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Kind: captions
Language: en-GB

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Travis Bader: Back in 2022, I
learned about a company in Canada

00:00:12.679 --> 00:00:14.910
called ATI Armament Technologies.

00:00:14.950 --> 00:00:19.309
They make the Rolls Royce of
rifle scopes, absolute top notch,

00:00:19.789 --> 00:00:21.439
highest quality rifle scopes.

00:00:22.140 --> 00:00:23.060
I was intrigued.

00:00:23.570 --> 00:00:24.360
I called them up.

00:00:25.285 --> 00:00:29.615
Flew on over to Nova Scotia and I
met with Trevor public over and we

00:00:29.615 --> 00:00:32.104
recorded Silvercore podcast, episode 90.

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When I first landed in Nova
Scotia, we went over to dinner.

00:00:36.315 --> 00:00:40.915
It was me, Trevor, David, and being in
Nova Scotia, I had to order lobster.

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When I was in the factory for ATI,
the owner, Andy, who is the consummate

00:00:47.365 --> 00:00:49.555
entrepreneur, started off by.

00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:54.160
Building and accurizing Remington
700 actions and rifles for the

00:00:54.160 --> 00:00:58.860
Halifax police department and the
Boston police department Comes over

00:00:58.860 --> 00:01:04.189
he introduces himself Really affable
individual takes Trevor aside.

00:01:04.190 --> 00:01:06.040
They have a quick chat
and he comes on back.

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I said, is everything okay?

00:01:08.800 --> 00:01:13.420
Says oh, yeah, you know Andy
was just saying That lobster

00:01:13.420 --> 00:01:16.300
that you ate last night at that
restaurant, that's not lobster.

00:01:16.630 --> 00:01:18.480
You have to get Travis back.

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Come on back here.

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I want to show him what real lobster is.

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Fast forward a year, I'm
in Nuremberg in Germany.

00:01:26.625 --> 00:01:27.705
Ewha, it's a show.

00:01:27.914 --> 00:01:28.845
Who do I run into?

00:01:28.845 --> 00:01:33.845
But Trevor and David again, and end
up at a restaurant with Andreas.

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He's, uh, owns a company called
Swiss locks and they're a distributor

00:01:37.935 --> 00:01:43.705
for Desert Tech and ATI and, and a
few other firearms related brands.

00:01:43.735 --> 00:01:47.164
And the entire restaurant has been
booked out, had an amazing evening.

00:01:47.164 --> 00:01:50.725
Some interesting stories to share off
of that one, possibly in the future.

00:01:51.335 --> 00:01:53.884
And again, Trevor says,
you gotta come over.

00:01:53.884 --> 00:01:54.985
Andy is serious.

00:01:55.065 --> 00:01:57.575
Come on by, we're gonna
have a lobster feast.

00:01:58.065 --> 00:02:00.325
Well, I decided to take him up on it.

00:02:00.595 --> 00:02:02.624
My wife and I flew over to Nova Scotia.

00:02:03.710 --> 00:02:04.770
Caught the red eye.

00:02:04.809 --> 00:02:06.149
Didn't get any sleep through the night.

00:02:06.160 --> 00:02:09.030
Trevor picks us up in the
morning, tours us around.

00:02:09.030 --> 00:02:10.359
We pick up his wife.

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Whole day checking out the sights.

00:02:12.250 --> 00:02:16.380
Ended up at the Bicycle Thief
restaurant on the coast there.

00:02:16.720 --> 00:02:17.630
Great restaurant.

00:02:17.659 --> 00:02:22.779
And who happens to also be there
but Andreas from Swiss Locks.

00:02:22.839 --> 00:02:23.729
Small world.

00:02:23.899 --> 00:02:25.509
Kind of funny how it all works out.

00:02:26.225 --> 00:02:29.545
Ended up ordering some oysters, that
tray turned into another tray, which

00:02:29.575 --> 00:02:32.655
turned into another tray, until
finally Andreas and his friend had

00:02:32.655 --> 00:02:35.885
to take off to the airport to grab
a plane back home to Switzerland.

00:02:36.195 --> 00:02:41.354
Even though it had been well over 24 hours
and I hadn't slept, I barely noticed.

00:02:41.355 --> 00:02:43.834
The company was too great,
having too good of a time.

