Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey everybody, welcome back to the Son of a Blitch podcast. I'm your host. George Blitch and I just wrapped up an incredible conversation with Giannis Boutelis from MeatEater. We ended up talking about his early life kind of how he got involved in, you know, his love of the outdoors and eventually guiding and then eventually meeting up with Steve Rinella and becoming part of the Meat Eater team. We talk a little bit about his role there. You know, obviously he's a co-host with the Meat Eater podcast. I think he's about on about 75% of those. Uh, we talked about his own subsection of the shows. Uh, the meat eater YouTube page. Uh hosts the on the hunt. Uh, he did gear talk previously with uh Jordan bud, but uh, on the hunt we kind of focused on one uh two part episode in particular and that was his trip back to Latvia to do a hunt there. You know that is his father country. He had never been there before in his first 44 years of life and then went back there and was involved in some hunts. It's a wonderful two-part documentary of his trip. I highly suggest you go check it out. Very enriching kind of talk, a little bit about the traditions and culture there. It was really fun and you know we talked about all sorts of different things Some of the recent hunts he's been on, some of the things he likes to cook from those hunts, and just about life in general, being a father, being a, you know, kind of a public figure in that sense too, and what that's like for him. He talked about the legacy approach to that and we just had a great conversation. Giannis is a wonderful guy. I think you guys are really going to enjoy this episode and thank you so much for tuning in.

Speaker 1: 1:40

So, without further ado, here is the podcast with Giannis Poutelis of MeatEater. Y'all enjoy. Hey, gianni, how you doing today, man, I'm good. How are you, george? Fantastic man, I'm glad you joined me today. I'm kicking off year three of the podcast, so it's very exciting to start off with a great interview with you, and I wanted to kind of, you know, just at the very beginning, for those who may not be familiar with you or with MeatEater, there's going to be some things I kind of want to, you know, bring around. It's kind of a little bit of a one-on-one introduction. I wanted to maybe start with you talking about where you grew up. You know maybe how you kind of got involved with your love of the outdoors, some of your mentors in that space, and just kind of lay it out and we'll kind of build from there.

Speaker 2: 2:22

Sure, um, I was actually born in indiana but, um, we moved up to michigan. I was about eight. Uh, my dad, you know I probably put it on his shoulders that he was the one that got me, uh, interested in hunting. You know, pretty classic, like as a six-year-old started walking around in the woods with him carrying a stick instead of a, uh you know, a gun. And then, uh, I think the first, you know, I had my hunter safety when I was of legal age to hunt in michigan. And then, uh, I grew up hunting, uh, michigan and, uh, wisconsin. Those are kind of the two main things we did.

Speaker 2: 2:59

Um, I, I asked for a lot of other hunting, small game hunting. I had the bug and wanted to go and just walk around the woods and kill whatever I could. My dad really wasn't that into the small game or the fishing or whatever. On one hand, I count the amount of times we went after squirrels or grouse or anything like that grouse or, um, anything like that. Uh, and, like I said, it's and it's weird because the angling, uh, like his dad, was a huge fisherman and built his retirement house on a lake and and fished, you know, almost every single day, um, if the fishing was good, and so it's kind of interesting that the fishing kind of skipped a generation. But, uh, yeah, so I credit him with getting me into it. And then obviously, the, the folks that we hunted with, um, probably more so in wisconsin. There's a little bit of a tighter group there, um, but I actually did an episode. I think it's called like wisconsin whitetail roots or something along those lines. You can find that on the meat eater youtube channel, um, but there I actually interviewed a couple of the you know my early mentors there and you know they. They tell some funny stories about you know me being a kid there and growing up hunting. So, um, I would say that, uh, wisconsin hunting is probably a little bit closer to my heart than the Michigan hunting, um, I don't know why exactly, but um, so much so that when the opportunity came about to buy in on some of that property and become like a partner with my dad, I did that just a couple of years ago and so hoping to keep that property in the family for generations, if my kids want that. So, but, yeah, yeah, that's you know early mentors, I guess.

Speaker 2: 4:45

And I moved to, uh, colorado when I was 18 and, on my own, just wasn't going to school and, uh, no real plans other than I wanted to spend a lot of time uh, going fast down a Hill, um, on snow. And uh, there I met an outfitter who offered me a job and I really wasn't looking to be a guide or anything, but it just it honestly seemed like a good way to make some money. Yeah, and really fell in love with uh chasing elk around in the in, and as much as I love sitting in a tree stand now for hours on end, I got no problem sitting dark to dark these days. That was something that I was like running away from when I left Michigan. And when someone told me out west that like, oh no, you can just walk all day, just keep the wind in your face, and that's considered hunting here, I was like, oh, thumbs up, man, that's that sounds like my kind of thing, you know.

Speaker 2: 5:51

So, um, yeah, that, uh, that opportunity got me into guiding and then I guided for I don't know, 10, 12 years in Colorado and then hooked up with my buddy, jay Scott, and guided in Arizona a little bit, old Mexico a little bit, and then, yeah, that took me to Meat Eater and I actually met Steve at Rinella from Meat Eater through his wife. She and I went to high school together and I was kind of the only person that she knew that hunted and fished and so when she would try to join the hunting and fishing conversation which is a lot happens, a lot of their household she would drop my name a lot and eventually steve's like man, better reach out to this guy. He sounds serious, you know, and so that's, uh, that's kind of how that got going and uh, yeah, here we are like 12, I think. Yeah, steve and I are 12 years in.

Speaker 1: 6:53

So we've been, uh, yeah, we've been adventuring and making you know hunting media of one sort or another for a dozen years now well, it started out when you were in Alaska, right, and he was going there to do a hunt, and then you kind of was that your first meeting Was you guys kind of in the field.

Speaker 2: 7:12

Yeah, well, I mean, I was living in Fairbanks and I think you know they flew into Fairbanks. He had drawn a toke sheep tag. Um, you know that's as a meat eater episode, I think it's a two-parter. Uh, paul needs from vortex is with us and we kill a sheep and a bear on that hunt. And uh, yeah, that's the first time I met him is when they they picked me up from my house there and then we drove down to toke and flew into the mountains for whatever it was nine day hunt and uh, had a good time, got along.

Speaker 2: 7:43

And uh, and they had another hunt on the back end of that, which is when they take uh, tim ferris, uh, caribou hunting.

Speaker 2: 7:51

And uh, they begged and pleaded for me to go and I really couldn't because my wife had an interview in salt lake city, so she was flying from salt, from fairbanks, to salt lake for an interview and we had a one-year-old kid at the time and so I was going to be at home with the kid and I still to this day don't know what the producer said or how much he paid, but by the time I flew out of the bush, the producer's like yeah, man, we got the go ahead, you're going caribou hunting. I'm like no way. And sure enough my wife's like oh yeah, yeah, no big deal, I'll just fly with a one-year-old from Alaska to Salt Lake and just uh, drop her off at her friend's house, go do my interview and then fly home so that you can go do this. So, uh, big props to her, because that definitely, I think going big two trips in a row like that, it, uh, it sealed my fate, you know yeah, I wonder if she knew what was in store for you and your travels at that point.

Speaker 1: 8:50

Uh, what can was opened up?

