Ep. 756: Sounding Off and Feral Hogs | MeatEater Radio Live!

Summary

The MeatEater Podcast

Ep. 756: Sounding Off and Feral Hogs | MeatEater Radio Live!
Date: August 29, 2025
Host: Giannis Patelis (with Randall 'Randy' Williams, Brody Henderson, Phil; guests: Rich Froning, Parker Hall)

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Episode Overview

This episode of MeatEater Radio Live! brings the team together for a lively discussion on the changing seasons, recent outdoor adventures, wildlife conservation efforts, family traditions, and the power of sound in the outdoors. Special guests include CrossFit champion Rich Froning—discussing the crossover between fitness and hunting—and Parker Hall, who offers a fascinating look into controlling feral hogs in Florida (with a surprising sea turtle connection) and the memorable sounds that define outdoor experiences. The episode is rich in stories, practical advice, and camaraderie, all rooted in the belief that deeper knowledge of the natural world enhances our lives.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Onset of Fall & Family Traditions (01:03–11:20)

• The hosts share excitement for “fall-like” weather in Bozeman, Montana, with aspens turning and archery season on the horizon.
• Giannis, Brody, and Randall talk about annual hunting rituals and the build-up to upland and archery seasons, with Brody observing:

  "Monday is grouse opener. We'll be out there. That's like the official start." (03:09)

• They preview live event appearances, including the Tailgate Tour visit to Columbus, Ohio (04:17).

2. Alaska Fish Shack Adventure (05:00–16:24)

• Giannis and Brody recount their families’ recent trip to Steven Rinella’s Fish Shack on Prince of Wales Island:
  • Challenges of coping with constant rain and rustic living—especially for the kids, who adapted remarkably.
  • The "Cock of the Cove" award, given to the family member who's always helping out, reflects of communal living.
  • Fishing stories: the joy and chaos of landing (and losing) big halibut, with references to the art of harpooning and the pressure of netting big fish.
• Notable Quote:

  "The adults are bitching about the rain. But the kids, like, don’t bring it up... they’re just like, whatever, man. We put our slickers on and we’re going." — Giannis (07:14)

3. Behind the Scenes: Hunting, Shooting, and Parenting (20:08–23:11)

• The team describes a family shooting day, explaining how competition and creative drills keep kids engaged and mimic real hunting pressure.
• Brody emphasizes:

  "...that little bit of stress of that competition, that is what it's gonna feel like when there's a buck and you have limited amount of time..." (22:09)

4. Field Vet: DIY Dog Care (23:20–26:36)

• Giannis describes stapling his dog's wound after an outdoor mishap, illustrating the resourcefulness often needed by outdoor enthusiasts and houndsmen.
• D.I.Y. vet lessons: use of YouTube, staple guns, and the necessity of basic field medical kits.
• Quote:

  “After doing that, I'm like, I've super... like, I should be a vet.” — Giannis (26:02)

5. Rich Froning Interview: Fitness, Grit, and the Outdoors (28:21–36:40)

• The CrossFit legend and host of the In Pursuit podcast explores the intersection of athletic performance and hunting:
  • The importance of broad physical preparedness for mountain hunts and life outdoors.
  • Parallels between CrossFit disciplines and the mental fortitude hunting demands.
  • Behind-the-scenes struggles—like losing the CrossFit Games because of a botched rope climb—fuel future motivation:

    "I hate losing, I hate failure... man, I just used it as a motivator in the next couple years." — Rich Froning (32:54)

  • Sleep and recovery as key topics for future athletic and hunting performance.
• [30:29] Giannis: “How do you see the intersection of mountain hunting and CrossFit?”
• [32:10] Rich recalls “the most infamous” low moment of his CrossFit career:

  “My dad told me not to use my feet...so all these guys are going up and down the rope. Well, I got up at a couple times and fell pretty good. I think it was about 20ft.” (32:54)

6. Moultrie Trail Cam Photo Contest & Prizes (38:05–40:59)

• The launch of another round of the Moultrie Mobile Trail Cam Photo Contest; this round themed “Big Bull Elk.”
• Prize bundle for the winning photo includes cameras, gift cards, and a signature knife.
• Lighthearted banter about the practicality (and needed innovations) in trail cam management.

7. Q&A: Audience Interactions and Traditions (41:01–46:46)

• The crew fields chat questions on seasonal traditions (Labor Day = camping, fishing, and hunting), high school sports’ impact on fall activities, and cryptic hints about future live podcast tours.

8. Parker Hall Interview: Feral Hogs, Sea Turtles & Wildlife Careers (49:56–63:11)

• Parker Hall, Florida’s USDA Wildlife Services State Director, discusses:
  • The practical methods and risks of dealing with feral swine, especially their impact on sea turtle nests.
  • The detailed disease-monitoring process for trapped hogs:

    "About 25% of the pigs that we have in Florida are positive for pseudo rabies...and a little less—brucellosis, about 15%." (57:44)

  • The dangers of illegal translocation of hogs ("they're a non-native invasive species...they compete with all our native animals") and advice for aspiring wildlife professionals.
  • [51:16] Parker demonstrates pig sampling process live, emphasizing PPE and disease vigilance.
  • Memorable explanation of how the crew’s work aids both agriculture and endangered wildlife.

9. Top 3 “Outdoor Sounds” – A Celebration of Sense Memories (63:57–77:23)

• Inspired by Parker’s idea, hosts and chat participants share favorite wild sounds:
  • Parker Hall: A tree dog on track, fishing drag singing, and a turkey “drumming.”
  • Giannis: His blue tick hound barking treed, oil crackling with fish, and heavy deer crunching through leaves.
  • Randall: Catfish bell at night, the distant gunshot of a buddy’s successful hunt, and “the sound of silence” at a remote trailhead (“when all that noise just stops…”).
  • Brody: Grouse flush at his feet, magpie “whisper song” (often signaling a successful hunt), and the ‘rarity’ of total stillness on the glassing knob.
• Throughout, sound clips and laughter underscore how these moments crystallize outdoor memories.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [14:00] Randall: “I got to harpoon the big one that Steve caught, and it was one of my favorite things I’ve ever done in my life. ‘Cause I’m a big Moby Dick guy.”
• [32:54] Rich Froning: “If you type in ‘Rich Froning falls off rope’ on YouTube, you’re welcome. I ended up losing the CrossFit Games by three points..."
• [57:44] Parker Hall: “About 25% of the pigs that we have in Florida are positive for pseudo rabies...and about 15% for brucellosis.”
• [74:09] Randall: (On his #1 sound) “The sound of silence. Whenever I close my truck door and…there’s nothing. It’s like something just washes over you.”

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Timestamps for Major Segments

| Time | Segment Description | |------------|---------------------------------------------------------| | 01:03-03:37| Fall feels & hunting anticipation | | 05:00-14:35| Alaska Fish Shack adventures & the Cock of the Cove | | 23:20-26:36| DIY dog vetting; field medical lessons | | 28:21-36:40| Interview: Rich Froning (fitness meets hunting) | | 38:05-40:59| Moultrie trail cam contest | | 41:01-46:46| Audience Q&A: Traditions and upcoming events | | 49:56-63:11| Parker Hall interview: Feral hogs, wildlife careers | | 63:57-77:23| The “Top 3 Outdoor Sounds” roundtable |

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Episode Tone and Style

The show is casual, humorous, and irreverent—with recurring in-jokes and easy banter among the team. There’s a knack for storytelling, practical advice, and a genuine passion for outdoor life, science, and heritage. Even as the hosts riff on chores or misadventures, there's an undercurrent of deep respect for conservation, community, and personal growth through engagement with the wild world.

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Conclusion

This episode stands out for its blend of narrative adventure, technical insight, and the shared sensory connections that knit the outdoor community together. Whether it’s tales of rain-soaked family trips, pro athlete grit, forensics with feral hogs, or the poignant reminder of nature’s simplest sounds, it’s a vivid, authentic celebration of wild living and the ongoing quest for deeper understanding of the world around us.

Transcript

[Giannis Patelis]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Sponsor/Announcer]

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[Giannis Patelis]

Smell us now, lady. Welcome to Meat Eater Trivia.

[Sponsor/Announcer]

Meat Eater Podcast.

[Giannis Patelis]

Welcome to Meat Eater radio live. It's 11:00am Mountain Time. Phil's giggling again because I missed the exact timing of this intro. But oh well, we'll keep on going. 11:00am Mountain Time. That's 8:00pm for our friends in Latvia. What up Linda? Caspars. Caspars. Everybody else, it's Thursday, August 28th, and we're live from Meat Eater headquarters. In a fall like Bozeman, Montana, I'm your host Giannis Patelis, joined today by Randall Big, Randy Williams and Brody of Carrie and the Hendersons. Henderson. That was a tongue twister. Like I said, it feels a lot like fall and that has me fired up. The aspens are showing a sprinkling of yellow leaves. The high today is only 65 degrees. I heard a bugle last night. Montana's archery season opens in nine days and my broadheads are flying true.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Oh my.

[Giannis Patelis]

Today on the show, we'll hear about my and Brody's recent trip to Alaska, an audio project called Hidehunters, our favorite sounds from the outdoors, and a new trail camera photo contest. Rich Froning is phoning in to tell us about the hardest moment in CrossFit competition. And finally we'll chat with Meat Eater guest star Parker hall about trapping feral pigs in Florida to save sea turtles. Boys, does it feel like fall to you too?

[Brody Henderson]

It does. But you know, you know summer's coming back.

[Giannis Patelis]

I know. I checked the weather today after we because this rain was unexpected. To me at least I had not been checking the weather. And then yesterday and today it's all.

[Brody Henderson]

Like cool, rainy, great weather for running. And I've been enjoying that.

[Giannis Patelis]

I haven't done any running.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I'm just hoping that this puts an end to fire season.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, I didn't check that this morning either. Do you know if any of the fires were extinguished from yesterday's rain?

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

No idea.

[Giannis Patelis]

But thinking hopeful thoughts, but are you guys jacked too? It's not quite September, but we're almost there. Oh yeah. You guys like it's here.

[Brody Henderson]

It's on Monday is grouse opener. We'll be out there. That's like the official start.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I'm not quite there yet. I'm not quite there.

[Giannis Patelis]

You're not feeling it?

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Well, I'm excited, but I don't feel like it's at the doorstep quite yet. Got a little travel up ahead of.

[Brody Henderson]

Us and his broadheads aren't flying true like yours.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Well, my broadheads are still hanging on the rack at a store somewhere because I'm just waiting to burn some powder.

[Giannis Patelis]

Uh huh. I know. See that's the thing. If you want to really get fired up at the end of August, you kind of got to be an upland hunter like Brody. Or an archery hunter. Now you mentioned we're doing some traveling. We might as well get this out of the way. Randall and I are going to be in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday. Do you have the exact location handy?