00:02:44.490 --> 00:02:50.670
The next day, take off up to Andy's
cottage, small mouth bass fishing, a

00:02:50.670 --> 00:02:54.840
lobster feast that you wouldn't believe
the best lobster I've ever had in my life.

00:02:55.140 --> 00:02:59.819
This was a stellar chance to spend some
time with some extraordinary people, the

00:02:59.879 --> 00:03:02.129
kind that you don't often get to meet.

00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:06.940
ATI left me with a cutting edge
sense of innovation, entrepreneurial

00:03:06.940 --> 00:03:10.620
spirit, and the tight knit sense
of family that they've nurtured.

00:03:10.660 --> 00:03:13.089
From Nova Scotia, I flew over to Toronto.

00:03:13.510 --> 00:03:16.369
This is where I got to go
check out Antler Restaurant.

00:03:16.369 --> 00:03:19.040
I met up with Harrison
from Marathon Watches.

00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:25.130
We had an amazing meal, duck heart
yakitori, bison ribeye, maple brine

00:03:25.140 --> 00:03:30.679
boar, seared foie gras, capped off with
Antler's very own cedar gin cocktails.

00:03:31.150 --> 00:03:37.019
Amazing evening, got a good rest,
met with Michael Hunter the next

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day, and we recorded this podcast.

00:03:39.790 --> 00:03:45.130
I do say this in the podcast, but it does
bear repeating here that I'm extremely

00:03:45.130 --> 00:03:49.729
grateful for my friend, Shani from Stoger,
for helping facilitate and set up the

00:03:49.729 --> 00:03:53.950
meeting with Michael so that we could
actually record this podcast for you guys.

00:03:54.880 --> 00:03:57.199
Now, why do I bring
all of these things up?

00:03:57.550 --> 00:03:59.519
Well, for a very specific reason.

00:03:59.865 --> 00:04:03.565
If you're unable to get yourself to
Toronto to visit the world famous

00:04:03.565 --> 00:04:08.704
Antler Restaurant, well, we're
giving away the Hunter Chef Cookbook.

00:04:09.135 --> 00:04:12.885
Hunt, fish, and forage
in over 100 recipes.

00:04:14.174 --> 00:04:18.424
Stoger, well, if you're a Silvercore Club
member, you'll already know, or should

00:04:18.424 --> 00:04:20.544
already know, you get discounts at Stoger.

00:04:21.625 --> 00:04:24.195
Here we've got a beautiful
Benelli range bag.

00:04:24.530 --> 00:04:25.670
Perfect at the range.

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Perfect in the blind.

00:04:27.440 --> 00:04:29.289
This one is getting given away.

00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:34.419
I can't talk about ATI without bringing
up the fact that, well, here we go.

00:04:34.430 --> 00:04:36.170
Speed, accuracy, integrity.

00:04:36.170 --> 00:04:37.660
The SAI optic here.

00:04:38.080 --> 00:04:40.199
1 6x24mm.

00:04:40.515 --> 00:04:42.755
This guy is also getting given away.

00:04:42.835 --> 00:04:45.665
And yes, I've mentioned
Harrison from marathon watches.

00:04:46.055 --> 00:04:51.224
They've been supplying allied forces with
military grade, Swiss engineered watches.

00:04:51.224 --> 00:04:52.655
It's 1941.

00:04:53.054 --> 00:04:58.164
We've got the red Arctic maple
GSAR watch with a stainless seal

00:04:58.164 --> 00:05:00.265
strap that's also being given away.

00:05:01.169 --> 00:05:02.150
Cap it all off.

00:05:02.200 --> 00:05:06.760
We've got a Silvercore swag package, but
you're going to want to make sure that

00:05:06.760 --> 00:05:11.600
you subscribe to the Silvercore podcast,
that you follow on social media so you

00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:14.549
can see how you can win these items
that I've just talked about for free.

00:05:14.979 --> 00:05:18.469
If you're not a member of the
Silvercore club, I highly recommend

00:05:18.469 --> 00:05:19.819
you consider checking that out.

00:05:20.279 --> 00:05:22.999
Without further ado, let's
get on with the podcast.

00:05:23.570 --> 00:05:27.900
If you're a hunter, a foodie, a
game eat connoisseur, you'll have

00:05:28.159 --> 00:05:30.130
undoubtedly heard of today's guest.

