Ep. 726: East Coast Fishing and Killing Oaks | MeatEater Radio Live!

Summary

The MeatEater Podcast - Episode 726: East Coast Fishing and Killing Oaks | MeatEater Radio Live!

Release Date: July 4, 2025
Host: Giannis Patelis
Guests: Spencer Newharth (Boof), Austin Kleberad (Chili), Jacob Hernandez, Bo Hendrickson
Location: Live from MeatEater's headquarters in Bozeman, Montana

---

Episode Overview

In Episode 726 of The MeatEater Podcast, host Giannis Patelis joins forces with Spencer Newharth (Boof) and Austin Kleberad (Chili) to delve into a variety of outdoor topics. From groundbreaking changes in Pennsylvania hunting laws to exciting conservation projects in Wisconsin, this episode is packed with insightful discussions, engaging segments, and lively banter that encapsulate the spirit of the MeatEater community.

---

Banter and News

The episode kicks off with light-hearted conversations about the hosts' nicknames, transitioning smoothly into more substantial topics. A significant highlight is the announcement of House Bill 1431 passed by Pennsylvania’s Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. This legislation lifts a century-old restriction that barred hunters from the woods on Sundays, empowering wildlife managers to set hunting seasons without outdated blue laws.

Spencer Newharth (Boof) [07:58]: "So insane that it's just incredibly antiquated that in 2025, that would still exist."

Despite some pushback from non-hunting outdoor enthusiasts concerned about safety, the hosts express optimism that Sunday hunting will coexist peacefully with other recreational activities.

---

Giannis's Crazy Mountain 100 Training

Giannis shares his ambitious preparation for the Crazy Mountain 100, a 100-mile race set to commence in three days. He discusses his training regimen and the psychological challenges of tapering before the race.

Giannis Patelis [09:47]: "Your brain's ready to run, your legs are ready to run, and then you're like, oh, I have to just chill for two weeks."

His determination and goal to finish strong set an inspiring tone for listeners interested in endurance sports.

---

Store Highlights

The hosts take a moment to promote the MeatEater Store, highlighting:

• Gnome Angling a Megalodon T-Shirt: Nearly sold out with new designs launching at the end of July.
• Summer Sale (July 8-11): Discounts include 25% off select cookbooks, 40% off Benchmade Meat Crafter 2.0 knives, and half-price Spencer and Fire Breather Hot Sauces.

Giannis Patelis [12:13]: "We have $500 for the shellfish catch, going to Huyani. And yeah, it looks like they are out of that same area of the Crystal Coast there."

Randall's Adventures in Europe

A humorous segment introduces Randall's vacation in Europe, where he indulges in local delicacies like sausages and hot dogs. His escapades provide entertaining clips and anecdotes, adding a lighthearted touch to the episode.

Austin Kleberad [16:59]: "We’re having a lot of fun with Randall. He’s our most successful homeless person in history."

---

One Minute Fishing: Tony Jackson

In the One Minute Fishing segment, Tony Jackson from Finchasers USA attempts to catch a fish for a donation to the Coastal Conservation Association. Despite his efforts, Tony reels in oysters instead of fish.

Tony Jackson [25:56]: "I reeled in an oyster. I cast out and got the pin. Fish were all over it as soon as it hit the water."

The hosts award a $500 donation to the Coastal Conservation Association, supporting efforts to provide fishing opportunities for children.

Giannis Patelis [28:08]: "It's catching for kids. And yeah, it looks like they are out of that same area of Beaufort, North Carolina."

---

Listener Questions and Feedback

Shed Antlers vs. Shooting a Buck

Titus poses a question about the difficulty of finding matching shed antlers compared to shooting a buck.

Spencer Newharth [30:36]: "If I were to rank those things. Shooting a buck, easiest. Finding an antler deadhead, second easiest."

Battering and Frying Trout Fillets

Phil addresses a question from Will about whether it's possible to batter and fry trout fillets.

Giannis Patelis [34:00]: "I’ve definitely done just straight up deep fried trout. Nothing wrong with it, you know."

---

Accessories: Hats and Stickers

Spencer highlights new merchandise, including:

• Bison Hat: Praised for its design but noted by Giannis for its high rope.
• Notebook Stickers: Designed by Kelsey Morar, available at K Ray Arts.

Phile [35:14]: "I am repping a hook and arrow hot sauce shirt today. Shout out to those guys."

---

Fake News Game

In the Fake News segment, the hosts challenge each other to identify real headlines among fakes.

Headline 1: Why scientists are horrified by the world's first octopus farm.
Correct Answer: Octopus farm

Spencer Newharth [43:03]: "Only one is real. That was from Veg Out on July 2, 2025."

Headline 2: The US National Parks prepare to ban cash.
Correct Answer: Cash

Spencer Newharth [47:35]: "The National Park Service has been slowly moving toward card only for a few years."

Headline 3: Florida fisherman is charged in shark stabbing.
Correct Answer: Stabbing

Spencer Newharth [52:34]: "Chili got question one right. The correct answer was stabbing."

These segments educate listeners on current wildlife and conservation issues while keeping the atmosphere fun and competitive.

---

Interview: Jacob Hernandez and Bo Hendrickson on Oak Savannah Restoration

Giannis welcomes Jacob Hernandez, a private lands biologist, and Bo Hendrickson, a habitat restoration technician, to discuss the Oak Savannah Project on his land in Wisconsin.

Program Overview:

Jacob explains the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program, which supports private landowners through cost-sharing and technical assistance to restore native habitats.

Jacob Hernandez [55:43]: "Our program is designed to help private landowners... through restoration projects via cost-share and technical assistance."

Project Execution:

Bo details the project timeline, including site visits, clean-up operations, and herbicide applications to eliminate invasive species, paving the way for native species restoration.

Bo Hendrickson [57:23]: "We're just trying to restore the native habitat back to that time to benefit the wildlife species that are out here."

Benefits to Taxpayers:

The hosts discuss how government-funded programs on private lands enhance ecosystems, benefiting a wide range of species and contributing to broader environmental health.

Spencer Newharth [71:24]: "Wildlife don't know borders. They don't care if it's public or private. It benefits everybody."

Future Maintenance:

Jacob and Bo emphasize the importance of ongoing maintenance, such as prescribed burning and targeted herbicide applications, to sustain the restored habitats.

Bo Hendrickson [68:21]: "Prescribed fire is a great tool because that kind of helps reduce that need for herbicide."

---

Closing Remarks

The episode concludes with discussions about future hunting trips, the benefits of conservation efforts, and the importance of community involvement in preserving natural habitats. The hosts encourage listeners to engage with local conservation programs and continue supporting initiatives that protect and restore wild spaces.

Giannis Patelis [79:08]: "Thanks for tuning in and listening to us banter along. Tune in again next week..."

---

Key Takeaways

• Legislative Progress: Pennsylvania’s House Bill 1431 marks a significant shift in hunting regulations, allowing Sunday hunts and enhancing hunting accessibility.
• Conservation Efforts: The Partners for Fish and Wildlife program plays a crucial role in restoring native habitats on private lands, benefiting diverse wildlife and contributing to ecosystem health.
• Community and Education: Through segments like One Minute Fishing and interviews with conservation experts, the podcast fosters a deeper understanding and appreciation of outdoor activities and conservation initiatives.
• Engaging Content: The mix of trivia, games, and practical advice keeps the content engaging and informative for both seasoned outdoor enthusiasts and newcomers alike.

This episode of The MeatEater Podcast not only entertains but also educates listeners on important conservation issues, practical outdoor tips, and the ongoing efforts to preserve natural habitats for future generations.

Transcript

[Giannis Patelis]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Lake Pickle]

Ever wonder what happened to the hundreds of thousands of buffalo that used to call the eastern United States home? Or what caused the rise and fall of bobwhite quail? Backwoods University, hosted by me, Lake Pickle, is the latest addition to the beargrease Feed on Meat Eaters Podcast Network. Together we'll seek out a deeper understanding of wildlife, wild places and the people who dedicate their lives to conserving both. After all, you can't love what you don't understand. Search Bear grease on Apple, iHeart, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast and hit that follow button to enroll in Backwoods University.

[Giannis Patelis]

Now.

[Phil]

Smell us now, lady.

[Spencer Newharth]

Welcome to Meat Eater Trivia. Meat Eater Podcast.

[Giannis Patelis]

Welcome to Meat Eater Radio live. Coming to you live from Meat Eaters world headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. It's 11:00am Mountain Time on July 3rd. That's 8:00pm For Steven Rinella, who's currently in Tanzania. I'm your host Giannis Patelis and I'm here today with Spencer Newharth, AKA Boof and Austin Kleberad, AKA Chili. On today's show, we've got big news out of Pennsylvania. I'll bring you up to speed on my training for the Crazy Mountain 100. We're getting a fishing report from Tony Jackson on the Crystal coast of North Carolina. Tony's also playing one minute Fishing in the studio. We'll be playing Fake News brought to you by Spencer Newharth. And lastly, we we'll talk to Jacob Hernandez and Bo Hendrickson from the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Partners for Fish and Wildlife program who are on site at my soon to be Oak Savannah in central Wisconsin. So let's get right to it, Spencer. How did you get the nickname Boof?

[Spencer Newharth]

You've been fascinated by this ever since you heard that was my high school nickname.

[Giannis Patelis]

Well, I asked everybody their nicknames from high school when we for intros for doing roast, but then they never really became part of the show. And yeah, I think that you, I think you actually told me the story, but I feel like we should tell the world.

[Spencer Newharth]

It was, it was just born out of teen or baseball. It was like every single player had to have a nickname. And I happen to resemble a pitcher for the Minnesota Twins named Boof Bonser. We both had shaggy haircuts, threw an average curveball.

[Giannis Patelis]

You were a pitcher.