Speaker 2: 8:53

yeah, right, um, I I don't know if, uh, she probably wasn't aware of, yeah, how much, how much I would be traveling, you know, five years down the line, but it hasn't that part of it, it's, it's bad. Anybody that travels a lot for work knows, you know, especially when you have young kids. Sure, because I think with like a spouse, it's no big deal, because you're like, okay, how much time do we actually need together? I mean, nobody spends seven days a week, 12 hours a day with their spouse.

Speaker 2: 9:22

People that do kind of, you know, tend to get out of each other's throats, but I think when you have kids, you just you realize very quickly how much you're missing and that that time is fleeting and, um, so when I am home, I'm very, uh, I feel very free to like cut out of work to get to pick up the kids at school at 3, 30 or, um, you know, cut out early to make sure I can make a volleyball game or, you know, help out on a field trip or whatever it is to spend time with them and obviously, make sure you know to be home every, for every, breakfast and dinner. It's a top priority, because my oldest is 12 now and I mean I feel like now, when there's only like now, and I mean I feel like now when there's only like four to five years left when she's going to be living in our household, um, it gets real serious, cause you're like, well, what are we going to do with those five years?

Speaker 1: 10:13

You know, yeah, man, I mean my oldest is, uh, she's out of the house, but our youngest is 11. And you know that we saw how quick time went with our oldest and it's like, wow, man, it's uh. You know, those are, those are fleeting moments and you got to capture them and do as much as you can. I was kind of curious too. I know that you and your daughters and your wife too, I mean, I know recently you just went on some Turkey hunts together. How, how long have you been bringing your family like into the field, and like when did your kiddos start kind of gravitating towards that and are they all kind of gung-ho into getting and hunting or at least going and enjoying that the land out there and being the outdoors? What's that look like in that dynamic for you?

Speaker 2: 10:56

well, we started taking them out. Um, I mean, there really is no time. It was pretty much like if it was turkey season and we had a kid it didn't matter if it the kid was three months old or nine months old or, you know, 18 months old like we were gonna go and our. We have a kind of like a turkey camp that we do every single year, um, in montana, and we camp, and so those kids've I think this was year number nine and my youngest is tense. That means the first year she was there. You know, she was definitely still in diapers, I don't know if she was right around one or maybe one and a half, but, um, she maybe didn't come in the field to actually haunt the turkeys, but they've been around it part of it, you know, since day one, and we just we never really, we never really even thought about having like choosing a time or an age where it would be appropriate to introduce them to hunting, because to me, I don't know, there's nothing in hunting, even the killing part of it, that you know you need to be like mature enough to understand or to see whatever, and we've seen I mean, I remember we shot a mature enough to understand or to see whatever and we've seen it. I mean, I remember we shot a doe in front of one of my girls, and I don't even know if the kids saw me shoot it, even though it was literally 30 yards away. They didn't really. You know, like put all, like put two and two together, that the doe went there, and then there was a bang and the doe ran off. But once we went over to the doe, the oldest was like right in there checking it out, you know poking and prodding, and the youngest, I mean she was little like two, three years old. She had kind of a standoff attitude about it and kind of like stood off for a while, just kind of assessing, looking, and eventually, you know, came over and checked it out. Kind of assessing, looking, and eventually, you know, came over and checked it out. So it's, you know, I don't know what was going on in her head in that moment, but she was just being exposed to it, and it worked out well.

Speaker 2: 12:55

The second part of your question, though, is like, if they are gung-ho, I wouldn't call my girls gung-ho. They like a gung-ho about hunting, they like being outside, they like doing that stuff. If I offer it, they don't say no. Um, there is excitement right now to go back to our wisconsin, uh deer camp. Uh, my oldest has been there two years in a row. Now this will be her third. My youngest is coming for the first time.

Speaker 2: 13:23

Um, there's excitement about all the hunts that we have planned, but I know that my peers have, you know, boys that are saying you know they're that are the peers of my kids that are beating down the door to always be going and chasing and killing something you know and it doesn't matter what it is, or to be just shooting guns or shooting bows, and for me I'm definitely like having to offer it, like, hey, do you want to go down into the range and shoot the 22 pistol, or should we go shoot our bows? Rarely do I. Just come home and like they're in the yard flinging arrows. So you know, gung ho is relative, but I'm happy with where we're at. I mean, mike, I don't need them to be, uh, you know, outdoor assassins when they grow up, but uh, I I do want them just to be lovers of the outdoors and, you know, enjoy spending time out there and hopefully we'll get to do, you know, activities like this until I die. Um that's my's, my goal. So um, does that answer your question?

Speaker 1: 14:27

Yeah, man, no, absolutely, absolutely. I'm always curious about, you know, that kind of dynamic with kiddos and we know how people bring them in. I mean, I remember seeing lots of different videos of friends and you know someone like Mark Kenning is they got their kiddos, you know, like with all the snacks and all the coloring books and you know, get them in there and kind of engage them at a at a young age and kind of walk them through it and uh, you know I I'm the same with with mine is kind of get them out as early as I can and expose them to it and you know, not force their hand but you know, hopefully that's like with gentle prodding, they're enjoying it and kind of continuing that familiar, you know, way of life. So I know that's a tradition.

Speaker 2: 15:02

Not forcing, it has been top of mind. I just happened to have a friend and a and a brother-in-law who, who, both of these fellows had kids that were maybe pushed a little bit too hard and drug through, you know, cold mornings and wet, cold mud a little bit too much, and one of them has two boys and the other one has one and all of them are kind of not really, you know, into hunting and you know it might've been from getting pushed a little bit too much. So I always just try to make sure that it was there, it was available, and then when they do, you know, show any interest, I'm like all right, all hands in, let's go, you know.

Speaker 1: 15:44

Indeed. Well, I want to backtrack real quick to like when you first started working with Meat Eater. Obviously it's a different role than what you're sitting in now, um, and I was kind of curious just like what that evolution looked like from you to kind of coming in and being on the hunt and then what capacity that was with for that, you know, first couple of hunts you mentioned and then you know eventually your executive producer, director for the show. I know the show is kind of in a different form and format than maybe we've seen in the past. Um, and I kind of just was curious how you you know just that evolution of your role and exactly how you would describe it now to others who are, you know, maybe listening for the first time.

Speaker 2: 16:21

Sure, uh, I mean, when I was was first time, I didn't even know I was hired technically. When I went on the first hunt I thought I was just getting to go along and sort of was going to help carry some gear in exchange for getting a free flight into the alaskan bush, which anybody that's done any research on that knows that's expensive. Sure, and we've been there for a year and I hadn't really been into the we. We had done some hiking and some touring in the car for a year and I hadn't really been into the. I mean, we had done some hiking and some touring in the car but I felt like I hadn't really explored Alaska to that point because I didn't have a thousand bucks just to get my butt flown into some remote lake, you know, right and uh. So that was my understanding, that I was just kind of going to go and do a little, do a little, you know, pack carrying and get a free flight. But turns out I was working, I was going to get paid, which was. I was like, oh, doubly good, you know, and we have a position in, like when you go out and film meat eater, there's usually, if it's Steve and a guest, there's usually two, what we call a DP, a director of photography, or one person that has that title, and then another person that's just a cinematographer. So you have like a camera dedicated to each person. And then there's a long lens person which their job is to basically make sure you're getting the long lens of animals and getting that kind of stuff and also shoot a lot of landscape and B roll and time lapses and whatnot.

