Ep. 819: $0 Tax Stamps and Mr. Bear Grease Himself | MeatEater Radio Live!

Summary

The MeatEater Podcast

Episode 819: $0 Tax Stamps and Mr. Bear Grease Himself | MeatEater Radio Live!

Date: January 9, 2026
Host: Randall Williams (MeatEater)
Key Guests: Brandon Maddox (Silencer Central), Clay Newcombe ("Bear Grease" podcast, outdoorsman), Corey Calkins, Seth Morris, Phil

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Episode Overview

In this energetic live episode of MeatEater Radio, Randall Williams and co-hosts gather at MeatEater HQ in Bozeman for a new year of hunting, fishing, and conservation conversation. The show features a landmark discussion with Brandon Maddox of Silencer Central on the elimination of the $200 suppressor tax stamp, a catching-up session with storytelling legend Clay Newcombe about his incredible late-season whitetail, tips from the audience, and a rowdy round of "Price is Right"—all laced with humor, practical advice, and classic MeatEater camaraderie.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Season Kickoff and Outdoor Updates [00:30–06:15]

• Banter and camaraderie set the stage for the new year.
• Hosts share holiday hunting stories:
  • Seth takes advantage of the deer season extension in Montana due to EHD outbreak, fills the freezer, and endures the “mean” mood of the local ice fishing Facebook groups.
  • Corey recovers from a black eye, laments the dreary, dry winter ("Skiing's piss poor... pretty sad." – [03:28] Corey).
  • General gripes about warm, muddy conditions and poor fishing and skiing.
• Upcoming trip to Texas:
  • Corey and Seth detail plans for bobcat and hog hunts with special guest Kevin Murphy, “the world’s greatest small game hunter.” ([05:01])
  • Bobcat calling in South Texas brush ("Last time, called in 14 coyotes in one stand and bobcats 50% of the time." – [05:18] Seth)
• Football tangents and regional pride about football and bobcats.

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2. Interview: Brandon Maddox, CEO, Silencer Central [06:15–17:59]

$0 Tax Stamp on Suppressors: What This Means

• Big News: As of Jan 1, 2026, the $200 ATF tax stamp for suppressor purchases is eliminated.

  • “Of course, the laws change where there’s no tax stamp anymore, so it’s cheaper to get a suppressor.” – [07:05] Brandon Maddox
  • “All the suppressors out there are now $200 cheaper in terms of the end user out of pocket.” – [08:41] Randall

• Process — How Silencer Central Streamlines Suppressor Ownership:

  • Must pass background check, provide fingerprints/photos (1934 law).
  • All paperwork is digital; suppressor is shipped directly to your door if legal in your state (42 states eligible).
  • "It’s a fully automated process through Silencer Central from beginning to end." – [07:05] Brandon
  • Drastic wait time reductions: from 13–14 months to only a few days in some cases ([10:45]).

• Demand & ATF Backlog:

  • Demand for suppressors has increased 3 to 4 times overnight.
  • ATF's digital infrastructure is struggling with the surge:
    • "Their computer system probably hasn't been able to handle the volume... Sometimes we're submitting your info 25, 26 times." – [09:39] Brandon

• Advice for First-Time Buyers:

  • Consider dedicated cans (tailored to your most-used firearm) over trying to buy a “do-all” suppressor.
    • “You'll find it to be so effective, it's easier to open your wallet to buy further later.” – [12:34] Brandon
  • The “just buy one and you’ll end up with more” axiom is validated by experience ([13:36], [13:49]).

• Cultural and Practical Benefits:

  • Suppressors transform shooting/hunting for families, range time, and especially for hearing protection ([15:00] Randall quoting Will Primos: “Protect your hearing.”).
  • Brandon shares: “100% of the time, once they bought one, they said, 'I’ll never shoot a rifle or handgun again without a suppressor.'” – [14:23]

• Upcoming for Silencer Central:

  • New, lighter titanium models.
  • Software tools so more dealers can easily handle suppressors.
  • Expanded services: barrel threading, SBR applications.
  • Improving efficiency, even for repeat customers: “If they go through the process with us again, they’re gonna see... smoother and quicker.” – [17:01] Brandon

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3. Hot Tip Off: Ice Safety & Skull Cleaning Tips [19:18–26:12]

Contestants: John Mertz vs. John Foley

• John Mertz's Ice Measuring Tip [21:07]:

  • Mark chisels at 4”, 8”, and 12” with white tape to check ice thickness on the go.
  • “Just because it’s four inches here does not mean it’s four inches out there. Keep checking as you go and stay safe out there.”

• John Foley's Skull Cleaning Hack [22:22]:

  • Remove brain matter from skulls using a $10 Harbor Freight air chuck and an airline.
  • Quick blast of air cleans the cavity instantly into a bucket. “Cleaned it out perfectly... My pup is excited because he’ll probably lick up the extra stuff.” – [23:35] John Foley
  • Result: Chat decisively votes Foley’s no-mess method the winner (91%).

• In-Studio Reactions:

  • “That was good… Both good, but that’s a tough one to beat.” – [25:55] Corey
  • Lively banter about other methods (stick, tent stake in drill, boiling).

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4. Listener Q&A & Community Banter [27:39–35:18]

• Zeroing Problems:

  • Systematic approach to a gun that won’t hold zero (check scope, mounts, bedding, try different ammo).
  • “Life’s too short to shoot an inaccurate rifle.” – [29:24] Randall

• Fleshing Beam Construction:

  • Use half-log siding; simply sand/smooth. Becomes self-greasing after use.

• Store Inventory and Gnome T-shirts:

  • “When we make something like the gnome T-shirts, it’s kind of a collectory thing…” – [33:01] Corey

• Historical Color Phase Animals:

  • No records found of color phase animals in long hunter accounts; rare in east.

• Guide vs. DIY for Elk:

  • Guides offer a huge learning curve lift if new; drop camps less recommended than full DIY or full guide.
  • “There’s a beauty in figuring it out yourself, but you’re going to make a lot of failures.” – [34:51] Corey

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5. Clay Newcombe: Buck of a Lifetime and Tour Recap [36:28–49:19]

• Tour Reflections:

  • Clay and Randall reminisce about the MeatEater live tour, connecting with fans, musical gigs with Evan Felker, Reed Bargainer, and the crew.

• Big Buck Story:

  • Christmas Day, “Jiminy Christmas” buck appears; becomes Clay’s new obsession in Oklahoma.
  • “Within seconds I was texting it… gagging over this deer… the biggest deer I’ve seen on camera in a long, long time.” – [43:41] Clay
  • Four and a half days of sporadic patterning leads to success on January 4th.
  • Notable Details:
    • 14.5” wide, 14 6/8” G2 tine (“Very few deer have a tine over 14 inches.”)
    • Bow-killed at 22 yards.
    • “I still can’t believe I killed that deer. I’m still on cloud nine.” – [45:34] Clay
  • Solo tent camping adds to the adventure.

• Family Success:

  • Son Bear killed a once-in-a-lifetime buck (154”) in Arkansas.
  • “Couldn’t let him stay on top for long, you know?” – [47:58] Clay

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6. The Price is Right: (Outdoorsman Edition) [50:24–59:05]

• “Deer Scrotum Christmas Ornaments” ($30 actual)
• Four-gallon case of Doc’s Catfish Dip Bait ($187)
• Portable Teemu heating hunting seat ($18.40)
• “Deck the halls with buck balls…”, “Waste nut want nut” — hosts crack up at outrageous product descriptions and wild guesses.
• Corey Calkins dominates the game.

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7. More Q&A, MeatEater Book Club, and Lively Wrap Up [59:29–end]

• Buffalo Cooking: “Short answer is everything… treat it like the closest thing to beef you get from wild game.” – [60:35] Randall

• Book Recommendations:

  • “Breaks of the Game” (Halberstam, NBA history),
  • "Ends of the Earth" (Neil Shubin, polar research),
  • "Only God Can Judge Me" (Jeff Perlman, Tupac),
  • "Lewis and Clark: Pioneering Naturalists",
  • "Plainsmen of the Yellowstone",
  • "The Will of the Many" (James Islington, fantasy).

• Barbecue Sauce Preferences:

  • Phil: “Vinegar-forward all the way.”
  • Randall: “Alabama white BBQ is not an everyday thing.”

• Video Game Talk:

  • Randall’s back in his “Zelda phase,” Phil on Baldur’s Gate 3—a touch of MeatEater nerd life.

• Warm closing: “We love you, we appreciate you. Happy New Year!” ([66:35] Randall)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It’s a fully automated process through Silencer Central from beginning to end.” – [07:05] Brandon Maddox
• “Once you own a can, you’re hooked. It’s a totally different experience.” – [13:36] Randall Williams
• “Just one quick blast of air and that’s it. Cleaned it out perfectly. My pup is excited because he’ll probably lick up the extra stuff.” – [23:38] John Foley (Hot Tip Off winner)
• "Life’s too short to shoot an inaccurate rifle.” – [29:24] Randall Williams
• “I still can’t believe I killed that deer. I’m still on cloud nine.” – [45:34] Clay Newcombe (on his “Jiminy Christmas” buck)
• "Deck the halls with buck balls." – [52:13] Seth Morris

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Season/Holiday catch-up, ice fishing woes: 00:30–06:15
• Texas hunt plans & Kevin Murphy: 04:44–06:12
• Suppressor law changes (Silencer Central interview): 06:15–17:59
• Hot Tip Off—ice safety & skull cleaning: 19:18–26:12
• Listener Q&A—zeroing issues, gear, historical animals: 27:37–36:28
• Clay Newcombe interview—big buck, tour stories: 36:54–49:19
• The Price is Right (outdoorsman edition): 50:23–59:05
• Q&A: buffalo recipes, books, video games: 59:29–66:31

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Tone & Typical MeatEater Style

Irreverent, friendly, insightful—with a heavy dose of outdoor expertise, dry wit, camaraderie, and appreciation for audience interaction and curiosity.

