Ep. 853: Turkeys Break the Internet, Tungsten Ammo Gets Expensive, and Black Bear Politics Flare

Summary

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The MeatEater Podcast

Ep. 853: Turkeys Break the Internet, Tungsten Ammo Gets Expensive, and Black Bear Politics Flare
Host: Steven Rinella
Release Date: March 26, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this lively and irreverent episode of The MeatEater Podcast, host Steven Rinella and his panel dive deep into spring turkey season preparations, dissect the exploding prices and scarcity of tungsten shotgun ammunition, and tackle the growing politicization surrounding black bear hunting seasons and regulations across several states. The team also discusses the chaos of modern tag acquisition systems (focusing on Wisconsin's "crashed" turkey tag lottery), the controversial use of bottom trawling in Alaskan fisheries, wildlife management controversies, and the surprising world of wild game dinners at the Masters golf tournament. Along the way, the crew's wit, knowledge, and genuine love for the outdoors shine, providing education, debate, and plenty of laughs on all things wilderness.

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Key Topics & Discussion Breakdown

1. Corrections, Clarifications, and Banter

[06:04–23:02]

• The crew starts with their weekly corrections segment, reading listener emails on previously discussed topics.
• Neanderthal vs. Neanderthal Pronunciation: Discussion on the scientific spelling/pronunciation and the origins of the word.
  • Quote: “I've thought about it long and hard. I'm going back to Neanderthal, which is where I came from.” —Steven Rinella [08:51]
• Catalina Mule Deer Carcasses: Correction that Catalina Island Conservancy plans to leave eradicated deer carcasses for condors to consume.
  • Quote: “That's like a great. Like, if you got busted...for wanting waste...You'd be like, oh, no, you don't understand. I'm feeding nature.” —Steven Rinella [11:19]
• Open Fields Doctrine: Clean explanation from a retired FBI agent detailing when law enforcement can enter private property, not just game wardens.
  • Quote: “Law enforcement officers, not just game wardens, can enter private property on open fields without a warrant...” —Steven Rinella reading an email [16:08]
• Gomer Bulls: Clarification about gomer (vasectomized) bulls for heat detection in cattle, and new automated technologies for detecting estrus.
• Contest for best correction, with the open fields doctrine explanation declared the winner.

2. Turkey Tag System Drama: "Turkeys Broke the Wisconsin Internet"

[38:08–53:59]

• In-depth rundown of Wisconsin's turkey tag draw system, the multiple short seasons, and leftover/bonus tags process.
  • Quote (on system design): “It is a system where you can show up 15 minutes before the 10am launch and get in line...Once they've gone through this first phase...they’re all first come, first serve.” —Tony Peterson [40:12]
• March 2026: Wisconsin’s online system crashes due to a “thundering herd problem” with thousands in the queue, leading to widespread frustration and social media outbursts.
  • Quote: “I have four people ahead of me...I tried to buy it 5,000 times, but I’m like, I don’t want to refresh or go back because I’ll lose my spot.” —Tony Peterson [45:01]
• User complaints highlighted—including an R-rated tantrum directed at the DNR.
• Panel points out this isn’t unique—other states and even concert ticketing sites suffer similar tech meltdowns with high demand.

3. Tungsten Ammo Shortage & The End of an Era?

[56:22–67:12]

• Detailed explanation of the global tungsten shortage:
  • China controls ~80% of supply, tariffs and geopolitics have slashed exports, demand from military applications skyrocketed, and raw tungsten prices rose 500%.
  • Quote: “In the last year or so, the price of like raw tungsten is up 500%...It’s likely a multi year supply deficit.” —Brody Newcomb [56:29]
• Turkey hunters are panic-buying TSS (tungsten super shot) ammo, driving up prices further (now $80–$200+ per box).
• Concerns for the future:
  • Cost per shell could soon exceed the price of a turkey tag.
  • Low-gauge shotguns (.410s, 20s, 28s), once made lethal for kids and small shooters by TSS, may be less viable.
  • Quote: “If this happens, man, it’s like not only the ammo thing, but like I hunt turkeys with a 20 gauge. My kids have killed them with a 410...it could just be like useless now.” —Brody Newcomb [62:21]
• Ammo price increases extend to other calibers/types due to global supply chain woes and US tariffs.
  • Quote: “It’s a war on shooters.”—Steven Rinella [67:08]
• Panel nostalgia for affordable lead and bismuth loads, joking about hoarders and changing hunter habits.

4. Black Bear Season Politics Erupt

[67:33–84:02]

• Oklahoma Bear Politics:
  • New bill proposes shifting the black bear season two weeks earlier (before acorn drop, maximizing baiting success) and increasing quotas by 300%.
  • Criticism: lawmaker pushing the bill is a deer breeder with possible conflicts of interest—motives may include favoring deer over bears due to predation.
  • Quote: “But what it’s doing is it’s setting the precedent for legislators to be able to make laws based on self-interest.” —Bear Newcomb [70:18]
  • Panel consensus: changes are aggressive, not science-based, and agencies/fish & wildlife commissions should set such rules, not politicians.
• Washington State:
  • New game management plan floats delaying the fall bear season (cutting about a month), citing bear viewing interests; seen by sportsmen as a thinly veiled anti-hunting move.
  • Quote: “Anyone who’s familiar with that area...conflict between these, like wildlife viewers and bear hunters is make believe.” —Steven Rinella [77:01]
• Arizona:
  • Bill proposed to reclassify mountain lions and bears as predatory animals (like coyotes), which would allow year-round take and deregulate current hunting controls.
  • Panel highlights this mirrors the anti-management extremes—whether making seasons extremely longer (Oklahoma) or much shorter (Washington) as symptomatic of politics taking precedence over science and sustainable hunting.
  • Quote: “What’s funny about all this stuff...You’re always trying to weigh out motivations and what happens when you take things too extreme.” —Steven Rinella [81:15]

5. Alaska Bottom Trawling—Are Draggers Destroying the Fisheries?

[85:33–94:48]

• Steven initiates a discussion (teased for a future full episode) on bottom trawling in Alaskan and international waters:
  • Massive net systems dragged along the ocean floor destroying habitat and yielding huge bycatch (halibut, king salmon, even marine mammals).
  • Quote: “Annually, it's estimated that annually draggers are discarding about 141 million pounds of bycatch...On the Yukon right now...the draggers are killing more kings as bycatch than make it to the upper Yukon.” —Steven Rinella [88:37]
• Debate on whether out-of-state “billionaires” or local fishermen are driving the anti-trawl movement (panel says: It’s Alaskans and commercial fishers, not out-of-state activists).
• Prediction: increased regulation or phased-out bottom trawling, due to mounting intra-industry conflict and ecosystem collapse.

6. Masters Golf and the “Wild Game” Dinner Menu

[95:24–105:33]

• Rory McIlroy’s Masters Champions Dinner menu (April 2026) garners headlines for including elk sliders.
  • Spencer points out most ‘wild game’ at such events is farmed, not truly wild.
  • Quote: “If one of the biggest sporting events in the world has headlines dealing with venison, that’s not of interest?” —Spencer Newharth [98:03]
• On wild game authenticity and its value—or lack thereof—for true conservation/wildness.
  • Steven and Brody downplay its importance, but agree any positive press for wild game is noteworthy.
• Historical menus referenced: Tiger Woods’ infamous cheeseburgers (1998), haggis, and high-end Japanese cuisine.
  • Quote (Tiger Woods): “I just went with what I like. ... I wasn’t trying to be fancy or anything like that.” [102:26]
• Anecdotes, jokes about “fake” bird noises at Augusta, and offers from the MeatEater crew to provide genuine wild elk if Rory wants an upgrade.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “I've thought about it long and hard. I'm going back to Neanderthal, which is where I came from.” —Steven Rinella [08:51]
• “Law enforcement officers, not just game wardens, can enter private property on open fields without a warrant...” —Steven Rinella [16:08]
• “In the last year or so, the price of like raw tungsten is up 500%...It’s likely a multi year supply deficit.” —Brody Newcomb [56:29]
• “If this happens...I hunt turkeys with a 20 gauge. My kids have killed them with a 410... it could just be useless now.” —Brody Newcomb [62:21]
• “But what it's doing is it's setting the precedent for legislators to be able to make laws based on self-interest.” —Bear Newcomb [70:18]
• “Anyone who’s familiar with that area...conflict between these, like wildlife viewers and bear hunters is make believe.” —Steven Rinella [77:01]
• “Annually...(trawlers are) discarding about 141 million pounds of bycatch... on the Yukon right now... the draggers are killing more kings as bycatch than make it to the upper Yukon.” —Steven Rinella [88:37]
• “If one of the biggest sporting events in the world has headlines dealing with venison, that’s not of interest?” —Spencer Newharth [98:03]
• “What’s funny about all this stuff...You’re always trying to weigh out motivations and what happens when you take things too extreme.” —Steven Rinella [81:15]

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Timestamps – Key Segments

• 00:00–06:04 | Ads, intros, spring turkey gear giveaway details
• 06:04–23:02 | Corrections segment (Neanderthals, Catalina deer, open fields doctrine, gomer bulls)
• 32:29–38:08 | Turkey season tips, OnX sponsorship, roundtable introductions
• 38:08–53:59 | Wisconsin turkey tag system breakdown/"internet crash," DNR and public outrage
• 56:22–67:12 | Global tungsten shortage, ammo panic-buying, turkey hunting ammunition future
• 67:33–84:02 | Black bear politics: Oklahoma, Washington, Arizona; wildlife management vs. legislative overreach
• 85:33–94:48 | Alaskan bottom trawling: ecological impacts, bycatch crisis, industry lobbying
• 95:24–105:33 | Masters golf dinner, "wild" game in elite sporting culture, food history at Augusta
• 105:33–108:24 | Wrap-up, YouTube news, Bear Grease channel, banter

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Final Thoughts

This episode delivers a veritable buffet of modern North American hunting and conservation issues, expertly blending in-the-weeds policy debates with MeatEater’s signature banter. Whether you’re prepping for turkey season, worrying about ammo prices, or tracking the fate of bears and fisheries—and even if you just want to know what “wild” food the world’s best golfers eat—there’s a sharp take, a hard fact, or a laugh for everyone with a stake in the great outdoors.

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Transcript

[Steven Rinella]

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[Tractor Supply Announcer]

At Tractor Supply, they know the days are getting longer, warmer and it's time to get back outside. Whether you're working the land, heading to the woods or getting back out on the water, Tractor Supply has new gear ready for the spring ahead. From new UTVs and zero turn mowers to truck accessories, tools and workwear Your life outdoors starts at tractor supply this spring.

[Steven Rinella]

Ahoy and welcome to the new show. This week we're covering skyrocketing costs on souped up tungsten turkey ammo. We're covering turkey hunters in Wisconsin crashed the Internet or at least a tiny part of it. We're covering a famous golfer chooses fake elk meat for the masters and Spencer thinks that's cool. Foreign we're covering black bear news from Oklahoma, Arizona and Washington. We're going to talk about is bottom trawling destroying Alaska's fisheries. We're going to maybe get to how Montana politics is getting juicy as a smoke jumper and a gun control influencer wage primary bids for a u. S. Congressional seat and more.

[Brody Newcomb]

Jam packed.

[Spencer Newharth]

There can't be more.

[Tractor Supply Announcer]

It's so much.

[Steven Rinella]

We might cut some of them. For starters, we're getting fired up for spring turkey season. You're going to want to hear this. Right now we're running the ultimate spring turkey giveaway. Okay. It's packed with over $13,000 in prizes including a turkey hunting experience, gear from Sig, a shotgun from Benelli, a a thousand dollar gift card from first light and a whole other pile of gear from other partner brands. One lucky winner is going to receive a spring 27 Rio Grande Turkey hunt in the Texas hill country for you and two of your buddies or family members. So a three pack you all goes hunting brought to you by bird dog. The more you spend during the giveaway at first light, Phelps game calls FHF gear in the meat eater store, the more entries you'll earn for a chance to win the entire prize package. I hope I win.

[Brody Newcomb]

I think you're ineligible.

[Steven Rinella]

People will be like thinking it's rigged. Getting entered is easy. CK, head over to First Light contest [e-mail] so go to first light.com, find the contest page, fill out the entry form, then you're in. For every 25 bucks you spend, you get 10 additional entries. One winner will be selected to win the whole kit and caboodle. The whole entire prize pack. But don't wait around. The giveaway ends Monday, April 5th. April 13th. Year of our Lord 2026, 11:59pm Mountain Time. They even included daylight. Daylight save. So if you Midnight, get them in by midnight. April 13th.

[Phil]

10 entries for an additional 25.

[Steven Rinella]

That's. Is that good?

[Phil]

That's pretty good.

[Steven Rinella]

Feels good to me.

[Phil]

I. I wonder how the odds compare to to that. Oh, did you check your Alaska goat tag? Did you win?

[Steven Rinella]

Nope. Oh no. I don't know about that. I Didn't draw it in a normal draw. But I don't know about the raffle draw yet. I didn't draw the normal draw.

[Phil]

Yeah, because that closed.

[Steven Rinella]

Are we giving away boots right now?

[Phil]

Yes, we still are.

[Steven Rinella]

All right. We're giving away. Oh, I'm sorry, my bad. Terrible oversight on my part. Joined today by Tony Peterson, big buck killer, Randall Williams, big ape guy. Bear Newcomb's here.

