Ep. 672: MeatEater Radio Live! Clearing Trails, Getting Roasted, and Beaver Pillows

Hosts Randall Williams, Brody Henderson, and Maggie Hudlow sniff out fake news in a new game, talk with Rebecca Powell about her work with the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation, get a tour of MeatEater HQ and a sneak peek into "MeatEater Roasts," catch up with Kaitlin Lospinoso (@oldtrapperkate) about her trapping season, and dive into 1988's The Bear in another installment of MeatEater Movie Club. Watch the live stream on the MeatEater Podcast Network YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@MeatEaterPodcastNetwork Connect with The MeatEater Podcast Network https://www.youtube.com/@MeatEaterPodcastNetwork MeatEater on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/meateater, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/StevenRinellaMeatEater/, Twitter https://twitter.com/MeatEaterTV?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor, and YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@MeatEaterPodcastNetwork See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.

• 0:04Steven Rinella?

  Anywhere worth going this holiday season is better in comfortable boots. You can find the perfect pair for you or them if you're shopping for someone at Tacovus. My Tacovus are so comfortable, it's a problem because my high schooler is always trying to steal them. I love the feel of quality leather boots because then you know you're ready for anything. And Tacovus delivers that feeling with confidence and quality. I love them. And if you go to Tacovus store, prepare to be wowed by the customer service. Tacovus boots are handcrafted with over 200 meticulous steps for broken-in comfort right out of the box for the whole family. It's time to bring on the holiday cheer in classic fits and comfortable styles with a new pair of Tacovus Western Boots.

• 0:50Steven Rinella?

  From cowhide and goat to exotic leathers like ostrich and caiman, whether it's your first pair or your 50th pair, Tacovus has your new favorites. Right now, get 10% off at tacovus.com/meateater when you sign up for email and text. That's 10% off at T E C O V A S dot com slash meat eater. Tacovus.com slash meat eater. See site for details. Tacovus, point your toes west. Warning: This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. Black Buffalo products are intended for adults aged 21 and older who are consumers of nicotine or tobacco.

• 1:29Steven Rinella?

  Black Buffalo spent 20,000 hours working alongside American farmers to build a tobacco alternative that actually dips like the real thing. Long cut ampouges made from barn cured leafy greens with no tobacco leaf or stem and wintergreen mint straight and more. Check your local gas station or C store or hit blackbuffalo.com and use code MEAT for 30% off your first order. Black Buffalo Tobacco Alternative is everything you love about dip, nothing you don't. I'll tell you one thing that binds together all of the vehicles in the Rinella fleet at my house. They all have weather tech.

• 2:10Speaker 02

  Floor liners. When we get a new car, the first thing we do out with the junky factory carpet mats in with WeatherTech. They really are the best. They're indestructible. You can pull them out, hose them off. It doesn't matter what happens on the floor of your rig. If you've got WeatherTech, you're going to be covered. I love these things. If you're looking to get a great gift for someone, especially if they're a big time outdoors kind of person, like if you really want to do them a favor, get them some WeatherTech floor liners for their truck or car. They'll have a way easier time keeping their rig nice and clean, and they'll get years and years of use out of a set. Visit weatherTech.com for your holiday shopping today.

• 2:57Speaker 03

  Smell us now, lady. Welcome to MeatEater Trivia. MeatEater Podcast.

• 3:20Speaker 02

  Welcome to MeatEater Radio Live. It's 11 a.m. Mountain Time. That's 7 p.m. Hungary Time for those listeners in Hungary on Thursday, March 6th, and we're live from MeatEater HQ in Bozeman, Montana. I'm your host, Randall Williams, joined today by Maggie Hudlow and Brody Henderson. On today's show, we're kicking off a new segment called Fake News. We'll call in with Rebecca Powell from the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation. We're going to take you backstage for a look at MeatEater's new culinary show, MeatEater Roast. We'll chat with Kaitlyn Low Spinoso, aka Old Trapper Kate, and we'll round out the show with another long awaited MeatEater Movie Club. Maggie and Brody, how are you guys doing?

• 4:03Speaker 04

  Doing great.

• 4:05Speaker 05

  Not so bad.

• 4:06Speaker 02

  Lovely.

• 4:07Speaker 05

  How are you doing, Randall?

• 4:08Speaker 02

  I'm doing well. I'm doing well. It's great to have you here at Bozeman HQ.

• 4:12Speaker 05

  It's good to be here.

• 4:15Speaker 02

  Well, first up in a new segment we're calling Fake News, I'm going to share a selectively edited hunting or fishing-related headline from the news, and Brody and Maggie need to fill in the blank with multiple choice options. Only one of these is true, according to this news article.

• 4:37Speaker 02

  And here's where we'll add Phil's drop in later. Phil's just had a real busy week. Apologies to the listeners out there. Phil, what do you have to say for yourself?

• 4:44Speaker 04

  I don't mean to disappoint anybody. It's been a crazy week here at Meat Eater HQ. We got a lot of new projects happening. And so I didn't have time to make a drop this week. I do have an idea. But then we thought we'd bring Chili in and then he wimped out. Chili, if you're watching, good job. So now we have nothing for you. And frankly, it's all Chili's fault.

• 5:03Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 5:04Speaker 06

  Chili's working on Meteor's roast right now, Phil.

• 5:07Speaker 02

  Well, the thing is, is he, he had agreed to do this, but then he said he couldn't figure out the chords, the chord progression. So.

• 5:15Speaker 06

  So he did wimp out.

• 5:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 5:18Speaker 04

  So just imagine something. If you guys want to make some pitches in the live chat, I will read them, not necessarily take them into consideration. But if you have a really good one, you might break through the ceiling.

• 5:29Speaker 02

  And I, I know it, it sounds like we're just killing time here, but I really think that with the announcement, with the announcement of the new segment, folks were keyed up. They were ready to go.

• 5:40Speaker 04

  They were ready.

• 5:41Speaker 02

  So just imagine in your head what this would sound like.

• 5:43Speaker 04

  The live viewer count is dropping fast.

• 5:46Speaker 06

  Phil's drops are the best part of the whole damn show.

• 5:49Speaker 02

  I know, I know. I already feel like this show's a flop. On to our first headline, Phil.

• 5:55Speaker 04

  Sure thing. I'm using this slideshow for the very first time. There we are. Hey.

• 6:00Speaker 02

  So this is our first headline. Rocky Mountain National Park has too many, A, trails. Rocky Mountain National Park has too many, B, elk. Rocky Mountain National Park has too many, C, visitors. Or Rocky Mountain National Park has too many, D, moose.

• 6:20Speaker 06

  So we're looking for the one that's, that's fake.

• 6:23Speaker 02

  You're looking for the one that's true.

• 6:25Speaker 06

  For true.

• 6:26Speaker 02

  The, the actual headline.

• 6:30Speaker 06

  Okay. Um.

• 6:32Speaker 05

  I'm gonna say B, elk.

• 6:35Speaker 02

  Maggie says B elk.

• 6:37Speaker 06

  God, I think I just read an article about something else. Like, I know they've had too many elk at one time, but I think the headline might be moose.

• 6:47Speaker 05

  That was my other thought.

• 6:48Speaker 02

  Moose is your final answer?

• 6:49Speaker 06

  Mm-hmm.

• 6:50Speaker 02

  Brody gets it. Phil, do we have like a ding ding ding?

• 6:54Speaker 04

  Uh, if I were a professional engineer, I would have one prepared, um, but unfortunately I don't.

• 6:59Speaker 06

  Well, although I could find you a headline that says they have too many elk.

• 7:02Speaker 02

  I could find you a headline that says they have too many visitors as well.

• 7:05Speaker 05

  Mm-hmm.

• 7:06Speaker 02

  This one comes from our friends at Outdoor Life. While moose populations are down across much of their range in North America, Colorado is a noteworthy exception. In Rocky Mountain National Park, wildlife managers are concerned that a moose population growing at 5% year over year is having a deleterious effect on wetland habitats and willow growth. A single moose can consume up to 45 pounds of willows in a day, and some areas of the park have seen a decline of up to 80% of their willows since 1999.

• 7:37Speaker 06

  The wolves will take care of that problem for too long. It's like, just, just give it a little time.

• 7:43Speaker 02

  I almost added wolves in there as an option, but I thought it might be too on the nose and perhaps, uh, you know, traumatizing or triggering to some of our audience.

• 7:53Speaker 02

  Onto our second headline here, Phil. Can wildlife heal blank? The science behind nature's unexpected remedy. The first answer is A, chronic pain. The second is PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. C is autoimmune disorder. D is hypertension. What are we thinking here, gang? What can nature heal according to this article?

• 8:23Speaker 06

  Go ahead, Maggie. You pick yours.

• 8:26Speaker 05

  Ha, I'm, I'm gonna go B again, PTSD.

• 8:31Speaker 06

  I'm gonna go with C.

• 8:33Speaker 02

  Hmm. Well, it's one to one, gang. The correct answer is B, PTSD.

• 8:40Speaker 02

  Thank you, Corey.

• 8:41Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 8:42Speaker 02

  This show's really taking off. This one comes from SciTech Daily. Researchers from the University of Massachusetts studied nineteen veterans with PTSD and observed notable psychological benefits, particularly reduced levels of anxiety among those who engaged in visits to wildlife sanctuaries, participated in wildlife care at rehabilitation centers, and engaged in bird watching. According to Dr. Donna Perry, while many studies involving interactions between humans and other species aimed at improving psychological or physical health have involved domestic animals, few studies have focused on wildlife.

• 9:20Speaker 06

  I think that's great news, but I don't think it's new news.

• 9:25Speaker 06

  People have been doing, you know, like when I was a guide, we used to do like wounded warrior things.

• 9:31Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 9:32Speaker 06

  In the outdoors and...

• 9:33Speaker 02

  The news is that we have the study to back it up. Phil, why don't you read me the date on that article?

• 9:39Speaker 04

  It says March 6, 2025. Holy crap.

• 9:42Speaker 02

  That's today's news, Brody.

• 9:44Speaker 06

  Yeah, well, like I said, don't think it's new news.

• 9:48Speaker 02

  Boy, Rocky Star here.

