Speaker 3: a deer shouldn't be a burden. It should be a 265 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:33,280 Speaker 3: thing you're excited about. And that you're able to you know, 266 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:35,920 Speaker 3: you're proud to share with your friends and have great meals, 267 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:39,600 Speaker 3: and and that's you know, it's come to be that, 268 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:42,319 Speaker 3: like far and away, that's our preferred food. Now, I'll 269 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:45,000 Speaker 3: tell you that like my wife. My wife doesn't hunt. 270 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:47,960 Speaker 3: My wife doesn't even Like this is gonna sound weird, now, 271 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:51,760 Speaker 3: my wife doesn't like most domestic meats now because because 272 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:54,040 Speaker 3: for we've been together almost twenty years. You know, between 273 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:57,120 Speaker 3: dating and being married, she does ease game meat. So 274 00:13:57,200 --> 00:13:59,200 Speaker 3: when she eats something that's not game me, it just 275 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:01,760 Speaker 3: turns her off because that's all she's eating for twenty years. 276 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:04,480 Speaker 3: So if you give her like a big fatty beef steak, 277 00:14:04,559 --> 00:14:07,680 Speaker 3: she don't want nothing to do with it. And I 278 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:09,920 Speaker 3: still get pretty excited about a big fatty beef steak 279 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:12,040 Speaker 3: when I go to a restaurant. She just her boy, 280 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:14,640 Speaker 3: She just switched in her head. She switched over to 281 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:18,839 Speaker 3: like normal meat tastes like mule deer in her in 282 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:19,560 Speaker 3: her mind. 283 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:22,440 Speaker 1: Was that hard for you when you first started dating 284 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:27,239 Speaker 1: to I guess convinces the wrong word, but to introduce 285 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:30,720 Speaker 1: her into a lifestyle of wild game, because I'm sure 286 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:32,200 Speaker 1: she was probably like I've. 287 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 2: Had wild game. It tastes gaming. I'm not a big fan. 288 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:37,760 Speaker 3: No, because she her perspective was this, if this dude 289 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:43,640 Speaker 3: wants to cook, I'm not gonna say a word I heard. 290 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:46,080 Speaker 3: It was like, listen, if someone cooks your dinner, don't 291 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:48,640 Speaker 3: bet you know you're right. 292 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 1: I mean, I have a wild game party every spring. 293 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:53,920 Speaker 1: So I asked all my buddies who were hunters to 294 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:57,800 Speaker 1: bring something prepared that they killed in the woods over 295 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 1: the last seasons. And I'll never forget I watched a 296 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: woman eat elk for the very first time. And we 297 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:07,720 Speaker 1: don't tell people what's on the plate until they ask, 298 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:09,520 Speaker 1: and then we share it with him because I feel 299 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:12,000 Speaker 1: like if you tell them it's elk, they immediately go 300 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 1: into it with the preconceived notion. 301 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 3: They put like the yeah they put there in there, 302 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:19,040 Speaker 3: and then they feel like they're smelling something they don't smell, 303 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:20,320 Speaker 3: taste and something they. 304 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:22,400 Speaker 1: Don't She took a bite of this elk and she 305 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:25,080 Speaker 1: was like, oh my god, this is the best tasting 306 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:28,360 Speaker 1: beef I've ever had in my life. And my buddy 307 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:31,640 Speaker 1: who shot that elk said, well, it's elk, and she 308 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 1: was She was ecstatic that she tried it. It did 309 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:38,200 Speaker 1: ruin her for a little bit because she was then 310 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:40,280 Speaker 1: freaked out. You know, oh my god, I ate something 311 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:42,680 Speaker 1: that you couldn't just buy at the store. But once 312 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:44,920 Speaker 1: you get that second piece, it's like a game changer. 313 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I don't have Yeah, I just don't encounter 314 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:51,280 Speaker 3: a lot of that resistance. You know. My wife's always 315 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:53,320 Speaker 3: been super cool about it. You know, we'll try to 316 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,320 Speaker 3: tell like deers big and one dar's you know how 317 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:57,800 Speaker 3: big this deer is and she's like, I don't know, 318 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 3: man looks a lot like all the other deer to eat. 319 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:04,600 Speaker 3: And she just views it like a way to a 320 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:08,520 Speaker 3: way that someone makes food for her. And that's that's 321 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:10,720 Speaker 3: how she used it, and that's why she's into it. 322 