[Bear Newcomb]

You bet.

[Steven Rinella]

Spencer Newharth and of course, Brody Henderson. We're gonna start out with your news and jumping on corrections, Phil. Corrections, corrections. Okay, first one comes. Here's the thing. The first one comes from Heffelfinger and Heffelfinger doesn't know this yet. Jim Heffelfinger doesn't know this yet, but we have disqualified him from winning the boots.

[Bear Newcomb]

Is this the same guy as last week?

[Steven Rinella]

No, it's just he's a friend of the show and he's right. Yeah. Yanni once brought up, he's like said to helping her, says, has Steve ever talked about hiring you? And he said, why buy the cow? You get the milk for free. Heffelfinger rolled in with a correction, but we're eliminating him from the running because he's a known person who's been on the show. So it wouldn't be fair if he won the Jacob his boots. But here's heffle fingers. Correction. We were on a previous episode, Neanderthal, love. We were talking about whether or not, if you want to sound Johnny big time, you go Neanderthal. If you want to sound like some dullard, you say Neanderthal. I was saying that something to that effect. Heffelfinger wrote in the th in Neanderthal was part of the original spelling and used in the scientific name. In the 1800s, Homo neanderthalensis. Science values stability over willy nilly. Updates later, the German language was modernized, reformed, and they dropped the h.

[Brody Newcomb]

But

[Steven Rinella]

it was already in such popular usage in English that it remains more correct to use the theta in English. And in scientific writings, it is more correct to drop the h in German language. And when talking about the location of the first Neanderthal fossils found in a valley named after something or another Neanderthal. So that means the tall means valley in German. So the Neander Valley.

[Randall Williams]

I'm confused by this a little bit.

[Brody Newcomb]

So am I. Because I don't know whether he's saying he's talking about spelling or pronunciation here.

[Steven Rinella]

He's saying that. That the Krauts, I get that part, changed it but for themselves. But it was already in such usage here that Americans didn't need to change it.

[Brody Newcomb]

I know.

[Randall Williams]

I think it was always an American mispronunciation because in German, T, H A L is tall.

[Steven Rinella]

So you're throwing the correction back at.

[Randall Williams]

I'm just throwing another wrinkle into the story here.

[Steven Rinella]

I've thought about it long and hard. I'm going back to Neanderthal, which is where I came from.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Brody Newcomb]

Tall sounds pretentious.

[Steven Rinella]

So. Yeah, that's why I did. I did it to sound.

[Randall Williams]

You wouldn't say. You're an enthusiast of Neanderthals.

[Steven Rinella]

You know,

[Randall Williams]

I like that.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah. Neanderthal enthusiast. I'd be like, he has a speech.

[Brody Newcomb]

Yeah, like the. Up.

[Steven Rinella]

Okay, here's another one. I think this one's. Is this eligible or ineligible? No, this is eligible.

[Phil]

The rest of them are eligible.

[Steven Rinella]

Okay, so now we're in the contest. Bear, if you're not familiar, you get. We're going to read corrections, you vote on what's the best correction. Okay.

[Phil]

And then you get a pair of

[Steven Rinella]

these, and the winner of the best correction gets a pair of. He picks out whatever he wants.

[Randall Williams]

She.

[Steven Rinella]

We haven't had a woman win yet. Hold the boots up. This is just an example of what you could select.

[Phil]

One of many.

[Steven Rinella]

Brand spickety, new to Kova's boot. Spencer, put your nose to that boot and take deep whiff.

[Spencer Newharth]

No one's had these on yet.

[Steven Rinella]

What do you smell? No, no, not that part.

[Spencer Newharth]

Well, the inside.

[Steven Rinella]

Tell me what you said. Smell when you smell that quality leather. Yeah, smells like leather. Through and through. Here's a correction for giannis during episode 847, Neanderthal Love. Well, the. Okay, the. The episode was titled Neanderthal Love Me, Eradication and Mink Eyelashes. Anyways, Yanni was doing a report about the Catalina island mu deer debate and how they may be moving forward with a plan to eradicate or attempt to eradicate mule deer off of Catalina island where they are not native, but where they're in looking sight of where they are native. Brody asked Giannis. This is the corrector writing in. Brodie asked Giannis what the Catalina Island Conservancy plans to do with the deer after they kill him. Giannis replied, there's no plan for it. Well, here's the correction. The caddy the Catalina Island Conservancy has on their website that they will, quote, provide the meat to the California Condor Recovery program, where they will lay the carcasses in remote hills to allow them to decompose naturally and get eaten by condors.

[Brody Newcomb]

That sounds A lot like doing nothing.

[Steven Rinella]

That's like a great. Like, if you got busted, let's say you got busted fishing game for, like, wanting waste. Like, you killed a deer and you left it, and they're like, hey, you know, you're in trouble. You can't do that. You'd be like, oh, no, you don't understand. I'm feeding nature, I'm feeding magpies.

[Brody Newcomb]

Yep.

[Steven Rinella]

This is magpie conservation.

[Brody Newcomb]

I place them in a strategic spot where magpies will find them.

[Steven Rinella]

So that's what they say. And it is like such a little. It's like. It's like. It's cynical, you know, like, oh, no, no, no, we're not wasting them. California Condors will consume them. Sure, they're gonna have a mighty square meal when for a brief period of time, they're not. They're not planning on, like, laying it out over time. Like, for a brief period of time, they will have hundreds of mule deer carcasses to choose from. Okay, a lot of corrections about the open field doctrine. That was a great correction, by the way. A lot of corrections about the open field doctrine. Some of them came in, like, very adversarial to me about how dumb I am and everything. Okay. We heard from many folks across the country, this was a. This is a hot. This generated a lot. We had lawyers right in. We had law enforcement guys right in. We had a fellow Montana over at the sheriff's department in Stillwater county wrote in. So to all you folks, thanks for writing in about the open field doctrine. We selected one because it kind of laid things out the most cleanly. The cleanest. So apologies to those of you who wrote in, but you're not in the running for the brand spickety new boots. The. The correction goes like this. Good morning Hoy to you. I just listened to episode 848. Now here's where he lays out his credentials, which is a tip to people doing corrections. Get the credentials?

[Brody Newcomb]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

I am a retired FBI agent and currently teach constitutional criminal procedure at the FBI Academy. So there he's like, laying it out,

[Brody Newcomb]

dude, don't mess with me.

[Steven Rinella]

Who's going to argue with him? Then he goes on to say, I have to take exception with whoever explained the open fields doctrine to Steve. I like this approach.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah,

[Phil]

it's not a compliment sandwich. It's like something else.

[Steven Rinella]

He's like, oh, no, it's not your fault. Yeah, you were missing.

[Randall Williams]

He might. We might teach interrogation techniques as well.

[Steven Rinella]

This is. This is a great, like, yeah, it's like, yeah, I Don't. Hey, I'm not attacking you, bro. I'm attacking whoever told you the dumb thing.

[Brody Newcomb]

You think it's also an out.

[Spencer Newharth]

You could.

[Brody Newcomb]

Well, listen, someone told.

[Steven Rinella]

Must have been. It was explained to me by an idiot.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

And here I am, an innocent victim of, like, this idiot idiocy. So he's taking exception, as he should, to who told me about it, which sort of assumes that they told me wrong, maybe that I didn't twist it up in my head. But he says this. Okay, here's. Here it is. I'm laying it out for you. In the 1987 Supreme Court decision United States vs Dunn, the court defined open fields as different from the curtilage. I've never heard that word as different from the curtilage of one's home. Now, I gotta back up. He didn't do a great job explaining this. What we were talking about was this

[Brody Newcomb]

area of land around a house.

[Steven Rinella]

What we're talking about is we were speaking about this thing where if a game ward. Let's say, you're on your private property and a game warden has reason to believe there's poaching taking place on that property. Like he's hearing a bunch of gunshots in a duck marsh. Private property. It's 30 minutes before shooting light, and you hear he can go in there without a search warrant and find out what's going on. It's like the open fields doctrine. I was saying that it was a tool of game wardens. All the correctors are like, this is not. This is not particular to game wardens. It might be utilized by game wardens,

[Brody Newcomb]

but not particularly powers that law enforcement. Other law enforcement.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah, I was at. They had powers that people didn't have. And it goes back to this whole thing where they were like working moonshiners. They were working moonshiners and see some moonshine from a moonshiner. And that's what led to this thing, that the moonshiner was out in the open fields and not in his home when he got searched. Something to that effect. Write into correction about that. This guy says. In the 1987 Supreme Court decision United States vs Dunn, the court defined open fields as different from the curtilage. Brody.

[Brody Newcomb]

An area around one's house of one's

[Steven Rinella]

home, which involves the activities associated with the living space. Law enforcement officers, not just game wardens, can enter private property on open fields without a warrant. Traditionally, game wardens have had even greater scope to enter out buildings and even dwellings in search of evidence of game violations. Many states have curtailed those powers. But generally the open field doctrine is explained and done. The open field doctrine, as explained in Dun, applies to all law enforcement officers. In that case, a DEA agent, along with the Houston Harris county deputy, entered the defendant's property to look through a woman to look through the windows of a barn about 100 yards behind the main dwelling. The court ruled this entry onto the property was not a Fourth Amendment violation because open fields are not protected as part of the person's houses, papers, and effects which are covered by the Fourth Amendment. He goes on, obviously, with all constitutional law, there are nuances and all states can grant greater protections than the US Constitution, but not lesser protections. Not trying to be nitpicky, but I've taught this area of the law for the last 16 years and have 29 see he's going back around to double up on his credentials.

[Randall Williams]

You missed the highlight of this email.

[Steven Rinella]

Please go ahead.

[Randall Williams]

He did this with text to type. And you missed the typo that in discussing the open field stuff. Typos the law enforcement officer.

[Steven Rinella]

I thought out of respect for him.

[Brody Newcomb]

Yeah, that should be what they call.

[Randall Williams]

It's a great. It's a great. I don't know if that's a pun.

[Steven Rinella]

Out of respect for Todd.

[Randall Williams]

Oh, I loved that.

[Steven Rinella]

Skipped it out of respect.

[Randall Williams]

I still respect Todd, but I thought that was too good to. I know who gets gloss over.

[Steven Rinella]

Okay, so to review, we've only had two. We need three.

[Brody Newcomb]

No, we didn't. We did.

[Spencer Newharth]

Heffle fingers.

[Phil]

You guys cut too many. We don't have Internet, so I can't stick something else back.

[Brody Newcomb]

We can just do one of the next ones.

[Steven Rinella]

Well, I'm doing the Gomer number three.

[Phil]

Oh, okay, perfect.

[Spencer Newharth]

So this.

[Phil]

I'm tracking this person who wrote in. Didn't even write it really in. As a correction, but more like as a clarification. So now you're.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah, but. But corrections. Clarifications are in my book, pointing out something that was omitted. It's like error by omission counts. Clarifications count.

[Phil]

Great.

[Steven Rinella]

For him.

[Randall Williams]

This is both a clarification and a correction.

[Phil]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

For you.

[Phil]

Well, good for this guy. He might get.

[Steven Rinella]

We're talking about Gomer bowl insemination. And this goes back to a conversation I had with my dear friend Kevin Murphy, who was describing to me his ranch work as a child and how they had a bowl whose penis was reoriented to come out the wrong direction. When cows were coming into heat, they would take this bull and put a big ink blot around his neck. He would go out and try to mount ripe cows and then ink blot them. Then rancher comes out, notices the ink blot on a cow, runs out, artificially inseminates it. So it's a way of identifying a cow coming into heat dragon.

[Tony Peterson]

Uh huh.

[Steven Rinella]

Okay then we talked about that a bunch and we've had other corrections about it. This guy's wanting to clarify and they dubbed these things gomer bulls. This one guy calls them a gomer bull. Steven Crew, I teach a cattle artificial insemination course with University of Idaho. Again, comes in hard, lays out his credentials. You had a cowboy write in about gomer bulls, which were a common way to check for standing heat and cattle. However, gomer bulls are not extremely common in today's world. The cowboy talked about a lottery ticket style scratcher which is common use. However, it does not have to be a bull riding. Those females, they ride each other. If you got young children nearby, cover their ears. No, I'm joking. In a pen or pasture, they ride each other. Other females will scratch. So okay, they put a patch on the cows. Other females are trying to ride each other. The females will scratch off the patch and show the artificial insemination technician that the cow is in heat and ready to be inseminated. See, this is a little surprised me, I've seen, I didn't know like, I've seen plenty of that go on in my day, but I didn't know that they were queuing in on the cow being in heat. I just thought it was just general. Whatever. Another common practice is to use hormones that stop or start an ovulation cycle to time them. So a majority of animals understanding heat at the same time. I'm familiar with that. I think they call them heat sinking. You're familiar with heat seeking missiles? This is heat sinking. Artificial insemination is a great tool for genetic improvement in cattle and other species as well as removing some dangers and additional expenses. Expense of having bulls on a farmer ranch. Tough competition. Let me review in my head. So to remind everybody, voting open fields doctrine. Catalina and gomer bulls. Catalina, how many votes? How many voters you got today?

[Spencer Newharth]

1, 2, 3, 4, 8.

[Steven Rinella]

8 votes. Catalina. Open fields.

