← Live Wild with Remi Warren
Live Wild with Remi Warren
Ep. 161 | The Christmas Special
00:33:47
Remi sits down for the famous once a year Christmas Special
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- [00:00]
Remy Warren
Foreign I'm Remy Warren and I've lived my life in the wild as a professional guide and hunter. I've spent thousands of days perfecting my craft. I want to give that knowledge to you. In this podcast we relive some of my past adventures as I give you practical hunting tips to make you more successful. Whether you're just getting started or a lifelong hunter, this podcast will bring you along on the hunt and teach you how to live wild. This podcast is brought to you by Mountain Tough and Yeti. A lot of the tactics I talk about here require you to be in top physical shape. So I partnered with Mountain Tough to help get you ready for the mountain with their science based hunter specific training app. You'll get in shape and mentally tough able to tackle any hunt. Because we really believe this will help you be more successful as a listener to this podcast, we're giving you six free weeks to get you started. Just use code livewild. Welcome one and all to the Live Wild Podcast Christmas Special. Every year I really like to do something a little bit different around the holidays to help spread that Christmas cheer and my hunting lifestyle. So today we have some awesome stuff in store for you. It's a Christmas variety show of sorts, so we're going to share a recap of the year in Christmas verse. We're going to listen to a true legacy reimagined as an amazing Christmas story. Going to head into the kitchen for some holiday cooking recipes and we're going to do a little bit of gift giving for a few of you listeners as well. So let's go over the mountain and through the snow to my magical Christmas cabin in the woods where the fire is always burning, the elk are all big, and the stories are always wild. Oh hi. I didn't see you there. Glad you guys could join me. Made it to the cabin just in time. I got some elk shanks in the oven. Why don't you grab yourself a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and just pull up a seat by the fire here? One of my favorite traditions is just reading Christmas stories. This one right here recounts everything that happened for me this past season in Christmas verse. Let's check it out. Twas the night before Christmas in the woods. I thought back on this season. Man, it was good. The freezers are full with enough to share. My wife got a big bowl after a 15 minute stare. The children were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of my longbow hunt danced in their heads. And mama hunted mule deer and had some good plays and even spotted the big buck I got on the last day. When early in the season I chased velvet elk in the heat, Adam Weatherby and I bring home some incredible meat. Away to more mountains, I flew like a flash, hunting tule elk with my bow. Man, what a blast. The days were hot and void of snow. Then all of the sudden I spotted something below. When what to my wondering eyes did appear but a velvet clad bull with some nice headgear. While he was feeding, I had to act quick. I took a quartered away shot and it did the trick. More rapid than eagles, my Wyoming bowhunt came. Elk mewed and chirped and called all the same. Bulls bugling now coming in, now walking away. I tried my calls but the bull didn't play. On stalking, on creeping, taking off the pack and shoes toward the big bedded bull. I had nothing to lose. At 50 yards I let the day six arrow fly. A perfect shot and the 6x6 was mine. So up to my moose hunt, I quickly flew, sleeping in my rooftop tent under the northern lights too. And then on the first day a bull heard my call. I decided to pass thinking he was too small. I spent two more weeks hunting around and on my very last day got a bull moose on the ground. It was everything I wanted from a once in a lifetime tag. So I traveled on home with a moose in the bag. Then an opening day elk hunt with dad really took me back and he came out with a nice six point bull in his pack. I guided some cow elk hunts. Now those guys have meat and one first harvest man. Hunting adventures are sweet. I chased musk ox way north with just a bow in a barren wilderness of ice and snow. Surprisingly, I will say they might be the best meat, maybe the best I've ever had the privilege to eat. The bull's sweeping horns and long shaggy coat made him look like some kind of prehistoric goat. With a Utah deer tag and muzzleloader in hand, I headed out for a week with some of my best friends. A lot of glassing, but I never saw a good head. It was an amazing hunt even though nothing ended up dead. One last late season elk tag to put my live wild rifle to work. Hoping to find a spot where the big bulls lurked. On day five, a bedded six point showed. I called at him until he finally rose. He sprang to his feet. Then I gave him a final whistle and away. The bullet flew like a terminal ascent missile. It hit its mark and he dropped in sight. So happy Christmas to all and I hope your Next hunt goes just right. You know, I guess Christmas is just really in my blood and I know that it comes from my grandpa Smut. So he actually was a guide and outfitter back in the day. Worked in the Bitterroot and Selway wilderness. And after the season he would dress up as Santa Claus and he had his rain meal Rudy, which was a burrow that he put a halter on with some mule deer antlers and bells. And he would go around and he actually created this foundation that would give kids that needed it school supplies, jackets and winter clothes. They would also prepare holiday meals for families, gather gifts for kids that needed Christmas presents so they'd have something to open on Christmas day. And he even actually built a little Santa shop where kids could come and visit, tell Santa what they wanted, and then pick out a toy when they left. And you know, he's just an incredible thing that he did. He is definitely one of my heroes and a true legend of a man. And I always kind of think back and think, man, it just would have been really cool to have been a fly on the wall and see how that whole thing started.