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For Listeners Who Missed It

This episode is a perfect mix of hard news every hunter should know (goodbye $200 suppressor tax!), classic MeatEater storytelling (Clay's “Jiminy Christmas” buck), and down-to-earth hunting, fishing, and gear advice. You'll laugh, learn, and feel right at home—don’t miss John Foley’s riotously effective skull-cleaning trick, the rowdy “Price is Right,” or Clay’s infectious storytelling. It’s outdoors culture at its finest, in all its goofy, knowledgeable, and heartfelt glory.

Transcript

[Randall Williams]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Unknown Intro Speaker]

Guaranteed Human.

[Phil]

Smell us now, lady.

[Randall Williams]

Welcome to meat eater trivia.

[Unknown Announcer]

Meat eater podcast.

[Randall Williams]

Welcome to Meat Eater radio live. It's 11am Mountain Time. That's 9am for our friends in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, where Seth Morris tells me it's negative 40 degrees. Today is Thursday, January 8th, 2026, and we're live from Meat Eater HQ in Bozeman. I'm your host, Randall Williams, joined today by my two friends and colleagues, Corey Calkins and Seth Morris. On today's show, we'll interview Brandon Maddox from Silencer Central about some big news in the world of suppressor ownership. We've got a sizzling hot tip off for you. We're going to catch up with Mr. Clay Newcombe, who recently got himself a big old buck, and we're going to play a thrilling round of the Price is Right.

[Seth Morris]

But exciting.

[Randall Williams]

Before we get into that, Seth, Corey, it's great to be here with you both at a brand new year. Exciting things ahead of us. How have you been?

[Corey Calkins]

Oh, well, Happy New Year.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah, Happy New Year. Been great.

[Randall Williams]

Any fun adventures from the high quarry? I know you're, you're on the mend.

[Corey Calkins]

It's true. Yeah, boy, the last time I was on the show, I had a big old black eye.

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

You look good.

[Corey Calkins]

Thank you. Yeah, I feel good. I feel a lot better.

[Seth Morris]

You look fully healed.

[Corey Calkins]

I, I, well, a couple brain cells might still be in the woods.

[Randall Williams]

Some of the injuries are invisible. Yeah.

[Seth Morris]

And forever lasting.

[Corey Calkins]

No. Feeling a lot better though. Thank you very much, very much for asking.

[Randall Williams]

Oh, it's good, Seth. You have any fun holiday break adventures?

[Seth Morris]

Yeah, did some hunting. The, the nice little extension on the, the deer season here in some units in Montana. Capitalized on that.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, we've got a, we've got an extended season in some areas around the general vicinity of Bozeman because of an EHD outbreak.

[Seth Morris]

Yep.

[Randall Williams]

You and the Mrs. Took advantage.

[Seth Morris]

Yes. We killed some does for the freezer and then did some ice fishing, which is tough to do in Montana right now.

[Brandon Maddox]

Oh, yeah.

[Seth Morris]

You got to go up to elevation to find some good ice.

[Randall Williams]

And you were telling me earlier that people shouldn't look for their ice reports on Facebook.

[Seth Morris]

Well, you can, but people are just kind of mean.

[Corey Calkins]

They are.

[Randall Williams]

The ice fishermen are in bad moods right now. Yeah, yeah.

[Corey Calkins]

I'm in those same groups.

[Seth Morris]

The Montana Ice Report.

[Corey Calkins]

Yeah.

[Seth Morris]

People are just, just, just, you know, nice guys going on there, asking to see if there's any ice anywhere and people just light them up. It's Ridiculous.

[Corey Calkins]

Yeah. Go find out for yourself.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

We shall be in the same boat here.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah. We're all friends, guys.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Corey Calkins]

Some folks don't want to drive five hours and have to just turn around because it's not safe.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah, exactly.

[Randall Williams]

Because someone lied to them on Facebook.

[Brandon Maddox]

Right.

[Randall Williams]

Corey, did you get outside at all, or were you mostly, you know, I.

[Corey Calkins]

Was kind of holed up for half of our break, and then the second half, I didn't get out a whole lot, honestly. Gained 15 pounds, did a little skiing, but, yeah, it's kind of a dreary start to the winter around here. A lot of folks, I think, in the Rocky Mountain west are familiar with right now. It's very dry and warm here in southwest Montana. It's pretty sad.

[Phil]

So the.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah, yeah.

[Corey Calkins]

The ice fishing's not really happening down here right now, and skiing's piss poor. Yeah, we went for a little depressing.

[Randall Williams]

We went for a hike, hoping it would be drier, but we were. We'd gotten too high up in elevation and it was just mud.

[Brandon Maddox]

Oh, yeah.

[Seth Morris]

It's like mud season.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. Shot some ducks with. I wanted to know how the. The suits live, so I thought, what better way than to spend a day with a CEO? So Ryan Callahan took me duck hunting, shot a couple ducks.

[Brandon Maddox]

All right.

[Randall Williams]

Turns out that CEOs live just like the rest of us. Really? Yeah.

[Phil]

Yeah.

[Corey Calkins]

Can they shoot?

[Randall Williams]

He probably wouldn't want me to say this, but Cal kind of had a rough day.

[Corey Calkins]

It's tough.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. I would say when you're shooting a.410.

[Seth Morris]

Cal's probably not like other CEOs, though. He probably hasn't changed a bit and won't change a bit.

[Randall Williams]

I don't know. I text him the other day to ask him how his first day was, and he hasn't responded yet.

[Seth Morris]

Oh, he's changing.

[Phil]

He's changing.

[Corey Calkins]

Eight days ago.

[Randall Williams]

No, Monday.

[Corey Calkins]

Okay.

[Randall Williams]

Officially on Monday.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. So he's. He's a busy man. I'll hear from him at some point.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah, I'm sure he will.

[Phil]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

What do we have? Do we have anything look like in the next month or two, any outdoor adventures planned?

[Seth Morris]

Oh, we're going to Texas next week.

[Randall Williams]

That's right.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

What are you doing down there?

[Seth Morris]

We're gonna go hunt some bobcats and hogs.

[Randall Williams]

Well, that sounds fun.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah. Should be a good time.

[Randall Williams]

We have a special guest joining you.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah. Yeah. Kevin Murphy.

[Randall Williams]

The people love it.

[Seth Morris]

The. What do we call him? He's like the. The Godfather of small game or the.

[Corey Calkins]

Steve's Coined him as the world's greatest.

[Seth Morris]

World's greatest small game hunter.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah.

[Phil]

Love that guy.

[Corey Calkins]

That'll be fun to have him back on. Now, hunting bobcats.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah. Call them in.

[Corey Calkins]

Calling them in, Calling them in.

[Seth Morris]

Shooting with shotguns.

[Randall Williams]

Wow.

[Seth Morris]

Call them in close. Cool. Yeah. Down there in that brush in South Texas, just getting, like, a pocket that's pretty tight and start calling. And it's kind of crazy. Last time we did it, there's one stand we did where we called in 14 coyotes. And I think 50% of the time, 50% of the stands we did, bobcats came in.

[Corey Calkins]

That's incredible.

[Seth Morris]

Wow. Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

A lot of kitties, a lot of.

[Corey Calkins]

Kids, and their fur is probably as good as it's going to get down there right now, huh?

[Seth Morris]

Yeah. Which is not great.

[Randall Williams]

But I bet Steve will spend a lot of time talking about how the. The cats in Montana are better.

[Phil]

Yes.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Corey Calkins]

Well, as a Montanan and a football fan, I'd love to shoot a bobcat right now.

[Randall Williams]

Coke Riz, man, what a game. Yeah, Cory's. Corey's not. Cory's not a bandwagon fan.

[Corey Calkins]

No, no.

[Randall Williams]

Cory went down with the ship several.

[Phil]

Weeks ago, like half of their fan base.

[Corey Calkins]

But it was a hell of a game.

[Randall Williams]

It was indeed. Well, joining us first on the line is Brandon Maddox, the founder and CEO of Silencer Central.

[Brandon Maddox]

How are you, gentlemen?

[Randall Williams]

We're doing very well. How are you, Brandon? Thanks for being on the show.

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah, speaking of suits, I feel bad I got one on today. I had a legislative event.

[Randall Williams]

Well, you lost the tie, so you'll fit right in around here.

[Corey Calkins]

Yeah, looking good.

[Randall Williams]

So, Brandon, we wanted to have you on. As some of our audience might know, last week we saw a pretty significant change in the world of suppressor ownership, or suppressor buying. But to fully appreciate that news, you kind of need to know how it all works. So I wonder if you can begin by just explaining sort of the basic requirements and process, and then also how silent essential makes that easier for folks.

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah, sure. So, of course, the laws change where there's no tax stamp anymore, so it's cheaper to get a suppressor. But, you know, basic requirements are you gotta be able to pass a background check, same as buying a firearm. Um, it's basically a title transfer. We're asking the feds to retitle the ownership of the Silencer from us to you. And we just have to have fingerprints and photos still from, like, a 1934 requirement. We submit it to the ATF digitally, they approve it, and then Silencer Central ships that silencer directly to your front door. So we know that's popular in a lot of areas where you don't have to leave the couch. You can buy a suppressor. It shows right up to your front door. So, yeah, our process. Think of it as we sort of own the whole process. So when you buy one, we're managing the paperwork for you digitally and, you know, sending you text saying, hey, you need to sign this. Or, you know, sending a text saying, hey, don't forget, it's approved. We're about to ship it to you. So think of it as a fully automated process through Silencer Central from beginning to end. Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

And there's. I mean, as someone who's gone through this process more times than I'd like to admit, there's a lot of sort of boxes to check. And your system just guides people right through it and kind of holds their hand and makes it relatively seamless.

