In this episode, I’m catching up with Kelly Molnar from the Rookie Hunter Podcast. The Rookie Hunter Podcast has grown to be one of the most popular hunting podcasts, not just in BC, but across Canada and North America. Mike and Kelly have built a following of loyal listeners by openly sharing their rookie hunter experiences and being relatable to new hunters. The podcast has evolved to bring on some of the most notable hunters and conservationists in the broader hunting community. In this conve...
Nov 20, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 43
What does guided hunting look like when the border is closed to 98% of commercial hunting clients? I am catching up on the 2020 hunting season with Nolan Osborne. Nolan is a hunting guide and the managing editor of the Journal of Mountain Hunting. We’re talking about the impacts of COVID-19 on the guide outfitting community. As we get caught up on our respective hunting seasons, we get into sheep hunting and the challenges of ageing legal rams, and we talk about the pressure on a guide to ensure...
Nov 06, 2020•53 min•Ep. 42
Are you going deer hunting? Yes? Then this is essential listening! We are hanging out in the wall tent talking mule deer hunting around the fire. I’m joined by my hunting mentor Geoffrey Horsfield, and my pals Jenny P and Scott Donker after a successful hunt in the grassland country in British Columbia. We are quizzing Geoff on his mule deer hunting techniques. We talk about spot and stock, still hunting timber and other tips for successful mule deer hunting. This is one of the more fun episodes...
Oct 09, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 41
I set out on an elk hunting trip with good pals Will, Ben, Tome and Tom. Our plan was to float down the river, camp on the riverbank, and hunt elk for the week. Elk hunting was pretty slow and I was getting discouraged when things took a big turn. I was set up calling for Elk, I heard a crunch, and an unexpected critter showed up. In some parts of BC, we have an open moose season, but you can only harvest immature bulls that have 2 points or less, or mature bulls that have 3 points on their brow...
Sep 26, 2020•52 min•Ep. 40
This is the wrap-up episode of our adventure hunt podcast planning series. Celina, Jenny and I are on the road on our way back from our packrafting hunting adventure. Sadly we are not coming home with an animal from the trip. We worked hard, we learned a ton, built new skills, and had so much fun. So does all that make up for not coming home with an animal? We discuss our evolving expectations and reflect on our experience from the trip. We recorded this in the truck while on the road so the aud...
Sep 23, 2020•46 min•Ep. 39
We are joined by Christy Long to debrief our packrafting adventures on the river. Christy is a whitewater paddling guide. She supported Jenny, Celina, and me with paddling training ahead of our trip. On our trip, as we looked over some tricky water ahead, we would ask our selves: "What would Christy say?" Now we get to ask. So enjoy! We used Alpacka Forager rafts on this trip.
Sep 11, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 38
Jenny, Celina and I are waiting out a rainstorm in sheep country. We are 5 days into our adventure hunt. We have left the rafts on the river and fought our way up the mountains into sheep habitat. In this podcast, we talk about the challenges and some tricks for getting from the river or the road up into the alpine country. Good terrain and forest cover assessment can make or break a successful ascent up the mountain. Hope you enjoy it!
Sep 06, 2020•37 min•Ep. 37
Join for episode 4 of our expedition hunting planning series. In this episode, we are talking backpacking food for a 12-day backpack-packrafting hunting expedition. We have invited Penny from West Coast Kitchen to hang out with us and talk about how to keep food light and gourmet. Celina, Jenny and I are on our way into the mountain and we are counting ounces to keep our weight down, but we still need to max out calories to keep up climbing mountains. Specifically, we talk about: How do we keep ...
Aug 08, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 36
In this episode, we're joined by Thor Tingey of Alpacka Raft. Jennie P, Celina and I are doing our research on how to best prepare for a 12-day packrafting wilderness adventure. So we thought we would invite the expert on all things packrafting. We had a ton of fun hanging out with Thor as he shares the origin story of the packraft, a few adventures, and everything we need to know to prepare and plan for our adventure. Specifically, we discuss how durable these boats are, and what types of repai...
Aug 01, 2020•55 min•Ep. 35
Wildlife biologist Mike Bridger joins us in this episode to talk about planning for a sheep hunt in Northern BC. As a Provincial biologist for the Northern BC, Mike gets the privilege of overseeing the management of wildlife in the remnant wilderness of North America. All nine big game species thrive in this area and Mike's job is to keep an eye on things. He pretty much has the coolest job in North America. Mike is passionate about his work managing Stone's Sheep, and he is a self-described elk...
