Ep. 837: This Episode is Called "It's the Third-to-Last Episode" | MeatEater Radio Live!

Summary

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The MeatEater Podcast

Episode 837: "It's the Third-to-Last Episode" | MeatEater Radio Live!
Date: February 20, 2026
Host: Randall Williams
Co-Hosts: Giannis Patelis, Sethri Morris, Phil
Special Guests: Scott Heidebrink (American Prairie), Clay & Bear Newcomb

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Overview

In this third-to-last live installment of MeatEater Radio, Randall Williams is joined by core team members Giannis Patelis and Sethri Morris for a show loaded with hunting stories, conservation news, and community interaction. The episode features a deep dive into one of the most controversial federal land management decisions impacting bison grazing on the American Prairie, engaging "show and tell" segments with hunting keepsakes, and the debut of updates from Clay and Bear Newcomb about the growing Bear Grease universe. Listeners are also treated to lively Q&A from the live chat and get exciting announcements about what’s next for MeatEater video content.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Camaraderie & Season Updates (00:45–12:26)

• Live from Bozeman, Montana, the show kicks off in typical irreverent, good-humored fashion—talking about cold starts, “lemon” trucks, adjusting to Montana winters, and longing for open-water fishing in a weird winter (03:20–04:08).
• Seth shares a celebrity bass fishing tidbit: Lucas Black (“Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift”, “NCIS: New Orleans”) is now a professional tournament angler (03:59–04:24).
• Giannis recounts his role at the NWTF (National Wild Turkey Federation) convention, including emceeing the Grand Slam after-party, running raffles, and the struggle to find a good hoot-owl caller:

  “You would think at NWTF…just no problem to find twenty that sound like an owl. Wasn't the case.” (05:01–06:13, Giannis Patelis)

• Reflections on the value of in-person feedback and the enthusiasm of MeatEater fans.

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2. Guns, Museums, and the Value of History (07:21–08:28)

• Randall describes visiting the Cody Firearms Museum and handling guns with ties to legendary mountain men such as “Liver-Eatin’ Johnson” and Jed Smith.
• Standout moment:

  “There is a bolt action that is probably one of the most cycled bolt actions in the world. It’s literally falling apart because every kid that walks in there cycles it thirty times…”
  (08:33–09:11, Randall Williams)

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3. Competitive Shooting & Archery Leagues (09:54–12:19)

• Giannis shares the joy and humility of joining his first-ever archery league, realizing “the worst part about it is realizing how much fun it is and then realizing I haven’t done it for the last 40 years.”
• Notable quote on honesty in sportsmanship:

  “As soon as you see your name on the leaderboard and you’re like, top 10, then there's going to be scrutiny, right?... I called the shop and I said, look, you guys gotta knock off 15 points off my score.”
  (11:27–11:47, Giannis Patelis)

• Seth and others agree—stretching the string (meaning bow practice) could make a great T-shirt slogan (12:01–12:19).

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4. Bison Grazing Controversy – Scott Heidebrink Interview (12:32–24:32)

Background & Mission of American Prairie (13:01–14:15)

• Nonprofit with a goal of restoring a functioning prairie ecosystem in Montana, balancing land, wildlife, and people.
• The recent news:
  The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and Secretary of the Interior have proposed canceling American Prairie’s bison grazing leases (in place for up to 20 years) and converting lands back to cattle.

How Bison Grazing Leases Work (14:15–15:14)

• With purchase of land comes the opportunity to lease adjacent BLM grazing land. Two-thirds of AP’s bison graze on those federal allotments.

Stats and Realities: Bison vs. Cattle (15:14–16:09)

• Bison make up roughly 10% of American Prairie’s land base and animal use; 8,200 cattle graze AP properties versus 940 bison (15:40–16:09).

The “Livestock” Legal Debate (16:09–17:49)

• BLM claims bison aren’t livestock since they “aren’t managed for production.” Scott counters:

  “We are still running an operation where we are producing animals on the landscape… We’ve grown 2,100 bison at American Prairie… About 48% were field harvested or sent for genetics or to other herds.”
  (16:38–17:49, Scott Heidebrink)

Inconsistencies and Targeting (18:46–19:47)

• Other BLM-held bison herds exist in the West; Scott believes AP is being unfairly targeted.

Community Relations & Pushback (19:47–21:29)

• AP is sympathetic to ranching community concerns but emphasizes partnerships and programs for local landowners; rural depopulation and policy, not AP, are the key pressures on ranching.

Legal Next Steps (21:29–23:09)

• The decision is not final. Numerous groups (from conservation organizations to tribal coalitions) have joined in protest. Federal or administrative court action likely forthcoming.

Impact on Public Hunting (23:19–24:20)

• Potential loss of these grazing leases could sharply reduce or eliminate public buffalo hunting opportunities that AP currently provides.

Notable Quotes

• “The BLM is making an effort to not impact others… but at the end of the day, it is targeting us for our different kind of management.”
  (19:00–19:47, Scott Heidebrink)
• “Would your inability to graze buffalo on BLM impact public hunting opportunities?...” – “Yeah, it likely will be affected.”
  (23:20–23:37, Randall Williams & Scott Heidebrink)

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5. Show and Tell: Hunting Stories and Keepsakes (26:18–41:20)

Seth’s Whitetail Buck (26:52–28:19)

• Thanksgiving 2021: A story of public land whitetail luck, a 425-yard 6.5 Creedmoor shot, and a broken-racked, “Montana typical” buck celebrated over Busch Light.
• Fun show idea joked by Randall:

  “Could Have Been a Booner, where I shoot two to three-year-old animals with a lot of potential.”
  (28:55–29:08, Randall Williams)

Giannis’ Bear Skull and Hide (29:20–37:58)

• He tells the story of his first true bear hunt in Manitoba:
  • Observations about bear behavior at bait sites—especially the cleverness involved in raiding a beaver carcass.
  • Bear grease and meat are his chief motivations:

    “The number one reason…to take home, it’s bear meat and bear grease. I love eating bears.” (37:58–38:12, Giannis Patelis)

• Plans to make the bear rug a functional home piece, not just a trophy.

Randall’s Mountain Lion Hide (38:19–41:19)

• The visceral wildness of a mountain lion’s paws/claws, memories of hunting with hounds, and a glowing endorsement of lion meat:

  “If I could put a deer in the freezer or a lion…probably lion, just for variety.” (39:40–39:49, Randall Williams)

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6. Live Q&A & Listener Interaction (42:33–48:00; 68:34–72:47)

• Live chat covers a wide range: taxidermy and hide tanning, upcoming Alaska draws, stories from listener Leland’s daughter’s javelina hunt, coveted hat patches, the hunt for rare Jack Miner waterfowl bands.
• Audience questions addressed about paddlefish season, vintage hat patches, and the much-anticipated Buck Hunter video, which is “about halfway done” (70:02–70:16, Phil).

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7. Bear Grease Expansion – Clay & Bear Newcomb Interview (48:47–61:24)

Bear Grease YouTube Relaunch (50:17–52:30)

• Clay and Bear debut the revitalized Bear Grease YouTube channel (built off the old Bear Hunting Magazine channel, dormant since 2014) with Bear as the primary host.
• Plans: Weekly informal videos on bow building, hunting adventures, and more. Also, a new “Real Bear Grease” Instagram channel.

Crossover with Past Characters (52:30–53:04)

• Anticipated appearances by Brent Reeves and “the usual cast” in upcoming coon hunting episodes.

Clay’s Black Bear Book Announcement (53:20–56:28)

• Manuscript for American Bear just turned in; book delayed till spring 2027.

  “Never been more excited for anything I’ve done… a defining piece of work and regardless if anybody ever reads it, I’m excited it’s in existence.” (53:58–54:07, Clay Newcomb)

• The book will combine biology, history, native culture, and hunting lore.
• Fascinating bear grease trivia:

  “The Mississippi River… would have just been a bear grease highway…” and “…first street lights in America [in New Orleans] burned some bear oil.” (56:54–59:03, Clay Newcomb)

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8. Announcements: Upcoming Content & the Future (61:24–68:13)

• MeatEater Movie Club returns next week to review Legacy of a White Tailed Deer Hunter (Netflix).

  “If you like Danny McBride and that sensibility, which I do very much…” (62:49–63:03, Phil)

• The following week is the MeatEater Radio Live Grand Finale Live Extravaganza—anticipated to be a uniquely long, memorable sendoff episode.
• 12 in 26: Major new YouTube project—twelve, hour-long adventure films from the crew’s best hunts, dropping monthly throughout 2026. First up: Giannis’ Manitoba bear hunt.

  “Everybody’s always asking for longer form stuff. Twenty minutes is hard to capture the ups and downs of a real adventure hunt. An hour, you can really let it breathe.” (67:41–67:51, Randall Williams & Sethri Morris)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On community:

  “Mostly we’ll just enjoy time spent in the company of friends and savor our time with you loyal Radio Live audience.” (01:50–01:57, Randall Williams)

• On bear cleverness:

  “Bears are like the most adaptable, curious animal out there… the ones that will see something and need to know more.” (34:35–34:46, Giannis Patelis recounting Clay Newcomb’s research)

• On the end of an era:

  “Anything can happen when you’re doing it live.” (43:38–43:42, Giannis Patelis)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:45–12:26 — Opening banter, winter updates, and NWTF recap
• 12:32–24:32 — Scott Heidebrink, American Prairie bison grazing controversy
• 26:18–41:20 — Show and Tell: Whitetail, bear, and mountain lion hunting stories
• 48:47–61:24 — Clay & Bear Newcomb, Bear Grease relaunch, and bear book
• 61:24–68:13 — Announcements: Movie Club, grand finale, "12 in 26" adventure films
• Throughout — Listener Q&A and lively MeatEater chatroom interaction

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Conclusion

This vibrant, community-driven episode encapsulates everything listeners love about MeatEater Radio: timely wildlife and land management news, personal tales from the field, generational hunting wisdom, and a hint of mischief and humor. With expert guests, deep dives into conservation topics, and a heartfelt appreciation for using and celebrating wild game, the MeatEater crew reminds all listeners—new and old—why a deeper understanding of the natural world truly does enrich our lives.