[Brody Newcomb]

Well that's like unanimous claims.

[Randall Williams]

Tremendous respect for law enforcement.

[Brody Newcomb]

Sorry, Gomer.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah, there you go. Well, you know why? Because that's. Thank you, dude.

[Tony Peterson]

Yeah, right.

[Steven Rinella]

A lot of people and I, and God bless them, people writing in with the math questions, that's all great, keep them coming. But that's got real teeth right there.

[Randall Williams]

And I, I not to Take anything away from gober bowl insemination. It's fascinating.

[Phil]

Yeah, it's very interesting, but yeah, thanks, Todd. We'll get in touch. And you can choose your own pair of Tacova's boots.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yep.

[Randall Williams]

A law man with some new boots. Yeah, I like that.

[Steven Rinella]

Hopefully he's gonna. He's gonna shotgun those new boots and get his holsters out and go down to Main Street.

[Spencer Newharth]

Can I add one more thing to Heffelfinger's email, please? 2016 discovery article covered it. If it should be Neanderthal or Neanderthal. Oh, they determined both are fine. But they likened it to. If you say Neanderthal, that's like calling Paris Perry instead. So that's.

[Phil]

That's what you sound like walking around with that ladle.

[Steven Rinella]

Terrible.

[Spencer Newharth]

Or just commit and start calling it Perry.

[Steven Rinella]

Oh, yeah, just switch everything. Yeah, you've got to get the throat in there. No, I'm going back to Neanderthal bad dude.

[Phil]

You're not a Paris kind of gentleman.

[Steven Rinella]

We had a previous episode where we were goofing on a guy. So a guy wrote in, talking about his daughter's boyfriend, and he's saying that normally he's kind of a numb school, but he had a good idea about using Ebird, like a birding app where people share their bird sightings, use an Ebird to scout ducks. And he says, like, normally this kid's a numb school, but that's a good idea. Well, the kid heard that and he wrote in, he's like, I think that's me. Oh, no. Yeah, I was just telling my girlfriend's dad about this.

[Brody Newcomb]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

And. And he knows that the girlfriend's dad listens to the show.

[Steven Rinella]

Right.

[Brody Newcomb]

There's going to be a conversation that happens between those.

[Steven Rinella]

Now, he points out, he goes. He was under the assumption that the discussions he was having with his future father in law would be kept under wraps. But now that the secret is out and that his father in law. Future father in law, whatever, didn't respect the privacy of the conversation. Anyways, he wants to clarify something. I was pointing out that I don't think that that scouting tool is going to be as quick as ducks. You know, like, like geese hit a field. There's no. I mean, right, you know, if. If geese are in a field in the evening, you know, there's. That's where you want to be in the morning, but there's no, like, guarantee, you know, I mean, it's like. So I'm like, by the time you, like, build up a bunch of hosers driving by, being like, oh, I saw a goose. You know that, that you're not going

[Tony Peterson]

to hunt off that old info.

[Brody Newcomb]

Yeah, Gobbler strutting in a field, dude.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah, well, that's, that's legit. A Gobbler strut in the field is like, he's somewhere around there, man. Like old church, old cemetery nearby. He's there. So I was like, it doesn't really work. And he, he writes in this. This has been a damn correction. He goes, he, he brings up how I question the up to dateness of the material. And he says, I'm not sure if Steve is aware of a handy e bird of a handy ebird tool called Alerts. You can request on Ebird's website to be notified as often as hourly.

[Tony Peterson]

Oh my God.

[Steven Rinella]

Of sightings of birds.

[Will Cheddar]

So good.

[Steven Rinella]

These alerts can be personalized. There are ways to set the alerts up to notify you of species of particular interest. I'm often doing homework. He says, you can't be that bad of a kid. And driving around. I don't know what that means.

[Brody Newcomb]

I know what it meant for me back in the day.

[Steven Rinella]

And he'll get, no, he'll get alerts. He'll get notifications alerting him to where he should go. Find a species or a bunch of species that I'm looking for. Okay. Alerts. You know, I could see Satin, like setting it to like strutting gobblers jumping in hourly alerts.

[Randall Williams]

Big ass strutting gobblers. Quarter mile of public land.

[Steven Rinella]

If there's a drop down menu, it can be like, like wandering hands. You're like, no, I don't really care about that. This could be Strutters. You'd be like, that's what I want to know about.

[Brody Newcomb]

This could set up some awkward moments because like when a, when a hunter and a birder arrive at the same spot at the same time, you're like,

[Tony Peterson]

you know, but couldn't you also see hunters being like, oh, I'm gonna report strutting gobblers 20 minutes away from where I hunt and they are thick?

[Brody Newcomb]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

Oh yeah, that's a good point. I wouldn't have thought you'd outsmarted me because you'd have been like, if you knew I was doing it, you'd have been like, just show. You'd Strutters everywhere but where there was a strutter.

[Tony Peterson]

Right? Yeah, right.

[Steven Rinella]

Then, then each user would have to have their own sort of review rubric

[Brody Newcomb]

that so people could rate their sightings. Like an old lady birder, Right.

[Steven Rinella]

See, here's another piece of feedback that, like, is this guy's getting kind of screwed out of a set of boots. But when we were talking about Neanderthals, I was talking about a book I was reading. And the book I was reading, I was talking about how this anthropologist was looking at the suite of injuries they find on Neanderthal skeletons and how at some point in time, a physician who worked on bull riders often in his community said, man, it seems like the suites of inner injuries we see on Neanderthal skeletons reminds me of the kind of injuries I see on bull riders. And it led to this idea that they had this, like, confrontational hunting strategy, and they were getting wounded by their prey, like how bull riders get wounded by bulls. He says that that idea was an idea, but as people have done more and more research on it and looked into it, they're finding that it's really. It's really not, and it has fallen out of favor. The rodeo rider interpretation, he says, has largely fallen out of favor. More research has shown that the trauma patterns used to support the hypothesis are. The hypothesis are not unique to dangerous hunting scenarios. It can also be explained by other factors, including interpersonal violence. As a result, many researchers, including one of the original proponents, now consider the confrontational hunting explanation to be under supported. Our colleague Alex Tilney wrote me, or told me over the phone, he was reading that same paper because he got interested in it, and he said, you could also argue that they have a suite of injuries similar to people who have been in golf cart accidents, which leads one to believe they were golfing. Here's a. This one's not even kind of a correction, but we'll get it. We got to get moving on. We're going to get into this. I didn't know about this. This guy's writing him. He's talking back to our screw room episode. So during World War I, I'm gonna try to make this quick as possible. Back During World War I, America was supplying horses to the English. Okay? We were breeding horses and Senate, because that was a war still fought on, you know, to some extent, fought on horseback. The Krauts sent over an infectious disease spy to plant diseases in America to give anthrax and other disease. This guy got caught and ran. Got away. He died in the Spanish flu epidemic. He came here and was swabbing American horses with anthrax, trying to kill the horses before they could join the World War I war effort.

[Brody Newcomb]

Dang.

[Bear Newcomb]

Wow.

[Brody Newcomb]

And he died. Died of the flu. It's kind of fitting.

[Steven Rinella]

He fled. They never caught him. He fled and wound up dying in the spin from the Spanish Flu sucker. You've heard About T mobile 5G home Internet, mostly for how easy it is to set up and then the value that you get. But there's some more big news you should know about. They now have the fastest 5G home Internet speeds. That's right, T Mobile now has the fastest 5G home Internet, according to the experts at Ookla Speed Test. That makes backing up photos from your latest hunt, streaming a new documentary or pulling up a wild game recipe super quick. And yeah, it's a great value backed by a solid five year price guarantee. And setting it up is still as easy as it gets. You just plug it in and go. So if you want the fastest 5G home Internet with a simple setup at a great price with savings that stick around, get T Mobile 5G Home Internet. Head over to t-mobile.com home Internet to check availability. Price guarantee exclusions like taxes and fees apply. Fastest based on Ookla Speed Test intelligence Data over the second half of 2025. All rights reserved.

[Tractor Supply Announcer]

At Tractor Supply they know the days are getting longer, warmer and it's time to get back outside. Whether you're working the land, heading to the woods or getting back out on the water, Tractor Supply has new gear ready for the spring ahead. From new UTVs and zero turn mowers to truck accessories, tools and workwear, your life outdoors starts at Tractor Supply this spring.

[Steven Rinella]

One of the things I love about turkey hunt is it is a game of cat and mouse. The whole thing comes down to to the setup. You get that wrong. Turkey nuggets are not on your menu. That is why I use the Onx Hunt app when I'm hunting turkeys. I think of it like an old Victor mouse trap. You use it right, it works. When you hear a gobbler like sound off in the dark, you can open up the map on Onx and try to get a good sense of where he is. And you can use the compass mode on there. If you really want to figure out where he is, then you can take a look around the landscape and build a setup that's going to put you where that bird wants to be. At the same time, I know with certainty where public ground ends and private ground begins. So I'm not guessing or second guessing or worrying about where I am and getting in trouble with somebody. I like to just hunt knowing I'm in the right spot. If spring turkey season puts you in the woods, download the Onx hunt app and set your trap right over to Randall.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. Now we're, Phil's going to play a little segment here in honor of March Madness. This was a, a interview I wanted to do on radio live, but as we all know, it's dead now and it's been dead for several weeks. So we just pre recorded this interview with Will Cheddar of the University of Michigan basketball team. Play the tape, Phil. Welcome to the Meat Eater News sports desk. I'm your host, Randall Williams, joined today by Will Cheddar, power forward for the University of Michigan men's basketball team and winner of Meat eater trivia, episode 130. Will, congrats on a great season so far. 313 going into the tournament as a number one seed, 191 in the conference. Big Ten champs. And with two dominant wins last week, the Wolverines are In the Sweet 16 facing off against Alabama this Friday. When was the last time you went fishing and how was it?

[Will Cheddar]

I was actually out last night. Went out to this little inland Lake about 20 minutes from campus and got into the first smallmouth of the year. So it was pretty, pretty good to be back out on the boat, back out on the lake after such a good weekend.

[Randall Williams]

And this is coach aware that you're fishing in between tournament games?

[Will Cheddar]

Oh yeah, he's well aware.

[Steven Rinella]

Good.

[Will Cheddar]

He, he knows. He, he knows. That's my pressure release. So perfect. And yeah, so we're all good there.

[Randall Williams]

Will, I want to go back to late January. Your 83, 71 victory on the road against Michigan State. Huge win against the number 11 team in the country, your in state rivals and a program with a lot of pedigree. Two days later you posted a photo of you pulling a bluegill out of the ice. What were they biting on that day?

[Will Cheddar]

Oh man.

[Steven Rinella]

Oh yeah.

[Will Cheddar]

Okay, so that was, funny thing about that. I was supposed to go salmon fishing at this harbor up on Lake Huron and my spotted frozen over. I was so pissed. So we, on the way back we hit Lake Sinclair. Just went into the canals and just hammered bluegills. I think we were just tipping jigs, like little tungsten jigs with, with waxies.

[Randall Williams]

So amazing.

[Will Cheddar]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

Now you got a talented squad up there, some potential NBA draft picks. If you could only fish for one species for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

[Will Cheddar]

Oh my, I'd probably have to say smallmouth bass just, you know, with, you know, how hard they fight. They're, they're fun to catch.

[Randall Williams]

Now you guys have had some big Changes during your time in Ann Arbor. Coach Dusty May took over in March of 24. You've had a lot of roster turnover now in coach May, second season. You guys are on your way to the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row. Do you keep your own boat on campus?

[Will Cheddar]

Yeah, it's in my garage at our house.

[Randall Williams]

Nice, Nice. Last question here, will. You guys have a tough matchup on Friday against the number four seed Crimson Tide. They're a high tempo, offensive minded team with some of the nation's highest three point shooting volume and efficiency. When was the last time you ate a fish that you caught?

[Will Cheddar]

Two weeks? I didn't catch that one, man. I'd probably say October was the last

[Randall Williams]

time preseason I had a fish.

[Will Cheddar]

Yeah, that was preseason. That was Lake Sinclair walleyes. I think that's probably the last time my buddy caught some walleyes when we went on, on the Detroit River a few weeks ago. But I can't lie, I didn't catch them so. But I ate them so.

[Randall Williams]

Very nice. Well, Will, thanks for taking the time during a busy week. Best of you. Luck to you guys moving forward in the tournament.

[Will Cheddar]

Appreciate it, man.

[Randall Williams]

That was a great segment. Hey guys, would have killed on live. Shout out to Will though. He's a. I know he's a fan of the show and he fishes probably harder than anybody in college sports.

[Steven Rinella]

So it's great to hardest fisherman in college sports.

[Randall Williams]

I would, I, I feel very confident in saying that.

[Steven Rinella]

Okay, so someone sent us this. This is kind of a funny thing. I gotta laugh out of this. Tony's gonna explain it. I gotta laugh out of this. Phil, you got your little thing that makes the bleeps. I, I can do it in post.

[Will Cheddar]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

Okay.

[Will Cheddar]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

So. Well, first off, Tony, can you explain how can you explain what's going on? We'll read the letter. Can you explain, can you give the background on this? This, this is, this is out of Wisconsin.

