Anthropology
Is Bigfoot Dangerous?
  • Is Bigfoot Dangerous?
  • Redfish on the Half Shell with Onion Butter Recipe
  • Does Temperature Affect Deer Movement?
  • 2020 EHD Report

Natural History

Photos: 30,000-Year-Old Intact Cave Bear Carcass Stuns Scientists

Butchering & Processing

The Total Guide to Caul Fat

Waterfowl

The 3 Duck Calls Every Hunter Should Own

Latest

Whitetail Deer

How to Kill an Early-Season Buck in the Morning
There are two myths in deer hunting that need to die. One is that we are all experts at judging the age of a buck on the hoof. The other is that hunting mornings during early season will only cause irreparable harm to your future chances of success. (The thinking here is that it’s too hard to get close to a buck’s bedding in the morning, causing you to spook deer and ruin an area for all of fall.)
When it comes to the latter myth, it pays to...

Recipes

Pan-Fried Venison Tongue Recipe
Tongue, when cooked until tender, has a uniquely silken texture that is even better when contrasted with the crunch of breadcrumbs crisped in butter. We used larger nilgai tongues on this episode of MeatEater TV Season 9, but venison, elk, or pronghorn tongues would work great here, too. The trick is to get them tender first, slice them slightly thick so there’s just the right amount of the breading, and serve them with a tart, brightly...

Freshwater

How to Train a Good Fishing Dog
There are few fishing buddies who will tolerate the 100th time I say “one last cast!” or endure early spring canoeing in semi-thawed ponds. One I can always count on is my dog, Nelson. He’s there tail wagging as I reel in what could be a personal best or a sardine—excited either way. He’s opened doors to solo fishing which, as a small woman, wouldn’t be comfortable without him there. That said, this 80-pound lug of snuggle and I put in a lot work...

Recipes

Southwest Venison Shanks Recipe
Most shanks used to wind up the grind pile, or worse, the trash. But more hunters have started figuring out how damn good these cuts are if you take the time to cook them right.
This  southwest style preparation will turn some heads. It’s the kind of dish you’ll want to serve for a special occasion or when you’re trying to impress. The citrus and smokey peppers compliment the rich flavor of the shank—I guarantee you’ll...

Small Game

Fact Checker: Do Squirrels Bite Testicles Off Other Squirrels?
Myths, lies and old wives’ tales loom large in the outdoor pursuits. Here at MeatEater, we’re dedicated to separating facts from bullsh*t, so we created this series to examine suspect yarns. If there’s a belief, rumor, or long-held assumption you’d like us to fact check, drop us a note at factchecker@themeateater.com. 
Claim
Red squirrels bite the testes off grey squirrels out of territorial aggression. Similar claims say males of the same...

Big Game

Are Mule Deer Going Extinct?
Hunters have been watching or reading about the mule deer’s decline for so long that some worry they’ll witness its end.
Writers and speakers often quote Professor Valerius Geist’s opening lines of Chapter 8 in his 1990 book “Mule Deer Country,” where he warned: “For all its current abundance, the mule deer, so different, so uniquely American, so young and promising, is nevertheless a species marked for extinction.”
Geist’s next two sentences...

Anthropology

Why Have Bigfoot Sightings Decreased?
We don’t believe in Bigfoot at MeatEater, but we’re damn interested in him. To see if a crew of staunch skeptics could be swayed, we gathered the most respected Bigfoot authorities to answer our most pressing questions. This is part two of our eight-part series, Ask a Squatcher.
According to a Bloomberg CityLab report, Bigfoot sightings have decreased over the last decade. Encounters with Sasquatch surged from 2000 to 2009, but have taken a dip...

Big Game

Does Moon Phase Affect the Elk Rut?
The third week of September coincides with the peak of the elk rut, when bulls are fighting, bugling, and chasing hot cows with reckless abandon. Last year, the timing was perfect for calling in an aggressive bull during Colorado’s muzzleloader season—unless you’re one of those hunters that swears a full moon shuts down or delays the elk rut.
I’ve killed elk during all moon phases, so I’ve never wasted much time on that line of thought. But I’ll...

Foraging

3 Wild Salad Greens You Can Find in Your Backyard
I know—it’s September and all you can think about is the negative space in your freezer and how you’re going to fill it with fresh game. We all have meat on the mind this time of year, but take a second and imagine something with me: It’s February and everything is frozen solid. You haven’t eaten a fresh vegetable in months. Anything green has been trucked in from who-knows-where. Most of your meals have been varying...