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah, absolutely. Because basically we gather your information and then we put it all into the forms. Then we let you look at it, make sure we fill it out on your behalf. Right. And then basically, you're submitting it with your own username and pin, which kind of creates your digital signature. And then it goes right to the atf. As soon as they approve it, we mail it to your front door from our location in your state. So we're in all 42 states where silencers are legal. We have a physical location and FFL there. We just ship it right to your front door from there.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. The first time that I received a package from you guys, it was pretty surreal because I've done it the other way, and it's a lot of trips, you know, going back and forth to a Class 3 dealer and doing the whole, like, whatever, approve the ATF submission, come back, go get it, and all that stuff. So to just have it arrive at your doors is pretty amazing. You mentioned that the tax stamp, the $200 fee associated with the taps, the tax stamp has now gone down to $0. That was part of a bill last year, and now it's effective as of January 1st. So basically all the suppressors out there are now $200 cheaper in terms of, like, the end user out of pocket. Yeah, absolutely. How has that changed demand in the past few. In the past week or so? I mean, I imagine that business is looking pretty good for you guys right now.

[Brandon Maddox]

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, you probably look online at some of the forums and the groups, the dealers will tell you the ATS websites crashing, you know, I'm pleased to say that as of yesterday, we're real time for submitting. You know, anyone that was in the system on December 26 of 25 got kicked out. They basically took anything that was waiting for approval and they denied it. So we had to resubmit it. So of course we probably had a lot of people bent up demand, people wanting to get them and then waiting till the 200 tax stamp went through. But you know, we're real time in our submitting. You know, it's created a backlog at ATF just because of the, you know, their computer system hasn't probably been able to handle the, the volume as well as we had hoped or even as they had hoped. In some cases we're having to submit your information, you know, 25, 26 times, but we're doing it digitally on the back end, so you're not having to fool with it. But I would say demand's up 3 to 4x. You know, end of last year, we're all sitting around going, how many silencers should we make and how many should we buy and how many should we have ready to sell? And it was really a crapshoot. We were just throwing dice. But now that we're in it, we got to keep up with the demand. So we're continuing to buy more suppressors from other manufacturers and also make our own to meet the demand.

[Randall Williams]

Right. And, and one of the bigger changes in the last few years was the reduction in that wait time.

[Clay Newcombe]

Yes.

[Randall Williams]

I guess maybe two, three years ago, the ATF started processing those things in what was once like a 13, 14 month timeline, down to maybe even a couple days. And that's what got me in the game, so to speak, and really made me want to hop in. So it's interesting that you see and, and at that time too, all of a sudden, suppressors that you wanted were out of stock everywhere. So it's interesting how these little changes in, in the process of acquiring one can result in this huge demand for, for manufacturers like your, like sciencer central.

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah, no, absolutely. Hey, obviously it's exciting for us. Anytime you have demand and you're having trouble keeping up with your phone calls, you're staying up late to return phone calls. It's always, always called a happy problem. But you are right, small changes can create additional demand. I mean, you know, Obama getting elected created huge demand. You know, he made some changes in 2016 that created demand. So there's been a lot of small things. But I would definitely say, you know, I've been doing this 20 plus years and I'd say since the inception of 1934 when they started this process, this is probably the biggest change the industry seen. I think it's going to create more acceptance. I think that more people using them are going to educate their elected officials and we hope it's sort of a stepping stone to further deregulation.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, well that's, that's exciting news. You know, as I mentioned, there's probably people that are now maybe giving more serious consideration to getting their first can. What do, what does someone need to know or need to look into as far as figuring out what, what product they want and sort of what do they. For a first time consumer or first time shopper, what, what advice would you give that individual?

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah, that's a good question. So you know, at Silencer Central we sell everybody stuff. So you know, feel free to call us and we can give you all the options that are available for what you're trying to shoot. I mean there's two, there's two schools of thought. I mean some people will say, hey, their initial sort of gut reaction when they start going down this path is I would like to get a suppressor silencer that I could use on all my firearms. So they kind of go down that path of getting something probably too big, but that they could use for everything. Typically my personal advice has always been pick which firearm you shoot the most frequently and then get a suppressor kind of tailored for that. And you'll find it to be so effective it's easier to open your wallet to buy further later. You hate to buy one that's not perfect and then you don't like it and you wish you had bought one for the one you shoot the most. So my encouragement always is to think of the weapon you shoot the most and then suppress it because it's going to work better than you thought it would and then it's going to open the door for you maybe to get further later. Just sometimes some people start the path of going down multi caliber wanting to get one that covers everything. I just want them to be disappointed. Not that they would be, but I just don't want them to get something too big of a hole through the middle and then it's not as effective as it could be.

[Randall Williams]

Right. And, and like there's, I remember read it before I owned a can. I remember reading, oh, once you buy the first one then you're, you're hooked and you're just going to keep buying more and more. I'm in that Boat.

[Seth Morris]

Oh, yeah, that's true.

[Randall Williams]

Because I think I had an idea in my mind of what owning a can would be like as far as just my shooting experience and my hunting experience. But it's really like surpassed any expectation that I had of just like changing how I use my guns and how I hunt, like with a partner, with my wife, trips to the range and everything else like that. I mean, what do you hear from customers that a first time customer that gets their first can and, and how do you hear from those folks as far as like, what their impressions are and what surprises them?

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah, 100. I mean, I'd say you're spot on. I mean, it's, that's why I liked getting into suppressors. I mean, most people know my backstory. I started out as a pharmacist and people thought, why would you leave pharmacy to go into this? And I'm like, it's just so exciting because I feel like you really had to twist people's arms years ago when the assignment stores weren't as familiar to get them to buy one. But 100 of the time, once they bought one, they said, I'll never shoot a rifle or handgun again without a suppressor. So it's kind of a life changing deal. I mean, people go from just kind of, you know, handling the sound, handling the recoil to now they have a tool to mitigate it. Um, it's a nice luxury once, you know, each of you all have seen it, once you use it, you never want to shoot again without one.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. And, and this is, this is not in the script here, but I'm just remembering we did a live tour in the south in December, and one of our guests at one of those events was Will Primos. And Steve asked him, if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be? And Will without hesitation said, protect your hearing. So, I mean, it's, it's, it's a big, big, big deal. So, yeah, Brandon, looking ahead, I mean, we're obviously at a moment right now where, where things are real exciting. But looking ahead to 2026, what's new on your end as far as the business or the banish product line or things that folks can look forward to.

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah. So I'd say one thing is you'll continue to see more products come out for signwager Central. We. One thing that's important is just weight. So think about the titanium options. The other thing we have coming out, and I know your audience is probably more consumers, but we also have a software that now we're going to have dealers where they can actually use our software to help them process the forms. So, you know, we're kind of famous over the years for working events. You know, we work over 200 events a year. We sort of fine tuned our software to help sort of intake that information from the events we've worked. So now we're going to roll it out to actual dealers too. So, you know, we know only about 25 to 30% of FFL dealers actually sell silencers. Our goal is to, you know, kind of double that, at least make it where half of people that have an FFL that are in the business of selling firearms also do suppressors. So we're going to make software for them that's really cost effective and makes it easier for them to, you know, take the information in from the consumer and then actually process getting a silencer, you know, super easy.

[Randall Williams]

Very cool. And you guys, we sort of touched on this a little bit. But Silencer Central offers services beyond just simply the retail. I mean, you do barrel threading. Last year I did an SBR through your web interface. I mean, sort of it's a one stop shop if you're looking to make this transition as far as like getting what you need on the legal side and also getting what you need on the product side.

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, obviously our expertise is the whole compliance side, making sure everything's done right. And I'd say that, you know, really last year we knew it was going to be slow the last seven months of the year because everyone knew this $200 tax was going away. So we really doubled down as an organization to find ways to make us more efficient and, and also to add more technology to our processes so that it was just seamless for the consumer. So I think that, you know, even if someone's bought in the past, if they go through the process with us again, they're going to see a lot of areas where, you know, maybe things took a little bit longer than, you know, we both hoped and now they're just so much smoother and quicker. Just we're really in a position where we're able to handle the volume and scale it up. And it's always hard when we are, you know, we've wanted 5,000 every year we've applied. So, you know, you see that growth. But I feel like we really were able to spend six or seven months really focusing on the organization, making that technology and making it more efficient.

[Randall Williams]

Very cool. Well, Brandon, I know you guys are busy over there, so we won't take up any more of your time. Happy New Year. Great chatting with you and hope to talk to you again here. Thank you.

[Brandon Maddox]

Absolutely. Thanks for the opportunity. Have a good new year.

[Randall Williams]

Thanks, Brandon.

[Brandon Maddox]

Yep. See you guys.

[Randall Williams]

Oh, boy.

[Corey Calkins]

Oh, I couldn't imagine without a suppressor.

[Seth Morris]

Oh, they're so awesome.

[Corey Calkins]

I curse it. Carrying around that extra length. I haven't delved into, like, cutting my barrel down.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah, you just need to get a shorter barrel.

[Corey Calkins]

Well, but I'm not that techy.

[Randall Williams]

I'll take it.