00:05:30.715 --> 00:05:35.505
He shot to meteoric fame, or perhaps
infamy, when he responded to protesting

00:05:35.505 --> 00:05:39.025
vegans outside his immensely popular
Antler restaurant by butchering

00:05:39.025 --> 00:05:40.554
a deer leg in front of them.

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Welcome to the Silvercore
podcast, Michael Hunter.

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Right on, man.

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Thanks for having me.

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Well, this is great.

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Um, food.

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Amazing.

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Ate here last night, had, uh,
Harrison from, uh, Marathon Watches.

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He and I had a meeting here,
actually sat in that table

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right over there in the corner.

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Oh my God.

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It was so good.

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Right on.

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Yeah.

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Um, anybody who hasn't been to
this restaurant, I'd a hundred

00:06:02.960 --> 00:06:04.280
percent recommend coming here.

00:06:04.310 --> 00:06:06.490
It, you know, I was
expecting it to be good.

00:06:06.490 --> 00:06:07.600
I wasn't expecting it to be that good.

00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:08.340
It was amazing.

00:06:08.440 --> 00:06:08.760
Awesome.

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Well, thank you.

00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:10.210
I think we should start out.

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By thanking Shani, Shani from
Stoger who put us in touch here.

00:06:14.500 --> 00:06:15.340
Stoger, Canada.

00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:15.980
Thank you.

00:06:16.420 --> 00:06:17.030
Holy crow.

00:06:17.090 --> 00:06:17.870
Thanks, Shani.

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That's amazing.

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Uh, you've been working with Stoger for

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Michael Hunter: a while now, haven't you?

00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:21.410
I have.

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So I, I rep, um, fronky
shotguns and rifles.

00:06:25.679 --> 00:06:31.034
Um, It's funny how, uh, um, a
Franchi, I think it was an Intensity,

00:06:31.034 --> 00:06:35.155
now they're called Affinity, uh,
was my first semi auto shotgun.

00:06:35.155 --> 00:06:38.844
I, you know, I graduated from a pump
and I wanted to, you know, shoot,

00:06:38.895 --> 00:06:43.745
shoot more, shoot more geese and
ducks, uh, you know, and, and, uh,

00:06:43.745 --> 00:06:46.724
you know, graduated to a semi auto
and I just, I fell in love with it.

00:06:46.735 --> 00:06:49.724
And I think I was 25
and, um, I still have it.

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To this day, it still cycles in minus 30
when I'm goose hunting in a dry field, uh,

00:06:54.354 --> 00:06:57.925
where some of my buddies are, you know,
jamming and not cycling proper properly.

00:06:58.205 --> 00:07:01.815
Um, and, uh, I actually write
wild game recipes for the brand.

00:07:01.815 --> 00:07:03.825
They've got a website called
the fronky food academy.

00:07:03.825 --> 00:07:04.585
That's right.

00:07:04.664 --> 00:07:06.364
And that's sort of how
that connection works.

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Travis Bader: Yeah.

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My, uh, My wife, actually, she's a chef.

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She wrote something for Franchi
there as well, a while ago.

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And I think it was, uh, it was a bear
recipe, but they had to change it a

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little bit because I guess it's just
not as politically correct to be bear.

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So,

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Michael Hunter: well, I think
in Italy they can't, there's

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really nowhere to hunt bear.

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Um, so yeah, for me, I try, I try
to just work with stuff that's.

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That's available to everyone in Europe
because it's not, it's not just for

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North America, it's for Europe as well.

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So, um, yeah, well, while boar is very
popular, um, you know, everything,

00:07:38.975 --> 00:07:43.854
you know, deer, the goats, some of
the sheep, um, you know, small game,

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all that stuff is, is, uh, prevalent
over there that I don't, they

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don't have the means to hunt bear.

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I don't think, yeah, I think
they changed it to a boar

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Travis Bader: recipe,

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Michael Hunter: but
yeah, but it worked too.

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It worked either way.

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Yeah.

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I think they can go to, The closest
they can go, I think it was like

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Siberia or something to shoot a bear.

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We're somewhere in Russia.

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Is that what it is?

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Yeah.

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There's nowhere really kind of
close to home for them, but.

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Travis Bader: So, um, okay.

