WildFed Podcast — Hunt Fish Forage Food

Today's guest is Chris Morasky, and when it comes to off-grid, primitive living, this guy has put in the dirt time. He's also something of an existentialist philosopher, and our conversation today takes place at what we see as a pivotal moment in human history. Where do we — lovers of the natural world — fit into an increasingly fast-paced, distracted, digital and, dare we say, artificial world? We know it's on our minds, and we're guessing it's on yours too. After all, we don't imagine we'll be hunting and gathering wild foods in the metaverse, or experiencing the rich and meaningful relationships and experiences we currently get to curate here on the… well… natural earth. Barring the catastrophic or unforeseeable, we are headed for an increasingly artificial experience of reality. We choose that word, "artificial," carefully. It shares a common root with the word artifact, and of course, the word art itself. Meaning shaped by human will or human hands, it stands in contrast to the word "natural" — something that has not been shaped by human will or human hands. The metaverse, as it has come to be called, or the various forms of augmented reality that have been proposed, all take us further from the natural experience into the artificial. That's not a value statement, just an observation of reality. These worlds, digital extensions of our built environment, unlike the kind of "hybrid" world we inhabit now — made of both the natural and artificial — will be purely the work of human imagination. For those with a more transhumanist leaning, this is the ultimate dream fulfilled. Like the singularity itself, the idea of a metaverse is a kind of technotopia. But for many of us who love nature, and particularly for those of us who draw resources directly from nature, i.e. hunters and gatherers, it's a kind of nightmare scenario, a techno dystopia. But, it's unfolding before our very eyes and with no signs of slowing down. To the contrary, it's speeding up. So, how do we navigate this rapidly approaching world. How do we relate to it, stay sane, and stay connected to the natural world? That's the question that's on our minds, in this conversation with Chris Morasky. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/124

Everett Headley is back on the show today, this time, to discuss a topic we've been wanting to learn about for ages… Falconry. That's right, hunting with a bird of prey. Each year, when we go through our own state's hunting regulations, we're always transfixed by the "grey squirrel falconry season." We think, just what is this anyway, and who is doing it? Well, Everett is here today to give us a primer on what falconry is, who does it, and how. Of course, we'll learn a lot about these incredible birds too. One of the big takeaways for us is that, prior to shotguns being widely available, this was a really efficient way to bird hunt. Of course, today, it's more of an art form, being kept alive by folks who want to maintain this ancient hunting relationship with wild raptors. A lot of hunters, upon first learning about falconry think "I'd like to try that" — and Daniel is one of them — so in many ways, this interview gives us a real glimpse into just what it takes. Spoiler alert, it's a lot of work and not for everybody! But we bet it's for some of you, and even if it's not, this is a fascinating and engrossing topic you won't want to miss. So, special thanks to Everett for coming back on the show. He was just on for episode 118, A Hunting Dialectic, which was a great show too. We don't think we've ever had a guest on for two episodes so close together, but Everett has so much to offer the hunting world, and Daniel just couldn't wait to talk about these incredible birds and the lifestyle of hunting with them. There's only about 4,000 falconers in the US today. We're hoping, after hearing this episode, that there might just be a few more added to the ranks. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/123

In today's episode, Daniel is speaking to Jack and Andy of Foraged.Market, a website dedicated to high-quality specialty and wild foods from around the world. Not only is it a place where you can find and purchase wild foods from vetted, sustainable foragers, but it's also a place where you can sell your own foraged foods or products you forage! Of course, you've always had the ability to sell what you forage, but it's not been easy to find buyers interested in your goods. But Foraged brings buyers, looking for your products, to you. Think Etsy for wild foods. Linking sellers and buyers to one another. Imagine that you are a chef or a home cook, and you're looking for American Matsutake mushrooms. You could simply order them on Foraged.Marketplace, trusting that they've come from a forager who's been evaluated by the Foraged team, to ensure they're using sustainable foraging practices. Or, let's say you've been making birch syrup at home, and you've got a surplus. You could sell your product on Foraged too, with your own online store front — assuming you've first gone through their sustainable forging practices verification process. This is a huge leap forward for the wild foods and foraging community. Opening up avenues for the flow of these incredible, sustainable products into our food systems and empowering those who tend the wild to become more self-sufficient practicing their craft as an income source. It means chefs can more easily access the incredible ingredients that we foragers have been enjoying for years, broadening the public's palette and perception of what the wild world produces, and thereby placing value on species that might otherwise be forgotten, ensuring that at least some of these species get the attention and eventual protection they need to exist in perpetuity! It also opens up pathways for more scrutiny into the sustainability of our practices and to subtly shift the foraging world away from a taking model to more of a tending model. We've got really high hopes for what Jack and Andy are doing at Foraged and are really looking forward to the way this could positively impact the foraging world! And also to see how it might benefit you, the listener, in either accessing wild foods you're interested in, or in sharing wild foods you love with others. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/122

Our guest today is Bob Krumm — author of several wonderful books on berry foraging that span the Pacific Northwest to New England and a fly fishing guide on the Bighorn River since the 1980s. In fact, still guiding clients today, Bob's now the eldest guide on the river — quite a distinction. We love this conversation because Bob's got qualities that we really want to cultivate in this life. He's so kind and good-hearted, and his outlook on life is so beautifully positive. Bob's been gathering berries for jams and jellies for decades, and he sent Daniel several bottles, which he and Avani have readily devoured. He's convinced some of Bob's good vibes have made it into each bottle. Anyway, it's always great to get the perspective of folks who've been on the path and the planet a bit longer. It's such an important reminder of what's really most important in life. Bob sent Daniel his books, and in each one where he signed them, he wrote a little message. They kind of sum up the philosophy that we're talking about. One says: Remember, life's just a bowl of berries. Sweet ones at that. Another reads: May all of your endeavors turn out berry good. And the third: May your berry bucket be full of joy, love, blessings, and lots of luscious berries. We think Bob collecting berries along the Bighorn River has gathered more than just ripe fruits — he's found a lot of what life is really all about. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/121