- [07:04]
Narrator
Some Christmas stories don't belong on the shelf. For this yuletide story, we will have to hear it ourselves. We go back in time to one Christmas Eve and hear of how Remy's grandpa was a Santa to be. With a storm brewing and some families in need, he loaded up a rainul he called Rudy. It's these kind of stories where legends are made and sharing some blessings on that snowy Christmas day.
- [07:50]
Frank
Well, now that the guide season's over, what are we gonna do? Old friend? Could chase some mountain lions. Yeah, I agree. Probably need some dogs. Well, we could go find a bear again. Yeah, you're probably right. Should just let them sleep. It is Christmas Eve after all. How about we turn on the radio?
- [08:26]
Weather Reporter
A winter snow warning for heavy snow means severe weather conditions are expected or occurring. Significant amounts or snow are forecast that will make travel dangerous. Only travel in an emergency. If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency.
- [08:49]
Frank
That weather report doesn't sound very good. Looks like it's going to be a long winter, Rudy old boy. Maybe we should just go for a hike before it gets too bad out here. Let me grab that lead rope and halter. Look, that four point from last season. You remember packing that one out? Hey, I got an idea. Look, Rudy, I put some antlers on your halter, you think you could learn to fly? You know, it'd be A lot easier getting those elk out if you could. You're right. It does need something else. Oh, here we go. Some bells. Let's take it for a spin. Now I'm gonna call you Rudy the rain mule. I know you're a burrow, but rain meal sounds a lot better. Oh, hey, Frank. Merry Christmas. How's the family?
- [10:21]
Frank's Friend
Well, the lumber mill laid me off. Some Christmas bonus, huh? Hey, did any of those clients ears happen to leave any extra meat behind? I never got a chance to get out feel my elk tag this season, you know.
- [10:33]
Frank
Let me see what I can dig up and I'll bring something by.
- [10:36]
Frank's Friend
Thanks you. Merry Christmas.
- [11:14]
Remy Warren
Hey, honey. Looks like you guys had some fun. How was your day with the Burrows?
- [11:18]
Frank
Well, you know, I ran into Frank today. I don't think they're going too well. I really just can't get that off my mind. And he's got those three kids. I'm thinking about putting together a package for them and dropping it off tomorrow.
- [11:33]
Remy Warren
That's a great idea.
- [11:35]
Frank
Where's that basket of toys we keep for the grandkids?
- [11:37]
Remy Warren
It's in the corner of the bunk house.
- [11:49]
Narrator
After loading up a sack full of meals and toys the next morning, he decided to spread a little Christmas joy. But the weather had plans to keep everyone stuck. There was no way he could get to Frank's house in his truck. So he devised a plan that was really quite cool. He would load all the presents on the back of his mule.
- [12:34]
Frank
Merry Christmas, Rudy. Look, I got your rain meal halter right here.