[Tony Peterson]

So Wisconsin's turkey tag system is they have a draw the deadlines like December 10 every year, get into it. And as you can imagine, people are trying to draw early season tags. So Wisconsin has six seasons, seven zones throughout the state. And the highest demand seasons are the first couple because everybody wants to hunt first, right? So people apply for those and generally those get soaked up in the lottery.

[Steven Rinella]

Okay.

[Tony Peterson]

But Wisconsin has a quota system per zone per season that they will sell one per day after a certain point in March. So this year was March, even if the pool. If there are tags left.

[Steven Rinella]

Okay. So, so if, if you Apply for a season. Season A. And then it gets all filled up. They don't then sell them online? No, it's only. It's only.

[Tony Peterson]

So these are all leftovers. So. But. But people count on it because Wisconsin has, I mean, depending on the zone. Right. Southern part of the state, tons of tags. You move farther north, fewer tags. Right. So. So one zone this year, Zone 6 didn't have any leftover tags.

[Steven Rinella]

So you couldn't for any season. Nope.

[Brody Newcomb]

Is there a point system, Tony, or

[Tony Peterson]

is it just lottery? Yeah, so there is a point system, but you can kind of count on getting tags in a lot of places.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah.

[Tony Peterson]

You know, it might not be the season you want. So what happens is every year in March, they'll have a date and they go, okay, zone one, licenses go on sale at 10am on March 16, March 17 at 10am zone two, right on down the line to whatever's left. And then once they've gone through this first phase where it's just. That day is dedicated to that zone.

[Steven Rinella]

Got it.

[Tony Peterson]

Then they're all first come, first serve, and you can buy one a day till they're gone. So as you can imagine, there's a lot of competition for those tanks because people are trying to buy the earliest tags they can generally. Or if you know the kids are going to be off of school and you want to hunt with them, you're trying to get that weekend or however that falls for you.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah.

[Tony Peterson]

So this is a system where you can show up 15 minutes before the 10am launch and get in line and you're waiting there in a virtual queue. And then at 10 o' clock, they assign you a spot.

[Steven Rinella]

Okay.

[Tony Peterson]

And so you might be fifth in line.

[Steven Rinella]

And it's not how. It's not tied to how long you were on the phone.

[Tony Peterson]

Nope, nope.

[Steven Rinella]

So you could be there eight hours early. It doesn't matter.

[Tony Peterson]

You can only get into the virtual queue 15 minutes early.

[Steven Rinella]

Okay. Right.

[Tony Peterson]

So in. And I know you're gonna go into this, but in. In the interest of journalistic integrity.

[Steven Rinella]

Oh, do whatever you want.

[Tony Peterson]

I have to say that I was involved in this.

[Steven Rinella]

Okay.

[Tony Peterson]

And so was Patrick Durkin, our mutual friend.

[Steven Rinella]

So is Bubbly Doug.

[Tony Peterson]

Right. So I. It worked out in the end, but I went through this.

[Spencer Newharth]

Okay.

[Tony Peterson]

What we're going to get into. But that is. That's the gist of the system.

[Steven Rinella]

That's how it works. I wanted just a little added color here because this helped explain a thing to me is like take. Take Doug where Doug lives.

[Tony Peterson]

Right.

[Steven Rinella]

Doug will usually Say, and I'm understanding it better now, he usually say there will be D season. There's, he'd be like, there's always some D seasons.

[Tony Peterson]

Right.

[Steven Rinella]

Meaning whatever by that means A, B, C get consumed in the draw. But then there's, but then there's some D. So you might be on the lottery. You're not hoping to score A. You're in the queue waiting to get a D, just trying to get something.

[Tony Peterson]

Because that's what's there.

[Steven Rinella]

That's what's there. Right.

[Tony Peterson]

So you got to imagine like a lot of Midwestern states, you're talking a mid April opener that goes through the end of May.

[Steven Rinella]

Yep.

[Tony Peterson]

And so if you look at where Doug lives, I would assume Doug is in zone one, which has a ton of tags. So the highest priority one will be the first season that's available after the lottery, which will often you can count on D season and if you wanted to hunt later than that, you can count on the seasons after that and you could end up having multiple tags if you want. So it's, it's actually a really cool system because you can kind of, if you, if you have the opportunity, you can hunt a couple different weeks or you know, I mean, you can, you can plan around that.

[Steven Rinella]

But this style, their style of running a whole ton of turkey seasons that are all one week long or roughly one week long. That's an odd system. It is.

[Tony Peterson]

It is.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah. So you like, instead of being like, oh, it's turkey season, I'm gonna hunt for six weeks. It's like, no, you're gonna hunt a week.

[Randall Williams]

It's like Colorado, big game season.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah, Colorado's big game season. Like you're like the first season, second season, third season, fourth season.

[Tony Peterson]

Right. And it's. So I'm, I'm less sensitive to it because Minnesota has gone through, we've, we've way liberalized at home. But when I started turkey hunting, you had a draw season and you had five days and it was half days. So you can hunt till noon. And then they started expanding it and eventually we could hunt till 3:30 and then we could hunt till sunset and event. Eventually they sold a season long archery license so you could get the six weeks. So this is, you know, I don't know where this originated from, but I would assume that this system is old and it comes from when they didn't have very many turkeys.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah.

[Tony Peterson]

Because that's where ours, you know, came from.

[Brody Newcomb]

So might be an aspect of spreading pressure out too there.

[Tony Peterson]

It definitely is.

[Steven Rinella]

That sure, man.

[Tony Peterson]

It definitely is.

[Steven Rinella]

Because not everybody is all going to hunt the opener, right? Or the bulk. People are going to hunt the open.

[Tony Peterson]

And if you're a non resident, you're just about never going to hunt those early seasons.

[Steven Rinella]

So was this deal here that happened, was it really that different than normal?

[Tony Peterson]

Well, do you want to get into that?

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I want to get it. Should I read the. Should I read the thing?

[Tony Peterson]

Yeah, you should.

[Steven Rinella]

Someone ran like a frustrated user. Your system sucks. Waited in line, was 3,800 in line. I live in zone two and you gave me a permit for zone seven. Then I waited for the bonus, waited all the way to my number and your thing bailed out on me. You inbred piece is a. I'm not even gonna say it, Mother.

[Phil]

There were no periods or commas in that comment.

[Steven Rinella]

Not Donald. Well, Donald not happy, right? Not Donald Trump.

[Tony Peterson]

Nope.

[Steven Rinella]

Same number, got a different president.

[Randall Williams]

Can we pull up the DNR's response? I noticed the DNR replied.

[Steven Rinella]

Oh, they replied to it.

[Brody Newcomb]

No, I can't.

[Steven Rinella]

I can't bring it up on screen.

[Randall Williams]

Oh, that's right. Sorry, I didn't mean to.

[Steven Rinella]

Thanks, Randall.

[Spencer Newharth]

I'm scrolling through the comments now. I can't find Don's post.

[Steven Rinella]

So Don, Don's miffed. Fired up, ain't winning. Down back.

[Tony Peterson]

I can tell you that. I was too.

[Steven Rinella]

Oh, you were?

[Tony Peterson]

Okay. So I got into that virtual queue and I have added pressure because I need to get myself a tag and then I need to try to get in and get my daughter's tags. So I have to log in, get in line, log in. And so I'm stressing I get into line or they assign me my spot, I have four people ahead of me. Which made me feel like when you get a really early boat draw in a tournament and you're like, nobody's going to be on my starting spot. This is smooth sailing. So I get in, go to buy my tag, simple. And then it won't process my payment. And you know, you're on the ticking clock because they're funneling through a bunch of people. And this is before they had issued a. Hey, we were having technical difficulties. Stick around, you know, the spinning wheel of death or whatever. And so I'm like, okay, they're going to boot me out. I tried to buy it 5,000 times, but I'm like, I don't want to refresh or go back because I'll lose my spot.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah, yeah.

[Tony Peterson]

And I had, you know, four people ahead of me, you know, and you know, thousands of people are in line.

[Steven Rinella]

You feel the weight of all those people.

[Tony Peterson]

I felt a lot of weight there. And so then the system kicks me out. And so I have a little dad anger temper tantrum that you get sometimes when you got to build an exercise bike or something. You know, fix the garage door. So then I have to get back in. You know, they. They. They issue the statement that it's not working. They're running through a technical payment processing glitch. I get. I'm waiting to get back in. I'm waiting for them to start letting us queue up. And I checked my email just randomly, and it had a receipt for. From the Wisconsin dnr.

[Phil]

Oh.

[Tony Peterson]

And so I'm like, got it. Okay. Did I get my license? And then I looked at my. Like, see if there's anything pending on my credit card. And there was. So I'm like, my payment somehow must have gotten through, even though I didn't know it and it didn't show me. I didn't have the receipt on the actual Go Wild site. But I got to wait in line anyway because I got to get my daughters in there. They finally open it up. I get back in.

[Spencer Newharth]

There are.

[Tony Peterson]

I can't remember what place I was.

[Steven Rinella]

Interesting that you put yourself in front of your daughters.

[Brody Newcomb]

I noticed that too.

[Tony Peterson]

Well, here. Here's why I hunt with a buddy of mine down there, and I knew that I would be able to probably get one of my daughter's tags, if not both of them, but I'm like, I gotta take one of them for sure. So we're gonna hunt together kind of thing, and we're gonna hunt with him. So I'm like, I knew we would get the tags probably, like, did that

[Will Cheddar]

make any sense to you?

[Tony Peterson]

I wasn't anticipating this.

[Steven Rinella]

Okay.

[Tony Peterson]

Like, I'm like, I'm gonna get in.

[Steven Rinella]

But yeah, generally, like, yeah, right. Tony first.

[Tony Peterson]

Right. So I get kicked back in. I got like 11,000 people in front of me, and I'm like, this has been like an hour and a half deal. It goes by fairly quick. Finally get in there, buy one of my daughter's tag, and I'm like, I wonder if this will let me just use this window. And I got back in, got the other one tags. So I'm a fairly good father, I guess. Not as good as I thought I was when I started this story. Anyway, people start losing their shit. Like, you start seeing this out there, right? And so Corinne asked me to look into this for this because we knew this Donald fella was Pretty ticked off. And I know, even though I'm a Minnesota resident, I hunt Wisconsin all the time. I own land over there. I know the general vibe toward the dnr. Like, there's. Wisconsin hunters are not shy about speaking out against the dnr. So I dig into this and I find an article by Pat in where. Where he has. He had the same experience and wrote about it. He did write about it. And in Pat's article, he referred to this, this problem with their system as a thundering herd problem in the IT world, which I love as a name, right? Everybody runs to the same spot, system crashes. And so in his reporting, Pat said that this thundering herd problem, which shuts down the system for a while, has happened in Wisconsin three times in 18 years. And when I read that, I was like, man, I kind of remember going through this at some other point. So it's, it has definitely happened before. But this Donald fellow blaming the Wisconsin DNR and people getting super pissed. You know, we know because of what we do with this, with this company, sometimes you contract out services. Yeah, right. So the Wisconsin DNR doesn't really run that service. You know, it is, it is contract.

[Steven Rinella]

It's not like a game warden sitting there, right? Building writing, sweat pouring down space.

[Tony Peterson]

What I, what it reminded me of, you know, back in the day of being, being primarily an outdoor writer, which was my gig for a long time. And a lot of people in here have done that. You know how it is where you send something in and maybe it's supposed to be 2,000 words and you send it in at 2,200 or, you know, they get, they sell an ad and they got to cut it down by 300 words. And that's where a lot of typos in the magazines came from was, you know, that last minute edit where you're like, we got to get this down to 1500 words to fit. And you'd see some continuity issue in there somewhere, and then people would call you out as the writer and be like, you suck, man.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

And you're like, I didn't even know grammar.

[Tony Peterson]

Right, right. So I feel like the Wisconsin DNR has, has been blamed in a way that maybe they shouldn't be. And so I dug into that a little more because I, I understand why people were so pissed off because I was having gone through it. But we have had all kinds of thundering herd problems in the outdoor space. So I don't know if anybody had to buy or tried to buy.

[Spencer Newharth]

Idaho.

[Tony Peterson]

Idaho tag. That's famous for it that was I think 2022, Idaho had a day long system crash. Pennsylvania had this happen with antlerless tags in 2023. And so it's not. This is just a thing that happens with technology. And then I, so then I, I was like, well where else does this happen? Ariana Grande in 2025. That's 6 million people try to buy a pre sale ticket event crash, the whole thing. Oasis Reunion Tour. Same deal.

[Steven Rinella]

Really? The reunion tour.

[Tony Peterson]

Right, right, right. ACDC in 2024 had 35, 000 people rush the digital door.

[Steven Rinella]

Thunderstruck.

[Brody Newcomb]

Those aren't the kind of fans you want want to get mad either.

[Tony Peterson]

Right. Super recent Super Bowls, NBA Finals, video game releases, Comic Con events, Harvard University commencement. Access had it apparently and didn't keep that House of the Mouse. Walt Disney World has had this happen too. So great. This is a. Thank you. This is a problem that just happens. Now the one thing that I didn't encounter in any of the 22 minutes I did researching this was you did a phenomenal job. Was the situation where.

[Steven Rinella]

I hope you're. No, it's good. Pay attention here.

[Tony Peterson]

Donald said that he had tried to get a. I think he said zone two tag and ended up with zone seven or something. I didn't see that anywhere. And I even went to.

