Ep. 663: MeatEater Radio Live! | 02.13.25 | Steve's Birthday, Leather with Heather Douville, and Grayling in Michigan

Smell us now, lady, welcome to Meat Eater Trivia.

Mea podcast. Holy shit, it's Me Eating Radio Live, eleven am, Montana Time. That's kind of Mountain Time mt YEP. Mountain Time, Thursday, February thirteenth. It's my birthday. I turned fifty one today live for me Eater Headquarters and Bows in Montana. I'm your host, Steve Ennell, and I'm joined today by Brody Henderson and Seth Morris and not I will point out by the man who's supposed to be here. I'm glad he's not because I like Seth betteran doctor Randall, now.

That you're a doctor too, what dud Well, we've actually got Randall on the line. Shall we talked to him?

I don't say that because that's not a thing.

That's not a thing yet, no thing.

Today's show, we're gonna check out with our friend and newly added Meat Eater colleague, Heather du Ville to see what sort of critter hides and first she's working on I'm gonna take a trip down memory lane do some throwback Thursday, and we're gonna talk about some very exciting news that a lot of people might not recognize as exciting. But we're gonna explain why it's so exciting. Is a grailing an Arctic grailing reintroduction in Michigan?

Pretty cool?

No, it's super cool, man, it's super cool. We're gonna get into that first. We're gonna try to hear what why Randall couldn't make it. I called him earlier. He had no problem answering the phone. He's supposedly stuck in the snow, but here he is. It doesn't look snowy where you're at, Steve.

I'll point out to you that I'm in my garage. Uh huh.

And there's there's a fair bit of snow in the garage this morning.

Yeah.

I was told we got up to eighty seven on our wins last night in Livingston.

Here home. Every time you talk, I'm gonna make the noise that I hear when I heard it. Someone can't make it to work because of the snow riding every time you talk, I'll do it.

Go ahead, Uh, I we got some good drifts here, We got some I Uh.

Why did I call that? Call it because you done?

I think because you didn't come to work, because you're chicken, because you got snow. Let me see.

Well, it's blown away from everywhere else except for uh the.

Driveway in the road. Let's see.

So we got some good drifts here. This it's right in front of the garage.

Oh wow, look at that dang and uh yeah, that's that's what happens. Here's Uh looks like your truck is out.

Well, truck looks fine, and it looks like it's on the other side of the drift.

The issue. I'll just go through this drift here.

There's a massive drift here. I don't know if you can see the bend in the road out this way, and I got the canam stuck try to plow that out. So I had to get my truck out to pull the canam out. And uh yeah, there's an excavator on the way, but it's got to take its way out here.

So I'll just be here.

If you guys eat me, you know, Uh, can you one thing.

I was I was trying to remember. I had to do one thing on here. Oh happy for.

Your phil Can you do randall favor and save that clip because when we caught him loose, when we fire him, yeah for not coming to work. He can maybe use that and try to get one of those jobs where you talk about how bad the weather is and you're like the weather guy, Oh, that's really kind of you to think of him after that, Like you there's a big snowstorm in Buffalo, New York, and then they send a guy out there to Parka and he's like, look at all the snow on these cars. Randon would be

You follow me, Yeah, I got you.

Oh no, because they could be far away right now. So you say in Nashville and they're like, well, I'm far away from Nashville. But then you say or attending the NWTF convention in Nashville, they might be like, oh, I better pay attention because I'll be in Nashville on Saturday.

Yeah.

So yeah, if you're around Nashville and or attending the NWTF convention in sports show this week, that's a hell I like that show. It's a hell of a good time. Our colleagues, Yannie Yannie, the Lavian Lover, Ocal, Clay Newcombe, Spencer Newheart are all there and they're hosting the Grand Slam after party in the Tennessee Ballroom tomorrow night, Valentine's Day Night. The event starts at eight forty five pm. Okay, this is for NWTF. Get your tickets for forty bucks.

Blank?

Right, You got to figure out what they're.

Thinking sitting down. I don't know whatever the hell Spencer wants to ask them, and you can win stuff that way.

That'll be fun.

No, I'd go if I was there, Uh, where we're sitting right now? Oh so we did Randall, my former colleague, doctor Randall. Oh, Spencer chimed and he says, I'm on a plane headed there now. Okay, huh, that's great to hear.

Safe travels.

Doctor, my former colleague, doctor Randall, and I did, uh did our first of our little mini to our mountain Man Mini tour where we're going to colleges to give We're going to colleges to talk about the mountain Man era. We did our first one the other night, which is very fun. We did it at Montana State University. We're going to University of Montana on February twenty and we're going to University of Wyoming and layer Me, Wyoming on February twenty six. So go check those things out, like

You just put a little more a little body coming from the chest right here.

Out way better than that blue jay call you make. Happy birthday.

Oh, hey Steve, happy birthday.

This is a kind of awkward.

Sicko wo yugy.

Yucky sick.

Yugy sick yugy in.

Fling it that translates too year old. Happy birthday, Steve. I hope you have a great day.

Hey, Happy birthday, Steve. I'm sure inspired millions of people, including myself. It's almost as if you're getting younger. And yeah, it's really cool to see and keep as an example of how to live a life.

So here's to another fifty years.

Hey Steve, happy birthday from Minnesota. It has been just an honor to get to teach you how to bowhunt and fish. Oh you've been a pretty good student. And I like that, so I hope you have a good birthday.

Buddy.

Hey, happy birthday, Steve.