- [12:39]
Remy Warren
Here?
- [12:40]
Frank
Don't worry.
- [12:41]
Remy Warren
I'm dressing up here.
- [12:42]
Frank
I had this old Santa suit just laying around. We're going to head in and drop off some gifts. You good with that?
- [13:08]
Narrator
So through the snow, Santa made his way to spread Christmas cheer On that snowy Christmas day. Upon reaching the house, some children ran out to see the rain yol Rudy and Santa passing presents around.
- [13:35]
Remy Warren
Ho ho ho ho. Merry Christmas. Looks like I have some gifts here. How about a toy bow for you and a little doll for you, little one? I also have plenty of food. It's a Christmas feast. Some elk steak and even a turkey. Merry Christmas.
- [14:00]
Frank's Friend
You just don't know what this means to us. Thank you so much. Merry Christmas.
- [14:07]
Frank
Well, Rudy, that was incredible. That right there is what Christmas is all about from now on. I think we found something to do in the winter after the guide season. You like that too, do you? Well, Merry Christmas, buddy.
- [14:33]
Narrator
From that Christmas on it only grew. He gathered toys all year for boys and girls too he put on the Red coat with his rain mule in tow, and paraded him around wherever he could go in hospitals, schools, and small Montana towns, giving gifts and sharing the spirit of Christmas to all who were around.
- [15:05]
Remy Warren
Merry Christmas. Wow. What an incredible Christmas story. You know, it sure smells good in here. Let's head in the kitchen and check out those shanks. You know, this is one of my favorite wild game winter dishes. It's really warm, hearty, and it's just really easy to make. I kind of like that set it and forget it aspect, especially on these short winter days, because I can prepare it in the morning, go out, do something for the day, whether it's go hunting or just do something with the family and then come back and have an early dinner ready for us to go. So if you aren't familiar with it, the shank is that lower portion of the front hind leg and it contains all this connective tissue and tendons. And when you're butchering, that can be a real pain to clean up for the grind. However, it really does lend itself to being slow cooked because what happens is all that collagen in there breaks down and it becomes this really delicious meal that is isn't dried out. You know, wild game is super lean and so a lot of slow cooking often dries that meat out. There's, there's no fat in it to keep it moist. So that's why shanks are really one of my favorite cuts, because I can slow cook it and it just retains that moisture. So when it comes to the butchering of the shank, there's a few ways you can do it on smaller game animal or smaller big game animals. I often just leave it whole. So I'll just, during the butcher process, leave it whole. It saves a lot of time. I'll wrap them up and often just double wrap it. So I'll wrap it in cellophane and then wrap it in butcher paper. For elk or larger animals, sometimes I'll just cut it in like an osso buco cut, which would be you cut perpendicular to the bone in about 2 inch thick cuts or pieces. And so you could do a lot of different types of cuts with that. Sometimes I'll just cut it into pieces that'll fit in my slow cooker. For this recipe that we're going to do, we're using essentially a whole shank, you know, cut into larger pieces. It saves on butchering time as well. I have noticed that when I, when I cut my shanks, I actually like to do it either partially frozen or fully Frozen. I've got one of those meet your maker meat saws. And when it's frozen, I can just cut through perfect and everything's lined up right because it's hard to get the cuts right when that shank's moving around on the bone. So I like to freeze it and then cut it. So for this recipe we're just keeping it really simple. And this is one of my go to's. Like I, I find that whatever's easy and tastes good is the one that you use the most. This is, this would be one of the primary ways that we cook shanks in our house. So for this you're just going to need some beef broth, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme, a peeled head of garlic, a sweet onion. I prefer like, you know, yellow or sweet onion, a little bit of butter that we're going to cook that down with. And then you can add some mushrooms if you like. I personally love mushrooms. So we'll add some mushrooms to this. And then also you're going to need some seasoning for this. I really like my live wild Sierra Sage for this recipe. And then finally you're going to need some high temp oil, like avocado oil. So for cooking this you can use a lot of different methods or things. You could use a slow cooker, you could even use a pressure cooker. You could just use like a pot or cast iron on the stove or even in the oven. So what