Speaker 2: 17:52

Then there's a position called the producer, who sort of run in the show and that's everything from logistics to also sort of in the field directing, then sort of the, the bottom rung, the, the guy that gets, or gal we've never had a gal, uh, hire for this spot. But uh, the bottom rung is what we call the wpa, which stands for wilderness production assistant and, um, you're basically the grunt. I mean you just do everything from carrying gear, you know setting up tents, making fires, you know prepping food, you know the grocery, shopping before hunts, making sure there's first aid is covered. But if the producer ever needs anything fast, like they're going to look to the wpa, you know. Or if, like, you forget a uh, let's say, a camera goes down and you're five miles from the truck, uh, and the replacement is, you know, at the trailhead in the truck. Well, the wpa is going to be running down the hill getting the replacement. Bring it back up, um.

Speaker 2: 19:01

So, anyways, I did that for I don't know, at least a season or more, and then, um, you know, liked it and thought, oh, there's some, there's, there's sort of uh, opportunities here, um and um. So I started running the camera for the long lens, uh, more and more, and I had just a decent eye for framing, uh, you know, framing up pictures. Framing up I mean really when you work in the video camera, you're, you're just taking pictures, you're just holding that picture longer, you know. So you still got to frame it up, just like you would still photo. You just got to hold it for 10 seconds or 30 seconds or whatever. So it's not that much different, it's just it's almost slower because you have to just sit there and make sure you hold it long enough and let let things happen within that frame.

Speaker 2: 19:55

So I started doing that and then eventually I worked into one of the regular camera positions where I would, you know, actually shoot the, the people and, you know, the guests or Steve on the show, and then that turned into the producer role and then that turned into sort of producer director. I can't even tell you exactly how many seasons I did, but there came a time eventually where, after Meat Eater Inc was formed, where the company felt like I guess it just as a personality I'd gotten big enough where I should just do my own show and not work, as you know, on the meat eater show anymore. And so I pretty much have left working on that show, unless I show up as a guest, which I still do. I don't know, maybe once a year or so, but for the most part I just film produce. You know my own show, which I'll do. You know five or six episodes of angley um and uh, you know, and just doing that.

Speaker 1: 20:59

So yeah, is that?

Speaker 2: 21:00

on the hunt. Yeah, on the hunt it's. It's had a couple different names. It was like Meat Eater Hunts with Giannis Patelis. Right now it's called On the Hunt with Giannis Patelis. Just because of YouTube algorithms and whatnot, people are always toying with what's the best way to title things that go on youtube. Right, does it even need to be within a series? Does it need to be connected to a certain host? You know what? What are the important things? You know? But I do know that it's like anytime you drop in like mount lion or bear, uh, that gets a lot of clicks well you also do in gear talker.

Speaker 1: 21:46

Is that going to be coming out for another season with you and jordan the gear?

Speaker 2: 21:49

talk podcast, um, it just, it just it didn't quite produce enough, uh, views or downloads. Uh, for us it's, you know, it's a bummer, because it was fun. You know, jordan, I had a lot of fun doing it. Um, I think a lot of people liked it. It was educational, it's one.

Speaker 2: 22:08

It's a tough thing sometimes when you know, just being as big as Meteor is now, uh, everything that we do is just held to sort of a higher, you know, not really standard, but a higher volume, like you need a minimum amount of looks, views, whatever it might be to call it successful. So I think that I'm not going to mention specific numbers, but I would bet that our podcast that we did had four times the volume of, you know, of the average, if not even, like outside of meteor network, any other podcasts we were probably doing four to five, 10 times the volume and downloads, but in our network it just wasn't quite enough to cut it. So we're sort of, we're working on you know what's going to come next as far as podcasts for me, um, but just haven't really landed on you know the exact formula that we want to go with, so sure.

Speaker 1: 23:07

We'll see. Well, you know I wanted to kind of focus on real quick one of the well, it's two part episode with On the Hunt, where you go back to Latvia, your father country, right, and this was actually the very first time that you visited the country, even though you know your grandparents, you know they came from there during World War II and you know there's a lot of the family history I know you talked about in this. You know I don't want to kind of go word for word for what it was, but basically for those who want to watch this series, I highly suggest you do the two-part series. But you know you talk about how you grew up in a very, you know, latvian was your, your first language and you still went to summer school every Saturday. Uh, growing up in this, that that culture was in that tradition was very, uh, enriching in your you know life growing up. And then you know you finally go and visit.

Speaker 1: 23:55

I was curious one what was there a reason why it took so many years for you to go back and did you? When you go back, obviously the focus is on you and you know we can kind of talk a little bit about you know what all you went and did there in the hunt and visiting. You know friends and family, but I was curious if also any of your family members came with you. Is this something that you went on your own and if you can maybe just kind of lay out that trip and how that came about?

Speaker 2: 24:19

Sure, um, you know the. The short answer for why it said 44 years to get over there, um would be you know, life got in the way. Um, I became a hunting guide, right, or a fishing guide, and just those two occupations don't necessarily always pay well enough. Where you're going to be taking a couple of weeks off to go to Europe, right, sure, but you're doing it. Be taking a couple weeks off to go to europe, right, sure, but you're doing it. You know it's the passion, uh, so, uh, but yeah, you know, with with the um, with the start of on the hunt, the show, and me having to host some episodes, uh, coincidentally, the timing worked out where a gal who writes the only hunting magazine in Latvia, she had reached out to me and we had done a podcast. She had seen me on Meat Eater on Netflix. We did a podcast together, and so when I, you know, started thinking about going over there for a hunt, I had a great connection and then she was able to connect me with other people and kind of, you know, put the whole thing together for me.

Speaker 2: 25:30

Um, I did not bring any family on this trip. Um, thought about that, but then really thought, you know, it'd be nice just to be there by myself for my first time and just be able to sort of without other distractions. You know, soak it all in, experience it. And so that was two years ago. And so, just coming up here in about a month or so, I am bringing my whole family over there and we're going to spend a couple of weeks, uh, hanging out Latvia and, uh, we're going to celebrate the summer solstice there, we're going to do a little bit of roe, deer hunting and just general sightseeing and whatnot. So, yeah, they're going to get to experience it and, yeah, it'll be interesting to see, you know, what kind of impact it'll have on my girls.

Speaker 2: 26:16

I think that they, they, um, oh what's the word escapes me um, oh, like, growing up I really identified, like I almost had two lives. You know, I had my latvian social life, latvian school life, latvian camp life, and then I had, you know, hanging out with all my american friends. Um, it's not quite that much for them, but I think they they still have enough of an influence where they feel somewhat Latvian, and we'll see what this trip over there will, how it will affect them. So we've been brushing up on their Latvian skills. You know the language recently. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to it. It'll be a good time.

Speaker 1: 27:01

Was that something that you were practicing with them when they were young? Was latvian something you were teaching them from a young age?