[Spencer Newharth]

I mean, you played everything. Everyone is a pitcher in teener baseball in a town of 600 people. So yeah, anyway, just everyone got a nickname. I was, I was Boof. Named after Boof Bonser. And I don't think that was his real nickname either. He came over in one of the Minnesota Twins. Best trades in franchise history. Yeah, they got Francisco Liriano, Boof Bonser, and Joe Nathan. Totally, like, changed the trajectory of their franchise for a few years. My favorite era of Minnesota Twins baseball. So that. That nickname Booth, if I go back home to where I'm from, that's. That's what I'll get called.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh. Oh. So it has kind of stuck.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah, it sticks. Like, my. My old coaches and teachers will call me that. My high school buddies. But I don't. I don't hear it in Montana ever. Besides Yanni Chili.

[Giannis Patelis]

Maybe we should bring that around.

[Jacob Hernandez]

We should.

[Austin Kleberad]

We should definitely calling him Boo.

[Giannis Patelis]

I'd do it. Yeah. Okay. We all know how Chili got his nickname.

[Spencer Newharth]

He's so cold.

[Giannis Patelis]

What's that?

[Spencer Newharth]

Because he's so cold.

[Austin Kleberad]

So cold. They used to call me something different back in the. Back in high school.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, what's that?

[Austin Kleberad]

They used to just call me club. And, like, so kind of like that. Yeah, call me Club. And then so when I go home, like Spencer was saying, it's just like, all, like, the coaches and it's like Klebby Club. Nobody calls me Chili from back home.

[Giannis Patelis]

Club. I like it. All right.

[Spencer Newharth]

Chili's better.

[Giannis Patelis]

Onwards. Oh, Phil, you're up now. He's gonna do a quick plug for the kids show, which is back in action.

[Phil]

Kids shows back in action. We have a kids show. It's called the Meat Eater Kids Podcast. It's fitting. Season three just started. There is one episode out so far, but the most important thing is that it's on its own feed. We're not dropping any episodes on the Meat Eater Podcast feed. So you just have to do the incredibly hard work of typing in Meat Eater Kids into whatever app you use and then follow or subscribe. And yeah, we've got Clay doing the first segment instead of Steve. The why it's the Way it Is segment. Maggie Hudlow is doing Guess that Critter and Spencer still in the host chair for trivia, as is appropriate. So check it out. Another thing. Oh, yeah, we're doing five episodes. They drop on Mondays. That's important.

[Spencer Newharth]

This isn't a dig at anything else we do. I think it's the best thing we make on the podcast front.

[Phil]

I mean, it definitely. Yeah, it stands on its own. I mean, it's fun for me to work on. I like it a lot as well.

[Spencer Newharth]

Similar to radio, Phil gets to really Flex his engineering audio muscles because there's all sorts of fun sounds in there.

[Phil]

Yeah, I'm pretty proud of it. I just either I felt something on my neck and I just went to go smack it, and then you see that.

[Spencer Newharth]

A mosquito.

[Austin Kleberad]

You got a skeeter.

[Spencer Newharth]

That's the second one in here today.

[Giannis Patelis]

It's filled with blood. Filled with.

[Phil]

Probably not. I don't think that's all mine could be, though.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, we're sharing diseases probably now.

[Spencer Newharth]

Two mosquitoes in the podcast studio.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. There's a very short time period, I feel like, in and around Bozeman that skeeter season, like one to two weeks. And I noticed it last night on. On. I was shooting some arrows right at dusk at my house, and I was getting annoyed. I was thinking, this will last another few days, It'll be over. You feel that way, too?

[Spencer Newharth]

I feel like I don't encounter it in the valley as much as if I, like, get near water in the mountains, then it's a different mosquitoes of my life.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, yeah.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

But again, I don't think it doesn't last forever because as soon as it sort of starts to get dry, they tend to just, I don't know, beater out.

[Phil]

And I've got one other thing to mention before. Before we move on, some housekeeping, we're going through some Internet woes here at Bozeman hq. Internet's been dropping out actually around this time almost every single day. If the Internet does drop out, you lose the feed. We will be back in about two to three minutes. So don't go anywhere. We're talking to tech people trying to fix it. But if that does happen, the show's not over. We'll just disappear for about two minutes and then pop back up.

[Spencer Newharth]

Phil, you know technology. Why 11am like, what's going on there? It's 11am when you.

[Giannis Patelis]

I know technology.

[Phil]

I've got no clue, Spencer. I have no idea. No, it should be fixed, though.

[Austin Kleberad]

Phil.

[Phil]

Chili made some calls and so hopefully everything's working well. We're kind of just troubleshooting and seeing if it works, but thanks.

[Giannis Patelis]

So far, so good. Let's keep it going and get everything knocked out in case it does drop out. At least we'll get most of the show done. All right. Huge win in Pennsylvania. A statement released by the Pennsylvania chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers reads, for over a century, Pennsylvania hunters have been shut out of the woods for half the weekend. With the passage of House Bill 1431, that can finally change Putting decisions about hunting seasons in the hands of wildlife managers. Not outdated blue laws. Since 2017, Pennsylvania Backcountry Hunters and anglers has led the charge for the long overdue reform. It's a major win for access, especially for working families and public land hunters. Yeah. If you were living under a rock, you could not hunt on Sundays in Pennsylvania. I don't know exactly how many years that law has been around, but a long time. Many generations of Pennsylvania hunters.

[Spencer Newharth]

So insane that it's. It's just incredibly antiquated that in 2025, that would still exist. And I felt like they've been creeping towards this, like they allowed it. I don't know their history totally. But it was like, one Sunday all of a sudden, and then it was, like, on private land or something. But now it seems on July 1st, a few days ago, it reached Governor Josh Shapiro's desk. And if he signs it, then seems like Sunday hunting is fully in action in Pennsylvania.

[Phil]

Really the only pushback on it. And I only know this because I just got done editing Cal's podcast. That's dropp. Are. Is just people. Other recreation old, like, people who don't hunt but are outdoors. Like. Like hikers being like, oh, I'm going to feel unsafe in the woods on Sundays. Like, Sunday has been my safe day to go hiking. And that's. That's kind of the only knock that.

[Giannis Patelis]

Well, they will realize that Sunday will still be a safe day to go.

[Phil]

I think they will. Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

Chili got anything to say about that? Have you ever experience. Have you ever hunted in Pennsylvania?

[Austin Kleberad]

I have not.

[Giannis Patelis]

No.

[Austin Kleberad]

I mean, the only experience I had with Pennsylvania is when we did the Meat Eater Live tour, and we just went over to Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh. But, like, now. Never got to explore outside.

[Giannis Patelis]

I want to.

[Austin Kleberad]

Seth keeps talking about whitetail hunting over there. Sounds pretty appealing.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. Now that we can hunt on Sundays, I'm definitely more interested 100%.

[Spencer Newharth]

We got a slack message saying the Internet is down. Are you noticing that, Phil?

[Phil]

Oh, no. As far as I can tell, we're still live.

[Spencer Newharth]

Okay.

[Phil]

And I think the. The viewers will let us know in the chat.

[Austin Kleberad]

I think Corey's just trying to stir the pot because he's not here.

[Spencer Newharth]

Tried to scare us.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right. Crazy Mountain 100. Exactly three days. Three weeks. One day from today. I'm gonna start on my little endeavor of trying to run 100 miles in a row. I got 40 miles with a bunch of elevation this weekend, and then I'm tapering all the way to the finish. That's how I'm looking at it. You guys know what taper means? To taper when you're like, like where.

[Spencer Newharth]

It tapers and it gets skinnier at the end.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, that's right. To me, it's actually the hardest part of this whole business I've done. This is like, I don't know, three or four of these longer distances. And after this weekend, I'm going to basically be. After a couple days of rest, I'll be at the peak, sort of, you know, performance peak, feeling that I'll be the whole time.

[Spencer Newharth]

Okay.

[Giannis Patelis]

And your brain's ready to run, your legs are ready to run, and then you're like, oh, I have to just chill for two weeks, basically, and wait because, you know, the, the hope is that you're going to rest some more and just really come into it full, you know, full, full speed ahead.

[Phil]

But Brad is asking if this is your first ultra. Giannis, is a 50 considered an ultra is 100.

[Giannis Patelis]

I think I've googled it once and I was told we don't Google anymore. Now you gotta. What's the new thing that you got to do instead of Google?

[Spencer Newharth]

GPT.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. GPT. Yep. But anything over 26.2, so anything over a marathon, I think is considered ultra. So this will be my third. I've done two 50s. Sorry. Fourth. I've done a 31 miler, two 50s and a. This will be my first hundred.

[Spencer Newharth]

How often do you check in with your coach?

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, once every two weeks probably. But she, you know, she has my schedule, training schedule, you know, written out, usually one to two weeks out.

[Spencer Newharth]

Do you pay her?

[Giannis Patelis]

Yes. Oh, I pay her and get a gym membership at the same time at the Mountain Project.

[Spencer Newharth]

Okay. How many other people is she coaching for a run like this?

[Giannis Patelis]

You know, I don't know if she has. I know. I know for sure. She has one on one other guy that's doing a hundred, but I don't know how many total. So they call them online clients because they have like in house clients too, but I'm what they call an online client, so I don't get that much really one on one time with it. Like, we've never been on a run together. We've been trying to kind of plan one, but we've never done it.

[Spencer Newharth]

Okay.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right, so I'm feeling good. I'll let you guys know how it goes. My goal is to finish, look good, look strong today. Look. Yeah, well, I'd like to feel. I like to be that way at the end of this race.

[Spencer Newharth]

Okay.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right, a couple meat eater store highlights. If you're into the gnome T shirt thing that we got going, we're. We've just released a gnome angling a megalodon T shirt, but it's almost sold out. So if you're looking to get one, get after it. The next gnome T shirt will launch at the end of. End of July, so keep your eyes open for that. The meat eater store is having a summer sale July 8 to 11, and the theme is summer cooking. Some of the items that are going to be on sale, select Cookbooks. 25 off. This is the deal of century right here. Benchmade Meat Crafter 2.0. 40% off. It's almost half off. Spencer and fire breather hot sauces are half off, which I really. I really like. That's one of the cooking, like, seasoning cooking things that we.

[Phil]

I'm a huge fan of it as well.