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For more, tune in to the official release or join the closing Radio Live Extravaganza in two weeks!

Transcript

[Randall Williams]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Giannis Patelis]

Guaranteed Human.

[Meat Eater Store Announcer]

Hey, if you're in or around Milwaukee, Wisconsin and you live for hunting season, you need to swing by the Meat Eater Store in Milwaukee. We're stocked wall to wall with the gear we actually use in the field. First light, FHF gear, Phelps game calls and more. You'll find us at the corners of Brookfield. Whether you're gearing up for the season, dialing in a setup, or just want to talk shop with people who love to hunt, this is your place. That's the Meat Eater Store, Milwaukee, at the corners of Brookfield. Stop in, get dialed and get after it.

[Phil]

Smell us now, lady.

[Randall Williams]

Welcome to meat eater trivia.

[Meat Eater Store Announcer]

Meat eater podcast.

[Randall Williams]

Sorry about that, folks. Phil started the timer late, so now it's 1101. So my entire script is off beginning with the very first sentence. Welcome to Meat Eater radio live. It's 11:01am Mountain Time.

[Phil]

Such a.

[Randall Williams]

Sorry, Phil. Had to throw somebody under the bus.

[Phil]

That's fine. It's my Fault.

[Randall Williams]

On Thursday 2, 1926. We usually write that out. And we're live from Meat Eater HQ in Bozeman, Montana. I'm your host, Randall Williams, joined today by my dear friends and trusted colleagues Giannis Patelis and Sethri Morris.

[Giannis Patelis]

Good morning, Sethri.

[Sethri Morris]

That's new. I've never heard that before.

[Randall Williams]

Just came out. We've got a great show for you today. First we're going to talk to Scott Heidebrink from American Prairie about the most high profile buffalo related news story in recent headlines. We're going to have a little old fashioned show and tell sesh. We're going to talk to Clay and Bear Newcomb about some exciting developments in the bear grease universe. We've got. I reused the word excited. We've got some exciting announcements coming at the end of the show, but mostly we'll just enjoy time spent in the company of friends and savor our time with you loyal Radio Live audience. Welcome, Seth Giannis. How are you boys doing today?

[Sethri Morris]

Fantastic.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, I'm doing great now that you set us up for the next hour that way. Just getting to hang out. Yeah, our buddies.

[Randall Williams]

I mean that's, that's what it's all about.

[Giannis Patelis]

Shoot the bull, right?

[Randall Williams]

That's casting, as we call them, the biz. Just podcasting.

[Sethri Morris]

Just podcast.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. Cold here in Bozeman today.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, what a shock to the system

[Sethri Morris]

this morning when I went out to start my truck. Yeah, it was so cold my radio wouldn't work.

[Randall Williams]

Glad it started. Oh, you having some electrical problems?

[Sethri Morris]

Apparently.

[Randall Williams]

Geez, Yep.

[Giannis Patelis]

That thing really has been a lemon, huh?

[Sethri Morris]

It has been.

[Giannis Patelis]

I'm sorry for you.

[Randall Williams]

Well, thankfully Ford doesn't sponsor this program. Seth, how's your week?

[Sethri Morris]

Where I got it, dude. Weekend's great. I did a lot of hiking around this weekend, which I don't usually do very nice. Which was nice just to get out. Yeah, it's kind of.

[Phil]

It's.

[Sethri Morris]

It's like a weird. This winter has been weird. And I've said this a bunch of times before, but there's like bad ice everywhere. But not like really open water. So the fishing program has been, you know.

[Randall Williams]

So you're jonesing.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah, yeah, I'm Jones. And yeah. Been consuming a lot of fishing content.

[Randall Williams]

You have?

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah, I know.

[Randall Williams]

You're like just telling me this morning about some. Some updates in the bass fishing world.

[Sethri Morris]

Oh, yeah, well, that's not an update. That's just like a. That was just a fun little tidbit

[Randall Williams]

for those of us who don't follow. It was quite an update shock, really.

[Giannis Patelis]

I think you're gonna have to give us some info now that you guys brought this up.

[Sethri Morris]

I was showing Randall Lucas Black. He's a. He's an actor. You know this guy Phil.

[Phil]

Never heard of him.

[Sethri Morris]

He was on Fast and Furious. Oh, that's why I haven't Sling Blade.

[Phil]

Yeah, I'm looking him up right now. Anyway, he's like.

[Randall Williams]

I could have sworn he was in the Skulls.

[Sethri Morris]

He's like a professional Joshua Angler now.

[Giannis Patelis]

Really?

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

Good for him.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah, he's fishing right now in a tournament.

[Phil]

Oh, he's on an NCIS show.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah. Ncis, yeah.

[Randall Williams]

He was in Fast Furious, Tokyo Drift.

[Giannis Patelis]

It's interesting.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, I thought that was fascinating.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, Randall, we're not that interesting. What's going on with you? Tell us something interesting.

[Randall Williams]

Well, I thought you were going to tell us a little bit about your weekend last week. And you were with all the.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, down. Down at nwtf.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, a little bit of fomo.

[Giannis Patelis]

You had fomo?

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah, I had fomo, yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

From the turkey convention.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah. It's one of my favorite things ever is turkeys Turkey hunter.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, it's just. It's a lot, man. It's a big place with a lot of people. It's great to see the enthusiasm.

[Randall Williams]

Right.

[Giannis Patelis]

Of all these turkey fans. We helped MC host the grand slam after party on Friday night and helped raise a bunch of money for nwtf. Sell some raffle tickets. That went good. We told some stories, play some trivia, had a hoot owl contest which, you know you would think you're nwtf. Like it would just be no problem to find just 20 of them. That sound just like a damn owl.

[Sethri Morris]

Really sad.

[Giannis Patelis]

I don't know if we're just somehow we're still looking in the wrong places or we're not getting the word out that. Or it's only Clay and I that actually appreciate someone that can actually do a good voice owl call.

[Randall Williams]

Well, I also feel like in the past we've. We feel like we've heard good al. You know, it's always the last place we were we heard some good ones or last year we heard some good ones and maybe we're just.

[Giannis Patelis]

You hear a couple, three good ones. And we had that at the, at the convention too. But again, we were thinking that like, oh my God, it's gonna be very tough to vet this crowd to get eight of them to get come on stage because we're gonna have 50 good ones.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

Wasn't the case. The next day. We hung out in the booth for about six hours and it actually wasn't too bad. But. And that's my favorite part because you just talk to fans coming through and it's good to get the one on one feedback, you know, and hear what they appreciate about what we do. So. Yeah, I got this fancy hat here.

[Randall Williams]

It looks good. Thanks. Oh, it's an nw. That's a turkey feather. Fascinating.

[Giannis Patelis]

Turkey feather. First light NWTF collab with. I can't remember how much of the proceeds go to nwtf, but a bunch of. So if you want to support turkeys and you like the hat. There you go.

[Randall Williams]

Very cool. And Seth's wearing a custom made hat.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

Show it to the camera, would you please?

[Sethri Morris]

You can't buy it anywhere.

[Giannis Patelis]

You can't wear that one turkey hunting.

[Sethri Morris]

Unless you offer me money and I can sell it to you.

[Randall Williams]

Whether or not you can't buy Redman Tournament. Trail bass fishing tournament. Patch on it.

[Sethri Morris]

Old school.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. There is no Red man anymore.

[Sethri Morris]

Nope. It's America's best. But back in the day, Red man used to sponsor.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, bass fishing. They changed the name.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah. They changed it to America's.

[Randall Williams]

Understandably. Yeah, understandably. Well, Giannis, since you asked about my weekend, I'll tell you a little bit about my weekend. You did that before. I asked you about your weekend. On Thursday, Steve and I went to Cody and we went to the Cody Firearms Museum. Shout out to Danny and Emma there, there. Gave us a little tour. Saw some super cool stuff.

[Giannis Patelis]

I think they run the joint.

[Randall Williams]

Danny is the curator of the firearms collection. And then Emma is from their marketing team. And we got to hold guns, One of which was owned by Liv Eaton Johnson, the inspiration for Jeremiah Johnson. And then the other one, the provenance is a little more cloudy, but allegedly belonged to one Jed Smith. So some real mountain man heavy hitters there.

[Sethri Morris]

That place is so impressive. I was there last winter.

[Randall Williams]

Oh, I think it's cool. I think he said they had 6,000 firearms in the collection or on display. One of the two.

[Giannis Patelis]

Wow.

[Randall Williams]

And at the.

[Sethri Morris]

Honestly, I would have thought they'd add more.