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I do not.

[Giannis Patelis]

Well, while he's Randall's looking that up, we're doing the tailgate tour again. And Randall and I are going to be there for the Ohio State and Texas Yes. Game on Saturday. Hanging out. So if you're in the area, go to the website. I'm sure you can get all the deets there on where to find us. Randall might have it pulled up.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

We will be at the Dublin Market at Bridge Park.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay, Dublin Market at Bridge Park. It's going to be early because the game starts at 11.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

So start at noon. I'm sorry, we're going to start at.

[Giannis Patelis]

9Am not 9am kickoff. So you've probably roughly got two hours to come and see us. Nine to 11 Saturday morning, come and hang out, tell me a hunting story, take a picture, whatever you want to do. We'd love to see you.

[Brody Henderson]

Does it say where I'm going to be on where ours is on the.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

27Th TBD on your location.

[Brody Henderson]

We'll have to come back to that.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Yeah, we'll revisit that.

[Giannis Patelis]

Brody, we got back. What has it been now? Has it been a week or 2? 2.

[Brody Henderson]

2 already.

[Giannis Patelis]

We were at Fish Shack, Rinella's Fish Shack on Prince of Wales Island. Randall, you've been there for a bear hunt.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I have.

[Giannis Patelis]

Brody, you've been there a whole bunch with your family. This is the first time I took my family there. My biggest worry going into this one was like how my kids, my girls were going to deal with Steve a little bit, but they've been around him enough, they've kind of grown up with him that they kind of know what to expect and they get my. I coach them on how to deal with that, too, you know, and so that's not too big of a deal because they've been around him. But no, the southeast Alaska's sort of constant rain, the constant 55 degree temperature, that's really not warm, not cold. But, you know, it's like, if you're wet in that. Those temps, it can. It can be uncomfortable.

[Brody Henderson]

Long day, you're always wet even when it's not raining.

[Giannis Patelis]

Totally. The living conditions up there, it's not unsanitary or anything, but it's very sparse. Well, you know, it is a shack.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

When I was up there, I couldn't get all of the mink shit off my bed that I was sleeping in. That's the danger of most of the mink shit. But I couldn't get all of it.

[Brody Henderson]

Yeah, because you were probably the first one there for the season, so you had to deal with all that. Luckily, we were there after all that had been taken.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. Each consecutive group just scrapes off a little more mink, and by the time you're the last group, like us.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

No more mink shit.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Yep.

[Giannis Patelis]

But we. Last group, man. I would rather be the first group. I've only done that, like, once, maybe twice.

[Brody Henderson]

You would rather be a middle group.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, you're right.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

The reason we're saying that, like, middle, like, there's a. There's actually four owners of the fish shack. And so there's a period of probably a span of maybe close to two months. Roughly.

[Brody Henderson]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

Six weeks.

[Brody Henderson]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

And the first group comes, you got to do the job of opening the place up, which isn't. But then there's, like, group two, three, and four who, like, get to just roll in, do their thing, and leave. Now there's work to be done for every group. But the opening and then the shutting the place down is like. It takes a day. It took us a day to shut the place down.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

On our way, you're pulling motors off boats and.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, it's back.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Getting the water lines all cleared out.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. But to finish, my original thought here is I was worried about my girls and how they were going to do there. My wife, I know she's going to be fine. No big deal. They, like, excelled, exceeded expectations. Not only did they never once, like, even kind of talk about the weather, Like, I don't think they talked about the rain. The adults are bitching about the rain. But the kids, like, don't bring it up. They're just like, whatever, man. We put our slickers on and we're going. And that was my big. Or not.

[Brody Henderson]

Put them on and just run around wet.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. And they're bro. My girls. I'm like, you girls are going to learn a lesson. Brody's like, I told you, Brody gets after his kids when they're making mistakes, like running around without raincoats. But anyways, the kids excelled. They didn't give a shit about the rain. And that water is roughly, what, in the 50s? In the 50s, those kids swam. Yeah. Every single day of our trip, the water would come in, the tide would get high, and they would be in the COVID just splashing around like they were at the beach in North Carolina.

[Brody Henderson]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

Couldn't care.

[Brody Henderson]

I mean, Matt Rinella. Matty, he runs around in shorts and crocs like, no rain gear. That kid's impervious to the weather. Just like, it doesn't affect him.

[Giannis Patelis]

My oldest received this prestigious Cock of the COVID award from Steven Rinella. To put this in perspective, we actually have to plan when we're gonna eat dinner. The rest of us, without Steve knowing. Because if you eat dinner. We were eating dinner kind of late. I felt like a couple nights. And I was like, man, let's eat a little bit earlier. And Chef Andy Rajalowski's like, yeah, sure, we can eat it earlier, but. And I didn't really get the but. I guess I wasn't listening. What happens the next night? We eat earlier. We're done at, like, seven. There's like, 90 minutes, maybe two hours of kind of some light left. Well, everybody else wants to, like, play Bananagrams and have another beer. Steven Rinnell is, like, looking out the window, and he's like, whoa. We got plenty of time to dig a hole. We're gonna carry some rocks. We're gonna chain one of the big rocks in the hole, then we're gonna cover up the hole and chain it to my new floating dock. And. And everybody's kind of looking around like. He's like, who's with me? No one raises a hand. So that's the problem with eating too early. So after that, we were really precise that when we finished eating, there would not be quite enough time to get another chore done. It could just be a little bit of relaxation and time for bed.

[Brody Henderson]

Yeah, that. That was like, we had never done the. Eaten early before.

[Giannis Patelis]

You never tried it? No.

[Brody Henderson]

It's always like, you eat and go to bed. Which, like, you got. You get. You know, it's a long day, but it doesn't leave any time for you just eat, go to bed.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay. I've said this to let you all know that when you're at Renell's Fish Shack, and I'd like to know if you had the similar experience, but there's work to be done. There's, like, shack improvement projects that are ongoing. There's just general upkeep of engines and, like, you name it. And then there's the daily stuff, just to keep yourself alive, cooking and eating and cleaning up after yourself and all that stuff. Well, the Cock of the COVID gets the award. When, like, you're always Johnny on the spot. You're raising your hand. When at, like, 6pm no one else wants to go pull shrimp pots. Steve's like, we're going to pull shrimp pots. Who wants to go? You raise your hand or dinner's over. Everybody else is chilling, rubbing their bellies, adjusting their belts. There's a lot of dirty dishes. You get up and start doing the dishes. Right. That sort of stuff. Oh, you got to make another run back from the boats to get more bait. I'll go run back to get more bait. Right. Well, my daughter, very proud of her. She chipped in and was crushing it, and Steve awarded her at the COVID Well deserved.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Does that entitle her to any sort of liberties the next time around or just diminishes?

[Brody Henderson]

Your slate is cleared.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Just sort of an honorary. Yeah. Gotcha.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. Pat yourself on the back and move on.

[Parker Hall]

Yep.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Brody Henderson]

My kid Hayden was awarded chief filet officer.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, that's a prestigious honor.

[Brody Henderson]

Yeah, he. He was after it this year.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. Randall, when you were there, did you feel like you worked your ass off?

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Not really. We didn't do a ton of projects because we were filming, and so the focus was on, like, getting stuff done.

[Giannis Patelis]

It's interesting because usually, even when I've been up there in the past filming, Steve will be like, okay, we did eight hours of filming. Now let's do four hours of manual labor.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Yeah, we. Well, we were like. We were a little under the gun until I killed my bear. And then it was like. Because we had. We had two bear tags to fill. And so the first two, you know, we flew in, couldn't hunt, and we had a day where we didn't. Steve and I chased a couple, didn't get an opportunity. Then we had a day where it just rained all night and all day and bears didn't come out. Steve and I sat in the rain. So at that point there was a little bit of anxiety.

[Giannis Patelis]

I see.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

But when I was up there, I just sort of decided that I was gonna fill the generator.

[Giannis Patelis]

That was gonna be your duty.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Which brought me back to my days working in Alaska. Just filling fuel cans and pouring them and things. And that was, I felt like that was a solid contribution.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, you got to keep the Jenny running. Nothing worse.

[Brody Henderson]

Yeah, we had generator problems this year.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh my gosh. We had all kinds of mechanical problems. Anything else you want to mention about our great trip? No.

[Brody Henderson]

I mean Seth and I kind of talked fishing up there last.

[Giannis Patelis]

Was it last week you covered off on this?

[Brody Henderson]

A little bit off, not on.

[Giannis Patelis]

You covered off on how Seth kept taking out Renell's kids and his Renell's kids would catch giant Hal.

[Brody Henderson]

Well, yeah, I, I, I let people know if you want to get a big halibut, you get incest boat.

[Giannis Patelis]

That's right. Yeah, it's pretty funny. Did you let people know that Steve missed the gaff shot or not? The gaff shot? The harpoon shot on your wife's big fish?

[Brody Henderson]

I can't remember if we talked about that. I think we may have. And he didn't miss it. The, the halit dodged the harpoon.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. According to Ranella. I don't think he's come forward with this story yet. He should discuss it on, on a future Mediator podcast episode. But I once was just ridden to hell. I was there about a, a why am I missing that word? A harpoon throw. I had never done it. I didn't realize. I thought it was kind of like a hi. You know, you just like throw it. No, you gotta put it in there and you gotta let him eat.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

You know, I got to harpoon the big one that Steve caught. And it was one of my favorite things I've ever done in my life. Cuz I'm a big Moby Dick guy. And I also when I was guiding up there, like netting a big king is like a pretty intense situation, you know, like cuz the one end of the fish is gonna be hanging out of the net and if it's the, if it's not the ass end, that thing's going to swim away. So like brought me back again to the pressure of getting that fish in the boat. But a harpoon. Oh, just something very romantic about it. Yeah, I got one good shot and I got it.

[Giannis Patelis]

And you. But you nailed it.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

But the film crew was beachcombing at the time, so it didn't make it into the episode. My crowning achievement. Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, man.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

But they found something cool on the beach, I think.

[Giannis Patelis]

I don't remember. You know what they say, Randall. If it didn't happen on camera, it didn't happen.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I know.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yes. Carrie's fish somehow got wrapped up in the anchor line.

[Brody Henderson]

Well, I mean, it's like they kind.

[Giannis Patelis]

Of got that freed up.

[Brody Henderson]

But she wasn't even in the boat with Steve. No, everything was cool.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, it was.

[Brody Henderson]

Everything was cool. The halibut was coming up. And here comes Steve, jumps in their boat. And that's when chaos ensued.

[Giannis Patelis]

You're kidding.

[Brody Henderson]

There is a.

[Phil]

He is always the common denominator.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

That's great.

[Giannis Patelis]

Why did he feel like he needed to jump in the boat?