Sheet, Happy birthday Stephen Ranella from me and my boy mingus here. We're out on the mountain, Lion mountain, no tracks today, it's still a fine day. I was thinking for your birthday radio live episode, you could do a hot tip for everybody on how to keep your head warm in these super cold conditions, especially when your hair is getting so thin. On top of like if you have to wear two hats or maybe put a and whom we're up there.

I don't know.

Exactly what you do. You can go ahead and say it, what a dick, But that's what friends are for. On your birthday. You got so many friends wish you have birthday. I heard Cory Culkins had to give him all a first like gift card to make these videos. But it's all good. But in all seriousness, be grateful for what you do have on your birthday, that awesome family of yours, that's awesome thing called meat eater that you've created. And

Look at him, mans come here, come here are you ready to go. He's ready to go, right, I get a Ryan for.

Yo. Steve, Happy birthday, man. I hope you're having a good one.

Hey, buddy, it's Decoy Dave over here in Oregon trying to get over COVID.

I just wanted to say happy birthday.

From me and from all of us at DSD, and thanks for all your hard work and inspiration and creating all this.

And hope that you and your family have a great one.

Every birthday, Steve.

For me in old way, I remember when I was fifty one.

I think, all right, thank you everybody.

Happy birthday.

Happy birthday, Steve.

What Dirt didn't bring up? Oh look at this there.

You go, right, that's so cute.

What Dirt didn't bring up with his messages. Me and him struck a deal where I gave him a brand new climbing rope and he was supposed to give me a little picture frame thing. Nothing haven't seen.

It hasn't happened yet.

No very asymmetrical deal anyways, and I got screwed on it.

Yeah, okay, that was the trim piece in your camper, right, Yeah?

Yeah, I didn't want to confuse everybody took me to it would take me too long to explain. It's actually trim piece for my camp.

But it's gonna look like a picture frame it is.

And because I ripped out the microwave of my camper, because any telling you want to microwave something in my camper, you gotta go turn the generator on. So if you're like, oh, I'm gonna heat this cup of coffee up, go outside, turn the generator on, come back in. By that point, I just heat it up on the burner. Yeah, you know it make any sense? So I ripped it out, and we keep loads of bread up in there. But I just don't like the way it looks now. It

You know.

All right, we're gonna go to Heather du Ville. Heather, you know what? Can Heather see us?

Good? Not yet?

But I prepare to drop for this, Steve, because I was told to prepare a drop.

Oh okay, so do you do you want to read what the script says? There's no script here?

Number three, buddy, Oh, I'm looking at it.

Ready. Yeah, go ahead. Next up, we're going to check in with Heather Duville for new segment. We're calling Fur and Leather with Heather.

Phil that's your best one yet.

That was the best one ever. Man. You know what he did is he cut right to the good part of the song.

That's great.

Glad you that. Here's how I'm going to intro the segment.

Watch that one a total surprise. I did not know about the song. Laughing, but yes, that caught my eye sitting on your table.

Bill, Can I verify that what people can see? No, no, make it narrow again, because you're blowing the whole fount I'm sorry to hear. Yeah, make it really narrow. I mean that's a narrow So is that way it looks for people at home? Does it look that narrow?

Yes?

Okay, I'll check this out. Watch how long it takes for this to pass.

All the way all the way through? Wen, we've only got an hour for this podcast.

I mean, watch how long this takes?

Oh, it's going over to the other you watch.

Can you believe us when we had those ladies on that were mauled by a river otter?

Wow, look at.

This and people are like, well, how could a river otter kick your ass? Oh? The angle's bad. Oh here, let's do it again. Where the angles better? How could a river malia that's five feet ten inches tall.

Wow, that's a big one.

And that I think I might just keep it as a wall hanger. I was gonna do a hat, but I don't know. But what the point being that's river otter, and and Heather's dealing with sea otters, and that's river. Out of that weays twenty five and half pounds. What's a big sea otter? Heather?

I got my biggest sea otter this winter and it weighed ninety pounds.

Imagine that thing. Yeah, oh that's crazy, Heather? Had I think I posted it? Did I think I posted it?

Yeah?

Heather had? She went out hunting it. Oh, sorry, go ahead.

Oh it's bigger than my deer that I got.

Yeah.

She had a box in an otter laying in the bottom boat and the odd looked bigger than the bock laying in the bottom of the boat.

That's crazy, all right.

So how's how's winter going, Heather? What's going on?

It's going? Well? You know, we a lot of people celebrate New Year, you know, January first, but our new year is coming up with the resurgence of life in springtime. So I spent a lot of time in the winter here just in my shop, and it's like the rest of the environment hibernating, resting, and then as things awaken in the spring, we come to life and start our harvest season, and that kind of marks our new year.

And yeah, is that is the new year? Is the new year a day? Or is it the new year? Just sort of like regarded as a window of time, like a like a broader window of.

Time, seasonal you know, awakening, come out of hibernation, new plants.

God.

So there's not like a specific day when you announce.

It, No, but sometime always feels like the new year for us. Sure, I've been working on I've been learning how to tan deer skins with tree bark, and I have a I tan my first seal skin at home. So it's here stretched on a frame.

Can you grab that and let us see the other side.

Yeah, So see, this is the seal skin that was hanging in the drying shed when you were here and I tanned it. It's pretty big, actually, this spring is huge, I think tall. But this is a harbor seal. Oh you can't see the the whole thing, but you can see the back of it.

This spring, Well that turned out nice.