[Corey Calkins]

Or I don't have the need to give you.

[Randall Williams]

I'll give you a guy's number. Get over there. I'll do it while you wait.

[Brandon Maddox]

For free.

[Randall Williams]

No steel barrel. Very competitive pricing. Very competitive pricing.

[Corey Calkins]

No, it's not b. Carbon.

[Randall Williams]

Oh, yeah.

[Corey Calkins]

You're no. All that.

[Brandon Maddox]

So.

[Corey Calkins]

But, like, what I'm trying to say is, like, even just the additional. A little bit of weight, little bit of length, it's worth it when it comes time to pull the trigger.

[Seth Morris]

Oh, yeah.

[Randall Williams]

I tell people if they ask, like, they want to get a new gun, they want to add a rifle to the collection. I'll say buy a can.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

Because you'll have a new gun. Like, it's a totally different experience.

[Corey Calkins]

Does shoot different.

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

I mean, just like getting out and putting rounds down range. Like, Sydney used to have a little bit of a. Okay, I'm done with that. But you put the can on there and it's just like, oh, yeah. Practice away.

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah.

[Seth Morris]

Oh, yeah.

[Corey Calkins]

And for kids.

[Seth Morris]

Oh, it's great for kids.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Corey Calkins]

No, in silencer central. Just makes it so easy. The website, the customer service. Good folks.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Phil]

Just do it.

[Seth Morris]

Do it all from your house and then it shows up at your door.

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah.

[Corey Calkins]

It's simple.

[Phil]

Great.

[Randall Williams]

Well, my hot tip would be to put a can on your gun, but we've got some other hot tips, Phil.

[Brandon Maddox]

Oh.

[Phil]

How about that transition segue? H O T T I P R. Let's all do a hot tip.

[Randall Williams]

Hot tip off is where two listeners go head to head with competing pieces of advice. And after we hear each tip, the. The the audience will declare which one is hotter.

[Phil]

That's correct. I will start a poll in the live chat. So keep an eye out for that script.

[Randall Williams]

The script had us making this judgment, but it's up to you fair listeners. And this round's winner is going to receive our new I'd rather be line of logo wear with one shirt and one hoodie of the winner's choosing. Look at this. Look at this shirt on Corey here it says, I'd rather be hunting squirrels.

[Phil]

It's a great shirt.

[Randall Williams]

There's another one says I'd rather be hunting huge bucks. Like so. Like so.

[Brandon Maddox]

Pretty cool.

[Randall Williams]

And then one that says I'd rather be trapping beavers. Big beavers, not any big beavers.

[Corey Calkins]

I think Steve had a hand in that one.

[Seth Morris]

Big old beaver.

[Randall Williams]

So the winner will get to choose one shirt and one hoodie from that line. We're really excited about these new shirts. They will be on the meat eater store tomorrow, January 9th. Now, if you have a hot tip, take a one minute video on your phone and email it to radiothemeatteater.com with the subject line Hot tip off. This week it's a battle of the johns with John Mertz versus John Foley. Take it away, Phil.

[Phil]

John Mertz.

[John Mertz]

Hey, everybody. Tis the season, early ice season. So let's head out there. Right. Well, is the ice safe? Here's my hot tip. We're gonna measure the ice with our chisel. You're going to take some electrical tape. I used white because it stands out better against my blue chisel. And you're going to put a stripe at 4 inches, a stripe at 8 inches and one at 12 inches. You're going to measure that off of the shoulder of the chisel here so that when you push the chisel through, you pull back up on it, catch the edge of the ice and then read off the water line where it is. You can see if I've got my tape here, I've got my 4 inch stripe that's thick enough for walking. An 8 inch stripe, just good to know. And then a 12 inch stripe where you can feel a little more comfortable driving a truck on the ice. So I just broke through there. I turn the chisel sideways, pull it up so the shoulder of the chisel hits the bottom of the ice. I can see the water level is pretty much up to that first stripe. So we got about four inches. Therefore we're probably good to go. Because it's four inches here does not necessarily mean that there's four inches out there. So keep checking as you go and stay safe out there.

[Corey Calkins]

Great editing.

[Phil]

John Foley.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah. Is that you?

[Randall Williams]

All right, what's up?

[Unknown Intro Speaker]

Everybody got a hot tip for you. This one's been done before, but I haven't seen it done like this. So this is one of those things that when I do it, just kind of thought everybody knew about it. I know the common way to do it, getting the brain matter out of the skull is with a Drill or a coat hanger, a screwdriver or a stick, which works. But once I figured out this way or found out this way, I don't do it any other way. It's pretty quick. All you need is an air chuck like this. This was, like 10 bucks at Harbor Freight. This is something you can pack with you and take with you on the road if you want. All you have to do is stop at a. Maybe a mechanic shop or a tire shop or somewhere on the side of the road to get you an airline. This takes longer to talk about than actually do. The bucket's not needed.

[Clay Newcombe]

All right.

[Unknown Intro Speaker]

You'll see why in a minute. But you can do this with a trash bag. Just put a hole in it. You stick the air nozzle into the brain cavity, set it down in there.

[Brandon Maddox]

Oh.

[Randall Williams]

It'S almost too amusing.

[Brandon Maddox]

And that's it.

[Unknown Intro Speaker]

Cleaned it out perfectly.

[Clay Newcombe]

See if I can see the aftermath.

[Unknown Intro Speaker]

In the bucket here.

[Brandon Maddox]

There's the whole grain.

[Unknown Intro Speaker]

Just one quick blast of air, and that's it. My pup is excited because he'll probably lick up the extra stuff. Enjoy.

[Corey Calkins]

That was good.

[Seth Morris]

That was a good one.

[Corey Calkins]

Both good.

[Randall Williams]

Both good. I trust the guy. The ice guy. Trusted his accent. That went a long way for me.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

But I'm not an iceman, so I had to actually send that to you guys for your thoughts on how hot it was. Yeah, yeah.

[Corey Calkins]

Seth, you had a point that nobody's probably going to be trying to chisel through about a foot of ice.

[Seth Morris]

No.

[Corey Calkins]

For checking ice this early season, I feel like that's a good tip.

[Phil]

Yeah, yeah.

[Seth Morris]

A couple of wax on the chisel. If. If you go through, it's probably, you know, I'd measure, but, you know, like, what, two to three good chisels, and if the chisel doesn't go through, you're typically good to go.

[Randall Williams]

And just a reminder to our audience, hop in there and let us know which of those tips is hotter the pole is running. You guys, what's your preferred method of extracting or extruding whatever the proper word would be. Brain matter.

[Corey Calkins]

Big stick guy.

[Randall Williams]

Stick guy. Yeah.

[Corey Calkins]

But recently we had somebody on who put a tent stake in a drill bit or into a drill as a bit and just rolled it up in there and turned it into mashed potatoes and then let it fall out, give it a little rinse. But this looks.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah, that's way easier.

[Corey Calkins]

Cleaner.

[Seth Morris]

Usually I just boil it with the brain matter in there and then just cover myself with it when I pressure wash it. Yeah.

[Corey Calkins]

Get a little in Your eye.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

I find that if I can do anything with an air compressor, I'm always looking for new ways to use my air compressor.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah, that's a good point.

[Randall Williams]

Everybody, when child is born, it should be given a small air compressor and a little air chuck like that.

[Corey Calkins]

It's a great toy.

[Randall Williams]

It's a great toy.

[Corey Calkins]

My kid loves to play with it.

[Randall Williams]

It's my favorite cleaning instrument. I wish I had a. I wish I had an air compressor like at every door to the house to just blow out the little sills and everything.

[Corey Calkins]

Yeah, man, for cleaning out your truck.

[Randall Williams]

But boy, that. The bucket is just such a nice touch.

[Corey Calkins]

The bucket.

[Seth Morris]

The bucket with the hole in it is a nice touch.

[Corey Calkins]

Which you're gonna need isolation.

[Seth Morris]

You don't get covered in it.

[Corey Calkins]

You need that bucket to sit on.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah, there you go.

[Randall Williams]

I like how amused he was that it worked so quickly.

[Phil]

Yeah, he laughed, giggling.

[Corey Calkins]

His dog was pumped too. That's a tough one to beat, honestly.

[Phil]

And I'm just going to end the poll now because the Chat agrees with 91% of the vote. This was kind of an unfair head to head, I would say.

[Clay Newcombe]

I felt bad.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, I liked that one so much. I. Yeah.

[Phil]

John Foley wins.

[Randall Williams]

John Foley, Congratulations, John Murphy. Thank you for playing.

[Corey Calkins]

I have a hunch he's going to want the I'd rather be hunting big bucks shirt, but we'll reach out to you and find out.

[Randall Williams]

Thank you, John.

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[Randall Williams]

Alrighty, Phil, it's time for a little.

[Phil]

Bit of it's Time for listener feedback. Before we do that, would one of you please call Clay Nuko?

[Brandon Maddox]

Oh, shoot.

[Phil]

Because he said he was going to hang out in the waiting room and he's been gone for about 20 minutes. So I hope everything's good with him because he is our next guest.

[Corey Calkins]

Probably had a mule get out.

[Randall Williams]

We'll be fine. We'll be fine. We'll just do a little bit of extra audience engagement here.

[Corey Calkins]

I'll call him.

[Phil]

Leland asks, how long do you guys screw around with a firearm that gives y' all zeroing problems? I'm having problems with one particular gun, but don't want to throw in the towel early. Have you ever given up on a gun because it's not. It's not behaving?