[Brody Henderson]

Because he really wanted Carrie to get that thing. It wasn't like you're doing it. I don't think it was like, oh, you guys are doing something wrong. He wanted her to get.

[Giannis Patelis]

Sure, sure. And he wanted it too much. And it'll help if I'm in the boat with you. Yeah.

[Brody Henderson]

Look, man, like, it's fun to, like, point the finger, but shit goes wrong with those big ones all the time.

[Giannis Patelis]

Extremely fun. Yeah. No, we lost more big ones that week than we then. We landed 100. 100%. Especially when you got like, kids like that are around 10 years old, plus or minus whatever, a couple, three years. And like, you're kind of helping hold rod, real rod. And you're like, I can feel the, the, you know, levity of the situation on that rod.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

And that's the last fish you want to lose.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. And you're just like, maddie, do the best you can, buddy. Speaking of hides, bear hides. You got one when you were up there. But you have a project about some hides you're working on.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Yes, yes. The next edition of Meat Eaters American History is available for pre order right now, wherever you get your audiobooks. This is volume three, Meat Eaters of American History the Hide Hunters, 1865-1883, where we dive into the industrial scale slaughter of the American buffalo, as Steve likes to say, in the period following the Civil War. It will be released officially on October 14th. So if you pre order it now, it'll just be on your phone on October 14th and you can give it a listen on your drive to hunting camp.

[Giannis Patelis]

Or can you give me a little snippet of, like, one of your favorite stories from this project?

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Oh, boy. Favorite stories.

[Giannis Patelis]

Well, maybe a factoid that you found interesting.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

So one of the more interesting things is there are several stories about skunks One was a guy named Skunk Johnson. And these guys would build what they called dugout shelters. So they'd dig into the side of a stream bank, and he was famous for having a really big, elaborate one. And at one point, he was surrounded by a group of, I believe, Comanches. And he just was sort of stuck in there. He holed up like it was a siege. And he survived only by eating skunks.

[Giannis Patelis]

Wow.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

And then there was another guy who was bitten by a rabid skunk. There are, like, two or three guys bitten by rabid skunks, one of which he crawled under a watering station along the railroad tracks, like those big towers, you know, I guess, to get out of the sun. And he just died. He never left that place. He crawled under it and died. And then another guy was bitten by.

[Giannis Patelis]

A.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Bitten by a rabid skunk. And when he felt one of the bouts of hydrophobia coming on, he took some of the strychnine that they used to poison the hides for scavengers. And he went out back and he swallowed a slug of strychnine and killed himself.

[Brody Henderson]

That's interesting, because I almost feel like you gotta try to get bit by a rabid skunk.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I mean, it makes you wonder how many there were out there.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

You know, fascinating stuff. And then there's another guy that they think he got bit by a rabid skunk, but they don't know. The skunk either scratched him or bit him while he was sleeping. It got on his face.

[Giannis Patelis]

I mean, if you're sleeping in a dugout cave in a stream bank along a stream, I mean, all those critters run those streams, and you're in there sleeping, and they just come in and whatever. You swat at it and get bit.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I think that's one of my more fascinating discoveries from the research is just four stories about skunks.

[Brody Henderson]

The thing I think is cool about is, like, debunking the myth that these guys are, like, just bloodthirsty. Like they're somehow doing it out of malice. And when actually it was like, yeah, it was, like, a good job to have at the time.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Yeah, we get into that. I mean, in the larger context is, like, after the Civil War, there's just a lot of sort of restless veterans and displaced people, especially if their hometown had been destroyed in the south or whatever else. Like, they come back from war and life doesn't go back to normal for them. So they head out west. And Also, like, the 1870s are a time of a lot of economic upheaval and businesses failing and bankruptcies and stuff like that. So, yeah, like, there's a resource that's free for the taking, and it's understandable that these guys would go out there and try to make a living, especially if they're kind of predisposed to be, like, adventure seekers.

[Giannis Patelis]

So I'm gonna save listening to it. My daughter and I are road tripping to Wisconsin for the rifle season this year, and I'm gonna save it for that.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Perfect. It'll get you through.

[Giannis Patelis]

I'm gonna make her listen to it.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

It'll get you through, I think, six and a half hours of your drive, something like that, so.

[Giannis Patelis]

Well, that's like a third.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Yeah. Maybe get 400 miles out of it. That'd be good.

[Giannis Patelis]

Totally. Let's see what else we got in our little chit chat section here. Shooting with the families. Brody and I went out and did. Did a little plinking. Set up some gongs. I need more stands for the gongs so we can have more distances. Yep. And not have the same, like, two gongs on one frame. Yeah.

[Brody Henderson]

Get them dialing weird distances, like, you know, in between distances.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Brody Henderson]

We were just getting started. We didn't get quite as far along with the competition thing.

[Parker Hall]

We were just.

[Brody Henderson]

I had a brand new rifle that had never been shot.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Yeah, you guys should let me know. I'm just on the other side of the mountain.

[Giannis Patelis]

I know. Well, I mean, I come back from doing one of these, and then there's always like, oh, I should have called Randall. I should have called, you know, Mike, because he's got a kid that also wants to shoot. But I will say, like, we had just. We were at the max amount of, like, how many guns can be going on at once? It's different if it's all adults you're trying to watch. Kids that are shooting, it can get hectic.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Yeah, I don't need to shoot. I can just help. I can just be there to hear the bang.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, okay. Well, then definitely we could use.

[Brody Henderson]

Luckily, we had some quiet bangs going on, at least until Giannis broke out the rifle with the brake on it.

[Giannis Patelis]

Man, it's like, yeah, the brakes are tough these days, but when you go to Canada, you gotta. You gotta shoot. Break. I will say, it's funny how I told my girls going into it, I'm like, I would like you guys to try to shoot about a box or the whole box, you know, 20 rounds a piece, however you want to do it. Well, they get through, like, 10. They've hit every gong. And they're kind of like, eh, you know, we've shot enough. I'm like, no, you haven't. You know, we might get to do this one, maybe two times, but in before we go on the youth hunt, like, we need to shoot a bunch. And I'm like, okay, let's do a little competition. You got to hit 200, 300, 400, and then come and then, and then bring it back and we're gonna time you, you know, and every miss counts for 15 seconds or whatever. And as soon as that was down, all of a sudden everybody's like, all right, let me go, let me go, let me go at it. Let me go at it. And then they each got another whatever that was. Six shots, five shots, quickly. And it's really good because that little bit of stress of that competition, that is what it's gonna feel like when there's a buck and you have limited amount of time and there's all sudden there's stress. Stress in the situation. Self induced, usually when you're out hunting. Right. But like, there is that stress, but it's. You can. You can mimic that by doing a little bit of a competition. I think it's really good for any shooter. You know, kids get a lot out of it, but that's great for any shooter. Yeah, I got other stuff I'd love to tell you guys about. All right, one last thing. I promise Phil. Phil's already like, they're going to be the longest we got any chat.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Chat going on.

[Giannis Patelis]

Longest episode.

[Phil]

Most of the chat, just complaining. That one shut the hell up.

[Giannis Patelis]

No, they aren't, are they? Really? No.

[Phil]

Everyone's loving it. I'm just. I'm just joshing.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right, this is great. Sunday morning we're having breakfast. Kind of a late, late brunchy breakfast. The family. And someone looks over and is like, holy, look at Mingus's leg. And on his, like, lower, I forget which. Which front leg it's on. I think it's his left, but, you know, maybe six or eight inches above his paw. Big old gash, like two inches long, and it's kind of spread open like a solid inch, maybe more. I'm like, yeah, you know, like, that looks bad. Kind of wonder, like, who's going to. Who's going to be the one that takes him to the vet?

[Brody Henderson]

And just for, like, people are listening, you kind of let him roam around and do his own thing.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, we don't have this. We don't have a fenced yard. He wears his GPS collar every single day of his life. And then that way when he. Usually he's not much of a roamer until it gets evening time and it cools off, and then all of a sudden, he starts to roam.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I'm the same way.

[Giannis Patelis]

And anyway, so it probably happened the evening before, no one noticed it. And then the next morning, like, hey, look at that. Well, all of a sudden, everybody else has somewhere to be, so I'm left with Mingus in his open wound, and they're like, take care of it. And I forget I had to go somewhere too, so I didn't have that much time. Um, but I take a picture, send it to my buddy Jake. I'm like, what would you do right now? He's like, yeah, it looks pretty fresh. I think you can just staple it up. I'm like, okay, I have bought the staple gun already. I'm prepared. It's sitting in my truck in case we have a mountain lion, you know, mishap. And it's like the first thing you.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Need to buy when you're a houndsman. Yeah, GPS collar and a staple gun.

[Giannis Patelis]

Totally. And so I've got that. I watch a couple of YouTube videos, irrigate it with, you know, some warm to hot sailing solution, irrigate the hell out of it, maybe scrub it a little bit and stapler shut, and you're on your way. And so I did that. I got to the. Oh, later we had to meet at a volleyball game for my oldest. And I'm like, showing them pictures and telling them my story. They were incredulous. They're like, you didn't do that? You went to the vet? I'm like, no, no. I, like, watched a YouTube video and stapled my dog up. It wasn't that hard. And they're looking at it and they're like, well, it looks pretty good, dad. You know, I'm like, well, like, it wasn't that hard, but they were very much like, nice. Did you really do this? And then later, though, I caught a lot of scrutiny about, like, it's pussing a lot, maybe. Looks swollen. Are you sure you did it right? Anyways, I felt like I should be a vet.

[Brody Henderson]

Sure.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

That's great.

[Giannis Patelis]

After doing that, I'm like, I've super.

[Brody Henderson]

Glued a dog, but not. But stapling. Like, did he squirm or yelp or.

[Giannis Patelis]

He. He gave me, like, a false snap when I irrigated.

[Brody Henderson]

Oh, okay.

[Giannis Patelis]

But the staples, he barely flinched. Yeah, yeah. And I didn't anesthetize him. Was it, like.

[Brody Henderson]

Barbed Wire kind of cut.

[Giannis Patelis]

That's what I'm thinking, you know, especially in that spot.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Yeah, classic.

[Giannis Patelis]

And there's plenty of barbed wire on our property, you know, so. All right. Thank you all for.

[Brody Henderson]

That's the show, folks.

[Giannis Patelis]

We're halfway through.

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[Giannis Patelis]

We're going to interview Rich Froning now. And this interview, this first one is brought to you by none other than Mountain Ops. Whether you're training for the mountain or just trying to feel your best every single day, Mountain Ops has your back. Speaking of performance, we're joined today by one of the most accomplished athletes in the World of Fitness. Four time CrossFit Games champion, and the man often called the fittest on earth. You guys thought that was me, but no, we're talking about Rich Froning. And he's here bringing that all together in a brand new podcast called In Pursuit of where he's exploring how the grit of competition and the challenges of the wild connect to something deeper in all of us. Rich, welcome to Meat Eater Radio Live. How are you?

