The MeatEater

Spencer Neuharth hosts MeatEater Trivia with Randall Williams, Seth Morris, Max Barta, Nate Mason, Alyssa Smith, and Omar Lopez.

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Host Clay Newcomb and Render regulars Bear Newcomb, Dr. Misty Newcomb, and Josh "Landbridge" Spielmaker are joined by Michael Rosamond of Sun Spot Lights and retired Missouri game warden and Renaissance man Kyle Carrol as they continue their Civil War discussion by examining the lives of Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee.

The conversation also highlights just how recent Civil War history really is, featuring a firsthand family connection of Michael Rosamond to a woman whose mother was born into slavery.

But that's not all! Hear about Clay's runaway mules, exciting details of Bear's recent Alaskan bear hunt, and foreshadowing of Clay's upcoming book American Bear.

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Thank you to our sponsor, Tecovas.

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

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On June 2, Joelseph “Joe” Frank Jenkins, 48, of Pocatello, Idaho, was sentenced to two years behind bars and received a lifetime hunting ban after he pleaded guilty to two felonies and two misdemeanors. The felony charges included possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and unlawfully killing or possessing wildlife, while the two misdemeanors were illegally baiting black bears and guiding without a license.

Jenkins’s sentencing comes after years of undercover work from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, which started in 2022. Apparently, Jenkins was conducting illegal baiting and guiding for black bears in Idaho’s Unit 67. During the investigation, an undercover officer participated in Jenkins’s illegal guiding operation and even shot a bear at Jenkins’s instruction.

Originally, the self-proclaimed “American Bearded Warrior” faced 14 charges in Teton County, Idaho (4 felonies and 10 misdemeanors), but had all but two felonies and two misdemeanors dismissed as part of his plea deal.

While Jenkins's lifetime hunting ban applies to Idaho, it can be recognized by most other states through the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, a 49-state agreement that allows wildlife agencies to honor license suspensions imposed elsewhere.

Prior to this incident, Jenkins had already been a convicted felon in Idaho after pleading guilty to grand theft in 2016. This former indictment already made it illegal for Jenkins to possess a firearm.

In addition to his prison sentence and lifetime hunting ban, Jenkins was ordered to pay $9,750 in fines.

Feature image via IDFG.

Taking a page from his own public land sale playbook, Mike Lee introduced an amendment late Tuesday night, June 9, to the Wildfire Prevention Act of 2025 (S.140) that will nullify the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule and prohibit the implementation of a similar rule in the future.

On Wednesday morning, the Senate Energy Natural Resources Committee voted 11-9 to adopt the amendment and to advance the bill. The bill will now proceed to the Senate for a full vote.

The “Roadless Rule,” as it’s informally called, prohibits new road construction and development on nearly 59 million acres of Forest Service lands across 39 states. According to a recent comment analysis conducted by the Center for Western Priorities, 99% of Americans oppose repealing the roadless rule.

S.140 was originally a bipartisan bill proposed by Sen. John Barasso to establish forest management requirements regarding wildfire management on federal lands. Whether rescinding the Roadless Rule would actually aid in wildlife reduction is debatable at best, but not supported by data. In fact, this 2020 study conducted by the USDA looked at two decades of data from forest areas with and without roads and found no correlation of roads maintaining forest health.

“A lack of roads has not stopped fire prevention measures,” the study states. “Fuel management activities in roadless areas have actually been more numerous on a per-square kilometer basis than elsewhere in the National Forest System, although activities in areas with roads cover larger areas.”

However, the Trump Administration has made it clear that removing the Roadless Rule is a top priority for federal land management.

“This outdated administrative rule contradicts the will of Congress and goes against the mandate of the USDA Forest Service to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation's forests and grasslands,” the USDA stated in a June 2025 press release. “Rescinding this rule will remove prohibitions on road construction, reconstruction, and timber harvest on nearly 59 million acres of the National Forest System, allowing for fire prevention and responsible timber production.”

The USDA also pointed out that the Roadless Rule “also hurts jobs and economic development across rural America.” Clearly, that’s excluding the billions of dollars that hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation add to the US economy annually.

This priority to remove roadless areas is clear, as Rep. Harriet Hageman also introduced a bill in the House, H.R. 7695, which essentially accomplishes the same thing by repealing the Roadless Rule. The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands held hearings on the bill on May 21.

Only two states, Idaho and Colorado, have state-specific roadless regulations that would be exempt from this ruling. That leaves 37 states and over 45 million acres of habitat vulnerable.

Developing roads in currently roadless areas can cause sedimentation and accelerated runoff in waterways, habitat fragmentation, wildlife disturbances, increased invasive weed spread, more hunting pressure, and a host of other concerning issues in some of the most fragile ecosystems that fish and wildlife depend on. You can read more on the impact of roadless areas in this recent report from Trout Unlimited.