Whitetail Deer

How to Kill an Urban Buck
Deer hunting around populated areas looks wildly different now than it did when I was a kid. According to the National Resources Inventory, about 2.2 million acres of previously undeveloped land were developed between 1992 and 2002. That means in just a decade, an area the size of Delaware was lost to urban sprawl. And it hasn’t slowed down since.
So, while strip malls and duplex homes moving into farm country seem like a bad deal for deer...

Contributors

Steven Rinella is the host of the Netflix Original series MeatEater and The MeatEater Podcast. He's also the author of six books dealing with wildlife, hunting, fishing and wild game cooking, including the bestselling MeatEater Fish and Game Cookbook: Recipes and Techniques for Every Hunter and Angler.

Mark Kenyon is the author of That Wild Country, founder of Wired To Hunt, and host of the industry-leading Wired To Hunt Podcast. He is a nationally published writer, a QDMA certified Deer Steward, and MeatEater's resident "whitetail guy."

Ben O’Brien is a writer, editor, host of The Hunting Collective podcast, a member of the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Board of Directors, and MeatEater’s Director of Hunting.

Brody Henderson grew up hunting and fishing in Pennsylvania. After college he moved to Colorado, where he worked as a fly fishing guide and writer. Brody has a passion for public lands hunting and fishing throughout the West. He has worked as a Wilderness Production Assistant for the MeatEater television show, and is a writer and MeatEater's Senior Editor.

Spencer Neuharth is the senior hunting editor at MeatEater, producer of Wired to Hunt, and founder of Rut Fresh. His writing has been featured in over a dozen magazines, including Field & Stream, Petersen's Hunting, and Men's Journal. His work is a reflection of his roots as a whitetail hunter and training as a biologist.

Sam Lungren is MeatEater's Fishing Editor and a former freelance writer/photographer, commercial fisherman, and editor of BHA's Backcountry Journal. Though originally from Whidbey Island, Washington, he's been in Montana for almost a decade and probably isn't leaving—except during steelhead season. Send him an email sam@themeateater.com or follow him @samlungrenmedia.

Danielle Prewett is the founder of Wild + Whole and a wild foods contributing editor for MeatEater. Texas is home for Danielle, but her love for the outdoors developed while chasing birds across the grasslands of North Dakota. She has been living off the land for the last several years and is fascinated by the richness of wild game. Danielle strives to portray this beauty by teaching others how to cook and enjoy their harvest.

Ryan Callaghan is MeatEater's Director of Conservation and a member of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, as well as a national board member. Ryan has been a passionate member of the outdoor community, having grown up hunting and fishing, guiding, and playing in the West.

Joe Cermele is MeatEater’s Senior Fishing Editor based on the East Coast. He has written several books and is the former fishing editor of Field & Stream and Outdoor Life. If it swims, Joe wants to catch it—and write, podcast, and shoot videos about it here at MeatEater.

Miles Nolte is the Director of Fishing at MeatEater. Miles has been an outdoor writer and editor for more than a decade and was a fishing guide for even longer than that. He’s the former Angling Editor at Gray’s Sporting Journal and author of The Alaska Chronicles.

Outdoors writer/editor, weekly columnist for 17 Wisconsin newspapers, regular contributor to American Hunter magazine, and former editor of Deer & Deer Hunting magazine.

Remi Warren has been hunting his entire life and is passionate about sharing his knowledge and adventures with others. When not guiding or filming, Remi works as a field editor for Western Hunter Magazine, co-hosts Solo Hunter TV, and is the host of the Cutting the Distance podcast.

Janis Putelis is the Director and Executive Producer of the Netflix Original series MeatEater and co-host of The MeatEater Podcast. Before joining MeatEater in 2012, Putelis spent over a decade guiding hunting and fishing trips in Colorado, Arizona, and Mexico and three years in a professional kitchen.

Anthony Licata is the Editor-in-Chief at MeatEater. Over a 20-year career in outdoor media, Anthony served as the long-time Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Director of Field & Stream and Outdoor Life magazines. He has hunted and fished all over the world but thinks chasing big game on public land in the West, flyfishing for trout, and going home every fall to his family deer camp in rural Pennsylvania is as good as it gets.