[Rich Froning]

What's up boys? How we doing?

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Excellent.

[Giannis Patelis]

We're doing great. Is it feeling Rich? You're down in Nashville, correct?

[Rich Froning]

A little bit east in Cookville. But man, it's, it's. It feels like fall here. Man, it's getting me fired up. Mornings are crisp, you know, hot during the day, but it cools off pretty good at the evening. So, man, we just had Velvet Hunt this weekend. I didn't actually get to go out. I was in Texas. But seeing the pictures, man, it's getting me fired up.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, man, I love to hear it. I was thought you're going to tell me it's just been still hot as balls and it's still summertime, but sounds.

[Rich Froning]

Like humidity dropped this week. And man, it's just. You walk outside expecting to just get knocked down by a wall of humidity and there's none. It's. It feels, feels like fall Wonderful.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Lovely.

[Giannis Patelis]

Rich. Can you give our listeners a quick behind the scenes peek and what inspired you to do the In Pursuit podcast? Like what, what's going on with this podcast?

[Rich Froning]

Yeah, man, it's just a good time and it's honestly, it's just me nerding out and listening to some specialists in different areas. Whether it's, you know, we had Joel Turner, that episode just launched today. We had Kip folks who runs a he's gonna outfitter up in Alaska for grizzly moose and all that. And then Joel, we've had on just talking about shot IQ stuff and the high stress stuff you're talking about with shooting rifles. We do he, he does a lot with bows. So it's just cool to talk to those guys and pick their brains. We had an NFL guy that Zach Sealer, that just actually signed a 45 million dollar contract a couple days after he left here. So you know, we asked him for a percentage of that since we probably helped with that. But man, it's just uh, it's my own uh, I guess pursuit for knowledge, for lack of better terms of just getting exposed to different guys and what they're doing and in the hunting and then also just in, in sport and how we can relate that to the outdoors.

[Giannis Patelis]

On that note, like, there's just reading through sort of the ideas behind in pursuit. There's like the grit of mountain hunting and then how that aligns with, you know, physical performance and the disciplines of CrossFit. Like, how do you, how do you see those two? Like, where's that intersection for you?

[Rich Froning]

Man, I think it's just being a well rounded athlete. I mean you just finished 100 mile race, what, a couple of weeks ago?

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, it's been a month now.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

But still feel it?

[Rich Froning]

Yeah. But you're still feeling it? Yeah, you know, it's. So with CrossFit, obviously the idea is, you know, without getting too nerdy in it, you know, you don't want to be the, the strongest guy in the room. You don't want to be the guy that has the most power, but you also don't want to be the, you know, long slow guy. You want to kind of be a mix or have, have some ability at each of those spots. And so yeah, the idea is like, man, we just want to be as prepared for the mountains preferably. You know, that's where my heart is. We got a bunch of guys here that are eastern hunters and I've in the last little bit started doing some whitetail, but my heart still out west Is as much as, you know, I'm stuck here in Tennessee, but you know, we're going on two elk hunts in the next couple of weeks. Archery. And so just being prepared for that, me personally, but also taking that and just helping people that want to, to go out and, and be able to go after something.

[Giannis Patelis]

What? Tell me. I was thinking about this. I had some. During that a hundred mile race, there are some real low points. I could probably. I could point to a couple moments that were like what I would describe as the hardest. And we'll get to that. I'm actually going to come down and visit Rich and we're going to talk about this business. But what in all of your career of competing in CrossFit is there a moment that stands out to you where you're like, oh, during this competition and this moment, I struggled and had to get through this low point to, to make it to the other side, Man.

[Rich Froning]

I probably had too many to list. Probably the most infamous one was my first CrossFit games as an individual. I, you know, the final event, I was leading going into the final and a rope climb is the. There was like a three part event and the final part was a rope climb with some burpees in there. And really didn't think anything about it until I started getting to the rope and having done two workouts before that just couldn't get up the rope. A lot of guys using their feet. When I was a kid, my dad told me not to use my feet because that's for, you know, use whatever acronym you want to use or whatever word you want to use there. I didn't know if it's PG or PG13 show and so I just never used my feet. And so all these guys are going up and down the rope. Well, I got up at a couple times and fell pretty good. I think it was about 20ft.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

And there's.

[Rich Froning]

If you type in Rich Froning falls off rope on YouTube, you're welcome. But man, yeah, you just. I ended up losing the CrossFit Games by three points, which is three places throughout the whole weekend. And man, I was just in a bad spot. And so, you know, there's different things that you can look back on. And man, I just. I hate losing. I hate being that guy that. It's just. I was born into a family of 32 first cousins. 25 of us are boys. My entire life has been a compet condition. And so I hate losing, I hate failure, I hate all that. So man, it just used it as a motivator in the next couple years. I was like, man, I don't want to have that shame. And you know, huge in my faith. And so that was a. That was a big kind of eye opener to that of like, man, just do it for something else. Do it for something bigger than just yourself.

[Giannis Patelis]

Awesome. It sounds like quite the fall. I'm definitely YouTubing that. I think Randall's already got it. Already got it pulled up.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I don't know if the sound's on my computer, so I don't want to fire it up right now, but it's lined up.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right.

[Rich Froning]

Always ready.

[Giannis Patelis]

Rich. Rich, you mentioned Joel Turner, Kip, me.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Who.

[Giannis Patelis]

Who else you got? That's. That's coming on to talk on. In pursuit that you're excited about, man.

[Rich Froning]

We had andy Galpin in. Dr. Andy Galpin. He's.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, yeah, listen to him.

[Rich Froning]

Yeah, man, that was a cool me, you know, being a nerd, being a fitness nerd. Uh, that's what my background is, my degree in. So, uh, being able to like, nerd out on that type of stuff was a ton of fun. I've got another guy, Todd Anderson, which is. He's become a friend of mine. He's really into sleep. That'll be a ton of fun of like, you know what? We think just some minor changes you can make to, to improve performance. Because I think one of the biggest things in recovery is sleep. We've got a couple new. Maybe some nutritionists lined up, an athletic therapist or athletic trainer. So just like, you know, we all see the like CrossFit style stuff or the ultra endurance stuff, but, you know, the taking care of your body when you're not in the gym or not, you know, training for something, even outdoors.

[Giannis Patelis]

I can tell you that was my favorite part about running 100 miles was the two weeks of recovery and taking that very seriously. Which basically means you just sleep your ass off. Lots of naps. Is this guy you're going to talk to, is he a nap proponent? Because I've been hearing that some people I.

[Rich Froning]

We didn't really. We haven't gotten into it yet. He's coming on in the next couple weeks. I mean, I'm. I can't nap. I just. My brain doesn't shut off during the day. As. As bad as that sounds like once I'm up, I'm up. And so we'll see, man. Now I'll ask him about naps. I'll make sure to put that one on there. When we're on there, I'll say Yanis wants to know about naps.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, definitely. Yeah. Because I listened to one. I think it was actually on Galpin's show. He was talking to sleep researcher from the army and a couple big takeaways. Was one. Yeah, naps are great. Don't go over 20 minutes, and then LeBron James takes three to four a day.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

That's what I was gonna say. Napping's huge in the NBA, especially with late tip offs.

[Rich Froning]

Yeah, yeah, that would do it. So, yeah, you gotta control those cortisol fluctuations. So.

[Giannis Patelis]

And. And I mean, you want to talk about a crossover for elk hunting? If I don't get my midday nap in. Yes. On elk hunt, I am just. I'm going to be going downhill.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

A little reset.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, I got to get that little midday napping. All right, man. Well, look forward to hearing some episodes. Where can we find In Pursuit?

[Rich Froning]

The Mediator podcast network? It's. I think today we just dropped. The one with Kip was LA two weeks ago. And this today was Joel Turner. So those will be on there on. On, I guess the channel that this is on. So.

[Giannis Patelis]

Perfect. We'll check them out there. Well, thanks for joining us. Taking time away from your busy day. And yeah, look forward to hanging out in Nashville here when I can get down there to talk running.

[Rich Froning]

Come on, boys. Appreciate it.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right. Thanks, Rich.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

See you.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay. That was Rich Froning, the In Pursuit podcast. I haven't listened yet, but I need to, especially if he's going to talk. Start talking about sleep. Man, I am into staying up on my sleep.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Nothing like talking about sleep.

[Giannis Patelis]

I'm serious.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I know, I know.

[Giannis Patelis]

I'm serious.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

But it's also sort of funny.

[Giannis Patelis]

It is, it is. But people. Like you just said, people don't take it seriously enough, man. And you're not performing at like.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I can't even sleep in the nighttime, much less the daytime.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Brody Henderson]

Oh. I take my sleep very seriously.

[Giannis Patelis]

Well, everybody does. But I feel for you because I know a lot of. Not a lot, but I know quite a few people in my life that. That have a hard time.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Oh, I'll lie in bed for hours. I'll lie in bed for hours just staring at the walls. Get up, walk around, go read a.

[Giannis Patelis]

Book, take a cold shower.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Read until my eyes close on the page. Then do that three more times, and then I'm probably ready.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Working through the right stuff right now. Book about airplanes and space travel, about the astronauts.

[Giannis Patelis]

Actually write. As in W, R, as in R.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I T, H, R, I G, R I T, H R I g H T I got you sleep. Yeah. Chuck Yeager.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right, real quick. This won't take five minutes. Moultrie Mobile Trail Cam. I say that guys because in my little script here, it says roughly how long these little bits.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

But it's good, we can make up some time here.

[Giannis Patelis]

Moby Moultrie mobile trail cam photo contest Round three. Okay. It's called titled Big Bull elk. You can go to how to enter your photographs. You go to. There's gonna be an article, I think we're dropping it today on meteor website. And you can submit your Big Bull elk trail cam photos. We'll pick the top four photos to showcase during next week's show and then have the chat. So if you come and listen next week live, you're gonna get to actually pick the winner. The chat will do it. Prizes are Tell em what they're gonna win.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Giannis.

[Giannis Patelis]

Here you go. Two Edge 2 First Light Spectre Camo Edition Moultrie cameras with 10 watt solar power pack bundles. I can't say enough about those solar pack bundles, man. It makes them completely hands off. The cameras are hands off. Now if they could now just make a function where the solar panel usually kind of. Well, the one that's attached comes out of the top. A lot of them have separate solar panels that you just attach the cord which actually like better because that way you can have the solar panel facing south, camera facing north. But what they need now is another thing where a set of like big clippers comes out of the bottom. Because what happens to me is I set them up in the spring, nothing's growing. And then right about now, all of a sudden it's like this in front of my cameras. And Mochi just needs to have a little thing that comes out and just. It can reach out about three feet.