We've got a great show for you today with Kelly Kindscher, PhD. He's the author of Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie, a senior scientist at the Kansas Biological Survey and a Professor in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Kansas. His research specialties are plant community ecology, conservation biology, restoration ecology, botany, and ethnobotany. His passion is for wild prairies, wild plants, and wild landscapes. If you've got questions about the ecology of the prairie, Kelly Kindscher is your guy. And, we've got questions about the prairie! We love interviews like this, deep dives on specific topics — especially getting to explore the big history of landscapes and their ecology. In our short lifetimes, we get such a brief glimpse into the places we live or visit, so drawing upon the incredible history and science to piece together a big-picture story, to us, is both revelatory and thrilling. Today, of course, we're talking about the prairie, how it was formed — which, most interestingly, had strong anthropogenic influence — and what happened from the first settlement there, up to European contact, and right up to the present. Having visited the prairie last year, not for the first time, but for the first time with intentionality, Daniel is keenly interested in this ecological treasure. And, having eaten from what it provides, in the form of bison, chokecherries, and prairie turnips, we really value the message that Dr. Kelly is sharing. That our prairie restoration efforts must include edible and medicinal plants if we hope to make a lasting change in how modern Americans relate to this crucial ecotype. Trying to rebuild it, exclusive of people just means people forget about it. Out of site, out of mind. But creating landscapes that humans can interact with, particularly at the gustatory level — which incidentally is likely the reason the prairies were built by humans in the first place — means that people, rather than forgetting, will instead be interacting. What we care about we protect. It's a beautiful and timely message about a place whose importance can't be overstated. And of course, this same thinking can be applied to any and all landscapes. Like Kelly, we think tending wild landscapes for food and medicine is the missing component that gives modern people a reason to care. The answers are already there, they just need to be implemented. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/120

We've got a fascinating interview for you today. Our guest Mike Robinson is a restaurateur in the UK, specializing in bringing wild game meat to the market and table — something we can't really do here in the US but is legal in England. More specifically, he and his restaurants specialize in wild venison. In fact, Mike is playing a significant role in how wild venison reaches British diners. He's also a television personality, who currently has four different shows airing on Outdoor Channel. You read that right, four shows. One of which, Farming the Wild — which airs in the same block as WildFed — often features him hunting deer in ways that frankly, we'd just never seen. Stalking through the English countryside with dogs, head shooting deer off of shooting sticks, letting his dogs find the deer, and then field dressing those deer to enter the restaurant market. If you've never seen a man in a tweed golf hat field dress a deer in 70 seconds, you need to see his show! Mike has a method of cleaning deer that is faster, more hygienic, and more efficient than any we've ever seen. It comes from having harvested thousands — yes, thousands — of deer. And he'll describe his method for us in this interview. There's a lot of really useful takeaways in this conversation, things that'll make your field care and final cooking product even better. It's also a very intriguing contrast — the differences between British and American hunting culture. Here with our vast public lands, huge wilderness areas, and relatively short history as a domesticated landscape, our hunting culture has been shaped by a rugged, survivalist mentality. There in the UK, where there's been thousands of years of domestication and farming, their hunting culture is more akin to animal husbandry, which is why Mike's show is called Farming The Wild. And while the differences are fascinating, between the old world and the new — we're even more interested in what we can learn from each other! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/119

Daniel set out to interview today's guest — Everett Headley — on the topic of falconry… cooperative hunting with a bird of prey. He's a Montana resident that, amongst other things, hunted with a red tail hawk and is now training a peregrine falcon. All very interesting stuff that we've wanted to learn more about for years. But from the moment we started speaking, it was obvious that the natural flow of their conversation was going in a different direction. Both Everett and Daniel take a very philosophical approach to hunting and to understanding their relationship to the outdoors and the wild things that live there, and this, being their initial conversation, quickly took a turn towards the big picture. What they landed on was a conversation about the journey a hunter takes over the course of their lifetime and how they think we can best preserve our hunting heritage in perpetuity. It's an important topic, because, despite the renewed cultural interest we're seeing in hunting right now, there are many forces still aligned against it. And while, in recent years, many new hunters are embracing the lifestyle, we have a long way to go to win over the non-hunting public. Everett is a really thoughtful person, and it comes through in how he communicates about the lifestyle he passionately lives. He really takes his time in exploring these ideas and has a deep grasp on the topic of hunting. Not just the how-to, but the why, and when. And by "when" we mean where we are, currently, in the timeline of modern hunting and its relationship to conservation. We love conversations like this, true dialectics, where many questions are asked, but neither of us has an answer to the questions we're posing. Instead we explore them with a sincere desire to arrive at sound conclusions. Whether you agree or not with the conclusions we are reaching is less important than that these ideas get explored. Because, as we're always wanting to point out, hunting isn't just some other hobby, like building model cars or playing racket ball. It's the natural, fundamental human food acquisition strategy and it's formative to how we came to be in relationship to the rest of the ecosystem and the other-than-human beings that inhabit them alongside us. Therefore, while many fads will come and go, some in the course of our lifetime, hunting must — in my opinion — remain. It's too important to who we are to see it lost or forgotten, or tread beneath the wheels of the engine of so-called progress. So, it's in that spirit that Everett and Daniel have this conversation. It's a desire to see something fundamentally human, preserved. And we promise to bring him back to talk about falconry soon. We're as interested to learn about that as you are. In the meantime, get to know Everett a bit, and take some time to consider these questions yourself. We need all hands on deck! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/118

Is camouflage necessary for hunting? How much of it is gimmick and hype? If it does work, to what degree does it make sense to be employing it? Join Daniel for a solo edition of the podcast as he takes a deep dive into the art and practicality of camouflage. Nature regularly employs camouflage for deception — both for predators and for prey — and it's important that we, as hunters, consider our visibility in the landscapes we're moving through. In this episode, Daniel explains how camouflage works and gives an overview of the myriad of different camouflage options available — patterns, colors, brands and more. He explores the effectiveness of these options in the field and shares his own experiences, as well as some of his favorites. We hope this gives you some food for thought as you consider your hunting, fishing and foraging wardrobe into the future! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/117

One of our favorite repeat guests, Lori McCarthy, is back today to talk about her new book, Food, Culture, Place: Stories, Traditions, and Recipes of Newfoundland. Lori is, of course, from Newfoundland, Canada — which, by the way, should not be confused with the rest of Canada — as it really is its own place entirely, having only become a Canadian province in 1949! With a timezone 30 minutes ahead of Eastern Standard, they really do march to the beat of their own drum, and speak a dialect all their own. Of all the places we've visited in the US and Canada, nowhere is the food culture still as intimately tied to the landscape as it is there. Lori's new book, while we'd categorize it as a cookbook, is also a deep dive into the foodways and cultural heritage of the island they call "The Rock", which is exemplified in the title — Food, Culture, Place. Lori and Daniel have always had a great rapport, so this interview is full of stories, laughs, and of course, interesting anecdotes from the world of wild foods. Oh, one more thing, we spoke with Lori this morning, and there's been some shipping delays that have postponed the official launch of her book, but she'll have them very soon. She wanted us to let you know, if you want to pre-order a copy you can do that on Amazon, or by emailing her directly at foodcultureplace.ca. She'll get one out to you as soon as they arrive. In the meantime, enjoy the very unique insights, stories, and of course, accent of the one and only, Lori McCarthy. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/116

