Kent Rollins is a true blue cowboy hailing from Oklahoma.  Growing up rustling cattle, Kent had an opportunity to work alongside his family.  Both riding range, and staging a pop-up kitchen, he has seen it all.  His culinary education was chopping wood, fueling fires, and making grub to make feed hungry cowboys.

Kent and Nick open up chatting about Kent’s experience competing on the t.v. show Chopped.  Kent participated in the Grill Masters edition where he went head to head with trained chefs using grills, smokers, and live fire.  Watching that series shows where experience pays off.  Not knowing what some of the ingredients even are, Kent was able to dissect taste and texture and work it into the dish.  Like he said, “I’ve had to cook for 15 or so people who had to eat, and no matter the conditions, I’ll get food for ' em, no matter what”.

Nick showed Kent a photo of his camp chuck box.  Nick has kitted it out himself to work well family camping and for deer camp.  Kent runs a whole chuck wagon, fitted to feed an army.  Kent explains having enough storage is key to having all the elements that you need.  Having it in one compact, easy to use system, makes getting something to eat easier, after a long day in the stand, on a stalk, or casting lines.  In addition Kent goes into some of the misconceptions on cast iron.  If you have a nice seasoned pot or pan, boiling water and strewing acid foods is ok.  Both of those tasks will leach out some of the oil and be hard on the seasoning.  As long as you are continuing to add to your seasoning (rinse, dry, heat, oil) your piece will go unaffected.

In true form, Kent was a great guest, and full of information about cooking on range.  I feel as if we only scratched the surface.  If there is a tidbit about Kent that is a true take away from this episode, that is experience will pay off in the long run.  The more times you cook, the better you will get.  The times that we screw up, we gotta remember those.  And when you're not sure, improvise, and use your gut.

“It's just like bull riding, 90 percent mental, 10 percent physical”

~Kent Rollins

Kent Rollins YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/krollins57

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Shane Mahoney is the CEO of Conservation Visions Inc.  An organization that partners with other like minded organizations and individuals that spurs on conservation for wildlife and wildplaces.  As a scientist, activist, and storyteller, Shane has spent a great deal of his life interacting, observing, and connecting with the wild landscape.  His childhood was spent in the northeastern woodlands, and now as an adult expanding his view particularly on the North American Continent.  

Shane launched in 2017, the WildHarvest Initiative.  A project that is beginning to quantify the amount of wild food harvested by Hunters, Anglers, Foragers, and Trappers.  The aim of this project is to understand the amount of food that is seperate from traditional agriculture, and its importance.  What if this food was gone.  How would this resource be replaced?  How many people would be affected?  Through the North American Model of Conservation, pursuing wildgame and foraging for wild plants has proven to be sustainable.  For Sportsmen, this initiative is a valuable tool for promoting our lifestyle.  Shane also makes a point to say that humans and animals can coexist, but not without forward thinking.  As we encroach on wildspaces, are we thinking about our effect on the wild species already there?    

As we wrap our conversation, Shane shares a very unique dish, what could be described as a Turr Wellington.  A seabird, wrapped in dough and baked in the oven.  The unique part is that only native Newfoundlanders can hunt these Turrs.  His description of the dark, almost black flesh of these birds, wrapped, roasted, and served with vegetables had me looking into how to make a trip just to dine on one of these birds.

Conservation Vision/Wild Harvest Website:  

https://www.conservationvisions.com/wild-harvest-initiative

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On this episode Nick chats with the Sporting Chef, Scott Laysath.  Having a handful of television shows, and an unusual start to his culinary career, Scott creates wildgame dishes that use sound kitchen technique, yet easy enough for even a first timer to grasp.  Nick and Scott play a little game called “Change my mind”  Where Scott will take some of your misconceptions, and get you to try something different.  Cinch those apron strings tight, here we go.

Show Notes

Scott Laysath is host of the Sporting Chef and Dead Meat on Sportsman’s Channel.  His culinary start went from managing a restaurant staff, to filling in as cook and chef.  His approach to know what you are cooking, and “play with your food” mentality has made him a great resource for any sportsman who wants to improve their wild game meals.