[Brody Henderson]

And if they douse the stuff around the camera with some herbicide.

[Giannis Patelis]

Listen, that has thought. That thought has crossed my mind.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

All right, well get a draw a drone that'll just hang them for you. Be set.

[Giannis Patelis]

There's three prizes. It doesn't say if there's like a number one, number two, number three prize. They're all good prizes. Prize number two. 250 gift card to the Meat Eater store. A $250 gift card to First Light.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

My goodness.

[Giannis Patelis]

And prize four. I'm sorry, there's four prizes. A case knives. Brett Reeves signature mini trapper knife.

[Brody Henderson]

Doesn't a winner just get all that stuff?

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

That seems excessive?

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, maybe.

[Brody Henderson]

Phil, have we just been picking one winner for those? Haven't We.

[Giannis Patelis]

Damn.

[Phil]

Yeah. One winner gets everything.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Oh, my God.

[Brody Henderson]

Yeah.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

All right, I got to set up some trail cameras.

[Giannis Patelis]

Get a quick awesome bull elk picture. My guess, if I could just, like, look into the future a little bit, it's gonna be something with a bull elk in a wallow.

[Brody Henderson]

That's a typical spot for a trail king.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yep. And you get some water splashing, maybe a bull on his back pissing all over himself.

[Brody Henderson]

You could put it on a telephone pole outside Mammoth Hot Springs, too. And you do all right.

[Phil]

Oh, yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

I don't know if the park's going to let you put a camera up.

[Brody Henderson]

Just keep it quiet.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay, now we're on to answering a few questions from the chat. Phil, what do we got today?

[Phil]

Yeah, and Giannis already said so, but just to reiterate, the article is not up yet, but it will be up later today.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay.

[Phil]

So, yeah, keep your. If you want to check back this evening on Themeater.com, it should be pretty obvious. Submit your. It's a multi trail cam footage.

[Giannis Patelis]

You know what is up right now, though, Phil, is my most recent on the Hunt episode where I went to Wyoming to shoot a pronghorn.

[Phil]

Check that out.

[Giannis Patelis]

Trophy pronghorn.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Trophy.

[Giannis Patelis]

I was going for a trophy. I learned a lot about judging trophy pronghorn on this trip.

[Phil]

You guys want to watch Rich fall off of a rope?

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Yes, please.

[Phil]

Okay.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Phil]

I felt bad doing it when he.

[Giannis Patelis]

Was on the line, but here's Rich going up. He's only using his arms. Oh, dang, Rich.

[Brody Henderson]

That's a. That could have been a broken tailbone.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, that looked tough.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Yeah.

[Brody Henderson]

In that spartan race me and Hayden did, we watched a guy, you gotta swing from ring to ring, you know?

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Brody Henderson]

And a big, muscular guy like Rich made the big long swing, but didn't hold on, landed flat on his back and broke his collarbone. Like, we hurt. We heard it snap.

[Giannis Patelis]

How did you do on those rings?

[Brody Henderson]

I did all right because I'm, like, skinny and spry. I don't gotta wait till.

[Giannis Patelis]

Right, right, right, right. Yeah. Dang, that looks rough.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

And he still took third place.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

You ever broken your tailbone?

[Giannis Patelis]

No.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Oh, it's not fun.

[Giannis Patelis]

I mean, I've had it.

[Phil]

How'd you do it?

[Giannis Patelis]

Have you done it?

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Yeah. Is there a story playing basketball, posting the guy up. He thought it'd be funny to just whap with a knee. Ooh, yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, that did it.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

No kidding.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Oh, it was awful. Awful. You're coccyx. That's what they call it.

[Brody Henderson]

Randall can't Take those hard fouls.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Nope.

[Giannis Patelis]

I like the fact that you're a B ball player. I'm gonna get my hoop down here from my house.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Oh, yeah. And then in the wintertime, we should set it up in my barn.

[Giannis Patelis]

And Max. Oh, yeah, that's a good idea. I know that we have Max, you, Spencer, play Spencer and Nick Tapia. All right, let's get a question in, Phil.

[Phil]

Sure, let's get a question in. Let's see here. Trey woods is asking for some crew score predictions for the tailgate tour. Something like college game day. Randall, you got any predictions, predictions you want to. You want to share, at least for the game you're going to.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I guess what I'm thinking is I just don't want them to lose at home. First game of the season, it's going to be really coming as defending national champions. I mean, there's just. There's a lot of pressure. And Arch Manning, I mean, I don't know. I just. It's going to be a bad scene if they lose. So I'm thinking positive thoughts, but as you can tell, I'm also thinking negative thoughts, so.

[Giannis Patelis]

Well, they still have that literal highlight reel of a wide receiver.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Jeremiah Smith.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, that guy is incredible.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Jeremiah Smith for Heisman.

[Phil]

That was actually one of the questions here. Randall, is your predictions for Heisman this year.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

You want to know some Heisman trivia?

[Giannis Patelis]

Please.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Yeah, the figure on the statue, that's Jay Burwanger, quarterback at the University of Chicago, back when we were a powerhouse.

[Brody Henderson]

Interesting.

[Giannis Patelis]

I like that. Randall, you're full of stuff like that. You got another one, Phil.

[Phil]

That was from Trey. John asks Giannis, have you seen anyone doing a 100k barefoot?

[Giannis Patelis]

Nope, I haven't.

[Phil]

Is that a thing that happens?

[Giannis Patelis]

I think maybe a little bit. There's some of that barefoot or, like super minimalist shoe stuff going on. The thing you see sometimes there's these running sandals that they are. They are very minimalist. I mean. I mean, the sole is flat and it's like a quarter inch, and then there's just a couple straps going over the foot to hold the sole underneath you. That's the closest I've seen to anybody doing one of these barefoot. And I don't know if you. If you train in it, they probably finish.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Sorry, I misspoke. Jay Burwanger was a halfback.

[Phil]

I'm disappointed. Nathan asks, crew, what are some plans, traditions that you have on Labor Day weekend, if you have any. Do you guys have any sort of go to activities or stuff to do with the family.

[Brody Henderson]

Camping, fishing and. Or hunting.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Yeah, camping. It's a great camping weekend.

[Giannis Patelis]

It is, it is.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Send off to the summer before.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. We're gonna do a little barbecue with the neighbors. Catch up. We haven't seen him in a little while. My oldest daughter just made pat on her back again twice. In one episode. She made the Bozeman High School freshman volleyball team, the A team. And I've now realized that it's a fall sport and it's going to affect our fall activities.

[Brody Henderson]

Oh, yeah, My son's figuring that out with cross country.

[Giannis Patelis]

Luckily for you, season, they don't. It's not going to affect.

[Brody Henderson]

It's not.

[Giannis Patelis]

We're.

[Brody Henderson]

We're good for antelope opener and you season.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right, all right. And those are the two big ones for us right now. Do you want to do another one, Phil?

[Phil]

Yeah. I don't know how much has been announced or how much we can say, but Azor King asks, when is the Meat Eater crew going to do live podcast tours again?

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I don't think we can say.

[Phil]

Okay. I would say just.

[Giannis Patelis]

Is that right?

[Phil]

Just keep your eyes.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I don't want to do it open. I don't want to be.

[Giannis Patelis]

I'm not doing anything.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I'm not going to touch it.

[Brody Henderson]

Yeah, just stay posted. It'll.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Yeah, hang on.

[Phil]

Keep your eyes open.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, it's not going to be.

[Phil]

Yeah, yeah. I don't know about, like the.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I don't even think you should have clicked on this question.

[Brody Henderson]

Be optimistic and stay posted.

[Phil]

There you go.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. If you, like, live in the southeast part of the country, you're probably going to be pretty excited.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

We're going to get a call from the C suite here in a minute.

[Giannis Patelis]

If nobody had said we can't talk about it, so what the hell?

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I just assume I can't talk about.

[Phil]

They tell me clean lines of communication around here.

[Giannis Patelis]

If they're going to be mad, let's move on.

[Brody Henderson]

We got a lot of stuff to cover.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right, all right, all right.

[Phil]

Brody says no more questions. All right, sorry, guys.

[Giannis Patelis]

We can do a long.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

We can do a long ending question session.

[Giannis Patelis]

On to our next interview. Many of you know Parker hall from meat Eater Season 8 episode Flathead Catfish and Gray Squirrels, where he taught Steve how to eat sunflower seeds properly. Specifically had to build a little gravy in the seeds. This was alongside bank pole fishing for flatheads and squirrel hunting with his feist Ruby. This episode is recently released on the YouTube channel as part of season eight being released there. That Started I think, about a month ago. This is the first episode in season 8. Highly recommend you check it out.

[Brody Henderson]

There's a very good tutorial on how to fry fish the right way in there too.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yes. I. I still do things that I learned from Parker on that trip. One being. Speaking of fried fish, Parker's probably. He's not on yet. He can't even talk. I'm talking for him. But Parker seasons his fish before breading it, which I think is crucial. The other day, we did a breading that had mixed sizes of the breading itself. Like there was some panko, there was some flour, cornstarch. As the breading got used up, the. The big stuff, the panko was gone. It was turning into a just flour and cornstarch breading. Which is why, if you think about it, salt and pepper are similarly sized. Right? They're fine. And that's why Parker does all seasons of fish first. Because if it's in your breading that salt and pepper are not getting onto the fish as much as whatever bigger chunks of breading you have on there. Say it's cornmeal or whatever, right? So if you want even seasoning, you got to season the fish first. Thanks, Parker. All right, let's see.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

He's.

[Giannis Patelis]

He's definitely watching.

[Phil]

Watching this cannot say anything.

[Sponsor/Announcer]

We thanked him.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay, let's see.

[Phil]

We don't even. We don't even need to bring him on anymore. I think you just covered it.

[Sponsor/Announcer]

Hunting demands preparation, persistence, and gear that will not quit on you. That is why I wear First Light. This isn't about hype. It's about no compromise. Gear built to perform, built to last. Whether it's their industry leading merino wool keeping me comfortable through the cold and the hot, or their durable outerwear shrugging off the elements, First Light is built to help you go farther and stay longer. Designed by hunters for hunters with a deep commitment to conservation and land access. No shortcuts, no excuses, just gear you can count on. Head to first light dot com. That's F I R S T L I T E dot com Parker and.

[Giannis Patelis]

I stay in touch via text, usually sending each other videos of our dogs barking on trail or treat. If you know, you know. Parker is the state director of the USDA's Wildlife Services Florida program, and his main focus is alleviating damages associated with feral swine. This includes protection of agriculture, natural resources, threatened and endangered species, and disease monitoring. Today, he's joining us while he's taking DNA samples from trapped hogs that are threatening sea turtles.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Hmm.