• 9:53Speaker 02

  Onto our third headline. I kind of like this bit, though.

• 9:57Speaker 04

  It's fun, and I would, this is kind of a dry run. If people like it, we'll be back with, with bells and whistles, and hopefully Brody will be more excited.

• 10:04Speaker 06

  Yeah, well, it's not that I'm not excited. Like, I like it because I like arguing and, you know, and trivia Spencer just doesn't put up with arguing about his questions, so, you know.

• 10:14Speaker 05

  I know the answer to this one. Hmm. One hundred percent.

• 10:18Speaker 04

  We should...

• 10:18Speaker 06

  Oh, yeah, this one's been all over the place. You don't even...

• 10:21Speaker 02

  Oh, but I thought my answers are so clever.

• 10:25Speaker 04

  Well, let's, let's read the headline for the audio listeners here.

• 10:27Speaker 02

  Blank for dinner. California officials urge residents to eat invasive blank. Your options are skate for dinner. California officials urge residents to eat invasive stingrays. Frog legs for dinner. California officials urge residents to eat invasive bullfrogs. Rodent for dinner. California officials urge residents to eat invasive nutria. Or D, cactus for dinner. California officials urge residents to eat invasive African prickly pear.

• 10:59Speaker 06

  It's C.

• 11:00Speaker 05

  C, nutria.

• 11:02Speaker 02

  Well, we've got a tie game, gang.

• 11:06Speaker 04

  There's a sound. I found one.

• 11:07Speaker 02

  The correct answer is rodent for dinner. California officials urged residents to eat invasive nutria. According to an article in The Guardian, this call to action came during National Invasive Species Awareness Week in late February. Nutria were believed to have been eradicated from the Golden State in the 1970s, but a growing population was detected in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in 2017. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has removed some 5,500 nutria from these wetlands so far. And federal officials are trying to make the consumption of nutrias somewhat enticing by drawing similarities to the taste of rabbit or dark turkey meat.

• 11:47Speaker 02

  Resources, including recipes for nutria dishes such as stews and chili, are available on nutria.com.

• 11:54Speaker 05

  Yeah, The New York Times really didn't do a good job of selling it. Their headline, their headline was "Keep Invasive Species in Check: Eat a Big Rat-Like Rodent."

• 12:06Speaker 06

  I think, I think the funny thing about this is that this is coming out of California, which is like, one of the most anti-hunting states in the country. And they're like, "Oh yeah, go kill these things."

• 12:19Speaker 02

  That's a lot of dead things.

• 12:21Speaker 06

  I know. But, um, they need to call, uh, they need to call our old friend Mark Kendricks, who, uh...

• 12:29Speaker 02

  Is he the Chesapeake guy?

• 12:30Speaker 06

  He managed Operation Rolling Thunder in the Chesapeake Bay, which is like the only place they fully eradicated those things.

• 12:39Speaker 02

  Yeah. I, I gotta say, I wasn't, California nutria weren't on my radar.

• 12:44Speaker 06

  Yeah. I think they scattered those things all over the place to create, you know, a fur industry back in the day, I believe.

• 12:50Speaker 02

  Yeah. I will point out that there is an invasive African prickly pear cactus called the devil's cactus.

• 12:57Speaker 06

  Sounds nasty.

• 12:58Speaker 02

  Yeah, I did a little bit of research for this.

• 12:59Speaker 05

  Can you eat it?

• 13:01Speaker 02

  Uh, no, I don't think so. Um, we don't have a tiebreaker yet. That's a little wrinkle we should add next time we do this.

• 13:08Speaker 04

  So let's, hold on, I just want to make sure we have this all correct. There was no drop?

• 13:13Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 13:13Speaker 04

  No sound effects? I'll take credit for that.

• 13:15Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 13:16Speaker 04

  Uh, no tiebreaker.

• 13:17Speaker 02

  Right.

• 13:18Speaker 04

  Um, how do we feel this segment went?

• 13:20Speaker 02

  You know, I like it. I think it's got real potential. I think it's got real potential.

• 13:26Speaker 02

  Um, Brody observed to me yesterday when we were sort of going over this, that this would be a segment best played with some of our less, uh...

• 13:35Speaker 02

  Less news following crew members.

• 13:37Speaker 06

  Yeah, sure.

• 13:38Speaker 02

  The folks, yeah, the less online people would probably have more fun with this one. But I was pleased that you both didn't get all of them right.

• 13:45Speaker 06

  Yeah, yeah.

• 13:46Speaker 02

  So.

• 13:47Speaker 06

  Learn something new every day, man.

• 13:48Speaker 02

  That's a start. Fantastic, gang. Thank you. Joining us on the line first is Rebecca Powell, the program director for the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation. Rebecca, welcome to the show.

• 14:03Speaker 07

  Hey, thanks for having me. Happy to be here.

• 14:05Speaker 02

  Great to have you.

• 14:06Speaker 07

  Great show.

• 14:07Speaker 02

  Yeah, oh, yeah.

• 14:09Speaker 04

  Man.

• 14:09Speaker 02

  It can only go on from here, so.

• 14:11Speaker 04

  I love the honesty, Rebecca.

• 14:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah. You're glad that first segment didn't kill. It's tough act to follow. First thing, can you tell us a little bit about the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation? And maybe for folks that are not from this part of the world, what the Bob Marshall Wilderness is?

• 14:30Speaker 07

  Yeah, so I am the program director at the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation. We're a nonprofit partner of the Forest Service and we help steward the 1.6 million acre Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. So the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex is in northwest Montana, kind of below Glacier National Park, above Yellowstone and Missoula area. And it makes three wilderness areas. So there's the Great Bear to the north, the Bob Marshall in the middle, and the Scapegoat Wilderness on the south end. And together, that makes up the 1.6 Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex that we all just refer to as the Bob. So that is a little bit about the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

• 15:13Speaker 07

  And us as a nonprofit organization, we're pretty small. We have seven full-time year-round staff. We've been around for almost 30 years. And, you know, the Bob Foundation started as a place for volunteers to get together and help clear those secondary trails and do some of the trail maintenance that wasn't getting done as Forest Service was facing those budget cuts. As we've evolved, you know, we've gone from more than just moving dirt and now as an organization. We do a lot of education about wilderness. We do have a pretty robust internship program. We have some traditional skills programs such as packing.

• 15:56Speaker 07

  We have Artist Wilderness Connection Program where we partner with the Hockaday Museum of Art in the Flathead National Forest and place a few artists in the backcountry each season to do some art. And then, of course, the bread and butter is our volunteer program. So we have about forty projects usually each season that we take volunteers out. We have anything from, you know, a day like National Trails Day, doing a day of trail work, to ten-day trips where you're in the backcountry for ten days. All of them are led by one of our crew leaders. We provide food and pack support, all the tools.

• 16:36Speaker 07

  And those opportunities are free for anybody who wants to join, given that it's within your physical limitations to do it. Yeah, and a lot of our work with the volunteers is clearing trails, is brushing, you know, all that alder off the trails, clearing drains and improving tread. We do some work on some of those admin cabins in the backcountry, you know, rebuilding corrals, that kind of stuff.

• 17:06Speaker 02

  And there are some, there are some unique challenges to that type of work in a wilderness area. Can you tell us a little bit about what a, what a day of trail maintenance looks like for a volunteer crew?

• 17:17Speaker 07

  Yeah, so, um, I, I always tell our crew leaders that they have the hardest job within the complex because they're training new volunteers each, each week, you know. So depending on their hitch schedule, volunteers show up at a trailhead. We have up to eight to ten volunteers each project that meet a crew leader at the trailhead. We have volunteer packers that use horses and mules that carry in all the food and tool and group gear into a backcountry site. And we set up a base camp and work out of that base camp. For however many days the trip is and because it's a designated wilderness, you know, no mechanized use within the wilderness. So we're using crosscut saws,

• 18:00Speaker 07

  hand saws, Pulaski's, loppers, that kind of stuff. And all the stuff that we get is transported into the backcountry with horses and mules. So it's primitive. It's just how we like it.

• 18:13Speaker 02

  A lot of sweat.

• 18:15Speaker 07

  It is a lot of sweat. And you know, volunteers are, they're, they're into it, man. People like to work hard and it's impressive to see the amount of people that come out and want to do hard work with us.

• 18:26Speaker 02

  That's great. Recently, we've been covering a lot of the layoffs affecting our public land management agencies, the Forest Service included. Can you, can you speak to how those cuts at the Forest Service are affecting your organization, sort of how you interface with the Forest Service?

• 18:47Speaker 07

  Yeah, there's a lot of ways that that's affecting our organization. We are like, you know, we pride ourselves on the relationship that we have with the Forest Service, the folks at the district level within those other five districts that manage the Bon Marshall Wilderness Complex. And we are, are close with all of them. So each season around January or so, we meet with those trails and wilderness folks and, and ask them like, hey, where do you guys need help? How can we help you get some volunteers in? And that's how we build our summer schedule and work through that. And then, once the field season starts, you know, those folks that are on the ground for the Forest Service, those river rangers, those trail crews, those backcountry rangers, those are the people that we're communicating

• 19:32Speaker 07

  with on our trips. We're checking in on the radio every day with those folks. We're, they're flagging out the work we need to do. Maybe they're out there a couple of days before that we show up and they're flagging out where to put a drain, you know, or to clean up a campsite or that kind of stuff. And the complex has experienced significant workforce cuts over the, over the last few weeks. You know, Rocky Mountain Ranger District had a Country crew of 11 and now they're down to three. Spotted Bear is similar that they had a backcountry crew of 20 something and now they're down to four or five people. So that's going to create significant barriers for the public and for us to be able to

• 20:18Speaker 07

  achieve the level of work that we hope to do. You know, as an example, we work with the Forest Service. We have our seasonal workforce that we ramp up to is about 26 folks. That's crew leaders, that's interns, that's packer apprentices.

• 20:36Speaker 07

  Usually we hire two wilderness river rangers to go out with the with the river ranger out of Spotted Bear and that that position no longer is there. And so we can't have those two interns go out on their own without any supervision. So we're readjusting, we're getting creative, we're trying to think of ways that we can still be effective and help out and be of service to what's left out there.