Speaker 2: 27:08

yeah, you know, I did a much better job when they were young. Um, I was pretty uh on top of it until I'd say the oldest was five or six, like even when I was at my in-laws. You know, uh, in north carolina, I would still only speak latvian to the girls and, um, again, man, you know no excuses, but uh, just, uh, you know, slacked off and uh, you know, kind of let it slide and it's um, yeah, it's tough when you have a only one parent in the household can speak the language, um, because, cause, otherwise you could, just, you know, you could barrage them and it would be easy, sure, but when it's only one, uh, it just gets difficult. You know, and people, just you know, it's easy to opt out towards the easy answer, as opposed to always trying to be, you know, hammering that away so they can grasp, you know a lot of it, you know, if they're just listening to a conversation and they know the basics, but I would not call them fluent by any means.

Speaker 1: 28:11

Well, I think sometimes that immersion in the culture, right, when they go there and you're like forced to kind of understand and speak it on that, you know 24, seven kind of you know volume. Hopefully that is something they can kind of pick that up and get practice. You know, everyone I know has ever gone and traveled abroad. It's usually after about a week or two of wherever they are. It's like the fluency is there and then they come back and kind of drops off, um, you know, talking about that trip. You know you, you went and hunted there and so you went apart.

Speaker 1: 28:39

Uh, you were part of this hunting club I think there's about like 40 or so members there and you kind of you guys did a deer drive which you were familiar with, cause that's something that you had done up in Michigan, right, and like I think you talked about that being almost your first 10 or 12 years was kind of in that, or animals was in that kind of form and format of hunting. Could you maybe just kind of lay out a little bit about what was, um, some things that you took away from as far as learning and being involved and immersed in the Latvian hunting culture? What was that like and what were some maybe differences that you can see and you can pinpoint from maybe the deer drives you've done when you were back here in the States?

Speaker 2: 29:16

Yeah, I don't know if it was that much that I learned, but I mean there's definitely stark differences. I mean in the mean, there's definitely stark differences. I mean in the end, you know, you're just trying to, you're still just trying to put a bullet through an animal right and kill them. But I would say that the drives are. It's not like something that you would just like casually be like oh yeah, let's get together for a drive next Sunday. I mean, these drives are set up, you know, weeks or even months in advance where it's like oh no, this Saturday, like the whole club, or 99% of the club, is going to be there. We're going to have 40 people participating. You know, here's the people that are going to be doing the, the, the driving.

Speaker 2: 30:03

That was an interesting part of it where, if you were a club member which it's not hard to be doing the, the driving um, that was an interesting part of it where, if you were a club member which it's not hard to become one the only real hurdle is that it's capped and so you're basically waiting for someone to, you know, move, like if they decide to leave the club and go to another club or if they die, and I mean, literally, there was young people like there, I think they they only had 50 or so in the club and I think they said that their waiting list was was 20 strong, um, and I think they just do that to just kind of limit the pressure on the animals, right. But uh, you, once you became a member, you could immediately start sort of doing, you know, stand hunting or spot and stalk hunting on your own, um, but the uh, the driven hunt. When you showed up for the big driven hunt, you had to be a driver for three years before you could become a stander or a shooter. Um, it was just kind of like yeah, you're paying your dues, and what was interesting is that once they become a stander, they're not really interested in chipping in on the driving anymore. I'm like, well, because it kind of seemed like we had like a, we only had 10 drivers and we had 30 or 40 standers. I'm like, couldn't we use a couple more drivers to really 20 and 20 and not let as many critters maybe slip through the cracks? And like there was nobody raising their hand to volunteer. They're like no, we're, we're standing.

Speaker 2: 31:32

The difference is there too. I know growing up when we were driving. The drivers themselves would often have good opportunities at taking an animal, you know, and a lot of times it can be a mature buck, because they're the ones that are slick enough to try to double back and try to sneak through the line. And if you're a good driver and you're paying attention and you know stopping moving, stopping moving you can get an opportunity. But over there none of the drivers are carrying weapons, right, and that's just a safety thing. And that was really maybe the biggest difference. That's like a very apparent is that I mean there was a safety briefing that probably lasted 20 minutes, 30 minutes in the morning, and then you know we all split up into groups because we were driving huge pieces of land. I mean, I'm talking, we were probably driving, I don't know, my first walk probably took me an hour. I. I mean I'm just walking through the woods, you know, moving game, um, and so we all split up and you know there was sort of like there was like the main guy that was running the show and then beneath him there was five dudes that would each take a, take a group and sort of place everybody and just the safety around, like when they place you in a spot as a stander, which would be a shooter. Um, you're not allowed to move like out of, like a you know two yard circle, like that's where you're put and the person next to you is expecting you to be there and not somewhere else. So if all of a sudden, you know, an animal comes through, they're like, okay, that guy was there. So if the animal goes there I can shoot. So if you've moved, you know, because you thought you know the over there was better, that could become a safety issue, right, because the guy next to you, that's now else.

Speaker 2: 33:27

You know, you see it a lot when you see pictures of European hunts when at the end of the day, they lay out all the animals sort of in a very you know, I don't know how to say it, but I mean they're everything's laid out in like rows with all the species kind of lumped together, and it's usually done from biggest to smallest and it's, I mean it's kind of an odd look, right, because it's not like something you see in American hunting where there's 20 does laid out, you know, with a couple bucks on the end, right, but they do that with a couple bucks on the end, right, but uh, they do that and they, you know they're big on putting the um, the piece of greenery, um on the animal to, you know, as a sign of respect, and to to cover up the, uh, the wound, as a sign of respect. Um, they uh, um, yeah, like the classic grip and grin. I mean, I think it happens but it's not quite, as you know, as important as as it is here. Um, like, we did it briefly with the animals that were taken, but, uh, everybody was more worried about really making that group picture with all of the animals, like making that look as good as possible, you know, because it really it is a group effort. You know, that really rolls right into then what happens with the meat, which was interesting.

Speaker 2: 34:49

So it's a club and I think we had I don't know, maybe we had that two or three moose, we had two or three red deer, I don't think we had a pig that day.

Speaker 2: 35:03

So anyways, there was five or six animals total and you know the moose, a lot of meat on one moose and you know, between 40 people, like there's enough for everybody to get some.

Speaker 2: 35:13

So they kind of take a poll as to like how much meat do we want to process for everybody to take home today, because the rest of it they're going to process it and then sell it. And then that money that they get from selling that meat just goes right back into the club and it's used for whatever building renovations, to, you know, feeding animals in the winter, if they do any of that, to setting up bait stations or fixing a shooting tower, whatever it might be. You know, maybe paying a part of the lease that they might have with one of the landowners around there. So that night, I mean, we went to butchering and we butchered I forget, I think it was two or three of the animals. The other two or three were left hanging and all of the meat was put into these piles on this shelf. And again you can see this in the episode.

Speaker 2: 36:06

But there's these big long shelves that kind of have little, you know it's like a cubby, right, yeah, yeah, not even if, yeah, there was no cubby, but it was a long shelf and it just had kind of markings and you put a pile of meat there and once there was 40 piles of meat and some of them had shanks, some of them had more back straps. You know, you know it was a real mix, but they were just. I would actually I got the honor of pointing at a pile of meat. Somebody would read a name, pick a name off the list, and that person would come up, put their pile of meat into a meat lug and then walk away and do whatever they're going to do with it, I'm guessing, put it on ice and put in a cooler or whatever. And we basically did that and it was a very like, you know, some people would say sort of a socialist style of of you know, of dealing with the meat, because it was like everybody that participated got equal amounts. You know, just because you're the guy that shot the moose, you weren't getting the backstrap, you weren't going to get the heart. It was in a pile and it was going to be luck as to what you know what pile you got. So that was interesting. You know something totally different. But I think what else was really different about it all? Those are some of the main points I really enjoyed.