[Giannis Patelis]

Did you know that that could be a thing?

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

No, no.

[Brody Henderson]

You now.

[Giannis Patelis]

Welcome to the show, Parker. Oh, I can't hear him.

[Phil]

I don't think it's my fault you got your mic on, Parker.

[Parker Hall]

How about now?

[Giannis Patelis]

Hey, beautiful. Nailed it. Did you like that introduction, Parker?

[Parker Hall]

That was great. That was perfect introduction and also perfect description of why you should bread, I mean, season your fish first. Excellent. Excellent description. Perfect.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay, I see that you have a. What looks to be either a dead or anesthetized pig in front of you. What are you doing with that thing?

[Parker Hall]

So thank you for the introduction and good overview. This, this, this is a dead pig, not an exercise. So something we do in the state is protecting, like you said, agriculture, threatened endangered species, sea turtles.

[Giannis Patelis]

People who are.

[Parker Hall]

Trying to manage their land and being overrun with pigs. We are not actually doing sea turtle protection, although we do it all over the state. This is a land manager that's trying to manage deer and turkeys and warm season grasses and all those kind of things. So we had a group of pigs captured today. And part of what we do with USDA Wildlife Services is also monitor for diseases. There's a number of diseases that we take. Samples we take and we look at, including pseudorabes, brucellosis, classical swine fever, African swine fever. We look at some of the flu viruses, hpai, all sorts of things. So as part of that, all the pigs that we capture, we do take samples of them. And I was just going to kind of go through that today and show you guys what we take. And then if there's any questions you have about what we're looking for, why we're looking for, for it, that'd be perfect.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right, so move on.

[Parker Hall]

All right, so we have to do is make sure we put on our ppe. It's kind of, it's good to wear PPE when you're taking samples and dealing with feral swine. And most of you guys know, and one thing that we, we deal with in the southeast, particular with feral swine to an extent, is pseudo rabies and brucellosis. So pseudorabes is not a zoonotic disease, meaning we can't, People can't get it, but brucellosis, you can. And for those of you that are cleaning feral swine and those things that the brucellosis kind of hangs out in the reproductive tract and the lactating areas and those kind of things. So it's always a good idea to use, use some protection when you're, when you're cleaning feral swine. If you're, if you're going to consume them and all these diseases that we're talking about, some of them could be transferred to people, some can't. But it's. They're all. All killed if you cook it to a proper temperature. So something. The first thing I'm gonna do is gonna take some blood. Hopefully this, this animal's been dead for some time, so hopefully it's not congealed too much. So pressure's on. What I'm doing is trying to make a heart stick and going in the top of the heart, and then that goes into a vial. And these, these vials are pressurized, as you can see. All right, that's. This goes into my collection kit. Then I'll take a couple more samples. This next sample, I'll just get a little drop of blood and put it on a. On a Q tip. And then that goes in some media, which I cannot open. Get my Q tip out.

[Giannis Patelis]

Hey, Parker, if you've got a helper there, would you mind asking them just to angle that camera just up, just a hair? We're mostly looking at the bottom half of your face.

[Parker Hall]

Okay. How's that?

[Giannis Patelis]

There we go. Perfect. Better.

[Parker Hall]

Okay, good.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right.

[Parker Hall]

And this, this goes into media. And this in this one particular is looking for foreign animals. Eve. African swine fever. We don't. We do not have that in. In the United States, but it's in Haiti and, and down that. Those type of areas. It's in Africa. It's pretty bad. We don't want it in. In feral swine in the United States. And the reason we look for a lot of these diseases and feral swine is for protection of our domestics. So some of them we used to have, we've eradicated, and we're trying to keep them out. The feral swine all over the country can act as a reservoir, Right. So if a disease gets in those wild populations, it's much more difficult to get rid of or treat or do whatever you need to do. The ones that are in captivity, the ones we use are for our food source. We could treat those animals and kind of stamp out diseases. So it's really bad if they get in the, in the, in the wild. Try to keep them, you know, try to keep monitoring. And if we see something, then we can take proper precautions and talk with our state ag and, and our state wildlife agencies and then they can take the steps that they're. They're going to do. So. Got that one. And the last sample I'll take off of this animal is DNA genetic sample. That's just an ear clip. We take that and put that into this media and then that sent. And what we're trying to do in USDA is get a map of feral swine all over the, all over the continental United States to see movements, to see if animals came from one area, have been relocated to another area, try to stop translocation, try to see natural movements and how they're doing. Bigger pigs are really taking off all over the country, and we're learning a lot of valuable information using this genetic technique. So those are the three main samples that we would get that all goes on to a data sheet. And you notice they have these barcodes. So when we send that in, the barcode matches with the vial. Scan, scan, scan, and goes into, you know, the list. And then all of our exile Excel spreadsheets get sent to us and people go through those and take, and take a look and see what our prevalence. Prevalences are. Like I said, mostly in the southeast. Pseudo rabies brucellosis are ones we have. And along with trichinosis lefto those, those types of things, we also, we also look and when we first get the animal, we just kind of go over it and see if there's any lesions or anything that look, that's looking abnormal. And if there, there are something, we see some blistering, some sloughing of the hooves, then we contact our, our, our state veterinarians and maybe get them involved and see if there's something that, you know, was on the landscape that we haven't seen or something we don't want.

[Brody Henderson]

Hey, Parker, like what percentage of the, the pigs you're examining have one of these diseases. Like, can you make a ballpark on that?

[Parker Hall]

Actually know the answer to that? Oh, about if I believe it or not, about 25% of the pigs that we have in Florida are positive for pseudo rabies. Now, say that's, that's not. So people can't get it, but it's fatal in dogs and some other animals and a little to a lesser extent, brucellosis, which is about 15 or so. So it is.

[Giannis Patelis]

I have lots of questions, but if you guys have some, please go.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I don't have a question. I just wanted to say that had I known you were waiting with a dead hog for us, I would have insisted that we interview you first so you didn't have to sit there with your dead hog and your PPE for 45 minutes. But appreciate you having you on.

[Giannis Patelis]

Parker, you said we're all you mentioned the translocation and that you guys are kind of keeping an eye on that. I'm assuming that that's being done by humans and that it's probably being done by hunters that want to hunt feral swine in their area. Is that true? Is that what you guys are fighting A little bit?

[Parker Hall]

Yeah, that's what we find. So USDA is non regulatory, but if we have a new population show up where they've never been before in the middle of the country, we're able to remove some of those. And then we work with our state game and fish agencies and be like, these came from, you know, we're in South Dakota and these genetically go back to Orlando or whatever that area. So there's some valuable information that's, that's being gained there. And we, we can tell that there's certain areas in the country where a lot of pigs are coming from. And it's, it's pretty neat stuff to be able to see where those hogs are being moved from and where to. So. Yes, can you. Go ahead.

[Giannis Patelis]

I was just going to say, can you just tell us just quickly so we can spread the message of why translocating pigs is a bad idea if you don't know.

[Parker Hall]

Well, other than the disease issues I talked about and all the peony species, agriculture, you know, destruction in the woods, competing with deer and turkeys, there are non native invasive species. So it's just like any other non native invasive species. They don't belong here, they didn't involve on the landscape and they compete with all of our native animals and give our agricultural community a pretty big headache.

[Giannis Patelis]

I love Parker's job. Parker, you love your job?

[Parker Hall]

Love my job.

[Giannis Patelis]

How would you. I think there's got to be some kids out there listening, some young people, maybe some old people that want to change their career. If someone wanted to get into doing like what you get to do on a daily basis, which is every time we talk to you, I'm like, man, that sounds like fun what Parker's doing. Like what do they need to do in school and then what do they need to do in after school sort of to get the experience to, to get in that line of work.

[Parker Hall]

And thank you for asking that question. We're kind of a smaller agency in wildlife services, so we do have, believe it or not, trouble getting applicants sometimes. So we have different levels of technicians. You know, they're, they can come to work with wildlife services with no college degree. They need some experience in the outdoors, trapping, you know, animal damage kind of stuff. Any of those types of things, they can come to work. And those jobs, those employees are the backbone of wildlife services. They do all the work and we get all the credit. Just like this, this trap behind me and these feral swine that were trapped. I didn't do it. I was too busy doing spreadsheets. One of my good technicians did it. And so those people are out there and it's a great job. A lot of our jobs are posted on USA Jobs. That's the government website. You can also look up. Each wildlife services state has a webpage. You can go and call the state director or call the district supervisor, ask around in the state. They know as you move up, you do need a college degree, like a four year degree in some sort of natural resources, biology, wildlife, all those sorts of things. And that gets you up to that biologist level. And then after you get to that, you can work, work your way up. But the crux and the heart and soul is, is our technicians, you know, are people who are in the woods making a difference.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. Were those pigs pretty easy to trap or were these some of those difficult pigs that you've talked about in the past with us?

[Parker Hall]

No, these were, these ones are pretty easy. These, these haven't been messed with a whole lot. So they, they weren't too difficult. Some of them get super hard. And you know, we were talking about a little earlier protecting sea turtle nest, and that's a big thing that, that we do. And some of those guys get squirrely because we chase them, we chase them pretty hard, they'll get out. You know, Florida being what it is, we have so much coastline and so many nesting sea turtles and feral swine are in high populations here. So those pigs will get out on the beach and just dig up turtle nest after turtle nest after turtle nest. And some of those can get, can get kind of squirrely to get to.

[Giannis Patelis]

If I had known as a younger person that wildlife tech also included trapping and possibly hunting these animals, I could be on a completely different career path.

[Brody Henderson]

Not too late.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right, thanks. Thanks for that, Parker. I hope that you actually get some people that call you up interested in possibly, possibly working for that agency. Now, before I invited Parker to come on this show, he had texted me and said, hey man, what you guys should do one time on one of your podcast thingies, that's the term he used, is that you guys should name your top three favorite sounds from the woods. And he had already, at that time, he, at that moment, he sent me the list, his top three favorite ones along With a video where you could hear one of the sounds that he said. Now, Parker, do you want to tell me what your. Do you remember what your three are that you. That you sent to me in text?

[Parker Hall]

I do remember my. I do remember. Well, I think I remember my three, because they don't really change. But before we get to the three, I think it's super important to point out, please, that every. We do in building up in the outdoors, we go through a lot of preparation a lot of things, and getting all ready and excitement, and then all of a sudden, you're there. But when you hear a sound, you know it's all come to fruition. Something's about to happen. And so I started thinking about that. I was like, man, sound is such an important thing. You know, when you're. When you're outside, you know, recreating hunting, fishing, doing all those sorts of things. So I do know my three.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right, well, I'm gonna let you start then. And I want you to start with the. The. The number. Number three, and then go to two and then go to the top one.