[Randall Williams]

Yes and no. I would say. I would say there's not really like a messing around. I'm checking things methodically, like I'm putting a different scope on it, making sure there's no issue with the scope. Before I do that, I'm checking the mounts, like, checking the even. Not just the rings, but the rail as well. I'm checking to see if there's any issues with stock fitment to make sure that the stock is fully seated on. Like, if it's a. If it's got a standard, like, Remington style recoil lug, I'm making sure that's seated in there. Then I'm torque.

[Seth Morris]

Make sure everything's torqued.

[Randall Williams]

Everything's torqued to spec. You know, check that. I'll run a dollar bill or a couple sheets of like, receipt paper between the barrel and the stock to make sure that that channel is open and free floated. And then, I don't know. I mean, it depends. Like, is it really bad or are you looking for incremental improvements? I think there's a lot of variables there to answer that question, but how.

[Seth Morris]

Many different ammos have you tried?

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, I mean, if something's wandering, like if your zero is wandering, it's an issue with your scope or there's something mechanical. But if it's just not grouping as. As precisely as you'd like, I would. I would start moving around with trying different ammunition and all that. Life's too short to shoot an inaccurate rifle, so that's true. Yeah, I think. I think the. The sort of. The process of nailing that down really depends on what you're seeing on paper.

[Seth Morris]

And how much you want to throw money, how much money you want to.

[Randall Williams]

Throw out, how badly you want.

[Seth Morris]

You could replace stocks, replace barrels. You could. Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

And is it bedded yeah. Maybe a good betting job.

[Corey Calkins]

Yeah.

[Phil]

Brad Weber, bunny hunter. Your name checks out. He would like me to say that Brad has a group of friends that gets together to go rabbit hunting and they're every year they're doing it this weekend in northeast Wisconsin. Love to have a shout out.

[Randall Williams]

Holy cow. Good luck.

[Phil]

Have fun.

[Corey Calkins]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

Enjoy your rabbit hunt.

[Seth Morris]

That sounds fun.

[Randall Williams]

Brad and crew, best of luck on.

[Corey Calkins]

Your gathering of the Hasan Pfeffer.

[Randall Williams]

I think it's just the Hassan. The Pfeffer is the pepper.

[Corey Calkins]

Well, sure. Hopefully that's maybe on the list what he's doing.

[Seth Morris]

Oh, I see.

[Randall Williams]

I see what I was getting.

[Seth Morris]

Bring some pepper.

[Corey Calkins]

Sorry, I don't speak German.

[Phil]

Chris is wondering the. The nitty gritty details of creating a fleshing beam. Seth, specific wood. Is there a particular method?

[Seth Morris]

Mine. Mine is a. You know that. That like half log siding that you saw side houses with. It's like one side's dimensional lumber, the other side's rounded. My. That's all my beam is. It's that and then I tapered it off on the end to a point.

[Randall Williams]

Sand it.

[Seth Morris]

Sand it with anything. Make it smooth. You don't have to because when you're fleshing it just gets saturated with.

[Phil]

With fat.

[Randall Williams]

Oh yes. It's self greasing.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

Interesting.

[Corey Calkins]

A little winter activity.

[Seth Morris]

There you go.

[Phil]

Let's see. We've got a question from Rob. He's asked. We've had multiple questions in the chat. Asking me about online store inventory. Unfortunately, I do not run the store. It would be good for people to kind of like keep us updated because this would be a perfect platform to be like, hey, this stuff's back in stock. Rob is asking about the gnome T shirts. Most of them are sold out. We do have two there in stock. I'm not sure how many. What the sizes are there. But yeah, when we make something like the gnome T shirts, we usually make a certain amount as sort of kind of like a special limited edition thing. Especially with the gnome because he's doing so much different stuff. So they're kind of kind of like collectory.

[Randall Williams]

That gnome is doing a lot of stuff.

[Seth Morris]

He's a busy.

[Corey Calkins]

Yeah, I know. All I can say is 2025, last year was the year of the gnome around here. So we did a new shirt and a new theme every month. So I don't believe we're doing that this time.

[Randall Williams]

If something catches your eye, jump on it. Because especially with those limited runs, they do sell out. Yeah, they were popular.

[Phil]

Then we also had a question about the hot Sauce. You and me both, brother. My bottle's almost gone. I'd love to get some more. So I. And I cannot give you an update about when the hot sauce will be back in stock. So I apologize. Yeah, let's see here. Question for Randall. This is from Evan. When researching for both the long hunters and hidehunters, did you come across any records of color phase animals back in the day?

[Randall Williams]

That's a great question. Not that comes to mind. Not that comes to mind.

[Corey Calkins]

Looks like he's a bear hunter.

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

The short answer would be no, but it's interesting. It wasn't really something that I was paying attention to. I mean, I feel like, correct me if I'm wrong, but color phase are relatively rare. Like in the eastern half of the country when we're talking about long hunters.

[Seth Morris]

And then piebald deer are. I don't know what the stat is there, but it's pretty rare.

[Randall Williams]

But then those mountain men, they were just real fixated on Grizz. They do describe Grizz in a lot of different ways in terms of the color of their coat, whether they're lighter or darker. But no, I didn't see any chocolate cinnamon references. I'm sure there's a research paper out there with historical references to color phase bears. I'm sure someone's done that, but I couldn't point you in the right direction.

[Brandon Maddox]

Cool.

[Phil]

We'll do one more for this round.

[Randall Williams]

Do we have Clay on?

[Phil]

Clay is on.

[Randall Williams]

Perfect.

[Phil]

He is waiting. I'll do one more question. This is from Nick.

[Randall Williams]

Question.

[Phil]

How do you determine whether to use a guide service, drop in or go fully self guided when going to a new destination on a tag? He says he just drew an Idaho elk tag and he's trying to decide.

[Randall Williams]

Question for you would be how much money do you have and where would you like to spend it and experience?

[Seth Morris]

Yeah, where do you want to go?

[Corey Calkins]

I would, I'd hire.

[Seth Morris]

Oh, I guess he's going to Idaho.

[Phil]

Never mind.

[Corey Calkins]

Get you a guide.

[Randall Williams]

If you're asking, I mean it, it depends on, are you going on your first elk hunt? Are you going with anyone who has hunted elk before? Like, I think it's. I don't think it's crazy to go on your first elk hunt without an experienced elk hunter and go unguided? No.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah.

[Corey Calkins]

I'm just assuming if there's a beauty and there's like figuring it out yourself.

[Randall Williams]

You'Re going down a lot.

[Corey Calkins]

Yeah, that's true. But you're going to. And you're going to make A lot of failures.

[Randall Williams]

If you're in a. If you're in a position, life, financially speaking, to go guided and you have a guide that has good references and you think will be able to really teach you about hunting the western landscape. Yeah, I'd certainly take advantage of it. Especially if it's like something that you're comfortable spending that money.

[Phil]

Right.

[Corey Calkins]

Yeah. Do your research.

[Randall Williams]

I think a drop camp, generally speaking, I would be leery of because it's sort of you're paying for something and then you don't have that person there with you to share their experience. And ultimately like if you do it, diy, you know, I went to this spot because I wanted to go there versus I just got dropped off there because I feel like a drop camp can make you question your decision making if you aren't seeing or make you question the outfitter if you aren't seeing animals.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah. And if you do a diy, you can always bail and go to a different spot.

[Phil]

Right.

[Randall Williams]

And you can hunt that place again for years to come without feeling like that. Because that's the other thing is like if an outfitter takes you somewhere and you hunt it, you don't want to go back in there on your own the next year because it's a bad. Yeah, yeah, that's a no. No.

[Corey Calkins]

Most outfitters are going to give you a lot of pointers for that area though, so they're going to have a massive leg up doing that.

[Phil]

And yeah, Nick says no comment about the finances because his wife may be reading.

[Corey Calkins]

Good for you, Nick.

[Randall Williams]

Good for you.

[Phil]

Oh, still get the hot tip off up. There you go.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, good luck. I hope you have a hope. Sounds like he drew maybe this week in the Idaho non resident drawn. Might be planning his fall. So hope that works out for you. Joining us next on the line is a man who needs no introduction. You love him? We love him. He's a storyteller. He's a musician. And black bears tremble at the mere mention of his name. Mr. Clay Newcombe.

[Clay Newcombe]

Hey, everybody.

[Randall Williams]

Clay. Welcome to the show.

[Corey Calkins]

Claybo.

[Clay Newcombe]

Hey guys.

[Seth Morris]

I feel like we should clap.

[Phil]

I know.

[Randall Williams]

Do we have a round of applause? We can do Phil.

[Phil]

Oh, yeah. Here we go.

[Randall Williams]

Hold on. Oh. Oh, there we are.

[Seth Morris]

He's just glistening with, with. With big white tail. Yeah, I can just see it on him.

[Corey Calkins]

Yeah. What you kill a big old buck or something?

[Randall Williams]

Well, before we get into that buck, Clay, I feel like I just said goodbye to you in a hotel hallway at. At 11:00pm in Dallas, Texas.

[Clay Newcombe]

That happened. We embraced we did.

[Randall Williams]

We said. I. I said, I love you, brother. And then I gave him a big hug and we parted ways. Clay, how have you been? How you recovered from the tour yet?

[Clay Newcombe]

Man, the tour was so much fun. I mean, it was hard to recover from it because, like, you come back and, I mean, I love everything about where I live, but it.

[Corey Calkins]

The.