Today's guest is Kathy Yerich. She's the co-author of Mushrooms of the Upper Midwest, a field guide for lay folks in that area to use identifying fungi around them. Created specifically for the mushroom beginner — it's organized by what the mushroom looks like in order to teach people to look at all of the mushroom's features and get to know the best and easiest to identify edibles, as well as the most poisonous species. Kathy's been part of the Minnesota Mycological Society for 15 years and the North American Mycological Association for about 12 years. She's also very enthusiastic — like so many of you — about wild foods. Mushrooms for her are more than an academic interest — they're a food source. We really hope this encourages you to set some mushroom foraging goals for the coming year. Unless you're lucky enough to live in a place where mycelia fruit this time of year — in which case, get out there! Us, we're feeling committed to putting more time into mushrooming this coming season. But until then, we'll do some winter Chaga hunting and keep making Chaga tea until the snow melts away, the weather warms up and new flushes of mushrooms start pushing their way up through the forest floor again. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/115

Today's guest is Senior Cyber Tracker Kersey Lawrence. If you've been listening to the show for a while, you've heard Daniel speak to a few skilled trackers in past episodes. This skill, of studying, identifying, and ultimately tracking and trailing animals was — most likely — fundamental to the development of the modern human brain and perhaps even to language itself. At one time, this skill would have been nearly universal amongst humans, but of course, in our more modern era, it's atrophied to the point that most of us can't identify the tracks of the native wildlife around us, no less interpret them. Now, modern hunters are a bit of an exception. Most of us are aware of the track patterns of the animals we pursue, and use these tracks, albeit in a rudimentary way, to locate our quarry. That kind of tracking is a bit like learning an alphabet, or maybe even reading a few monosyllabic words. What Daniel's talking with Kersey about today is different. It's more akin to reading sentences, paragraphs, and ultimately books of knowledge about how animals have used the landscape in the recent past and potentially might use it in the future too. There are places and peoples in the world where this skill is still alive, part of an unbroken lineage that stretches back into the deepest recesses of human antiquity. And there are also folks, for whom this field of study came later in life but who have developed it into a contemporary art-form and culture — who've codified it and who are ensuring it doesn't blink out of existence the way so much of our ancestral skills and technologies have. Kersey has a foot in both worlds. She lives part time and works alongside trackers in Africa, who come from communities where tracking is still practiced the way it always has been. Places where the practice of this art was never generationally interrupted. But she also lives part time here in the US where she teaches tracking to folks whose lineage forgot the art of tracking long ago. Kersey is the first woman to ever earn the title of Senior Tracker in the internationally renowned CyberTracker system. Today she's going to tell us what CyberTracker is, and about the art of tracking. She's done the deep dive, and she's going to introduce us to something our ancestors forgot long ago, and maybe even invite us to pick it up where those distant relatives left off. To not just follow in their footsteps, but to follow their footsteps themselves. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/114

Today's episode is with our good friend Randy Huntley. This guy is a hoot. He's a hunter, a registered Maine guide who leads bear and moose hunts, an Animal Damage Control trapper, a maple sap tapper, an avid fiddleheader, and all-around outdoorsman. He's got one of the best beards in his field, and he's also Daniel's beaver tapping mentor. One of the things we like the most about him, he's as into eating wild game as we are, and for him, eating beaver is no exception. As you probably know, for most of modern beaver trapping history, it was the pelts that motivated trappers to wade into the beaver's watery world. But today, with the price of pelts so low, it's scarcely worth your time to trap for furs alone. Even when selling the Castor glands into the market, it's hard to imagine breaking even as a money-motivated beaver trapper. But when you start considering the incredible food value, and the fact that they can weigh 20-60 pounds apiece, trapping as a wild food strategy starts looking really enticing. Furs and glands become a secondary consideration. So, with eating beaver on our mind — insert laugh track here — we've been setting off to the stream banks with Randy to "lay some steel" as they say. The result, some of the best eating game meat the wild world provides. Beautiful red meat for steaks and braises, and lots of succulent fat. Not what you normally associate with rodents, but then again, these are the continent's largest, and they're in a culinary category all their own. We think beaver is one of North America's most underutilized game meats, so if you're looking to fill the freezer without needing to fire a single shot, consider a beaver trapline. After all, it hunts while you sleep. But you'll need to go find yourself a mentor like Randy Huntley first because there's no substitute for a great teacher. And if he comes with a highly polished Maine accent, just consider that a bonus! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/113

Today's guest is John McGannon — chef, author, television host, a true pioneer in wild game cookery and a veteran of the wild-game cookery television space that we at WildFed are still fledgling to. We really appreciate the opportunity to talk to someone like him, since he's already tread much of the landscape we're now exploring, and also because he can give valuable context to what the last couple of decades in the space has been like. Probably most valuable is hearing his key take aways about game cookery. After many years of trial and error, he's distilled down a few key strategies for making every cut of game shine in the kitchen and on the plate. Most significant — John says they'll probably put it on his epitaph — is his emphasis on dry-aging. So, if you're looking for take-aways from this episode, listen to how he suggests you age game meats at home. You'll want to work these ideas into your field-care and kitchen. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/112

We're joined today by Zach Elfers, aka @woodlandrambler of the Nomad Seed project. Zach has a unique suite of skills and knowledge base that centers around the intersection of botany, horticulture, foraging, wild-tending and traditional ecological knowledge. As a member of the foraging community, Zach is going a lot deeper than mere plant identification or gathering. He's looking at creating large scale, reciprocal ecological relationships between people, the plants, the land, and the rest of the non-human beings that we share the landscape with. And while this was a get-to-know-you kind of conversation, Daniel left it feeling like "this is the kind of thinking he hopes can start to infuse North American foraging culture over the next decade." Our conversation quickly veered away from merely foraging and went into some of the challenging-to-traverse terrain of the socio-political aspects of our cultural relationship to the land and each other. Of particular interest to us is the juxtaposition of top-down vs bottom-up approaches to implementation. We look at indigenous vs colonial land management paradigms, and discuss possible roads back to a more long-term sustainable path of nature integration. This interview gets into some of the high-level, big-picture thinking that we really enjoy. It's a reminder that wild foods are about a lot more than what's on your plate. It's about how we relate to the landscape, to the creatures we share the planet with, and how we relate to each other too. Because food is so much more than calories. It's a representation of how we choose to walk in the world. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/111