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:19,160 Speaker 1: You know, when you started making the cookbook and you 323 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 1: started introducing different ways to prepare wild game, where did 324 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:24,600 Speaker 1: you pick all those things up from? 325 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:27,720 Speaker 3: Man, I never had any training as a professional chef, 326 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:29,400 Speaker 3: but I had a lot of friends or chefs, and 327 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:33,680 Speaker 3: what I sort of my pathway into kind of like 328 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:36,720 Speaker 3: what I brought to the wild game conversation. I think 329 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:40,520 Speaker 3: over the years is that I would go and I 330 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:45,440 Speaker 3: would find like I would go and find preparations you know, 331 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 3: from whoever around the world whatever. I would find preparations 332 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:53,680 Speaker 3: that people make with normal farm animals, right, like pork preparations, 333 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 3: land preparations, beef preparations, and I would state to myself, 334 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:02,400 Speaker 3: how do you how can I make that with wild game, 335 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 3: knowing that it won't be exactly the same, like you 336 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:07,160 Speaker 3: won't be able to follow the same process because game 337 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:11,240 Speaker 3: is different. And so over the years I just experimented 338 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:13,959 Speaker 3: a lot with taking sort of like my favorite foods 339 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:16,400 Speaker 3: and the best things I encounter in restaurants or whatever, 340 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:20,320 Speaker 3: and saying how can I bring that into wild game? 341 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:22,600 Speaker 3: And that has kind of, you know, a little bit, 342 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:25,520 Speaker 3: been my specialty or an area where I've spent a 343 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:27,400 Speaker 3: lot of where I've put a lot in my focus 344 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:32,679 Speaker 3: is just learning those different Like there's this dish, you know, 345 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:34,600 Speaker 3: one of the things I got really into for while 346 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:37,359 Speaker 3: is a dish asubuco and it means like holding the 347 00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:41,280 Speaker 3: bone because it's it's Italian dish you see in different countries. 348 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:43,800 Speaker 3: But they they take a shank so like the ankle 349 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:46,560 Speaker 3: of a deer, right or for them a lamb or beef, 350 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:48,720 Speaker 3: and they cut it up on a band sauce. So 351 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:52,720 Speaker 3: you have these little discs and then they cook those down. Now, 352 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:54,960 Speaker 3: the reason I bring up this dish is because in 353 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:59,320 Speaker 3: the hunting world, people might discard deer shank so they 354 00:17:59,359 --> 00:18:00,960 Speaker 3: don't even touch them because they say there's no meat 355 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:04,040 Speaker 3: on them, or they'll try to bone them out. And 356 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 3: by the time you get rid of all the silver 357 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:09,560 Speaker 3: skin and sinew, you got enough meat to fill the 358 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:13,920 Speaker 3: palm in your hand, like maybe enough for maybe enough 359 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:18,119 Speaker 3: for a small hamburger, right, Or you learn how to 360 00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:21,640 Speaker 3: do this acid buco deal and cook the whole thing, 361 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:26,879 Speaker 3: and it's, you know, one of my favorite dishes of 362 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:28,960 Speaker 3: all time. When you're done eating it, you have a 363 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,960 Speaker 3: bone that looks as clean as a museum specimen laying there, 364 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:35,439 Speaker 3: and you realize that, like all the years you wasted 365 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:37,320 Speaker 3: that stuff. When I was a kid, we didn't make 366 00:18:37,359 --> 00:18:40,000 Speaker 3: that dish. We would take those shanks and pick the 367 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:42,080 Speaker 3: little meat apart and wind up with like a little 368 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:44,919 Speaker 3: sausage patty in your hands. And now we make a 369 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:48,080 Speaker 3: whole meal out of those things, and it's like kind 370 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:50,359 Speaker 3: of a you know, kind of like a little bit 371 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:53,119 Speaker 3: of a signature dish of mine. I serve it to people, 372 00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 3: they're blown away they can't believe it's venison. It's a 373 00:18:56,800 --> 00:19:00,400 Speaker 3: super economical use of the resource, and it just feels good. 374 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:03,440 Speaker 3: So those are the kinds of things I'm usually looking for. 375 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:07,640 Speaker 3: Is I like to try to find, you know, exciting 376 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:11,760 Speaker 3: novel sometimes just approachable things that are going to please 377 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:14,040 Speaker 3: your family. That again, you take wild game and you 378 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:17,600 Speaker 3: turn it into something that people are excited to eat, 379 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:20,359 Speaker 3: and that your friends and in laws, you know, spend 380 00:19:20,359 --> 00:19:22,280 Speaker 3: the next week talking about how cool it was and 381 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:24,919 Speaker 3: what a great experience it was to have that preparation. 