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First thing, the, the.

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First point that I brought
up in the intro here.

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Congratulations.

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That's amazing.

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By the way, that was, uh, probably
a point of frustration for you, but

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holy crow, what, what a pivot point.

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What do they call it?

00:08:18.105 --> 00:08:19.165
An inflection point.

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Yeah.

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Michael Hunter: Um, yeah, well, you,
you know, you mentioned frustration.

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Um, you know, I was probably
more on the enraged side.

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Um, And that was the product of me
actually having to be here that night.

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You know, they were coming once a
week, they had been coming for three

00:08:36.055 --> 00:08:39.514
months and I would leave cause I knew
that I was going to do something,

00:08:39.565 --> 00:08:43.604
uh, incredibly stupid that was either
going to get me, you know, arrested or

00:08:43.605 --> 00:08:46.444
charged or just, you know, canceled.

00:08:46.875 --> 00:08:50.025
Um, and you know, thankfully I
did something that, uh, you know,

00:08:50.025 --> 00:08:51.645
was the exact opposite of that.

00:08:51.715 --> 00:08:56.255
Uh, but it was, that was just luck I
think, cause I was really, really upset.

00:08:56.255 --> 00:08:57.225
You know, they were taken.

00:08:57.410 --> 00:09:01.000
Photos of my kids that I, you know,
I had a public Facebook account.

00:09:01.510 --> 00:09:02.709
Oh, I didn't know that part.

00:09:02.710 --> 00:09:03.950
You know, my stuff was public.

00:09:03.950 --> 00:09:07.580
So they, at that time anyway, so
they had, you know, taken all, you

00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:10.349
know, family photos and put them
online on their vegan websites.

00:09:10.880 --> 00:09:14.200
So there was death threats and you
know, all kinds of stuff going around,

00:09:14.269 --> 00:09:16.879
um, that made, made me really upset.

00:09:16.880 --> 00:09:22.050
So, um, and I think eventually it led
to some people actually getting charged,

00:09:22.050 --> 00:09:26.130
which, you Shut down the protests,
but, you know, they came once a week

00:09:26.130 --> 00:09:27.790
for 11 months to this restaurant,

00:09:27.870 --> 00:09:28.840
Travis Bader: 11 months,

00:09:29.949 --> 00:09:30.560
Michael Hunter: all because

00:09:30.569 --> 00:09:30.859
Travis Bader: you

00:09:30.949 --> 00:09:34.149
Michael Hunter: had what a sign
that said, venison is the new kid.

00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:36.380
Travis Bader: And that's that one person

00:09:36.380 --> 00:09:36.640
Michael Hunter: off.

00:09:36.670 --> 00:09:38.730
And I, I don't even
remember the exact year.

00:09:38.730 --> 00:09:41.789
It might've been 2017, 2018
when this all happened.

00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:46.730
Um, but you know, kale salads were
on like every menu across the city.

00:09:47.230 --> 00:09:49.889
So it was just, you know, and I,
I didn't even come up with it.

00:09:49.889 --> 00:09:52.460
One of our servers came up with
it as sort of like a fun little

00:09:52.810 --> 00:09:54.420
Play on our chalkboard sign.

00:09:54.420 --> 00:09:55.600
Like, you know, you ate here last night.

00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:56.420
We're 45 seats.

00:09:56.420 --> 00:10:00.020
We're not a big, huge corporate place
where I have one business partner.

00:10:00.020 --> 00:10:01.720
We're a little family,
you know, restaurant.

00:10:02.150 --> 00:10:07.709
Um, and it was just like a, a laugh,
you know, and, and, uh, a vegan cyclist

00:10:07.710 --> 00:10:09.599
rode her bike by and took a picture.

00:10:09.960 --> 00:10:11.180
Grave offense to it.

00:10:11.580 --> 00:10:14.930
And, uh, decided they were
going to try and shut us down.

00:10:15.010 --> 00:10:18.560
And that was literally in their messaging,
you know, we're going to shut this

00:10:18.560 --> 00:10:20.530
restaurant down because they serve meat.

00:10:20.899 --> 00:10:22.160
And it was just bizarre.

00:10:22.189 --> 00:10:25.099
Despite the fact there's a
butcher shop, like cross the

00:10:25.099 --> 00:10:28.029
road, you know, accidentally
called them out in an interview.