Rebugging The Planet? We spend a lot of time and energy considering the role that charismatic animals play in our ecosystems and why we should conserve them. But what about less charismatic critters? The ones that aren't so pretty. Vicki Hird is here to speak on behalf of the bugs — not just insects — but invertebrates in general. Throughout this interview, we'll use the term bug loosely to encompass insects, arachnids, plankton, and just about any other invertebrate too, because, as it turns out, in many cases, their populations are in decline. The culprits are many. Some obvious — like habitat loss and deliberate or unintended chemical assault. But there are some surprises too — like the impact that high-energy communications systems like 5G technology may have on invertebrate populations. It's easy to muster the public will to conserve the polar bear, the blue whale, and the bald eagle. But what of bugs? Are our unconscious biases keeping us incognizant of their decline? We've all been inculcated, not intentionally, but subconsciously, with a cultural bias — disdain might be a better word — for bugs. Squash them, spray them with pesticide, avoid them at all costs. But in an era that, looking back a few hundred years from now, will likely be defined by ecological crisis and the measures taken to confront it — what we need most is a reframing of the way we view our fellow life forms. Because we can't sustainably change the way we act without changing the way we think. Many of us received a miseducation on what Vicki calls bugs. We learned they're dirty, they're dangerous, they're vectors for disease. Vicki is here to correct the record and offer us the opportunity to reframe our relationship with these all-important creatures. And she's sharing things we can each do, individually, to promote the return of their numbers. She's here to help re-bug the planet! But first, we have to re-bug our minds. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/110

David Meltzer is Professor of Prehistory at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, an archeologist who has conducted research throughout North America, and the author of over 200 scientific studies, and 10 books, including First Peoples In A New World. His primary interest is the first peopling of the continent — a subject that, for whatever reason, has always captivated us. It's not just the idea of Asiatic people venturing across Beringia and into an unpeopled world, which is interesting enough on its own, but it's the world they entered into — an ice age landscape full of now extinct animals, like elephantine mammoths, deadly saber tooth cats, giant short faced bears, enormous ground sloths, and gargantuan primitive bison. But what do we really know about these so called "paleo-indian" peoples and their migration here? And what role, if any, might they have played in the extinction of so much of the ice age megafauna they encountered — and in many cases, hunted? Today we'll get the big picture overview of what we know about the first peopling of North and South America and what the world was like just 15,000 years ago. It might sound like a long time, but in the scheme of human history, it's really quite recent. So recent in fact, that conversations like this leave us feeling like that world is almost within reach. It's exciting and energizing to imagine that world, in all its contrast to the modern one we find ourselves in today. And while we're now safer, more affluent, and less inclined to be eaten, there's a feeling we can't shake that there was also something essential about that time that's now missing. Perhaps that's naive nostalgia talking, but we're gonna indulge it, just for today. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/109

Today's show really harkens back to Daniel's roots! His earliest work was focused on nutrition, which has been a primary interest of his for more than two and a half decades. He eventually landed on a wild foods lifestyle by following that thread of interest wherever it led. After becoming very dissatisfied with modern dietary dogma and popular fad diets, he started looking into our ancestral past for clues about what the human animal needs for nutritional inputs, and at what worked historically. Today's guest — Dr. Bill Schindler — is author of the new book Eat Like A Human. The book lays out simply and clearly, the foundations of a zoologically appropriate human diet, based on both medical and nutritional science, but also on several hundred thousand years of evolutionary history. Bill and Daniel, while coming from really different origin stories, have landed on really similar conclusions about food and how we relate to it. It's concepts like those he explores in his book that have led to Daniel hunting, fishing, foraging, and making this podcast and the WildFed TV show. In other words, it was the desire to integrate ancestral practices into a modern life that led to this show. But you don't have to harvest your own food to start putting these kinds of dietary practices into place. You can learn to forage the produce section and hunt the deli area of your local grocer. Bill's book will show you how. Follow that path long enough, and you might just find yourself in the woods, or on the sea, chasing the most nutritious and ancestrally coherent food you can find.. so you can, like Bill says…. Eat Like A Human. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/108

Kevin Kossowan is the creator of From The Wild, a James Beard award nominated, culinary adventure series about wild foods that has elevated field cookery to a level not really seen before in a tv series. A film maker, he's also the co-creator of Les Stroud's Wild Harvest on PBS and Nat Geo. One of the things we love about talking with Kevin is his willingness to get into some of the more taboo and uncomfortable nooks and crannies of the ethical and moral and ecological obligations of hunting, fishing, and foraging... especially into conversations we, as hunters, are often told we shouldn't have. While the first part of this conversation is some catch up, talk about recent harvests and the landscapes they happen in, the second part of this conversation really heats up, as Daniel and Kevin start talking about things like pollution in wild foods, ethics in killing, and the things that motivate or deter us from participating or not participating in harvests. The terrain gets sticky, and that's precisely why we think it's important to explore. Because what we do, harvesting organisms from the wild for food, needs to be clearly articulated for us to make quality decisions about life and death, and of course, for the public to understand — and hopefully support — our choices, and the system of laws that legally governs our actions. Some of these moral quandaries and ethical dilemmas aren't solvable, they're too nuanced and individual for that. Instead, each of us has to dig deep inside to determine where we land on these issues. We hope you enjoy this conversation! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/107

Eugenia Bone is a nationally known food and science writer and the author of several books, including Mycophilia, Revelations from the Weird World of Mushrooms, and Microbia, a Journey into the Unseen World Around You. Most recently, she can be seen in Fantastic Fungi, a new documentary you can see on Netflix that looks at the healing properties of mushrooms, from the medicinal to the entheogenic. She's featured alongside other greats like Michael Pollen and Paul Stamets. We highly recommend the film, and as you'll hear in this episode, Eugenia has recently edited the Fantastic Fungi Community Cookbook — which is a companion to the film. Eugenia was a real pleasure to talk to, with her lively style and excellent grasp of all things fungi, from foraging to the most recent science. From cutting edge cuisine to modern building materials, from environmental clean-up to cancer treatment and even psychotherapy, mushrooms are finally myceliating the western mind and its formerly mycophobic culture. So here's to mycophilia, the antidote to the anti-mushroom sentiment of bygone days. The future is bright, if not partially decomposing and covered in spores. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/106