[Steven Rinella]

I almost wonder if Donald didn't maybe make a mistake.

[Tony Peterson]

Well, so you would think that but in the system you really shouldn't be able to because when you, when you get in on the specific day there's a drop down. You know, it's like zone one tag and then a drop down for the season.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah.

[Tony Peterson]

And it doesn't let you go.

[Steven Rinella]

So it wasn't his fault.

[Tony Peterson]

But. And so I went to like this, the state page. The Wisconsin state page on both site. You know, I went to some forums to just see if there were other people bitching about that kind of thing. And I didn't find it anywhere else. So that one is like a little bit of a mystery on what happened there.

[Steven Rinella]

Got it.

[Spencer Newharth]

I found the Wisconsin DNR's response on Facebook to Donald and Donald replied to them again.

[Steven Rinella]

Did they make amends?

[Spencer Newharth]

Well, Randall and I will do some role playing for you.

[Steven Rinella]

Please.

[Spencer Newharth]

I will be the Wisconsin dnr. Randall is going to be Donald. So Wisconsin DNR says. Hi Donald. We are aware of the issue and are working with our technology provider to resolve it.

[Randall Williams]

You.

[Tony Peterson]

No.

[Steven Rinella]

Yes.

[Spencer Newharth]

Just simple.

[Steven Rinella]

That dude needs to just have his license yanked, man. Really?

[Spencer Newharth]

Oh yeah. He's got his full name on Facebook.

[Steven Rinella]

That's what he said.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah, no, I'm looking at it right here maybe.

[Randall Williams]

Yes, God loves to hunt turkeys.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah, really quick. This episode airs tomorrow so I don't have a lot of time to go through and bleep stuff out.

[Brody Newcomb]

So we can just try to keep this go get a turkey with a license or not.

[Randall Williams]

Sorry Phil, with the full context, I regret doing what I just did.

[Steven Rinella]

Thank you. Thank you Tony, you've heard About T mobile 5G home Internet, mostly for how easy it is to set up and then the value that you get. Well, there's some more big news you should know about. They now have the fastest 5G home Internet speeds. That's right. T Mobile now has the fastest 5G home Internet according to the experts at Ookla Speed Test. That makes backing up photos from your latest hunt, streaming a new documentary or pulling up a wild game recipe super quick. And yeah, it's a great value backed by a solid five year price guarantee. And setting it up is still as easy as it gets. You just plug it in and go. So if you want the fastest 5G home Internet with a simple setup at a great price with savings that stick around, get T Mobile 5G Home Internet. Head over to t-mobile.com home Internet to check availability. Price guarantee exclusions like taxes and fees apply. Fastest based on Ookla Speed Test intelligence Data over the second half of 2025. All rights reserved.

[Tractor Supply Announcer]

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[Steven Rinella]

Spring turkey season is one of the best times to hand the hunt over to your kid. Part of the problem hunting turkeys with kids is a lot of the pre game stuff is all happening in the dark. They can't really visualize what you're talking about. But with Onx Hunt you can show them what you're talking about on your phone and make the whole thing real. Let them learn why their moves work and why they don't. You can show them exactly where you're allowed to hunt. You can decipher direction and judge distance on a gobbler with waypoints in compass mode and build a setup together instead of just telling them what to do. It turns a morning in the woods into a lesson. They'll carry the rest of Their hunting life. Download the Onx hunt app and use spring turkey season to make better hunters. One spring morning at a time. Over to Brody Tungsten. Like speaking of turkeys.

[Bear Newcomb]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

Did you interview Max Barda's party reporter? Okay, this is a big deal.

[Brody Newcomb]

So if you're not aware of your turkey hunter and you're not aware that TSS ammo is extremely expensive if you can even get your hands on it these days, and some people might not be aware of why that is. And there's a global tungsten shortage, mostly driven by China's dominance and kind of like owning the, the tungsten mining field. But there's also like export restrictions, tariffs and rising military, like global geopolitical conflicts, wars, if you will. So in the last year or so, the price of like raw tungsten is up 500% in one year. Yeah, that's a really good inventory is near nearly depleted. It's likely a multi year supply deficit. Supplies are nearly exhausted, I said, and, and like production. So the production can't like recover or ramp up. There's just no way. And competition for the resources increasing and

[Steven Rinella]

then this stuff has a self perpetuating quality. Because the minute I learned about this, what did I do?

[Brody Newcomb]

Same thing I did, same exact thing.

[Steven Rinella]

It was like 22ammo crisis.

[Randall Williams]

Yep.

[Steven Rinella]

All my life I'd always bought like a little box of 22 shells. The minute there was an ammo crisis, I'm like, I need three bricks.

[Brody Newcomb]

Right? Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

No, I went out of the garage.

[Brody Newcomb]

How many of these do I got? How many do I need to buy? The reason tungsten is, is like a highly coveted material is it's very dense, very hard, very heat resistant. And it's like beyond Turkey ammo, it's used in defense and military systems, aerospace, electronics, industrial applications. And so the main drivers of the, the supply problem are, are, is China who kind of controls 80% of the global supply. And tariffs on Chinese tungsten are up 2 to 300% in the last year or so. And so exports have dropped to nearly zero in the last year. And on top of the China thing, we got wars going on in Ukraine now a new one in Iran. And tungsten's used in Iran.

[Spencer Newharth]

What's that?

[Brody Newcomb]

Iran.

[Bear Newcomb]

Iran.

[Brody Newcomb]

Iran. Tungsten's used in armor piercing rounds, missiles and other high performance munitions.

[Steven Rinella]

Just got to go back to shooting turkeys the old way.

[Randall Williams]

Depleted uranium.

[Brody Newcomb]

We'll get to that man. And the thing that I, I, this is something I didn't consider is tungsten that's used in warfare is Permanently removed from the global supply. Right. So it can't be like once you shoot, it is gone.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah.

[Brody Newcomb]

And supply chains are shifting towards military allocation. First, like industry turkey hunting. That's all like way down the line.

[Steven Rinella]

Turkey hunting's way down the line. Sadly, like the Department of Treasury is like, well, let's get the turkey hunters taken care of and then we'll, then we'll move on to munitions.

[Brody Newcomb]

And it's kind of. Tungsten's been defined as a critically strategic, strategic mineral.

[Tony Peterson]

Really.

[Brody Newcomb]

Yep. So now we get to the TSS stuff. So most everyone probably knows what it is, but if you're not familiar, tungsten super shot, which is mostly used by Turkers turkey hunters and like really rich water fowlers will use it too. You ever use that stuff?

[Steven Rinella]

I use bismuth for turp for waterfowl. But that's rich guy anyway though, that's your rich guy.

[Brody Newcomb]

So TSS is 95% tungsten. Tungsten's twice as dense as lead. About a little, little less. But what that means is a tiny number 9 TSS pellet weighs the same as a number 5 lead pellet. So in a shell, a shotgun shell, you get way more pellets per shell, carrying way more energy over longer distances. And it's like, like it's made a huge difference in turkey hunting. Like, I personally can say it's like the biggest change in turkey hunting that I've seen in my life has been TSS ammo. As far as like killing turkeys.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah, like killing turkeys with pellets the size of coarse ground black pepper.

[Brody Newcomb]

Yeah, dude. And, and even at 60 yards, like if you're steady and you're drawing a bead on a gobbler, like he's already, you know, he's already dead. Like he ain't walking away.

[Bear Newcomb]

What, what would the. How does it change the effective range compared to.

[Brody Newcomb]

I mean, you might get lucky shooting lead number fives and kill one at 60 yards because you get one pellet in his head.

[Steven Rinella]

Well, you have a dense pattern.

[Brody Newcomb]

Yeah, it's right.

[Tony Peterson]

Well, you have twice as many pellets.

[Brody Newcomb]

Yeah, like I'm not uncomfortable shooting at a gobbler at 60 yards.

[Bear Newcomb]

Really?

[Steven Rinella]

But listen, dude, if I like, I'll go back to the old. I don't care.

[Brody Newcomb]

We're gonna get to that, man. So last year, 40 to 60 bucks for a box of 12 or 20 gauge TSS. This year you're looking at 80 to 100 in some cases, up to 200 for like the custom stuff.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah.

[Brody Newcomb]

So now manufacturers are questioning like is a hunt the average hunter gonna pay 20 to 30 bucks a shell. And the thing is, is like prices are going to stay high or they're going to keep going up, inventory is shrinking and it's just the price is just going to keep climbing. So like the, the days of like semi affordable TSS loads that like might be a thing.

[Steven Rinella]

Like this is not a blip. You're not feeling like this is a blip?

[Brody Newcomb]

No, because like the supply is years behind. Like one. I saw a quote from one custom turkey manufacturer. Turkey ammo manufacturer, Salt Creek Custom ammo

[Steven Rinella]

I've bought from them before says TSS is dead. Really?

[Brody Newcomb]

And so if this happens, man, it's like not only the ammo thing, but like I hunt turkeys with a 20 gauge. My kids have killed them with a 410. Guys are hunting them with 28 gauges now. So like these small bore shotguns.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah. The 410 as a turkey gun became a turkey gun because.

[Brody Newcomb]

And it could just be like useless now.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah. My kids kill their first turkey shooting 4 tens.

[Brody Newcomb]

Yep.

[Steven Rinella]

With TSS.

[Brody Newcomb]

But even 12 gauge hunters like you said are probably going to have to switch back to some kind of lead shot and just get better at bringing turkeys in close if this is the case.

[Steven Rinella]

Better at ditch crawling.

[Bear Newcomb]

When was TSS introduced to the turkey world? Like how long has it lasted?

[Brody Newcomb]

I started hunting with tungsten probably like in 2012-14. But that wasn't this TSS stuff. They were using like. Like I remember having like a blend of five, six.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah. Like third degrees. Had some tongue.

[Tony Peterson]

67.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah, that's. I still got a little stash of

[Brody Newcomb]

that, but full on tungsten. I don't know, like eight years ago. Six.

[Spencer Newharth]

Eight years.

[Will Cheddar]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

When you started being able to like buy. You know, when all the guys I hang out with started shooting number nine, tungsten. Wasn't that many years.

[Brody Newcomb]

No.

[Tony Peterson]

So Brody as it as a fan of tungsten, like I am too when I started using it. My daughter's killed turkeys with 410. Game changer. My daughter's actually shot nine times of with TSS in one hour of turkey hunting one time. And I had to strangle the only bird we got.

[Spencer Newharth]

Wow.

[Randall Williams]

Now I know you only want to buy one of them turkey.

[Tony Peterson]

I can tell you one thing. In that blind, I was swearing worse than Donald was when he couldn't get his tag.

[Steven Rinella]

Is that right?

[Tony Peterson]

Oh my God.

[Steven Rinella]

When you. It is a problem when your ammo, when your turkey ammo, the shell not the box. The shell costs more than a turkey tag.

[Tony Peterson]

Right.

[Steven Rinella]

That's a problem.

[Tony Peterson]

Well, right. And when you're digging in your backpack for another box of ammo in. In the first hour of a hunt, and there's tears in the blind, rough stuff.

[Brody Newcomb]

And for people that aren't familiar, a box of TSF ammo is five shots.

[Spencer Newharth]

Right.

[Brody Newcomb]

It's not right.

[Steven Rinella]

But in. Matt, tell the Max bar to part of this.

[Brody Newcomb]

Max hit the jackpot.

[Steven Rinella]

Me and him were down in Nevada and Fallon.

[Brody Newcomb]

No one hunts. That's. I. I'm convince.

[Steven Rinella]

They got Turks, but they.

[Brody Newcomb]

Yeah, they got a few.

[Steven Rinella]

We were in Fallon, Nevada. I was in the hotel room. Max wanders into some sporting goods store and walks out of there with five,

[Brody Newcomb]

no, eight boxes of 410TSS. He paid 30 bucks a piece for it.

[Steven Rinella]

So that would have been.

[Brody Newcomb]

That would have been half year.

[Steven Rinella]

That was half that. At that time, I go, that's half off. And I look at him like, that's more than half off at that moment. And then tungsten exploded, and he said, he's going to sell me back a box. Box.

[Brody Newcomb]

But Max is like, I don't even need this stuff. I'm just buying it because he's hoarding.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. That contributes to the problem.

[Tony Peterson]

So does this change the calculus? Because when people look at expensive turkey shells, like you mentioned, if you're going to go waterfowl hunting, you're like, it's a different thing. Yeah, Bismuth, whatever. You're gonna just burn through some money. Right. But the justification for those super expensive shells was they perform so well.

[Brody Newcomb]

I never minded it for turkeys. Yeah, yeah.

[Tony Peterson]

You're only gonna shoot a couple times.

[Steven Rinella]

Whatever. In people. People's head, dude. Someone tells you, it's like, you know, and you. I don't know, you just kind of. You get like, used to stuff. I'm going back shooting as well.

[Brody Newcomb]

I'm going.

[Steven Rinella]

I still have some of my dad's turkey. Right, Right.

[Tony Peterson]

I mean, we killed tons of turkey,

[Brody Newcomb]

but you forget so quickly.

[Tony Peterson]

Right.

[Steven Rinella]

And like, it's just people shooting with like, number five copper plated.

[Brody Newcomb]

Yeah.