[Randall Williams]

They have drawers. You can just pull out drawers full of guns.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

And my favorite part was they have. When you walk in. They have. Because it's. It's made. The museum is geared both towards weirdos like myself and towards just general, you know, tourists who don't have experience with guns. So it explains, like, bolt action, pump action, whatever else. And there is a bolt action that is the most. Probably one of the most cycled bolt actions in the world. It's literally falling apart because it's probably got a million cycles on it from every kid that walks in there and does it 30 times as fast as they can. It's pretty weird to see what happens when you just wear one of those things out.

[Sethri Morris]

That's cool.

[Randall Williams]

Afterwards, Steve and I gave a talk about the mountain men at the Cody Culture Club invited us down, and one Jim Zumbo was in attendance. Local, Local. Jim Zumbo. Lovely man. It's nice to meet a living legend. And then I went to the Hunt Expo in Salt Lake again. Got to see a lot of the folks there that tune in. And it's always nice to meet people that appreciate the weird stuff that I do and that we do together. Shout out to Cade, loyal meat eater. Radio Live listener with whom I shared a malted beverage.

[Sethri Morris]

Wonder if he's listening.

[Randall Williams]

Oh, I think he is. I'm guessing he is. Good guy. Good guy, competitive rimfire shooter.

[Sethri Morris]

Oh.

[Randall Williams]

Which interests me to no end.

[Giannis Patelis]

I've been doing some competitive shooting lately. I meant to talk about this, I think, last week. Excuse me.

[Sethri Morris]

Shooting what?

[Giannis Patelis]

Bows and arrows?

[Sethri Morris]

Oh, yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

I'm shooting my first ever league. And I encourage everybody. Like, the worst part about it is realizing how much fun it is and then realizing that I haven't done it for the last 40 years. Like I should have been. Maybe. Or maybe not. I'd be a better shooter. I don't know. But I definitely feel that way about video games. I've definitely missed out on a lot of fun.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

You know, and. But no, it's also fun to shoot well. And I didn't know how well I was shooting, but my buddy Jeremy, you know, I love Jeremy, but we've been. There was a little bit of a gentleman scoring going on a little bit. And so where the eight ring and the insert outline are oftentimes can be kind of blurry. Sometimes if it's a really big insert, it's very clear, but other times, it's. It's close. And sometimes if it's just in the insert, we were like, oh, yeah, it's an eight. Outside of the insert, it's a five. Well, no, you gotta be within the eight ring or touching the eight ring to get an eight. So I felt like I didn't really care because I'm just like, I'm there to have fun, stretch the string, keep my bow muscles active. Well, as soon as you see your name on the leaderboard and you're like, top 10, then there's gonna be scrutiny, right? And so you can't be like, oh, yeah, we have this gentleman scoring. And I. You know what I mean? So I called the shop and I said, look, you guys gotta knock off 15 points off my score. Cause I think on average, we've probably at least been doing that once around now.

[Randall Williams]

Good for you.

[Giannis Patelis]

With pure, honest scoring last night, I still shot my best round ever.

[Randall Williams]

Nicely done.

[Giannis Patelis]

So I'm stoked. And like I said, I encourage everybody to do an archery league. Man, it's just super fun.

[Randall Williams]

Stretching the string is. What is that? Like burning some powder in the archery world, I guess.

[Giannis Patelis]

I don't know where I came up with that.

[Randall Williams]

I like it.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah. But I've never heard that before.

[Randall Williams]

But you should make a T shirt that says stretch the string.

[Giannis Patelis]

I'm going to think about that for a day or two, but, yeah, I love it. You love it.

[Randall Williams]

Okay. Very marketable. You done? We done?

[Giannis Patelis]

I mean, I can talk about archery club for forever.

[Randall Williams]

No, let's talk to. Let's talk to my friend Scott here.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, I'm interested to hear about what Scott has to say about the American prairie.

[Randall Williams]

Our first guest today is Scott Heidebrink, Director of Landscape stewardship at American Prairie. Scott, welcome to the show.

[Scott Heidebrink]

Hey, thanks for having me.

[Randall Williams]

Appreciate it. Scott. Some of our listeners may have seen a story about a recent federal land management decision involving American Prairie. Can you give us the basics who American Prairie is, what you're trying to do, and why you've been in the news lately?

[Scott Heidebrink]

Sure, yeah. We're. We're a nonprofit organization. We with a goal of seeing a fully functioning ecosystem, prairie ecosystem here in Montana. So that's kind of three pillars for us. Land, wildlife, and people. And so focusing on habitat, the animals that use that habitat and the people that come to see or utilize those animals on the landscape. And yeah, like you said, why we're. Why we've been in the news is that the Bureau of Land Management and the Secretary of the Interior have. Have changed or made a proposed decision to cancel our bison grazing leases, which have been in place for some of them for up for 20 years, and to convert them back to cattle leases. So that's the. That's the short story there.

[Randall Williams]

Gotcha. So for those who. Who are unfamiliar with how this stuff works, can you explain what it means to have a BLM grazing lease and how these leases factor into your bison program? Because that's. That's what you guys are really known for in a lot of ways. I think when people think American prairie, they think bison.

[Scott Heidebrink]

Yeah, sure. So with. With the BLM here in the west, where you have these public lands, they're. They're often interspersed with private lands. And how the grazing system was set up is that when you purchase a piece of deeded property, you have the opportunity to have grazing privileges on neighboring allotments or on these federal lands. And so when you purchase these properties, you have the first shot at leasing those lands. And so when we buy property at American Prairie, we also retain those leases that go with them. And that's integral. And into our bison program. About two thirds of our acres that we have bison on, our BLM acres. And so that's how we've been able to grow our herds over the past 20 years, from 16 animals in 2005 to the 940 that we have right now.

[Randall Williams]

Gotcha. And just so you've got 940 now. I'm kind of skipping ahead a little bit, but you guys also have cattle grazing on American prairie lands. Can you give folks? Because you hear a lot of times like they want to repl all the cattle with buffalo. That's sort of what some of the. The critics would say about your organization. Can you give us some of the statistics about cattle versus buffalo on your property or on your. And your leases as well?

[Scott Heidebrink]

Yeah, we have. So, yeah, in addition to the two properties that have bison on, we have 36 lessees across the other over 500,000 acres that we manage that we have about 8,200 cattle right now that are grazing on these other allotments that we don't have bison on.

[Randall Williams]

Gotcha. So bison are just a fraction of, of the overall grazing that happens on American prairie, right?

[Scott Heidebrink]

Yeah, we can figure roughly like 10% of the land base and 10% of the animals.

[Randall Williams]

Got you. Now, the BLM's justification for, for revoking these leases centers on the argument that bison aren't livestock because they're not managed for production. And those are the words that they are using. How do you explain that legal interpretation? And does it accurately reflect how you guys think of that bison herd?

[Scott Heidebrink]

No, it does not accurately reflect that. So, yeah, we have always been classified as livestock in Montana. That's the only classification we have for bison. And so over the past 20 years that we've owned bison, we've been operating under the Taylor Grazing Act. At no point has anyone told us we were not in compliance with the act. And so, you know, when I look at our herd, we do, we do manage differently. We, we manage, you know, for even our natural sex ratios and natural herd demographics and things like that, where we are a little different. But at the end of the day, we are still running an operation where we are producing animals on the landscape. We've produced about 20. We've grown 2100 bison at American Prairie over our first 20 years. And 48% of those animals were either field harvested or shipped to other herds for genetics or to grow or supplement other herds. So although we do it a little differently and our management is a little different, you know, we are, we are producing, we are shipping out animals, we are harvesting those animals.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, and I would like to point out, just as sort of a. For my own sake, it's a bit of a brag. I have one of those animals in my freezer thanks to my wife's opportunity a couple years ago. And yep, it's. We killed that on BLM land on one of your leases. So that's to give folks a picture of what this looks like in the field. Like we were on BLM ground on Onx when we, when we shot that buffalo. Scott, there. There are other, There are other people grazing bison on BLM lands across the West. The BLM has acknowledged in 2022 that Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, they all have federally administered leases where bison graze. How can you reconcile that, or how can they reconcile that with its current position regarding American Prairie?

[Scott Heidebrink]

Yeah, so I think there's, there's a couple things there. We're looking, you know, there. The facts that are being used to make this proposed decision are not based on what's actually happening on the ground. They're based on a few very vague or old quotes or documents that, that are being used to define our management. And so with that, I think, you know, I've, I've been grazing bison for 10 years now. We, we don't, we have never been told that we were not in compliance with this. And so it's kind of out of left field for us. And we feel like we're being targeted here for our specific management, even though we are producing something, something on the landscape here, which is all those bison. And so I think the BLM is making an effort to not impact others, but at the end of the day, it is targeting, targeting us for our different kind of management.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. And I think we would be remiss if we didn't acknowledge that there is controversy that bubbles up whenever American Prairie is mentioned. Your organization has critics that argue that it's a, it's a threat to the livelihood of ranching and ranching communities. We already heard that your operation is mostly grazing cattle on, on lands and leases. But I'm wondering how you guys respond to those critics in terms of your relationship to the communities around American Prairie.