Our guest today — Josh Niland — is changing the way the culinary world thinks about fish. From the way we handle it, to how we store it, to the way it's cooked, Josh has single handedly created a new school of fish cuisine. Though part of it is a strong ethic of using more of the animal, that's really just the beginning. Imagine, at present, in restaurants and at home, only about 45% of a fish is utilized for food. Now imagine a James Beard award-winning chef who is getting 90% yield and creating dishes no one has ever conceived of before. Josh is dry-aging fish too, discovering that, with proper storing — and contrary to all convention — the flavor of fish flesh, like that of land animals, can be improved with hanging time, provided it's kept dry and cold. It's hard to overstate the impact Josh's work is going to have on the science and art of processing and cooking fish. If nothing else, it'll change the way you see fish forever. At WildFed, we're slowly shifting our approach to handling, processing, aging, cooking, and eating fish. There's a lot of habit, convention, and institutional inertia to overcome. But the results Josh is getting make it clear… We can do more to honor the fish we eat, the people we feed, and the oceans, lakes, rivers, and ponds we harvest from. 45% is unacceptable. Let's start eating scale to tail! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/105

This week's interview is with Brian Hammons, CEO and President of Hammons Black Walnuts — the country's largest commercial producer of finished black walnuts. Black walnuts, of course, are a wild food very different from the English Walnuts most of us are familiar with, and sourced from nut trees native to North America. Each year Hammons buys millions of pounds of Black Walnuts from foragers all over the middle of the country, through an innovative network of buying and hulling stations they set up each harvest season. Brian is passionate about Black Walnuts, just like his father, and his father's father were. He and his company embody the noble, but not so common traits, of hard work and work ethic, good stewardship, family tradition, and transparent business practices. And all of that comes through in the way he talks about what they do at Hammons. We often quote the writer and foraging icon Sam Thayer here on the show. He talks about what he calls "Ecoculture" as a more ancient and sustainable alternative to Agriculture. He's quick to point out that with the right shifts in landscape management, viable wild food sheds are possible on a scale we can't really imagine at present. To us, Hammons represents a company that's been doing precisely that — creating a viable market for a wild food, sustainably, for decades. Not only that, but it's a win-win-win, because as the customer gets a healthy, sustainable wild food, Hammons prospers and so do the foragers who supply them with their raw materials. Supporting companies like theirs moves us towards a new — or perhaps old — way of engaging the landscape for our food needs. It's exciting to us, and it opens up a world of possibilities! Here's to happy foraging! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/104

It's our pleasure to share a conversation with Sunny Savage of Maui, Hawaii — a modern-day wild food pioneer and incredible asset to our community of foragers. Sunny teaches wild food internships, created a foraging and cooking television series, ran a food truck featuring foraged ingredients, and has even created a foraging app. While most of us think of Hawaii as a kind of tropical paradise, there are — in some parts of the archipelago — darker forces at work there than just the endless golf courses. Villainous bioengineering companies test their toxic wares there, and invasive species — otherwise balanced into their own native ecology — wreak havoc on the native floral and faunal assemblages of the Hawaiian islands. While the typical response of conservation groups has been to reach for pesticides — very often from those same bioengineering companies we just mentioned — Sunny has been presenting a different approach. Making them, when we can, into foods. Sunny shares some powerful insights in this interview that are very important to the ongoing conversation we've had here on this show about deleterious, non-native plants, and this is just a compliment to her otherwise wonderful wild food wisdom. So, enjoy this conversation with the one and only Sunny Savage! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/103

We're on our way back from North and South Dakota as this podcast comes out. Instead of flying, we drove out, so we could bring our coolers, which, to our delight and gratitude, are now brimming with buffalo meat. Our harvest was enough to share with our host, the many hands that helped us, and our production team too. As he always has, the buffalo provides. Now, of course, we know they're properly called bison today — scientific name Bison bison — but after a week on the Standing Rock Reservation, it's hard to call them that. There, the people — Lakota and Dakota — say buffalo. And who knows better than a people whose life way and history has been so inextricably linked to this animal. So, for now, we'll call them what they call them. Travis 'Good Bull Man' Condon — our host — invited us out to harvest a buffalo on the prairie and to share a traditional meal with some elders from the community. He put in a tremendous amount of work with us, gutting, butchering, and packing our buffalo. He shared meals with us — and ceremony, language, stories and songs. It's hard to describe all the magic we experienced during our stay there, and most is probably best kept close to the heart anyway, but suffice it to say that we are leaving there with more than full coolers. Our hearts are full too, with joy and love, and appreciation for our new friends. We're already planning our trip back to what was some of the most beautiful country we'd ever visited and some of the most gracious folks we've ever met. Our hunt, our chokecherry harvest, and of course the incredible meal we shared after, will be featured in Season 2 of WildFed on the Outdoor Channel. We've already reviewed the footage and can hardly wait for you to see it. So, Wóphila — thanks — and gratitude. Your listenership, as always, is appreciated. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/102

Jess Starwood is an herbalist, forager, chef, and the author of the new book, Mushroom Wanderland. Being on opposite coasts, we've only known Jess through the exquisite photography and ecologically inspired writing featured on her beautifully curated social media pages. With her new book getting the attention of the foraging community, and with so many requests to have her on the show, this seemed like a great time to finally connect with her to learn more about the important impact she's having on modern wild food culture. In this interview, Jess and Daniel chat about the wild world of mushrooms, herbalism, the sustainability of wild food, the complex tastes of wild food and so much more. Enjoy! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/101

Today's podcast is with Jenna Rozelle, a longtime friend of the podcast and someone who has been very involved — if not from a bit behind the scenes — in the modern wild food culture. She was one of our first guests, and we recently sat down with her to catch up and talk about the state of the wild food scene — both here where we live and around the country. Jenna, our producer Grant, and Daniel have a fun and lively discussion ranging all over the map as they discuss foraging, hunting, fishing, and general wild food ecology, as well as some thoughts about the future of wild food culture in North America. The conversation is filled with a lot of useful info and some good laughs too. Enjoy! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/100