Speaker 2: 37:28

You know, midday, like after the first or second drive, we all met back up and had a big it was a big like cauldron of soup going and we, basically everybody had a couple bowls of soup with some bread it was kind of a wet, rainy, cold day and everybody hung out, you know, and chit, some bread. It was kind of a wet, rainy, cold day and everybody hung out, you know, and chit-chat I was talking about the morning hunts and then went on. What was cool later is that it took a long time but almost every single person that participated had the opportunity to stand up this was after dinner and recount their story of of their day. Because you know 40 people, I mean, you might be a mile away from other people that are still involved in the same drive, but you don't know what's going on, sure, and so, uh, yeah, people would get to stand up and sort of even the people that just were driving and just talk about you know the encounters with wildlife they had.

Speaker 2: 38:26

I mean, I had a giant not giant, but like to me it was looked big, this red stag or it's a red deer, but a stag. The male came right by me at 20 yards with a dog, you know, like 20 yards behind it just pushing it, and it was very cool to see that. Right, it's like, oh, that's how it works when a dog's chasing a red deer, you know, um, but yeah, everybody got to tell their story. Um, the guys that missed shots had to tell their story before the guys that were successful and made their shots and we, we had a, had a couple of misses. It was, it was, it was. It was funny, you know, to hear those stories.

Speaker 1: 39:09

Did everybody give him a good ribbing? Was it like kind? Of now I was curious did you ever make it to the Patelis tavern while you were there?

Speaker 2: 39:19

You know I did not. That is on our list of things to do Um while we're uh, we'll to do while we're there this summer, but I did not make it two years ago.

Speaker 1: 39:29

Well, it seems like it'll be good with the family there. That's a good trick, oh, 100%. So I was kind of curious. You know, talking about hunting, it was like what is something that you know you've been looking forward to here? But in the fall, what are some hunts you got going on. But you know, since we're still kind of at that turkey season I don't know if it's fully ended for you yet at this point in time, but I just wanted to kind of hear about your turkey season first. Then we'll kind of move on. How's everything been going? Where all you hunt and what kind of success did you get?

Speaker 2: 40:00

yeah, I've had a wonderful turkey season. I got to kick it off in Mississippi hunting. Steve and I do a charity trip where we raffle the at uh, the sledge sort of family compound in mississippi and um, it's what it's. Through the trcp we basically raffle off um the spot for somebody to come with a friend of theirs and hunt with us for turkeys for three days. I'd never hunted in mississippi, so I'm like very casually, slowly trying to kill a bird in every state. So got to hunt.

Speaker 2: 40:48

Mississippi had a great hunt, ended up killing a bird on the last evening, like at 530, which is one of the latest birds I think I've ever killed. Normally, you know the evenings aren't known for good turkey action, but I was able to get four gobblers fired up and called them in and uh and killed one of them. And then, uh, I think from there I did a hunt with my dad in wisconsin. We were successful there. Um, I did a montana hunt, my my annual family hunt with my kids in Montana and both my girls killed their first birds. Um, the oldest killed the Jake, the uh youngest killed the gobbler uh was it. It was hard hunting, like they weren't playing ball well, so, um, we kind of had to bushwhack both of them, which, uh, which is fine, you know it's. Uh, it's great. My kids are just old enough where they're starting to make their own decisions and their own moves about how to deal with, you know, a hunting situation or like in the middle of a hunt, like I'm not having to quite tell them every single move to make sure. And, man, it's such a joy as a parent to just see your kids be like oh, I know, I know what I need to do, I'm going to do it and execute it, versus me having to be like, okay, move forward, move forward. Okay, stop, okay, now point your gun there. It's like they're getting to the point where they're like, oh, the turkey's probably going to come out there. I'm going to get my gun up and get ready, and that's great to see. And then I finished off my season. And then I uh finished off um, my season. I say finished. We have a, we have a few weeks left. It goes till the end of may here, um, so we might get out another day or two in montana, but uh, I finished off in arizona last week.

Speaker 2: 42:34

I drew a goulds turkey tag, uh, which was way cool, and um got to hunt in the southern southeast part of the state. Um, I mean, there's only so many places that ghouls live in arizona. Um, I think they have somewhere between a thousand and two thousand ghouls turkeys in the state now and they have approximately 80 tags um, so I was very, very lucky to draw, uh, feel very fortunate and um had a super fun hunt. I mean, with only 80 tags and that many birds like the, they spread the pressure out. Um, I never saw another turkey hunter and the birds, you know were totally playing ball and um, and it's cool to hunt in country that's just super dry, super rocky, like the. The flora is totally different, you know, than when I'm used to hunting turkeys in and you know rattlesnakes cruising around. Just way, way different, you know, than hunting the eastern in Mississippi or Wisconsin. So, yeah, I got my ghouls, which may turn me into a.

Speaker 2: 43:39

I believe that makes me a royal slam holder. Believe that makes me a royal slam holder, um, which means I've killed, you know, the five subspecies of turkeys, uh that are on our continent. You know. Nice congrats. Yeah, there's that other one, that oscillated bird that's down there in central america and I'm like I don't know I I would go for the adventure but like the thing doesn't gobble, you don't really call it in I. You know, I don't know how, I don't know if that's really like a bucket list item for me to go kill one of those isolated birds, but any who?

Speaker 2: 44:15

Yeah, so great Turkey season. And obviously the highlight was you know, get my girls on some birds and and itching for more. You know they're saying they want to do another day or two. So, um, that's a real win. But uh, we also have till june 15th for bears here and I have not taken a walk with my bear gun yet and I'm definitely going to try to get in a few of those. Um, uh, before the season's over. I've yet to kill a bear. That's not true. I killed one in my yard once that Mingus had treed. It was a problem bear that would eat some of our chickens, but I don't really count that as as a hunted bear.

Speaker 1: 44:54

It's more of a nuisance hunt right.

Speaker 2: 44:56

Yeah, totally. It was just basically a you know assassination.

Speaker 1: 45:01

Well, you know you posted some pictures, um that you had taken I guess the multi-mobile camera there uh, of the basically kind of a semi pond that you developed. Um, you dug out and you had kind of water that's it's uh filtered in there and you ended up having a picture. I think it was like four or five fairly good size bear that are over at the property there. Is that the ones you're talking about maybe going after? Is that during that season that lasts, or is this a separate season than montana?

Speaker 2: 45:29

no, yeah, so montana is just general bear season. Most units go till june 15th. I don't think wisconsin even has a spring season, I'm pretty sure they don't. It's only a fall season. Um, most of it's done.

Speaker 2: 45:43

Baiting, I think you can stalk around the hills a little bit, you know, maybe try to catch them feeding, you know, on some oaks, on some acorns somewhere, um, so I'm mostly talking about going spot and stock hunting here in montana, although I did, I've been applying for years for this, for a tag in Wisconsin, and I finally drew this year, which is a little bit of a surprise. I was mostly just putting in to get a preference point, and so I have the tag and I don't know, we'll see, I it. Just, if you're going to bait, like for me living in Montana, I'm going to have to pay somebody, you know, to do the whole bait thing, and that's not, you know, to do the whole bay thing, and that's not, you know, cost money, right. So, um, I don't know, I mean it'd be fun. I mean, like I said, I love sitting in a tree stand and I think I could, you know, in wisconsin, sit over a tree stand for, uh, you know, for a week over some bait and uh, see if, see if a bear comes in.