If you recreate in roadless areas or enjoy the fish and wildlife that benefit from them remaining intact, consider reaching out to your senators through the White House switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and make your voice heard.

A few months after I was born in 1981, the late gun writer Gene Hill had a story titled “Why You Don't Always Hit What You Shoot At—(Me Too!)” published in Gun Dog magazine. It was one of the first columns I recall reading when I decided to improve my shotgun skills as an adult. Hill was Harvard-educated but had an uncanny ability to connect with the common hunter, which is why his writing and instruction are so helpful to folks like you and me.

Many of us don’t understand why we are good shots one day and bad the next. I think it’s mostly due to the type of shot presentation. On the first morning of duck season, every bird may fly so that it is an easy shot for you. On Day 2, the birds may decoy in a manner that exposes all of your weaknesses as a shooter.

In that column, Hill wrote, “…until you learn why it is that you miss shots you shouldn't, equipment notwithstanding, you can't make much progress in determining just what you want or need in a shotgun.” Hill always did a fine job of simplifying the reasons why we miss. His advice helped me tremendously, and it will do the same for you.

Long crossing and high incoming shots are two presentations most duck hunters have difficulty with. The reason is that you typically have more time to see the bird, which also gives you more time to make a mistake. Hunters often “ride the bird,” by tracking the target with a mounted shotgun for too long. The more time you are on the gun, the more difficult it is to keep the barrel moving. Most shooters slow or stop their swing and miss behind the crossing or incoming duck.

In the summer, I shoot a few sporting clays courses and always spend extra time at stations that provide these two presentations. The key is to find the right lead and practice it. I’m a lefty and have found that the left-to-right crosser requires “more lead” in my sight picture than a right-to-left crossing shot. When I shoot a bird coming in from the left, the lead needs to be the length of a canoe. If it comes from the right, I treat it as a snapshot and move the barrel past the bird as I pull the trigger.

I implemented this after reading Hill’s article. He said right-handed shooters needed to give birds coming from the left double the lead they give to birds flying in from the right. Even though I am a lefty, and this method should have been reversed, it worked for me. Why? My theory is that if you are a right-hander and the bird is coming from the left, the amount of lead you have to give the bird in your sight picture is more than you think it is.

When I was practicing crossing shots, it took several thrown clays to visualize how much lead was needed to break the bird. It felt unnatural to swing the barrel that far out in front of the target. But once you connect on the shot, it all makes sense.

It is not easy to break the habit of riding the bird. I still do it. But remember, a good shotgun swing is compact and should accelerate as you swing through the bird. It’s much like a good baseball swing. To connect with the ball, you need to be short to the ball and long through it. In shotgun terms, that means a short swing to the target and follow through after you break or kill it.

Upland shots are often more of a surprise than the ones you take at ducks or clays. When the old dog goes on point, you never know if he’s going to flush one or 10 birds. If it’s one, that might mean you take too much time because you want to be sure you kill it…and whiff.

This is similar to riding the bird in duck hunting. You’re not moving the gun in a short, quick motion. If multiple birds flush, then it can be hard to focus on one, which is what you should do, and simply point your muzzle in the direction of the bird and hope for the best.

When you miss an upland bird, it’s often because you are not anticipating where the birds may fly once they spring from cover. Many of us look at our feet or at the dog on point. You need to look at the space above the dog because that’s where the shot will happen.

How you hold the shotgun matters, too. Hill’s suggestion is to place the buttstock under your shoulder as you approach a dog on point. This makes it easier to mount the gun, and there is less barrel movement. If you hold the gun with two hands across your body, you will increase the barrel movement and your chance of missing.

The best shotguns are the ones that feel like an extension of you. If you are constantly looking down the rib of the shotgun and not the bird, that’s not a good fit for you. Don’t look at the bead (I actually take most of the beads off my wingshooting guns); look at the head of the target and try to find its eye or beak. If you focus on something that small, you will have more success.

You can practice this anytime you take the dog for a walk, as long as there are birds around. Track robins, cardinals, doves, etc. Find their head, then look beyond it to the open space in front, and visualize pulling the trigger. These “dry” reps will translate into better shots on clay birds and more clean kills this fall.

Do you really know the story of how deer antlers came to be? Or how they form in such a quick amount of time? This week Tony explains both, and a heck of a lot more about big bucks and their headgear that we covet so much.

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While conservation focused national parks creation on the vertical mountains and canyons of the West, the Great Plains ended up de-buffaloed and mostly ignored. But with new, 21st century approaches to reversing that historical slight, the Plains Serengeti is on its way back.

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

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Steven Rinella and the MeatEater crew discuss: Georgia's Argentine tegu problem with Daniel Sollenberger of the Georgia DNR; the Centennial State's fight for constitutional hunting rights with Dan Gates of Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management; the Trump administration's opening of wildlife refuges to hunting; giant trout in Lake Superior; and more.