382 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:27,360 Speaker 1: I like that the cookbook is more than just duck 383 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:31,840 Speaker 1: poppers and you know, meat wrapped in bacon, because there's 384 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:33,720 Speaker 1: so many good uses. 385 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:35,200 Speaker 2: Of wild game that are out there. 386 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:37,560 Speaker 1: I want to jump back to a point that you 387 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: made earlier about the market hunters that we had, the 388 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:42,840 Speaker 1: Davy Crocketts of the world and the Boons and all 389 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:49,160 Speaker 1: those guys. When we saw the decimation in the domestic 390 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 1: animals that we had, primarily whitetail deer, but also elk 391 00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:55,440 Speaker 1: and bison and buffalo and all these different things. Where 392 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:59,240 Speaker 1: do you feel that we've gotten to now in conservation 393 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:00,800 Speaker 1: and is it the right place? 394 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:05,000 Speaker 3: Yeah? I mean far far and away. We're in the 395 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 3: right place. Now. We're still in recovery mode though a 396 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:12,880 Speaker 3: little bit. You know, if you look at black bears prints, 397 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:15,400 Speaker 3: like blackbirds used to drive a tremendous economy. You mentioned 398 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:19,600 Speaker 3: Davy Crockett. Crockett did a lot of market hunting, and 399 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:21,320 Speaker 3: he did a lot of market hunting for bear meat. 400 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:26,240 Speaker 3: Was in the bear grease business. Like Boone used to 401 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:30,119 Speaker 3: sell bear grease, the you know, rendered bear oil. He 402 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:33,760 Speaker 3: would sell black bear hams. There was a time like 403 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:36,600 Speaker 3: picture this. There was a day this is on the 404 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:41,960 Speaker 3: Big Sandy River and today's West Virginia. Boone killed thirteen 405 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 3: bears in a day. Okay, that's where bears in the 406 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:48,120 Speaker 3: modern hunter is going to you know, kill in a lifetime. 407 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:51,240 Speaker 3: But I mean they eliminated bears across huge pieces of 408 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:55,919 Speaker 3: their range. With our system. Now we're recovering BlackBerry populations. 409 00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:57,919 Speaker 3: We have more black bears now than any time in 410 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:01,000 Speaker 3: the last century, and we're gonna have more tomorrow. Black 411 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:05,000 Speaker 3: bears are still spreading out and recovering ground in places 412 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 3: where they were absent, so we're able to have at 413 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:11,119 Speaker 3: the same time we're able to have black bear hunting. 414 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:13,240 Speaker 3: I don't even know what it is. Now over twenty 415 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:16,000 Speaker 3: like close to twentyve states have a black bear season, 416 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:19,600 Speaker 3: and at the same time that we're doing that, we're 417 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:24,760 Speaker 3: seeing expanding black bear numbers. We deer. It's so hard 418 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:26,800 Speaker 3: to picture now. There was a time when, like I 419 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:29,680 Speaker 3: got friends in Wisconsin. I got a friend Doug Durham, Wisconsin. 420 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:32,919 Speaker 3: When he was a little kid. If you saw a 421 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:36,879 Speaker 3: deer track. He grew up in Wisconsin farm country, southwest Wisconsin. 422 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:39,639 Speaker 3: If you saw a deer track, you'd run home and 423 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:42,359 Speaker 3: tell your dad. They got forty deer per square mile 424 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:46,240 Speaker 3: now and they got a farm where they're able to 425 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:48,679 Speaker 3: harvest twenty some deer off that farm every year. And 426 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:50,280 Speaker 3: now it's the same farm that if you saw a 427 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:53,080 Speaker 3: deer track, you ran home to tell your dad, and 428 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:55,359 Speaker 3: they didn't even hunt their own farm. They had to 429 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:57,679 Speaker 3: go up north to hunt because there was no deer around. 430 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 3: So we've made incredible progress. We'recovering wildlife and we're still 431 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:05,919 Speaker 3: and it's still happening. We're still recovering wildlife at the 432 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 3: same time that we have regulated hunting. 