Speaker 2: 46:42

So but I was telling you before we started recording. You know my dad's gotten lucky, I think, drawing this tag two or three years in a row and they've been putting a good bit of effort into baiting, you know, keeping two or three bait sites, going um and then hunting. I think season opens about the middle of september and him and his buddies, just like it just seems like as soon as two days before the season opens up, the bears just vanish off our cameras and I don't know where they go or what they're doing. But they kind of leave the baits and they yeah, they're just not that into it. So we'll see, but it's an option, it's an option. I hate to leave the mountains in September. I love, I love hunting elk.

Speaker 2: 47:28

But uh you know, with bear tag and a healthy population, I mean I don't know I have fun hunting anywhere for about anything. So uh well, I'll just we'll see as time gets closer.

Speaker 1: 47:44

If we'll see as time gets closer. If you had to pick a favorite, if you had like a choice to go on one hunt it's like it's your last hunt what would that be? What is the thing that you like to hunt, and is that tied into what you like to eat from the hunt, or is it just something about that hunt that you love being out in that particular set of elements?

Speaker 2: 48:01

Man, I'd say, uh, it's a complicated question. So I'm gonna give you a complicated answer. Uh, cause, if it's like you only have one hunt left, you're going to go and do. I'm going to go do some crazy mountain hunt for a mountain sheep, you know, on foot, covering big country in big country. You know, living out of a backpack like that to me is sort of the ultimate adventure it's. You know it's taxing, physically, mentally. There's a lot of unknowns. Like I like that. Sheep are cool, they taste great, but you know that's it's a very expensive hunt.

Speaker 2: 48:41

I got lucky, drew a sheep tag a few years ago. Um, more than likely. I'll probably never have another sheep tag in my life again. Um, even though I will continue to play the game, I'm going to have to have some luck to get us another tag. So, um, man, it would probably come.

Speaker 2: 48:57

It's a tough call. It's right between like archery elk and springtime turkeys, between like archery elk and springtime turkeys. Both of them. I like them because I get to interact and call the animals. And you know, the bull elk is just a bigger, more powerful animal. So those things at 30 yards bugling definitely have a little bit more impact on my heart rate than a gobbler at 30 yards. Bugling definitely have a little bit more impact on my heart rate than a and then a gobbler at 30 yards. That being said, those gobblers still get me really excited and it sure is nice, when you knock one down, that you can just sling it over your shoulder and walk out of the woods where you know. When you knock an elk down, you're like all right, now the work starts. You know who can recall, the work starts.

Speaker 2: 49:51

You know who can recall um, so, um, but uh, yeah, man, um, yeah, those, yeah, those turkeys and those, those elk, that's definitely where, where, where my heart is, um, I don't know, it's hard for me, man. Like I said, I love hunting at all and uh, that's I'm a. You know, I'm a wisconsin landowner because I love sitting in a tree. You know waiting, I'm a Wisconsin landowner because I love sitting in a tree. You know waiting for a big white tail block to walk by too.

Speaker 1: 50:08

So sure, sure. Well, I was kind of curious too. I mean, you got some fresh Turkey in the freezer. I'm sure that there's all sorts of things in your freezer from your hunts and whatnot, but I was kind of curious what are some of your go-to wild game meals you cook with your family? Do you guys have some things earmarked for, uh, you know, your turkey have? And then also, have you uh checked out, uh jesse's the turkey book and getting any ideas from that? You know kind of what, what's on your uh on your plate for the next few months of maybe some things you're going to be cooking yeah, um, I have checked out his book.

Speaker 2: 50:39

I haven't done a recipe out of it yet. Um, uh, yeah, I'm looking at it right now. It's over there on my bookshelf. Um, jesse's, you know, you gotta like really not all of them, but there's every everyone that I'm like, oh, I want to make that. I'm like, oh, I need like a whole saturday to get that one prepped up.

Speaker 2: 50:57

You know, our most of our turkey, my kids, love making schnitzel out of the breast meat and they, they will not have it unless there's a wedge of lemon, like. They feel like those two things go together and if you serve schnitzel with no lemon, you know they're liable just to walk away from the table. Um, the legs and thighs, you know, usually braised down. Sometimes I just do some in just a very plain stock just to have it braised down and then I can kind of do whatever I want with it once it's cooked. Sometimes I do more of like, uh, you know, mexican green chili kind of a flavor, um, but whatever it is, it's like I like to.

Speaker 2: 51:41

I like to when I say process kind of like, get the meat cooked and off the bone, kind of shredded, and I'll freeze like pound packages of that shredded turkey leg meat and then put it into, like I said, like a green chili, some other soup. You can make tacos, burritos, that kind of stuff with it. You know, sometimes we'll sort of just crisp it up in a pan and put it over a salad. Um, so a lot, let me. We try to have 10 turkeys in the freezer, and I don't know if we I'm trying to think I killed three the girls, so we're at like six right now. So it'd be good to at least get a couple more. But that way we can kind of eat one a month until next turkey season shows up again.

Speaker 1: 52:24

Wise.

Speaker 2: 52:26

I like it and you know, big game. I've kind of been hot lately on, you know, I've got these, I've got kids and they're like that age where they're busy kids and so dinners, you know, often are like how easy can we make it? So I've been on a kick where I've been making, you know, pretty plain Jane, italian flavored meatballs. But instead of trying to fry them in a pan, I'll make sheet trays of like 30 per tray and I'll make, you know, 200 in a sitting. We're actually going to do it here tonight or tomorrow. And instead of trying to fry them in a pan, which, like, makes a big oily mess and it's hard to kind of keep them round when they're in the pan, which, like, makes a big oily mess and it's hard to kind of keep them round when they're in the pan, instead I just stick them into the oven under the high broil and give them about 10, 12 minutes and, man, they come out perfect and um, it just it's way faster, like because I kind of lamented sitting around rolling meatballs in a fry pan, you know, and I know that that's like that's the traditional way. They probably taste better, but again, where I know, and I know that that's like that's the traditional way. They probably taste better. But again, where I'm at in my stage of life, it's like fast is best and uh, you know, again, I can make 200 of them in one night, eat them that night and then I'll back, seal them in. You know, 15 to 20 per package, and then anytime you want to have meatballs and spaghetti, it takes five minutes to thaw them out and cook them. So I've been doing that a lot lately.

Speaker 2: 53:50

I've actually got a uh, like I don't even know it might. It could turn into a chili, could turn into a stew. I basically got like the neck of a coos deer that chopped up into you know not quite half inch cubes, browned it, stuck in the crock pot, uh, with, uh, I think, like a can of, um, like a brown beer, um, couple cans of tomatoes and, uh, quickly fried up like two pieces of chopped up bacon and put it in there and just let that go overnight. So now I got this, I've got a nice base, I've got some tender meat and you know I could go all kinds of directions with it. It can go, you know, more into a stew direction with some carrots and potatoes, or I could take it into more of a chili direction with, uh, you know, obviously chili seasonings and some, um, some beans maybe.