[Parker Hall]

Okay. Number three for me is probably a tree dog, and I love the sound of a tree dog. You know, I have ruby, and you have your good blue dog, who, by the way, has a beautiful voice, and it echoes out through them mountains, man, I can't get enough of it. I show it to somebody, like, listen to this dog.

[Giannis Patelis]

I love it.

[Parker Hall]

And, you know, you're. You're running the track. Run the track, run, track. And then that changes that chop, man. You know, something's about to happen. So I really love that part.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Oh, yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

Beautiful. Phil, do you also have Parker? I do, yeah. Ruby. All right, Parker, what's your number two favorite sound? In the woods or the outdoors?

[Parker Hall]

My number two sound is a drag singing Just when you hook up to the fish and that drag. You know better than that. You know, it's just something that. That gets your heart going. You know, something good is about to happen. So that's my number two.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay, we're gonna play it right now.

[Parker Hall]

That's what I'm talking about.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. Last fall, we got to fish similar water to what Parker is fishing there on the coast of Florida. We were on the coast of Louisiana, and I'm assuming that was a redfish in that video. And we got to experience a lot of that. And you can't help but giggle, like, when that is happening and that reel is going backwards and making that sound, singing. You just can't help but giggle. I mean, it is just one of the best. All right, number one sound in the.

[Parker Hall]

Turkey woods, Parker, then the best sound now.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, sorry. In the woods. I meant to say in the woods.

[Parker Hall]

Is when you are hunting a turkey, and you've been working him for some time, and all's quiet, and you in the game, you know he's coming, but you don't know where. He's gobbled last about 20 minutes ago, and you're just frozen, and all of a sudden, you hear that drum.

[Phil]

And.

[Parker Hall]

You right on top of you, buddy. And I'm telling you, it gets your heart pumping so fast, you. You freeze rock solid, and you hear. That's the best sound in the woods, if you ask me.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Beautiful.

[Giannis Patelis]

Now, if, for those of you turkey drumming the spit, you can kind of catch on camera. But that sound of the drum itself, it's one of those sounds that is for. For whatever reason, a microphone has a hard time picking up that. That hum.

[Brody Henderson]

It's so low frequency, right? And like, new turkey hunters, I think, hear that. Like, it doesn't even register with them. Like, I've tried to point it out to people, and they're like, what are you. I don't hear anything. You know.

[Giannis Patelis]

You guys want to go next, or you want me to go?

[Brody Henderson]

You go.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right, I'm gonna. I'm gonna speed mine up a little bit. We already heard my number third. Number three was Mingus bark and treed. We already heard Mingus number two. This is also a video I sent to Parker. I was really thinking about, like, what makes me happy when I hear a sound. And I was thinking, man, when I drop in some fish or some turkey nuggets into some oil, and that. And that oil just is crackling away.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Oh, yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, that is a good sound. And like Parker said, you know, something's good is about to happen. You're about to put that stuff in your mouth.

[Brody Henderson]

That sound changes a little, too, like when you first throw it in versus when it's ready.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, that's a good one. That's a good point. That's a good point. All right, number one. And I will say, man, there's a lot of good sounds out there, but this is what came to mind in the last 24 hours. I was putting some effort into making this come together. Is a deer walking through the woods, crunching leaves underfoot. Specifically a heavy deer and oak leaves. I don't. Were you able to pull. Pull anything like that up, Phil?

[Phil]

No, because this is literally the first time I'm hearing about this.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay. But you all, if you're a deer hunter out there, Randall, Brody, you guys have both been there. Pennsylvania, Ohio. It's like another sound that you don't really see it before it happens. It's like a lot of times for me when I'm in a tree stand, that's what tips me off to the presence. And somehow I don't know how, but I feel like I'm getting to the point where I can tell the difference between 15020 pound doe and 175 to 200 plus pound buck.

[Brody Henderson]

Like, I couldn't do that.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

It's been so long since I sat in a tree stand that as you're describing this, all I can think about is how similar squirrels sound to deer in my. In my memory.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yes. And the moment you think you got that figured out, you're like, ah, that's a squirrel. You look over there and there's the buck you've been waiting after.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Like, how does the squirrel make that much noise?

[Giannis Patelis]

But man, when I hear that sound, same thing, man. It's just like, you know it's about to go down. You know, whether it's a dough or a buck, whatever, you better like, you need to get into predator mode. Get your bow in your hand, get your release clipped on and start focusing real fast because it's. It's about to go down.

[Sponsor/Announcer]

Hunting demands preparation, persistence, and gear that will not quit on you. That is why I wear First Light. This isn't about hype. It's about no compromise. Gear built to perform, built to last. Whether it's their industry leading merino wool keeping me comfortable through the cold and the hot, or their durable outerwear. Shrugging off the elements, First Light is built to help you go farther and stay longer. Designed by hunters for hunters with a deep commitment to conservation and land access. No shortcuts, no excuses, just gear you can count on. Head to firstlight.com that's F I R S T L I T E dot com.

[Giannis Patelis]

All right, who's next?

[Brody Henderson]

Doesn't matter.

[Giannis Patelis]

Randall.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

You sure I can go? I brought in a prop for my first sound.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, Randall's opening a breakdown rod case now.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Brody, if you hold this there.

[Giannis Patelis]

Sure. Is this gonna hurt me? Nope.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I just need you to hold that nice and still.

[Brody Henderson]

Oh, I know where he's going with this.

[Giannis Patelis]

Now we go. Randall's got a we go.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Picture this. You're sitting by a riverbank at night. You cast your bait out, settles on the bottom nicely.

[Brody Henderson]

A warm summer night with crickets.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Warm summer Night, you click off your headlamp and you crack open an ice cold beverage. And then all of a sudden you.

[Brody Henderson]

Hear, put that by your mic.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

And then you hear. And that's how you know old Mr. Cattater. Fish has your bait. Nothing more exciting than hearing that bell ring when you're. When you're catfishing at night. Number two, picture this. It's deer season. You're with your buddy. He goes one way, you go the other. You're hiking 5 minutes, 10 minutes, whatever. And you guys are the only guys out there. Then all of a sudden, boom. Your buddy shoots.

[Brody Henderson]

What about the thwap?

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

The thwap is good too. I was thinking specifically of when we were in Mexico and we. We were listening on the radio and our buddy shot a buck and he hit it good, but it went off. And we could hear him kind of scrambling, like, I don't know if. Like, where is he? Where is he? Looking for him, looking for him. We're sitting there, like biting our lips, and then all of a sudden you hear boom. He found him. Just a gunshot.

[Parker Hall]

Where?

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

You know exactly what happened. That's the best sound in the world, actually. That's number two.

[Giannis Patelis]

That's number two I'm tracking. You have two great sounds so far, Randall.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Picture this. You're deer hunting in Idaho. It's 4:30. You got a long hike ahead of you. Driving down a bumpy road. You're listening to maybe a podcast, maybe the meat eater podcast. Maybe you're listening to some music that'll pump you up. Rock and roll, hip hop, whatever your thing is, you get there, you put your headlamp on, you shut the car off, you get outside and you close the door. Perfect silence. When all that noise just stops, I feel like whenever I close my truck door and it's. There's nothing. It's like something just washes over you.

[Giannis Patelis]

The sound of silence.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Sound of silence is your number one.

[Giannis Patelis]

I like it.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Sound of silence. That's my number. That's my top three.

[Giannis Patelis]

Good job, Randall.

[Phil]

Good top three.

[Giannis Patelis]

I enjoyed that. Brody.

[Brody Henderson]

My number three would be a grouse flushing right at your feet. You got the noise fill?

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, yeah. Ooh.

[Brody Henderson]

That's a very exciting sound. If you're a grouse hunter.

[Giannis Patelis]

And it.

[Brody Henderson]

Can take you by. Let take you by surprise a lot of times too. And it means good things. So that's a good one for me and my dog. My number two is a magpie call called the Whisper Song.

[Giannis Patelis]

Got that, Phil?

[Brody Henderson]

It almost sounds like they're talking a little Bit when they're doing that, like human talking sometimes.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I'm only familiar with the whisper song by the Yin Yang Twins.

[Brody Henderson]

Not familiar with that one.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

This one parentheses the whisper song.

[Brody Henderson]

This one's way better than that because Careless Whisper, because this is often out west, the sound of a successful big game hunt oftentimes very soon after you shoot and walk up to, you know, a mule deer, elk, what have you, you're going to hear that song pretty quickly. And it goes on the whole time while you're breaking that animal down because they know a big meal is coming.

[Giannis Patelis]

So I got good things on the horizon.

[Brody Henderson]

Yeah. So that. That's a sound I love my top one, similar to Randall's. Little more specific. It's. It's when you. Because I think this is a very rare thing to hear, which is like you get to the glass and knob, you sit down, and it usually takes a little while to sink in and you realize that is completely quiet. There's no background noise, no cars, no planes flying overhead, no dogs barking, no cows moving. It's. It's very rare to hear. It may be a little more common out here in the wide open spaces of Montana. It's tough to find, probably in Wisconsin. But like, it's almost jarring when it sinks in.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, yeah.

[Brody Henderson]

When you're. You're like, oh, my God. There's like no background, like no wind noise even.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

And then no longer panting from the hike in.

[Brody Henderson]

Yeah, you get that. No longer hear my pulse. That rare super still day.

[Giannis Patelis]

It's. It's.

[Brody Henderson]

It's the best.

[Giannis Patelis]

Man, you boys got me fired up. I was fired up an hour and 10 minutes ago. 15 minutes ago. I'm extreme, you guys. Now with the sounds of nature, the top ones. I'm. I might just take the rest of the day off and go fishing so I can hear a real thing or go fry some fish or go find a spot in the woods that is silent.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I want to go somewhere and just see if I get surprised by a gunshot.

[Giannis Patelis]

Ooh, everyone's dream. Hey, Parker, thank you for joining us. Thank you for bringing your work to light here and to share. For sharing and for coming with the idea of the top three favorite sounds. I'm sure we're gonna use that one again.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

It was an inspired suggestion.

[Giannis Patelis]

Thank you very much. So for all of you at home, thanks for watching and listening.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

What about. What about.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, we still gotta do more feedback. I figured Phil was just gonna cut me off. Parker, you are free to go, man.

[Phil]

Thanks, Parker.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

You can walk away from that dead hog now.

[Giannis Patelis]

See ya.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

He's a good sport.

[Phil]

Hey, how about this? Giannis? I'm gonna call a quick audible instead of doing questions. How about we go over the chat? Had a lot of great suggestions for sounds from the outdoors.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, yeah, I haven't really.

[Phil]

I haven't been reading all of them, but we can just kind of, you know, play it by ear. Keith says drumming of a ruffed grouse, the song of a red winged blackbird, and the thwack of an arrow connecting.