Jul 17, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 34
I'm getting excited! Safe and successful hunts start with research, planning, practice and gearing up with the right equipment for the trip. It takes time and commitment to pull it all together, but for me, it might be the best part of the trip. Jenny P, Celina and I are in the process of putting together what will be an adventure of a lifetime. We are planning to fly packrafts into the Northern Rockies and drift down 100 kms of river through spectacular sheep, elk and moose country. Join us for...
Jul 03, 2020•56 min•Ep. 33
EatWild 30 - Dylan's first bear hunt - Tips and tricks of the road hunter In this episode, I'm hanging out with my hunting partner Jenny P. She's taking me along on a bear hunt. As I learned, bear hunting includes a lot of Truck Huntin'. Jenny is a bit of a pro-truck-hunter, so we thought it might be fun to break down the tips and tricks of the road hunter. Along the way, we recap our hunting adventure and my first ever bear hunting experience. I have struggled with the idea of hunting bear. I'v...
Jun 13, 2020•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 32
"Wow...how do I take care of this amazing hide?" That's what I needed to know when I walked up on the dead Bison in the snow. Fortunately, my friend Mara was expecting this call from me. In this episode, I’m joined by Mara Cur of Crow's Nest Wildcraft, a hide tanner, land tender, and community herbalist and teacher. Mara and I connected a while back to offer a hide tanning workshop with the EatWild community. On that call standing over the massive Bison, Mara walked me through the important step...
May 30, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 31
I am connecting with La’goot Spencer Greening over Zoom for part 2 of our discussion on Indigenous rights and title and wildlife management. In our first conversation, we talked about Indigenous approaches to harvesting fish and wildlife throughout the seasons. In this episode, we get into the sticky bits of a much more complex discussion about the legal framework that reaffirms Indigenous rights and title to manage the land and what that means for current and future wildlife/fisheries managemen...
May 09, 2020•2 hr 1 min•Ep. 30
Can we go hunting in British Columbia during the COVID 19 pandemic? Answer: Maybe, if we all follow the Provincial Heath Orders, guidelines, and recommendations. I am sitting down with Jesse Zieman of BCWF and Mark Hall of the Hunter Conservationist podcast to discuss the recent announcement by the Province of BC that hunting is an essential service and what that means for hunting during the COVID 19 pandemic. This announcement is good news for hunters, but this announcement could lead to a misu...
Apr 24, 2020•40 min•Ep. 29
In this episode, I am joined by La’goot Spencer Greening. La’goot is a Tsimshian leader, storyteller and academic. In addition to being a passionate hunter and forager, La’goot is generous about sharing his knowledge around the importance of indigenous knowledge and stewardship of the land. We got together to talk about Indigenous and resident hunter perspectives on wildlife management and hunting. Over a cup of tea, we ended up talking about the commonalities of our way of life as it revolves a...
Apr 10, 2020•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 28
Listen to your elders; it’s storytime with Larri Woodrow. Success in hunting and fishing, and in life for that matter, is achieved much more easily with the benefit of knowledge. I attribute my competence as a hunter and fisher, and my confidence in life, to the knowledge that has been shared with me by the elders along the way. In this episode, I’m hanging out with Larri Woodrow. Larri is a grandfather, teacher, conservationist, hunter, fisher, adventurer and storyteller. I’m fortunate to call ...
Mar 26, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 27
Join us at the dinner table to hear first harvest success stories from the EatWild hunter community. The First Buck Banquet is an annual event where new hunters are invited to come for dinner and share their first harvest stories. All of the hunters bring something special for the dinner table from the harvest. This is a fun event and I hope you enjoy the stories.
Mar 14, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 26
Why is hunting so hard? In this episode, I am joining Mike and Kelly of the Rookie Hunter Podcast, Mark and Curtis of the Hunter Conservationist Podcast, and Jenny Ly of the Chasing Food Club blog for a live recording of a podcast/swapcast. We talk about the barriers and challenges for hunting success. We get into the different measures of what success means on a hunt. Is it just about filling the freezer or getting eyes on a mature animal? A big thanks to the crew at Filson Vancouver for hostin...
