Odd Lots Podcast Summary

Episode: MeatEater's Steven Rinella on the Economic History of Hunting
Hosts: Joe Weisenthal & Tracy Alloway (Bloomberg)
Guest: Steven Rinella, author and founder of MeatEater
Date: December 15, 2025

Overview

This episode explores the economic history of hunting in America, revealing how hunting shaped the nation economically, culturally, and politically. Steven Rinella provides an expert’s perspective, connecting colonial-era hunting practices with modern American attitudes toward wildlife, conservation, and even language (“a buck”). The episode covers market hunting, the fur trades, legal changes, and the lasting legacy of hunting on U.S. society.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, and the Long Hunter Tradition

• Popular Images vs. Reality:
  • Boone’s raccoon cap is a Disney fabrication; he wore a beaver-felt hat instead. Davy Crockett, in contrast, embraced the flamboyant showmanship (06:10).
    • “Boone did not like coonskin caps. That was a thing added on later through Disney. Boone wore a wide-brimmed hat made from beaver wool felt.” — Steven Rinella [06:10]
    • Crockett’s persona was part “showboat” rather than practicality.
• Hunting as Economic Foundation:
  • White-tailed deer skins were the second biggest export (after rice) in the colonial South (09:30).
  • Bear meat and products (grease, bacon) were prized foods and trade goods.

2. The Legal and Economic Structure of Hunting

• Market vs. Sport Hunting:
  • Colonial hunting was both for subsistence and for monetary gain—often against the wishes of the Crown and in trespass on Native land.
  • Formalizing wild game meat trades remains illegal: “If you formalize that arrangement where there is an expected quid pro quo around deer meat for access, you would be in violation of the law…You would be commodifying wild game meat, which is illegal in this country.” — Steven Rinella [08:08]
• Cultural Impacts:
  • Language reflects hunting’s place in the economy—e.g., use of “buck” for a dollar comes from trading in deer skins.

3. The Evolution of American Hunting Practices

• Contrasts with Europe:
  • In Europe, hunting was the privileged reserve of aristocrats or landowners (“the king’s deer”), while America’s wild landscape enabled ordinary colonists to adopt hunting for livelihood, often influenced by Native practices (14:30).
    • “You could be executed for hunting animals that belonged to the aristocracy. Boone’s family did not arrive as hunters; they adopted it in America, often learning from Native Americans.” — Steven Rinella [14:30]

4. Commodity Trades: Deer, Beaver, and Buffalo

• Beaver Fur Trade:
  • Highly formalized, investor-driven; beaver pelts equaled real wages and drove expansion West.
  • “Astor’s first business was the beaver trade…they would run advertisements to hire trappers…” — Steven Rinella [26:10]
  • Market eventually crashed due to over-hunting and changing fashion (silk hats).
• Buffalo Hide Trade:
  • Extreme case of “tragedy of the commons”; in barely a decade, ~15 million buffalo were wiped out to feed industrial demand for leather (belting for factories).
    • “By 1883, 11 years later, that 15 million animals is gone.” — Steven Rinella [36:12]
    • Illustrates how rapid technological and economic changes (railroads, tanneries) can devastate natural resources when unchecked.

5. Early Conservation Awareness

• Surprising Early Regulation:
  • Colonial deer hunting sometimes regulated, motivated more by resource protection than environmentalism (30:23).
• Rise of Environmental Ethic:
  • Figureheads like Theodore Roosevelt (founding Boone and Crockett Club) pushed for regulated “sport hunting” to preserve wildlife for future generations.
    • Irony: The club’s namesakes, Boone & Crockett, embodied the very frontier market-hunting the club aimed to curtail.