[Scott Heidebrink]

Yeah, so, so I'm from a rural community. I totally get the fear of, you know, somebody new coming in. A big landowner changes things like that. And I'm really empathetic to that. I, I understand all of that and you know, I, I would ask people, you know, to look at the facts and actually what's happening on the ground out there, you know, with the 8200 cattle, with the 30 some lessees. We have a wild wildlife friendly land management program for private landowners with 21 participants in it. And so, you know, at the end of the day, I think there is that fear component. But in practice, we're, we're working with a lot of people on the landscape that have lived there for a really long time. And I think there are a lot of other factors outside of American Prairie that are really impacting the ranching community. Like, like the demographics of the region or policy changes at the federal level, things like that that are, that are really hurting the ranching economy and the ranching community.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

Scott, I, at this point, I think we can assume you've mentioned this is a proposed decision. Can you tell us a little bit about the next steps? I assume that there's going to be a challenge to this in the courts and I've seen that some other groups have spoken up on American Prairie's behalf. Can you tell us a little Bit about like what, what the road looks like ahead of you.

[Scott Heidebrink]

Yeah, so. So we're in this protest period right now. Well, the. The protest period has ended. All the protests have been turned over. And essentially what that means is that interested parties are making arguments as to why this is a valid decision or a not a not valid decision. And so, yeah, like you said, American Prairie, we submitted our own protest because this directly impacts us. But then groups like Western Watersheds Projects, Tonka Fund, the Coalition of Large Tribes, Defenders of Wildlife, have all submitted protests against this proposed decision. And so at the end of the day, the BLM will analyze all these protests and they will make a final decision, whether that's to keep the current proposed decision or something else or to go back to the old permit with the bison. There's a wide range of options there. At the end of the day, this is likely there. There's two paths after the protest period, which are either federal court or administrative court. And we don't know what. What route it's going to take yet. And so either. Either way, it will likely head one of those routes, though.

[Randall Williams]

Gotcha. And, and I mentioned earlier when we. When I was lucky enough to go on my wife's buffalo hunt, we ended up harvesting that animal on BLM ground.

[Phil]

Would.

[Randall Williams]

Would your inability to graze buffalo on BLM impact public hunting opportunities? Because you guys offer 20 some harvest opportunities for the public each year, is that going to be affected at all if this goes through?

[Scott Heidebrink]

Yeah, it likely will be affected. As of right now, we're moving forward as normal operations until we know what the BLM's decision is once that is made. You know, the bison. Two thirds of the acres that the bison are on are federal land. And so if we have to remove those bison, we have to move them to other properties or ship them to other herds, things like that. And so that. That will likely impact the harvest program. So like you said, 20 to 30 opportunities a year right now that would likely be reduced or eliminated for a period of time until we're through all. All the steps we need to take with the courts.

[Randall Williams]

Gotcha. Well, Scott, we're going to keep a close eye on this. Thanks for coming on the show and hopefully I'll see you soon at a fence pole or something like that somewhere out on the prairie.

[Scott Heidebrink]

Yeah, sounds good. Thanks for having me, guys.

[Randall Williams]

All right, thanks, Scott.

[Sethri Morris]

Thanks, Scott.

[Randall Williams]

That's a good dude right there.

[Giannis Patelis]

I need to remember to put in for that tag. I always forget.

[Randall Williams]

Oh, the coolest. The coolest. One of the coolest things I've ever done in terms of just being on a wild landscape, only people hunting it. Just wild animals. They're, you know, they don't, they might technically be livestock, but they don't act like it.

[Giannis Patelis]

They're a spooky.

[Randall Williams]

Oh yeah, it's like, it's like antelope hunting. The week after season opener.

[Sethri Morris]

That's spooky.

[Randall Williams]

Super cool.

[Phil]

That's interesting.

[Randall Williams]

Super cool.

[Giannis Patelis]

This month, iHeartRadio is celebrating the stars of the 2026 Winter Games. From Afton, Minnesota, Jesse Diggins is the heart race heartbeat of Team usa. As the most decorated American cross country skier in history, she brings her relentless endurance and famous glitter adorned cheeks to the trails of Italy. Whether in sprint or distance events, Diggins is known for leaving absolutely everything on the snow. She arrives in the Alps determined to add another chapter to a legacy built on grit. For more Winter Games gold, search olympics on the iHeartRadio app.

[Meat Eater Store Announcer]

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[Randall Williams]

Our next segment is show and tell. Good, good dance moves.

[Phil]

I thought you randomly got anything.

[Randall Williams]

Spencer brought a rock. What else did you expect? Oh, that's fun. Our next segment is show and tell. Seth, let's start with you. What did you bring to show the classroom today?

[Sethri Morris]

I brought a, a whitetail buck. And this buck, the story behind it goes it was Thanksgiving day and no, it wasn't Thanksgiving day, it was the day before Thanksgiving. I, I hadn't killed a deer yet.

[Randall Williams]

And this is 2022.

[Sethri Morris]

21. Oh, 2021. I have it written right on the back. I was driving so I planned to go to a deer hunting spot and just stay there through Thanksgiving for like a, you know, till the end of the season basically. And on my way there, I left super early in the morning. It was just cracking daylight. I'm in my, in my car heading to the spot and I just happened to see this guy cross the road in front of me and did the old pull up onx real quick to see if there's any public around. Sure enough, he like dropped down in a drainage that led right to a piece of state ground. So I, I drove up there, parked my vehicle, got down in that drainage where it crossed the state ground and sat there and waited for probably, I don't know, 30, 40 minutes. And here you come.

[Giannis Patelis]

He popped out.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah. And then I killed him.

[Randall Williams]

Nicely done.

[Sethri Morris]

We shoot him with 6,5 Creedmoor.

[Randall Williams]

That'll do it. Yeah.

[Sethri Morris]

425 yards.

[Randall Williams]

Beautiful. Oh, it's a nice buck.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah, I cut him up, threw him in the truck, stopped and got a case of bush light and then went to my friends for Thanksgiving.

[Randall Williams]

Beautiful.

[Sethri Morris]

We celebrated this buck.

[Randall Williams]

I like that he's broken.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah. Fighter.

[Randall Williams]

Oh, yeah. Got some gird.

[Sethri Morris]

Would have been a, you know, a big score if, if he still had those points, you know what I mean?

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, yeah. If he'd grown, could you imagine if he grown another year?

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, I got it. What do you think? Two year old or three year old?

[Sethri Morris]

Probably three.

[Giannis Patelis]

Probably three year old.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah, that, that, that's a very typical Montana buck.

[Randall Williams]

That reminds me of my idea for a hunting program that I host called could have been a Booner, where I shoot two to three year old animals with a lot of potential. Most of my falls work out.

[Sethri Morris]

Yep. I'm.

[Giannis Patelis]

Nothing wrong with that.

[Randall Williams]

No, no, no, I love it. I can't help myself. Yanni, do you want to go last?

[Giannis Patelis]

I don't care. It's up to you.

[Randall Williams]

Why don't you go? Why don't you go?

[Giannis Patelis]

You want me to go? Okay. I brought in two things. One is this here skull.

[Randall Williams]

Mmm, spooky.

[Giannis Patelis]

You guys getting a good. Oh yeah, it's the bear skull. This is the second bear skull. The first bear. Everybody asks, is this your first bear? It kind of really is because it's the first bear I hunted. We had a problem bear in my yard. I've probably told this story couple years ago and Mingus treat him, he was eating our chickens. Mingus treat him. And I, I was on the phone with the warden and he is like, well, you can either shoot him right now out of the tree or I can come and either I'll shoot him out of the tree or I have to get him. But once he's been eating chickens, he's not going to quit eating chickens. And that's just the, that's how it is. Since then we've gotten a super like grizzly bear proof fence that you, I've touched it and I'm telling you, you don't want to touch our electric fence. So we haven't had any chicken problems since then. So I shot a little baby bear out of a tree one time. But this is the first bear actually hunt. I went to Manitoba last spring and did a. My first ever baited black bear hunt with Craig and Mel McCarthy of North Mountain Adventures. And I think on the third evening, classic Hunt. Doesn't matter if it's like spot and stock or baited. Right. We hunt one spot that that day we get pictures of like two or three good bears at another bait spot and we decide to switch locations. So we go to another location. Sure enough, no big bears show up there. And at the first spot, this one shows up. So the third night we go back and he showed up right at last light. Again, what was cool, A couple things. You're gonna be able to see this. I think next Tuesday we drop my Manitoba bear episode. But a couple cool things about this hunt is like, you're so close to these bears. We're like one afternoon sitting on a baited hunt. Like, you get to see more bear activity and observe more bears than you would in a decade of doing spot and stock hunting in Montana, you know what I mean? At least in my experience. So just all the interactions amongst the bears, the crazy sounds that they make, and then like, their ability to figure stuff out, like they love a beaver carcass for whatever reason, we don't actually know. Craig's got a theory that their mothers teach them that in the spring, that's your first way to get easy meat, is sit on a little beaver run and snag a beaver. And you go, yeah, right, whatever. We had barrels full of oats and corn soaked in used fryer oil with a few pastries or birthday sheet cakes on top, whatever. If there was a beaver carcass hanging there, the bears were like, we're gonna get that thing before we mess around with whatever's in that barrel. And they can smell it all, you know, I mean, the bait is doped up with all kinds of fancy smelling stuff, but they love that beaver carcass. Yeah. And so like the first day we hung it, way too easy to grab. And they just like, the first bear goes in there, takes it down out of the tree and he goes off into the bush and you can hear him chewing on it for the next hour. You know, another bear might go over there and try to take it from him or whatever. So I'm like, well, we don't want that. We want to see it. So we started hanging it. We did like a high line and then hung it off the middle. But that one didn't work too good because it was almost just too difficult. Like, they would, like, look and look and try to figure it out. And maybe it was just the bears, like the individual bears themselves, because the third night we did it, we hung one kind of like you'd hang a bag of food, you know, slung it over a branch and then tied it off. This one bear comes in and he's determined, and he spends an hour. He, like, climbed every single tree he could climb in the vicinity and just is like thinking, thinking, thinking, looking, going out on these little limbs. I can't go out there. Comes back and he finally figures out that that yellow rope, when he touches it, the beaver moves, right? So then he starts putting the rope in his mouth and climbing down the tree. And the beaver's going up and he'd get down to the bottom and he'd let it go. And again, I didn't know. I don't know if the bear knows that. Oh, if I do this enough times, there's going to be enough sort of force that something's going to give and this beaver is going to drop out of the sky. But, oh, can am accident that eventually that happens. And the beaver just like our little knot or whatever, the noose didn't hold. Beaver hit the ground and he got his. So it was just like, cool to see bears doing bear things and how, like, Clay's got a new book coming out, I think it's about a year out, about the American bear. And they. According to the research Clay's done, bears are like the most sort of adaptable, curious animal out there. Like, they're the ones that will sort of see something and more human. Like, right where you're like, hey, I need to know more. I mean, dolphins figure that out.