433 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:11,480 Speaker 1: In the state of Alabama. It's maybe one of the 434 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:14,160 Speaker 1: weirdest rout maps I've ever seen because it's a tear 435 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:18,000 Speaker 1: drop rot map because we have so many deer from 436 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:23,680 Speaker 1: different states. We have deer from Wisconsin, Texas, Illinois, New York, Maine, 437 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 1: and they imported them here in the nineteen teens. And 438 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:32,200 Speaker 1: when you see a rout map here, it's literally droplets 439 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:34,840 Speaker 1: of water. So you could have a rut happening two 440 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,200 Speaker 1: minutes away from your house, but the next closest rut 441 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:40,080 Speaker 1: that's going to happen in a week or so, it 442 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:41,400 Speaker 1: could be two hundred miles away. 443 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:43,640 Speaker 3: Yeah, isn't that the credible to think that it got 444 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:46,960 Speaker 3: so bad we were shipping deer around? Yeah, and now 445 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:50,680 Speaker 3: and now, when you hear a conversation, like in wildlife politics, 446 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:53,560 Speaker 3: when you hear a conversation about whitetail deer, it's people 447 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:56,920 Speaker 3: trying to grapple with having too many deer, right, That's 448 00:22:56,920 --> 00:22:59,960 Speaker 3: the whole other conversation. Because the solution would be well, 449 00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:02,400 Speaker 3: less open these areas up to hunting, and a lot 450 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:04,399 Speaker 3: of people were like, well, no, I'd rather pay the 451 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:07,160 Speaker 3: government to deal with my problem than have hunters pay 452 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:11,920 Speaker 3: to get a license and hunt. That's the whole other 453 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:16,680 Speaker 3: issue about about thecidal you know, just having a society 454 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:19,360 Speaker 3: that gets a little backwards on some issues. But yeah, true, 455 00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:20,600 Speaker 3: I mean had an incredible system. 456 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:23,920 Speaker 1: Man, If you're talking about the society is getting backwards 457 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:25,920 Speaker 1: on some things, I'll go back to that bear hunt. 458 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:28,400 Speaker 1: You know, you've got a place like New Jersey where 459 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:31,359 Speaker 1: they have problems with black bears. You know, black bears 460 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:33,720 Speaker 1: are going through trash cans and they're getting close to people, 461 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:37,359 Speaker 1: and they attack pets, and they've gone after humans every 462 00:23:37,359 --> 00:23:40,199 Speaker 1: once in a while. And the argument was, well, we 463 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:42,119 Speaker 1: don't want a black bear hunt because we want to 464 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:44,720 Speaker 1: see more black bears, but it's not like we have 465 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,160 Speaker 1: the room to have the population booms that we all 466 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:52,200 Speaker 1: wish we saw and keeping everybody safe for the amount 467 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:56,520 Speaker 1: of populations that have now infiltrated where these bears used 468 00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:56,840 Speaker 1: to live. 469 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:00,479 Speaker 3: Yeah, this is one of my favorite story because New 470 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:05,520 Speaker 3: Jersey's Governor Murphy at the time when when when they're 471 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:09,760 Speaker 3: their their past governor was was coming up in New Jersey. 472 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 3: He campaigned on ending the black bear hunt. So the 473 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 3: state had after a long absence, they'd recovered their bears, 474 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:22,040 Speaker 3: they initiated a limited black bear hunt. Governor Murphy comes 475 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 3: in and campaigns on ending the black bear hunt, and 476 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:28,440 Speaker 3: when he comes in, he does end the black bear hunt. 477 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:31,520 Speaker 3: Then a couple of years later he's he's put in 478 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:34,560 Speaker 3: a situation where he's forced to go and publicly say 479 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:41,399 Speaker 3: I was wrong because black bear complaints, depredations, everything shot 480 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 3: up so severely that he had to come out and 481 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:46,040 Speaker 3: say I made a mistake, I was wrong, and they 482 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 3: brought the black bear hunt back. But but think about 483 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:53,720 Speaker 3: this too, New Jersey. That's the highest black bear density 484 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:58,399 Speaker 3: of any state. Okay, the high black bear density, but 485 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:01,879 Speaker 3: also one of the highest human dentis. And so you 486 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:06,439 Speaker 3: have bears and people coexisting. There's no reason that you 487 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:10,679 Speaker 3: can't have a very stable, thriving population of black bears 488 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:15,840 Speaker 3: with limited human hunting. And that's like kind of become 489 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:20,280 Speaker 3: the key of the American conservation model to our regulatory structures. 