Mario Kalpou is the host of Man Eats Wild, a new show premiering on Outdoor Channel later this month. Mario's lifestyle is larger than life. He's a self-professed adrenaline addict, who seeks thrills and big adventure, but he's also a very thoughtful hunter, and his ethics, like ours here at WildFed, center around his approach to food. A native of Australia, he made the first season of his show in the South Pacific — filming in Australia, but also in New Zealand. As you're listening to this, he's headed off to Africa, where he formerly worked as a hunting guide — what they call a Professional Hunter there — to film the second season of his new show. Man Eats Wild, like WildFed, airs on Mondays on the Outdoor Channel as part of their Taste of the Wild block, as both of our shows are food-focused. While our artistic styles are a bit different, we both view hunting, fishing, and foraging through a similar lens. We think it's an ancient — but still relevant and important — approach to acquiring quality food and that this food is healthier for us than anything we can purchase in the store. This was a great conversation, and we're excited to have him as a friend and ally… and we're wishing Man Eats Wild huge success with its upcoming premier! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/099

We've just returned from a week in the beautiful Hill Country of Texas, filming an episode for Season 2 of WildFed TV show on the Outdoor Channel. Our host and guide to the incredible property we visited — Bamberger Ranch Preserve — was Jared Holmes, a zoologist, herpatologist, hunter, butcher, ecological steward and landscape regeneration specialist. Bamberger Ranch serves as a model of what is possible with good stewardship, despite the incredible insults to the land that have been perpetrated here over the last several hundred years. We came home from the ranch with feral hog meat, and braised one of the hams a few nights ago. We were simply blown away by the quality of the meat. We've had wild hog before, and have enjoyed it, but not like this. These hogs have been living in an intact eco-community, with mineralized soil, clean spring water, and feeding on a diversity of healthy, wild foods. They're simply healthier hogs, and their meat reflects that. Jared's living, working, and raising a family in this little slice of paradise. But the thing is, the whole earth is ready for this kind of regeneration. We just have to get to work. We'll leave it to Jared to tell you how. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/098

Today's episode was a lot of fun to record, since it's rare that Grant Guiliano — co-producer of this podcast and co-creator of the WildFed television series — and Daniel sit down to just record a show together. There's so many fun stories and interesting reflections on the things we learn and encounter during — and outside of — those productions — and we thought it would be fun to share some of that with you today! If you're just tuning in for the first time, this episode isn't our typical content, since we're usually interviewing wild food experts, wildlife biologists, ecologists, authors, chefs, or noteworthy hunters, anglers, and foragers. And we'll be back to that content next week. But for now, we hope you'll enjoy this more candid, behind the scenes conversation between Daniel and Grant. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/097

Moose! They're the largest member of the deer family, and no one knows them better than our guest today, Lee Kantar, Maine's State Moose biologist and head of its Moose Management Program. Here in Maine we have a thriving population — the largest in the lower 48 — but our tags are coveted, released each summer after a much-anticipated lottery drawing. While moose are majestic, if not a bit goofy on those long spindly legs, they're also facing several threats, not the least of which is the winter tick, an ectoparasite that's literally been bleeding our moose population to death. Add to that the threat of brain worm and chronic wasting disease, and it soon becomes apparent why the work of Lee Kantar and his colleagues is so important. It's also important for us to understand what helps them thrive and what leads to their ultimate demise. That's why Lee is flying around in helicopters counting moose, wrangling them for the tagging program, and racing to the scene when a collar shows a mortality to perform a necropsy on the spot. All that data is fed back into a management program that's goal is ensuring moose have a future here with us. Not just for the hunt, but for their own intrinsic value on the landscape. Tune in for a fascinating conversation on moose, their ecology and effective moose management. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/096

Never buy fish from a stranger. That's the motto of our guests Tim and Kayla, AKA the New England Fishmongers. The Fishmongers of New England have created a model that is changing the way consumers get their fish. From the boat where it's well-cared for, to the Fishmongers who cut and package it, direct to you at the farmers market or restaurant. We're hopeful that this and similar models become the norm, not only bringing the fishermen and the retail buyer closer together, but shortening the supply chain, ensuring that less of the quality, and just as important, the story, is lost in the exchange. Seafood is, in our opinion, one of the healthiest, most nutrient dense, and physiologically most important food sources we can access. But it can also be some of the most ecologically unsustainable and, frankly, bad tasting if it's not done right. If you don't hunt or raise animals, you need a good butcher. If you don't fish or get offshore you need a good fishmonger. Fish sticks be dammed! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/095

Today we're talking to Paul Saladino — the Carnivore MD — one of the most vocal proponents of the very in-vogue carnivore diet. Now, if you listen to this show, it's no mystery that we at WildFed are as much plant people as we are hunters. We believe in both hunting and gathering, as well as the long tradition of human omnivory. So, you won't hear of us giving up plants anytime soon. However, we appreciate Paul's perspective and the work he's done to combat the anti-meat sentiment — you could almost say "propaganda" — that has become so commonplace in the last decade or so. In this conversation, we discuss meat and why it's so much more than just protein, Paul's time with the Hadza in Tanzania and what he learned about their dietary preferences, and the politics of censorship and medical freedom. This is a really useful discussion, especially in a time when our fundamental, biologically appropriate foods are under constant attack by a well-intentioned, and sometimes not-so-well-intentioned, media and medical institution. Paul is a radical. He's a rebel. He's a pioneer, and he's fearlessly sharing a message that deserves to be heard. We don't agree with all of his conclusions, but we certainly appreciate what he has to say, and we hope you do too. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/094