Nick is always trying to improve kitchen skill.  He asks about knife work.  Having the opportunity to work in a commercial kitchen, practice cutting dozens of pounds of produce was never far away.  Scott says get a 20 lb bag of carrots, and cut.  Chop, slice, round, matchstick, etc., after all that your knife game will be vastly improved, or at least you’ll have a killer grip.

During the episode, Nick plays a game entitled “Change my mind”.  Nick takes a very opinionated position, commonly held by hunters, and Scott invites us to think outside of those boxes.  Examples include: Big northern cedar bucks don't taste good, skin on fish fillets are worth the time, and “eating crow” might not be that bad.

On a tangent, Scott describes how he is able to put all the extra fresh herbs to work by creating his own herb butter.  He stems all his herbs, and gives them a good mince.  Softening a bunch of butter, he is able to add the herbs into the butter.  Work them in thoroughly, then shape the butter back into a tube or stick and harden in the freezer, and move to the fridge when hard.  Now when you are needing to baste that duck or steak, you have premade herb butter to use.  Tune into The Sporting Chef, or Deadmeat on Sportsmen Channel.  Otherwise find him on youtube or his website:  www.sportingchef.com

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Huntavore has finished another year of bringing you wildgame related material.  What better way to celebrate than with a drink and toast.  To get some inspiration, Nick is joined by Stuart and Colin of Mammoth Distilling in Northern Michigan.  The group discusses the spirits we love to drink when celebrating, contemplating, and carrying on tradition.  So grab a drab of your favorite drink, and enjoy.

Show Notes:

Holy Smokes!  Huntavore is celebrating its second year as a podcast!  Who knew anyone could talk about food and wild game for that long.  It has really been a trip to share my own experience and culinary journey, along with bringing in guests to teach us and challenge us.  I want to thank all of our previous guest and friends i’ve made along the way.  I want to thank Dan Johnson and the whole Sportsmen’s Nation crew.  And of coarse, you the listeners.  Its a real treasure to find folks who are passionate about the outdoors and also serious about their table fare.   So i'm celebrating the accomplishments of Huntavore, and also looking forward to this next year of sharing our hunting and fishing lifestyle through the utilization and consumption of our wildgame.

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the accomplishment of this year two, than a raise of the glass with an incredible cocktail.  To talk about celebration and tradition holding cocktails, Nick is joined by Stuart Hikman and Colin Gaudard of Mammoth Distilling.  A distillery located in Northern Michigan making a whole range of spirits.  Colin gives us a basic walkthrough of how making whiskeys differs from beer, along with some the process of refined distilling.  He also sheds light on some misconceptions, like Bourbon being a product only made in Kentucky (Fake News!)  

Stuart talks about making cocktails.  Specifically the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, that uses Jalapeno to make the drink spicy.  It surprises you, and really makes for a enjoyable drink, that isn’t all sugar and sweet.  During the covid pandemic, and the low availability of sanitizer, Mammoth halted spirit production and put their ethanol stores to work by producing sanitizer.  They began bottling and shipping the liquid gold in the amount upwards of 20,000 gallons.  To finish the conversation Nick has Stuart describe another favorite, an ol’ fashioned.  This was a super fun talk with some incredible gentlemen.  Cheers!

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Freelance writer, Sarah Engstrand went on a journey writing an article outside of her normal scope of life.  She wrote the article “Hunters See Their Hobby as a Food Source Amid COVID-19 Pandemic”  Not a stranger to food and the culinary world,  she understands the language of feeding self and others she took the opportunity to talk to several hunters and anglers about their wild food supply.  Noticing the shorter the food chain, the less that these food shortages had an effect.  Join Nick as he talks to a non-hunter who has noticed the bright side of acquiring your own meat.