Yeah, this is not done, but you can see where I've dry scraped it and where I haven't. So as you it'll light en up in color and it'll soften up. So takes a lot of elbow grease. So working on that.

So what what? So as you're learning to do your own seals, I remember you telling me that. I remember you saying that it's hard to find. There's not a lot of good places to send seals. Yeah, you haven't been satisfied with with sending them in to get them tanned.

Yeah, seals are really oily. You have to wash them right away after you skin them or else the oils will oxidize on the fur and turn the fur yellow. Okay, they're really rubbery, so they'll stretch like ten times their original size, and I think they're hard to thin. It's just a really unique art when it comes to tanning them, and I really I haven't found a tannery that tans them in a way that I guess produces an end

So at with with coastal fur, coastal fur and leather sewing shop. Will you eventually do you think you'll get where you are able to have enough volume that you're selling products made from the seals you harvest and tan and so where like the whole process becomes in house or do you think that'll be too hard to ever have that level of volume.

I think with sea otters, no, but with seals we so sea otters the usable parts are the fur, but with seals, we eat the meat, we render the fat, and we use as much of the seal is possible. So we only harvest like two a year.

So our seals.

We can definitely you know, tan them here and convert them into sellable items. We're not able to sell whole pelts. The Marine Mammal Protection Act requires us to convert them to a sellable item, so hat, scarves and things like that in order to try to recoup costs. So definitely feasible with seals, but not seat because we hunt those in greater volume.

Now walk me through what's going on with learning how to bark tans.

I brought my two toats here. I'm gonna grab a chew and show you. So I have in here. This is white tail, it's buckskin. I didn't know that buckskin just means like hair off. I thought it meant like a buck deer, like a like a deer. But buckskin means the hair is off. I didn't know that. So this is white tail hide. And this is like a tree bark tea. I'll show you it's see all the bark in there. So this is called the drench, and

Yeah, what trees are you using? Are you using hemlock?

This is actually oak. But the local trees here that have a lot of tannins are older and spruce and hemlock. And this drench is an oat brand. So what we did was we soaked this in wme to dep air, which is you know, real high pH, and then we put it in this drench which lowers the pH back down in preparation to put it into the tanning solution. So I'm really excited to learn this process. It's all natural and non toxic. So all of these products, when I'm done with it can be composted or you know,

So when you come down to head I know you're working on this plant. We're you're going to come down to headquarters. You're going to help people tan their deer skins that people save up. So will we be able to do like if we get all set up in our kitchen area, how many can we run through? Do you think?

Yeah? So we can. We can make these solutions to tan you know, one one hide or hundreds of hides and just adjust the different measurements. But one of my goals is, you know, we try to use as much of what the harvest as possible and reduce waste whenever we can. So I love to learn the different ways to use the materials that we have and then also teach. So if I can come there, if you guys want to save your deer skins, and if I'm able to teach you guys, I would love that.

And oh we're definitely doing that, man.

Yeah, what is it?

Like?

What would the timeline be from like killing a deer and skinning it and to turning that into what you're doing there, so you.

Could put it like if you were to skin it and immediately tan it or okay, so you'd skin it, and you want to make sure you skin it close so you don't have to skin it twice. But if youve flesh that on there, you know, we can always flesh it. I would say about two weeks.

Okay, okay, so you'll get us set up, like we'll we'll save deer high whoever wants to save a deer hide and and uh, we'll kind of instruct them on what they want to you know, so everything's ready, we'll get set up. You'll come down, introduce the process, make sure everything's going good, and then we can kind of carry on once we get started. In your abs.

Yeah, you took it in the line and that takes you know, like three days, or it could you could sell it for a week. So that's like you do this and then you wait and then you put it in the next solution and wait. So there's a lot of time there where we can work or you.

Can sew heather if you wanted to do it hair on. Do you just skip the line process or is it is it you have to do it totally different.

It's a little different with seals. Yeah, you skip that bucking process.

Gotcha, put it right in?

Yeah, No, man, I want the I want buckskin. You know, Heather miled Man's saved up a bunch of his deer skins and he had this super nineteen seventies buckskin jacket.

It's great.

You never the seventies they'd put the belts on everything and everything. Yeah, but he had it dyed black and it was all of his own deer skins. And I don't know what the hell happened to that thing, Like someone horked it when he died. Like we had a lot of different family members kind of running off of stuff. I mean, you know they're right, yeah, but someone horked that jacket.

Did you guys have Like during deer season, people would put out like fifty five gallon drums just like out in the country in spots and there'd be a sign there said dump your deer hide in here.

No. But when our fur auction was Ravana fur auction, and when you went to fur auction that everything was bid on, like I would take this like this odd would go up on the auction table, right and you might you might have your you might have let's say it was odters. You haven't divided large, medium, small, male, female, and every one of those things is a lot, and they all get bid on individually. So if your trapper divides his muskrats into four piles, every pile gets bid on,

Bucks, and he that's all going to a tannery to get turned.

Into the buckskin, and guys would be out in the parking lot cutting them in half and stuff, you know, to roll it up and sell it as too. But it was real common to sell them. But see, like I don't think the price has changed. So in the mid eighties it was five bucks. Now I think it's five bucks now, and now that's like a buck. And I think that people just don't it's just there's not money in it. That leather mostly goes to gloves. So I would dude, I would love to learn how to

During the winter, I work on like I try to make new patterns and try new things. I made a sealskin coat which I have here.

Yeah, put that coat on real quick. I want to see that. Then we got a Then we got a question for you, a fan question. See that bad ass man? Put that thing on? Oh you trimmed it in too.