[Clay Newcombe]

The tour is like seven days of just a pure 24 hour day. Fun. You know, we're with. Well, especially for me and Brent, who aren't in Montana and don't see a lot of people. You know, we're kind of isolated to be with the crew, to be with you and Steve and Giannis and all the other people that were there that weren't on stage. Just a ton of fun. And then, you know, every night you're going to these events where clearly it's stacked with people who are excited to be there, excited about Meat Eater, and we had a great time.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, Yeah, I loved it. And I think to your last point, you know, every now and then people say, like, oh, this must be boring for you, doing the same thing every night. But, like, it's actually very meaningful to hear from people that. That they're excited about the stuff that we do because, like, right now we're sitting in this podcast studio and then we'll go on about our day. But it's really cool to go out there and meet people and hear their stories of how they got into hunting and sort of how Meat Eater stuff fits into their life or shaped their experiences. So I really enjoyed that. And it doesn't get old for me.

[Phil]

Clay, was it. Was it hard having to play with amateurs and hacks like Evan Felker to accompany you for the opening song after having me accompany you for the last tour?

[Clay Newcombe]

Phil, let me. Let me start off by saying you were greatly missed.

[Brandon Maddox]

Holy.

[Phil]

That's so kind of you.

[Clay Newcombe]

I was. I was like. When I heard you weren't coming, I was like, what? Phil's not coming? I mean, Phil, like, made my, you know, our music act last year with his harmonica. Just unreal. And then, so there was no other musicians traveling with us, and. And so we did have Reed, Bargainer of Reed's Piano News. He was with me three nights.

[Phil]

Yeah, I watched videos of that and he. He killed it. I got a. I got little pangs of jealousy watching there with you.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, he's great. Super fun guy. Great to finally meet him.

[Clay Newcombe]

He saved the day. I mean, it was. It's so hard for someone who doesn't play a lot of live music or any to speak of. To just step up six nights in a row in front of a big crowd and play. I mean, it was the challenge of my life. I tell people a lot of things that I do at my age. I'm comfortable with live music. I love it. It's, like, exhilarating. But I am not comfortable at all. And so playing with Evan Felker, holy cow. It was like I was nervous as a cat. I actually almost backed out at the. Because we'd never played together. You know, he gets there a little bit before the show, and we start playing, and I recognize that my strum pattern is different than the Waltz of the Bird Hunter. The strum pattern of the Bird Hunter is different than me. And I'm not a good enough musician to really just compensate on the fly and be like, oh, yeah, I got it. And so I actually just said, we practiced one time, and I was like, evan, man, these people are. They would love to see you play this. Why don't you just play it by yourself? And so we kind of decided that he was just going to open up, and then.

[Randall Williams]

And then Steve got in there.

[Clay Newcombe]

Yeah.

[Corey Calkins]

Yeah.

[Clay Newcombe]

And. And, you know, I appreciate what Steve did. I mean, I was kind of surprised, but, yeah, Steve came in, and he was like, y' all ready? And I'm like, man, Evan's just gonna do it. I said, I think I'm gonna mess the thing up if I play with him. And Steve was like, no way. You gotta get out there, man. You and. You and Evan gotta play. And so. Oh, I'm so glad I did. Holy.

[Randall Williams]

And that was. And that was at the Fayetteville show, which was kind of your. Your home crowd, too, which probably made it extra special.

[Clay Newcombe]

Man, it was so special Of. Of all the shows, I mean, there were the Fable. The Fable show sold out completely. And, I mean, they were. They were all great shows with great people. So I don't. I don't want to say it was the best, but. Maybe.

[Seth Morris]

But you're saying it was the best.

[Clay Newcombe]

Well, I mean, we had Evan Felker there, for crying out loud.

[Randall Williams]

It was a very warm reception from the.

[Brandon Maddox]

The.

[Randall Williams]

Well, the Newcomb clan welcomed us into their home for a lovely lunch, and then. Yeah, it was. It was fun. It just felt like an auditorium full of friends and family.

[Clay Newcombe]

Oh, man, it was so meaningful that we came here just to give back to the community, you know? I wish we could have let them all in for free, you know? So it was a ton of fun.

[Randall Williams]

Ton of fun. Yeah. Now, Clay, I could relive our, our rock star days, our rock star lifestyle forever, as you know. But we brought you here today because you have some very exciting news in your life. And folks haven't seen it on Instagram. You got a big old buck just recently. Can you tell us a little bit.

[Clay Newcombe]

About that man on, on January 4th? Well, okay, Christmas day, a buck on a place that I have access to hunt showed up. And the, But I, I, it was one of those pictures that within seconds I was texting it to, to my father in law, who I stay in close touch with about deer hunting and a couple other people. It was just gagging over this deer. I mean, it's the biggest deer that I've seen on camera in a long, long time. And I texted it to one of my friends who happens to be a navy pilot stationed in Hawaii named Forest Teeter, and he goes, jiminy Christmas. You know, it was Christmas night, I texted him and, and I was like, this buck will be named Jiminy Christmas.

[Seth Morris]

That's cool.

[Clay Newcombe]

And the deer just had giant tine length and he, he was super sporadic. I mean, I'm hunting over in the state. Well, I killed the deer in Oklahoma. I didn't. Just like anybody that knows anything about this part of the world would know that because I said that I killed it over supplemental feed and some feeding a little bit. And this deer was very sporadic and it's very difficult to kill a big deer, a specific big deer over any kind of supplemental feed. I don't, I don't care who you are, and it's a ton of fun. But this deer was super sporadic. Came in the daytime, just a couple of times, had some time, which was rare. And I was able to hunt four and a half days. And finally on January 4th. I don't think he'll fit in the frame of my camera. My camera's not big enough. I might have to back up a little bit.

[Seth Morris]

Holy smokes.

[Phil]

Look at them forks.

[Randall Williams]

Oh, oh.

[Seth Morris]

He almost touches in the middle.

[Clay Newcombe]

Looks like a mule deer, but killed that deer.

[Randall Williams]

Unbelievable.

[Clay Newcombe]

22 yards with bow.

[Corey Calkins]

Nice.

[Clay Newcombe]

And the, the characteristics of the rack, I mean, I'm, I'm an official Boone and Crockett scorer, so I mean, I truly value a beautiful whitetail rack. This deer, it's only 14 and a half inches wide, narrow buck, but he has a G2 that's 14 and 6, 8 inches long. Wow. I mean that's awesome. Just when you're analyzing a whitetails rack, I mean there's, there's very Few deer that have a tine over 14 inches, you know, So, I mean, just a. Just a stud, man. And. Yeah, he's got a split. Split G2. And. Oh, I. I mean, I still can't believe I killed that deer. I'm still on cloud nine.

[Randall Williams]

Very cool. Very cool.

[Clay Newcombe]

You see the photo up there right now?

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Clay Newcombe]

Deer fell right there, like, right. I didn't move that deer. I just. I just kind of re situated him. About 6 inches. Fell right at the base of the snake. Big, rocky bluff.

[Randall Williams]

Very cool.

[Clay Newcombe]

Just a phenomenal deal, man.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, he does. Like, if I glanced at that photo and I just. The only thing I looked at was where his antler tips are and where the top of his head are. I'd guess it's a mule deer.

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

He's just so tall.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah.

[Corey Calkins]

Yeah, he's just a dandy clay.

[Seth Morris]

Is that your biggest buck?

[Clay Newcombe]

You know what? I would have swore that it was. I mean, I actually sent pictures to people and was like, this is my biggest buck. But when we act, when we scored wasn't.

[Seth Morris]

Which.

[Clay Newcombe]

That's a good thing. When you had a deer from years ago that was bigger, the deer scored 162 and 7, 8.

[Seth Morris]

Wow.

[Clay Newcombe]

And so. And I, I, I killed a deer years ago a little bigger than that, but it's definitely the biggest deer I've killed in 18 years, you know?

[Randall Williams]

Well, it looks like you were tent camping there, too, which I always think. I always think if you want to crank it up to, like, 11 on making a hunt memorable. You sleep in a tent, man.

[Clay Newcombe]

The place I'm hunting over there, it's so cool because, I mean, there's no. There's nowhere to stay. We tent. We. We tent camp when we go over there.

[Randall Williams]

Very cool.

[Clay Newcombe]

Yeah. That's awesome.

[Randall Williams]

And I was by my.

[Clay Newcombe]

I was totally by myself. I was just hunting. That was kind of a unique experience. Usually there's somebody that I'm hunting with or I'm able to bring a deer home.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Clay Newcombe]

Share it with family. It was kind of. I mean, I was solo camping the whole time, which, which was unique. And. But when I did kill the deer there, I did have a buddy over in that part of the world, Alvin, a good friend of mine that came and helped me drag it out and kind of celebrated with me. So that was fun.

[Randall Williams]

Very cool. And your son bear also killed a real nice buck this fall. So you. You were telling us earlier he got to be the sort of the big, big man on the block for about six weeks.

[Phil]

Yeah.

[Clay Newcombe]

Yeah. It's Funny that, you know, when it rains, it pours.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, no, it was.

[Clay Newcombe]

It was. Bear killed a deer that scored 154, and that was here in Arkansas, which is major. I mean, you know, like, I would say a once in a lifetime type deer for here. I mean, they. They grow them bigger, and I figure he'll kill a bigger one one day here, but monster deer and. Yeah, I couldn't let him stay on top for long, you know? No, I. I almost wished it scored 153, but he doesn't care. We. We're not competitive like that. He was so excited, this deer, and I was so excited for his deer, so.

[Randall Williams]

Well, great. Yeah. Clay, we appreciate you joining us. And you guys must be doing something right over there. You got. It's been a. Been a good fall for you guys. So you have anything else lined up, or is that your last tag for the season?

[Clay Newcombe]

Well, we're actually going back over there.

[Brandon Maddox]

To.