[Giannis Patelis]

Right. Yeah, it's like, got a really nice flavor.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah, that feels kind of a hot sauce snob.

[Phil]

I wouldn't say snob. I am repping. I am repping a hook and arrow hot sauce shirt today. Shout out to those guys, because the last time I complained about having to pay for the fire breather sauce, the hook and arrow guys who are fans of the show, heard me and sent me a bunch of hot sauce. So thank you. And they've got a hot sauce on. Hot ones this season. Very exciting. The rest of them.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, good. Oh, I never thought about how that could be really. Oh. Influential, beneficial hot sauce company. One of our hot sauce.

[Spencer Newharth]

You like that?

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Spencer Newharth]

When I see clips from that, I wonder. I say, who? I says to myself, I said, who watches this?

[Giannis Patelis]

Have you ever watched.

[Spencer Newharth]

No, I know. That's what blows my mind, Phil, is it's like the most popular online.

[Phil]

I think it's great.

[Bo Hendrickson]

Yeah.

[Austin Kleberad]

Do you see the caliber of people they have on there?

[Spencer Newharth]

Yes, I see all the clips from it.

[Phil]

Have you not sat through, like, a whole episode, though? Because it's made really, really well. And Sean asked, like, some really interesting questions.

[Spencer Newharth]

Okay, I trust you, Phil. Now I'm gonna check it out. I see the clips online.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yes. And I think the key is, is to watch it all the way through because you get to see the progression and just how the two things, the interview and then, like, the effect of hot sauce intermingle, and it's just like a weird, wacky idea. And they execute it so well.

[Spencer Newharth]

I've seen Sean on other shows where he gets interviewed and he had talked about, famously, DJ Khaled did he have an episode?

[Phil]

One of the first episodes, he chickened out after two or three hot sauces. I don't remember if he walked off the set, but basically was just like, no, I'm done.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah, I think, I think he had said he ate like a big ass lunch before that and then rolled in. They like warned him. They're like, do not do that. And then he did it anyway and just did not participate. Hardly. Yeah, that, that specific episode I would be interested in.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. Well, if you find it, share it with me, please. All right, finally, end of our little chit chat here up top. Some of you might be wondering, where's Randall? How is Randall? What's he up to? Were you thinking that? Well, let me tell you folks, he's on vacation in Germany. And today we have our first installment of Randall does Europe. Let's see the clip, Phil.

[Austin Kleberad]

Hello, friend. It's your old pal Dr. Randall reporting live on tape delay from Europe. Got a bosna here. It's a lovely Austrian treat and just wanted to give you a quick update on how my vacation's going. So follow along and I think you'll enjoy this.

[Spencer Newharth]

Off witnessing.

[Phil]

Incredible.

[Giannis Patelis]

What a treasure that man is.

[Spencer Newharth]

Not much audio in that folks who are only listening. That was two minutes of Randall just eating hot dogs and sausages in Europe.

[Phil]

Yes. Cody says that Randall. Randall is the most successful homeless person in history.

[Spencer Newharth]

I noticed some of those clips. He was wearing the same outfit. So he was, he was going double meal of sausage in some of those days.

[Phil]

Yeah, I think he's gonna have to five to seven day recovery period when he comes back.

[Giannis Patelis]

But you gotta remember he's travel in Europe so he's probably wearing the same outfit several days in a row.

[Spencer Newharth]

Well, then he styled his hair the same. He, he did everything the same on those. True.

[Giannis Patelis]

It was funny because we were slacking with Randall and I think Chili, you asked him like if he had hiked those hot dogs up to the top of that mountain.

[Austin Kleberad]

Yeah, well, like I. He texted us that video one in the little montage he had there. And I was like, did you hike that thing up there? Because I could definitely see you packing a hot dog, hiking to the top of a mountain and then sitting down and eating it. But now there's like a little, little stand up there.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. And his answer was no. Europe is the best place ever. They just have cabins on top of mountains that serve beer and sausages.

[Austin Kleberad]

Yeah. Which is. Makes me want to go now.

[Giannis Patelis]

No. Hey, wherever he is, I 100 want to go and experience that. That looks delicious.

[Spencer Newharth]

Does Latvia have a real sausage culture?

[Giannis Patelis]

No, no. They make some sausages.

[Phil]

What is.

[Spencer Newharth]

There's like dumpling adjacent things, Pierogies a little bit, man.

[Giannis Patelis]

It's, it's bland food, like nice. It's very. Yeah, like sauerkraut, giant hunks of pork cooked slow. It's not too exciting. But I think also like the same way it was for hunting over there in the hunting traditions, right? Like having being, you know, not Latvia and being occupied for so many years, like they kind of just beat that stuff out of you, right? So because you're not allowed to celebrate being a Latvian, you can't sing your own songs, you can't eat your own food, you can't, you know, pray in church in your own language. Right. All that stuff is beaten out of you. And so now they've been free since 91. It's sort of probably like, hopefully that stuff will come back around and somebody will find old versions of, you know, Latvian food and it'll become a thing again. But it takes time, man. Like that place is. They sort of lose your identity when you're occupied for so long.

[Spencer Newharth]

You know, it's on you. You get, you got to help do that.

[Giannis Patelis]

Totally, totally. Luckily I have peers that are over there and doing that. Okay, our next segment is One Minute Fishing. Phil, do I feel lucky?

[Spencer Newharth]

Well, do you, punk?

[Giannis Patelis]

Go ahead, make my cast.

[Spencer Newharth]

One Minute Fishing is where we go live to someone who's fishing and they have one minute to catch a fish. And if they're successful, we'll make a 500 donation to a conservation group this week. Our angler is Tony Jackson from Finchasers USA in North Carolina and he's fishing for a donation to the Coastal Conservation Association. Tony, welcome to the show.

[Tony Jackson]

Hey, what's going on, guys? Thanks for having me.

[Giannis Patelis]

Tony Yanis here. It's been. Has it been two years or three years since we fished together?

[Tony Jackson]

I want to say it's been at least two. It could be three.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. I had the pleasure of fishing with Tony and my father in law's neighbor, Steve Pfeiffer. Shout out to Steve, who's. According to Steve, he's still out there hammering away. Have you seen him lately?

[Tony Jackson]

Yeah, he's still catching fish.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. At the ripe old age of 80. Multiple back surgeries and he's still. He. He's not letting down, man. He likes to set the hook.

[Tony Jackson]

I feel bad for the local panfish population.

[Spencer Newharth]

Tell me about your day of fishing with Tony Yanni.

[Giannis Patelis]

We Were I think pretty much solely targeting redfish and we were using cut bait under. Were we fishing? Uh, popping corks.

[Tony Jackson]

Tony, I believe got made under popping corks.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yep. And yeah, it was like often it is with redfish, if you're off the mark by 10ft with your cast, there's like no bite. But if you put it in the spot, man, it was a fish almost every single cast.

[Phil]

So we.

[Giannis Patelis]

I don't know how many we caught that day, but it was quite a few. How's the fishing been lately out there?

[Tony Jackson]

Redfish pie is just now starting to pick up. It started off a little slow for us this year. Typically by May we're wide open and. And this year it kind of. They trickled in. But the shrimp, the shrimp are pretty thick in the river and it's full of shad and mullet.

[Giannis Patelis]

So what do you, what do you think, what do you think caused that slow start?

[Tony Jackson]

I'm not real sure. I know we had a. We had a pretty cold winter. We had a big freeze. I don't know if that put a dent into it or if it's just one of those years where that happens. I, I think it's possibly the freeze because we did have other areas. Like out in the Noose river, the bite was a little bit better, so they were a little less impacted.

[Giannis Patelis]

But.

[Tony Jackson]

But here inshore, it's just. It was kind of slow.

[Giannis Patelis]

But so if someone's out there gonna try to go get into some redfish themselves or anything else, I guess for that matter in that area, what, what would you recommend they fish with?

[Tony Jackson]

Well, if they wanted to fish with, with artificial baits, it's hard to, hard to pass up a top water. I, I'd rather catch one fish on top water than, than 10 on a soft plastic or live bait. Personally, I'm a big fan of the mirror lure top water baits. And you can kind of get away with with just two. You have the, the top pup and then you have the sheep up. The top pup being a quiet version and then the sheep up being very loud.

[Spencer Newharth]

Tony, is there, is there any conventional wisdom about what redfish do like before, during, after a hurricane, does the fishing improve or does it get worse? What, what happens?

[Tony Jackson]

The fishing definitely improves before and leading right up, right up to it and even during it. If it's not that significant of a storm, I think following barometric pressure, just like any other animal movements, it turns them on a sets amount of feed. Now the post storm, once it goes.

[Giannis Patelis]

By.

[Tony Jackson]

You have the rise in pressure it can shut them down. But then after it's gone by, been passed for a couple days, I've had some. Some really good experiences.

[Spencer Newharth]

So what are we fishing for today, then?

[Tony Jackson]

Well, this morning our trip was for redfish, but for my. My one minute, I'm going to try to catch any fish.

[Spencer Newharth]

Okay.

[Giannis Patelis]

And using what to do, it's a Cutman Hayden.

[Spencer Newharth]

All right, so what, what are our possibilities then? When you say catch any fish, Pinfish.

[Tony Jackson]

Spot, croaker, possibly a redfish. Those would be the. The most likely.

[Giannis Patelis]

Have you pre fished this spot? Are you feeling pretty confident?

[Tony Jackson]

I feel pretty good about it. I haven't pre fished it. We did fish it this morning, and there were a lot of pin fish and croakers here picked up one redfish out of it, but.

[Spencer Newharth]

Okay, Tony. Well, your one minute of fishing starts when you make that first cast.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right.

[Spencer Newharth]

He's decked out for the 4th of July. Got a red, white, and blue hat on. Does this look familiar to you, Yanni? Is this where you went fishing, man?

[Giannis Patelis]

I'm sure it's not too far. Oh, he's got a cast in. Okay, Timer started.

[Spencer Newharth]

There's no retrieve happening. Oh, did he set the hook?

[Austin Kleberad]

Oh, he got it.