That's like some natural camouflage there.

That's why I tell you snow camel a fully removable washable liner. What weighs eight pounds and so.

It's like a weighted blanket.

Now that is amazing. Though, have you been running around that?

Oh? I wear it just in the house. I can't. I just love this thing.

Could you? Would you be allowed to sell that jacket? Would that be? Would that fit the definition of made into something? Yes? Boy, I can't even hear. What would you have to get for that jacket?

Oh? I don't even know. I don't think you could put a value on things like this. I mean this is a custom like pattern. I made the pattern from a coat that I really liked and saved. And yeah, I do have I have one other new pattern. I'm gonna show you. Somebody wrote in and it has a question.

Yeah, we're gonna hit with that question.

But this other this is super special. So I've never done this before. But do you guys know what this is?

Yeah? No, yeah, yeah, I was gonna say electric blanket, but then I was like, that's a very small like it.

When you when you get old, everything hurts. So for Steve's birthday, I am making a custom for cover for this pad. Yeah, to help with all of those aches and pains and midlife crises.

That's a novel product. Yeah, I'm gonna plug it in and get a long extension cord.

Take that.

Okay, here's a question from a fan.

This is a help with the traditional words.

Okay, you want you want to do the question. I was going to read your question, but.

This there's some fling get in there.

So I thought, oh, then you do it. Go ahead, Okay, I'll do it. Then you do it. So Heather was asked, how far are you typically shooting when sea otter hunting. I'm kickside.

Uh it's Kiksadi. That's the clan he belongs to, which is Raven.

Okay, I'm Kiksadi. Out of Sitka and hoping to harvest my first sea otter this weekend, weather permitting, that's cool, And any other tips they ask.

Then it says, oh, yeah, Heather, I didn't I didn't give that last part to Steve. Yeah, that's my fault.

Okay. Goodness cheese to you and the meat eater crew. Goodness cheese means thank you. And this is from Naje that's his traditional name.

That's great ling.

It from Sitka Raven, which is my opposite. I'm Ego clan. So how far are you okay? So typically you're shooting from the boat and I would say within one hundred yards up. Sometimes you can get off on a rock and shoot and you know, get a rest and aim farther, but that really rarely happens. Any other tips, I would say it helps to have a good driver who of course they have to be eligible to participate by the Marine man Action Act guidelines. But well it's not guidelines,

So what what uh cartridge are you shooting them with? Heather?

I started out shooting with a two two and now last year I got a AR so the two two three one.

A think I know about how they're shooting. And she explained it to me as well. Is she's not kind of hard to describe. Maybe you can help me when I bring this up. She's not fighting the movement. She's not fighting the movement of the boat.

Like using the movement.

Yeah, she's like she's saying that you have this tendency to kind of want to like somehow rule out the movement in the boat or overcome it. But she's she's giving, she's like jibing with the movement, you know, time in it.

Yeah, like having a good driver. My dad knows how to hunt, so he knows how to put you on the sea otter. But but you want to shoot before they dive under. So they're kind of laying there eating and then they when you approach them, they sometimes they go see what's coming at him. You want to get a shot off right then. So you want to be ready because when they start to dive, it turns into this. It reminds you of those games at the arcade where you like.

Are sack them.

Holes are popping up and you just don't know yep, and it becomes more difficult. But yeah, so the boat is moving with the swell. They're moving in a distance at a different rate, so I kind of go on my tippy toes and bend my knees and you want to like move with the swell. And you're not going to get a steady aim and get those cross hairs on them for very long. So you just want to shoot right when your cross hairs past their head. And yes, it just takes practice.

And is there any danger of those otters sink in like a seal mite or do they just stay afloat after.

You kill them?

My first sea otter ever got sunk, but they rarely sink. You want to shoot them in the head and their fur is so yeah dense, and it traps that air, you know, in the undercoat. They'll float. But occasionally if you shoot a little low and they dive, they might try to take a breath and breathing water and then sink,

Right away, Heather. You mean like you you're skinning them on the boat, like as soon as they come in.

Either on the boat if if you can, but usually you're cruising trying to hunt and get as many as you can. And as soon as I get home, I skin them on a tailgate which is the perfect height. And we don't hang them when we skin them. I just roll them, you know, on my tailgate and that seems to work best for me.

Good Daln cool. Well, thanks for joining, Heather.

Yeah, thank you. Happy birthday, Steve.

Thank you very much. We'll talk to you again soon. It's great to have you on and I look forward to talking to you next time too. All right, Phil listener feedback, You got it, buddy.

Yeah, we've got a few. I just reminded everyone gets some questions in. If you want, we're gonna do another one of these at the very end of the show, or I might be able to catch them right now.

Be fast.

First, one, let's see, this is about hunting history Steve. Episode two. Someone's asking Grant is asking have they not used any light ar technology on those glaciers? Seems like you might find some fun stuff.

That's one thing no one brought up to me. Okay, yeah, right, I'm trying to even think if boy, I don't you know, I've been with people using light art. I don't even know how, you know, I altoly don't know how that technology works up against all that that all that ice, and like, yeah, a glacier's got a lot of air in it. Yeah, I have no way. I'm already over my waiters. I have no idea. I had no one mentioned that to me, though, I can tell you that.

Yeah.

Colin asks, well, I guess she first, he says, Steve, I lost an inch of my pinky in a framing accident, pitched it, pinched it in a lift. He's torn between turning it into a fishing floor or sending it to us to put in the Werner Bratsler machine.