we're going to be doing is we're going to be braising or slow cooking this shank. For this one, a lot of times I actually use like a crock pot, a slow cooker because it's so easy. It's kind of that set it and forget it. I can go out, I can do something if I'm delayed. It's still there, warm and ready to go. So we're gonna jump into the kitchen now and go through the steps. The first step here is just gonna be we're gonna dice up this onion that I've got. You can use the whole onion, half the onion. You know, this is like with slow cooking, just do things to your liking, play around with it a little bit. So I'm gonna dice it up here and then we're gonna cook it down. We're going to caramelize this onion with some butter and salt. You can use some other seasonings. You can throw that live wild sears age in here with it. So once this is cooked down, now we're going to reserve this onion. We're going to Just put this in our. I'm going to put it in my crock pot here. And then step two, we're going to now season the shanks. So we're going to. I'm using a really heavy coat of the live wild Sierra sage here, liberal coating. And now we're going to brown this shank in the oil. And that is. So we're going to get this avocado oil in here. We got this hot skillet. Now we're just going to brown all sides of this. This really helps retain that moisture in the meat and just gives it a nice good flavor and crust. So we're putting a good crust on this. And now that that's done, we're going to pop that into our pot here. And now we're going to add our beef broth. And now we're going to add our beef broth into the pot. And we're going to put some herbs. So we got that, this rosemary, we've got this thyme. You can just put it right in here. I leave it whole, like just the whole, quite a, you know, handful of both on the stem. You could put it in some cheesecloth too to keep the herbs from spreading around. I don't mind it either way. Depends what I'm going to do with it afterwards. But sometimes nice to put them in some kind of. I guess it's like these little, I've got these little cheesecloth things you can put herbs in. And then we're going to crush. We've got a whole head of garlic here. Use as much or as little as you like. I like to crush about half of it and then throw some whole cloves in there as well. And that, I like that garlic smell, that garlic flavor. Flavor. And then we're just gonna add our mushrooms in here. And then the, the easy part. I mean, so in, in the slow cooker, we're just going high for five or six hours. One of the things to think about, so if you're doing it in your oven in like say a cast iron pot, just go as low as the oven goes and it's, it's about, it's a lot faster in the oven. I think it's about four hours. That temperature is just a little bit higher. And same on the stove. You can bring it to a boil and then just reduce it to a really low simmer and then keep checking on it, you know, make sure that you're, you don't lose any liquids if you're doing it on the stove or in the in the oven. And the thing about slow cooking in the shanks is if it doesn't fall apart tender, keep cooking. So you. It cooks to get really tough, and then it continues to cook to break down. We need it to break down. I've had friends do this, and they go, why do you love the shank so much? It's just tough. If you're getting a tough shank, you haven't cooked it enough. So we're cooking it till it's tender, and it'll. You'll know. You'll be able to essentially shred it with a fork. It'll fall apart. It'll kind of. You don't want to overdo it, because if you overdo it, it starts to dry out. But you want that point where it easily falls off the bone. It's retained some of that moisture, and then it's. It's ready. That collagen and there's broken down, and it's an incredible meal. It goes really good with mashed potatoes. And then often what I do is I take that. That broth that you've just made your shanks in is one of the best broths. Yeah, I just love it. So I'll. I'll either make a gravy with it, or a lot of times I actually turn that into a mushroom soup. And so I'll have, like, a cream of mushroom soup with my shank. It's an incredible Christmas meal, an incredible winter meal, and a great way to utilize kind of an underutilized cut of wild game. Man, that shank is always just so good, I think. Now let's gather around the Christmas tree, and we'll do a little bit of a gift exchange. You know, for me, it's always fun to talk about gear, and there's always just so much cool stuff out there to be had. But sometimes there's really great gifts, and they're ones that just involve spending time in the outdoors, doors with friends and family, and also reliving those memories of the past. When I think back to Christmases growing up, one of my favorite gifts to give every year was