[Giannis Patelis]

He's on it.

[Spencer Newharth]

We are 10 seconds in, and he has set the hook on a fish.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, yeah, A little video hitch. Oh, he's actually able to fight it.

[Spencer Newharth]

A little drag, maybe that's just for the drama.

[Austin Kleberad]

Does he have to land it in.

[Phil]

It within a minute?

[Spencer Newharth]

No, no. Just as long as you hook up, he can fight this thing for the next 10 minutes. I'm gonna sit here and watch him.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right.

[Spencer Newharth]

I don't see a net appearing. He's gonna swing it into the boat.

[Giannis Patelis]

Come on. Oh, what did he get?

[Spencer Newharth]

Oh, what is it?

[Giannis Patelis]

Of course. Hold on. Oysters. Yeah, that doesn't count.

[Spencer Newharth]

We thought he had a fish and it was just a stag.

[Giannis Patelis]

Got about 10 seconds left here. Come on, Tony. 10 seconds. Let's go. Oh, you just gotta hook him.

[Spencer Newharth]

All right, Tony, tell us. Tell us what happened there. We couldn't see it very well. What did you reel in?

[Tony Jackson]

Well, I reeled in an oyster. I cast out and got the pin. Fish were all over it as soon as it hit the water. And we're pecking away at it, and I set the hook and it jerked back, but it ended up not being a damn fish.

[Spencer Newharth]

At what point did you know those were oysters on there when you saw them?

[Tony Jackson]

No, whenever I felt the rod, there was just a heavy, slow Pull back.

[Spencer Newharth]

Damn. One minute fishing again. There was even some drag being taken. We thought we had a big fish.

[Tony Jackson]

It was good, right?

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Tony Jackson]

Those oysters will get in, get in the current with the tide and they'll pull back and.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right, well, Tony, tell us if, if someone wants to get out on a charter with you, if they're in that Beaufort, North Carolina area, how do they find you?

[Tony Jackson]

They can find me on Facebook @finchasersusa, Instagram @finchasersusa. And I have a website, it's www.fanchasersusa.com. and they can reach out to me on my phone. [phone].

[Giannis Patelis]

All right. You got any openings coming, coming up in the next couple weeks? I'm guessing you're pretty booked.

[Tony Jackson]

I am pretty booked the next couple weeks, but there's some opening sprinkled in.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right, cool. Well, thanks for participating. Thanks for the fishing report, Tony.

[Spencer Newharth]

Thanks, Tony.

[Tony Jackson]

Thanks for having me.

[Spencer Newharth]

I saw some folks in the chat asking if anyone has ever been successful. The answer is yes, Johnny was success.

[Phil]

He was also chubbing pretty hard.

[Spencer Newharth]

That's okay. We'll take it for the good of conservation. Pat Durkin, I.D. we had. Chester was successful ice fishing in Wisconsin. So it has happened.

[Phil]

We got a lot of people in the chat saying that that should, yeah, says there's, there's nothing in the rule book that says it needs to be pelagic. Shellfish has fish in the name.

[Spencer Newharth]

I don't know. Meat eater hasn't made a donation for this in a while, so we probably make that happen.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Austin Kleberad]

My vote's for Tony.

[Giannis Patelis]

You votes for Tony.

[Spencer Newharth]

You're the host. Johnny, you make the call. Yeah, let's do it. $500.

[Giannis Patelis]

But does anybody remember what he told.

[Spencer Newharth]

Me now, it was, it was the Coastal Conservation Association.

[Giannis Patelis]

No.

[Austin Kleberad]

Something for fishing with kids.

[Giannis Patelis]

It was catching. Catching for kids.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah, Catching for kids.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay.

[Phil]

Okay. We'll have to let him know because he's gone.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Spencer Newharth]

500.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right, Tony, you, the chat room says you should win, so we're gonna give it to your.

[Spencer Newharth]

It was a live animal that has, that's true, the word fish.

[Phil]

The only person that's against it right now is Corey Calkins. I, I, you know, get out of here, Corey.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah, it was. No need to be contrary. It's on the end of a hook on his fishing rod. 500 for the, the shellfish catch. Going to Huyani.

[Giannis Patelis]

Catching for kids. And yeah, it looks like they are out of that same area of, of Beaufort, North Carolina. The Crystal coast there. And yeah, you can help them out. It looks like they take donations, purchase rods, reels, tackle. They give out like they do, like adopt a family for Christmas and give out that kind of stuff.

[Spencer Newharth]

On that note, some kid would have been very excited to catch that hunk of clams. Oh, yeah, because it wasn't just one.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay. It says right here their goal, children spending quality time outdoors, enjoying fishing and all the water has to offer. Can't say no to that.

[Spencer Newharth]

That's right, meat eater. Can't take it back now.

[Phil]

500 Corey says chat GPT says a shellfish is not a fish. That's more of a reason to stay away from Chad.

[Spencer Newharth]

That's right.

[Giannis Patelis]

I wonder where Corey is right now.

[Austin Kleberad]

It's probably on a river.

[Phil]

He's just jealous that he's after his embarrassing look on the pond in the back these last few weeks.

[Lake Pickle]

Ever wonder what happened to the hundreds of thousands of buffalo that used to call the eastern United States home? Or what caused the rise and fall of bobwhite quail? Backwoods University, hosted by me Lake Pickle is the latest addition to the Bear Grease feed on Meat Eaters Podcast network. Together we'll seek out a deeper understanding of wildlife, wild places, and the people who dedicate their lives to conserving both. After all, you can't love what you don't understand. Search beargrease on Apple, iHeart, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast and hit that follow button to enroll in Backwoods University.

[Giannis Patelis]

Now, what else we got, Phil? For listener feedback, get some feedback here.

[Phil]

Let's do it. Titus asks. Here's a question for the crew. Which is harder? Finding a matching set of shed antlers? An antler deadhead or shooting a buck?

[Spencer Newharth]

If I were to rank those things. Shooting a buck, easiest Finding an antler deadhead, second easiest. Finding a matching scent of shed antlers, third.

[Giannis Patelis]

Agreed. I agree with you.

[Spencer Newharth]

I've found many of them dead heads that have both antlers. But as far as matching sets go, I have three. I think.

[Austin Kleberad]

I've never found one.

[Spencer Newharth]

Well, is your. Is your Wisconsin property good for shed hunting? Some properties are set up real well.

[Giannis Patelis]

They're not. I'm. This is. This would be a nice segue if we were going right to this, but the my oak savannah. Supposedly they love dropping their antlers in that. In that tall grass, so maybe it'll become that way. I think that we've. I found one shed this year when I was there turkey hunting. I would overall say no, although my dad did find a Matching set. It took him over the course of a whole year to find the other side, but he did find both sides. And that was that big old giant that, you know, just the antlers themselves, no spread. Credit was like almost 180.

[Spencer Newharth]

Wow.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Spencer Newharth]

180 without spread.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, it was a big.

[Spencer Newharth]

You got to show me these antlers.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, I don't have. They're in at my dad's house. But I can show. I have some pictures.

[Spencer Newharth]

I can show you 180 without spread. So if he had an 18 inch spread, he's almost a 200 inch deer.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, he's a giant. He was. We haven't seen him now for a couple, three years.

[Spencer Newharth]

Who measured this deer? You?

[Giannis Patelis]

I did.

[Spencer Newharth]

Wow. 180. How have you not shown me these things?

[Giannis Patelis]

I figured I have. I've shown all of my whitetail fanatic friends. Not all, but I guess not you.

[Spencer Newharth]

What's, what's he got going on? How many points?

[Giannis Patelis]

He's actually just a mainframe 8. But he's got incredible brow tines. The year that we found the shed.

[Spencer Newharth]

Mainframe 8 going 180 inches.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Spencer Newharth]

Almost impossible.

[Giannis Patelis]

I mean he's got like.

[Spencer Newharth]

You're certain?

[Giannis Patelis]

I mean he's. Well, again, it depends on what counts as mainframe and what you'd count as. Like an inline sticker. But like. Yeah, when you look at him, you're like, oh, no, he's not a 10 point. It's just like. But he looks incredibly massive because he's like. His brow tines are probably almost as long as his longest, you know, regular times, his G2 and 3.

[Spencer Newharth]

But he could have 10 inches of stickers and that would still be like an unbelievable four by four.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, I'm. I'm happy to show you.

[Spencer Newharth]

Please.

[Giannis Patelis]

Multiple pictures of them. Yeah, I'm.

[Spencer Newharth]

I am mildly skeptical.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay.

[Spencer Newharth]

180 inches.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Spencer Newharth]

Without spread.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Spencer Newharth]

Okay. I hope you're accurate. I hope it's right. Blow my mind.

[Giannis Patelis]

I even went through a scoring app with, with the, with the buck and like a buck an app. Now I'm more skeptical it. And I came up with roughly the same answer.

[Spencer Newharth]

Okay.

[Phil]

Will asks, have you guys ever battered and fried trout fillets? He says everyone tells him he's crazy to do it.

[Spencer Newharth]

I have not.

[Giannis Patelis]

I have. They're crazy to think that you can't batter and, and fry anything out there. I recently heard that, you know, Greece is the great American equalizer. I love that saying.

[Spencer Newharth]

Who said that?

[Giannis Patelis]

I don't know where. Where I, where I pick that up. But yeah, man, I've totally done just straight up deep fried trout. Nothing wrong with it, you know, Just make sure you do a good job getting your, getting the, the bones out of it and you'll have a tasty meal.

[Phil]

Now we move on to Spencer's accessory corners first. Spencer version 2.0 asks Spencer, where can I buy that hat? That thing is awesome.

[Spencer Newharth]

Oh, the meat eater store. The meat eater.com maybe. Maybe store.theme eater.com. this is one of our new offerings. I think our merch has gotten so strong.

[Phil]

Oh yeah, it's improved tenfold the last couple years.

[Spencer Newharth]

This hat is a good example of that. It's got a bison on it. Yanni said this is what the cool kids wear now, these hats.