Feb 13, 2020•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 25
The Bison has tipped! Join us for the conclusion of our Bison hunting adventure. All of the mistakes, hard work, and lessons learned result in some exciting hunts for our rookie bison hunting crew. Catch the end of the story here and a bit of the celebration. Thanks to the crew for putting up with the podcast machine! The crew: @seanbadart @devontaylorstewart @taylor.j.e.woodcock @jennyp403 If you like this podcast and the raw format, please let me know, and share your review! Background: Follow...
Feb 11, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 24
Part 2 of the 3 part Bison adventures podcast series. Our rookie Bison hunting crew are carrying on with our adventure and taking steps towards success. This episode recounts days 3 and 4 of the hunt. Some near misses, lessons learned and some foreshadowing of events to come. Enjoy!
Feb 09, 2020•1 hr 59 min•Ep. 23
We are hunting Bison! Follow along with our rookie Bison hunting crew as we figure out how to hunt this majestic animal. Our hunting group drew a "once-in-a-lifetime" tag to hunt Bison in Northern B.C. At one time there were over 60 million Bison roaming the plains of North America. Market hunting and habitat destruction reduced the herd to less than a thousand animals by 1900. Since then, numerous conservation efforts have helped Bison recover to over 500,000 animals. It's estimated that there ...
Feb 05, 2020•2 hr 4 min•Ep. 22
Have you ever missed a shot at an animal? Nerves, distance, brush or just plain poor judgement can lead to a miss on an animal. In this episode, we are talking about the factors that lead up to a missed shot and reflect on how we can improve our decision making and skill set to minimize the potential of this happening. I am joined by hunting partner Chef Mark Perrier and hunting guide and friend Nolan Osborne of the Journal of Mountain Hunting. This is swapcast with the Journal Of Mountain Hunti...
Jan 12, 2020•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 21
In this episode, I am hanging out with Chef Mark Perrier of Savio Volpe and Jody Peck of Wild Northern way. We are having an in-depth discussion on cooking wild game meat. We cover off fundamentals of how to get the most out of your harvest. Don't miss this episode if you like to eat wild, or just like talking about food! Jody, Mark, and Dylan are launching EatWild Cooks in January 2020. We will be hosting a series of wild game cooking classes over the next few months. Join us to learn the funda...
Dec 06, 2019•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 20
In this episode, I am joined by Jesse Zeman of the British Columbia Wildlife Federation. This past whitetail hunting season was the most challenging year on record for our hunting camp. Simply put we saw very few deer over our 10-day hunt. This led me to want to know what was going with the deer population. Too much logging? Too many hunters? Too many predators? What gives? Jesse and I sat down to chat about deer population dynamics to better understand how that impacts hunting success and oppor...
Nov 28, 2019•57 min•Ep. 19
In this episode, I am hanging out with Travis Bader of Silvercore Inc. Silvercore is a leader in firearms training in Canada. We are chatting about firearms care, maintenance, and storage while on the hunt and in the field. We also get into some fundamentals of firearms safety when hunting, around camp, and in the vehicle. You can find out more about Silvercore @ www.silvercore.ca Please tell us what you think and share this podcast!...
Jul 24, 2019•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 18
In this podcast, we are talking about how hunters can help work towards reconciliation with Indigenous communities. This is a very difficult conversation, but it one that we need to have as Canadians, British Colombians and Hunters. Here in British Columbia, Indigenous communities have lived, hunted, and manage resources on these lands for time immemorial (a really long time!). For many of us whose families have settled on these lands, we are now unravelling an uncomfortable history of colonizat...
May 08, 2019•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 17
Rob and I are waiting out a storm and hoping for the skies to clear so we get out on our sheep hunt. Rob Wilson is a Park Ranger and a 20-year veteran with Seach and Rescue teams and has spent many days and nights looking for lost hikers and skiers in the mountains. In this podcast, we are talking about planning for safety on an adventure trip. We review the essential gear you need to pack with you and tips for staying safe on adventures in the mountains.
Feb 28, 2019•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 16
Hunting partner Will Varda won the draw for a Roosevelt Elk hunt on the west coast of BC. In this episode, we talk about the planning, challenges and unexpected success on this once in a lifetime hunt. Check it out!
Dec 14, 2018•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 15
In this episode, I am hanging out my good pals Tome and Will. They have just returned from their first successful elk hunt. They both started hunting about five years ago. In this episode, we chat about the journey to becoming successful hunters. We also cover some lessons learned and strategies for hunting elk in Britsh Columbia. I hope you enjoy!
Dec 08, 2018•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 14