[Clay Newcombe]

I'm gonna try to kill a doe and maybe a hog. We're gonna. We're gonna go back over there in the next couple days.

[Randall Williams]

Nice.

[Clay Newcombe]

Bears got a buck tag.

[Randall Williams]

Very cool.

[Clay Newcombe]

So cool.

[Corey Calkins]

Good luck, man.

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

Well, good luck to you, Clay. It's always a real pleasure to see you, and hopefully our paths will cross here before too long.

[Clay Newcombe]

Great to see all of you. Seth, Corey, Dr. Randall, Phil.

[Seth Morris]

Good seeing you, Clay. Good luck over there.

[Randall Williams]

Say hi to the family.

[Corey Calkins]

Take care of that hair, brother.

[Clay Newcombe]

All right. It's a lot more work than you think, Corey.

[Randall Williams]

Clay, we can share some styling tips next time you're in town.

[Clay Newcombe]

Yeah, next time I need some tips from you, Randall.

[Randall Williams]

You're getting there, man. It looks good. It's real good.

[Corey Calkins]

Called a haircut.

[Clay Newcombe]

I told my sign off comment will be. I told Brent Reeves that I'll get a haircut as soon as he starts hunting a plot coon hound.

[Randall Williams]

Well, based on the conversations that I listened to while we're on the bus, it's not happening anytime soon, so. So, yeah, you better get yourself some hair ties, Clay.

[Clay Newcombe]

You're just gonna have to be embarrassed of your friend for a while.

[Randall Williams]

All right, we'll see you, Clay. Thank you again.

[Seth Morris]

See you, Clay.

[Randall Williams]

Gosh, love that guy.

[Seth Morris]

Oh, he's the best.

[Corey Calkins]

Just a gem.

[Randall Williams]

I almost feel like we should just end the show there, but we've got another great segment.

[Corey Calkins]

We're not done.

[Randall Williams]

Our next segment is the Price is Right.

[Brandon Maddox]

Here.

[Phil]

It comes from Bozeman, Montana, Meteater Radio's most exciting 15 minutes. It's the Price is Right.

[Clay Newcombe]

Seth.

[Phil]

Morris, come on down. Hey, Calkins, come on down. What are the odds you're the first two and only contestants on Meteor Radio's the Price Is Right. Now, here's your host, Randall William.

[Randall Williams]

Now, this game's real simple. Phil's gonna tell you about a product from the meat eater universe, and you need to guess its price. The player with the closest answer without going over will be declared the winner. If both players go over, you'll both be told to try again. And the chat should play along as well, because whoever has the closest answer is gonna get a real, real nice shout out from Phil. All right, we've got three exciting products for today's show. Phil, why don't you tell us about the first item up for bid?

[Seth Morris]

Clay's bug.

[Phil]

Fortunately not. It's never too early to start planning next year's holiday season. Surprise.

[Seth Morris]

What is that?

[Phil]

And what better way to tell your loved ones exactly how you really feel about them than with a genuine deer scrotum Christmas ornament? That's right. Actual deer balls. A pair of genuine buck nuggets that have been meticulously preserved and transformed into tasteful holiday decor. Comes ready to hang just like it did between the rear legs of a big old Arkansas whitetail. Perfect for the outdoorsman who appreciates that every part of the deer deserves honor, including especially Bambi's family jewels. This gives the old adage, waste not, want not a whole new meaning.

[Seth Morris]

Deck the halls with buck balls.

[Randall Williams]

How much is it gonna cost to hang a pair of buck nuts on your tree?

[Corey Calkins]

Get one set of nuts, like one scrotum.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, I think it's just per scrote. You'll get a pair and the satchel.

[Corey Calkins]

That's brilliant. Really?

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Corey Calkins]

And then after Christmas, you can hang.

[Randall Williams]

Them from the back of the Your truck afterwards. I'll share this. I'll share this guy's contact info with. He's marketing them on Facebook.

[Corey Calkins]

Facebook, huh? That helps me think.

[Seth Morris]

Locally?

[Randall Williams]

No, Arkansas. Oh, really?

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

Like, yeah, I was looking for weird stuff on Facebook. Marketplace. They said, why don't we begin in Arkansas?

[Seth Morris]

Wonder where he gets all his buck grows at.

[Randall Williams]

I don't know. The Newcomb family probably help him with the few.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah, that's true.

[Corey Calkins]

Man down south.

[Randall Williams]

Cory, you still thinking? Do you have a guess?

[Brandon Maddox]

Nope.

[Corey Calkins]

I'm done thinking for the day.

[Randall Williams]

All righty. Seth, Your answer is 3750.

[Seth Morris]

Wow.

[Randall Williams]

Corey, your answer.

[Corey Calkins]

I don't know.

[Randall Williams]

9.99.

[Seth Morris]

Oh, wow. Wildly different.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, Phil?

[Phil]

Well, the actual price of the item without.

[Randall Williams]

Well, I didn't write down the price for myself, so I'm going to rely on you to judge this.

[Phil]

The price of the ornament is $30, making Corey our winner of the rounds. If we're going with the rules of this game show.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, you can't bust Phil, who's closest to the chat there.

[Phil]

We had a couple people here. We had Papa Medic, guess 29.99. Absolute mechanical solutions. Guess 29.

[Randall Williams]

I love that.

[Phil]

There might have been a couple more in there as well.

[Randall Williams]

Oh, love that. Love that, Phil. What's next? What's next up for auction today?

[Seth Morris]

Forgot you can't go over. Let's see.

[Phil]

It's a full case of Doc's catfish dip bait. Extra stiff blood added. That's four glorious gallons of the most ungodly smelling substance known to mankind. We're talking about a concoction so pungent, so magnificently revolting that it makes the boat launch vault toilet smell like a Yankee candle. And not only is this stuff strong, it's got staying power. Your wife will make you sleep in the garage. This will permanently decrease the resale value of your truck. Your neighbors will call the HOA thinking something died in your yard. And they're not wrong, because something did die. And Doc cooked it into catfish crack cocaine. Four gallons means you'll have enough to stink up every river in the county. Doc's catfish dip bait. I'm gonna restart there. Doc's catfish dip bait. Because if catching old Mr. Whiskers means smelling like you crawled out of a swamp monsters colon, then by God, you better be all in.

[Randall Williams]

Now, I'm seeing some guesses in the chat here, and I want to reiterate a point in that read.

[Phil]

This is 4 gallons. Yeah, I saw 12 ounces.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah.

[Phil]

Oh, yes, the picture.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah.

[Phil]

This is. This is four gallons.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

You see that? You see that little thing? You think you're not getting a lot of stink, but we're talking about 4 gallons. That's a full case. So think about how much a gallon of stink bait would cost and then multiply it by four.

[Corey Calkins]

That's for the serious angler, isn't it?

[Phil]

Oh, we. We had our producer Jake chime in in the chat and say, waste nut want nut. Solid, Jake. Very good.

[Randall Williams]

Oh, that's good.

[Seth Morris]

That's good.

[Corey Calkins]

Oh, man.

[Randall Williams]

4.

[Seth Morris]

What does. What does it cost?

[Randall Williams]

I mean.

[Corey Calkins]

Yeah, careful, don't go over.

[Randall Williams]

I mean, the price of everything's going up these days.

[Corey Calkins]

Yeah, looks like.

[Randall Williams]

I think Eddie stink bait's no exception.

[Corey Calkins]

I think you're trying to help us.

[Randall Williams]

They make a worm dunk in and then the. The scent milks off the worm.

[Clay Newcombe]

Wow.

[Corey Calkins]

You need to get some of this.

[Randall Williams]

You guys got your answers there?

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah.

[Corey Calkins]

Let's roll.

[Randall Williams]

Seth Morris $65. Corey Culkins is $75.

[Phil]

Oh well. With a price of $187, our winner again is Corey Calkins.

[Seth Morris]

Dang.

[Randall Williams]

Well, we could end it there with a Seth Morris or Corey Culkins victory. But Phil, we've got one more prize.

[Phil]

We sure do, Randall. It's portable heating hunting seat, treestand hunting heating seat, USB comfort foldable heating seat from Temu. That's right. The same company that brings you $3 electronics and designer handbags held together by prayers and glue is now in the business of putting lithium batteries directly beneath your most precious assets. Why suffer through cold mornings in your tree stand with non incendiary insulation when you could be sitting on a potentially combustible device manufactured by the lowest bidder? Just crank this bad boy up to its high setting of 149 degrees Fahrenheit and see what happens. 149 features include a battery pack of mysterious origin heating elements that could legally be used in residential construction, and instructions that have been jammed through a free translation app. If you've ever driven past a burnt up mobile home and thought that would make a hell of a deer blind, your dreams are one Trans Pacific shipping container away from reality. That was Randall. These are all good. That was my favorite. Who wrote that?

[Corey Calkins]

Is this all Randall?

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah.

[Corey Calkins]

Oh, Bill, you're.

[Randall Williams]

You're. I've been shopping on TEMU a lot. There's Teemu's got excavators for sale. I'm really interested.

[Corey Calkins]

They sell everything they got. Everything?

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Corey Calkins]

They're really trying hard on social media.

[Seth Morris]

Wow.

[Corey Calkins]

So this has got to be dirt cheap.

[Randall Williams]

I like how ordinarily, you know, you see heat represented by like wavy red lines, but in that one they have orange arrows that look like flames.

[Phil]

I forgot to mention the person in the chat who got it closest was Jay Palermo. 84. He guessed 172. I think that was the closest without going over, but I'm not positive that's a cat.

[Clay Newcombe]

Did.

[Randall Williams]

Did we say old Mr. Whiskers in that catfish bait read?