• 21:07Speaker 02

  Gotcha. Do you have sort of concrete plans looking forward to the summer or are there still a lot of uncertainties at the moment?

• 21:16Speaker 07

  Yeah, I mean, yeah, yeah. Working in wilderness, there's never any concrete plans, right? We're used to Plan A, Plan B, Plan D. You know, we're always adapting for weather and whatever injuries, illness, everything. This is definitely a big hitch in our in our program.

• 21:37Speaker 07

  Because of, I mean, shortages aside, workforce cuts aside, our program budget was cut 50%

• 21:47Speaker 07

  because of a lot of the funding that we get is frozen currently. So the funding from, you know, the Great American Outdoors Act that helps fund our interns and our trail crews and that kind of stuff, the some of the grants that actually fund paying for the food for our volunteers, those are all currently frozen and.

• 22:10Speaker 02

  Hey Rebecca, Rebecca, that's money that was already approved to go to you guys, correct?

• 22:17Speaker 07

  Correct. That's money that's approved to us. That's like, for instance, the, um, the America the Beautiful grant that we get that, that funds our invasives crew. So we have an invasive species coordinator that works for us and he has, um, four interns and a crew leader that go around the complex and, uh, spray and map invasive weeds all summer long. That's funded from the, um, America the Beautiful grant, which we're in year three of a five-year grant of that and that has been, has been frozen. So, um, this is the time of year that we're hiring all of our interns and placing all those folks and, um, we kind of put a temporary pause on that, uh, because we don't want to hire all these folks and then be like, hey, guess what?

• 23:02Speaker 07

  Uh, we don't have the funding, so you can't go out there and do the work. So, um, we have decided to just keep moving on as if we have that funding in place. And then, uh, we've made a deadline that if we don't have, you know, confirmation of that funding at a certain time, we'll, we'll call it off and re, re, uh, group our, our summer schedule. I mean, there's, like I said, there's seven of us year-round staff and like, five of us are, um, are ready to roll up our sleeves and get in the back country. You know, it's folks that, um, still spend quite a bit of time doing work in the back country. So we can still do some volunteer trips. We can still do some packing.

• 23:43Speaker 07

  We can do some other things. It'll just be, uh, quite abbreviated from, from what we had hoped and planned.

• 23:51Speaker 02

  So if folks, um, if folks are interested in supporting your work, uh, how do they either go about volunteering and getting, getting out there with you guys this summer? Or if they maybe live remote or, uh, or can't do trail work themselves, how else can they support your mission?

• 24:10Speaker 07

  Yeah, well, we do a lot of fundraisers right now. We have, we partner with the Telluride Mountain Film Festival and do like a fundraiser and kind of circumnavigate the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex on Friday, tomorrow. We have a show in Big Fork. We have a show in Shoto, Montana,

• 24:30Speaker 07

  in Helena, and Missoula, and Whitefish. So, anybody can go and buy tickets to come see us at those events. And we have raffles and fun stuff, and a lot of great films on that. We also have like, business partners. So if you're a business owner and you want to be part of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and supporting that, you can join our business, become a business partner. A big fundraiser for us actually is our license plates. So we have like, the Bob license plates. It's when you go to the DMV, it's the one with like a pack string on it. Get those on your car. That's super supportive of us. We have monthly donations,

• 25:11Speaker 07

  all kinds of different donations. You know, like I said, really only 20% of our funding comes directly from the Forest Service. The rest is all donations and fundraisers and merchandise sales and all that stuff, so.

• 25:24Speaker 02

  Good deal.

• 25:25Speaker 07

  Any of that support is great.

• 25:27Speaker 02

  And as far as the volunteer side of things, if, you know, if I get in the weight room, or get in shape and ready to grab a hold of a crosscut saw, what's my next step there?

• 25:40Speaker 07

  Yeah, so traditionally, we've launched our volunteer projects by March 1st. That's on pause for right now, so we get confirmation that we have the funding to go ahead with that and hire our crew leaders and, you know, buy volunteer food and all that stuff and pay for the pack support that joins us out there. Our trips are all posted online on our website, on our social media. We'll promote that once we launch those. Some of our trips fill up really fast, some of them don't. We like to have a large variety of trips. So we'll have, like I said, some like just one day trips that are like lopping or pulling weeds or something. And then we have like,

• 26:24Speaker 07

  I think our most popular trip is like a five day trip. So you hike in, you work for two days, you have a day off, you work for two more days or one more day, and then you hike out. And those, you know, there's, there's different variations of, of the fitness levels you need for that. And we, we advertise that on our website. Some of them, you know, you're hiking 14 miles into the backcountry over a mountain pass, and that's more strenuous. And the work you're doing is like clearing a trail that's, you know, had a significant blowdown and you're on a crosscut all day. Some of the trips that are even longer are you hike six miles into a backcountry site and you work on campsite restoration and,

• 27:05Speaker 07

  you know, getting rid of fire rings and burying poop and all that kind of stuff. That, that's a little less strenuous. So we have

• 27:14Speaker 02

  There's some for everyone, is what you're saying.

• 27:16Speaker 07

  There's some for everyone.

• 27:17Speaker 02

  Excellent.

• 27:17Speaker 07

  Yep.

• 27:19Speaker 02

  Well, Rebecca, we, I could, I think I can speak for everyone in the building that we love the Bob Marshall Wilderness as we love all of our public lands. And so we appreciate the work that you do. And hopefully we can maybe get a couple of us out on a crew with you this summer or the next.

• 27:35Speaker 07

  Yeah, that sounds great. We have partner trips too. So if you want to just grab your friends and come join us, the whole Meat Eater crew can come out and

• 27:43Speaker 02

  Oh, I like that idea.

• 27:43Speaker 07

  You can't film it because we're in wilderness. So

• 27:46Speaker 02

  I like that idea very much.

• 27:48Speaker 07

  Yeah, you can take some pictures. Yeah, I appreciate you guys taking the time to hear from us and, and kind of shed some light on to the work that we're doing and our, and our passion for the public land and the place. And, and thanks for having us.

• 28:02Speaker 02

  Yeah, happy to do it. And good luck. We appreciate you.

• 28:06Speaker 07

  Thanks. Thanks, Rebecca.

• 28:09Steven Rinella?

  I'll tell you one thing that binds together all of the vehicles in the Rinella fleet at my house. They all have WeatherTech floor liners. When we get a new car, the first thing we do, out with the junky factory carpet mats, in with WeatherTech. They really are the best. They're indestructible. You can pull them out, hose them off. It doesn't matter what happens on the floor of your rig. If you've got WeatherTech, you're going to be covered. I love these things. If you're looking to get a great gift for someone, especially if they're a big time outdoors kind of person, like if you really want to do them a favor, get them some WeatherTech floor liners for their truck or car. They'll have a way easier time keeping their rig nice and clean, and they'll get years and years of use out of

• 28:53Steven Rinella?

  a set. Visit weathertech.com for your holiday shopping today. This episode is sponsored in part by BetterHelp. The holiday season is damn near upon us. In my house, we've been talking about Thanksgiving, and we're going to start talking about Christmas, and it could bring on a lot of stress. Also, holidays can bring on a lot of family issues, and sometimes when it comes to family issues, it might be smart for you to go and find someone you can talk to about it and to help make sense out of it all. Well, insurance options may now be available nationwide with BetterHelp. With insurance, many members pay $15 or less. Some pay nothing. BetterHelp does the initial matching work for you so you can focus on

• 29:37Steven Rinella?

  your therapy goals. A short questionnaire helps identify your needs and preferences, and their 10-plus years of experience and industry-leading match fulfillment rate means they typically get it right the first time. If you aren't happy with your match, go ahead and switch to a different therapist at any time from their tailored recommendations. BetterHelp is now in-network with more than 125 health plans, with many co-pays as low as $15 for eligible members. And if you don't have eligible insurance or live outside the U.S., you can still get 20% off your first month. Sign up and get 20% off at betterhelp.com/meateater. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P, dot com slash meat eater.

• 30:23Speaker 02

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of 5-star TrustPilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval. Now, here's a transition we didn't rework after a little edit to our script.

• 30:56Speaker 04

  Oh, hold on here. I'll help you out. And I guess that's why they call it fake news. There's an Elton John drop.

• 31:03Speaker 02

  Oh, that's good. Very good. That's really good.

• 31:05Speaker 04

  Throw in something about like the pee tape or pizza gate and then, you know, you've got yourself a drop right there.

• 31:09Speaker 02

  Oh, that's good.

• 31:10Speaker 05

  Yes, Phil.

• 31:11Speaker 04

  Yeah. That's how the magic happens, right here in this chair. You guys got to witness it live.

• 31:17Speaker 02

  That's great. That's a, that's an example of someone adapting and, and, and, you know, making it work in the show. But I'm going to read a transition that has not been reworked. Speaking of our new show, Meat Eater Roast, Cory, why don't you walk down the hallway to the kitchen and see what's cooking? Oh, great idea, Randall. Hey there, bud. You guys were making me hungry with all that chatter about Meat Eater Roast. Just walking down the hall.

• 31:45Speaker 04

  And I just want to, I don't want to understate how, how, this is like a first time experience. People are getting to see the behind the scenes Meat Eater headquarters right now.

• 31:54Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 31:57Speaker 02

  Who's that?

• 31:58Speaker 05

  Is Yanni juggling?

• 31:59Speaker 04

  Holy cow.

• 32:01Speaker 02

  Yanni, what's cooking?

• 32:03Speaker 03

  Well, I'm just tenderizing these avocados.

• 32:06Speaker 02

  Ooh, careful.

• 32:07Speaker 03

  In case they have to use these for a part of their meal today. What do you want me to, you want me to just explain what Meat Eater Roast is?

• 32:16Speaker 02

  Yeah. Yeah, what are you going to do in here?

• 32:18Speaker 03

  It's Meat Eater's new competition cooking show where we have two ordinary wild game cooks, which up to this point have all been Meat Eater employees. And not just the ones that you expect to be good wild game cooks. You've got folks like Corinne in here, Maggie Hudlow, maybe you would expect them to be.