6. Modern Hunting Regulations & Culture

• The American System:
  • Wildlife as public property, managed by state/federal agencies—not owned by landowners (44:43).
    • “American wildlife is owned by the American people…That has allowed us the ability to have a governing structure to control harvest for sustainability...” — Steven Rinella [44:43]
  • 11–13% excise tax on guns/ammo goes to conservation; hunting license fees directly fund wildlife management (48:00).
• Economic Impact Today:
  • ~13–14 million hunting licenses annually; the industry generates billions, primarily from gear and experiences rather than meat as currency (46:25).
  • “Gear” has always been central—then as now, hunters debate apparel, rifles, and accessories.

7. Conservation, Private Ownership, and Tricky Questions

• Bison/Buffalo Recovery:
  • Near-extinction reversed mainly by private ownership; today, 94% of U.S. bison are privately owned, and only have wildlife rights within National Parks (42:22).
• Commercial Hunting & Endangered Species:
  • In some African contexts, regulated trophy hunting can incentivize local communities to conserve species (51:40).
• Lessons for Modern Policy:
  • Market solutions alone won’t prevent over-exploitation; long-term, broad-based regulatory and cultural shifts required.

8. Wild Game: Culture, Cuisine, and Recommendations

• Eating Traditions:
  • Bear, mallard duck, and squirrel highlighted as exceptional wild game options.
    • “Squirrel, properly done, would kind of blow your mind... Bear pot roast in classic fashion with root vegetables...I refuse to accept that’s what it is.” — Steven Rinella [54:18]
  • Venison is very lean: best for ragù or mixed in burgers.
  • Importance of trimming fat for freezing and storage (55:30).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You could gift him access, he could gift you meat. But the minute you formalize that transaction, you would be commodifying wild game meat, which is illegal in this country.” — Steven Rinella [08:28]
• “Hunting is embedded in the way we talk about money” — Tracy Alloway [04:09]
• “There’s an interesting passage where Washington, George Washington, criticizes folks like Boone...he did not feel that they were adequately American.”— Steven Rinella [20:38]
• “Irony: Boone and Crockett—the characters who most embodied the sins that the Boone and Crockett Club was trying to overcome.” — Steven Rinella [32:48]
• “No, the name I have for those people is my buddies...Not a year goes by that I don’t take out friends, family, whoever, people that are interested in hunting, that I don’t take them out and kind of explain the world.” — Steven Rinella, on “gearheads” and new hunters [49:59]
• “You want to enjoy [venison] for the next year, trim the fat away...Once you put it in your freezer, if you leave that tallow on it, it will turn even in your freezer.” — Steven Rinella [55:30]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:32] — Daniel Boone, hunting’s role in colonial America
• [06:10] — Clearing up misconceptions about Boone, coonskin caps
• [08:08] — Laws on game meat trading and informal exchange
• [09:30] — Economic scale of colonial deerskin trade
• [14:30] — European hunting vs. American frontier practices
• [23:26] — Logistics and operations of a long hunt
• [26:10] — Formalization of the beaver trade, Astor & fur industry
• [32:48] — Early regulation, conservation movement, Boone & Crockett Club
• [35:22] — Buffalo hides, Industrial Revolution, and decimation
• [42:22] — Near-extinction and private recovery of bison populations
• [44:43] — The American model: public ownership and regulation of wildlife
• [46:25] — Current economic footprint of hunting and licensing
• [48:00] — Gear & funding conservation through excise taxes
• [51:40] — Commercial hunting as conservation in Africa
• [54:09] — Wild game recommendations, culinary discussion
• [55:30] — Tips on storing and preparing venison

Tone & Takeaways

Engaging, conversational, and rich with anecdotes and historical context—this episode is accessible even to non-hunters or history buffs. Rinella combines expertise with a welcoming attitude toward newcomers (“the name I have for those people is my buddies”) and advocates for both conservation and the cultural continuity of hunting in American life.

Listeners will come away with a deeper understanding of hunting’s pivotal economic and cultural role, the origins of wildlife regulation, and the surprising modern ramifications—from gear buying to conservation funding.

For further discussion or to explore Rinella’s work, check out his MeatEater audio series on American hunting history.