my. I would get my dad kind of assemble a photo album for him of the adventures of the year. That was back when we printed pictures, and it was always just fun to get some pictures printed up and then see them all together in an album. And one year, I. One of the things that I remember doing was I actually made an album with, like, a wood cover and took my wood burner and carved, like, a cool scene into the. Into the front of it. And then I would always. Another thing that I really like to do is edit together some videos and then give that as a gift to those that were on the hunt with me. It was just super cool to have those memories. I have, you know, hunts in the past from buddies of mine or my dad, whoever, just I would essentially make these as way before YouTube or anything, just edit up the video and burn it onto a. Well, actually, some of them were on cassettes originally, like VHS tapes and then DVDs and I guess digital after that. But man, that was always fun. And just sitting and watching those with friends and family, that was just a lot of fun. This time of year, I guess I still get to do that same thing. It's just on a lot bigger scale now, getting to put together hunting videos and then check share them on YouTube. Well, I actually even just released a muskox hunt yesterday. So I guess I'm still doing it around Christmas time and having those videos and now I just get to share them with a lot more people. And thank you guys so much for, for supporting those and watching those and hopefully enjoying a lot of those. Whether they're solo hunts or, you know, hunts with friends and family, it's always fun to be able to put those together and, and put those out for you guys. You know, as always, one of the things that I like to do on this Christmas podcast is give out a few gifts to the listeners. I have a couple different ones this year and I always try to make it because, like, I've got other giveaways. I've got my 12 days of Christmas giveaway going on right now, and it just gets so many, you know, a lot of people, A lot of people apply for those. The odds aren't great. And this is one where I just kind of try to do it a little bit on the down low, right? Just for people that listen to the podcast, enjoy the podcast. There's a lot of you regular listeners that I just really appreciate you guys tuning in. And I think that, you know, hopefully you get some benefit value out of the podcast, both learning and entertainment value as well. So I kind of make it in some ways, like not necessarily a scavenger hunt, but you got to do something a little extra. And so I've got two prizes up for grabs. I got $150 live wild gift cards. So you can use them on my website, Remy warren.com for whatever you want. You can use it for my gear. You can use it for, I don't know, whatever we got broadheads, Stone Glacier backpacks, optics. I don't care what you use it for, Whatever. So you can use that for anything that you want. And we're gonna. I'm gonna go through how we're gonna do this. Okay, so the first one will be. I just have to have somewhere where people can enter, and it's, you know, fairly easy. So the first one is going to be on YouTube. So if you've got a YouTube account, you can do it. And I'll do the other one on Instagram. So if you don't have YouTube or you don't have Instagram, you know, you can maybe have one or the other. Whatever. So the YouTube one, the muskox video. You're gonna leave a comment on the Muskox video, But we don't want it to be. We don't want people that didn't listen to the podcast didn't know what's going on. So just leave a comment. And this is kind of the tradition since I started this, because I think the first time I did this, I gave away a yeti mug. And it's like, in the comment, put some kind of emoji. I think you can do that on. If you do it from your computer, you probably can't do an emoji. So something where it's like, cheers. Something that involves, like, I can read between the lines. All right? Like, I'll know if it's from the podcast. Just this will be our secret code. So if you're doing it from your phone, I guess you could probably pop an emoji in there. And if it's an emoji, like some form of cup, whatever that is, a coffee cup, a beer mug, whatever. If it's just saying it like, hey, I'm. I'm watching this video while drinking my morning coffee. Oh, cheers. What a great video, right? Something like that where the standard scammer out there doesn't know that there's actually something to be won. And I say that because there's this thing like people create fake accounts, or it'll be like, my picture. And then they'll message people on. They're like, you won. But it won't go back to my channel. It goes back to some random things. So I don't want people to get scammed during Christmas. I've had that happen to people in the