[Randall Williams]

He likes dolphins.

[Giannis Patelis]

I like. Dolphins are pretty cool.

[Randall Williams]

Very sexual.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. So this big old boy, the cool thing about this bear, when he finally came in is that there's a lot of noises around. A bait pile or bait, you know, a bait site, I guess, right? There's just like. I mean, at times there was a half a dozen bears and they're, you know, it's a lot of interactions. And anytime there's a sow with cubs, anytime another bear comes around, the sow makes the cubs run up the trees, right? So it's just like this constant grunting and stuff, running through the brush, chasing each other, cubs going up and down trees. When this dude got to probably 7580 yards of the bait. It was like the woods went silent. He's the boss, mom. The sow had moved these couple cubs off of the bait and they were like at the base of a tree. I don't know if they had climbed yet. Maybe they climbed a little ways, but it was almost like the birds quit chirping and it just like all you could hear was a little stream trickling down behind me that was. Was behind us. And he just walked in just slow. And you know how those boars do when they're, you know, toes are kind of pointed in a little bit. And started sniffing around. But again, limited experience for me. I'm like, is that the one? Like, I think it's the one. I can't. I've been saying to myself that that sow was a really good sized, good looking bear. And if she had been in there by herself and no cubs, a probably been like, oh, I would shoot that bear. And this bear came in and he was, you know, another, whatever, 30% bigger than her. So I'm like, okay, it's got to be the right bear. Should have brought in a picture of him. So anyways, yeah, I got my first real bear skull here. And then when I'm. I'm excited about the skull. I mean, skulls are always fun. But check this out. This is that bear's hide. And I can't remember exactly. I think we squared him like close to eight feet. Craig, I wish you were listening. You could, you could call, you could write in and say, but I mean, it's just a giant huge bear. And I'm gonna use this as an actual rug at my house. Go ahead and flip her back on there, Seth. I'm not gonna put it on the wall. I'm gonna put it on the floor. Our fireplace is kind of in the wrong spot right now, so it's probably not gonna be in the fireplace. Eventually when I move my wood stove to a cozy little area, I'll do that. But for now I'm gonna have it like in. So you can put your feet on it. I'm gonna let my dog lay on it. Cause I wanna use it, you know, like, it's a comfortable thing to put your feet on. And it'll be warm, it'll be cool.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, I've reached that point with a lot of animal parts that I'm just like, I don't know. I'm gonna hang on to this for 20 years in a box somewhere.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. Just to look at it.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. Like, Sydney's bison robe sits on the couch. The dogs love it.

[Giannis Patelis]

Right.

[Randall Williams]

You get to interact with it every day.

[Giannis Patelis]

Right. You might as well use it. You can always go get it. Well, maybe not always, but for right now, you can go get another bear hide or another bison robe, you know, if you get lucky to draw that hunt. And same thing with these. These are, like, fun to look at, the skulls. But honestly, I'm going to do more bear hunts. I'm going to do more spot and stock hunts. I'm going to do more beta bear hunts. The number one reason, I mean, besides the adventure and enjoying a hunt. But as far as something to take home, it's bear meat and bear grease.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

Like, I love eating bears. When you're just like the last 20 years, I feel like all I've been eating is super lean venison of different types and to have a, like a freezer full bear meat. It's awesome.

[Randall Williams]

Love it.

[Giannis Patelis]

So there you go. That's my show and tell.

[Randall Williams]

And before we later, we'll explain a bit more about your. Your film.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yes.

[Randall Williams]

And we have some exciting announcements at the very end of this, so stay tuned. But it's coming out next week.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, yeah, I believe on Tuesday the 24th.

[Randall Williams]

Cool. Well, I brought in a. I brought in a lion hide.

[Phil]

No, it's been here the whole time.

[Randall Williams]

It's been sitting in my office. So actually, I didn't bring it in.

[Giannis Patelis]

You brought it down.

[Randall Williams]

I brought it down.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, yeah. Let me feel the claws while you're talking about it.

[Clay Newcomb]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

I just think this is one of the cooler. One of the cooler things I have. It's a tom I killed a number of years ago when I was living in Missoula. And it's just a wild, wild animal to like. Yeah. Look at the claws, look at the pads on its feet. I had it hanging in my garage for a while while I was butchering it and just like messing with, like, it's just an animal that you're not going to get up close and personal with unless it's sedated or unless it's moved on to the next world or

[Sethri Morris]

unless it's mauling you.

[Randall Williams]

Unless it's mauling you.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

But speaking of delicious things to eat. My God.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. Yeah, Great.

[Randall Williams]

If I could put a deer. If I had the option of putting a deer in the freezer or a lion in the freezer every year, it would probably be the lion. Really? Just for variety.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

I mean, I'd still be hopefully killing elk and things like that.

[Giannis Patelis]

You'd have some Kind of venison?

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, but yeah, the, the, I mean, we, we made like a lot of. Pulled like barbecue sandwiches. Our favorite thing was making pozole with it. Like a Mexican stew where you'd ordinarily get a big like pork shoulder and chop that up, but just a super cool animal. It was a cool hunt. The only animal I've hunted with hounds and that was.

[Giannis Patelis]

Did you do it with our buddy Pete?

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, Pete. And then another, another his buddies. And yeah, we, you know, rode the sleds up and down forest service roads. So we cut a track and then went back, got all the dogs, chased him downhill, treed. They actually, the dogs split up. One of them got on another cat's track and treed that cat. We pulled those dogs off that cat and by the time we did that, the other dogs had this one treed. And so then we hiked back up to the road, back up above the road, and then shot him with 12 gauge, or sorry, 20 gauge slug, which was I figured the best thing I had for like a 30 yard shot.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

And just super cool. But yeah, like, again, the whole process and the meat in the freezer was, was really the highlight for me. Like, Sydney was kind of like, this is what you're doing. And then we got it in the freezer and she was like, I would like you to do that more.

[Sethri Morris]

So that's good.

[Randall Williams]

That's. I feel like that's the optimum outcome for any hunt.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, yeah. It's a very well managed species, especially in our state of Montana. And I mean, there's not enough lions for everybody to have one in their freezer every year, but a lot of quotas are never met.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

And that's, you know, that's a whole nother thing. The, the quotas in our state are a little bit controversial right now, but like, if you wanted to try it, there's opportunities out there, you know, and if you wanted to be a person like myself with the hound that wanted to put one in the freezer every single year, like, I don't see why not.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. And if, if for some reason someone had a, an allergy to cat meat, I don't know if that exists or not. And they, they ended up getting one and said, hey, does anyone want this? I would be knocking down their door to get it.

[Giannis Patelis]

Be happy to take it.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, for sure.

[Giannis Patelis]

I'm going tomorrow. We got some snow. Finally. I'm gonna go out and about, dress warm. Maybe I'll get my.

[Randall Williams]

Keep moving.

[Giannis Patelis]

Well, you know what? I'm Be wearing is I'm gonna be wearing this thermal grid merino top. What a shame. Right against my skin, underneath my soft shell. That'll be my kit tomorrow.

[Sethri Morris]

Great piece for active.

[Randall Williams]

Excellent, excellent, excellent. Tomorrow's a weekday, right? Mm. Okay.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. Some days I get to hunt for work, Randall, you knew that.

[Randall Williams]

Oh, yeah. Just. Just, you know, just occasionally. Phil, what's the chat saying?

[Phil]

What is the chat?

[Randall Williams]

What's the chat?

[Sethri Morris]

How are they?

[Randall Williams]

They hanging in there? Oh, gosh.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh. Brent Reeves is in the chest.

[Randall Williams]

He probably wants. He hasn't got enough of the nukem.

[Phil]

Yeah, he heard playing bear robbing in. He came in here to roast him. I'm sure. But before we get there, let's see. Valancourt asks, when Radio Live ends and it drops to the news segments, will those be recorded in a live setting with questions, comments from the YouTube chat? No, Valancour, it will not be a live show.

[Randall Williams]

No, but we recognize that this is a fun dynamic. So we don't have any concrete plans,

[Phil]

but we will do occasional live streams.

[Randall Williams]

I don't think we will abandon this.

[Giannis Patelis]

Randall and I are in the midst of planning a live tour. We don't know where it's going to happen here in the United States, but. So if you want more live, Randall, then just stay tuned and figure out where we're going to do the next live tour.

