The MeatEater

Steven Rinella and Randall Williams bring to life the legendary wilderness exploits of the mountain men with presentations at three rocky mountain universities. Along the way, Steve and Randall tour the University of Wyoming's Anthropology department and the Museum of the Mountain Men to learn more about the tools of the historical trade. Presented by OnX Maps

Mark Kenyon guest hosts MeatEater Trivia with Janis Putelis, Clay Newcomb, Brent Reaves, Tony Peterson, Maggie Hudlow, Bear Newcomb, Heather Douville, and Spencer Neuharth.

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What separates a good deer hunter from a great one? In this episode, Jake Hofer asks Steve Hanson, Don Higgins, Skip Sligh, Mark Kenyon, Jeff Sturgis, Bobby Kendall, and Bill Winke to weigh in on the one mistake they see holding most hunters back. Is it luck, having better land to hunt or something unrelated? Is it luck, having better land to hunt or something unrelated?

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Thanks to our sponsor Land.com

This week, Tony talks heat, snakes, fences, and a whole host of early season dangers that might get your dog into trouble (and how you can avoid them).

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On this special episode of the Bear Grease podcast, we're coming to you live from the MeatEater headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. Host Clay Newcomb is joined by MeatEater’s own Janis Putelis, Mark Kenyon, Ryan Callaghan, Heather Douville, and Brent Reaves. Get to know these illustrious members of the MeatEater team.

If you have comments on the show, send us a note to [email protected]

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Practicing how I play has delivered great success in my life. It’s no different with archery. While flinging arrows at a target is fun just about any way you slice it, we like to make sure it serves our ultimate goal.

You’re training for that one moment in the wild when you’re deep in the mountains, your legs are screaming, your heart’s pounding, and you’ve got one shot to make it count. Hunting isn’t just about marksmanship. It’s about being ready, physically and mentally, for whatever the backcountry throws at you.

I’ll do my best here to outline how we combine fitness and shooting to prepare for real hunting situations. Whether you're climbing after elk in the high country or moving through thick woods after whitetails, the goal is the same—be prepared.

Whether you’re shooting a bow, rifle, or handgun, it all starts with mechanics. But a lot of people misunderstand what I mean. We firmly believe in focusing on the fundamentals of shooting before you start running laps or hauling heavy packs to mimic a hunt. I don’t believe in adding stress until you’ve put in the time to shoot well.

It reminds me of teaching lifts at Mayhem. You don’t walk in and grab a loaded bar. You slow it down and learn how to move the right way. Same thing here. Go to the range. Talk to someone who knows what they’re doing. Make sure your gear fits, your release is smooth, and your grip feels right.

This isn’t about looking cool on camera or rushing through arrows. It’s about knowing your shot is solid even when you’re cold, tired, or out of breath. When that moment comes, you’ll be ready—not guessing.

In the field, you’re never taking a shot fresh as a daisy. You’ve been hiking for hours, maybe climbing a ridge, with a pack that feels heavier with every step. Your heart’s thumping, adrenaline’s spiking, and that buck or bull is staring you down. That’s the moment we all train for, so that’s why we do what we like to call “adding a little chaos” to our training.

The goal is to make shooting under stress second nature. The same reason why I spent years drilling muscle-ups or snatches until they’re automatic when my goal was to win the CrossFit Games. We want our shooting to be so ingrained that we can pull it off even when our brain is screaming and our body is spent.

Here are a couple of ways we do it.

Try this workout to mimic the grind of a hunt:

8 Rounds For Time:

This should get your heart rate up to 150-160 BPM, forcing you to steady your breathing and focus while your body’s begging for a break. It’s not about hitting the X every time; it’s about building the confidence to shoot well when you’re gassed.

After enough rounds, a shot at 120 BPM feels like a walk in the park. Plus, you’ll get better at controlling your breathing and grip under pressure, which is half the battle in the field.

Sometimes it’s not just about cardio, it’s about mental toughness. Heavy lifts can fry your central nervous system, mimicking the mental fog of a long day in the mountains. Here’s a go-to:

6 Rounds (1 every 90 seconds):

This isn’t about getting your heart rate sky-high; it's about dealing with the mental haze that comes from taxing your body. It’s like trying to focus after packing 10 miles with a heavy load. Your brain’s tired, but your shooting form still needs to show up.

One thing we always want to watch is heavy shoulder work or high-rep pressing before shooting. Tired shoulders can mess with your draw or aim, and we don’t want to build bad habits. Treat shooting like a skill progression: start with clean form, then add light stress, then cardio, and finally heavier lifts, but always be smart about it.

Let’s be real: every hunter misses sometimes. I’ve been there, and if you hunt long enough, you will too. But as hunters, we’ve got a responsibility to make those misses as rare as possible. We’re not chasing personal records or bragging rights, we're dealing with life and death. A clean shot respects the animal and the hunt.

You can’t perfectly recreate the adrenaline of a bull elk bugling at 20 yards, but you can train in ways that push your limits. Fatigue, shaky hands, a racing heart—those things can be part of your training. The more you put yourself in uncomfortable situations now, the better chance you have of showing up when it counts.