[Phil]

Yes, we did.

[Randall Williams]

Okay, good. I wanted to put that.

[Corey Calkins]

And this is the price on Timu.

[Randall Williams]

This is the price on Timo.

[Phil]

Price?

[Brandon Maddox]

Yep.

[Corey Calkins]

Okay. It's gonna be cheap af. It is.

[Randall Williams]

It's an electronic, you know. Okay.

[Seth Morris]

Lithium batteries.

[Corey Calkins]

Too scary.

[Randall Williams]

You Guys ready?

[Seth Morris]

Yep.

[Randall Williams]

Flip them over. Corey says $11. Seth says $1.

[Corey Calkins]

Good call.

[Randall Williams]

Seth's the teemu man.

[Phil]

But unfortunately, with a clean sweep and a price of $18.40, our winner today is Corey Calkins.

[Randall Williams]

Seth, I, I, I know where your head was at, and I think that was the smart approach.

[Seth Morris]

I was hoping Cory was going to go over.

[Corey Calkins]

They'll have a sale soon.

[Randall Williams]

Phil, do we have a, do we have anyone nail that?

[Phil]

In the chat we had a couple people guess, guess. 17.99 There might have been. I think it was probably the closest without going over.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[John Mertz]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

Well, gosh, that's fun. I wish, I wish my entire job here was just finding weird stuff on the Internet and writing weird stuff about it. But unfortunately there's other things they require me to do. That brings us to the end of the show, but we have some time for a little more listener feedback. If folks manage to get any questions.

[Phil]

We do.

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah.

[Phil]

Yeah. Feel free to. I don't have a whole lot flagged right now, so get some questions in and no matter how terrible and inane they are, you, they might get read on the show. Let's see. Jake said. Phil, was it you that said on trivia yesterday that you didn't like vinegar barbecue sauce? I would never say that because vinegar forward barbecue sauce is my favorite. I love that tang. Give me the tang. I like tang over sweet. I don't remember who said that, but someone was really pushing ketchup. Was that Seth?

[Seth Morris]

No, I like. I'm with you, Phil.

[Phil]

Okay.

[Randall Williams]

I like it. All right.

[Seth Morris]

On.

[Randall Williams]

The only thing I don't really like that much is Alabama white barbecue sauce.

[Phil]

Oh yeah.

[Randall Williams]

It's not like an everyday thing for me.

[Phil]

But every now sauce, is that like another.

[Randall Williams]

A couple of times a year I'll eat like a half chicken with that. But it's not like a staple of the pantry.

[Phil]

I agree. Shania says, my husband and I love watching your guys trivia show. We are currently headed to Colorado from Wisconsin to hunt buffalo with a suppressor.

[Seth Morris]

Great.

[Phil]

What's your favorite thing to make with buffalo? Randall, you've got some recent experience in this.

[Randall Williams]

Well, the short answer is everything.

[Phil]

The pooh.

[Randall Williams]

My least favorite thing to eat is teuhy, man. I think the first thing we made with the buffalo was we did. We made some tartar with the, with the heart and then. Yeah, I mean burgers. We've eaten a lot of burgers. We eat a lot of steaks. We eat a lot of roasts. We eat a lot of. I've been making good beef stew, like any beef stew recipe. I'm doing a lot of stew experiments with some of the larger roasts, but you're not gonna. Unless you shoot like an old, old, old ancient animal. We. We shot a Sydney shot of one and a half year old and man, there hasn't been a bite off that buffalo that I haven't enjoyed.

[Seth Morris]

Sounds thoughts.

[Corey Calkins]

I'm sure you can't go wrong with any of it. Yeah. Depending on how old it is.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah. We basically do anything with it that, you know, you would.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Seth Morris]

Do with any other red meat animal.

[Randall Williams]

Exactly. We, I mean, it's. It's a pretty. I wouldn't say it's a close substitute to beef, but we just sort of treat it like the closest thing to beef that you get from a game animal. And man, we haven't gone wrong with anything.

[Corey Calkins]

Yeah, nice. The heart's usually my favorite part, and I can only imagine the size of that.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, it's a big boy. It's a big boy.

[Corey Calkins]

Enjoy that.

[Randall Williams]

Good luck on that hunt. Yeah, I wish I was hunting buffalo right now.

[Phil]

Seth says. Shout out to Seth and his wife Kelsey. My name is Seth and my wife's name is also Kelsey.

[Brandon Maddox]

Whoa.

[Phil]

You guys should meet up and grab lunch somewhere.

[Seth Morris]

Small world. Yeah.

[Phil]

We had Mogor ask about how my production of the Christmas Carol went. It went very well. Mogul.

[Clay Newcombe]

It did.

[Phil]

It was great.

[Corey Calkins]

Oh, yeah, I was there.

[Phil]

It was fun. Let's see. We've got more demand for meat theater from Colby. We'll see about that.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, that is a good idea. I'm gonna write that down. Meet theater.

[Phil]

We've got the meat theater crew in here right now.

[Seth Morris]

Oh, we should have done it. Dang.

[Randall Williams]

We'll do it again. We'll do it again.

[Seth Morris]

Sorry.

[Randall Williams]

We should do it. We should do it to Giannis without telling him that we're going to do it.

[Seth Morris]

Oh, yeah.

[Randall Williams]

He would hate so much.

[Phil]

He'd get that. His face would turn red. And you get that permanent grin he gets when he's uncomfortable.

[Seth Morris]

You'd have to do a thing that this camera just zoomed in on on Yanni's face while Randall was doing his thing.

[Phil]

Alexander Miller. Any good books lately, guys? Reading anything?

[Seth Morris]

I've been out of a book phase recently.

[Randall Williams]

I've been in a hard book phase recently. Tell you what, Alexander. I reread a classic, the Breaks of the Game by David Halberstam, which tells the story of the Portland Trailblazers in the late 70s as the franchise fell apart after Bill Walton left Once they won the title after that, I read a book called Ends of the Earth by Neil Shubin, who's an Arctic researcher. I should say a polar researcher. A lot of it's about Antarctica as well, which I realized I don't know anything about.

[Seth Morris]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

What do you think the elevation of the South Pole is?

[Seth Morris]

Probably higher than what we think, man.

[Brandon Maddox]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

And how high do you think it is?

[Corey Calkins]

Antarctica is massive.

[Randall Williams]

It's over 9,000ft.

[Phil]

Oh, God.

[Randall Williams]

Isn't that wild?

[Seth Morris]

I just pictured the whole thing being a few feet above sea level.

[Randall Williams]

Oh, you got to. You got to read this book. And then after. After I finished that, as I was just telling Phil the other day, I'm reading a book by Jeff Perlman. It was published last year called Only God Can Judge Me. The Many Lives of Tupac Shakur.

[Seth Morris]

Oh, nice.

[Randall Williams]

It's a biography of the hip hop legend Tupac Amaru Shakur, and it goes from his childhood until his untimely death in a shooting in Las Vegas.

[Corey Calkins]

Listening to a bit of Tupac. I just started the book Lewis and Clark, Pioneering naturalists. Santa brought me that one.

[Seth Morris]

Oh, cool.

[Clay Newcombe]

Like.

[Corey Calkins]

Start to finish by chapter, from starting in St. Louis all the way to the. To the West Coast. Just kind of their. What they saw as far as animals and plants and. And what they jotted down. Because Mr. Thomas Jefferson, that was one of his major goals, was for those guys to jot down a lot of the fauna and flowers that they saw along the way.

[Randall Williams]

I don't think you can. This is going to be a gross overstatement. I don't think I can get enough Lewis and Clark.

[Corey Calkins]

That's true.

[Randall Williams]

I find Lewis and Clark, the whole. Everything about it, to be endlessly fascinating. To have, like, such a unique moment in time and then to have it so thoroughly documented.

[Corey Calkins]

Yeah, yeah, very cool.

[Seth Morris]

I. I've been picking away at Plainsman of the Yellowstone, which has been a good one.

[Randall Williams]

It's a Renella classic. We should have a little.

[Seth Morris]

I got that one for me.

[Randall Williams]

We should have, like, a little library of REAP reprints called Steve Rinella's Literary Classics, and they're just all. Steve can provide a commentary. Phil, what about you? What are you doing?

[Phil]

I actually. I'm reading a book called the Will of the Many by James Islington. It's a fantasy book that I wasn't really into the first 50 pages, but now it's getting twisty and thick, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I'm switching off between that and my third playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3, featuring Dr. Randall the Bard.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, Phil, we gotta talk games.

[Phil]

Yeah, we do.

[Randall Williams]

Verizon finally sent me my free Nintendo sw.

[Phil]

I'm.

[Randall Williams]

I've been exploring Hyrule. I'm back in my Zelda phase.

[Phil]

I love it so much. Oh, Randall told me he ordered a pro controller the other day, which just. Just lit me up.

[Randall Williams]

I'm attacking boblicans. Is that what they're called?

[Phil]

Yeah. The Goblins. That's another.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. Oh, man, I had so much fun.

[Phil]

We got to find some multiplayer game we can play together and maybe stream it together. I think the. I think the audience would like.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, yeah. Once I'm better at 2k, the world better watch out. All right, gang, unless you got anything else.

[Phil]

Yeah, I think that's.

[Randall Williams]

We can pull the plug on this grandmother and shut her down.

[Corey Calkins]

Well done.

[Randall Williams]

All righty. Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for watching. Thanks for listening. We love you, we appreciate you. Happy New Year, and we will see you here next week, same time, same place. Good night. This is an Iheart podcast.

[Unknown Intro Speaker]

Guaranteed human.