Oh that's a great idea. If you send it over, if it's nice and frozen, I'd like to eat it, because I'm trying to find a way to be like a subject matter expert on cannibalism without killing anybody.

I tried to explain my kids the other day that cannibals they would call human meat long pork, and there they weren't buying it.

No, I've heard that. Yeah, yeah, I'd like a little long pork. How much you got? Is it meaty? If not, I would put it into a I would. I would if I had that happened to me, I would put it into a little jar of and then people to come over and display it, and I'd be like, I guess what that is?

Turn that that pinky bone into a little pendant for a necklace.

Yeah, that's what my boy's collar is. Little surgery stuff they removed. I made a necklace.

Oh, you put it in a POxy.

That's next question.

Andreas asks he if if you see well, he specifically asked you, Steve, when you use fur as a wallhanger, do you leave it dried or do you get it tanned before hanging it?

Oh?

No, no, no, no no, I get it tanned. I get it tanned. What I'm holding right here is flesh stretched, fleshed and stretched. And this lasts a long time. I can't get my angle right where you can appreciate the immensity. But no, you'll get it. And also this is leather out, so when you tan, it'll flip. And then I use those as wallhangers.

Jove and figuoa. I guess asks first, he says, happy birthday, Steve. A question for everyone at the table. Has anyone ever had any awkward situations dragging deer through permitted public hunting areas like parks or conservancies?

No, but I'm sensitive to it.

I don't think, well, I mean awkward for who is the question? I guess it's not awkward for me. But yeah, I've carried some.

Mule deer bucks down an escalator at a ski resort one time. That was pretty interesting.

Uh.

Yeah, I know what you're talking about, and I have tended to I actually had this discussion with a friend of mine once where it wasn't a dear. We were carrying something up to a public parking lot mm hm, and I was wanting to hide it. He's like, nothing to be ashamed of. I'm like, I'm not ashamed. I just like it's not like a matter of shame. I'm just I like to be low pro Yeah, Like I just don't. It's just I just prefer to be low

I know that it's wrong and then you're gonna have to explain your even though you didn't do anything.

So I usually just go like low profile in any kind of situation like that, Like even at a public if there's if you're parking a dark hunting at a spot and other people are using the same parking lot, I don't come out just like you know, throwing ducks all over place. I'll throw them around later, but I just kind of go, like just slip out of here, make a scene.

I used to hunt a bunch in New Jersey back in the day, and it was often like real small woodlots and you would always have to like be real careful about shot placement because you didn't want to like get the run over and die in the neighbor's yard, like especially if there's snow on the ground.

Yep.

I just heard some horror stories like deer dying in swimming pools, and oh, like yeah, it was you know, it was something you kind of had to watch out for when you're hunting.

No small parcels reducing tensions.

Yeah, next question, Kentucky Thunder Outdoors says happy birthday. If you had to choose, would you wear a cowboy hat for a month or eat vegan for a year.

I'd go cowboy hat.

Yeah, Kentucky Thunder, I like that. I like that name.

That is a good name.

Man. I got a big strut and gobbler.

I know, if I was going turkey hunting with a dude named Kentucky Thunder Outdoors, I'd be like, we're gonna get.

Something, and you'd be wearing a hat cowboy hat.

We'll do one more for this round.

Jeremy from Australia says, asks if you've have you ever had any any encounters when predators harassed attacked your pack animals when you were hunting.

I have certainly heard of them. I have had, but I have witnessed personally only the opposite where elk would take a great interest and uh take a great interest in livestock at a couple occasions. But no, I've definitely heard of that. I've never seen it, but I don't holpe with livestock a lot. I'm not like I'm the last guy I would ask a livestock question too.

Yes, No, I mean I've had my dog run into a bear a couple of times, but no livestock issues.

You're all going to give you a different piece of advice if you we're gonna ask livestock questions. I've learned it. You can only ask a livestock question. This is gonna sound like this is gonna annoy people. You can only ask a livestock question as someone that was raised around livestock. Yeah, Like it's not one of those things you can come

Yeah.

I feel like I looked at a horse that maybe had like one little lameness in its leg. I wouldn't see anything, but that guy would be like, you can't ride that one.

Yeah, they'll know, Like they'll be able to tell you about its parents and stuff. You can't get that. No, it's amazing people that grew up around it.

You know.

It's just one of those things you gotta absorb. So yeah, i'd go find I wouldn't talk to me about it, but no, I'd be able to tell you if something showed up in a bear ate something that's never happened, but it happens. I think, just to be a little more helpful, I've more I guess even what I'm saying, I've heard more about stuff coming for the feed mmm, like bears getting tuned into the to the to the supplement the grain and stuff for the horse.

I think a bigger danger than predators killing your livestock is livestock killing you if you're using horses or mules, you know, yeah, doing things.

Yeah yeah, if I had a pistol with me, that's what my pistol before shooting the horse, trying to defend myself from the.

Yeah, yeah, I've seen some horse wrecks.

All right, Uh, throw back Thursday. This is gonna take require ten minutes, from eleven thirty five to eleven forty five.

What time is it film?

It's eleven forty one. We're already screwed.

It's over, So back on a Thursday, mon, Stephen Brody, take me back to nineteen six.

This is my favorite one of his songs. And I mentioned Stephen Brody world Ship.

It's fitting because you're one year older today.

He's past the point where birthdays matter.