May You Feel Every Tick. It's a salutation and a toast. It's a farewell, and adieu. It's an admonition in tick country to stay tuned into your senses, a reminder to feel. So, for those of you who spend any time in the outdoors, we say it to you now as well… May You Feel Every Tick. We've got a special edition of the podcast for you today, because our guest is none other than Avani Vitalis — Daniel's wife, teammate, and very best friend. Daniel and Avani get asked a lot how they deal with the constant threat of ticks. They live in the Northeast of the US where the tick problem is epidemic. There's a few months of every year — prime foraging and hunting time — when the threat of Lyme disease, babesiosis, anaplasmosis, Powasson virus, relapsing fever, tularemia, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and even the alpha-gal allergy which causes severe allergic reactions to eating red meat, are all a very real and present danger. Should you avoid the outdoors? Should you be using permethrin or other bug sprays on your clothing or body? Should you be tucking your pants into your socks, or saturating yourself in essential oil formulas? Do you need a tick key or tweezers to remove an embedded tick? What do you do if you are bitten? What about your pets? Well, Avani and Daniel are going to cover all of that today. Not as experts reporting on the science but rather as two individuals living at ground zero, deep in the heart of tick country. This is their experience. It's not medical advice, rather it's just some insight into their personal approach. You may choose a different path, and we support that, but this is how they're doing it. Their method is a bit unorthodox by today's standards, but it works well for them as it has for many years now. We think the biggest take away is this; if you spend time in the outdoors where ticks are endemic, you need a strategy for living with them. Yours may be different, but you'll need one. The threat of tick borne illness is real, and the consequences are high. They've chosen to live their lives with awareness but not fear, and they're about to share with you, just how they do that. But, with all that said, this is Avani's first time on the show, so they thought they'd take some time first to talk about how they met and to give you a little background on their relationship. So if you're just here for the tick report, you can jump ahead to the creepy crawly part. But we hope you'll stick around for the whole conversation, since it's a lot of fun and pretty insightful too. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/093

Scott Leysath — The Sporting Chef — has been in outdoor television for 2 decades now. He joins us today to talk about a topic that's near and dear to us — eating species that many others perceive as inedible or at least unpalatable. His show "Dead Meat" on the Outdoor Channel is about cooking the weird and wild species that most don't consider food, or at least, that they've come to regard as somehow less than appetizing. This is a fun conversation, and we think it'll inspire you to think outside the box about potential protein sources on your landscape. And there's some good leads in here for intrepid wild food adventurers that just might lead to your next meal. A meal that might surprise the folks around you who said "you can't eat that"… So, go prove them wrong — try an iguana, or a pigeon, or a raccoon, or a groundhog. Done right all four are delicious and deserve just as much respect as a deer or a dove or a duck. In other words, it's time to develop a sophisticated meat palate! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/092

We had a great time sitting down to talk with William Altman — fellow Mainer and the Director of Photography for Donnie Vincent. As someone who's entered into the world of hunting media, with this podcast and, of course, the WildFed TV show on Outdoor Channel, Daniel was excited to talk to William about the cinematography he's doing in the hunting industry, helping to reshape the way hunting media looks and making it more palatable to folks who don't hunt. But he was also excited to talk hunting in general, since William is a very accomplished and committed hunter. So, you're about to get a glimpse behind the scenes — to hear from the shooter behind the shooter — and also into the state of the hunting media industry, where it's headed, and a lot more. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/091

It's our honor and great pleasure to have Sam Thayer on the show. Sam is probably North America's most well-known and respected voice in foraging today. Anyone who's serious about foraging in the US or Canada likely has, and prizes, his three-book series in their library. Sam is an extremely well-rounded ecologist too — in possession of tremendous place-based knowledge and experience that goes well beyond just hunting and gathering. In our opinion, he's truly one of the great ecological minds of our time. In this interview, we discuss the way our enculturated minds — with what he calls an agrocentric worldview — have prevented us from understanding the original wild foodists, the hunting and gathering peoples of the world. In particular, the way their incredible, functional, and sophisticated ecological management strategies created food abundance on their landscape. So, today we'll be discussing agrocentrism. What it is, where it comes from, and how it keeps us from a truly intimate and sustainable relationship with the natural world. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/090

Our guest today is Eduardo Garcia. He's a chef, hunter, angler, athlete, and a lover of the outdoors. He's also the feature of a documentary called Charged: The Eduardo Garcia story, which we highly recommend you watch. It details a rather dramatic, unanticipated, and quite nearly fatal injury that Eduardo sustained on a backcountry hunt, and his inspiring recovery story. It's an emotional ride that leaves you remembering what's really important in life. Things like love, a healthy, positive outlook, friends, family, and — maybe most vital — what we give back to the world. Today, Eduardo lives in Montana, where he's an avid outdoorsman, fisherman, hunter, triathlete and motivational speaker, and we're honored to have him here to share a bit of his story. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/089

Today's guest is Alan Bergo — the Forager Chef, who you may remember from past episodes of this podcast and from our pigeon episode of the WildFed TV show on the Outdoor Channel. Alan is one of the most talented and intrepid chefs in the wild food world today, and he's just released a new book — The Forager Chef's Book of Flora: Recipes and Techniques for Edible Plants from Garden, Field, and Forest. Daniel often comments on this show that we're all descended from hunters — good ones too — or else we wouldn't be here. But Alan is here today to remind us that we are also descended from foragers. Most likely, that's a relationship that predates our species' hunting prowess. And unlike hunting, foraging is accessible to almost everyone. Even most cities have foraging groups, enthusiasts, and even classes happening right there in the parks around you. We can all get to know plants. And if you want to know what to do with them, have a listen to Alan. He's certainly one of the plant pioneers of our generation. That's why they call him the Forager Chef. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/088

Get ready for a great episode on wild plants and the thrill of discovery that is foraging! Ellen Zachos is the author of the new book The Forager's Pantry as well as several other titles like The Wildcrafted Cocktail, and Backyard Foraging, 65 Familiar Plants You Didn't Know You Could Eat. Ellen's a wealth of knowledge on botany and foraging, but she also happens to be a great conversationalist too, which makes this a very upbeat and inspirational interview. Ellen and Daniel discuss the forager's pantry, foraging vs. gardening, Ellen's #1 tip to get started in plant identification, the plants they're both interested in finding and working with this season, and much more. You'll walk away from this conversation with a renewed sense of botanical purpose! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/087

Arthur Haines, a recurring guest of the WildFed Podcast and TV show, is back today, and he's here to talk about hunter attitudes and relationships to animals and the landscape, and how that influences the non-hunting public's perception of hunting as a lifestyle. Hunting is a tremendous responsibility, especially today when such a small part of the public participates. The way we hunt, talk about hunting, write and post about it, and behave on and off of wild landscapes all influences how hunting is perceived and, therefore, how it will be — or won't be — carried into the future world. This is part of an ongoing conversation that Arthur and Daniel have been having for a while personally, and they wanted to share some of that with you today. In this episode, Daniel and Arthur also catch up on a lot of other topics, like their Maple syrup seasons, their recent hog hunts, Arthur's experience at Buffalo Bridge (a program that assists North American indigenous bison hunters with their processing efforts after their harvests), and the story of a Moose hunt Arthur guided last season in Maine. Enjoy! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/086