[Randall Williams]

Anything can happen. Anything.

[Giannis Patelis]

When you're doing it live.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. Phil, what do you got?

[Phil]

This is a part two part question from Cranky Sverf. Part one recently tanned some bear and elk hides. The bear hides turned out fine. The elk hide is pretty stiff. After tanning brush. Brush on tanning. Breaking and oiling. Part 2. When breaking it more after drying, the elk hide cracks on the first side. Any thoughts or tips on rehydration? Water salt bath, question mark. Would retanning be necessary after rehydrating?

[Sethri Morris]

No clue.

[Randall Williams]

I know nothing about this.

[Phil]

Oh, I thought you guys were pros in here.

[Giannis Patelis]

No, you need to. You need to call a taxidermist. Yeah, call our buddy John.

[Sethri Morris]

John Hayes.

[Giannis Patelis]

John Hayes.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. Sorry, we can't help you. The image with this listener's profile is interesting. It looks like a wizard of some sort.

[Phil]

Looks like a D&D NPC to me. Adrock. He's here. Tomorrow, the Alaska draw hunt lottery results come out for 2027. If any of the gang applied for anything, he's hoping to score a black bear tag from Prince of Wales.

[Sethri Morris]

Oh, me too.

[Randall Williams]

You? Me, both, buddy.

[Sethri Morris]

Me and Randall are trying to get Prince of Wales tags.

[Giannis Patelis]

I drew one.

[Sethri Morris]

He only has one in his pocket. Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

So I'm gonna be hunting there this spring with our forthcoming guests, both clay and bear. So I didn't apply. I don't know if there's. Yeah, I haven't applied for anything in Alaska.

[Randall Williams]

I put in for that. I put in for a real, real low odds moose hunt and then I put in for muskox. Cause I figure, why not? Why not let the tag God smile upon my fate.

[Phil]

On that note, our guy Leland Hart just drew his very first elk tag.

[Randall Williams]

Shout out Leland.

[Phil]

He's going out this year. Congrats.

[Randall Williams]

Leland and I saw him very first.

[Phil]

That's what he said in a follow up comment. It's going to be his first elk hunt.

[Randall Williams]

I saw in the Meat Eater Radio live inbox that McCullough, Leland's daughter, whom we wished good luck on her first hunt, was successful.

[Phil]

Yes.

[Randall Williams]

In shooting a javelina out of a squadron of javelinas.

[Sethri Morris]

Sweet.

[Randall Williams]

Which was the term he used. And I believe that if that's the technically appropriate term, I love it.

[Giannis Patelis]

That'd be a good trivia.

[Randall Williams]

Phil, hit me.

[Phil]

You guys aren't very ducky people in here, are you?

[Giannis Patelis]

Not super, but. What is it?

[Phil]

Someone's just curious.

[Randall Williams]

No, but I'm confident.

[Phil]

Have you ever shot a duck or goose with a jack miner band or known anyone who has?

[Randall Williams]

I don't know what that means.

[Sethri Morris]

I don't know what jack miner band.

[Giannis Patelis]

I mean, I know what a band is, but I don't know what a jack miner band is.

[Phil]

I looked it up. It's a big thing. There's a sanctuary in Canada, apparently that.

[Sethri Morris]

Oh like it was banded at jack Miner Refuge or something.

[Phil]

They're kind of unique in certain ways, but we can just move past this. Let's see. Here we go. Mogor's asking about the new studio. How are things coming along? Well, Mogor, if you listen closely, you could probably hear I hate doing that, so I will not. But a lot of progress is being made in the new studio and in the last week it's gone from being kind of a cavernous, dusty space to nearly complete. So I would show pictures, but I kind of just want you guys to be surprised. It looks pretty good and I'm excited about it. So that's the update on the new studio. You'll probably see that in the next month or two on content. Next question from Will. When is Phil going to appear on Roast Well, Will, go to the Meat Eater YouTube channel right now and hit that refresh Button right now. Right now.

[Randall Williams]

Is that the Scotch Egg showdown?

[Phil]

It's the Scotch Egg Skirmish.

[Randall Williams]

Oh, my goodness.

[Phil]

Featuring Corey and Rick. They are the cook that drop today.

[Sethri Morris]

45 minutes ago.

[Randall Williams]

Hosted. Hosted by Giannis Patelis.

[Phil]

Hosted by and judged by Randall Williams and myself. I have not watched it yet, so I don't know how much they cut out, but I'm sure they cut out a lot.

[Randall Williams]

I'm sure they cut out at least a couple of rounds of drinks.

[Giannis Patelis]

We need some views, folks. Go check it out.

[Randall Williams]

Phil. Phil. Did a little pop up tiki bar sesh unrelated to the. The dish of the day.

[Phil]

I thought it worked really well.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, it was a cool fusion of our passions.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah, you should watch it. Tell your friends about it like. And subscribe.

[Randall Williams]

Smash that like button. Smash that.

[Clay Newcomb]

Subscribe.

[Sethri Morris]

Share it with everyone.

[Randall Williams]

Boy, I. Phil, I want to get more of these questions, but I am. I'm worried that we've kept Clay and Bear waiting too long.

[Phil]

Oh, that's fine.

[Randall Williams]

Should we move to our second?

[Giannis Patelis]

They're patient people.

[Phil]

I go back and I look at the question. So if you asked a question, I will go back and look for one. And if you haven't yet, ask a question.

[Meat Eater Store Announcer]

Hey, if you're in or around Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and you live for hunting season, you need to swing by the meat eater store in Milwaukee. We're stocked wall to wall with the gear we actually use in the field. First light FHF gear, Phelps, game calls and more. You'll find us at the corners of Brookfield. Whether you're gearing up for the season, dialing in a setup, or just want to talk shop with people who love to hunt. This is your place. That's the meat eater store, Milwaukee, at the corners of Brookfield. Stop in, get dialed and get after it.

[Randall Williams]

Next up on the line, we've got Clay and Bear Newcomb, live from the great state of Arkansas. Hello. Hey, how are you fellas doing, boys? Good to see you.

[Giannis Patelis]

Clay.

[Randall Williams]

Did you get a haircut?

[Clay Newcomb]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

Oh, my goodness.

[Clay Newcomb]

Yeah, it's. It's pretty sad for grown man like me to have hair like this.

[Randall Williams]

No, it's very handsome. You look good. I was hoping we'd keep this rock and roll party going for a while, but someone had to be an adult in the room and chop it off.

[Clay Newcomb]

Luckily, we got Bear here.

[Randall Williams]

That's right. Carrying on the family legacy.

[Giannis Patelis]

No, Bear also got too much hair cut off, I heard.

[Randall Williams]

Really?

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

Wow.

[Phil]

What has gotten into you guys?

[Sethri Morris]

Like some tough weather down there or something? Or something in the air.

[Clay Newcomb]

You know, I couldn't handle the, I couldn't handle the pressure. Everywhere I went, all people wanted to talk about was my hair. And I'm like, hey, my eyes are down here, guys.

[Randall Williams]

I know the feeling. I know the feeling, Clay. Well, we're having you guys on. You have some exciting news to share with the Meat Eater audience here regarding development in the Bear Grease universe, as we like to call it. Can you tell us what's going on in your neck of the woods?

[Clay Newcomb]

Yeah. So Bear and I have started a number one. We've, we've kick started a new bear grease YouTube channel. And I'll let Bear talk about it a little bit more in terms of content, but I'll describe it for you. If you've been following along with us for very long, you would have known that I used to run and operate Bear Hunting magazine and we started a YouTube channel in 2014 back in like, it was almost like the pre history era of the earth, you know, 2014 on YouTube. And I, we built that channel for eight years. There's a lot of bear hunting. Just, there's about 70 or 80 videos on there. All kind of stuff. I mean, just all kind of stuff. And Bear Newcomb is actually on there quite a bit as a little kid and. But when I came to work for Meat Eater, we quit posting to that bear hunting magazine YouTube channel. It just lay there dormant. This year, just the last two weeks, we've cranked it back up. We've changed the name to the Bear Grease YouTube channel and we're, we're lighting the fire again. And Bear Newcomb is going to be the primary host. And Bear, tell them kind of what, what we're going to be putting on there. Yeah, well, it's a different, it's a different style content, a little more informal content. Just capturing some of the adventures that I'm going on, as well as some of the bow builds and other DIY stuff that I do a lot. So what you'll see is a little more informal content. It'll be weekly videos. And yeah, we've got, we've got a lot of good videos coming out soon. And we've also started up a burgers Instagram channel. So you're gonna be. So we, we're posting almost daily on the Bear Grease Instagram channel. I think it's called Real Bear Grease is what it's called. And so, yeah, it really is exciting. It's been a ton of fun so far.

[Randall Williams]

Now, are we gonna see Brett Reeves? Is it the usual cast of Characters on these, on these platforms.

[Clay Newcomb]

That's a great question. Like I said, it's. It's mainly. At this point, you know, it's mainly bear. I, I want to get Brent on here. He's just so busy down there with that coon dog of his. Well, next week we're. Brent and I are going on a. On a coon hunt that has a little bit of a twist to it that will be on The Bear Grease YouTube channel.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. Nice.

[Giannis Patelis]

No, that's. That's the teaser. Is it just a twist? You can't give us anything else? Bear.

[Clay Newcomb]

Typical coon hunt. I'll put it like that.

[Randall Williams]

Gotta stay tuned. Yanni.

[Clay Newcomb]

That's.