490 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,200 Speaker 3: We're able to have both things at once. We're able 491 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:27,080 Speaker 3: to have limited harvest by humans, limited regulated harvest by humans, 492 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:32,680 Speaker 3: at the same time that we have healthy, stable, where appropriate, 493 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:37,000 Speaker 3: expanding populations of wildlife. And it's amazing of our history. 494 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:38,840 Speaker 3: It didn't go that way for most of our history. 495 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:40,439 Speaker 3: We just ran things into the ground. 496 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:43,959 Speaker 1: It's amazing to see how many states are getting reintroduction 497 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:47,199 Speaker 1: of animals that were there in the eighteen hundreds of 498 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:50,600 Speaker 1: seventeen hundreds and way before man came around, Like the 499 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:53,040 Speaker 1: reintroduction of the Rocky Mountain elk. 500 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:54,520 Speaker 2: I believe that's the species. 501 00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:59,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, Well Tennis putting out back in Kentucky. 502 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:02,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, those those. 503 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:05,240 Speaker 3: Elkin Kentucky spreading into other states. You know, that's been 504 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:08,440 Speaker 3: flowed down a little bit because of some some disease 505 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:12,520 Speaker 3: transmission issues. It's like from the regulatory perspective, it's a 506 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:15,320 Speaker 3: little harder to move ungulates right now. But yeah, I 507 00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:19,159 Speaker 3: mean the recovery program. You know, Arkansas did a bear recovery. 508 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:22,600 Speaker 3: Now Arkansas has a has a great bear population and 509 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:24,719 Speaker 3: a bear hunt and they had to come in and 510 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:29,240 Speaker 3: recover bears by bringing bears in. Florida had to recover 511 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:32,600 Speaker 3: mountain lions by bringing mountain lions in. So it's a 512 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:35,280 Speaker 3: you know, it's part of our playbook when need, when 513 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:40,480 Speaker 3: necessary to move wildlife from stable populations into areas where 514 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:43,679 Speaker 3: it needs to get rehabilitated. And what usually winds up happened, 515 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:46,919 Speaker 3: and when that's successful, it presents hunting opportunities and that 516 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:49,560 Speaker 3: gives you a ton of public buy in, and it 517 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:53,200 Speaker 3: generates a bunch of revenue to help regulate those species 518 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:55,720 Speaker 3: and fun state game agencies. So it's it's a really 519 00:26:56,200 --> 00:27:01,920 Speaker 3: it's a really efficient effect active system that I wish 520 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:05,919 Speaker 3: more Americans understood because if they understood it better, they 521 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:07,240 Speaker 3: would I'm not saying they're going to go out and 522 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:09,280 Speaker 3: become a hunter, but they'd at least look at hunters 523 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:12,160 Speaker 3: and say, I choose not to hunt, but I look 524 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:14,280 Speaker 3: at what hunters do, and they bring They bring a 525 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:16,520 Speaker 3: lot of benefits to America old life. I would like 526 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:17,880 Speaker 3: that to become more clear to people. 527 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,880 Speaker 1: I mean the financial benefit just with the Pittman Robertson 528 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:26,280 Speaker 1: Act that we have had with you gun sales and 529 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:32,960 Speaker 1: then you have all your purchases of tags and being 530 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:36,360 Speaker 1: able to get your license in different states. Financially, hunters 531 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:39,800 Speaker 1: do more for the conservation of animals than any other group. 532 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:42,600 Speaker 1: If we're talking about some of the reintroduction of some 533 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:46,080 Speaker 1: of these animals in the West, we've had the wolf 534 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:49,520 Speaker 1: being reintroduced to places like Colorado. There's been a lot 535 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:52,760 Speaker 1: of opposition from farmers and from different groups, but then 536 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:55,440 Speaker 1: there's been a lot of people who have really dove 537 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 1: in and said that that's what they want and that's 538 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:00,480 Speaker 1: what they want to see. Where do we kind of 539 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,679 Speaker 1: see the numbers? Is it beneficial or was that a 540 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:04,399 Speaker 1: failed mission? 541 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:08,960 Speaker 3: Man, it's a real controversial mission. I'm like, I'm a press. 