[Giannis Patelis]

The little rope on it kind of sits a little bit high.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yep.

[Giannis Patelis]

I don't really like the way they fit on me, but Laura Mascari, I believe that's how you say her name, who's running our merch program these days. She said it's made me look young. So here I am again.

[Spencer Newharth]

There you go. I think of our, of our improved merch offerings. Hat is at the top of the list. And we all three have some of our new hats on today.

[Phil]

The second question in the Spencer accessory corner comes from Mogor. Yeah, Spencer, my girlfriend says you've got the coolest notebook sticker she's ever seen.

[Spencer Newharth]

Oh, wow.

[Phil]

She thinks Teddy was the greatest president of all time. I think you can let Mogur know where people can get that.

[Spencer Newharth]

Seth Morris, his wife is an artist, Kelsey, and she sells a variety of stickers and prints on her website. I'm not certain what that is, but that sticker is one of Kelsey's stickers. I think we even sell them in our brick and mortar meat eater store in Bozeman. So if you type in, I think.

[Giannis Patelis]

It'S like I've seen them there.

[Spencer Newharth]

K Ray arts, something like that. That is where you could get that sticker.

[Phil]

See, we don't have meat eater menu on this on the docket today. But Freddie, Rick and the Mons asks just what you guys have been cooking. Wild game dishes you've been cooking.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, I got a hot answer for you. Freddy recently did a my first ever biria dish and I just used a bunch of like neck shanks and lots a lot to learn from from this. You know, Renell and I always go back and forth because he still likes to grind like the stuff that has all the sinew meat in it. And I just think that's crazy because then you have to eat a burger and that you got to pick stuff out of your teeth, and that stuff doesn't do you any good in the burger. But where it does do you so much good is in a dish like biria, which basically, it's very simple. I use the New York Times cooking app. I think we have a version of it on the meat eater. But I just chunked up the neck and these shanks into, I don't know, two to three inch pieces. Did a very quick brine in just water with a half cup of vinegar and some salt. That's it. You do that for 30 minutes, and it's amazing how much that actually changes sort of the feel and texture of the meat. Then put it into a slow, brazen pot, like Dutch oven style. Cover it with cold water, and again, a little bit of salt. I don't think there's any spices yet. You let that roll for like two hours until it starts to cook down. As that's going, you rehydrate some chili peppers. I forget exactly what kind, but not too spicy. Gojillo, maybe, or something like that. Once they're rehydrated, you take them and a cup of the water you used to rehydrate, put them in your blender, buzz it up until you just get this, like, saucy pasty thing. Dump that into the braising liquid and basically just let it cook until it's shreddable, and then you serve it. You actually take the meat out of the broth while it's still warm, season it, salt and pepper, and then corn tortillas, lots of white onion, cilantro. That's the basic. You can just leave it as is. But then I also did some pineapple chunks on there. We had some of that Cotija cheese. And then you make your taco. And the recipe said to actually eat the taco and then chase it with the broth. But what we started doing is actually doing like almost a French, French dip style. Yeah. Taking that taco and dunking it in that cup and Absolutely delicious. My wife might have made a pot last week, and I think we've had that for dinner four out of the last five nights.

[Spencer Newharth]

No kids around, though, to review it.

[Giannis Patelis]

No kids around.

[Spencer Newharth]

Are you cooking differently now that your girls are off at camp for a little while?

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, 100%.

[Spencer Newharth]

Oh, tell me what's different?

[Giannis Patelis]

Well, just that. That we just. We ate the same dinner four out of five nights.

[Spencer Newharth]

Girls would not. They wouldn't let that fly.

[Giannis Patelis]

You know what? I don't know. I don't think we've ever tried them, but I just feel I'm compelled to cook them different foods and do like different dinners every night. I mean, I don't know. I usually make enough to have a leftover a few nights later, but never like 4 out of 5 like I'm rolling with right now. But it's just very simple. We're not like sit a lot of times. We're just sitting there in the kitchen standing and eating so that we can just like clean up real fast and get back to whatever we're doing.

[Phil]

Spencer, what's this?

[Spencer Newharth]

I made elk steaks last night. I love summer grilling weather, so had those on the camp chef with some potatoes and asparagus.

[Austin Kleberad]

What cut did you make those out of?

[Spencer Newharth]

That was. I don't remember what it was. I don't recall now. I pulled it out of the freezer like a week ago and then instantly put them into ziploc bags. So I don't even recall.

[Giannis Patelis]

Was it like a whole muscle and then you cut it up into steaks?

[Spencer Newharth]

No. These were already staked by our friend Anna Borgman. I don't know if Anna did this specifically for me because she knows my family size is just me and my wife. But I got very petite sized portions of steaks and roasts and I really appreciated that. Maybe she does that for everyone. But I imagine if you're like a family of five and she knows that, that you'd get, you know, six steaks in one of your packages instead of mine came two at a time. I really like that. I felt like I was getting some boutique butchery by Anna there.

[Giannis Patelis]

Which you are.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yes, that's right.

[Giannis Patelis]

How is that bull eaten overall?

[Spencer Newharth]

Oh, very good. I got no, no issues with it. My favorite thing what makes me more motivated to kill more elk are just the sizes of the. I'm so used to working with deer that, you know, are 160 pounds or whatever. And I'm just like very familiar with all the stakes and roasts that you get from that. But the size of the stakes and the roasts off an elk, it's very different. Very fun to work with. I like that.

[Phil]

All right, I'll do one more question, then we'll move along here. Oh, and 82 says Phil Hoarder Alliance. The answer is alliance. Shout out to my night elf druid and my human warrior krentist. I missed you guys. All right, that's it.

[Spencer Newharth]

And then to circle back to the sticker, it is K Ray artworks.com that's K R A E artworks.com and she has that sticker there.

[Giannis Patelis]

Thanks for that, Spencer. All right, our next segment is Fake News. Let's play Fake News, a pet taping. Rush up. He's a balloon working for flying a ufo. Steven's a better shot than yah.

[Phil]

So is that. So this opportunity comes once every few weeks. You can do anything you set your minds to, guys.

[Spencer Newharth]

Does it.

[Giannis Patelis]

Does the general public know that it.

[Austin Kleberad]

Is you that is singing those songs?

[Phil]

I believe so.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay, good.

[Spencer Newharth]

No, we actually got Eminem to do that, right? He's such a big fan, being from Michigan and all. He said I could do this.

[Phil]

That's where the entire podcast budget went to this year.

[Spencer Newharth]

All right, Fake News is where I read a series of headlines in which a real one is hiding among three imposters. Your job is to figure out which one is true. So grab your whiteboard, Johnny. Grab your whiteboard. Chili, don't be cheating looking at my computer.

[Giannis Patelis]

Headlines.

[Spencer Newharth]

Just headlines. The first headline, why scientists are horrified by the world's first blank farm. Is it octopus, panda, mosquito, or crocodile? Why scientists are horrified by the world's first octopus farm. Why scientists are horrified by the world's first panda farm. Why scientists are horrified by the world's first mosquito farm. Why scientists are horrified by the world's first crocodile farm. One of those is real. The other three are fake. Chili. Very quick to answer. It's almost as though you know it. You know it, Chili.

[Giannis Patelis]

Well, no.

[Austin Kleberad]

It's the first time I'm seeing this question.

[Giannis Patelis]

I didn't catch this in the news either, but I have a. I have.

[Austin Kleberad]

A good train of thought as to why I think this is right.

[Spencer Newharth]

Why scientists are horrified by the world's first blank farm. Octopus, panda, mosquito, crocodile.

[Giannis Patelis]

I'm ready, boys.

[Spencer Newharth]

Ready. Go ahead and reveal your answers. We have Giannis saying mosquito farm. We have Chili saying octopus farm. One of you is right. The correct answer is octopus. Why scientists are horrified by the world's first octopus farm. That headline was from veg out on July 2, 2025. The Spanish seafood giant Nueva Peskinova is currently working on the world's first commercial octopus farm. Animal activists are flatly against the operation, especially since the octopi are killed by getting dumped into tanks of ice water where they slowly freeze to death. This has captured the attention of American lawmaker who are working on legislation that would ban commercial octopus farming in the United States. Senators from Rhode island and Alaska are drafting the bill saying, quote, science has shown that octopuses are sentient, emotionally Complex animals and the conditions required to farm them are inherently cruel and incompatible with their basic needs. Have you ever eaten octopus, Yanni?

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, yeah.

[Spencer Newharth]

I have not. What were you eating at?

[Giannis Patelis]

You have not?

[Spencer Newharth]

I've just never had the opportunity. I haven't turned down the chopped seed octopus.

[Giannis Patelis]

Well, I mean, you could order it anytime. You go to a sushi joint usually.

[Spencer Newharth]

Really?

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Spencer Newharth]

Okay. How have you eaten your octopus? You like it?

[Giannis Patelis]

Well, yeah. Love it. Yeah, I've had it that. I've had it at sushi joints probably a couple different ways, but I think in the end it's probably always cooked somewhat similarly where, you know, it's. It can be tough and so it has to have sort of the tenderness beaten into it. It. But I think it's usually served cold, you know, when you do it over, like nagiri, you know, over rice, you.

[Spencer Newharth]

Know, you're eating octopus when you're served octopus.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, yeah. And it's delicious. Yeah.

[Spencer Newharth]

Chili. Do you have an octopus review?

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Austin Kleberad]

There is a documentary out there called My Octopus Teacher and it's on Netflix. And that's kind of like where, like.

[Phil]

As soon as the question popped up.

[Austin Kleberad]

That'S where my head went. And there's a lot of good information about it.

[Spencer Newharth]

Like.

[Austin Kleberad]

Like octopus are a lot more. I mean, there's much more to them than we'll probably ever.

[Spencer Newharth]

Have you eaten it, though?

[Giannis Patelis]

Have I eaten it?

[Spencer Newharth]

Oh.

[Austin Kleberad]

Oh, that's what we're talking about.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay. No.

[Spencer Newharth]

I'm fine with farming all sorts of stuff that makes it to our dinner plates. But you know what? I'd maybe side with the animal activists here that octopi we could just leave alone, let them do their own thing. What do you think of that?