If you want to be ready for hunting season, approach your shooting like any serious skill—it takes time and effort to build consistency. Start with the basics, then challenge yourself in tough conditions. That might mean shooting after a long ruck or when your heart’s still pounding from a hard workout. At Mayhem Hunt, fitness is part of the process, but the goal is simple: be prepared to take the shot, make it count, and carry out what you worked for.

It’s official: After signaling their support for a black bear hunt, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) voted this morning to finalize a set of rules for the three-week December season.

The 5-0 vote in favor of the hunt is a striking rebuke to anti-hunting groups that have lobbied for months to block it. Today’s meeting saw testimony from an equal number of supporters and opponents, according to the Tallahassee Democrat, but opponents came armed with cute pictures of bears and signs reading “I am not your trophy” and “Wounded, hunted, forgotten.”

“This hunt is unnecessary and cruel unless you show us scientific data. And just as disturbing is the inclusion of cruel (techniques) such as hounding, baiting, and archery. It's just inhumane," bear hunt opponent Marsha Biggs said.

Supporters, which included county commissioners and local law enforcement, testified about the problems bears have caused in some parts of the state. Bears have been reported on porches and in homes and schools as they rummage through garbage and come in close proximity to children.

In May of this year, Florida experienced its first fatal black bear attack when a bear killed an 89-year-old man and his dog. At one point, the bruin appeared to have entered the man’s home.

Biologists with the Commission reported that the bear population has been growing in recent decades. The population increased by 50% between 2002 and 2015, and recently completed demographic studies indicate stable or increasing numbers in the four largest bear subpopulations. There are an estimated 4,000 bears living in the state today.

What’s more, bears have expanded their occupied range from 17% to 51% in Florida since 1992.

This year’s hunt will run from December 6 through 28 and offer 187 permits awarded by lottery. The approved rules stipulate that no more than 10% of each year’s permits will be available to nonresidents, with the remaining reserved for Floridians.

The rules establish seven bear management units. Within those units are four bear hunt zones, and each permit allows the holder to take a single bear within the specified zone. There is a $5 entry fee, and would-be hunters can purchase as many entries as they want. If selected, residents will have to pay $100 for a permit, and non-residents will be charged $300.

Hunting with dogs and over bait will be permitted within certain parameters outlined in the new rules.

The rules also create a bear management program for landowners with more than 5,000 acres. These landowners will be eligible to receive a bear permit, but they must conduct certain conservation activities and submit a bear habitat management plan developed by a wildlife biologist, among other stipulations.

Moving forward, state biologists will continue to monitor the population closely and issue permits based on what they find. Specifically, the rules state that permits will be issued based on bear population and demographic estimates, documented total mortality of adult female bears, and bear hunting success rates.

Despite today’s defeat, anti-hunting forces are still working to block this year’s hunt. A coalition of animal rights groups called Bear Warriors United is suing the FWC on the grounds that the agency improperly took black bears off the state’s threatened species list in 2012.

“They did this in an incorrect fashion because when you de-list a species, you’re supposed to take into account threats to habitat and future threats to habitat – which the FWC did not do,” said Katrina Shadix, the group’s founder. “And we all know that Florida is facing a crisis right now with deforestation and urban sprawl.”

Others have said they plan to purchase as many entries as possible and then not use the permits if they are selected.

MeatEater's Clay Newcomb isn't letting opponents of responsible bear management get him down.

"Ten years ago, I wouldn't have predicted that we'd be gaining ground in the bear management world, though I preached its virtues from every pulpit I could stand in," he said. "This decision will be good for bears, bear habitat, and the people of Florida. I truly love bears and want to see them thrive. I hope we can persuade those with concerns about the hunt, and bring them onto the side of science-based wildlife management. This is huge."

This week, Tony talks about the ways in which bowhunters, crossbow hunters, and rifle hunters should think about pre-season practice so they can be more lethal in the field.

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This week Reid and Dan are running it back with multi-platinum artist, Jordan Davis. The boys dive in on duck season and the preparation that happens now, for a season that doesn't kick off until December. Jordan shares his favoriting hunting memory with his brother, Jacob, and why it is a day he will never forget. They discuss his new record and what it meant to him to have Marcus King join him on the track "Louisiana Stick". The three of them play a game of "Next Thing You Know" that leads into some hysterical stories of instances gone way wrong and end the episode with a country classic!

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Despite an ancient Native inhabitation and recent European settlements and forays around the perimeter of the West, in the early 19th century much of the interior West was still a place of conjecture, rumor, and mystery. What was out there? What kind of never-known phenomena did the West hold? For the brand-new United States and its Indian Agents, winning the western tribes with trade was essential geopolitics. But as happened with John Colter’s “Hell,” the future Yellowstone Park, those traders often returned with accounts that were hard to believe. Like Colter and in the same years, a trader named Anthony Glass in the southern West convinced the Comanche and Wichita Indians to reveal to him an astounding western mystery that excited the Southwestern frontier for three decades. Hauled to civilization, it would stand as one of America’s most intriguing contributions to global science from the early West.

Thank you to our sponsor Velvet Buck.

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Check out more MeatEater's American History audio originals "The Long Hunters" and "Mountain Men"

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