Speaker 2: 54:50

So, um, yeah, I don't know, we, we it's around here, it's pretty much, unless we're out to dinner, it's every night, you know. So once a week we're eating like a basic wild game steak, which is usually just pan seared in an iron skillet, um, and then sometimes, if I'm feeling it, I'll make a little sauce for it. Other times it's just served as is with the pan juices, um, you know, that's like a weekly staple and there's usually like a starch and then like some vegetable on the side. Uh, yeah, I don't know that's about. Yeah, uh, I can keep going, but that's that's. Those are a lot of our staples that I'm working with right now, nice.

Speaker 1: 55:35

Well, and I was curious too. I remember reading that you know you spent a few years in a professional kitchen. I was curious what capacity was that? Were you a cook? Were you a chef? Was this something that you know? You're kind of using all those skills now in that same way. What was that like for you and what era of your life was that when you were working in the kitchen?

Speaker 2: 55:54

Uh, that was ages. Uh, it was right. When I moved from Michigan out West, I was, uh, you know, 19, 20, 21, probably my years in the kitchen, and then I stayed working in restaurants but I went to the front of the house because because, uh, the money was just so much easier and so much better, um, but uh, yeah, man, I'm very thankful to have that three years of experience in a, in like a. It was a busy kitchen. It was a, um, you know, a kitchen where the chefs like gave a shit about making good food and like all of our sauces were made from scratch. We did like it was a, you know, italian-y I, you know what do they call it contemporary? Or you know, italian american fusion, um, so there was, you know, a lot of we, I mean plenty of italian, but the marinara was made from scratch. You know the chicken stock was made from scratch. You know all of our cream sauces were made, you know, usually on the fly, in the pan, from scratch. And, um, you know, just learning how to work fast in a kitchen under stress, you know, when you're serving 400 plates a night. It was a great experience. And um, yeah, and then just all those and same thing, you know, kind of similar to the path of meat eater.

Speaker 2: 57:11

When I started there I was like working the salad station, you know, and you're like you learn how to make caesar salad dressing right, and then you start frying stuff and then from there we had a wood burning pizza oven and so we ran. I worked there for a while and then moved over to the grill and then the pasta station and then worked as the expediter and you know, all that stuff is good, good experience, and yeah, it definitely. You know, I wouldn't say I'm some world, I was never a chef, I would just consider myself a line cook. Consider myself a line cook, um, but uh, it gave me good experience and it's. It just makes it easier, easy for me at home now to say, read a recipe, understand a recipe and be able to execute it without too many questions. Like there's not a lot of things I read around food or how to make food where I don't understand how, like I don't have an idea in my head about how to make that happen and what the end result should look like. You know, sure, I've actually been just killing it on the pound cake.

Speaker 2: 58:19

When I was in Mississippi, taylor Sledge's mom made this pound cake. That I thought was just incredible. I mean just had the perfect consistency, like not too like wet and like kind of ooey gooey, dense, like you get sometimes, and not too cakey. I mean just that nice to me perfect pound cake, where she called it packy, where you can almost take it and kind of pack it into like a tighter you know consistency if you wanted to. Anyways, I got her recipe. Well, I can tell you that when you take a recipe that's from sea level in Mississippi it doesn't translate to 5,000 feet in Montana. So I've been tweaking it. I'm probably on like my 10th or 12th attempt and it's getting there. It's good, the kids are eating it.

Speaker 2: 59:07

But yeah, I've been on a real pound cake roll. I consider it like a superfood. I mean, it's so simple. It's like butter, sugar, flour, eggs and then you add whatever little bit of you know flavoring, whether it's vanilla, lemon. Some people put some you know those like fancy boozes into it if you want, but like as far as like a trail snack goes, it's great, man, I mean you're getting like all, like all the things that you need, you know, while you're active. I've been running a lot lately getting ready for a, a big race here in june, and, uh, that pound cakes fueled a few miles, for me for sure nice.

Speaker 1: 59:46

What? What race are you doing? I know you've been doing some serious training over the years, and is this something that's kind of a little bit more newfound for you, or is this something you've always kind of done and we're just maybe seeing it a little bit more now? On on social media style I started?

Speaker 2: 1:00:01

yeah, it's definitely. I just probably just haven't talked about it as much, but uh, I probably started running seriously, oh, when I was maybe 25 to 30, somewhere in that date range, um, and so I was living down in colorado and I did some trail races down there. I was all I was. Every year I would run this, um, I think it was the veil trail half marathon is what they called it. It's a pretty good run. I think it's got like 5 000 feet of elevation gain over 13 miles, which is that's a chunk in 13 miles. I mean, you're climbing, um, but uh, yeah, so I don't know, I'm 45, about to turn 46, probably by the time this podcast comes out, I'll be 46 and uh, so I don't know, close to 20 years of running, and mostly it's been really just to stay in shape for mountain hunting, you know, or just, and that kind of. That's probably where it started, because I actually smoked cigarettes up till that point and so when I got quit doing that stupid thing, um, I thought, oh, you know, I could like be even healthier and be. And the reason I quit is because my guide fellow guys were just whooping me going up these hills and I was like I can't have this. So I quit smoking, started running and and yeah, I've done it just to stay in shape for mountains. But that sort of has transformed into just staying in shape for life. Yep, uh, because you know, at 46 it's like you let yourself get out of shape. It takes a year to get back into shape, you know. So you just really let it lapse anymore, where even up until a couple years ago I would like kind of take off the fall and maybe even kind of take off part of the winter, and now I'm like no more of that. It's just like you're gonna continue running through hunting season and through the winter. And now that I've picked up lion hunting and chasing my hound through the mountains, um, that's been a great way to cross train, you know, because I mean we put in big miles, they're hard miles. Sometimes you're in feet of snow, um, and you know, that's one of the beauties I love about chasing the hound is that when you cut them loose on a track, you have no idea. I mean, it could end 200 yards up the hill, it could be two miles and two drainages over and you know multiple thousands of feet of up and down. You just don't know. And, um, I think in general that's what I love about hunting, is that unknown and that makes it, you know, an adventure.

Speaker 2: 1:02:40

But uh, back to running. Um, I would say that in the last I don't know five years I've maybe taken it a little bit more seriously, where I've thought about doing some longer runs. And two years ago I ran a 31, a 50 K, which I think is 31 miles, that's called the rut and that's down in big sky, montana. And then this year I signed up for a race that's called the big horn ultra trail or something like that. And, um, they have a, a, they have a bunch of different distances. I'm running the 50 mile this year and then, uh, if all goes well, uh, my plan is to. I kind of made like a little uh goal with myself, a little challenge I'd like to run 100 mile race before I turn 50. And, um, from what I just told you, it's probably, if it goes well in the 50, I'll probably run the 100 mile next year, because there's just no reason to quit like, yeah, I've built myself up to this point. I might as well just keep going and, and you know, and get the and knock out that next distance. So, um, yeah, I'm looking forward to it.

Speaker 2: 1:03:50

You know, people talk about you kind of you get into this crazy mental space or you can where you get these real highs and lows with these longer races, and I'm intrigued by it. Right, you kind of want to go to that place and experience that and see how you react to it. Um, but I've had some friends tell me that I really am not going to experience that with 50 miles. It won't be until I get to mile 70 or 80, to where you're really going to be in, sort of like you know a place where I don't know.