[Giannis Patelis]

That's fine. But I would ask you then, is it still okay to then just, you know, drag them up out of the depths or grab them out of their little hole and.

[Spencer Newharth]

I'm not passionate about this. I haven't thought a lot about it. I would say as of now, you can ask me tomorrow against octopi farming for harvesting octopus in the wild, though. That's my stance, official stance as of today.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay. Yeah, I can get down with that. I'd have to read into it a little bit more.

[Spencer Newharth]

But, Phil, you love eating octopus.

[Phil]

I think I. I swear I have, but I can't remember when or where. So this is a. I shouldn't have even said anything.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yanni was making me feel bad for.

[Giannis Patelis]

Never having it in Alaska. Smoke it often and then preserve it is. Is how I've had It a lot, too. It's delicious.

[Spencer Newharth]

All right, headline two. It's the end of an era. The U.S. national Parks prepare to ban. Blank. Is it glass, horses, skateboards, or cash? It's the end of an era. The US National Parks prepare to ban. Glass. It's the end of an era. The US National Parks prepare to ban Horses. It's the end of an era. The US National Parks prepare to ban Skateboards or. It's the end of an era. The US National Parks prepare to ban. Cash.

[Phil]

Our producer, Jake, just popped into our private chat here and said he's eaten live octopus.

[Giannis Patelis]

Whoa. Whoa.

[Spencer Newharth]

I don't know how that works. Must have been small, right? No, no.

[Phil]

Let us know, Jake.

[Spencer Newharth]

Okay.

[Phil]

We'll update the audience.

[Giannis Patelis]

Whoa.

[Spencer Newharth]

Our players are slower to answer this time. Chili got that first question right. He did not have an answer. It's the end of an era. The US National Parks prepare to ban. Is it glass, horses, skateboards, or cash?

[Giannis Patelis]

I could see two out of four being correct here.

[Austin Kleberad]

I feel like the beginning of this question. It's the end of an era. So it has to be something that has been around for a long time.

[Spencer Newharth]

Are you boys ready?

[Giannis Patelis]

All four of those things have been around for a long time. Well, I know they've been around, but.

[Austin Kleberad]

Like, it's like, something that's, like. It'll be shocking once it goes away.

[Spencer Newharth]

Are you boys ready?

[Giannis Patelis]

I'm ready.

[Spencer Newharth]

Go ahead and reveal your answers. We have Giannis saying horses and Chili saying horses. You're both wrong.

[Giannis Patelis]

No.

[Spencer Newharth]

What would be your next guest?

[Giannis Patelis]

Cash. Skateboards.

[Spencer Newharth]

Cash is correct.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, wow.

[Spencer Newharth]

It's the end of an era. The US national parks prepare to ban cash. This headline was from the travel on July 2, 2025. The National Park Service has been slowly moving toward card only for a few years and plans to be totally cashless soon. NPS says it's been, quote, over an overwhelmingly positive experience for both visitors and employers so far. They claim it reduces transaction time at entrances creat fewer accounting errors, and lessens the risk of theft. Critics say this will directly impact international visitors who want to avoid overseas card fees, as well as youth who don't have their own bank accounts. Some senators are pushing back on the new policy, questioning how the federal government can legally refuse currency that was created by the federal government. You both seem like cash guys to me. I bet Yani's got, like, $60 in cash on him right now. Now or Chili? Chili, I bet you got $60 in cash.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, I've got. I've got 10 on me. And then I think I've probably got a couple of twenties out in the car. I do like to have a little bit around, but, man, it's just becoming like, you used to always use that emergency cash, and now I feel like those 20s in the car, they maybe have been there for years. My dad's gonna be upset.

[Spencer Newharth]

Why?

[Giannis Patelis]

Because he's a cash. He's a big cash guy. Yeah. Like, we go through this.

[Spencer Newharth]

How many national parks does he go to, though?

[Giannis Patelis]

Not. No, no. But I think just in. In. What am I trying to say? Like, the idea of it. Right.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

He's not gonna be into it. We go through this at hunting camp every year. He's the guy that pays the. For the lodging and then has to collect the money from the rest of the group. And so there's cash.

[Spencer Newharth]

No Venmo.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. And I'm like, dude, if you had Venmo, all the money would already be in your bank account. Instead you have to deal with this and like. Like add and subtract, and it's just. Yeah. You know, lately I'm a late adopter, I think, But I've really come to embrace and love the apple wallet.

[Spencer Newharth]

Oh, it is convenient. I think at first it wasn't because not enough.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Spencer Newharth]

Places would accept it, but now it's like, almost universal. So smooth.

[Giannis Patelis]

So smooth.

[Spencer Newharth]

Chili, what are you doing with all that cash on you?

[Austin Kleberad]

Oh, you know, I just. I kind of saved, like, when I go on trips. It's like, good to have some cash so you can, like, I don't know, spend it on stuff that. Like souvenirs, whatever.

[Spencer Newharth]

It's free money at that point, right?

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Spencer Newharth]

You're not spending your own money?

[Austin Kleberad]

Yeah, no, for sure. Do you guys still have the change jars? Is that a thing still?

[Giannis Patelis]

There's one in my house, but it does. It's not filling up anymore.

[Spencer Newharth]

Mine is stagnant.

[Giannis Patelis]

I have one that I always go.

[Austin Kleberad]

And do the change exchange thing. Walk away with about 100 bucks.

[Giannis Patelis]

It's great.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah, I like to keep some cash in, like, my tackle box in case something were to happen while I'm fishing where I need help from. A fellow angler came in handy one time. I helped out a guy one time and I jumped his pickup for him. And then I kept that 20 in my tackle box until I had to use it. Like four years later. I got stuck in a snow drift ice fishing, and someone came and pulled me out. So it's like the brotherhood of the traveling $20 bill at this point. There's only one thing I use cash for anymore, and that's it. Headline three, Florida fisherman is charged in shark Blank. Is it robbery, meat fraud, stabbing, or drug smuggling? Florida fisherman is charged in shark robbery. Florida fisherman is charged in shark meat fraud. Florida fisherman is charged in shark stabbing. Florida fisherman is charged in shark drug smuggling.

[Giannis Patelis]

I'm liking this version of it, but when you first explained the game to me, I thought that you were going to have just three completely different headlines.

[Spencer Newharth]

Oh, okay.

[Giannis Patelis]

And one of them was going to be real.

[Spencer Newharth]

No, we're just swapping out.

[Giannis Patelis]

Or one was going to be the imposter. Yeah.

[Spencer Newharth]

Florida fisherman is charged in shark. Is it robbery, meat fraud, stabbing, or drug smuggling? You both got question two wrong. Only Chili got question one right. Are you ready?

[Giannis Patelis]

I'm ready.

[Spencer Newharth]

Go ahead and reveal your answers. We have. We have Giannis saying meat fraud and Chili saying stabbing. Correct answer.

[Austin Kleberad]

I feel like that stabbing is what a Florida person might do is stabbing.

[Phil]

That's not the right slide. I forgot to put the headline in there. That's from the old game. It's stabbing.

[Spencer Newharth]

Chili got two of these right. This headline was from the New York Times on June 6, 2025. It's about Zane Garrett, a charter fisherman who is being charged with animal cruelty. The 26 year old was shown in a viral video repeatedly stabbing a shark and then cutting the line. The Florida man told authorities that was revenge for the shark stealing his fish. His business's website, Second Nature Charters, says, quote, with Captain Zane at the helm, every fishing excursion becomes an unforgettable journey filled with camaraderie, law. I don't know what that next word is. I wrote down. And most importantly, epic catches that will be cherished for a lifetime. This comes just one month after a different Florida fishing guide was sentenced to 30 days in jail for shooting and poisoning dog dolphins. This Florida man meat fraud has been.

[Giannis Patelis]

In the news lately. One example specifically, you know, seafood meat fraud.

[Spencer Newharth]

Oh, I'm going to try to get a future guest to talk about in South Carolina. Is this what you're referring to?

[Giannis Patelis]

I thought that it was west coast, where, where I had read about it.

[Spencer Newharth]

What I'm referring to is in South Carolina, they sort of just did a big sting operation where they DNA tested, Right. All the shrimp in these businesses that were saying they're selling locally caught shrimp and they identified, I think it was 25 places, which is a crapload, that the DNA showed. Those shrimp came from overseas. Oh, yeah, from, like, farms in Thailand.

[Giannis Patelis]

Because the local shrimp is so much more Expensive.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah, that. That bothered me a lot when I saw that. That would bum me out when I go somewhere and it like elevates the experience. Thinking I'm eating one thing and then to find out it's just shrimp. That came from Costco. What a bummer. So in a bummer future episode, we're going to interview somebody about that. That shrimp fraud. Putting it out there right now.

[Giannis Patelis]

Do it.

[Spencer Newharth]

All right, that's the end of fake news. Chili's the big winner today.

[Giannis Patelis]

Good job, Chili. Thank you. I'm impressed. Thank you. Now, knowledge of current events there. Yeah. All right, we saved the best for last. Just kidding. Second to best because Randall obviously stole the show today. But we're now going to chat with Jacob Hernandez Hernandez, private lands biologist for the U. S. Fish and wildlife services partners for fish and wildlife program, and his colleague Bo Hendrickson, a habitat restoration technician that works for golden sands resource conservation and development. Man, it's a mouthful. The two of them have been helping me execute the oak savannah project on our land in Wisconsin. Jacob and Bo, welcome to the show.

[Jacob Hernandez]

Hey, how are you guys doing?

[Giannis Patelis]

We're doing great. Not standing outside in a soon to be oak savannah like you guys though, so I'm jealous for sure.

[Jacob Hernandez]

Yeah, it's a bit warm out today, but otherwise we're doing all right, right?

[Bo Hendrickson]

It's nice.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. Looks like a nice day. What is the. The temp? It's been hot there lately.

[Jacob Hernandez]

87.