• 32:37Speaker 02

  Yeah, I'm not sure. Take that, Corinne or Maggie.

• 32:40Speaker 05

  All right, Yanni.

• 32:46Speaker 03

  You know what I mean.

• 32:49Speaker 02

  No, what do you mean?

• 32:50Speaker 03

  We have the challenge or the mystery that makes their competition. Well, we have two people which makes their competition. But every episode, there's a protein or a chunk of meat that is unknown to the contestants until the moment that I reveal it. And like, right here in this cast iron mini dutch oven, whatever they call these, um, is what meat is for that episode we're gonna film today. Um, so I'm gonna reveal it to the contestants and then they're gonna have 90 minutes to cook me and the two judges that we're gonna have here. Which one of them is gonna be Maggie Hudlow. We also have the most famous butcher I know, Anna Borman, that'll be judging today.

• 33:33Speaker 03

  And they're gonna have 90 minutes to cook us up something delicious with that meat. The best part about this show, um, this is episode number four that we're filming today, is that we've come to see that, uh, wild game cooking is not that hard. Everybody that's participated so far has whipped up some amazing stuff in an unlimited amount of time, not knowing what they had to work with when they started. Uh, so, uh, the energy level is high. People are digging, uh, producing it with us. So I'm hoping that the viewers are gonna like it too. Any questions, Corey, or from the, uh, next door? I can just walk over there too if you guys wanna talk to me in person.

• 34:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, Yannis, I wonder if you're a little overconfident there in your assessment that the show is demonstrating that wild game cooking is not that hard. Uh, I will be joining you there in about an hour and, uh, I'll be taking the helm at that stove, so I wouldn't really count your chickens before they hatch, as the old proverb goes. I think I might set a new standard for incompetence.

• 34:40Speaker 03

  A bit difficult chunk of gamey for you too. Um, you're not gonna have, uh, I'm not giving you like a, an elk tenderloin to work with. So, uh, put your thinking cap on, Randall.

• 34:55Speaker 03

  Oh, you hear that from Max?

• 34:56Speaker 02

  No.

• 34:57Speaker 03

  You're in an hour, you're late.

• 34:59Speaker 02

  Oh, geez.

• 35:00Speaker 03

  About thirty minutes.

• 35:01Speaker 02

  Well, we better wrap this sucker up then. Anything you'd like to add, Chili?

• 35:06Speaker 03

  Yeah, um, you know, really rooting for you, Randall. And the other contestant as well, but, uh.

• 35:13Speaker 02

  He who should not be named.

• 35:15Speaker 06

  Chili just wants to make sure you keep the kitchen clean while you're working.

• 35:18Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 35:20Speaker 03

  Your eyes is fucked up. Chili's done a great job remodeling this kitchen. Check out some beautiful artwork.

• 35:25Speaker 02

  That's our new art gallery, for those of you watching.

• 35:29Speaker 03

  Whoa, which way? This way?

• 35:33Speaker 02

  Sam, there's the brains behind the whole operation and the creative. The creative engine behind it all. Sam, why don't you say hi to the folks instead of hiding behind the? Hi. Lovely.

• 35:47Speaker 05

  There's some real interesting stuff on that shelf behind Sam, too.

• 35:51Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 35:52Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah. What are some interesting ingredients that these folks have to work with? Oh, listen, Corinne. She's attracted to the craziest stuff that is available in the outdoors. And so she really wanted to use the, uh, python oil. I can't remember who sent this to Steve. But unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, it's rancid. So, um, if you see this in an upcoming episode, you will know that that person that used it lost. Corinne really wanted to use it.

• 36:23Speaker 05

  It did not smell good.

• 36:27Speaker 03

  Yeah, we got grizzly bear fat, which we did use some grizzly bear grease the other day. I wish I knew the story on how they legally obtained it. Maybe they got it from Alaska, I guess. But it was actually very delicious. Oh, and then what the, um, Maggie and Corinne the other day used, uh, bison garum, which was, uh, it basically tasted like an extra-rich soy sauce, like, like mega umami.

• 36:54Speaker 05

  Yeah, I'm really curious how that was made. I would love to learn how to make garum. It was delicious.

• 37:01Speaker 03

  Um, we also, if you've never seen this exotic pasta from Italy called penne. Penne, right?

• 37:09Speaker 02

  I thought the E was silent. Just peen.

• 37:13Speaker 03

  Maybe you see Randall elbow macaroni also from Italy.

• 37:19Speaker 02

  Ah.

• 37:21Speaker 02

  Got any Wonder Bread, any ketchup?

• 37:24Speaker 05

  Oh, yeah.

• 37:25Speaker 03

  Yeah, buddy. We we have we have like a crush shell. We have a crush shell for those that that can't get it done with, you know, from scratch. You can use ketchup, Wonder Bread, that sort of stuff. And I'll be happy to eat it, but it's probably going to cost you a little bit of in the creativity.

• 37:45Speaker 02

  You don't know what I'm going to do with it yet.

• 37:48Speaker 03

  I I don't. I don't. But I feel like that stuff's a little bit of a crush. It's a little bit of the easy button.

• 37:53Speaker 02

  Well, well, I'm going to see what I get for my mystery ingredient today, and we'll just proceed from there. How's that sound?

• 38:02Speaker 03

  We'll see you.

• 38:03Speaker 02

  See you in a little bit.

• 38:04Speaker 03

  Get back to entertaining these folks. Okay?

• 38:06Speaker 02

  Thank you. Thank you, sir.

• 38:09Speaker 05

  Now, Randall has teased me with the prospect of a meat smoothie today.

• 38:14Speaker 02

  Yes, I've been told there's a blender, and if all else fails, can't nail the texture on the on the hot pan. It's going in there. Take it through a straw.

• 38:24Speaker 05

  I hope I'm not drinking my meal today.

• 38:27Speaker 02

  You very well might be. Phil, what do we got for some listener feedback here?

• 38:31Speaker 04

  Yeah, just a reminder. Now's a good time to submit some questions for the crew today. Maggie, Brody, and Randall.

• 38:38Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 38:39Speaker 04

  This one was just funny to me. When you were looking at the TV, Randall, someone said, why does Randall always look like he's trying to remember his AOL password? Which I that's just that's just a funny. That's just a funny joke.

• 38:48Speaker 02

  Yeah, you know, it's funny.

• 38:50Speaker 04

  From Ryan.

• 38:50Speaker 02

  I am really bad with passwords. So this is I usually. I don't know what I look like when I'm trying to think of my password.

• 38:59Speaker 06

  Just making sure you're saying what you're supposed to say.

• 39:02Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's true. That's true.

• 39:04Speaker 06

  You know.

• 39:05Speaker 02

  Just trying to stick to the script.

• 39:06Speaker 06

  Speaking before you think can get you in trouble.

• 39:09Speaker 02

  We like to have a nice, clean show here.

• 39:10Speaker 04

  That's right. On that note, and I I'm trusting you guys right now. I'm putting a lot of faith in in in in you for not spoiling what's coming up next week.

• 39:19Speaker 02

  Hmm.

• 39:20Speaker 04

  But Juan Gonzalez asks, if Randall wins the trivia tournament, are we going to see some suck it Randall stickers to replace the suck it Brody stickers?

• 39:28Speaker 06

  And we'll have to come up with something better and suck it.

• 39:33Speaker 02

  From the man himself, you heard it here.

• 39:36Speaker 06

  That that one's copyrighted to me.

• 39:40Speaker 04

  Um, this is something that I'm, I'm curious about. Maybe it'll be a short answer. Uh, but Bran- Brendan asks, he says, hey, guys, y'all have any issues with lower turkey numbers due to predation? My turkey flocks that I've hunted for years got decimated by coyotes over the winter. I don't know where you are, Brendan, but if you're still in the chat, if you want to let us know.

• 39:58Speaker 06

  Yeah, that's like very, um, location dependent, I feel like. Um, I, I would say out here, numbers are, are more influenced by the severity of winters.

• 40:13Speaker 06

  And whether turkey flocks have access to the, this, some people might not like hearing this, but where, turkey flocks out here have access to cattle pastures in the winter, they're going to do a lot better. Cause they like getting down in that cattle pasture and pecking through the cow poop and where they can do that, they do pretty good. But we had a cold winter, well, a long stretch of cold. So it's yet to be seen, um, what's going on with turkey numbers in Montana. I can't speak to anywhere else.

• 40:48Speaker 04

  Brendan says he's in New Jersey, by the way.

• 40:50Speaker 02

  Hmm.

• 40:51Speaker 06

  Yeah. I mean, predation is certainly a problem, like a nest predation. I think probably, uh, raccoons are doing as much damage as coyotes. Um.

• 41:01Speaker 02

  This, this might be a question to, uh,

• 41:04Speaker 05

  For Caitlin.

• 41:04Speaker 02

  For share with our, our next guest.

• 41:06Speaker 04

  Oh, yeah.

• 41:07Speaker 05

  Yeah. She knows a lot about turkeys and coyotes.

• 41:10Speaker 04

  She's smiling in the waiting room. I hope that's a good sign.

• 41:12Speaker 02

  Good, good.

• 41:13Speaker 04

  Uh, in the woods asks, Maggie, what's the cra- craziest article you've written for me here? And I'll, I'll, I'll extend to like, maybe, maybe your favorite or something you're, you're the most proud of that people should check out too.

• 41:22Speaker 05

  Um, I wrote one about seafood fraud a few years ago.

• 41:28Speaker 04

  Oh, yeah.

• 41:29Speaker 05

  I think it was titled something like hog bung of the sea. Um, because people actually use hog bung and slice it up as calamari. And sell it as calamari. And there's like other instances of, you know, like, um, Chilean sea bass. It's, um, I forget what it was actually called. It's like, uh, Something tooth fish.

• 41:58Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 41:59Speaker 05

  Um, and it's just like this renaming, rebranding, um, selling seafood is something that it maybe isn't just to market it to the consumer, which is really interesting because people still consume it and buy it.

• 42:12Speaker 02

  And that name really took hold after it was served for lunch at Jurassic Park headquarters.

• 42:17Speaker 05

  Patagonian tooth fish.

