Ask The Eagle

Janis Putelis answers your questions about everything from hunting to butchering to marriage. asktheeagle@themeateater.com

10 videos
Ask The Eagle: Do You Save Waterfowl Legs?
Ask The Eagle: Do You Save Waterfowl Legs?

Janis answers a question about waterfowl legs, and explains how he cooks them.

Ask the Eagle: What's the Longest Shot You'll Take with a Rifle?
Ask the Eagle: What's the Longest Shot You'll Take with a Rifle?

What's the longest shot with a rifle you comfortable taking? Janis Putelis talks about his longest shot, and at what distance he's most comfortable shooting. He talks wind, elevation, and other external factors you should account for. Janis answers your questions using his own knowledge and expertise, giving some helpful tips and insight along the way.

Ask the Eagle: What Would Be Your Last Wild Game Meal?
Ask the Eagle: What Would Be Your Last Wild Game Meal?

What would Janis choose to be his very last wild game meal? He'd need a great, greasy meal (plus maybe a second choice).

Ask the Eagle: How Do I Get My Wife Into Hunting?
Ask the Eagle: How Do I Get My Wife Into Hunting?

Struggling to get your significant other to get into hunting? Janis offers up his own advice taken from personal experience.

Ask the Eagle: Is it Ethical to Shoot a Deer After Stepping Out of the Truck?
Ask the Eagle: Is it Ethical to Shoot a Deer After Stepping Out of the Truck?

Ethics are personal. So is it ethical to shoot a deer after stepping out of the truck at the beginning of your hunt? Janis's short answer: Yes.

Ask the Eagle: How Do I Become a Hunting Guide?
Ask the Eagle: How Do I Become a Hunting Guide?

What's the path for someone that wants to become a hunting guide? Janis shares how keeping your head down and working hard can help you get there.

Ask the Eagle: What's Your Favorite Big Game Caliber?
Ask the Eagle: What's Your Favorite Big Game Caliber?

Can you just use one caliber to hunt all big game? This week, an Instagram follower wants to if know if that's possible. Janis explains how hunting small game could also be useful for becoming a more seasoned big game hunter.

Ask the Eagle: Can You Reuse Oil After Frying Fish?
Ask the Eagle: Can You Reuse Oil After Frying Fish?

Janis uses his restaurant industry background to answer the question of reusing oil in the fryer, particularly after frying fish.

Ask the Eagle: How to Manage Flinching While Shooting?
Ask the Eagle: How to Manage Flinching While Shooting?

How do you manage flinching while shooting? Janis Putelis discusses how to calm the mind and body to avoid flinching.

Ask the Eagle: Binocular Power Choice and Apprenticeship Options
Ask the Eagle: Binocular Power Choice and Apprenticeship Options

Janis explains his current favorite binocular power option and apprentice options for eager workers.

Related Articles
Smoked Venison Jerky Recipe
Smoked Venison Jerky Recipe This savory jerky recipe includes garlic and black pepper to complement the wood-smoked flavors. I prefer to use tender roasts from the hindquarter (like eye of round or top sirloin), but any large hunk of red meat will do. These pieces should be sliced across the grain and marinated for two days to maximum flavor.
Wood type is the dealer’s choice. Mesquite gives the strongest flavor and is my favorite for venison. Hickory, oak, and pecan...
Ultimate Venison Monte Cristo Sandwich Recipe
Ultimate Venison Monte Cristo Sandwich Recipe It’s difficult to overemphasize the excellence of a good Monte Cristo. It’s the perfect balance of flavors, textures, and aesthetics. The salty ham, rich cheese, and sweet jam make for the ultimate pub sandwich.
The addition of a crunchy coating and wild game elevates the experience even further. I used venison for this dish, but it’d also work with ham from a bear or hog. You can create your ham with Steven Rinella’s recipe in the ̶...
Best Practices for Freezing Meat
Best Practices for Freezing Meat For hunters, freezers are perhaps some of our most valuable possessions. They preserve hard-earned meat and hold fond memories of time spent in the wild. Here are our best practices to ensure the meat inside remains as good as the day you harvested it.
How to Avoid Freezer Burn
Two things ruin meat: time and exposure to air. We’ve all had a run-in with that brown, leathery freezer burn layer. This occurs when ice crystals in the meat are able to...
A Guide to Hunting Caribou
A Guide to Hunting Caribou The actual task of hunting a caribou is not that hard. Instead, the challenge of pursuing these animals is reaching an area that holds caribou and then trying to maintain your comfort and sanity when faced with everything that Arctic and sub-Arctic environments can throw your way.
Bush-planes delayed for days on end by un-flyable weather, tents and gear soaked by horizontally driven rain, late summer blizzards, persistent fog, waist-deep rivers...
The Ultimate Backcountry Blade: Benchmade’s Altitude
The Ultimate Backcountry Blade: Benchmade’s Altitude Hardcore hunters who hike miles into the backcountry to escape other hunters and find unpressured animals put a premium on shaving weight and saving space. If you’re the kind of backpack hunter who shaves ounces by hacking off your toothbrush handle or wearing the same pair of underwear for a week, Benchmade’s new Altitude knife is what you’re looking for.
The ultralight Altitude is about as simple as it gets but it retains the details and...
2017 Journal #2: My Alaskan Caribou Hunt (Photo Essay)
2017 Journal #2: My Alaskan Caribou Hunt (Photo Essay) By Mark Kenyon
We circled the ridge-top twice in the tiny Super Cub airplane, swooped down for a landing on the small patch of flat ground off the side of the mountain, and then, at the last minute, pulled up hard and into a 180 degree turn. My heart skipped a beat, I gasped for breath and I held on tight.
And so went the rest of my week in Alaska chasing caribou with Steven Rinella and crew.
It was an experience of epic proportions ̵...