past, so be careful. I will reach out to you from. From my specific channel so you'll know if you won and make sure that that links back to my actual channel. Not Just a picture of my channel or some other random channel. Make sure it links back to my actual channel. Like, you click on it and it goes to where all my videos are. So that, that'll be the key. Okay? And then another thing, just to avoid any kind of scams with this, I'm never going to ask you for. For. I'm never gonna ask you to pay taxes on anything. I'm never gonna ask you for shipping on anything. This is my gift to you. You don't have to pay for your gift. Okay? So I, I will be sending you like a digital gift card via email. And it will come from AN Official Emmy warren.com email address. So look out for that if you're the winner or not. So the YouTube one, I'll pick a winner before Christmas, probably on that Monday, and I'll. I'll send you guys a message on YouTube and make sure it links back the whole thing, you know, make sure it links back to that. And maybe I'll just put it on my. Where will I put that? I'll put it somewhere so you guys know that it was actually you. So if you see some scam stuff, ignore that. The second one is going to be on Instagram. It's going to be going to do a LiveWild Christmas special post, and I might do multiple ones. So this is part of the game. I will put the mug type emoji in the caption somewhere. All right? So whether it's a reel, whether it's a post, whatever it is, if you see where I wrote and have like the mug, the classic, you know, the under the table signal, that will be it. And comment back in kind, same as on the YouTube 1. Make it sneaky. Don't let people that haven't been listening to the podcast know, you know, this is just for people that actually listen. So that will be it. And then I'm going to do a third giveaway. And this one is for Canadians only. Okay? A lot of those giveaways we can't do in Canada. So it'll be for a live wild yeti yonder bottle and a shirt and hat, some apparel. I will send that to you. You must live in Canada for this one. And it's going to be a photo contest because those are. Those are legal Canadian contests, I guess. So just tag me in a picture from this past year. Mention the podcast like, so this will be on Instagram. You. You can like click on it, tag at Remy Warren, and then you can put me, like, in the description. Just say like at Remy Warren or enjoy listening to the podcast. Just so I know, because a lot of people will tag me and stuff, and I don't. I won't know if that's them entering for this. So this will be the way that you guys can do that. I'll pick my favorite picture, and I will ship some cool stuff to Canada. So long as, yeah, it'll be. That'll be my Canadian Christmas present. So remember, with this, don't get scammed. Be smart about it. I'm not. Not gonna. I'm not gonna ask you for your Social Security number. I might ask you for your address to mail stuff, but, you know, that's about it. So don't. Don't give anybody anything. Don't send any money anywhere. Don't. Don't go get GameStop gift cards and send it in so you can receive your prize. All right? It sounds stupid. Every year I have people message me that, like, the prize never showed up, and they sent the GameStop gift gift card three months ago and whatever. I'm not joking you, okay? So just don't let that happen. This is Christmas time. We don't need to get scammed. Be smart. Be like Kevin McAllister in Home Alone, all right? You see the bad guys coming, Set the traps. Don't fall prey. Don't fall victim. Okay? And also as a reminder, my 12 days of Christmas giveaway on my website still going on. There's some phenomenal prizes still up for grabs. You can go on my website, sign up for that. There's little things you can do to get more entries, or you can only do it once. You know, you don't have to do it every day. You just do it once and you're entered in for all the drawings. There's still some incredible stuff. Got a Matthews bow up for grabs, decked system for a truck up for grabs. We also have a full Stone Glacier kit, which has, like a tent, a backpack, sleeping bag. It's just got everything. That's a. That's an incredible prize package. So that's still there. And then speaking of Stone Glacier, you know, just as a reminder, you can always use code livewild and get free shipping on Stone Glacier gear on their website. Or you can also find a lot of their gear on my website. Remy warren.com I hope you guys enjoyed this podcast today. Thank you for joining me in my magical Christmas cabin in the mountains. And to sign off, I'm just going to say Merry Christmas to you and your families and Happy New Year's as well, best of luck this coming season. And Merry Christmas once again. Can't say too many merry Christmases. We'll catch you guys later. Sa.