[Randall Williams]

That's the show biz, I guess.

[Giannis Patelis]

So,

[Randall Williams]

Clay, are you. Are you able to share anything about your. Your little writing project there? Yeah, man, I know you just had a big deadline, so I want to congratulate you.

[Clay Newcomb]

Thank you so much. Yeah. Two weeks ago, February 7th, about. Roughly two weeks ago, we turned in the manuscript for my Black Bear book. It's currently titled American Bear. Gonna come out spring of 27. Randall, you'll appreciate this. It was a hundred and 5, 000 words. The manuscript was.

[Randall Williams]

That'll do it.

[Clay Newcomb]

And just never been more excited for anything that I've done in terms of career and everything. I just feel like it's kind of a. For me, it's just a defining piece of work and regardless of if anybody ever even reads it, I'm. It will be excited that it's in existence. And so spring of 27. Yeah, it's. The timelines on these, you know, book projects are just ridiculous. But it, it is what it is. So I think next, I think you

[Randall Williams]

were trying to sell that book back when you and I were bear hunting on Prince of Wales. Three years ago, maybe.

[Clay Newcomb]

Yeah, we got the contract two and a half years ago. Well, it'd be three years in August.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Clay Newcomb]

And so we've been working on it two for two and a half years. And the last year was kind of a fever pace of, of work. And now it's been submitted to the, to the publisher and. And there's more work to be done once they get their hands on it and look at it. But the, but the bulk of the work is done.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, you're done. You're done pouring your soul into it and bleeding for it.

[Clay Newcomb]

That's right. There's never. Nobody's ever written a bear book like this. I mean, I'm not saying that it's. There's just. There's there's academic people that understand the history of wildlife trade and all this. There's people that understand biology. There's people that understand Native American culture and ceremonialism around animals. And then there's hunters that have, like, real life experience with bears. And. And there's. There would be books and information in all of those sectors, but this is kind of a combination of all these things.

[Giannis Patelis]

Are there any pictures in this book, Clay?

[Clay Newcomb]

I hope so. It's, you know. You know.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, is that still up for debate?

[Clay Newcomb]

Yeah, big time.

[Randall Williams]

That's up to a higher power.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, okay.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Clay Newcomb]

I mean, I would hope there's pictures, but it's. It. If it is, it would be minimal. You know, that's just kind of the way books work. I. I don't. You know, it's like, books are big into words, I hear.

[Randall Williams]

Okay, yeah, lots of words.

[Sethri Morris]

Makes sense.

[Giannis Patelis]

I just, you know, for me, little pictures go a long way. You know, when I flip through and I see a couple pictures that, you know, I get. I get engaged.

[Randall Williams]

I get it.

[Giannis Patelis]

Give us a little tidbit. I mean, you've. You've shared a lot of little tidbits with us about, like, what you learned about black bears that you didn't know before starting on this project. What's something cool you learned about bears that you didn't know a year ago?

[Clay Newcomb]

That's a good question. It's. It's so, so big. I mean, you know, the bear grease oil trade, as Randall is just a national expert on. On the deer hide trade and the. The buffalo market hunting and all that stuff. You know, there's a whole giant story about bear grease and bear market hunting. And, and we tell that story, though that's not the entire book. And, you know, basically, the Mississippi river in between the Appalachian Mountains and the Great Plains would have just been a bear grease highway. Especially in the latter half of the 1700s and into the early 1800s. Just a ton of bear grease coming down. Coming down that river. And Native Americans heavily involved in. In the bear grease oil trade.

[Giannis Patelis]

What were people. What were people doing with bear grease back then?

[Clay Newcomb]

Well, there was a period of time when animal fat oils were essential to human life. I mean, they were cooking with it, they were frying with it.

[Giannis Patelis]

They were.

[Clay Newcomb]

They were using it as dressings for salads. That's what a lot of first contact Europeans saw Native Americans doing in the east was using it on greens. You're kidding. No, they.

[Sethri Morris]

They.

[Clay Newcomb]

They saw. The first account of the word bear grease in the historical literature was July 5, 1540, Hernando de Soto's scribe named Elva, he said he was. He was in what is now eastern Tennessee, and they came upon a tribe and they said. They noted that they stored large quantities of what they called bear grease in gourds. And they said that the Native Americans anointed themselves with it daily. And they were, like, using, like, copious amounts of barrel oil on their skin. And that's what Native Americans were doing, the barrel market trade.

[Randall Williams]

They were.

[Clay Newcomb]

They were using it for food, but they were also using it for fuel. The first street lights ever in the world were in New Orleans. Okay, so just think of the world as being run by fire light, basically. No, no artificial lights, no electricity. And New Orleans was such a rough town that these rich neighborhoods said, man, we gotta have some lights at night on the street so these criminals can't just run around. And so they put oil burning lamps hung out on a little post and. And they were using pelican oil, bear grease, and whale oil in. In. In those. And it. It may not have been the first in the world. The first in. In North America. The first street lights in America burned some bare oil. And that's cool. You know, they were using it for making soap candles. You know, candles were essential for. For light. I mean, it's like a light bulb. I mean, like, everybody had them, everybody used them, everybody ran through them and needed more. And, you know, you mix. You know, we make. You can make a candle today or so, you know, using oil, animal fat oil as the. As the beginning of it, you know, or as the foundation of it. So, yeah, those are the things that they were doing.

[Giannis Patelis]

That right there is the reason I come to what I come to bear grease for. Yeah, thank you, Clay.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah, that was great.

[Randall Williams]

Well, guys, lots of exciting stuff on. On your end of things. I think we've kept you a little too long. It's. It's noon now where we are. Bear, can you hit him again with. With the YouTube channel and the Instagram and. And where they can find all your. All your adventures?

[Clay Newcomb]

Yeah, it's the Bear Grease YouTube channel and Real Bear Grease on Instagram, and we've got weekly videos every Wednesday on the YouTube channel.

[Randall Williams]

Awesome, guys. Well, you guys are a couple of. We're lucky to know you guys because you have a lot of unique adventures and perspectives on things. Clay, excited for the book. Bear, excited for the. The YouTube action. I'll be particularly excited to figure out what's so wild about this raccoon hunt, Mr. Reeves. And good to See you guys.

[Clay Newcomb]

As always, twisty boys. It's twisty.

[Giannis Patelis]

I'm assuming it's coon hunting naked.

[Randall Williams]

All right, we'll have to see.

[Giannis Patelis]

Tune in.

[Randall Williams]

Tune in. Take care. Oh, I think just made Clay. What's left of Clay's hair, stand straight up on end with that. All righty. Before we. Before we get back to listener feedback, we do have a couple of exciting announcements. One is that Meat Eater Movie Club will be returning on next week's episode, and we'll be reviewing by popular demand, Legacy of a White Tailed Deer Hunter. It's available on Netflix, and it's a movie I've held off on watching until we were able to tackle it on Radio Live.

[Giannis Patelis]

The one with Brolin?

[Randall Williams]

Yep.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay. Yeah.

[Sethri Morris]

And it's an interesting film.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

That's a good way to describe it.

[Randall Williams]

Well, I hope I have. I hope I haven't steered us wrong. It was one of the most highly requested films in the Radio Live inbox.

[Giannis Patelis]

Well, that is because everybody is awaiting how you will tackle it, how you will dissect it. And I'm very. I'll rewatch it just to hear what you have to say about it because. Yeah, you're gonna have to think about it.

[Randall Williams]

I'm coming into it with a blank slate.

[Sethri Morris]

Have you watched it yet?

[Randall Williams]

Nope. Nope. Maybe this was a big mistake and

[Giannis Patelis]

we'll just deliver it. No, because if I'm.

[Phil]

Unless I'm mistaken, it's the same crew that. That was behind Eastbound and Down. Yeah. And the Righteous Gemstones and Foot Fist Way. So if you like Danny McBride and

[Randall Williams]

that sensibility, which I do very much.

[Scott Heidebrink]

Yes.

[Randall Williams]

Another note on. On Radio Live here. The week after that, we will be doing the Meat Eater Radio Live Grand Finale Live Extravaganza. It's going to be very. I don't want to give too much away. It's gonna be very long. So just schedule your day accordingly.

[Phil]

It's going to be a unique episode.

[Randall Williams]

If you have a doctor's appointment, say, two or three hours after we start, as long as it's not an urgent condition or a threatening condition even then.

[Phil]

Still weigh the pros and cons.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

I mean, just depends on how much you enjoy Radio Live. There will be another announcement for movie clubs, so stay tuned on that because we will have one final Movie Club. And, boy, it's. I'm salivating. I'm real excited for the old RADIO Live Grand Finale Live extravaganza. So we're looking forward to spending a whole bunch of time with you guys.

[Giannis Patelis]

You should post on the, on the Instagram a picture of your whiteboard right now. Done.

[Randall Williams]

Did it already.

[Giannis Patelis]

You already did that. Okay.

[Sethri Morris]

Right before the show this morning, Randall's Instagram stories. Yeah.

[Phil]

Check it out for some teases of what to expect.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, it's all censored. It's also.

[Sethri Morris]

It's mostly redacted.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

It's just like

[Randall Williams]

political.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Phil]

And happening in the news.

[Randall Williams]

And then Giannis, why don't you tell us a little bit more about what folks can expect with your bear hunt and the future.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

YouTube.

[Giannis Patelis]

So on Meat Eater YouTube, this year, 2026, we've got a. I don't know if you call it a project or just.