542 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:13,880 Speaker 3: Let me sorry about just giving my biases here. I'm 543 00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:18,640 Speaker 3: I take a pretty pragmatic approach on it. It's undeniable. 544 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:23,240 Speaker 3: Wolves are native wildlife, Okay. I don't think that humans 545 00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:28,600 Speaker 3: should be in the business of wiping out native wildlife species. 546 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:32,440 Speaker 3: It's it's bad. We just had a big conversation about 547 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:38,240 Speaker 3: conservation efforts in America. It's a negative. I don't think wolves, 548 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:43,600 Speaker 3: you know, I don't wolves eat meat like a mature 549 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:46,680 Speaker 3: wolf is gonna eat seven pounds of meat to day. Okay. 550 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:50,120 Speaker 3: They're gonna have an impact on deer populations. They're gonna 551 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:52,880 Speaker 3: have an impact on elk populations. It's gonna be a 552 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:55,920 Speaker 3: negative impact, all right. At the same time, I don't 553 00:28:55,960 --> 00:28:57,800 Speaker 3: think that people need to go out and bring their 554 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 3: babies and children in the house and lock them up 555 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:01,720 Speaker 3: in the house because they're gonna get killed meat and 556 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:04,360 Speaker 3: by a wolf. That's just not true. But you have 557 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:07,920 Speaker 3: these two sides coming at you, where one side's telling you, oh, 558 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:12,040 Speaker 3: wolves will have no negative impact on wildlife populations. You 559 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:15,040 Speaker 3: got another side saying wolves are gonna kill all the 560 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:17,760 Speaker 3: deer and elk, They're gonna kill all the children to 561 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:19,320 Speaker 3: get rid of them right now. And it's like the 562 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:22,840 Speaker 3: truth is very much in the middle. I'm not opposed 563 00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:25,640 Speaker 3: to the wolves being on the ground. If I had 564 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:30,400 Speaker 3: been in charge of the wolf plan in the American West, 565 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 3: I would not have done the reintroductions. I would have 566 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:37,480 Speaker 3: taken the approach of letting them come in on their own, 567 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:41,239 Speaker 3: which they were doing, which they are doing moving in 568 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:44,480 Speaker 3: from Canada, the same way we see black bear populations 569 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:47,920 Speaker 3: expanding around naturally. I would have taken a slow approach 570 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:52,080 Speaker 3: let them come in. I think that I would have 571 00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:54,960 Speaker 3: had better public acceptance, and I think in the end, 572 00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:57,720 Speaker 3: in ten years, twenty years, we would be landing in 573 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:01,560 Speaker 3: the exact same place. There were all ready wolves walking 574 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:04,600 Speaker 3: into Colorado on their own fore feet. That was already 575 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:07,400 Speaker 3: happening when they decided to bring him in, when they 576 00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:09,360 Speaker 3: brought him in from Canada, when they brought him in 577 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:13,040 Speaker 3: from the Pacific Northwest. They turned it into just a 578 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:19,680 Speaker 3: giant controversy. The whole narrative got hijacked by the controversy. 579 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:21,920 Speaker 3: Just let him walk in on their own. Yeah, and 580 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:23,920 Speaker 3: that you would have It would have been so much 581 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:25,320 Speaker 3: better to let him walk in on their own. 582 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:27,440 Speaker 1: That's one of the biggest problems in politics, though, is 583 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:30,720 Speaker 1: you let man get involved. He immediately wants to put 584 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:33,760 Speaker 1: his fingerprint on something, almost like a badge of honor, 585 00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:36,560 Speaker 1: like I helped do this, But they don't think about 586 00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:39,840 Speaker 1: like what happens when you were talking about Governor Murphy 587 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:41,640 Speaker 1: in New Jersey. What happens when you have to stand 588 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:44,000 Speaker 1: up publicly and go, Okay, I was wrong, and I 589 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:47,840 Speaker 1: agree with you. I think that the conversation about reintroduction 590 00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:51,960 Speaker 1: of species or even allowing animals in the populations to 591 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:54,800 Speaker 1: flourish in an area, it needs to be more of 592 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:58,160 Speaker 1: this could happen, and this could happen. Let's kind of 593 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:01,920 Speaker 1: meet in the middle rather than the everyone's gonna die 594 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:04,040 Speaker 1: or all the animals will not exist. 