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On Saturday, June 6, a spearfisherman identified as Daniel Turpin died from injuries sustained while diving off the Western Australian coast, about 250 miles southeast of Perth. The 35-year-old man reportedly had a run-in with a 15-foot great white while spearfishing with family members.

Turpin was rushed to shore and intercepted by paramedics; however, resuscitation proved unsuccessful. The location of the bite remains unspecified at this time.

Though details about this case continue to emerge, this is the third deadly shark attack within a three-week window in Australia–a statistically notable uptick in attacks compared to previous years. Unfortunately, all three events ended in fatalities.

The first incident occurred on May 16, when spearfisherman Steven Mattaboni was mauled by a great white believed to be 13 feet long. Mattaboni was diving on a reef near Rottnest Island, about 240 miles as the crow flies from the most recent attack. The shark apparently bit the diver's legs. Mattaboni's diving partners rescued him from the water and performed CPR while taking him to shore. Unfortunately, paramedics were unable to revive him.

A week later on May 24, a 39-year-old spearfisherman identified as Michael Jensz was bitten on the opposite side of the continent, near Cairns. Specifically, the group was diving Kennedy Shoal, a reef system within the Great Barrier Reef. Charter fishermen claim to have seen bull sharks in the vicinity the day of the attack.

Unlike most shark-related injuries, where humans are bitten in the arms or legs, Jensz was bitten on the head. Emergency responders at the boat ramp attempted but failed to resuscitate him.

According to the BBC, “Since records began in 1791, there have been almost 1,300 recorded shark attacks in Australia, with more than 260 of them resulting in death.” As of 2026, four Australians have died due to shark attacks. This is particularly concerning given the recent upward trend in fatal attacks, with five deaths recorded in 2025 and one in 2024.

While fatal shark attacks remain relatively uncommon, activities like spearfishing bring extra risks to saltwater divers. A speared, bloody, and panicked fish is a dinner bell for nearby sharks, and the silhouettes of divers can mimic those of large marine mammals such as seals or sea lions.

The International Shark Attack File (ISAF), the world’s leading scientific authority on shark attacks, breaks down attacks into two categories: “unprovoked bites” and “provoked bites.” An unprovoked incident means the human did not incite the shark in its natural habitat, while a provoked bite suggests a human initiated the confrontation by manhandling, feeding, or spearing near sharks. In 2025, the ISAF confirmed 65 unprovoked shark bites on humans and 29 provoked bites globally.

While most spearfishers aren’t intentionally provoking sharks, spearfishing naturally lends itself to human-shark interactions. The ISAF offers key advice for spearfishing in sharky waters. Always dive with a buddy or group. Quickly dispatch your catch by spiking the brain, as the commotion from a struggling fish attracts sharks faster than blood does. Avoid murky water and get your fish into the boat as soon as possible. If you encounter a curious shark, maintain eye contact and face it directly. Should it charge, target sensitive areas such as the eyes or gills.

MeatEater sends condolences to the friends and families affected by these events.

A Montana man was recently sentenced for poaching a unique whitetail after attempting to claim it as a legitimate archery kill. According to a Facebook post by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP), game wardens began investigating 23-year-old Tony Zimbleman in 2025 after receiving a tip from a concerned citizen.

At first, Zimbelman denied wrongdoing, claiming to have shot the trophy whitetail with archery gear during archery season in Pondera County, which is in north-central Montana. Eventually, though, he admitted to having actually shot the deer with a rifle one day before archery season opened.

Zimbelman’s case is particularly notable because of the size of the buck he poached: The nontypical whitetail deer reportedly scored 182 B&C, with a unique backward-facing split tine. The buck is not far off of a rare B&C record book status, which has a minimum score of 185. For reference, the Treasure State has only recorded 59 record-book nontypical whitetails throughout history.

For Zimbelman, however, all that big buck will garner is serious punishments. He agreed to a plea deal in the Montana Ninth Judicial Court for Misdemeanor Unlawful Possession of Wildlife. His sentence includes a suspended six months of jail time, fines and restitution totaling $3,000, and a two-year ban on hunting, fishing, and trapping.

“This case came about because of an initial tip from a concerned sportsman, and the assistance and support from people like that are incredibly valuable to us,” said game warden sergeant Mike Krings, who led the investigation. “Private citizens act as extra eyes and ears in the field for game wardens and help us preserve fair chase opportunities for the vast majority of Montana hunters who do things the right way.”

Even with the help of citizens, it’s challenging for wildlife officials to bust poachers like Zimbelman. A recent report published by the Boone and Crockett Club found that 96% of poaching cases go entirely undetected, and that the annual “replacement cost” of animals illegally taken is $1.13 billion nationwide. That’s a staggering amount of money and resources being stolen from the public trust.