[Phil]

It's.

[Giannis Patelis]

It's really just a different way of, of approaching our, our publishing of, of the. Our sort of finest, more interesting adventures from the last year that were planned to be and turned out to be good for a longer form adventure. Longer form episodes, they're going to be an hour long and we basically picked 12 of the best from the last year and we're gonna air them roughly one a month for the rest of the. Of the year in 2026. The first one that airs Tuesday is going to be my Manitoba Bear Hunt. I think that my Caribou Adventure Manitoba is also going to be one of them. Mark's working on a wolf documentary that's going to be one of these episodes. Cal had a grizzly bear episode.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. If you've been following along with the crew over the past year, you might be able to guess.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

Sort of what turned into these long form pieces that are called 12 and 26.

[Giannis Patelis]

12 and 26?

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, that's, that's the naming convention here.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. So I would show the slick little

[Phil]

graphic, but I don't know if I'm allowed to yet.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, do it, do it.

[Phil]

Well, I don't even know where to find it might be in my email somewhere.

[Randall Williams]

But yeah, it's kicking off next week. Everybody here is super excited. Yeah, a lot of work on our production team and, and the editors and all that stuff to do these longer form pieces, but that's what this is

[Giannis Patelis]

a great time to request this. I don't know if we'll do this for every episode, but we're going to try it for the, the. This upcoming bear episode and this, these are the right people to ask because they're so good at, you know, being part of the live audience here. But put in comments and ask questions about the episode in the comments section on the YouTube channel underneath the video and then we're gonna aggregate our favorites. And then a week after releases, we're gonna record. I think it's gonna be Corey Calkins and I. He's gonna ask the questions, I'm gonna answer them, and we're gonna record a video of me answering all of your questions regarding the bear hunt. Love it. And then probably post that on YouTube, so.

[Randall Williams]

Nice.

[Giannis Patelis]

Please do that. That'll.

[Phil]

It's a little blurry because I had to take a screenshot, but I think it's slick.

[Sethri Morris]

Oh, look at that, man. That's tough. Fine work by Phil. Yeah.

[Phil]

Fine.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. Phil, this is really good.

[Phil]

I'm sure this is everyone to see.

[Giannis Patelis]

Well, what I was referring to was how.

[Sethri Morris]

How quickly you brought this up.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, yeah.

[Phil]

It was pretty fast, right?

[Sethri Morris]

Not the quality.

[Giannis Patelis]

Hunter Spencer is going, man, if you would have just asked me ahead of time. But it's live.

[Randall Williams]

Reminds me of when I'm really tired and everything just starts looking a little blurry.

[Phil]

Yeah. Is that because you're tired or.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. Or overserved or overserved. Yeah.

[Phil]

By myself.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yep. 12 and 26.

[Randall Williams]

That's super exciting. I am. I'm pumped to see all these because it's been a lot of cool. You guys obviously did a lot of cool stuff last year, and.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah, everybody's always asking for longer.

[Randall Williams]

20 minutes.

[Giannis Patelis]

Form stuff.

[Randall Williams]

20 minutes is hard to capture the ups and downs of a. Like a real adventure hunt.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah. An hour. You can really let it breathe, which is nice. I prefer that. That length.

[Randall Williams]

I do, too. I do, too. Phil, what about you?

[Phil]

I agree. Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

Shoal doesn't consume hunting media.

[Phil]

That's all I watch. What are you talking about? Ever since I started working here.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Phil]

Dropped all my other interests.

[Sethri Morris]

He makes it.

[Phil]

Pick up a rifle. Consume it.

[Randall Williams]

12 and 26. Keep your eyes peeled next week for that bear video again. Legacy of a whitetail Deer hunter on Netflix Media Movie Club next week, Meat Eater Radio Live grand finale. Live extravaganza two weeks from today. And, Phil, what do we have for comments in the chat here?

[Phil]

We've got a few more people. Get some more questions in.

[Randall Williams]

My tummy's rumbling, so.

[Phil]

Oh, we can just stop the show.

[Randall Williams]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[Phil]

Chase Armstrong is wondering what the. What the excitement level is for paddlefish fishing this spring.

[Giannis Patelis]

You know, I forgot. I think I forgot to put in for the tag. So I don't have one.

[Sethri Morris]

I didn't either.

[Randall Williams]

I forgot to put in for the tag. I hear really good things. I would love to try it at some point.

[Sethri Morris]

We should put in next year and

[Giannis Patelis]

try to make a. I'm not going to go up and do Snag and release. Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Randall Williams]

I want to kill tag. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've. I've gotten the Snag and release tag before and just didn't have the. The heart. I hope you have a paddlefish tag this spring. Chase Armstrong, 5406.

[Sethri Morris]

Good luck to you, Flip flop Flesher.

[Phil]

This is from Chase. He asks, where do you keep getting the headgear? The vintage Daiwa hat was sweet, but I think the camo red man hat is even better.

[Sethri Morris]

My buddy made me the Daiwa hat and I made the red man hat. So if you got, you know, if you want cool stuff, sometimes you got to make it yourself.

[Phil]

Seth is chomping at the bit. Sorry. Go. Go ahead, Yanni.

[Giannis Patelis]

Oh, I was going to say, now that patches on hats are cool, everybody kind of wishes they hadn't thrown out all those patches that came through their lives in the last 20 years.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah, some cool patches out there.

[Phil]

Kevin Foody asks about the Buck Hunter video.

[Randall Williams]

Oh, great question, Kevin.

[Phil]

I'm about halfway done. If I get it in time for the Meat Eater Radio Live grand finale. Live extravaganza live. We will air it there if it's not quite done and not where I want it to be because I want to put. Put a little bit of time.

[Randall Williams]

You might have a teaser at least.

[Phil]

Oh, we will definitely have. We can put a little teaser up, but it will be in the month of March. I will make that very loose promise. It will be in the spring sometime. 100%.

[Randall Williams]

I showed a chunk of it to a friend last weekend and he said, I think this is the best thing that you've ever done.

[Phil]

Let's not set expectations that high, but it should be pretty good.

[Randall Williams]

No, no. But then I said it was Phil that did it, not me. I'm just Phil's vessel.

[Phil]

It's a good way to put it. Let's go ahead. Okay. Everyone's mad at me because I'm not choosing this Pennsylvania. Questions everyone keeps. By everyone, I mean mostly. Seth Jones is asking, when are you guys coming to pa Preferably east coast

[Giannis Patelis]

Pennsylvania or East PA when I draw one of those elk tags and I'll come to PA that won't be Eastern

[Randall Williams]

PA but don't have any PA trips scheduled. But we see you, Seth Jones, 1410.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah, I mean, I'll be back for, you know, Christmas or Thanksgiving or something. See the fam.

[Randall Williams]

But maybe to introduce the fam to

[Sethri Morris]

that the baby Verge?

[Randall Williams]

Baby Verge?

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

Fascinating.

[Phil]

Nate's asking about Meat Eater Radio Live extravaganza finale, live merch, which we didn't even think about. Oh, we're fools.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. We could probably crank something out real quick.

[Phil]

Yeah, I'll grab some construction paper. Patch hat.

[Sethri Morris]

We could. We could make old school looking patches.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, we should have like an I was there T shirt.

[Phil]

Oh, I watched.

[Sethri Morris]

I watched it.

[Phil]

I didn't miss a segment.

[Sethri Morris]

They could just say, I watched it.

[Randall Williams]

Maybe when we have a final. When we have a final run time for the whole thing, we'll just print that on a T shirt.

[Phil]

Yeah. And we have no way of knowing if you actually watched it live and we would still take your money. So if you didn't watch it live and still want to buy the I watched it live merch, feel free. Stolen valor. But that's fine by me.

[Randall Williams]

The money's in merchandising.

[Scott Heidebrink]

That's right.

[Randall Williams]

Merchandising. Merchandising. Merchandising.

[Phil]

Let's call it a day, boys.

[Randall Williams]

Are you serious?

[Giannis Patelis]

There's nothing else in there. Huh?

[Phil]

It's gotta be.

[Giannis Patelis]

Okay.

[Phil]

Randall's just saying he's hungry.

[Randall Williams]

Hit me with one good one, Phil. Quick.

[Phil]

I get it.

[Giannis Patelis]

Yeah. What happened to Brent Reeves? We never got to Brent.

[Phil]

He just came in and chatted up the audience took off.

[Randall Williams]

Do we hear from Mogar at all today? Oh, yeah.

[Phil]

Mogor asked several questions.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, but did I get to see them? Oh, no, we did. Yeah, that's right. I remember room Hoger's question. Now I. Gosh, maybe I am.

[Sethri Morris]

People want patches.

[Randall Williams]

Maybe I'm dragging this on.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah.

[Phil]

This is script on you guys. Just watching the live chat feed in silence.

[Randall Williams]

Yep.

[Giannis Patelis]

Thanks for doing this for us, Phil.

[Sethri Morris]

Yeah.

[Giannis Patelis]

Time to sign off, Randall.

[Sethri Morris]

Thanks for watching, folks.

[Phil]

I tried to give you guys a clean out and you just butchered it. Yeah. In the first.

[Randall Williams]

In the first time in Mediator Radio lives history, one of the co hosts has told the host to end it. So we'll leave you there. Thank you. Good luck. We love you. Good night.

[Phil]

I'm not going to forget the outro this time. Thank you.

[Randall Williams]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Giannis Patelis]

Guaranteed Human.