Though, Oh dude, it really doesn't matter, you know, it really doesn't matter. My kids today were it's so funny. My little boy, my older boy, and he's in wood shop and he'd made a honey dipper. You know what do you call honey?

Yeah, the little thing with the roofs in it.

But the kid who was responsible for staying in them all put like a lead based stain or something. So my boy's like he gives it to me. He's like, you can't really though, it's more like just for show, because he says, because it's got like actual stain on it. Oh, look at that.

You can get them.

You can eat while we're doing our little throwback.

Yeah, and put my ring onto.

This.

Shouldn't take one of our shorter throwbacks.

Phil's kind of undersounding the shore back throwback segment, not real interested in it.

Oh no, it's a good one.

It's just not as jam packed as other ones because Steve's not participating. Seth, we love you go first here.

Yeah, this photo here, I just had to go through my cell phone real quick to see what I had on there because it was, you know, a late notice since Randall ditched us here.

But uh, that's a giant beaver.

This was I think the first time we went trapping together. We filmed that little thing for YouTube, and yeah, we caught a few nice beavers, but this was the biggest one.

I could tell it's a long time ago because I don't have a blue shirt like that.

Yeah. I think it was twenty one, maybe twenty That might have been twenty God, I was probably twenty.

And then we've got this video seth and then yeah, this is just a video from the fish shack. This was an old rusted double barrel that Steve has up there. We're curious if it's still shot or blow up.

So you had that helmet on.

I don't even remember this.

It's hard to keep guns working up there. Uh.

At the end here he says, I'm gonna hang it up and let it rust some more.

Hang that back home, let it russ some more.

Yeah, good times. Let's see that's pretty.

Oh yeah, show the other one first, philm.

Oh, sorry about that.

There's an order to this.

Look like.

This is uh, this is Steve and I's first hunt together that we did for meat eater, and uh, I found him this box. We were hiking in in the morning in the dark, I remember, and it was real hot for November m hm. And we're hiking in and after like I don't know, fifteen twenty minutes maybe a mile of hike, and Steve, Steve's.

Like, brody, brody, what are we doing? Where are we going?

Like he's getting real irritated because I think he was swall sweated up.

That's not why.

But then we got to the glass and spot and he's like, oh, I like this spot. Then we found that about a few minutes later, and later that day Steve killed him and then uh yeah, then I killed that little dinker later later or not.

But you can see we're wearing some vintage first light though.

Oh yeah, I look like chaster. That deer's got a bad hole in it. Walking away from that situation.

Nope, nope, So yeah, there we go. Cool.

God, you were young, Brody, Well, so are you good?

Lord? How this was this?

Probably not? I think it's at least nine years ago, maybe ten years ago.

So what happens to a man age is like a disease old age. It's like a disease.

But I feel like I'm I don't know, I'm hiking around just as good now as I was back then.

Yeah, I was reading about last night. I'm reading this book that my friend Ben has coming out called The Mysterious Mister Knockamoto. It's about the inventor of blockchain and bitcoin.

Yep.

Anyways, dudes in that world are big into I had no idea what dudes that are big into that world, Like they were big into early Internet and and then up into the twenty ten, two thousand and nine, big into cryptography and stuff. They also happened like that mindset. They're also big into cryogenics, where they're like getting there.

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

But if you, if you really believed, go now.

Yeah.

I don't know, Like I don't mind being my age, Like I feel like hunting and hiking. I'm better than I was back then, because you know, you got the mentality to just go to.

I gotta say, ever since I started hunting with you, I don't know, it's I don't know, it's like any sort of slow down. No, No, you're just charging charging a head.

Yeah. See, for me, what's happening is I've always been too skinny, but when you get old, it winds up being you're glad you were too skinny.

Yeah, you know what I'm saying, Like, I don't care around extra weight.

Yeah, you used to be weak. Now you're just not old. Do you know what I'm saying? Why is it working out? Yeah?

Yeah? All right?

Where are we at? What happens next? Well?

I was actually told to supply a throwback Thursday picture Steve, and you know, I was thinking about all just an endless trove of memories that we have together, Steve. And the one that I pulled out was this teaky bar that's right in Nashville, when I was trying to go to this tiki bar by myself because I was ashamed, and then you, Katie cal and Rourke Denver all.

Joined and it looks like you're there with Vince Bond man. He's got a Vince Bond thing going.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that.

It's kind of a crappy equality picture, but yeah, that was That was February twenty twenty, a month before everything shut down.

No, that was before I quit drinking. Yeah anyway, yeah, yeah, fun times. You Fielm making out.

All right.

Where are we at. Oh, we've got Randy coming in. No, I'm excited about this man. This is a good story. Next up on the phone, we have Fisheries Division chief for Michigan's Department of Natural Resources, Randy. I'm gonna go out on a limb. Well, we'll ask him what the hell's last name is Clairemont? Hello Randy, thanks for being here and welcome to the show. What's going on? I hit you with your last name? I want to make sure I got it right.

Yeah you did. You did great? See if it's Clairemont. And happy birthday by the way.

Thank you, buddy. A bunch of questions. Yeah, when telling you how to how to do this in good order? When did Michigan lose? Like what was the last grayling?

You know, it's funny you say that because the last grayling was actually in the Upper Peninsula in nineteen thirty two. Is so there's there's you know, you go back to the historic record. There's some debate about that, but the distribution in the Upper Peninsula was actually pretty small. It was not as big as the northern and lower And I understand you're familiar a little bit with the Muskegon

Cites some of this article. No way, that's pretty cool.