[Tony Peterson]

You ever have. With those little nines. You ever have somebody shoot, like, the breast?

[Brody Newcomb]

Yeah. You got to make sure because brush

[Steven Rinella]

your teeth all the hell. Thank you, Brody. You get.

[Brody Newcomb]

I got one little thing. It's an add on to this about Trump's tariffs.

[Steven Rinella]

It's.

[Brody Newcomb]

This is not just a TSS thing. The prices of other ammunition are also on the rise because Amro production kind of is also like a global thing. Nitrocellulose, a gunpowder ingredient, is sourced internationally. And US Tariffs on imports are increasing the cost of raw materials and finished ammo. As an example, ammo companies, it's like a thin margin so they can't absorb these tariffs. So ammo manufacturers are reporting a 15% price increase over since 2024. And an example is bulk. 9 millimeter has gone from 23 cents around to in mid 2025. So less than a year to 35 cents around right now. So. Yeah, that's almost like a third.

[Phil]

Yeah.

[Brody Newcomb]

Actually 50 increase.

[Steven Rinella]

It's a war on shooters.

[Brody Newcomb]

So there you go.

[Spencer Newharth]

The top 12 gauge TSS round at Bass Pro right now is 19 a shell. And the 410ammo is all about half price of the 12 gauge.

[Steven Rinella]

Dude, that'll make you know what's going to lead to is people not shooting as many jakes, man. I don't know, dude. Like 20 bucks, we'll be back in the glory.

[Brody Newcomb]

It's not gonna affect me. I'll still shoot them.

[Tony Peterson]

Right. Me too.

[Steven Rinella]

Over to Bear Newcomb for some Oklahoma bear news. Yeah. Did I earlier say Arkansas bear news? I believe I did.

[Bear Newcomb]

You did say.

[Steven Rinella]

I'm. You know what? I'm gonna redo the whole beginning. People listening now won't know what I'm talking about.

[Bear Newcomb]

Wow. Well, so House Bill 4128 is a new bill proposition in Oklahoma. And basically what they're proposing is an extension of the Oklahoma bear season by two weeks earlier. So if you. If you bait bears in the Southeast, you know, that is a huge difference because baiting success is entirely dependent on when the acorns drop. It's historic acres.

[Steven Rinella]

I'm falling.

[Bear Newcomb]

It's. The season has historically started on October 1st. We wanted to bump it up to September 15th. So usually it starts after the acorn drop. They're wanting to bump it a full two weeks to before the acorn drop

[Steven Rinella]

when they're more susceptible to bait.

[Bear Newcomb]

Right, right.

[Steven Rinella]

Because your father has told me, he's like, it doesn't matter what you're using for bait. Once they can get acorns, they're out of there. They want acorns.

[Bear Newcomb]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

More than donuts.

[Bear Newcomb]

Yeah. And so. And then they want to bump the bear quota up by 300%. And the truth is, is that Oklahoma could afford to take a few more bears. The bear population is doing really well, but it is just super abrupt and super aggressive. And what's happening is the House representative, Scott Fettgatter, he. He's the one Pushing the bill. And if you, if you watch some of the, the meetings and the hearings, he's talking, he, he brings his own evidence for how much, how many bears can be taken out. All his evidence is from Kentucky, the state of Kentucky, which has four different, three or four different states pouring bear population.

[Steven Rinella]

That's where he's pulling his management data from.

[Spencer Newharth]

Right.

[Bear Newcomb]

Whereas Oklahoma has one and that's Arkansas. And so it's, if you. In the meetings, I watched a clip right before this where he was talking about all of his evidence that he's gathered for why they should push the season up. And the issue is, is this, there's a whole, there's a whole. This guy shouldn't be the one who's doing the science to manage the bear population. It needs to be the game and fish commissions and the wildlife department. And so it's just like the bill itself isn't a massive deal. Like I think if the bill goes through, a bunch of bears get killed, like we just won't kill as many bears and they'll have to adjust from there. But what it's doing is it's setting the precedent for legislators to be able to, to, to make laws based on self interest.

[Steven Rinella]

And yeah, like the agency is like our research, our modeling shows that this is, and I should clarify this. If you have an agency that's a good steward and a good pro hunting agency and the agency is like this is what we're comfortable with. And then a lawmaker goes, we should be killing a bunch more based on my own home research job. So I'm going to usurp you, you eggheads at the agency and here's my proposal.

[Bear Newcomb]

Yeah. And the crazy thing is is that the, the bear commissioner or the bear coordinator just got approved to do a two year study on the bear population. And in two years we'll have of really scientifically based numbers on what the harvest can be.

[Brody Newcomb]

You mentioned earlier like they could probably afford to shoot a few more, but it's not a big population. It's.

[Bear Newcomb]

No, they can't afford to shoot 300% more, that's for sure.

[Steven Rinella]

Are you saying the season would go from two weeks long to how long?

[Bear Newcomb]

It would open two weeks earlier. Okay, so. And that's when all the bears are killed is in that first week usually. And yeah, so it's just, it's just lack of science.

[Steven Rinella]

What is his motivation? Like here's, here's a quote from him, this representative, what's his name? Fat Gatter.

[Bear Newcomb]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

Here's a quote from Him. We look at bears as cute, cuddly little animals that we can sleep at night with, but the reality of it is they're very dangerous.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

This really is what question. But is that like, but what is his motivation?

[Bear Newcomb]

That, that's the.

[Steven Rinella]

Is he a big hunter?

[Bear Newcomb]

Question. He's a deer breeder. And so that, this is where it kind of gets interesting is he's a deer breeder. And I think a lot of people would be familiar with the CWD bill that is about to get pushed where essentially private landowners can, can buy deer that are captive bred deer that are perceivably immune to cwd.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah.

[Bear Newcomb]

And then release them into the wild, which. That's a whole nother conversation. But so he's a deer breeder. And there's. Here's word on the street. This is kind of some speculation. So I don't, I don't want to say this as fact, but this is word on the street.

[Randall Williams]

Okay.

[Bear Newcomb]

There's a, there's another.

[Steven Rinella]

You're a rumor. This is a rumor.

[Bear Newcomb]

This is a rumor.

[Steven Rinella]

Just say it's a rumor.

[Bear Newcomb]

It's a rumor. There's another deer breeder there in Oklahoma and he is the one who. Originally or not originally, but he's, he's pushing really hard for the bear bill.

[Steven Rinella]

Okay.

[Bear Newcomb]

And for the CWD bill. But Fetgatter, I mean, it would make no sense for Fet getter to put his name on the CWD bill because he's a deer breeder.

[Steven Rinella]

Got it.

[Bear Newcomb]

But this other guy rumor is they're really good friends and this other guy hates bears because they're eating his fawns and they're, they're getting on his property.

[Steven Rinella]

Okay.

[Bear Newcomb]

He has a property that is surrounded on three or four size national forest which if you, if you got a property surrounded by national forest in southeast Oklahoma, there's going to be a bunch of bears.

[Steven Rinella]

Okay.

[Bear Newcomb]

And so he's pushing for the CWD bill and the bear bill really hard. And so my question too was also like, what's, what's the motivation behind it?

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah.

[Bear Newcomb]

And I've not gotten a concrete answer, but the, my personal speculation would, would be to think that he's just a deer hunter who doesn't like the bears killing the deer or is under that impression that bears are just wiping out the deer population.

[Steven Rinella]

Or he's a bear hunter and he realizes that if he had two weeks earlier hunting, he'd have a better bear season.

[Bear Newcomb]

Yeah, it's true. That's, that's another, another thought. But he Also, like the, you know, he would have, it would benefit him massively to be able to sell captive deer as well.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah.

[Bear Newcomb]

And I wonder if he's not just like a deer hunter who wants the Oklahoma genetics maybe to, to be influenced to have better genetics in Oklahoma or, you know, it seems like his mind is only on the deer, not the bear.

[Steven Rinella]

So what's your, like, what's your take on the bear deal? You think it's, do you think it's too, too much harvest?

[Bear Newcomb]

I think it's too much harvest and I think, I think it just needs to be slower. I mean, like the season might. Could afford to be bumped two weeks up, but to do that all in one year and then to bump the quota up by 300% is just way too fast to be doing something like that. And I just don't think that a House representative needs to be doing the research and needs to be pushing for a bill like that that needs to be done inside of the wildlife department.

[Steven Rinella]

You'd advocate for a more incremental approach

[Bear Newcomb]

coming from the biologists and a more scientific approach. And what this bill is, is it's just a broader representation of what's happening all across the world, the country. Just lack of science based management and there's just a lot of, a lot of politics and opinions getting mixed in with wildlife regulations.

[Steven Rinella]

It's a theme. It's a theme. People get frustrated with the state agencies and they, and they find workarounds, ballot initiatives, whatever.

[Bear Newcomb]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

Randall's going to touch on a few bear hunting issues too. Thank you.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. Quick update from Washington. They released a game management plan which is like a doc. It's a long, very long document that provides recommendations to the Game and Fish Commission. And we know in Washington that there have been issues with individuals associated with the commission being antagonistic towards hunting and fishing. But one of. So there's no like concrete changes yet, as far as I'm aware. But, but as part of this game management plan, there's a sentence in it where it describes like the other sort of wildlife values associated with bears. And it makes mention of potentially delaying the fall bear season until after Labor Day. Because as we all know, Labor Day is a good weekend for wildlife viewers to go out and look at bears. And so they want to avoid folks, you know, out there with their binoculars and their picnic baskets watching bears, watching bears get, get shot. Like it's, it's. I guess this came up in some sort of earlier policy debate and it had gone away. And then it sort of mysteriously, this Language mysteriously resurfaced in the game management plan. And, and it seems to have caught the attention of sportsman's groups after this game management plan was published. But I know there's a lot of folks worked up about it and not only just like out of self interest, but it, it sort of poses hunters as antagonistic towards other public land users. You know, and I was reading anyone

[Steven Rinella]

who's familiar with that era. Sorry, with that area, like, like bear hunting in that state. This is, this is make believe land. That there's conflict between these, like wildlife viewers and bear hunters is make believe. Right.

[Randall Williams]

So most units, I guess, open currently August 1st or August 15th. And so if you were to push that back after Labor Day, that's basically cutting a month off the season.

[Steven Rinella]

And it is an early season.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, it is early, but also I think like the context of them losing the spring bear hunt not all that long ago is, is still. There are fresh wounds about that.

[Steven Rinella]

And yeah, I'm not, when I, when I bring up that it's early season. Yeah, yeah, I'm not saying that, like, I'm not saying they should change it. I'm just saying if, if it was otherwise, if it was, if it was always otherwise, always a month later, people would never look and be like, what gives? Why is your bear season so late? Because that's kind of like bear season season, right? Like they have a very early fall bear season.

[Will Cheddar]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

And I, I was reading some commentary on this and there was a guy who made a great point and he said, he said, I'm like a total backpacker, public land user. What you would call like a REI type.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

And he said I'm also a hunter. And he said, when I'm a hiker and I run into hunters on the trail, we engage and have a positive, like, discussion and sort of like build that bridge. And he said, when I'm hunting, I run into other hikers on the trail and it's a good opportunity for us to like build that again, build the bridge between those two communities. And so he's like, just the idea that we would try to separate out hunters from other public land users, even if that's not the intention. He's like, I just think in the long run. So I thought that was a great point. But yeah, just something to keep an eye on. I don't know when their season setting takes place or when, if there will be like action taken on this suggestion, but I mean, it's out there now.

[Brody Newcomb]

There's a lot of similarities here between like The Wildlife Commission in Colorado and the Wildlife Commission in Washington. Right.

[Steven Rinella]

And it stings. Haven't lost the spring bear season and then you're going to lose a month on fall. I mean, that's a real. That's a kick to the nuts.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. Yeah. So that's some. Obviously like something to keep your eye on, some disheartening news. And then at the same time, in Arizona, there's a bill to redefine mountain lions and bears as predatory animals. So they would get lumped in with foxes, skunks, coyotes and bobcats.

[Steven Rinella]

Mountain lions and bears. Yes, but these are game animals. Right, right.

[Randall Williams]

And I mean, I don't really understand. I guess there was a version of the bill earlier that, that included wolves in that as well. But currently, like, it just means that they would be like non gay man.

[Steven Rinella]

But they got an ESA protection right now.

[Randall Williams]

Well, that's. So that, that's, I think, why it was cut out. Like the, the wolves were cut out of the bill.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah. The Mexican gray wolf in Arizona has ESA protection. Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

And I should have reached out to Heffelfinger because he'll probably have a lot of thoughts to, to clear up my.

[Steven Rinella]

So this is coming from, this is definitely coming from people who are, who are, who are concerned about predation.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

On deer and elk.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, that's, that's.

[Steven Rinella]

And they want fewer predators on the landscape and they think the pathway to get there is just to deregulate mountain lions and black bears into like coyotes. Yep.

[Brody Newcomb]

Treat them like vermin.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah, yeah.

[Randall Williams]

So I mean that like in a lot of states that's what they were up until the mid 20th century, early 20th century, and they're reclassified as game animals. And that's done well for all these species. Right. Like, it's been key to their recovery in a lot of places.

[Brody Newcomb]

So.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah, I don't like, you know, that. What's funny about all this stuff, man, all the stuff we're getting into is like, you know, bear talking about, well, they want to make a bear season bigger.