• 42:19Speaker 02

  Yep, that's right. That's right.

• 42:21Speaker 05

  So just took a little bit for the gears to turn.

• 42:24Speaker 02

  Isla Newblar.

• 42:28Speaker 02

  Fictional island where Jurassic Park was set.

• 42:29Speaker 04

  That's right.

• 42:30Speaker 02

  Phil, you got anything else from the chat?

• 42:31Speaker 04

  Does Randall like Skyline Chili?

• 42:33Speaker 02

  Oh, I love it so much. I love it so much. Dawson, do you have any? Send it to me. I just made some, uh, I just made some fake Skyline a couple of weeks ago.

• 42:44Speaker 06

  Maybe you'll be making some in half an hour.

• 42:47Speaker 02

  I could, yeah.

• 42:48Speaker 04

  Yeah, in, in a blender. We'll see.

• 42:49Speaker 05

  Do you put beans in Skyline Chili?

• 42:52Speaker 02

  Uh, no, you can add, you can add beans.

• 42:56Speaker 05

  Beans and noodles seems weird.

• 42:58Speaker 02

  Yeah. So, so typically it's served in a number of ways. You have a three-way, which is chili. It's, it's spaghetti, chili and cheese. And then you can have a four-way where you either add chopped onions or beans.

• 43:09Speaker 05

  Oh, chopped onions seems like.

• 43:11Speaker 02

  Five-way where you add both. Or you serve them on a coney.

• 43:15Speaker 05

  Oh.

• 43:15Speaker 02

  Hot dog, little mini hot dog.

• 43:17Speaker 05

  Hot dog with noodles?

• 43:18Speaker 02

  Oh, no. You could, but that's typically not the traditional way. Yeah, Dawson, I could go on for hours about Skyline Chili. I love it. Also a gold star man, but Skyline really is probably my number one.

• 43:32Speaker 04

  A question from Mogor. Uh, he says he finished the new audiobook this week, the one that, that you made with Steve. He really enjoyed it. Congratulations. His question is how much research was needed for the project? And I guess like you could say that in terms of, of months or books or hours.

• 43:49Speaker 02

  Um, I'll just say that that's my full-time job.

• 43:55Speaker 02

  Trivia and podcasts and radio live are just sort of the icing on top, but none of that is in my job description. It's a full-time job. I don't really know where to start with number of books. But yeah, we probably worked on that for, oh, I guess, maybe seven months for the first draft and then rewrote a bit and then recorded it probably nine months out from when we started. So it's like a year-long life cycle, basically, between getting it started and then the, the launch and, and promotion and everything.

• 44:30Speaker 06

  You're already researching the next one, aren't you?

• 44:32Speaker 02

  Uh, in the spare time that I have, yes. Uh, we've got another one coming out on the Buffalo Hyde Hunters, which is kind of a subject near and dear to Steve's heart. So that's, that's been a fun one to get started.

• 44:44Speaker 04

  Uh, there was a question regarding your crossword puzzle scores, Randall, that we hadn't, haven't gotten an update in a while. But then Spencer, uh, our very own Spencer Newhart responded that Randall's scores are posted at the top of every crossword puzzle. If you go look at any of them, you'll see his score in the first sentence. Do you know what that means?

• 45:04Speaker 02

  Uh, probably in the little, uh, lead-in instructions thing. Yeah. So when Spencer puts together a crossword every week, uh, he and Logan, who plugs it into the website, give me that link.

• 45:18Speaker 04

  Oh, you take it first.

• 45:20Speaker 02

  And I take it first. So then, so then everybody can, and, and this week, let me just point out here that this week I scored a 395 with a record time of a minute and 34 seconds. Uh, pretty proud of that one. Thanks, Spencer.

• 45:33Speaker 04

  That's great.

• 45:34Speaker 02

  Uh, crosswords are another part of my job that aren't in my job description.

• 45:38Speaker 05

  That is because you have a superhuman ability to get them done in that amount of time.

• 45:44Speaker 02

  I just don't have much else.

• 45:45Speaker 04

  Let's, let's do one more on the heels. Let's do one more on the heels of the Meat Eater behind the scenes HQ.

• 45:52Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 45:53Speaker 04

  Um, this is kind of a, a big question for, for everyone, but Michael asks, what's, what's your favorite part of working at Meat Eater? And that could be anything from crossword puzzles to, uh, researching mountain men for, for months.

• 46:06Speaker 02

  Who wants to start?

• 46:08Speaker 06

  My favorite part is, uh, turning in a finished manuscript. The rest of it isn't necessarily that fun, but man, when you're like, "Holy shit, we're done!" Like, that's a good feeling.

• 46:20Speaker 05

  That's gotta be satisfying.

• 46:22Speaker 02

  Yeah. Maggie?

• 46:24Speaker 05

  Um, I would say just like, the content that we get to work with, day in and day out, is really great and fun, and we, like, everyone that we work with is a fantastic person, like,

• 46:38Speaker 06

  That is true.

• 46:39Speaker 05

  Uh, it's just a really great community here.

• 46:44Speaker 06

  I didn't think about that.

• 46:47Speaker 02

  Sorry, I interrupted. I just couldn't help myself.

• 46:50Speaker 05

  No, and every time I come into the office, I'm reminded of like, all the good folks that work here, so, it's, it's nice. You don't, you don't always get that, so, I try not to take it for granted.

• 47:03Speaker 02

  Yeah. Uh, I would probably echo some variation of that. I enjoy coming into the office and just having fun all day long.

• 47:13Speaker 06

  Like today. All you're doing is having fun all day long.

• 47:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, just make a couple stupid jokes and, uh, act like a buffoon. You know, a lot of jobs require you to maintain some level of professionalism, and I like that I can just be a weirdo.

• 47:31Speaker 04

  I'll second that. Yeah.

• 47:32Speaker 05

  Let it, let it shine.

• 47:34Speaker 02

  Just let it fly.

• 47:35Speaker 04

  Cool. Well, let's, uh, keep, keep sending those questions in. We'll do one more round of those at the end of the show.

• 47:40Speaker 02

  Please, those are some good ones. Thank you. Joining us on the line is Wild Turkey researcher and fur trapper Caitlin Lo Spinoso, or as some of you may know her better on social media, as Old Trapper Kate. Caitlin, welcome to the show.

• 47:57Speaker 07

  Hi, how are you?

• 47:58Speaker 02

  We're doing great. How are you?

• 48:00Speaker 07

  I'm good. Mentally we're com-

• 48:03Speaker 04

  Oh no.

• 48:04Speaker 02

  Uh oh.

• 48:04Speaker 04

  The bat, she'll be back.

• 48:05Speaker 07

  But, you know, we'll get there.

• 48:07Speaker 02

  Good, good. Well, Caitlin, tell us a little bit.

• 48:12Speaker 02

  You are a wildlife researcher and a fur trapper, and anybody who's following along on social media knows that you've been

• 48:21Speaker 02

  rather busy lately with your trapping season. Can you just give us a quick overview of your trapping season? Kind of what, when that starts, when that ends, and how hard you go?

• 48:32Speaker 07

  Yes, so it's been a crazy season. Land trapping wrapped up here. The season closed on Friday. So I've been taking this week for some R and R. Just kind of relaxing before I start setting for beaver. We have another month of water trapping coming up here. So I had a great land trapping season, targeting bobcats and coyotes. I'm trapping all on public land, so I can't run a huge line. I probably average about 12 sets at any given time, and just run those as I can while I'm working. And I did fantastic on bobcats. It was a record year. I doubled my goal. I was hoping I would get four. I got eight.

• 49:15Speaker 02

  Nice.

• 49:15Speaker 07

  And two of them were amazingly spotted, just beautiful cats. Yeah, that was actually my last hurrah last week on them. I doubled up, and that spotted one was just a beautiful tom. But yeah, I got nine coyotes as well. And it was, it was a grind this season. I really, really enjoyed it. Had a great time.

• 49:39Speaker 02

  Very cool. How did you get into trapping, if you don't mind us asking?

• 49:43Speaker 07

  Yeah, very non-traditionally. I didn't have any history of trapping in my family. I didn't know any trappers. I just, it was totally not on my radar. But I love the grind. I taught myself how to hunt on public land. I taught myself how to bass fish like a pro. I just always loved having some kind of really complex problem to solve in the outdoors. Found myself in that kind of dead space between deer season and turkey season, just really trying to find something I could go hard on and and really get into. And I had the hardest time figuring out what that could be, um, until I went into undergrad and I had a wildlife management course where trapping was discussed as a method for both research and harvest.

• 50:29Speaker 07

  And it kind of got my wheels turning and I actually remembered the Wyoming beaver trapping episode. Um, that that was in, I think, season six of Meat Eater. Where Steve snared one and I, it just clicked, I like instantly, I was like, that's the next step. That's it. I can do that. Um, and I had tons of beaver in the creek bottom that I was hunting on public. Um, so I, I went in there. It took me two days, got my first beaver and it just snowballed from there. I was, I was hooked. Um, and now now I'm, I'm doing everything that I possibly can. Coyote, bobcat, raccoon, possum, skunk, beaver, hopefully otter I'll get back into. Um, there's not many here where I'm at here in Kansas now, but.

• 51:14Speaker 02

  And these pillows here that are on the screen, those

• 51:18Speaker 07

  Uh huh.

• 51:18Speaker 02

  You set those in for, uh, the auction house of oddities, if I recall.

• 51:23Speaker 07

  So not those ones in the picture. There's, there's a photo of me holding to those, those are the ones that I sent in. Um, but yeah, I started, so when I started trapping and, and I started out with beaver, I was getting all these, you know, beautiful pelts and, um, looking at the fur market, obviously dried fur, it's been talked about a lot, like the fur market was just in the tank. Um, beavers come up a little bit with the, with the western hat craze. Um, but at the time I was trying to figure out, how can I use this fur, um, in, in kind of a unique way that I'm going to be able to turn more of a profit than I would if I just sold the, the dried pelts to a fur buyer. Um, and I started thinking about like, how can I make it a novelty?