The angler was Initials E. Smagoon of Muskegan, Michigan. I'm bringing the nineteen thirty article right now. And he said, I fish for grailing. I would in the early eighteen eighties. I catch one after another in Carlton, San Cleveland and Silver Creeks and empty into the White River.

And you gotta be kidding me.

Really, that's cool.

They probably familiar of those streams.

Yeah.

In any case, he said he was very concerned about the the grayling being extirpated because he only caught one the previous year and none that year, and that was nineteen thirty.

Well, what did man, what what did him in?

Randy?

Like, why did they disappear?

Yeah? Yeah, it's you know well understood that in Michigan streams, you know, we have sandy soils, relatively low gradient compared to mountain streams, you know, but the deforestation, just clearing all the vegetation, it allowed those streams to warm up and then all the sediment organic sediment, not the not the sand and the you know, when you have sandy soils with a lot of vegetation, the water will seep through the ground quickly and then flow groundwater in the streams.

Hey what uh, where were you able to find to do a reintroduction? Where are you able to find grailing that seems like it's you know, it seems like it'd be like the right grailing right or the closest to the right grailing.

Yep. Well, so, you know, we looked at the lower forty eight and trying to determine if any populations existed that could serve as a source population for Michigan. The only population that we are aware of is the Big Hole River of Montana, and actually Montana's rebuiltation program. You know, we're mirroring a lot of things that Montana has been doing, but that population isn't at the level where it could serve as a gam meat source. So we end up going to the Chino River in Alaska for the gam

Stock How many, how many and where are you going to try are you going to try to cut them loose.

Yeah, So you know, we went through a stream candidate selection process where basically we wanted stakeholders partners in this to nominate rivers that they felt grailing reintroduction should should occur. We then went and looked at the habitat suitability in those rivers. We did a lot of work before we ever went to Alaska to get the eggs. And by the way, shout out to Alaska. You know those staff up there did a phenomenal job and really helped Michigan

Man, that is so cool. Man. What do you think? Uh, how confident are you in success and what success look like for you? I mean are you does success look like a breeding population or what is it?

Yeah?

You know, I think if we saw grayling reproducing successfully within their historic range, you know, that'd be a great technical definition of hey, we've reached success. Right to me, it's more than that, because you know, I would get questions a lot over the years. I've been working in fisheries for over twenty five years, originally from Michigan, is

We are?

So what happens? What's going to happen when down the road, a dude's out fishing brookies or whatever steelhead and he hooks the grailing. Presumably you're not going to close down stream sections. You're not gonna you're not gonna like remove fishing from these stream sections. So it'll have to be that people know they're there when they get one, to be careful turn it back because because it's not it's going to be a while. So there's like a harvestable number.

Absolutely. We already removed the regulations prohibiting targeted fishing, so if you catch a grailing, you can take a picture of it immediate release. We've had a you know a lot of interest, and so I expect anglers, you know, they're really going to seek out these opportunities. We're still a couple of years down the road. But myself included.

Man, that's amazing. I would make that trip back there to see that happen to do that. You Know, there's a thing I've really appreciated about. I haven't lived in Michigan for forever. I left in the late nineties mid nineties.

Yeah, I appreciate it. And just just because you say you have, you know, really seen it since the nineties, I'll tell you we just recently. Now it's kind of lake superior. Lake trout populations fully restored. But if you did eat lake trout, you know, back in the eighties and nineties, a lot of people didn't think that they had a lot of table fare. Put it that way. The lake drout today are some of the best tasting

Sure man, Yeah, keep up with the good work. I love seeing it and I love hearing stories about those native fish come back. Like, it's a really unique environment, all that whole Great Lakes system. And you know, if we if we let our guard down, we're gonna wind up. We're more and more and more. No matter where you go in the world, where you are, you go in the country, you're gonna see these kind of same things.

Yeah, thanks again for the opportunity, and I really appreciate the attension of grailing and hopefully we can achieve what we're set out to do.

So send me a couple of las.

Yeah, this spring is our first big introd.

Oh excellent, alright, good luck dude, appreciate it.

Thank you, all right, Phil, about to the end of the show. But what about that? What about that listener feedback?

Buddy, No, let's hit it. Kyle.

Here's kind of a heavy one. What does the crew think about Indiana introducing a bill to legalize the sale of venison and another one to legalize the release of c w D resistant farm deer into the wild.

I don't like either of them.

I didn't know about the Indiana thing, but not a good idea. Neither is like we already we've talked about the releasing.

It's it's pissing in the wind. Yeah, I don't think like I think it sounds like a great idea, But when you look in like actual like genetic transfer, genetic transfer that you're somehow going to like overcome like the native genome and overwhelm it and actually like create a strain of it, and I think it's pissing in the wind. And I definitely don't like the idea this. People keep wanting to go down this path of commodifying deer meat

I don't like it that, Like, I mean, he's parents selling deer meat with CWD, and it's like, how are you ever gonna sell deer meat when you know what I mean?

Yeah, I know you'll be like you're gonna kill all these deer to sell. Someone's gonna check them for c W. It's just it's it's it's like people looking at complicated problems and thinking they got these little solutions for him. I think it's I think it's stupid. I mean, I don't even be so blunt. No, I don't want to say it stupid.

I don't don't.

Yeah, I definite don't want to say it stupid because that sounds like not being productive. Ain't a good idea. How's that ain't good idea?

Uh?

Do you guys have favorite favorite mounts or skins you have in your houses, respectively?

I haven't got my favorite still sitting at the taxidermist or that whoever's beetling it right?