595 00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:10,760 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's that's what kind of the wolf question you 596 00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:12,920 Speaker 3: see me like stuttering and having a hard time finding 597 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:15,400 Speaker 3: the right words. The wolf question puts me in this 598 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 3: position as someone who kind of deals in wildlife politics 599 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:23,000 Speaker 3: and deals in wildlife News. The wolf issue puts me 600 00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:27,600 Speaker 3: in this perspective of I'm always arguing with the both 601 00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:30,120 Speaker 3: sides of it. You know, I like, I'm once said, 602 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:33,000 Speaker 3: I'm saying, like you're underrepresenting the impact this is gonna have. 603 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:35,280 Speaker 3: This is going to have an impact. On the other side, 604 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:38,360 Speaker 3: I'm saying, you're kind of overplaying the impact this is 605 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:42,440 Speaker 3: going to have, because it's like it's just that there's 606 00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:47,720 Speaker 3: a there's a middle that isn't that isn't widely articulated 607 00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:51,000 Speaker 3: on the issue. But one thing I do have certainty 608 00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:53,720 Speaker 3: of is on the wolf question, man I would have 609 00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:56,840 Speaker 3: take I would have been patient and let it play 610 00:31:56,840 --> 00:32:00,520 Speaker 3: out naturally, and I think that would have manage some 611 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:02,120 Speaker 3: of the heated rhetoric we're seeing. 612 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:02,560 Speaker 2: Agreed. 613 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:06,320 Speaker 1: I just I like your take in your position to 614 00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:09,320 Speaker 1: that kind of stuff because I think time, I mean, 615 00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:12,080 Speaker 1: we hear it all the time, time heals all wounds, 616 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:15,000 Speaker 1: that kind of thing. I do want to switch gears. 617 00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:18,080 Speaker 1: I'm going on an elk hunt to Chama, New Mexico, 618 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:21,720 Speaker 1: and I'm doing this in December. In fact, I'm gonna 619 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:25,000 Speaker 1: miss Meat Eater Live in Birmingham because I fly out 620 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:27,200 Speaker 1: December seventeenth, and you guys are coming in to do 621 00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:31,200 Speaker 1: that show at the Lyric Theater Airport. Yeah, it would 622 00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:33,760 Speaker 1: be on the bus. Would It would be great? But 623 00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:35,800 Speaker 1: and I really want to come to the show. So 624 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:37,800 Speaker 1: maybe I'll make it up to one of the Nashville 625 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:39,560 Speaker 1: shows when when I get back. 626 00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:41,320 Speaker 2: But this is a rifle hunt. 627 00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:44,520 Speaker 1: The first elk hunt that I went on was in 628 00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:48,320 Speaker 1: your home state now of Montana, and it was maybe 629 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:51,600 Speaker 1: the most exciting hunt I've ever been on. When I 630 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:55,360 Speaker 1: hear a bull elk bugle in the wild for the 631 00:32:55,480 --> 00:32:59,400 Speaker 1: very first time, it said, chills up my body. Do 632 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:04,080 Speaker 1: you see you feel that way when you are among 633 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:08,080 Speaker 1: wild game? Uh, in the hunting world where you hear 634 00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:10,440 Speaker 1: them and you immediately get pumped. 635 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:15,200 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, that doesn't go away, man, that doesn't go away. 636 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:20,160 Speaker 3: They have a bowl especially close here, you know, ripping 637 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:22,760 Speaker 3: that ripping that bugle in your face and you see 638 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:26,120 Speaker 3: one of those things coming. Man, they come during the rut. 639 00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:28,640 Speaker 3: When they're coming, they look like something that's gonna eats 640 00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:31,400 Speaker 3: deer meat. I mean, they don't look like a grass 641 00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:36,200 Speaker 3: fat animal, man. They look like they look like that 642 00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:39,960 Speaker 3: thing's gonna eat me. Now they're they're they're they're so cool, 643 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:43,200 Speaker 3: and uh, that never goes away. It never goes away. 644 00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:45,280 Speaker 3: I still get excited. And now I hold my kids 645 00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:47,240 Speaker 3: all the time, so I see everything through their eyes, 646 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:49,400 Speaker 3: you know what I mean, Which has been really that's 647 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:51,640 Speaker 3: just been that's kind of to be honest with you. 648 00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:55,920 Speaker 3: Having kids that hunt with has really refreshed a lot 649 00:33:55,960 --> 00:33:59,640 Speaker 3: of my perspective because now even things that I've seen 650 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:02,880 Speaker 3: a bunch of times, I'm so excited for them to 651 00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:05,239 Speaker 3: see it. But I get as excited as they are 652 00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:08,839 