• 52:07Speaker 07

  And the first thing I thought it was like, man, these are, these would make like a really awesome throw pillow. So I just took, you know, I took the beaver that I got that first season and I tanned him myself and, um, and I just got to making. Into into pillows and selling them on uh just through Facebook. And they were selling really well. So then I thought, you know, what about Etsy if I really got a store going and sold? You know, wall hanger pelts and you know, different fur items that I could make myself and um. Yeah, just kind of went from there and those the ones that I donated uh when I made them. I really loved that pair. It was this beautiful dark kind of chocolate. Um beaver pelts and they matched perfectly.

• 52:50Speaker 07

  And and I was just sitting there like fixing them up and I was going to the Meat Eater live show that night, actually, when I finished them and I was like, I wonder. I wonder if they would take this for the auction house because I was like, that would be a really cool thing to see, you know, how much these could get for the for the cause. And um yeah, I messaged Spencer and he was like, yeah, we'll take them. Heck, yeah. And I was I was super worried that they weren't gonna do much. Um in the in the auction, but they they actually did really well. So that was awesome.

• 53:20Speaker 02

  Do you remember what they sold for?

• 53:22Speaker 07

  Um, I think it was eight hundred five, if I remember.

• 53:25Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 53:25Speaker 05

  Nice.

• 53:26Speaker 07

  Yeah, and I mean, they were a beautiful set. Uh and I like I I was gonna keep them for myself. I was like, oh, like if this can go to to raising some money for the cause and. And obviously, just like a super cool thing to do, so.

• 53:38Speaker 02

  Very cool. We appreciate it very much.

• 53:41Speaker 05

  What do you typically sell a beaver throw pillow for?

• 53:45Speaker 07

  Um, so I had been selling them uh for depending on the size, probably. Eighty to a hundred eighty depending because I would make some like really little tiny ones that are like like just a a cute little thing to have. Um and then I had some that were like eighteen, twenty inches. Um, that would be and depending on the backing that I put on them, like if I just did a basic kind of corduroy backing. Obviously, that's much cheaper. Some of them I did suede, um which is which is a lot. Yeah, Spencer just confirmed eight hundred five. Um, yeah, I did. I did suede on those. Uh, so it was really, those were a really nice set. Um, but yeah, I've done I've done. Double sided fur, which is going to be the most expensive.

• 54:30Speaker 07

  Um, but yeah, the backing material adds adds a that's a big variation in the value and then the size.

• 54:36Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 54:37Speaker 05

  Did you already know how to sew or did you learn that as well?

• 54:41Speaker 02

  I had that same question if that's another thing you just figured out for something to do.

• 54:45Speaker 07

  I I learned to make the pillows, you know, I was like, the idea for a pillow came into my head and I was like, I don't know how to stitch like a pillow cover. And so I, yeah, I learned that on the fly. And uh, it's, it's so much fun. It's just, you know, another, another thing to keep me engaged with it and um, do something more with that, with that fur. It really, it, it makes me very happy to, you know, make as much back on that harvest, like make that harvest as meaningful as possible. And get as much use of it out of it as I can. So yeah, I really enjoy that part.

• 55:24Speaker 02

  Very cool.

• 55:25Speaker 05

  It's impressive.

• 55:26Speaker 02

  So, uh, how are the critters in your neck of the woods doing this year? What are your takeaways from the season as far as uh, hair and hides and the health of the health of the um, populations?

• 55:38Speaker 07

  Yeah. So they've been, um, they were really, really healthy. Started the year, the coyotes were as about as fatty as I've seen them. And um, super primed up. They stayed prime all the way through the end of the season on Friday. Um, I think, you know, obviously it, it was just talked about. We had a really hard winter. Um, the last couple winters have been kind of mild to where getting into February, they would already have some rubs and, and just the losing those guard hairs. But this season, they were, they were primed like I have not seen um, since I've been here. This is my third season trapping here. Um, so they're, they were just fantastic. I was, I was over the moon with it. Um, especially like,

• 56:22Speaker 07

  Friday I picked up my last coyote um, of the season. And she, I was expecting her to have rubs and stuff, but she was still super prime. Um, so this, this is not a, I'm in Kansas, it's not, you know, a, a top tier first date usually, but. The the animals that I pulled this year were very, very well, uh, doing very well. So.

• 56:43Speaker 02

  Very cool.

• 56:44Speaker 07

  Um, yeah, they had some, I saw some crazy injuries, which I, I sent in a picture of one that, that coyote that I pulled on Friday. She was super big, healthy. You wouldn't have thought that anything was wrong with her. And when I got to skinning her, um, got down to her face and I hit metal and I was like, oh gosh. Um, right around her eye, I hit metal. So I like pulled the skin back and there's a broad head sticking out of her eye socket.

• 57:08Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 57:08Speaker 07

  Which was just gnarly. Um, it was just, I, I, when I got in there and started digging around, it was just sitting under her eyeball. Like, yeah, you could not.

• 57:17Speaker 02

  Oh, there you go, Phil. Thank you.

• 57:19Speaker 07

  Yeah, you could not tell, um, that anything was wrong. She had like a little lump under her eye that was healed over, scabbed over. And when I got to skinning, I hit metal and I, I could not figure out what it was and had to clean it out before I could see that it was a broad head. But yeah, you, you wouldn't have known her, her one eye was like up a little higher than the other because it was resting on the broad head. But the eye wasn't punctured. Like she was, she was doing great. So, yeah, pretty crazy stuff. They're, they're tough and they, they made it through. Very well this year, despite the harsh weather. So, oh yeah.

• 57:54Speaker 05

  That's incredible.

• 57:57Speaker 02

  Well, um, thank you for joining us. I know you've got to rest up before, uh, you kick off your, your spring beaver trapping. So, uh, appreciate the update and we will check in with you again here soon.

• 58:10Speaker 07

  Yep. Sounds good.

• 58:11Speaker 05

  Thanks.

• 58:12Speaker 07

  Thank you for having me.

• 58:15Steven Rinella?

  I'll tell you one thing that binds together all of the vehicles in the Rinella fleet at my house. They all have WeatherTech floor liners. When we get a new car, the first thing we do, out with the junky factory carpet mats in with WeatherTech. They really are the best. They're indestructible. You can pull them out, hose them off. It doesn't matter what happens on the floor of your rig. If you got WeatherTech, you're going to be covered. I love these things. If you're looking to get a great gift for someone, especially if they're a big time outdoors kind of person, like if you really want to. Do them a favor, get them some WeatherTech floor liners for their truck or car. They'll have a way easier time keeping their rig nice and clean and they'll get years and years of use out of a set.

• 59:00Steven Rinella?

  Visit weatherTech.com for your holiday shopping today.

• 59:05Speaker 06

  Cash flow crunch? OnDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds up to $200,000 right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory, or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing, and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at ondeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 59:35Speaker 02

  Our next segment is Meat Eater Movie Club.

• 59:53Speaker 02

  Thank you, Phil. Jean-Jacques Anod's 1988 feature The Bear offers a mesmerizing glimpse into the wilderness through the eyes of its earth sign protagonists. This largely dialogue-free film follows an orphaned cub who forms an unlikely, dare I say unnatural, bond with an adult male grizzly while fleeing human hunters in the Canadian wilderness. The arc of the film, though simple, carries surprising emotional weight. We witness terror, playfulness, curiosity, and tenderness through the bear's experiences. In my own reading of the film, the human hunters are portrayed not as unredeemable killers, but as yet another species on the landscape, prisoners of their own nature, which adds a layer of moral complexity to the tale.

• 1:00:38Speaker 02

  Above all else, The Bear is a noteworthy technical achievement in the underappreciated genre of animal movies. Anod somehow elicits authentic performances from real bears, only rivaled in my mind by the profound work of Sam the orangutan as the title character in the 1996 comedy Dunston Checks In. The Bear manages to create moments of genuine emotion without excessively anthropomorphizing its subjects, although I think we might have some discussion on that later. I did add the qualifier excessively. The film's stunning cinematography captures both the brutal reality and sublime grandeur of nature in as it is read in Tooth and Claw. Most remarkable is the film's successful execution of what can only be described as

• 1:01:21Speaker 02

  the peculiar artistic vision of its French director. Anod had long been fascinated by non-verbal communication and specifically sought to make an animal the lead character in a psychological drama. A revolutionary concept that challenged conventional Hollywood wisdom, he boldly inverts the traditional literary conflict type of man versus beast, placing humans as the antagonists rather than the protagonists. Whereas films like The Grey (Meteor to Radio Live, Episode 2) position large carnivores as an existential threat to human survival, and those like The Edge (Meteor to Radio Live, Episode 15) employ them to heighten familiar conflicts rooted in the human experience,

• 1:02:03Speaker 02

  The Bear elevates animal consciousness to the narrative center. This radical perspective shift forces viewers to confront uncomfortable questions about our fundamental relationship with wildlife and our place within nature's hierarchy. The Bear is a unique cinematic experience, particularly after a few glasses of wine. It's a testament to the power of filmmaking that transcends language barriers to speak directly to our primal understanding of survival, family, and the wilderness. Phil, I appreciate your screen grab there. Now, what do the critics say? Roger Ebert gave this film three out of four stars and had this to say about the dialogue

• 1:02:43Speaker 02

  of the hunters: "Their words are not meant to be language, but simply the sounds made by the animal named man." And I have a couple of quick facts for you here. It's based on a 1916 novella called The Grizzly King. Brody characterized it as a book written by a repentant Frenchman. Guilt-ridden Frenchman. A guilt-ridden Frenchman. It was filmed over 19 weeks in the Dolomites in Italy with three actors, 23 bears, and lots of other critters. They had to teach this bear how to fish, because he had been living in captivity in Utah and didn't have experience with fishing. So they hired a guy to come on set every day and release a fish into the pond, but the bear was initially afraid of the fish.

• 1:03:28Speaker 02

  And then this is my final note here. This one might go on a little bit. One day during production, Bart the Bear injured Anod while the two posed for photographers. Anod's wounds, which included claw marks on his back, had to be drained with a shunt for two months. Then I happened to find this quote from an interview. I believe it's translated from the original French, so I'll do my best.