What are you missing? That?

Move?

Oh your moose? Yeah, yeah, that'll be good.

I got a couple of hides. I like a bunch, one being a red fox that uh Steve and I trapped last year. And I also have another red fox from from Pennsylvania that's beautiful. And uh, skull mounts. I like the COO's dear. I just like how tiny their little skulls. Yeah, easy to move. They just look cool.

So all right, Well.

It's a tough one. But if you don't know it, maybe you could direct this person to someone who does. Is there a way to rehabilitate house fire, smoke damage, tanned furs?

I would call you know what I would do. Call He's gonna hate me for saying this, Call John Hayes Taxi because I I've had questions like this for John, Like, I'll give you a piece of feedback. John, give me one time I had a very old I have a really old bear hide, like a really really old bear hide that never took good care of. And uh, I was like wanting to know it's I kind of kept it outside over the outdoor furniture under our patio, protected

Wow.

So John Hayes Hayes tax in every studio to tell you what to do. He's got all kinds of little tricks because when you've been in the business that line, people bring you more screwed up stuff, you know. I mean, all you do is deal with people's mistakes.

Oh, this, this is This will be an easy one to answer because we've had someone on the podcast. But just so you can remind this person, Phil is asking for an episode on hearing loss. I think we've done a few with Grace from Otopro.

Yep, yeah, just go back and findalals. I wish we could think of the number, but we've done two. We've done two with an audiologists about why that's happening to you? Why when you're laying in bed at night you're listening to We keeps Your waken.

Yeah.

Uh, Brody, I'm gonna direct this one at you because maybe you've seen this show, but a lot of people have been asking if we've watched American primeval on that you know, I did watch, and.

There's like some cool historical accuracies in it, but it's also you know Hollywood, like I don't want to give it away to you know, people that haven't seen it, but there's a really stupid scene with wolves attack and like busting through a cabin and trying to attack people, like shit, that would never happen. Yeah, but like the Jim Bridger stuff where he was running the fort, that's all and is running with h Brigham Young like.

That's that stuff all happened. It was a cool show.

I thought it was good. Cool.

I think you gave an update on this, Steve for an episode that maybe hasn't aired yet or it was Trivia or something, but someone's Dakota's asking for a punt gun update because I know you've made some We made some strides in that department.

From Dakota punts. We're getting very close to shooting it. We just last week. We're out, but we're working on a kind of a way to you can't mount it, Ridgid, you got it's got to move, so we're working on a mount But yeah, we would have shot it, but We're just having a real streak of bad weather right now. It's just not fun time to be out blowing your hand off trying to shoot your punk gun.

Twenty nine below this morning. Yeah, it will warm up.

Well, we will do one more. And this is kind of like a very this is a very broad generic question. But hey, it's your birthday, Steve, so I'm gonna put you on the spot in your fifty one years is from Tyler? What is Do you have a favorite hunting memory?

No?

No, all right, thanks Tyler, do it for Today's.

Just the whole package of it. I like a lot. I can't. I have to think about that for a long time. Yeah, it's a tough question. One you talk about a lot with a lot of enthusiasm. Is the youth your season hunt? Oh well yeah, that's what I'm saying, Like I would say that, but that's pretty recent. Yeah, yeah, I like going, I like hunting. I like hunting. Taking the kid's youth to your hunting, but then taking any kinds you know, younger people can't picture because I wouldn't

Like when I think about me getting my first buck versus my kid getting it's.

Like, yeah, no comparison.

Yeah, I would rather hunt one day with my kids than like three days without them. It's just more fun. Man. You know, I just like it. But I wouldn't expect anybody to understand that. But like I said, I recommend having kids. If you can, have kids, gives you a good sense of I don't man, gives you good sense of purpose.

Cool.

Well, I've got one more thing to read before the end of the show about a a call to action for our listeners.

Oh scroll now, I gotta get the hang of this hosting folks before we go. We're in need of some fresh hot tip offs. Man. I could make a hot tip off every damn day.

Well, we could use but this is and that's one of the reasons why we're reaching out to the people.

I got one for you right now. Okay, let's hear it. When you cook deer meat and you got left over deer meat the next day, Slice it real thin, Get a bunch of butter in a pan, put a shitload of Frank's Red Hot in that butter, and then stir it at meat in there and eat.

That Buffalo strips.

Buffalo leftovers is what they call that word. Needed some fresh hot tip off. Send us a video of what of this is poorly written? Who wrote this? I'm not gonna throw them under. Send a video of what you no, no, no, it is well written. Send a video of what you believe to be your outdoor tips to our radio live email address with hot tip off in the subject line. So here's all you do. Make a hot tip off. A hot tip off is where you go Welcome to hot tip off, and then you explain a hot tip

Okay, family friendly.

Family friendly. If we use if we use your video, we're gonna show it will be a showdown. These are one to one showdowns, So we'll you send your hot tip off in We're gonna match it with another hot tip off and see who wins. If you win the hot tip off the best hot tip off of the week, then you win cool prizes from We'll send you cool prizes from me Eater brands. We'll send you cool prizes

Does that both pans? Yeah?

That was real quick. Before I really knew Greg fons you guys got his spear fishing shop. I'd like, I was text him about like a question I had about how to rig something, and he's sitting there in like an apron, you know, like a shop apron, and he's like, I don't even know the guy and he's explaining. Eventually he like turns towards the other work manch just this bear ass dude. I was like, what a freak man. Later I just realized it, said to you, everybody, all right,