[Tony Peterson]

Right.

[Steven Rinella]

And you look at that, you're like, oh, it's kind of problematic. So then someone is like, hey, we want to make a bear season shorter. And you're left going like, well, that seems kind of problematic because what you're always trying to weigh out when you look at this is you're trying to lay out, like, what are the motivations.

[Randall Williams]

Right.

[Steven Rinella]

What are the motivations of what people are driving at and what happens when you take things too extreme. So like the juxtaposition between the Washington move, hey, we're going to shorten bear season. You look like, well, you're motivated because you want to kill the whole thing. Like the person that wants to do that doesn't want anyone to hunt any bears. Right. And then you go down to Arizona, like, well, what's motivating that the person that wants to do that doesn't want any bears.

[Bear Newcomb]

Right?

[Randall Williams]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

And so you're trying to like look at like who's got peer intentions aligned with like long term wildlife management and long term interest the hunters. And so you can wind up being

[Randall Williams]

the agencies of those people.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, and so you look, you'd be like, so. But I'm saying like someone dropping in from another planet might be like Muhammad. Why is it a problem that they're like making a season bigger, but it's also a problem that someone else is making a season shoulder. Like, which is right. It's like, which is right is who has in mind, what goal are they pursuing?

[Randall Williams]

Yeah. And I think like I was up at the Capitol, I guess last January when there was a mule deer bill in the, in the committee being heard about basically making it so that FWP couldn't shut down mule deer buck hunting during the rut if there were units that had low populations. And the bill never went anywhere. But, but one of the committee members kind of stood up and grandstanded and said, how am I supposed to go back home to my district and tell these people that unelected bureaucrats are making decisions about their fish and wildlife? And I was just like, that's how it's supposed to work.

[Steven Rinella]

That's exactly how it's supposed to work.

[Randall Williams]

So I don't know, I kind of wish in some instances that like unelected

[Steven Rinella]

bureaucrats running the Supreme Court.

[Randall Williams]

Yeah, like, like state legislators, I feel like are particularly susceptible to doing this and like stepping in front of the agency and trying to make season setting.

[Brody Newcomb]

Well, you can favor with your constituents pretty quick on a, like a right

[Randall Williams]

in the big picture health of like this whole system that we benefit from, it's not a, it's not a good thing.

[Steven Rinella]

Foreign. You've heard About T Mobile 5G Home Internet Mostly for how easy it is to set up and then the value that you get. Well, there's some more big news you should know about. They now have the fastest 5G home Internet speeds. That's right. T Mobile now has the fastest 5G home Internet according to the experts at OOKLA speed test. That makes backing up photos from your latest hunt, streaming a new documentary or pulling up a wild game recipe super quick. And yeah, it's a great value backed by a solid five year price guarantee. And setting it up is still as easy as it gets. You just plug it in and go. So if you want the fastest 5G home Internet with a simple setup at a great price with savings that stick around, Get T Mobile 5G Home Internet. Head over to T mobile.com home Internet to check availability. Price guarantee exclusions like taxes and fees apply fastest based on Ookla Speed Test Intelligence Data over the second half of 2025. All rights reserved.

[Tractor Supply Announcer]

Tractor Supply, they know the days are getting longer, warmer and it's time to get back outside. Whether you're working the land, heading to the woods or getting back out on the water, Tractor Supply has new gear ready for the spring ahead. From new UTVs and zero turn mowers to truck accessories, tools and workwear, your life outdoors starts at Tractor Supply this

[Steven Rinella]

spring Spring turkey season is one of the best times to hand the hunt over to your kid. Part of the problem hunting turkeys with kids is a lot of the pre game stuff is all happening in the dark. They can't really visualize what you're talking about. But with Onx Hunt, you can show them what you're talking about on your phone and make the whole thing real. Let them learn why their moves work and why they don't. You can show them exactly where you're allowed to hunt. You can decipher direction and judge distance on a gobbler with waypoints in compass mode and build a setup together instead of just telling them what to do. It turns a morning in the woods into a lesson they'll carry the rest of their hunting life. Download the Onx Hunt app and use spring turkey season to make better hunters one spring morning at a time. Here's one and this is one I've been wanting to talk about this because this is a major issue almost I want to spend more time on in the future. This is a way of tipping it off and I'd like to find a great guest for the interview show. Just to come in and do a podcast interview about the issue of bottom trawling. Okay, I got to explain this whole thing, but a bottom the bottom trawling industry, particularly in international waters in Alaska, which has become like the subject of trawling, has become a very contentious issue in recent years as we're seeing collapses and declines in certain fish stocks. Okay, when we say when someone says bottom trawling Another term they use for it is, is like a dragger dragging. Okay. These bottom trawlers or draggers are usually targeting large schools of high volume, low quality fish like pollock for instance. They got nets that. They got nets the size of football fields. And the nets are weighted. So when you call them draggers, it's because they literally. This net system is heavily weighted and is literally dragged along the bottom to where it like scrapes up crabs and stuff.

[Brody Newcomb]

You can do a real quick search on YouTube, just type in bottom trawling video and you'll see what these things do. It's pretty like eye opening it like

[Steven Rinella]

if you've been out raking your garden or something. It rakes the ocean floor. So people have long looked at what are the detriments of all that of like habitat destruction from dragging these nets. And also the by catch in this industry hit some, some pretty crazy levels. So annually, it's estimated that annually draggers are discarding about 141 million pounds of bycatch. Okay. King salmon, chum salmon, halibut, even killer whales. Okay. On the Yukon right now. So, so think about like this. Like let's, let's talk about king salmon and halibut. King salmon are in bad, bad shape. Okay. There's been a king salmon like indigenous people have been fishing king salmon on the Yukon river for 10,000 years. Right now you can't keep a king salmon on the Yukon.

[Brody Newcomb]

You haven't been able to for a while.

[Steven Rinella]

You cannot keep a king salmon on the Yukon. The draggers and they have observers on board counting by catch. These are not guesses. The draggers are killing more kings as by catching then. Then make it to the upper Yukon. Wow. There's a site you can go on. I was on the site earlier today. There's a site you can go on. You can track by date the by catch from the, from the dragging industry, the troll, the bottom trawling industry. Okay. This year. So 2026 as of if you go on this thing, they got Data up to March 7, up to March 7, 2026, the draggers and off the Alaska's shoreline lines they've killed 1.3 million pounds of halibut. Most years they're scratching off 3.5 to 4.5 million pounds of halibut. I got a question and they let me finish this point on that. And that's not counting the ones that are what's called deck sorted where halibut are removed and thrown back in. And some people estimate that 50% of those die. So that number isn't even totally there. They'll hit. In a year. They're going to hit 35,000 kings. Okay, so far this year, just in 20, 26. 10,800 kings. As of. As of a month ago, 10,800 kings. And you can't keep a king on the Yukon. Go ahead.

[Brody Newcomb]

Those bottom trawlers are not set up to keep and use that by catching. Like. Like. No, they can't pull a king out and say, we're gonna send this to market or a big halibut or.

[Steven Rinella]

No, this stuff. This stuff gets. Now, I one time had burger and a beer with a bottom trawler in Seattle, Washington, where the bottom trawling industry is like. Like, he's like a friend of a friend. He's probably pissed at me right at this very second. He was talking about. He was making a point to me. Talking about the guys that work on the boat that when they come off the boat, they have pallets of fish

[Brody Newcomb]

to bring home for personal use. Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

And I don't even know if that's loud or not. Pallets of fish, sable, fish. But this stuff is getting kicked off. Okay, now there's a poll that's out. It was. I don't know who conducted the poll. I haven't looked at the poll. There was a poll of a thousand people and it could. I didn't read the wording on the poll. And you can heavily influence a poll by how you word a poll.

[Tony Peterson]

Right.

[Steven Rinella]

And a really good pollster builds questions that aren't leading. I don't know what the questions are. I don't know how valid the polling data is, but there's some polar dating polling data suggesting that 74% of Alaskans oppose bottom trawling. What. What happened recently? There's this open letter where 5,000 Alaskans wrote an open letter to Representative Nick Begich, who apparently had campaigned on reining in the bottom trawlers. But since the election, hasn't. In their mind. I don't know about the extent of this. In this letter's mind hasn't. Hasn't made good on the promise to reign in bottom trawlers. I was reading a quote from a guy. Like, the part of the reluctance of regulating bottom trawling or outright banning bottom trawling is people are like. Like, yes, these fisheries are imperiled and collapsing, but we don't know all the causes. And since we don't know all the causes, we shouldn't address any of the causes. And I was reading this guy's comment, he's like, let's say you got a little kid and he's got five McNuggets and all of a sudden he's got no McNuggets left. He gets five a day, but there's none. He learns that someone's throwing two in the garbage. He doesn't know where the other three are going, but there's two going in the garbage. Should he be like, well, I'm gonna hold off on talking to the guy that's throwing two in the trash while I figure out what's happening to the other three? Or do you go like, okay, immediately, let's, let's stop the two in the trash and then we'll find out more about these other three. But that's, that's, that's the logic they have. So if you read about this online, you'll find op, these like pro bottom trawling op eds, which are from the industry, they have their own lobbying wing and they do the classic thing where they're like, it's out of state billionaires. Out of state billionaires pushing to ban bottom trawling. But the bottom trawling industry is by and large from Seattle. The 5,000 letters that went into Nick Begich were Alaskans. The people that bitched to me about it. I don't know out of staters that know about this. The people that come to me and talk to me about the bottom trawling problem are commercial fishermen, long liners, charter captains in Alaska talking to me about the bottom trawling problem. I'm not hearing it from out of state billionaires.

[Brody Newcomb]

Yep. American Seafoods is one of the biggest bottom trawling companies. They're out of Seattle.

[Steven Rinella]

But it's this classic, oh, yeah, these out of touch billionaires. It's like, are you telling me there's a bunch of out of touch billionaires talking about bottom trawling?

[Brody Newcomb]

Well, yeah.

[Tony Peterson]

What would be their game?

[Steven Rinella]

They wouldn't know, right? I'm sure they talk about pandas and stuff, but they're not talking about this. Anyhow.

[Randall Williams]

That's a great update, Steve. Thank you.

[Steven Rinella]

I do think if I had to crystal ball this, if I had to, and it's like, it's like I respect it. The people that want to keep that fishery going, they're defending their jobs, they're defending their livelihoods, they're defending their industry, they're defending their family. I understand it. But you are just. We are seeing, culturally, we are seeing that these fisheries are in decline. They're going down it doesn't look good. If I crystal ball it. I think that this is going to wind up being. When I crystal ball it, I think in years coming, this is going to wind up being more regulated and potentially phased out.

[Brody Newcomb]

Yeah. Because I mean right now it's just like it's not even. They're killing other commercial fishermen. It's not like a sport fisherman.

[Steven Rinella]

That's why I'm crystal balling it the way I am.

[Brody Newcomb]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

I'm crystal ball the way I am. Because this has become divisive within the commercial industry.

[Brody Newcomb]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

So it's not the commercial industry coalescing. Yeah. Right. And like in defending their own, it's other. Other people.

[Brody Newcomb]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

The pot industry. Not pot like weed, but like pot fishery industry, long lining industry. They're like, dude, you're making a problem.

[Brody Newcomb]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

You know. Over to you, Spencer.

[Spencer Newharth]

The Masters golf tournament tees off very soon. It'll be in Augusta, Georgia on April 9th. It's the most prestigious golf tournament in the world. On the line is a $4.2 million prize, the green jacket, an honorary membership at Augusta National Golf Club. And the winner gets to pick the menu for the Masters Champions Dinner the following year.

[Steven Rinella]

Keep back up.

[Bear Newcomb]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

They win a membership.

[Spencer Newharth]

An honorary membership. It's the hardest golf course to be a member at the world.

[Steven Rinella]

But I would think those dudes would all be members.

[Spencer Newharth]

No, that's. It's not good enough to just be rich and good at golf. To be a member.

[Steven Rinella]

That takes more than.

[Spencer Newharth]

More than that even. Yeah.

[Randall Williams]

It's one of the rare things in life that takes more than that.

[Phil]

This is like the second major time we're ever going to be covering golf on this show.

[Steven Rinella]

I hope Brian Harmon wins this year, but go on.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah. So that, that happens April 9th. And the winner gets to pick the menu for the Masters Champions Dinner the following year. The Masters Champions Dinner, it's an exclusive meal for past winners and the club chairman. Yeah, it's the oldest, whitest group you've ever seen.

[Steven Rinella]

No.

[Bear Newcomb]

We're Both

[Phil]

watching on YouTube get the pleasure of this. Very stunning.

[Spencer Newharth]

This photo was from a year when Tiger did not attend because of one of his injuries. So it's for past winners and the club chairman. About 30 some people attend this event.

[Steven Rinella]

Do you remember the dude that made the really racist comment about Tiger Woods? When Tiger woods won the Masters, I

[Spencer Newharth]

think there were many dudes who made comments. Yeah, yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

About this. It was about the dinner.