Show Notes

Sarah Engstrand is a Freelance writer, editor, and Public Relations consultant for restaurants in Hong Kong.  She covers many subjects in her writing, and lots of exotic locations.  She undertook the task of writing about hunters and their wild game harvest.  With the quick development of the covid virus pandemic and soon after, a meat shortage, her story took a slight turn to how the shortage had little effect on folks who are self-reliant when it comes to meat.  Not only was she able to grasp what we do as hunters and why we do it, but that it doesn’t go without a lot thought and concern for the game we chase.  She had understanding of seasons and tags, but was enlightened to how much conservation plays into our lifestyle.  She also found it fascinating, as small of a community that hunters and anglers makeup of the whole population, we are semi separated into our own “tribes” of thoughts on what animals to take.  None of this is news to those who hunt and fish.  However, folks who do not are feeling the effects of these shortages, and are taking notice of that having connection where their food comes from might be something they change in their own lives. 

Sarah’s Article:  https://www.allrecipes.com/article/texas-hunters-have-been-prepared-for-a-pandemic-all-along/

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NIck is joined by friends, Adam and John of the Bowhunter Chronicles Podcast where John gives his exclusive on taking a Tom in the early season.  John also explains how things get complicated when trying to capture hunts on film, along with having to read minds when hunting in partners. Some ideas are discussed on how this bird is going to be prepared.  And how these guys are liking their pellet grill setups.  As always a great back and forth episode that you will enjoy.

Show Notes

Adam and John of Bowhunter Chronicles have taken some large steps this year when it comes to filming their hunts.  Up first was John to take a Tom in the earlier season, and Adam running the cameras.  Not only was teamwork essential on this hunt, having to “read minds” on when birds were in close, but also juggle the new challenge of social distancing.  John recalls his lack of preparedness that afternoon and was surprised by a flock running in.  He was able to connect with one of his arrows that Nick calls “a hatchet with fletchings” (Full length arrow with a 4 inch cutting dia. Broadhead, with a total weight over 600 gr.)

Now that the bird was down and measured, some discussion went into how they were going to prepare this Tom.  Nick shares a tip about using pickle brine that he got from a friend to make moist tender white meat.  John also goes into detail about his experience with a  very nice pellet grill.  He gives some pros and cons and explains the term “buy once, cry once”.  

Bowhunter Chronicles Youtube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqNW_e4utW64Qu-PXuqSU-Q

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Nick is joined by the creator of Musketpowder Seasoning, Ward Danger.  Ward chats about his recent funk with a rifle setup and being photobombed by a craft Tom.  All is not lost, as Ward was able to take down a bird and share some work he’s done in the kitchen to amp up a wild turkey dish.  The two guys go back a forth on some recipes and discuss Musketpowder Red, the new flavor, Ward recently launched.  This was a fun episode to record, and I bet it will be as fun to listen in on. 

Show Notes

Ward Danger’s Musketpowder is an amazing general seasoning.  His new flavor launched is Musketpowder Red, a spicier version of the original.  My midwest side got a bit nervous, but trying it out this morning, I like the gentle heat it adds, want more heat?  Just add more and brace yourself.

Another highlight to this episode is how Ward treated his wild turkey breast.  Using a pickling brine, Ward marinaded the breast that was cut into nugget sized pieces.  Through a series of trials, and getting impatient, he found 4 hours was a beautiful sweet spot for tenderness, flavor, juiciness.  The nuggets were patted dry, breaded, and fried.  Something to think about it is the breast was cut into pieces where marinating could work.  If adding a brine to a whole or half breast, 2 day soak might be required or injecting.

Our tangents also lead us to talking about traditional barbacoa.  Something about doing things the old way, gets me all excited.  Digging a pit, lining with rocks, starting a huge fire, and cooking meat sounds about the best thing ever.  Ward sent me a link of some fellas in Mexico making it happen with a store bought piece of beef.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoyU3pRbl4w

If you have to get a hold of some musketpowder, add “Huntavore” to the discount code for some few bucks off.

https://www.musketpowder.com/

Also mentioned at the lead of the show.  Amazing company, incredible people, bombproof leather and canvas made to stand up.

https://www.mercysupply.com/

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Joel Lickliter is Owner of RELOAD Rub and Seasonings and host of That Reload Podcast.  Joel is such a positive guy and fellow christ follower (we jump on the faith soup box for a bit) that Nick really wanted to connect and change his perspective.   The guys try to get a bearing on what is going on with this Covid-19 outbreak. However our discussion shifts to the positive. Listing what has been a blessing for us during this uneasy time.  The guys get onto talking turkey. The “Jake-a-nator” talks about his pursuits for a Tom, in a small window of time that he has. Another tangent is their explanation of how they approach meat hunting vs trophy hunting.  Both Nick and Joel are open about what their target goal is, meat. However, give love to the folks who go the extra mile to find the one they have sought out. 