• 1:03:52Speaker 02

  "I was a very good friend of Zee Bear. One day, the photographer had to make the usual picture of the director and the star of the film. I had to show that my star was huge, so I stood on a little mound, of course. All that protected me was a flimsy fence. So I went into his part, his domain. I was standing, but he was so high I could not see his head. To make it even more apparent, I decided to squat. I always carry my viewfinder, you know. I took it like this. He had never seen my viewfinder. I immediately understood that I did something wrong. Ooh la la, he didn't add that. I did. He leaned down with his mouth open. That means you're not my friend. I knew what to do. I decided to go limp. Bin."

• 1:04:37Speaker 06

  Great German accent.

• 1:04:39Speaker 02

  I really tried not to make this German.

• 1:04:41Speaker 04

  Randall, it's really good. You're kind of toeing the line. I'd say it's more French than German, though. I'm giving you credit.

• 1:04:46Speaker 02

  He stroked me on the shoulder and I went six, seven meters down. I heard his mouth go, "Eck, eck, eck, eck." His trainer says, "Okay, good boy, good boy." Clearly, E2 wanted to kill the director. The stench was incredible. I felt that-

• 1:05:02Speaker 04

  Unclayab! You missed an opportunity.

• 1:05:04Speaker 02

  Oh. Unclayab! I felt that this was my mistake. Very fortunately, I had read the book called Bear Attacks, and they explains that the only survivors of a bear attack-

• 1:05:15Speaker 04

  Now it's very German.

• 1:05:18Speaker 02

  Were those who were playing dead. Apparently, that was the only time I was a good actor. That's German. When I was playing dead, so I trusted that I was dead. The last two months of shooting, I had to go to the hospital every morning and evening after the shoot, as I was seriously wounded. Otherwise, I should be in a wheelchair today. The very touching thing is that for the rest of the shoot, Bear never met my eyes again. Each time I was moving on the set, he looked away like a dog feeling guilty.

• 1:05:50Speaker 05

  Well done Randall.

• 1:05:52Speaker 02

  So I, I just thought that was too good not to share. And we couldn't play the video because it's in French, so.

• 1:05:58Speaker 06

  Well, you could have translated in that voice.

• 1:06:02Speaker 02

  What do you guys think of the movie here?

• 1:06:04Speaker 06

  Um, I have a hard time calling it a movie. I, I think it's, um, propaganda. At best.

• 1:06:12Speaker 05

  Anthropomorphism at its finest, ladies and gentlemen.

• 1:06:15Speaker 06

  It's like, it's like, nature good, man bad, hunting worse. Um, and, uh, like, we were talking about Roger Ebert's, uh, Roger Ebert's review. That man, who was a very respected movie critic when he was still alive, said, like, part of his review is like, it gives you a glimpse into how bears live, which tells you like how much that guy knows about like how bears live. Um, like, I would have had more respect for this movie if it was a Disney Channel or a Disney movie where the bears talked and they had the funny raccoon sidekick that followed them around. Like, it would have been better if it was done that way.

• 1:07:00Speaker 02

  Alright.

• 1:07:01Speaker 05

  I would have more respect for this movie if they didn't use a monkey and a child to make the noises that the cub makes. Because if you haven't watched the bear, the entire time, the cub is just like,

• 1:07:22Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:07:22Speaker 05

  Making these horribly. I looked it up. It was either a monkey or a child making those noises.

• 1:07:29Speaker 02

  In my notes here, right between the note that says, oh, this is too sad, and the note that says, steep ass country, I have a note that says, this bear is giving off strong monkey vibes. So.

• 1:07:40Speaker 05

  Monkey or child. So they couldn't just use.

• 1:07:42Speaker 02

  The noises were bad.

• 1:07:43Speaker 05

  The noises were bad. I think it, like, the cinematography in the movie is beautiful.

• 1:07:49Speaker 04

  It's, it's, it's really striking.

• 1:07:51Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 1:07:51Speaker 04

  Like, uh, this movie looks, looks incredible.

• 1:07:54Speaker 05

  Like, the Dolomites, it's, it's really cool. And I think if they just had, like, music. Like a good score, I think it would be a lot more powerful than these horrid whimpering noises.

• 1:08:07Speaker 04

  And it's not just the bear either. The foley work overall is kinda rough. There's, as I said at the very beginning, when the mom is cleaning off her cub with her tongue and it sounds like a human being slurping jello.

• 1:08:18Speaker 05

  Oh, yeah, it's bad.

• 1:08:19Speaker 02

  Now, Phil, for those of us who aren't in showbiz, a foley is a...

• 1:08:23Speaker 04

  Oh, yes. Foley, a foley artist is someone who records sounds after the movie is shot. Basically, fake sounds, not, I mean, the sounds aren't fake, but...

• 1:08:31Speaker 06

  Something you have a lot of experience with.

• 1:08:33Speaker 04

  I do, yeah. I, not just at Meteor, but for TV shows. I worked, I worked on Mountain Men on the History Channel, and all those footsteps you hear through the snow are my footsteps, walking through snow. That's foley. You record something after the fact and then plug it in and then...

• 1:08:48Speaker 02

  I think... Moments like that are my favorite part of working at Meteor.

• 1:08:51Speaker 06

  I think this movie should have ended with the foley of that male grizzly crunching that cub's skull. That's how, like, that's how it would have ended in real life.

• 1:09:01Speaker 05

  Yeah, not the cub licking the bullet wound from the bear.

• 1:09:05Speaker 02

  I mean, that was, that was my least favorite part of it, was just the dynamic between the cub and the boar. But otherwise, there were a lot of times where if I wasn't paying attention to what was coming out of the speakers, I was just like, man, I'm looking at some bears doing bear stuff in Beautiful Country.

• 1:09:21Speaker 05

  But the bear acting was really impressive, and apparently Bart the Bear almost got an Oscar for not killing the cub. Like, that specifically.

• 1:09:33Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, I, there's also, there's a whole book about how they made this, and there's also a 50-minute documentary on YouTube of behind-the-scenes footage.

• 1:09:42Speaker 05

  Did you watch it?

• 1:09:43Speaker 02

  I skimmed through it, and you get to see the trainers trying to stimulate the bears into making different faces, and then sort of leading them around through their, through their steps on the scene. You get to see the lion.

• 1:09:59Speaker 06

  I think Bart the Bear was better in Legends of the Fall when he rips up Brad Pitt.

• 1:10:03Speaker 05

  Agreed.

• 1:10:04Speaker 02

  Totally, totally. But I think one of the things that bothered me the most, I mean, my notes are just chaos.

• 1:10:13Speaker 06

  Were you just watching a movie with a coldie in your hand writing stuff down?

• 1:10:17Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, and it was not a movie that I felt I had to pay particularly close attention to. But when he's cleaning the gun and there's not, it's like this beautiful gun and he's got the action open. And there's not like a drop of grease on it anywhere. There's no grime or grit anywhere. That was the thing that just jumped out to me the most.

• 1:10:38Speaker 06

  You appreciated that? Or you felt it was unrealistic?

• 1:10:41Speaker 02

  Unrealistic. For that guy, the way that guy looked, I don't think his gun was as clean as it was.

• 1:10:47Speaker 05

  I don't think you would have had that pretty of a gun either. I think this was like French director wanting to have this like,

• 1:10:54Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:10:54Speaker 05

  He's a bear hunter. He has a bear gun. He has this pile of dead bears that the cub lays on, you know, like, but I did think it was a really cool gun.

• 1:11:04Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:11:05Speaker 05

  And I looked it up and apparently it's Tom is this man's name.

• 1:11:10Speaker 02

  Yes, Tom.

• 1:11:10Speaker 05

  I'm assuming you didn't pick that up in the.

• 1:11:13Speaker 02

  No, I picked it up.

• 1:11:13Speaker 06

  Can you say that in French?

• 1:11:15Speaker 02

  Reading the Wikipedia article.

• 1:11:16Speaker 05

  Same. So this is Tom and that's a Winchester 1866 Yellow Boy rifle, which is a very cool name for a very cool gun. I believe it was 44 rimfire.

• 1:11:30Speaker 06

  Not one you'd want to be shooting a grizzly with.

• 1:11:32Speaker 02

  Well, clearly, when he, you know, the one, the other note I have.

• 1:11:37Speaker 05

  When he cuts the tip of the bullets?

• 1:11:39Speaker 02

  When he shoots, no, when he shoots the bear.

• 1:11:43Speaker 02

  And he goes, the guy goes, ah, you spooked him. And I was just thinking that you usually don't, if someone shoots something in the front half and there's a big gaping wound, you usually don't call it spooked, right?

• 1:11:54Speaker 05

  You hit it.

• 1:11:55Speaker 02

  Yeah, you hit it and probably grievously wounded it, but spooked was the, the word choice of the, uh, the screenwriter there, so.

• 1:12:03Speaker 05

  And then the bear goes on to kill a mule.

• 1:12:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:12:06Speaker 05

  Like seriously injure a horse and then leave.

• 1:12:09Speaker 02

  I wrote here, uh.

• 1:12:11Speaker 04

  I also like how the guy said, my gun jammed after he, I don't know how that affected it.

• 1:12:15Speaker 02

  I, I wrote, uh. I wrote, horse wounds are wild.

• 1:12:21Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 1:12:21Speaker 02

  Cause they did have a lot of animal blood.

• 1:12:23Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 1:12:23Speaker 02

  In this film.

• 1:12:24Speaker 05

  Oh, and the dog guts?

• 1:12:26Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:12:26Speaker 06

  What about the sex scene?

• 1:12:28Speaker 05

  Oh my gosh, there was, there, speaking of animal noises, there did not need to be that level of grunting. It was unnecessary.

• 1:12:37Speaker 06

  It's just like a regular old movie with a sex scene.

• 1:12:39Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:12:39Speaker 05

  And the kid just watching.

• 1:12:41Speaker 06

  With a kid watching.

• 1:12:42Speaker 02

  Yeah, that, that, you can't do that if humans are your protagonists.

• 1:12:46Speaker 06

  No, you can't. No, you can't.

• 1:12:49Speaker 02

  So would you recommend this film?