[Spencer Newharth]

Oh, we'll get to that later here. About 30 people attend this dinner each Year, not only does the previous winner set the menu, but he also pays for it. So you're footing the bill for what you pick. Rory McElroy. He won the Masters in 2025, and his menu for this year was just announced. For the main course, you get to choose between a filet mignon and the seared salmon. The first course is yellowfin tuna carpaccio with foie gras. And for appetizers, he has peach and ricotta flatbread bacon wrapped dates, which were inspired by his mom's recipe, rock shrimp tempura and grilled elk sliders. Those grilled elk sliders will have caramelized onion jam with roasted garlic aioli. And although that last choice.

[Steven Rinella]

You like this whole thing?

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah, it surprised people. This has been covered by the Today show. It's been covered by BBC.

[Steven Rinella]

It's not elk.

[Spencer Newharth]

Every year leading up to the Masters, there's like a handful of storylines that emerge, and this is one of them.

[Brody Newcomb]

You mean when you say it's been covered? It's like they're picking the elk thing out of that.

[Spencer Newharth]

They're like, you won't believe what Rory McElroy is serving at this year's Masters dinner.

[Steven Rinella]

But I heard that you think it's cool.

[Spencer Newharth]

Well, I think it's of interest to us.

[Steven Rinella]

No, no. I heard you thought it was cool.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah, I think it's cool. I think the Masters are cool. I think Rory is cool. I think it's cool that he picked wild game, but that's why I said it was interesting that he picked venison. I shouldn't say wild game that he picked venison.

[Steven Rinella]

It's a farm animal.

[Spencer Newharth]

I understand that.

[Steven Rinella]

I heard he said that wild game propelled him to victory. Like, if I hung out in brothels, if I hung out in cat houses and I won the championship, would I be like, love. Love delivered me to this chance.

[Spencer Newharth]

I'll read you his quote. Like, wait, wait.

[Brody Newcomb]

But like, thousands of hunters, let's milk the man. Hunters eat thousands of pounds of water.

[Tractor Supply Announcer]

They don't go into Master.

[Steven Rinella]

This whole show, I've only been here to share my.

[Brody Newcomb]

Like, all the people eating real wild game. And this guy's like, wild game fueled my run to the master.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah, of course it's farming, but if one of the biggest sporting events in the world has headlines dealing with venison, that's not of interest.

[Steven Rinella]

That's not making interest. But I don't like it.

[Brody Newcomb]

That's not making wild elk or the places wild elk live more valuable.

[Steven Rinella]

It's Farm animals.

[Spencer Newharth]

It's still a headline. I don't. I don't understand things.

[Steven Rinella]

I heard that you thought it was cool.

[Spencer Newharth]

I think Rory's cool. I think the Masters are cool. I think it's cool that he picked Benison.

[Steven Rinella]

It'd still be news if he thought it was dumb.

[Spencer Newharth]

Sure.

[Steven Rinella]

Do you got more news?

[Will Cheddar]

Oh, yeah, I got.

[Spencer Newharth]

I got a lot of Randall, how

[Brody Newcomb]

does it feel not having the heat

[Phil]

on you this week, Brian Harmon thing?

[Randall Williams]

I just said it was interesting.

[Spencer Newharth]

Rory said he knew that he was putting venison on the menu as soon as he won. Last May, he did an interview with the Today show. They asked him what he thought he'd be serving at the 2026 dinner. This was his quote that you guys have been referring to. Quote. I've been into wild game recently, so venison, elk, stuff like that. That sort of stuff fueled this raw, is what he said.

[Steven Rinella]

Sort of. That's not the right word.

[Spencer Newharth]

Helps him make the champion. Now, fast forward to this year. He did put venison on the menu. He said he considered making it the main course, but decided to make it an appetizer instead because he worried that not everyone loves venison as much as him.

[Steven Rinella]

Huh. Where's he from? Is he American?

[Spencer Newharth]

He's.

[Phil]

No, he's Northern Irish.

[Spencer Newharth]

He's from Ireland.

[Steven Rinella]

Is he maybe gonna be serving up their red deer from over there?

[Phil]

I was gonna say, I wonder who it wasn't.

[Spencer Newharth]

I would assume it's. It's like New Zealand, you know, venison that was raised behind a fence.

[Steven Rinella]

Well, why'd you write down elk?

[Spencer Newharth]

Because it says elk.

[Steven Rinella]

You didn't write that menu.

[Spencer Newharth]

No, I didn't. I didn't make that graphic. It's not the first time elk meat has been on the menu.

[Randall Williams]

Spencer used AI to create this beautiful menu.

[Spencer Newharth]

In 2004, Mike Weir, the only Canadian to ever win the Masters, got to pick the dinner. He served elk, wild boar, sockeye salmon, and arctic character. And while Rory has a big list of handpicked wines on the menu this year, Mike Weir only did Canadian beers with. With his wild.

[Brody Newcomb]

That guy might have been using the real stuff. Sounds like.

[Steven Rinella]

Oh, yeah, because he was cleaning out his freezer. How many guys is it eating there? 30.

[Spencer Newharth]

30 some.

[Brody Newcomb]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

If you're just making sliders, he could get some real. You know what?

[Brody Newcomb]

We'll send it.

[Steven Rinella]

If he's listening, I'll send you the elk meat.

[Spencer Newharth]

We'll give you the wild game for the next.

[Will Cheddar]

I'll give you enough.

[Randall Williams]

Brian Harmony Just send us Rory's phone number.

[Steven Rinella]

Brian Harmon. Brian Harmon will give you all the venison you want. Real meat, real outdoor, wild meat.

[Spencer Newharth]

Wouldn't take that.

[Steven Rinella]

I hope Brian Harmon beats this guy's button. Is Brian Harmon in this golf tournament?

[Spencer Newharth]

He'll be there. That's right.

[Steven Rinella]

I hope he wins. And then next year when they come out with the menu, it's going to say real sliders.

[Spencer Newharth]

This dinner has been a tradition since the 1950s. Here's some of the most notable things ever put on the menu. 1998, a 21 year old tiger woods was setting the menu after his first Masters win. He was the youngest champion ever. He served cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, french fries and milkshakes. He was ridiculed for his choice. And the next time he won in 2002, he instead served a porterhouse steak and sushi. When reflecting on. When Reflecting on his 1998 menu, Tiger said, quote, I just went with what I like. It wasn't trying. I wasn't trying to be fancy or anything like that. That 1989 Scottish golfer Sandy Lyle was setting the menu. He horrified his peers by choosing haggis. If you're not familiar, that's a savory pudding made of sheep organs that's then cooked inside of a sheep's stomach. It was reportedly one of the most rejected items ever served at the.

[Steven Rinella]

But you know, I don't think he would have been allowed to do real haggis because that was the outlaw, because that was served in August. So you wouldn't be able to have the lung and that.

[Spencer Newharth]

And then 2022, Hideki Matsuyama puts together the most expensive Masters Champions dinner ever. It was made to resemble a Michelin dining experience in Tokyo. The menu featured a full spread of sushi and sashimi for appetizers, miso glazed black cod for the first course, a wagu wagu ribeye for the main course, and Japanese strawberry shortcake for dessert. The meal was estimated to cost $220 per person, which is $40 more than the next most expensive menu at that dinner.

[Phil]

That's it.

[Steven Rinella]

I would think it'd be a lot more now. Dude, that's the way I'd want to go to sucker. I'm having.

[Randall Williams]

We're thinking in 2026 menu prices, right? In 2022, 220.

[Spencer Newharth]

They're just sourcing the ingredients at that point. They're not paying the. The wait staff and the chefs.

[Tony Peterson]

Right.

[Steven Rinella]

Help. Brian Harmon wins.

[Spencer Newharth]

Dude, I went to the Masters a few years ago and Brian was Walking. And I. I had said I was explaining to the people I was with how he's a hunter. And I'm like, I'm gonna do a turkey call and see if he notices. He must have been 100 yards away. So

[Brody Newcomb]

there's a real turkey call?

[Spencer Newharth]

No, just with my mouth.

[Steven Rinella]

That's pretty good.

[Phil]

Did he turn around?

[Spencer Newharth]

Oh, he snapped his head around and looked, and he never identified. I don't think where that turkey call was coming from, but it was like it was a moment in his day walking around and he heard a turkey call.

[Randall Williams]

Was that before or after he came on the podcast?

[Spencer Newharth]

That was afterwards.

[Phil]

All right, tell them to listen to this tomorrow.

[Brody Newcomb]

I could see there being some big gobblers around.

[Spencer Newharth]

No golf course. The Masters has some lore around. Like, there's not even birds there. You know, you won't even see a squirrel. Well, yeah, it's just like that. Manicured. Every blade of grass is thought of.

[Steven Rinella]

Do you remember when there's that little scandal that they were pumping bird noises? Yeah, they were pumping in bird noises. And then some birder was like, homie, that bird doesn't live around there. They got busted for pumping and baby bird noises.

[Spencer Newharth]

He was watching on TV and he heard a bird that's not present in Kentucky or wherever they're golfing at.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah, that was right. He's like, dude, that bird is not there. That's a fake bird noise.

[Phil]

Another good news for Cornell's Merlin.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah, we have a Masters inspired recipe on Theme Eater.com. it's Chef Lucas Leaf's fish sliders with pimento cheese. Pimento cheese sandwiches have been famously served at the masters since the 1940s. So this is Lucas's take on that, which includes crappie and a slaw.

[Steven Rinella]

That was a hell of a report.

[Spencer Newharth]

Thank you.

[Brody Newcomb]

God.

[Spencer Newharth]

Was a doozy and passionate.

[Tony Peterson]

I realized I like the last.

[Randall Williams]

And he had to fight for it too.

[Steven Rinella]

Yeah, it's great.

[Spencer Newharth]

Yeah, I was fighting for my life.

[Steven Rinella]

That's what makes a good report. There's channels that have mastered this thing, you know, like, the news is all meant to make you mad, and that's Spencer's style.

[Tony Peterson]

You know, he may.

[Steven Rinella]

He has news that makes you mad.

[Brody Newcomb]

Just because you're really grumpy.

[Steven Rinella]

Dude, that was a great news segment.

[Tony Peterson]

Yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

Golly. Sliders.

[Spencer Newharth]

Elk and crappie sliders both in.

[Steven Rinella]

All right, everybody, thanks for joining. See you next week.

[Randall Williams]

We can k. We can do that.

[Steven Rinella]

You just ruined everything.

[Tony Peterson]

Everything.

[Steven Rinella]

Don't hang up just yet. We've been talking. Hopefully you've heard about, we've talked about our 12 and 26 video program. So 12, we're doing like every month. We got a big, you know, almost hour long premiere video coming out. It's called 12 and 26. So if you're not too sharp, I'll help you explain it. There are 12 months in 2026. Each of those months will be allocated a premier long form video project. This month's is Clay Newcomb's Utah Mountain Lion Hunt. Also bear. Tell them about bear grease. YouTube.

[Bear Newcomb]

Yeah, well, we started, well, we jump started YouTube channel. It's now the bear grease YouTube channel. I've been running it for about a month now. A little over a month. And we've got a little bit of a different style content than what you're seeing from meat eater. Yeah, you could call it that.

[Randall Williams]

You know, it's funny, real low brows.

[Bear Newcomb]

I did a, I did a video on, on falconry and the falconers that I went with, they were like, when is Steve gonna cover falconry?

[Steven Rinella]

Because do you know about this?

[Bear Newcomb]

Yeah, I know all about this. So anyway, that's what I mean. Different style content coming at the very hillbilly.

[Steven Rinella]

That's, that, that's Dungeons and Dragons.

[Bear Newcomb]

I, I, I've spent a little bit of time around falconers last year and I 100 see what you mean.

[Steven Rinella]

Were the ones you were DND types or are they like they were legit? Okay, well, no, I'm not saying you're illegitimate if you're dnd, it's just different pathways.

[Bear Newcomb]

Well, they were, they're like woodsmen. I'll put it like they're woodsmen. Yeah, but I see what you mean.

[Steven Rinella]

He's not like a D and D guy.

[Bear Newcomb]

Right, right. You know, 60% of falconers are, I would say are exactly like that.

[Steven Rinella]

Did you measure that scientifically?

[Bear Newcomb]

No, just kind of observing. But anyway, we've got, so that's not building. Yeah, that's not just good content.

[Steven Rinella]

Cool.

[Bear Newcomb]

Yeah. And yeah, so we've, we've got the YouTube channel going. We've got a video coming on Friday. So by the time this airs, that'll be tomorrow. There's a video coming tomorrow where we hog hunt with Dale Brisby and Evan Felker.

[Steven Rinella]

Oh, great.

[Bear Newcomb]

On mules and horses.

[Steven Rinella]

Did you go on that? Yeah. Did you have fun?

[Bear Newcomb]

Oh yeah.

[Steven Rinella]

Evan's a good guy.

[Bear Newcomb]

Yeah, he is, he is. But Anyway, bear grease YouTube channel. Go check it out.

[Steven Rinella]

All right, thanks guys. See you next week.

[Tony Peterson]

When you flew out the window and into the sunset, I thought I would never stop screaming. I thought I would never stop screaming

[Steven Rinella]

your name,

[Tony Peterson]

But I ran out of breath so I took in some more and I started to scream louder. The screaming goes on for hours

[Steven Rinella]

and days,

[Tony Peterson]

So if you and I love this forever, then I'll probably be screaming that love. I'm trying to be cool here, but inside I'm screaming.

[Steven Rinella]

Sam. Ram. Sam.

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[Steven Rinella]

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