[Bo Hendrickson]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, that's not too bad at all. Unless the humidity is 97. Then it could be. It could be bad. But it looks like you guys are enjoying. You guys are enjoying the shade of one of my oak trees that are left standing, huh?

[Jacob Hernandez]

You bet.

[Giannis Patelis]

Smart.

[Bo Hendrickson]

Yeah, we are.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right, first, tell me about the program that you two help administer and then sort of explain how that program is. Is, you know, working the project that you guys are helping my dad and I with.

[Jacob Hernandez]

Yeah. So our program is the partners for fish and wildlife program like Yanni introduced. We're with the u. S. Fish and wildlife service, or specifically I am with that program. And our program was designed or born out of the late 80s under the national wildlife refuge system. And our program is designed to help private landowners. So we define private landowners as anything non, state or federal owned. So city, county, land. Obviously, our biggest bread and butter is private landowners. We can help with this with these restoration projects via cost share and technical assistance. We also have several partners that we work with collaboratively to try to implement those restoration projects. And I'll let Beau talk A little bit more specifically about the project here that we're working on with you.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Bo Hendrickson]

So if my memory jogs me right, Giannis reached out to us, so a lot of landowners approach us with these potential projects to invite us out onto the property to do a site visit. So we came out. Checked out the site. Before we came out here. We actually did a little bit of homework, looking up in the 1937 aerial photos that are posted for Wisconsin, so that this specific area that we're working in here was a little bit more open, growing, a little bit less tree density, not agriculture, and kind of gave us the signs of an oak savannah remnants or potential for an oak savannah remnant. And so that's pretty much exactly what we're doing out here, trying to restore an oak savannah. This area historically was a mix of, you know, brush, oak savannas, prairies, back when the indigenous people were here. And so we're just trying to restore the native habitat back to that time to benefit, you know, the wildlife species that are out here, here.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right, so take me through the timeline, which I. I gotta say, people have asked me how long, how, like, how efficient this process has been, and out of all the work that I've been doing out there, you get, your project specifically has been, like, the most efficient. And. And, like, we've been moving extremely fast, which has been awesome to see because a lot of this stuff just takes forever. But take me through this sort of the timeline and the different steps and take us up to present day.

[Jacob Hernandez]

Yeah, well, we appreciate the kudos on that, for sure. We're a pretty small and nimble program, and so we are pretty flexible and can act pretty quickly when the situation presents itself. But like Bo said, Yanni had gotten a hold of us about a year ago. Logging operations were happening, so there was timber being cut, hauled off, decked, the whole nine yards. And we came in and it was. The property was covered in. In timber slash. So when we had the area identified, the unit identified, you know, we got a hold of Yanni, us made sure we had all the objectives correct and everything like that. And then our first step was, okay, if we're going to seed this thing down to a more herbaceous understory cover, kind of like a, you know, an oh savannah. We needed to get some of that timber slash cleaned up. So we had a contractor come out, we hired him, worked through that process, oversaw those operations, especially because Giannis being an absentee landowner, that's kind of something we can help with, obviously, from a technical standpoint, Oversaw that operation, got it, everything piled and cleaned up. And then it's kind of a waiting game to see what comes back on that. In that seed bed, we saw a host of species coming back, some good, some less desirable. Incredibly, nothing insanely wild. A lot of times when we do that, it can be a flush of buckthorn or multi flora rose or several other invasive species that we see across the site. So it wasn't too bad in that regard. At that point we then said, okay, we're gonna, we're gonna prescribe an herbicide application. We have some limitations out here with stumps and the tree stems that still exist. So we're kind of limited on like mechanical treatments and stuff. So herbicide was our best go to tool. I know it's not always the most popular treatment and we try to work with individual landowners based on those objectives accordingly. But in this scenario, we agreed that herbicide was the right option. So we prescribed glyphosate and 2,4D. And when used correctly, following all safety, following timing, all that kind of stuff, we can get a good general kill on this. What we're seeing today is that, that there's a kill out here from, from a spray that was done about two weeks ago or so. There are some missed spots, but that happens. Not the end of the world. We'll come back and do one more treatment towards the end of the summer and then hopefully that's, that's the means to the end there. There will hopefully be no more spraying or if so be very limited and very targeted. And the idea is we're setting our native species up that we plan to plant this fall or winter for the most success with the, with the least competition as they get going.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay, so my neighbor and I were, I was there two weeks ago and my neighbor and I did the spring. On a scale of 1 to 10, how good of a job did we do as. As herbicide applicators?

[Bo Hendrickson]

There's always going to be misses. You know, nobody can get it all in the first round. I'd probably say, you know, between an eight and a nine. Hey, just about common across the board though. So that's what you get with, especially with these stumps. A little bit of uneven topography from that logging operation. Leaving some ruts in locations kind of made it probably a little bit difficult for you to do, you know, a full complete application here. That's why people always just come back out and, you know, reapply. The spots that you missed are really easy to see and so you can just Touch those up at a later time.

[Giannis Patelis]

Do you guys feel like the, the touch up can be done with a backpack sprayer or is it going to take another round of, of driving around on the ATV?

[Jacob Hernandez]

It only looked like there was maybe one or two small strips. And honestly it, we don't need 100% burn down too. The idea is just to reduce competition. So, you know, in my opinion, I think the second round of application that we do later in the fall targeting some of the woody species that are out here, I think that's going to take care of it. And I think you guys will be set up really good. We'll still have enough seed bed exposed for us to broadcast seed and get good seed to soil contact for the. The winner to, to do its work with, with freeze thaw action. So yeah, I mean I, there's no need to do more than we need to do. Right. So I think one more treatment as planned at the end of the season and we should be in, in good shape.

[Giannis Patelis]

Right? Right. Okay. So I think a lot of people, including myself, when I first heard about this program, are sort of wondering like, well, why would the American government spend taxpayer money to be doing this kind of work on private land? Tell me a little bit like what, how does it benefit just like the taxpayer that is probably never going to get to step foot on that land.

[Bo Hendrickson]

Yeah. So the program, you know, as a cost share program, so we're putting, you know, the American taxpayers dollar back into habitat, trying to improve habitat. Our programs designed around trust species, federal trust species that are threatened, endangered, declining in population. That's our big focus out here. And so all that, you know, the taxpayer dollars that's going, you know, back into the ground trying to improve the habitat for local wildlife and also migratory birds, you know, any wildlife, I guess, in the area also, you know, it's really great. We try and use local contractors to boost the local economy out here. A lot of the areas that we're working in is rural Wisconsin. And so we try and find ways to boost that local, local economy, find ways to fit in with the community. Sometimes we'll have community fire departments help us out on these properties. So we're trying to find a way to almost, you know, kind of get back to these local communities and support financially with them and also collaborate with them, such as fire departments and other partners that we use out here. So all in all, it all goes back to good habitat just to improve, you know, a better climate, resilient habitat out here versus just a bunch of invasives. That, you know, is kind of degrading for the wildlife species that we see.

[Jacob Hernandez]

I think I would just add clean water, healthy soil, local healthy ecosystems, as you mentioned, carbon sequestration. Right. All of those really great things that occur with healthy, healthy ecosystems. That's what the American public has benefited on with, with the help here. So.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. All right. Obviously I'm way interested in the, the, what the habitat is going to do for deer and turkey, but tell me from your viewpoint, like, what other, what, what sort of special species are you guys hoping to help out with this and, and possibly like us being able to get to see in, in the coming years from this work that we're doing? Yeah.

[Bo Hendrickson]

So like I mentioned earlier, kind of designed around those threatened and federal federally endangered species out here. We're actually in a high potential range for the federally endangered Karner blue butterfly, also the rusty patch bumblebee. So these, you know, might not be number one hitters that people think of, you know, but they're very important to us in our program. And so we're hoping to see some of those. We've already seen some monarchs out here using the property when we're about doing site assessments and monitoring to kind of check in on the project. Outside of that, you know, migratory birds are going to hopefully be using this Red headed woodpeckers, a species of concern for us. We've, we're hoping to see a couple of those out here. We leave dead standing snags to kind of provide that wildlife habitat for them. So across the board, we're trying to hit a whole spectrum, whether it's the pollinators, the birds, the deer, the turkey. All in all, our program is driven towards those threatened and endangered species. But we recognize and understand that a lot of these projects that we do are going to benefit that local wildlife, such as the deer, the turkey, bear, grouse, you name it. It's just kind of a whole umbrella restoration here. We're kind of just directing it towards one thing, but understand and know that those other species are definitely going to be benefiting from it.

[Spencer Newharth]

What kind of upkeep is going to be involved for Giannis? Is this a place that he's going to need to mess with next year and five years from now and ten years from now?

[Jacob Hernandez]

Yeah, Habitat restoration is definitely not something that happens overnight. I mean, we've, we've let these ecosystems slide into invasive species, peril and unchecked systems for hundreds of years. So it's definitely not something that happens overnight. Yeah. Future management will likely include prescribed Fire, that's not an option for everybody always. So there are other alternatives sometimes mowing, spot mowing, some stuff like that, to try to keep things, keep things in check. But prescribed fire is going to be a big one. Spot spraying might be required depending on how the system responds. But the hope is that honestly, the biggest maintenance tool going forward on the, you know, three to six year return fire return interval would be, would be prescribed fire. Part of what we did with this project was, and Giannis, to his credit, was very adamant that we made sure that we accounted for, you know, some of the trail systems being considered as, as burn brakes. So, which is a huge thing. So that'll help with implementation of that prescribed fire.

[Bo Hendrickson]

Yeah, and I'll add to that the prescribed fire. It's a great tool because that kind of helps reduce that need for fire herbicide out here, you know, in terms of long term. So, you know, that's going to cut down on your woody invasives that might be coming in. It's going to help rejuvenate that prairie or the oak savannah, kind of clean up the thatch a little bit. As, you know, obviously we have snow here in Wisconsin. Things lay down gets matted down over time, kind of makes it harder over a long term for those seeds to kind of work their way into the soil and keep expressing themselves within the prairie, which then kind of turns away from the wildlife benefit that we're trying to provide out here. So, all in all, it does, you know, a number, I guess, of wonders for us out here. And that's why, Jacob, you know, we're kind of hitting on it so hard just because it really helps reduce that herbicide use, rejuvenates it and just, you know, keeps the habitat what it is.