• 1:12:53Speaker 06

  I, it's so hard for me, like, when my boys were younger, they would have watched it and probably enjoyed it, but I wouldn't have been able to watch it with them because I'd have just been like, that's not right. That's not, that's not right. That would never, so I, I mean, it's a, it's like has its moments, I guess, but no.

• 1:13:15Speaker 05

  Look, when I was like 10 years old, when I was a child, I watched Old Yeller on repeat. That was like my go-to movie.

• 1:13:22Speaker 06

  That's some real shit there.

• 1:13:24Speaker 05

  That is some real shit, but I also enjoyed like, um, do you guys ever see, uh, Wild America?

• 1:13:30Speaker 06

  Yeah, Marty Stover. Was that his name?

• 1:13:33Speaker 05

  I think, yeah. Yeah, with really, really awful animatronic bears.

• 1:13:38Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:13:38Speaker 05

  But like, I loved that as a kid.

• 1:13:40Speaker 06

  Isn't that the guy that got in trouble for like?

• 1:13:42Speaker 05

  For?

• 1:13:43Speaker 06

  Raising bears?

• 1:13:44Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:13:44Speaker 05

  Yeah, for like staging wildlife.

• 1:13:47Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 1:13:47Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 1:13:48Speaker 02

  If this movie is 97 minutes long, there's probably 50 minutes of it that I could clip out and just play on repeat with a different soundtrack and I'd just glance over at the monitor every now and then when I'm watching an NBA game and they go to a TV timeout and I could just watch the bears kind of moving across the landscape.

• 1:14:05Speaker 05

  I'm saying if I was a 10-year-old, I would have been, this would have been my jam.

• 1:14:10Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:14:11Speaker 04

  Uh, Randall, you said that you watched a little behind the scenes documentary?

• 1:14:15Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:14:15Speaker 04

  And saw some kind of wild stuff?

• 1:14:19Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:14:21Speaker 02

  Like what? I'm sorry.

• 1:14:24Speaker 04

  Well, I just suggest you like, like there's some scenes where they use puppets or how they were kind of, oh, well, like they had the bears chained up.

• 1:14:30Speaker 02

  Yeah, they did use, so they did use, um, like puppet or animatronic bears for some of the fighting scenes. Um, but otherwise it's just real bears and yeah, they were.

• 1:14:40Speaker 05

  In the dream scenes.

• 1:14:42Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah. Yeah. When he eats the Mario mushrooms, the Super Mario mushrooms and just goes wild. That reminded me of a time that I went to Chuck E. Cheese, when I went to Chuck E. Cheese and I was much too old to go to Chuck E. Cheese. And the animatronic animals kind of pop out of the wall and there's purple lights flashing around.

• 1:15:00Speaker 04

  Made you uncomfortable.

• 1:15:01Speaker 02

  Horrible flashbacks to that. Um, but yeah, they, they, I mean, to move the animals around, they, they had chains on them and they would kind of like walk them on the rocks, like across the river. And like, you can see them sort of setting the bear on that piece of wood that he floats down on. It was pretty weird stuff. Pretty weird stuff, but also interesting.

• 1:15:24Speaker 02

  I think that brings us to the end of Meat Eater Movie Club. Uh, another flawlessly executed segment until I dropped Phil's little prompt there at the end, but I think it turned out all right. Phil, what's the chat saying?

• 1:15:36Speaker 04

  Uh, well, there was a funny little, um, conversation that happened. Uh, Canadian Hunter asked us, now that you no longer have an intern Nate, are you looking for a new intern Nate? I'm assuming Canadian Hunter's name is Nate. And then our very own intern Nate piped, piped in and said, intern isn't a title. It's a way of life. Once an intern Nate, always an intern Nate. And then Spencer said, get back to work, Nate. I just thought that was funny. Uh, Jack's fishing asks, um, uh, that his kids or her kids love Meat Eater trivia. Um, is there any more coming up soon? There will be more Meat Eater Kids episodes this summer. We are, uh, currently in pre-production on those.

• 1:16:13Speaker 02

  Exciting.

• 1:16:14Speaker 04

  So stay tuned. Um, and honestly, that was pretty much the only question we got between the last, uh,

• 1:16:22Speaker 02

  No reactions to the movie?

• 1:16:24Speaker 04

  Oh, a lot of, a lot of reactions. I, I don't know. I don't know if a lot of people, uh, watched, watched the movie. So they didn't have a lot to say, but they had a lot of, a lot of, uh, comments. Mostly suggesting new movies. Like Leland suggested, The Legacy of a White Tail.

• 1:16:39Speaker 02

  Yeah, there's been a number.

• 1:16:41Speaker 04

  A lot of Hundreds of Beavers suggestions and that's a newer movie, so that might be kind of fun to do.

• 1:16:46Speaker 02

  Yeah, that is one that's on the list. Corey's been helping us curate our selections, so.

• 1:16:53Speaker 04

  Just a cow guy said that Brody was the only one old enough to see it by himself, which isn't true. This movie came out in 1988 and Randall was alive, I believe.

• 1:17:02Speaker 02

  I bet I was two years old.

• 1:17:04Speaker 06

  Yeah, and it's just like Ben, like it's, people are still wa- like it's been around.

• 1:17:09Speaker 05

  It's on Amazon.

• 1:17:11Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, it's very accessible for those of you with an internet connection.

• 1:17:15Speaker 06

  Like people think they can hit me with those age jokes and I'm telling you, they just, like it just doesn't matter. Give up.

• 1:17:24Speaker 05

  Get him, Brody.

• 1:17:25Speaker 04

  Also Spencer pulled a guy, another good one, and wished you a very happy birthday today, Brody. Happy birthday, Brody.

• 1:17:32Speaker 06

  What's that?

• 1:17:33Speaker 04

  Spencer wished you a happy birthday in the chat and you have a lot of happy birthday messages from people. So I just thought I'd extend that to here.

• 1:17:39Speaker 05

  I didn't fall for it this time, Spencer.

• 1:17:42Speaker 06

  I'm not following.

• 1:17:44Speaker 04

  Spencer, about once a month Spencer wishes happy birthday to someone in the chat and it's when it's not their birthday and he gets a kick out of it and uh.

• 1:17:53Speaker 06

  I'm glad he, someone does.

• 1:17:59Speaker 02

  Well, gang, before we go, Brody's got a special call to action for you folks out there.

• 1:18:04Speaker 06

  Yes, sirree. Um, for the 2026 calendar, we are doing another effed up old calendar. This year it is going to be effed up old trucks, which you should interpret as effed up old hunting rigs. Um, so we'll be taking submissions, kids, if you're listening, close your ears. Um, the email to submit photos of your fucked up old hunting truck is [email protected].

• 1:18:35Speaker 06

  Um, we are, this year, the calendar, we're going to donate a portion of the sales to back country hunters and anglers so they can keep on fighting these attacks on public lands. So that, that's like, that reason alone is, is why you should buy the calendar, but they'll be, they'll end up being some really cool photos of, of old trucks and we'll sort through them. We'll get a bunch of them hopefully. Then we're going to have, run a little contest for the fans where they can hop on the website and choose, we'll narrow down the selection to whatever 50 or 100 that we like. And then, then our fans can hop on the webpage and,

• 1:19:16Speaker 06

  and vote and those, the ones that, that get the most votes will end up in the calendar.

• 1:19:21Speaker 04

  And this is an example of, of a fucked up old truck. And you can tell that it's actually in pretty good shape, but it's got a lot of character.

• 1:19:28Speaker 06

  Yes.

• 1:19:28Speaker 04

  Here. So this is an example.

• 1:19:29Speaker 06

  That's a chopped down suburban, I believe.

• 1:19:31Speaker 04

  If you would like an insane conversation about the parameters of this prompt, please listen to Monday's.

• 1:19:37Speaker 06

  Oh, yeah.

• 1:19:37Speaker 04

  Next, next Monday's media podcast.

• 1:19:39Speaker 06

  When Randall and Yanis were telling Steve and I how to make the calendar that Steve and I are making, that was great.

• 1:19:43Speaker 02

  I wasn't telling you how to make the calendar. Well, gang, it's been fun and we're running a little over time. So with that, I think we will bid you adieu. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you here next week, live from Meat Eater HQ, signing off.

• 1:20:14Steven Rinella?

  I'll tell you one thing that binds together all of the vehicles in the Rinella fleet at my house. They all have WeatherTech floor liners. When we get a new car, the first thing we do, out with the junky factory carpet mats, in with WeatherTech. They really are the best. They're indestructible. You can pull them out, hose them off. It doesn't matter what happens on the floor of your rig. If you've got WeatherTech, you're going to be covered. I love these things. If you're looking to get a great gift for someone, especially if they're a big time outdoors kind of person. Like if you really want to do them a favor, get them some WeatherTech floor liners for their truck or car. They'll have a way easier time keeping their rig nice and clean, and they'll get years and years of use out of a set.

• 1:20:59Steven Rinella?

  Visit weatherTech.com for your holiday shopping today. The new dual threat Pro SD climber is the ultimate companion for both bow and rifle hunters, thanks to its adjustable dual threat front bar. This innovative feature allows you to tailor the climber based on your preferred hunting method. So you can choose between two climbing modes and two hunting modes. So I like having something that's got this level of versatility. Get 20% off all tree stands by using the code MEATEATER at summitstands.com. That's a phenomenal deal. That's summitstands.com. A BetterHelp ad. I would like to formally request more storage space in my brain.

• 1:21:41Steven Rinella?

  Because somehow I can forget why I opened my laptop where I put my keys, or the name of someone I met 30 seconds ago. But I can remember an awkward conversation from six years ago in extraordinary detail. So if your brain came with a delete button, what would you use it on? Maybe it's that tough breakup you've analyzed from every possible angle, and irrational worry you know doesn't deserve this much attention. The conversation with your boss you keep rehearsing in the shower, or that one comment someone made that you're still thinking about weeks later. We don't always get to choose what sticks around in our heads. BetterHelp is an online therapy platform that gives you space to talk about what's taking up too much of yours. BetterHelp is now in-network with more than 125 health plans,

• 1:22:26Steven Rinella?

  with many copays as low as $15 for eligible members. Visit betterhelp.com. Cost and coverage may vary.

• 1:22:34Speaker 00

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.