[Giannis Patelis]

I like all three of those.

[Phil]

Texas smoking says turkeys wouldn't even make his list, which is. Seems controversial. Seems like a hot take.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Texas smoking. I like it.

[Phil]

Wood duck as the sun comes up. It's pretty nice. The first western meadowlark of spring.

[Brody Henderson]

That's a good.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I like sandhill cranes.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yep.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

So fun.

[Phil]

Spencer Newhart says a big buck walking through the woods sounds the same as a squirrel.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

That's true.

[Brody Henderson]

No, it doesn't.

[Giannis Patelis]

Spencer don't know it's true.

[Phil]

You don't know.

[Giannis Patelis]

He's. He hunted in North Dakota. They don't have leaves that the. That the deer crunch on.

[Phil]

Andrew says an arrow slicing through the air. Turkey goblin the distance, and a bullock screaming at you from 30 yards away.

[Giannis Patelis]

You.

[Phil]

You guys didn't hear this? Randall, when you were talking about your gunshot, I played a gunshot, but I didn't have the. I didn't have the audio in. In the room up, so. But the chat heard it, and apparently it was timed perfectly, so.

[Giannis Patelis]

Good job, Phil.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Once again, did it go with my boom?

[Phil]

It did. It did go. It was. It was this.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I look forward to watch. Oh, I look forward to watching this on YouTube. Okay, that'll be fun.

[Giannis Patelis]

Randall. I like that it was that your friend shoots something and not you.

[Phil]

Spencer is arguing with you. He says that they do have trees, so.

[Brody Henderson]

Not with leaves.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

When you.

[Parker Hall]

When.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

When someone. When you were like, with someone, and they're like, I'm going to go after that deer, and you're just sitting there and, like, you lose sight of your body and you lose sight of the deer, and you're just waiting, and then all of a sudden, boom. It's just like, what happened? You want to know?

[Giannis Patelis]

You do.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

There's nothing better.

[Phil]

Jude says 1 million duck calls all at once on public land.

[Giannis Patelis]

No, that's not my. Not in my top 10.

[Phil]

Yeah, a lot of. We got a lot of upland birds flushing, so. Yeah. Thanks for. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[Giannis Patelis]

Chat.

[Phil]

Appreciate it. Yanni, you are completely off camera right now.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, sorry.

[Phil]

That's okay.

[Giannis Patelis]

I'm just kicking back reading along with you.

[Brody Henderson]

We could do least favorite sounds sometime soon, too.

[Giannis Patelis]

I hate to dwell on the negative.

[Brody Henderson]

Yeah, but, you know, it's part of life. Things going wrong out there.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yep. All right, so no questions today, Phil.

[Phil]

We're at a good time. You guys. You guys don't seem very receptive to questions.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

No, I'd love to hit a couple questions.

[Giannis Patelis]

We love questions.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

We got plenty time.

[Giannis Patelis]

The only reason that I would get finished right now is for your time, Phil. I want to be respectful of your time.

[Phil]

That does mean a lot. I didn't have breakfast, and it's lunchtime, and I'm getting. I'm getting. Getting a little hungry. Let's see. Spencer is asking. He says, ask the guys how the SIG range day competition went in parentheses. Who won? Is he talking to you?

[Giannis Patelis]

I don't even know what range day competition he's talking about.

[Brody Henderson]

Oh, when we were out at the.

[Giannis Patelis]

When it was the whole crew who did win.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

The whole crew, except for me and Steve, were recording the audiobook.

[Giannis Patelis]

Were you there, Brody?

[Brody Henderson]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

Was I there? Yep.

[Brody Henderson]

We were shooting together.

[Giannis Patelis]

Who won? I'm guessing.

[Phil]

We never should have guessed.

[Giannis Patelis]

Spencer won. Good job.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Let's move on to another question.

[Brody Henderson]

What does this have to do.

[Giannis Patelis]

Well, he's just wanting to talk smack. Yeah, he's just sad he's not here right now.

[Phil]

Yeah, he's. Well, that's the thing is, like, this happens with Randall when Randall's in the chat. Sometimes they're the ones fielding questions, so people just ask them questions for the whole show.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, look, Azure King. When are we doing another live podcast tour? Possibly at the end of this year. Look at Nate's question.

[Phil]

Oh, which. Let's see.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

At the bottom. At the bottom.

[Phil]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Nate asks, says Phil, what was Randall's score on trivia? If he played yesterday's game yet? He has to know if his win is legit.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I got a perfect game. Driving into the. Driving into the office, I mean, I felt like questions one through five were just gimmes for me. Chronograph.

[Giannis Patelis]

I know. I can't believe I'm. Brody and I both had the same wrong answer.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Great Basin National Park.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, people.

[Phil]

People in the YouTube comments, Yanni were angry about the. About Nate's tree stand answer. They said that that should have been accepted.

[Brody Henderson]

No, it shouldn't have.

[Giannis Patelis]

Well, wasn't me to make the final call. Spencer was hosting, so. All right, I agree with him. It wasn't the right answer.

[Rich Froning]

Let's Go.

[Phil]

Let's call the show there, guys. How about that?

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

You don't want to end on a good one.

[Giannis Patelis]

Is that not a good one? No. Phil's saying there's no good questions left, Randall.

[Phil]

Well, here's the thing. I love everyone who watches this show every week. If you're asking questions in the chat, you're doing a great job. But a lot of the questions are sort of like, hey, can I have some tips about deer hunting? And we need to get more specific with the questions. You know, that's a hot tip.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Is there just a weird question? Can we get a weird one?

[Phil]

A weird question?

[Brody Henderson]

Randall just doesn't want to go.

[Phil]

I normally don't flag this super weird question. Okay. Freddie Rick said he was late to the show because he was butchering an antelope. And then he followed up with, what is a good use for the outside round besides jerky or grind?

[Giannis Patelis]

Ooh, outside round is a different term than what I know. Is he talking about top round?

[Brody Henderson]

I don't know if he's talking top or bottom.

[Giannis Patelis]

It's gotta be one of those two. Oftentimes, I mean, I just roast it.

[Parker Hall]

It's.

[Brody Henderson]

They both of the rounds make good.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I eat a lot of round steaks. Yeah, Yeah, I ate a lot of round sticks.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, totally. If it's. And what I'll do sometimes if I cut one and it's a little bit chewy, the next time I make that same cut, I just give it a little pounding.

[Brody Henderson]

Sure.

[Giannis Patelis]

And it's fine.

[Brody Henderson]

And listen, man, I feel like people don't use enough good cuts off the hindquarter. If you want good burger.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Brody Henderson]

Use good cuts. If all you use is shank and shoulder for burger, it's not going to be great.

[Giannis Patelis]

Burger. Preach that shit, Brody. Do any of you eat your wild game brains?

[Phil]

No, that was from Peter.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

No.

[Giannis Patelis]

But they want to know why not. Peter wants to know why not.

[Brody Henderson]

Yeah, that's my answer, too, I guess.

[Giannis Patelis]

Like, no one's ever come to me and been like, hey, this is a good idea. It's delicious. You should prepare it this way. Like, I just, you know, you hear of some tribes eating some brains every now and then.

[Brody Henderson]

There's also, like. And I don't want to be, like, scare and like people for no reason. There's also, like, disease concerns with eating brain. Some brains of some animals, like CWD collects in the nervous system and, you know, brain. Remember that? Wasn't there some rumor flying around about eating squirrel brains one time?

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, that's right.

[Brody Henderson]

So yeah, just don't do it.

[Phil]

See, here's an example of one that I'm not sure like Brody, I want your take since you're. You always give an honest you pull me back in. Gabriel asks put in for my first straw hunt in southern Indiana and drew a bow tag for middle of October. It's a unit that he can't get into beforehand to scout. He has two days to hunt. Any advice or pointers?

[Brody Henderson]

I think this is not a question for me because it's like a white tailed bow archery hunting question. So I'll pass it off to Giannis.

[Giannis Patelis]

And you know, I, I can't get into beforehand to. So there's no scouting and he has to scout. Just roll in the cold roll, plan it by ear. You know, a lot of people say that October is the time for afternoon hunt. Going on that notion and whether that was the case or not, I would spend at least the first half of the first day, maybe more, maybe three quarters of that day just pounding the ground and looking for sign and learning those woods and trying to figure it out. I'm guessing it's a. Sounds like it's a good tag to have if it's so limited. So maybe there's not a lot of pressure. I think that you pounding around and trying to figure it out for three quarters of a day that just then leaves you like an evening hunt and then possibly, you know, a morning in the evening the next day. That is time better spent than just going in there off of a. And like a little bit of. Not that you should definitely do a whole bunch of onyx.

[Brody Henderson]

Well that's what I was gonna ahead.

[Giannis Patelis]

Of time but like you can't rely and don't be like that's gonna be the perfect saddle. You just don't know. You got to go there and look. You should find out. Maybe call down there and see what the acorn crop is like this year. Like in Wisconsin this year we have a Booner crop. But find out what's going on down there for feed ahead of time. That'll, you know, educate on where you need to go, what you need to do. But I think my number one thing would do is just be to take the time on the ground the first day and pound the ground, find the sign and you don't have to find rubs and scrapes and all that. Find like some good looking deer trails that look recently used, find fresh scat. I think that you're going to be well on your way.

[Brody Henderson]

One thing I would add, even though this isn't my type of hunt. But if, if this guy is talking public land, I'd be looking on Onx for something that presents difficult access for a lot of other hunters.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

Sure got a hike over ridge, but.

[Giannis Patelis]

The difficult access might have already been overcome or been sort of presented through this draw of a tag or whatever.

[Brody Henderson]

Maybe it's Indiana, so there seems like there's going to be hunters, you know.

[Giannis Patelis]

True, true. Good luck, Gabriel. Last one.

[Phil]

Last one here. This one's for Randall. If they could.

[Brody Henderson]

Oh, I. Oh, I cannot support that as a Penn State fan.

[Giannis Patelis]

Thank you all for listening and watching at home. Hope you enjoyed this episode of Meat Eater Radio Live. Who's hosting next week? Is it one of you?

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

I'm hosting Randall. I'll be joined by Cal and Seth.

[Giannis Patelis]

Hey, hey. That sounds like a banger of an episode.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

It's gonna be real fun.

[Giannis Patelis]

Tune in. They're gonna choose the winner of the Moultrie Big Big Bull Trail Camera.

[Phil]

You at home will be choosing the winner.

[Randall 'Randy' Williams]

That's right.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay, but you guys.

[Phil]

But you have to be watching live to vote.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay, Randall's gonna present. We're gonna choose the top four. Randall's gonna present the top four. And to leave you one more time, let's listen to Randall's one of his favorite sounds. Till next time.

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