During the discussion Joel mentions his burden of another biologic, CWD.  Part of his hunting property is in the Tennessee CWD zone. Nick shares his past episode with Dr. Brant Race on deactivating CWD with Bleach.  Joel was excited to hear this news and hoped to double check the findings. If you feel the need to double check,the link is attached:

https://sportsmensnation.com/podcasts/deactivation-of-cwd-with-bleach-with-dr-brant-race

To Find Joel and Reload Rub and Seasonings go to:

Instagram: @reloadrub and @thatreloadlife

Website: https://www.reloadrub.com/

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Show Description

Nick is joined once again by friend, and youtube creator Nate Sellers.  Nate’s channel Average Jack Archery hails from Pennsylvania and whose content is for beginner and advanced archery and whitetail bow hunting.  The guys catch up, and talk about Nate’s tag out season, how the mental game of indoor archery can fry your circuits, can “average” guys get into saddle style hunting?  Another fun insightful episode on the way.

Show Notes

Nate Sellers hails from Pennsylvania, known for great whitetail hunting history.  Both being teachers, Nate and Nick have struck up a friendship in understanding the perks and struggles with hunting and their current profession.  Nick explains his dilemma of struggling with the mental game at the indoor line. Who better to ask than Nate, who shot a 300 (top score) and captured it on film.  His tip is being able to shoot enough perfect reps, that he doesn't have to think about the shop process, but just muscle memory can take over. Non robots trying to be robots.  Nick is also motivated to get into the saddle style of hunting for more reasons than “it’s cool”. The guys lay our reasons why; being hardlined to the tree the whole time, stress off the back,and  being able to up in a tree along with a young hunter at the same time. For great archery content head over to youtube and follow Average Jack Archery.

Average Jack Archery Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_-RO1NuBmgoRq6gaiOlXyQ

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In this episode Nick chats with friend and newest 2% for conservation board member, Drew Youngdyke.  Drew has been a man on mission. From BHA member and NWF communicator, Drew is advocating for not just our public lands but for our wildlife as a whole.  Nick asks why a “field to forker” should care about the big picture of conservation. Along with that, what can hunters do to make a difference other than just buying a licence and grabbing a few of trash.  Drew offers some great insight and tells about his nostalgic approach to hunting and fishing. Another great food for thought episode.

Show Notes:

Drew Youngdyke was raised in northern Michigan and has a passion for the outdoors.  So much so, that Drew has found himself in the spearpoint of conservation. He was the board president of Michigan’s BHA, currently the National Wildlife Foundation communicator, and now the newest addition to the 2% for Conservation Board.  Drew is also the podcast host of The Conservation Country Podcast.

   Drew talks about the importance of conservation through the idea of a web.  That his love for game animals sparked his interest in other wildlife that lived in the same habitat.  While their focus was for fish in the lake, the loon became his family cabin’s favorite icon. It’s also these species that create a foundation for the habitat to sustain the wildlife.  While I myself may think the mosquitos are a result of the fall man, they are a food source for macroinvertebrates that are in turn fed on by the fish we love to angle for. Drew also explains the difference between non-native and invasive species, and how his work to keep the asian carp species (there are three) out of the Great Lakes is an important issue.

Drew is also a new dad and loves taking his young son into the outdoors whenever possible.  Along with another common theme of food, Drew shares a couple favorites of his, and if he were to have his wife try venison again, how he would do it.  All in all, it was a fun talk with Drew, and I'm confident he will be a positive impact for conservation in his new role.

2% For Conservation: https://fishandwildlife.org/

National Wildlife Federation: https://www.nwf.org/

Conservation Country Podcast: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/conservation-country

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