Speaker 3: because I'm like anticipating them having the experience. And that's 653 00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:12,160 Speaker 3: really you know, I don't want to say reawaken because 654 00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:14,799 Speaker 3: that would imply that somehow I lost the fire. But 655 00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:22,479 Speaker 3: it's just like it's just reignited or put yeah, yeah, dude, 656 00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:24,960 Speaker 3: to have my kids out there and have them get excited, 657 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:27,600 Speaker 3: you know. And and uh, you know when we take 658 00:34:27,640 --> 00:34:29,480 Speaker 3: we go a hunter, there's a lot of emotion, man, 659 00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:32,680 Speaker 3: Like tears get shed, you know, people get frustrated, you know, 660 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:37,480 Speaker 3: missshots or you know, a little gloomy for a few hours. 661 00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:39,520 Speaker 3: But man, it's it's so much fun to have kids 662 00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:39,959 Speaker 3: out there. 663 00:34:40,239 --> 00:34:42,640 Speaker 1: Well, and that's probably how your dad felt when he 664 00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:46,719 Speaker 1: witnessed you getting so involved in hunting as as much 665 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:49,239 Speaker 1: as you have any words of wisdom when it comes 666 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:51,759 Speaker 1: to an elk hunt in New Mexico. When I share 667 00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:53,560 Speaker 1: with people that I'm going on an elk hunt in 668 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:56,640 Speaker 1: New Mexico, they go, wait, there's elk in New Mexico. 669 00:34:56,960 --> 00:34:57,880 Speaker 1: They always think. 670 00:34:57,719 --> 00:35:00,120 Speaker 2: That that's like an ex Actually. 671 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:03,799 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a funny perception. But I know that that 672 00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:08,839 Speaker 3: New Mexico has all that high country covered in timber. Uh. 673 00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:11,200 Speaker 3: They got down you know, they got downhill skiing, they 674 00:35:11,239 --> 00:35:14,759 Speaker 3: got elk, they got crystal clear trout streams. I know. Yeah, 675 00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:17,560 Speaker 3: people get this idea that from the desert flat, so 676 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:19,520 Speaker 3: that's what it looks like. Yeah, you'll be there. You 677 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:21,879 Speaker 3: probably notice, I mean, you know, the rut is way over. 678 00:35:23,239 --> 00:35:25,640 Speaker 3: Bulls are gonna be split off from cows. They're gonna 679 00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:27,560 Speaker 3: be wanting to hide out, They're gonna be wanting to 680 00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:31,120 Speaker 3: put calories on, and and probably turned into a game 681 00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:33,640 Speaker 3: of rather than listening for bugles, it's gonna become a 682 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:37,200 Speaker 3: binocular game of trying to find bulls, you know, and 683 00:35:37,239 --> 00:35:40,920 Speaker 3: if you find bowls, they're probably gonna be more or 684 00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:43,680 Speaker 3: less chilled out and more or less kind of standing 685 00:35:43,719 --> 00:35:45,840 Speaker 3: in the same little hidie hole and not moving around, 686 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:48,560 Speaker 3: so you'll probably be a lot of looking and then 687 00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:50,520 Speaker 3: you know, try to find one and start figuring out 688 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:52,080 Speaker 3: how you're gonna get how you're gonna get in the 689 00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:55,080 Speaker 3: range on it. But I'm jealous of that Stuff's fun, dude. 690 00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:57,279 Speaker 1: It looks it looks like it's gonna be a great time, 691 00:35:57,320 --> 00:35:59,359 Speaker 1: and I'm excited. I'm going with a buddy of mine 692 00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:01,120 Speaker 1: from Saint Louis Us who I did a lot of 693 00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:03,720 Speaker 1: duck hunting with when I lived there, and he'd always 694 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:05,440 Speaker 1: wanted to do an l hunt. This one kind of 695 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:07,440 Speaker 1: just landed in my lap and I said, well, if 696 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:09,920 Speaker 1: you want to go do this, then let's go do it. 697 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:13,480 Speaker 1: So I should be I should be full of stories 698 00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:15,080 Speaker 1: when I come back and see you. But if you 699 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:18,040 Speaker 1: guys want to see Steven Ranella and the crew meet 700 00:36:18,080 --> 00:36:21,440 Speaker 1: Eater Live on their Christmas tour. It kicks off Birmingham, Alabama, 701 00:36:21,719 --> 00:36:27,759 Speaker 1: December seventeenth, but then they'll go to Nashville, Memphis, Arkansas, Dallas, Texas, 702 00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:31,480 Speaker 1: and Austin to wrap it up right before the holidays. Steve, 703 00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:32,759 Speaker 1: thanks so much for jumping on. 704 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:35,240 Speaker 3: Hey, thanks man, and I hope I hope your listeners 705 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:37,279 Speaker 3: come out for the show. We got a lot of 706 00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:40,520 Speaker 3: prizes we give away. We keep things very up up tempo, 707 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:42,839 Speaker 3: kind of like a little bit of a variety show, 708 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:45,680 Speaker 3: a lot of laugh you'll have to good time to 709 00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:46,719 Speaker 3: come out thanking them.