Speaker 2: 1:04:21

You know some people talk about hallucinating. You know, and just you know, laying down and sleeping for two minutes and you feel like you slept for three hours, right, like just you know different experiences that, uh, I don't know, I think it's pretty cool. You know running is great because it's so cheap, right, you don't have to have a bunch of money to go and run and to go experience great things just via your own feet. You know you need some shoes, some kind of you know shorts or whatever. Um, obviously, some kind of you know shorts or whatever. Um, obviously, if you're going to run for hours, you need to somehow carry some water, but uh, and your pound cake.

Speaker 2: 1:04:58

Yeah, and some pound cake and you're ready to roll.

Speaker 1: 1:05:02

That's awesome, man.

Speaker 1: 1:05:03

Well, look, I know that you've got your afternoon ahead of you and I don't want to take too much of your time, so I just wanted to kind of finish up with a couple of questions.

Speaker 1: 1:05:11

Um, and and this one I ask most of my guests and very curious to hear your take, and that's one about legacy. And you know, I know legacy a lot of times it's after you're gone, right, but I believe in a living legacy and what you're doing here now, uh, and how that kind of ripples out through your life and through your children's life and everything. And so I was kind of curious about your take on your own personal legacy and, professionally, what is it that you hope that you are having people remember you now and, you know, in the future, uh, by your actions, by your experiences, by your teachings, by everything that you're sharing in your life, cause obviously, uh, you you've reached a lot of people, millions of people every year you know tune in to to see you, to see Steve, to see, you know, everyone else a part of the team. And you know, I was just kind of curious how, how you take a look at that and if something, also, if that's something that you kind of consciously think about in a day to day.

Speaker 2: 1:06:01

Um, that's a good question. I liked the very end of it. Um, it is not. Um, I've never really been. Even when I, when I first met Steve, one of the first things he said to me was like, hey, if you're interested in having your own hunting show, we could like make something like that happen. And I'm like, nah, not really interested in that. You know, I prefer to stay under the radar. And uh, it's like, well, here we are now, um and uh, so, yeah, I'm not.

Speaker 2: 1:06:30

I don't know, maybe I'm too young to be thinking about sort of like a legacy. I mean, if you're talking about a living legacy, uh, right now, I would like my, uh, my kids to feel like they have a, you know, a really great dad. That's, you know, trying to do the absolute best he can for them to make their you know, the great childhoods and to give them what they need a good base to, you know, turn into good adults. You know, kind of like hope. My wife feels the same way, that she feels like she's got a good partner to, you know, get through this adventure together with professionally, it's tricky man, because we, yeah, we do, we do what we love. It's a super fun job, you know we make, you know, media, a bunch of different versions of it. We get a lot of thanks for what we do and a lot of people tell us that they're affected.

Speaker 2: 1:07:24

Sometimes it's hard to really for me to connect those two um, because I don't know't know, it's just like, oh, I'm just out here talking about hunting but somehow it really positively affected you, but sometimes, like, it's hard for me to make that connection, if that makes sense. Um, so I'm happy that that's happening for people and, uh, you know, the, the, if I, if I can help, you know, make the world a better place by getting people involved in the outdoors, uh, putting a smile on their face, then that's, that's a win-win for me. Um, so, yeah, you know, I hope that just overall, there's a, there's a net positive for my being here on this planet versus a a net negative. You know, pretty, pretty simple.

Speaker 1: 1:08:10

Well, it's definitely a positive man.

Speaker 1: 1:08:12

I mean, I know a lot of people, you know, hunters and non hunters alike who have definitely been influenced by you and by MeatEater and kind of learning and maybe even adapting into a new lifestyle that they hadn't before, and so it's kind of neat to see that kind of transition.

Speaker 1: 1:08:27

And you know what you guys stand for. All the things you've been doing, uh, whatever it's uh, you know, conservation, land access initiative there's so many different things you guys are bringing to the table. That I feel is a huge positive, obviously. Uh, you know, I I think you're a hell of a guy and I appreciate everything that you know, uh, you're sharing out in the world and I appreciate you taking the time to come here and chat with me today. And, you know, for anyone else who's ready to follow and maybe, if they don't already, uh, you know, follow you on socials or, you know, find out in the website if you can just go ahead and plug where people can kind of, you know, see what you got going on, and maybe some of the youtube uh, you know shows that you have with you know, on the hunt and things like that, and where people can can join yeah, totally so.

Speaker 2: 1:09:05

Uh, you know my personal stuff is really mostly just found. Uh, if I'm going to do social media, it's going to be Instagram, which is my name Janice, underscore Putellis. Janice is J-A-N-I-S underscore Putellis. Otherwise I'm on still probably I don't know 75% of the Meat Eater podcast as a co-host there with steve and the many other co-hosts that we have on the meat eater podcast, so you can hear me chatting there a lot of times with. Uh, you know all the great guests that uh, our podcast producer corinne comes up with. Um, the show is called on the haunt with yanniselis and that's found on MeatEater's YouTube channel alongside.

Speaker 2: 1:09:54

You know, the regular MeatEater show and all the other great shows that we have. You know Cal's show I think it's Cal in the Field. Spencer Newhart's done a cool show called Pardon my Plate, which is really fun to watch. Newhart's done a cool show called Pardon my Plate, which is really fun to watch. You know we've got deer hunting stuff from Wired to Hunt, mark Canyon, tony Peterson, the Element guys. Who else you know? Oh, not to forget, I mean back in the podcast realm Clay, newcomb's, bear Grease, brent reuses this country life. Um, a lot of great stuff. You know what, whether you find it under, you know the meteor podcast network or you know, go to the meteor youtube channel and you'll see and a lot of the the uh. The podcasts now are uh video feed as well. So if you like watching you know the conversation, you can do that on youtube as well. Um, so, yeah, um, everything meat eater in the meat eater universe. And if you happen to come to bozeman, you can come to our new uh flagship store right on uh east main yeah, that just opened last month right, that's right very exciting

Speaker 2: 1:11:13

great place to uh try on, touch and and mess around with all the first light gear, um, a lot of meat eaters merchandise, you know hats, t-shirts, hoodies, that kind of stuff, and then a smattering, I would say, of outdoors goods where, um, you know, if you're in a pinch and you need something to make it out into the woods to go hunting, all besides like ammo, rifles, bows, arrows we're not carrying those kind of goods, but, uh, you know the stuff for your body binos, knives, um, and sleeping out in the woods, we got you covered there. So, uh, it's a cool experience. There's a bunch of cool mounts in there, a lot of meat eater type memorabilia. You know, antlers, that, like my the moose my dad shot in alaska six, seven years ago, which is a real crowd favorite of an episode oh yeah, that, um, that moose is in there. Um, steve's big moose from last year is in there nice but yeah, so it's a cool spot to go.

Speaker 1: 1:12:22

Go check out if you're in bozeman yeah, well, I definitely plan to come out there and visit man. I want to check that out in person, say hello to you guys and you know, definitely, uh, get together again sometime. But uh again, janice, thank you so much for joining the podcast and and uh, thanks for all you're doing, man.

Speaker 2: 1:12:37

I really appreciate it yeah, thanks for having me on, george cheers man.

Speaker 1: 1:12:42

We'll talk to you later on. I'll see you next time.