Well, you've heard the buzz... maybe on the news, maybe in your social media feed, or if you live anywhere near Brood X, you've no doubt heard it in the trees these last few weeks! That's right, it's the return of the largest brood of 17 year cicadas — Brood X — and they're out in the billions, maybe even the trillions! Here at WildFed, we're entomophagists — meaning we eat bugs — not entomologists — meaning those who study them. After a tasty meal of 17-year-old insects, we enlisted the help of Dr. Jonathan Larson, an entomologist at the University of Kentucky to bring us — and by extension you — up to speed on the incredible, bizarre, and uniquely American phenomenon of periodical cicada emergence. Meet us at the intersection of insect science and adventure gastronomy for a fascinating episode! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/085

There are few things in life as important to humanity as salt. It's been a strong force shaping historical events, and it will likely shape many future events too. At WildFed, we have a strong interest in natural salts — whole, unrefined sea salt in particular — so we were excited when Lauren and Cathy from Slack Tide in York, Maine invited us over to see how they produce their small-batch pure sea salt. Just before recording this interview, we boated from their headquarters on the York river out into the open ocean to gather some sea water and brought it back to start the salt making process. Then we sat down over a glass of Lambrusco and did a salt tasting as we recorded. Enjoy our conversation, and remember to stay salty! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/084

Luke Storey — host of The Life Stylist Podcast — joins us to share a "first hunt" story like you've never heard before. Luke and Daniel have been friends for over a decade, originally connecting in the health and nutrition space. Luke recently went on his first hog hunt in Texas, as part of a weekend with past podcast guest Mansal Denton of Sacred Hunting, and this interview centers around his experience. Not just any hog hunt — this hunt was book ended by ceremony, entheogenic medicine, and a particularly deep and nuanced reflection on what it means to hunt, kill, and eat your quarry. We promise — you've never heard someone break down their first hunting experience with so much subtlety and emotional intelligence. This episode is not to be missed! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/083

Mike Kimmel aka the Python Cowboy lives and works on the front lines of the Florida invasion of non-native species like pythons, iguanas, Muscovy ducks and many others. Cowboy is a great description for Mike as he's a bit of a renegade who enjoys the adrenalized rush of capturing dangerous exotic critters. He's also a conservationist who is passionate about his role in removing these species from the landscape to give native species much-needed time to recalibrate to the biological novelty in their new world. In this episode, Mike gives us the rundown on the invasive species issue in Florida — the python invasion, in particular — and gives us a glimpse into his exciting and impactful work. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/082

"Humanity is more comfortable but less happy and healthy than we've ever been before," says today's podcast guest Michael Easter — author of the new book The Comfort Crisis, Embrace Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self. On assignment for Men's Health Magazine, Michael went on a trip following the modern hunter and filmmaker Donnie Vincent on a hunt to the arctic. That trip changed the trajectory of Michael's life, and led to him writing The Comfort Crisis. In this fantastic interview, he shares about the impact of this hunt, along with some really valuable takeaways, like how we can approach discomfort, how we relate to death, and how our own success can sometimes — if we aren't careful — be our undoing. So, take this one to heart. With so many voices out there suggesting we take the easy road, sometimes we need a reminder the easy way isn't always — if ever — the fulfilling one. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/081

It's always great to catch up with friends and colleagues, especially when that friend is our returning guest Lori McCarthy of Newfoundland, Canada. Lori is one of Canada's most celebrated wild food enthusiasts, the creator of Cod Sounds — a cultural education and culinary excursion company — the author of the upcoming book Food Culture Place and the host of a new television series called The East Coast Forager. Lori and Daniel chat about the many benefits of rural and self-sufficient living, the controversial seal hunt, Lori's very first upcoming bear hunt, stories of "the good old days" and the importance of keeping the rich cultural heritage of Newfoundland alive. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/080

In this episode, we chat with Danny Christensen aka the Urban Huntsman about the future of hunting and what it's like to be a hunter in Europe. Originally from Denmark, Danny launched the Urban Huntsman project while living in New York City, and is now residing in Italy — so, he has a pretty unique and comprehensive understanding of the dramatically different modern hunting systems in the United States and Europe. He shares his perspectives and experiences hunting in both places, which are fascinating and highlight how things could change here in North America if we don't participate in and protect the incredible North American conservation model. Enjoy, and take his advice to heart! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/079

Doug Duren — passionate hunter, farmer, land manager and conservationist — is a national voice in the conservation movement, and in particular, in the conversation around Chronic Wasting Disease in the North American deer herd. His guiding principle is simple: It's not ours, it's just our turn. We cover a lot of ground in this interview — from the impacts of big ag on the wild game we harvest to getting new hunters access to good hunting grounds, how chronic wasting disease is changing the hunting space and what we can do about it, and, ultimately, what it really means to be stewards of the landscapes we care for during our short visit here on earth. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/078

We're doing something a little different this episode — Dr. Matt Dawson of the Wild Health Podcast will be interviewing Daniel! Get a behind-the-scenes look into the philosophy that informs this show as Daniel takes us back to the very beginning of his health and wellness journey. He shares about his transition from strict veganism to a natural human diet and what his diet looks like today. He also discusses one of the main pillars of what it means to be WildFed — developing meaningful relationship with species and how important this is to fostering ecological awareness and stewardship. Enjoy! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/077

Dr. Matt Dawson is a physician and the founder and CEO of Wild Health, a genomics-based precision medicine company. If you live a nature-immersed lifestyle, you've likely felt the physical and mental benefits of this firsthand. Matt is here to share how he integrates nature immersion into his genetic medicine practice and the scientific results he's seeing from prescribing this lifestyle to his patients. Daniel and Matt have a thoughtful discussion on bringing mindfulness and intention to what you do, why your DNA is not your destiny, and how you can improve your vitality with a personalized and nature-based approach to your health. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/076

Black bears are elusive and often very timid around humans. But occasionally, they aren't. Black bears sometimes attack, and when they do, the attack is usually of a very different nature than the more common brown bear attack. When black bears attack, they've most often decided you are on the menu — and this requires a very different approach to how you handle an attack, and really, how you think of black bears in general. Now, it's rare… but that said, it's actually far more common than you think. Today's guest Carl Semencic has written a book called Encounter, which deals with just this topic. In this interview, he shares a handful of accounts that might give you a more realistic appreciation of these beautiful, powerful, and sometimes predatory animals. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/075