[Giannis Patelis]

Awesome. Thanks guys. We appreciate you guys taking the time. I look forward to reading the report today and hearing the follow up later. But thank you again. And, oh, I guess if anyone's interested in doing this on their own property or just wanting to find out more about this program, how do they do that?

[Jacob Hernandez]

Yeah, I would suggest people just Google the US Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Fish and Wildlife program. You'll find the state that you're located in and typically there's a point of contact, typically it's our state coordinators or someone acting in that role, and they'll get you in touch with the local biologist that would service, you know, your counties or your area when you do touch base with them. Obviously contact information, property description, kind of your habitat objectives, that kind of stuff helps streamline some of that communication and keep us moving at a pretty quick pace. Alternatively, your. Your local conservation departments, your nonprofits, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Farm Service Agency, all those folks are collaborators that would know about us and can refer us to. But. But word of mouth is how we. Is how we spread our name. So. Yeah, hopefully. Hopefully we get some calls.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right. I love it, man. This gets me fired up. Thanks, Jake. Thanks, Bo. We'll talk to you guys soon. Yeah.

[Jacob Hernandez]

Take care, guys.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right. That gets me super excited just because I'm like, I'm into it. I'm in the rabbit hole and they just sort of like, they just mix me up in the mud down there and get me all fired up. Does that at all interest you guys, like the. That hearing about doing that kind of work?

[Spencer Newharth]

The. The prospects of me owning a property are so distant that it. It interests me less because I. I'm jealous of you that you get to make those decisions and participate in those things.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right, well, you're invited, though, so you might get the opportunity to go hunt that oak Savannah. So.

[Spencer Newharth]

Okay. I like that mckilla deer there.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Spencer Newharth]

See all them. Them pretty endangered butterflies.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, man, that's be my like. Like, would be the best thing ever is if I could be there one summer and show my girls the monarch butterfly. And so. Because I don't know if they've actually seen one yet. And I think there's gonna be a lot of. A lot of kids. Yeah, I think there's gonna be a lot of kids that are in that. That age right now, you know, whatever, 15 and under that will maybe never see a monarch butterfly in their lives.

[Phil]

That sounds insane, right?

[Giannis Patelis]

Doesn't it? It's a terrible thing to think about. So that's why I'm pumped on this is maybe one. Just give them a little bit longer shot at. Keep sticking around.

[Spencer Newharth]

I liked your question about why the government would, like, spend money or like, you know, take a haircut on helping out a private landowner like you. And that's not. That's like, not a new concept at all. Where Chile and I grew up in the Great Plains, there was the. The Great Shelter Belt Project, which restored all kinds of habitats and created all sorts of new habitat. Crp, that's one of the biggest programs in the Great Plains. And wildlife don't know border.

[Giannis Patelis]

No.

[Spencer Newharth]

They don't care if it's public or private. It benefits everybody.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Spencer Newharth]

So.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. Especially, you know. And you can read this on their website. Right east of the Mississippi, it's like 80% of the land is private. So if you don't have people doing this kind of stuff on that amount of land, those little public vestiges just. They can't do it on their own. Right. It's got to be a bigger ecosystem. All right, Phil, let's wrap it up with a few more questions. Sure.

[Phil]

I don't know if you have an answer to this or if this even would have been a good for Jacob or bo, but Kevin Morse asks, how do you stop deer from eating the good treetops after logging, Leaving nothing but less desirable underbrush? We're having that issue on our logged property.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. I think Kevin's asking when he says the good tree tops, meaning, like, probably new growth of. Of young, desirable trees that they want to keep. Yeah, we haven't had that problem yet because we're getting such a flush of the desirable trees that there's enough. Enough and our deer population is low enough that they're not hammering them. I mean, they do nibble on them, but in places like that, where you have to go to more extreme measures. I've been reading up on it to. It's a lot. You cannot. You can basically cage them out. You can. There's. People have done fencing, literally. There's also a thing that after you've done the logging, you can use. Use the logging slash. Slash itself to build basically a perimeter around certain zones. And those will keep the deer out. But again, it takes time and money and effort to, you know, build these, you know, literally, you know, 10 foot tall, 10 foot wide walls of slash to keep deer out of zones like that. Yeah, that's. That's kind of what I've seen so far. I know that it's a. I guess you can shoot deer. That. That's a good way to do it, is shoot a lot of does, Try to, you know, limit your deer population a little bit. But I know that there's certain. Definitely certain places in the United States where it's a big issue Is to kind of keep the deer back from eating all the good trees.

[Phil]

Cool. Let's see here. If Andrew is asking, Spencer, how was the trip to isle Royale? I think you might have covered this a little on trivia, possibly. I don't remember, but have you talked about this at all?

[Spencer Newharth]

I don't think I have. I. I loved it, Andrew. It was. It was super cool. It's a part of the world I'm very interested in, Specifically because of the. The world's longest predator prey study that's been taking place there for the last 75 years. If you're not familiar, there are wolves on the island and there are moose on the island and it's one of the best way that biologists can study how those two animals interact. And so to, to get to be in that place in the middle of Lake Superior here was, it was a lot of fun. Got to spend four hours out there and, and it's referred to as an island, but it's so big that the island has enormous lakes on them that have enormous islands that have lakes on them. So when you're there it doesn't register that you're on an Island. It's 45 miles long and I think like five miles wide. So it's, it's a cool spot. If you live in that part of the country, you should go check it out. And it's, it's not necessarily easy to get to. I booked my ferry tick in January for a trip in June and I think come February they were sold out. So start planning ahead if that's something.

[Giannis Patelis]

That you sold out for the entire summer.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yes, it's a short window. They only run those fairies for like three months or something a couple times a day. So start planning that now if, if you ever want to go there.

[Giannis Patelis]

Cool.

[Phil]

Yanni, I think we've gotten some spring hunting stories from you, but Chili or Spencer, Canadian hunter asks how was, how were the guys spring bear and or turkey seasons?

[Austin Kleberad]

Mine was non existent at least for back here in Montana because I took that New Zealand trip on a tar down there which would have been the beginning of, you know, the spring season up here. So for the first two and a half weeks I was out and then got back into work and then took a trip to Alaska for a production shoot with Steve and the crew.

[Giannis Patelis]

True.

[Austin Kleberad]

So I didn't, I got zero days for bear and I had one day for turkey.

[Spencer Newharth]

I, I bear hunted four days, did not kill one turkey hunted zero days. My spring was really focused on planting some stuff in my yard this year.

[Phil]

You're not a big turkey guy, are you Spencer?

[Spencer Newharth]

I'm, I'm not, no. I, I travel enough hunting in the fall that when spring comes around I'm interested in fish and rocks. So I looked for a lot of fish and rocks this spring instead.

[Giannis Patelis]

Cool.

[Phil]

Last call for questions. We're going to take a couple more if you get them in here. But Noah asks Spencer, will you ever take the opportunity to bow hunt whitetail instead of using a rifle?

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah, I used to bow hunt a lot. I bow hunted last season. I bow Hunted the season before that. I did not kill anything either time. I got away from bow hunting when I moved to Montana and I didn't have, have like a, a property that's set up really well to do that to, to be successful bow hunting deer, you either like need a place that you're very familiar with like Giannis has in, in, in Wisconsin, or you're just like a really badass traveling bow hunter who is willing to commit 10 days to going somewhere and setting up stands or doing hanging hunts. Right now I value just like traveling to different places and hunting. And so I could do two rifle deer hunts in that 10 days. In the same amount of time. I could do one whitetail bow hunt. You're also then doing a lot more scouting in the summer. The pendulum will swing back the other way someday. I'm not there right now. Right now I just really love traveling to new states and rifle hunting. White wheels.

[Giannis Patelis]

He's also going to be so successful that he's going to end up having his own whitetail property that he's going to manage and turn into a big old oak savannah and then he'll be bow hunting a bunch.

[Spencer Newharth]

I, I used to live, you know, 10 miles from where I would bow hunt a lot and I, I would bow hunt 35 days a year. My biggest deer ever killed is with a bow. I think my third biggest deer I ever killed is with a bow. It'll happen again someday.

[Giannis Patelis]

Cool.

[Phil]

I think we're out of questions here, but let's see. Someone had a question for me that I was going to make a joke about, but it's not worth it. Oh yeah. Hotlines Tribe asks Phil, what editing software for video do you recommend to get into making contact content? Please and thank you. I am not the guy to ask this question. I've been doing audio since right out of college. And so everything that I learned in college around video editing and software, I mean, I'm completely, completely out of touch on. Everything's moved on and I haven't really done any video editing for 12 years. So. Honestly, you tell me, please. I'd love to know.

[Spencer Newharth]

Chat. GPT chat.

[Giannis Patelis]

Exactly.

[Phil]

Just generative AI. I'm a huge proponent of that.

[Giannis Patelis]

Well, thank you all for tuning in and listening to us banter along. Tune in again next week when there's going be to be Mark Kenyon, Ryan Callahan and Spencer Newharth in the host chair. Is that right?

[Spencer Newharth]

That's right. Happy fourth of July, everyone.

[Giannis Patelis]

That's right. Yeah. Have a great time celebrating and stay safe. Be smart out there this weekend, and we'll catch you next week.

[Spencer Newharth]

Bye now.

[Lake Pickle]

Ever wonder what happened to the hundreds of thousands of buffalo that used to call the eastern United States home? Or what caused the rise and fall of Bobwhite quail? Backwoods University, hosted by me, Lake Pickle, is the latest addition to the beargrease Feed on Meat Eaters Podcast Network. Together we'll seek out a deeper understanding of wildlife, wild places, and the people who dedicate their lives to conservation, serving both. After all, you can't love what you don't understand. Search Bear grease on Apple, iHeart, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. And hit that follow button to enroll in Backwoods University.

[Spencer Newharth]

Now this is an iHeart podcast.