00:10:28.030 --> 00:10:29.850
I said, there's a butcher
shop across the street.

00:10:31.350 --> 00:10:32.680
They had to respond to that.

00:10:32.680 --> 00:10:34.320
Unfortunately, I, you know, I apologize.

00:10:34.520 --> 00:10:37.300
I didn't mean to, you know, try
and get them canceled or something.

00:10:37.300 --> 00:10:37.490
Right.

00:10:37.490 --> 00:10:38.769
But they literally have half.

00:10:39.060 --> 00:10:40.839
Sides of beef hanging in their window.

00:10:40.839 --> 00:10:45.050
And it's like, why are you, and they
said, Oh, we're promoting the humane

00:10:45.050 --> 00:10:50.660
meat myth that, you know, raising
animals and, uh, um, you know, outdoor

00:10:50.660 --> 00:10:54.429
environment that are treated properly
is a myth that, uh, you know, cause

00:10:54.430 --> 00:10:58.004
at the end of the day, they don't
want to die and, you know, it's, it's.

00:10:58.295 --> 00:11:02.175
The funny thing was that we actually had,
you know, two vegan items on the menu.

00:11:02.185 --> 00:11:04.205
Like they didn't do their
research about us at all.

00:11:04.505 --> 00:11:08.464
Um, like, cause we treat this like
it's our home and everyone's welcome

00:11:08.465 --> 00:11:11.285
in our home and the guests are like,
you know, they're guests in our home.

00:11:11.285 --> 00:11:17.185
And, um, you know, if you're halal or
kosher or vegan, whatever it is, you

00:11:17.185 --> 00:11:18.775
know, we, we do our best to accommodate.

00:11:18.775 --> 00:11:22.005
And, um, you know, if someone called us
and they, they wanted something halal,

00:11:22.055 --> 00:11:26.390
uh, you know, a lot of the game farms
we use, they use halal, Like they use

00:11:26.390 --> 00:11:28.000
halal or kind of kosher practices.

00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:31.510
Not that there's a rabbi blessing it,
but, um, you know, some of the stuff

00:11:31.510 --> 00:11:33.600
is actually available, halal or kosher.

00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:38.709
So it's, um, it was kind of funny that
they chose us because we welcome everyone.

00:11:38.730 --> 00:11:43.539
And it, um, uh, yeah, so that's,
that's kind of what happened

00:11:43.539 --> 00:11:44.900
after my extreme frustration.

00:11:44.910 --> 00:11:47.640
They chose the wrong person to
pick a fight with, apparently.

00:11:48.194 --> 00:11:51.584
Yeah, you know, my mom, uh, I
guess raised me not to put up

00:11:51.584 --> 00:11:53.444
with other people's, uh, uh, B.

00:11:53.444 --> 00:11:55.204
S., uh, so to speak, so.

00:11:55.235 --> 00:11:59.415
Did you think that, that one little
act would have such a consequence?

00:11:59.415 --> 00:11:59.434
No.

00:11:59.434 --> 00:11:59.925
God, no.

00:11:59.934 --> 00:12:04.064
We were meeting with some sort of
restaurant, uh, potential partners for

00:12:04.064 --> 00:12:08.265
growth and, uh, Um, we were all having
dinner together while this was blowing

00:12:08.265 --> 00:12:11.665
up on our phones and we're like, Oh
my God, I hope they don't see this.

00:12:12.235 --> 00:12:12.725
What is happening?

00:12:13.545 --> 00:12:15.995
Um, because initially it was negative.

00:12:16.075 --> 00:12:18.485
Um, I think it happened on a Thursday.

00:12:18.804 --> 00:12:22.764
We were having this dinner on a Friday
and it was like on the Apple news when

00:12:22.764 --> 00:12:26.245
you kind of look at your phone, uh, it's
just like on the, on the home screen.

00:12:26.245 --> 00:12:31.575
And we were like, Oh, um, And we were
getting absolutely pounded with like one

00:12:31.585 --> 00:12:35.575
star Facebook and Google reviews from
people, you know, from all over the world

00:12:35.575 --> 00:12:38.684
that have never been here, that we're
just vegan, you know, trying to cancel us.

00:12:39.425 --> 00:12:43.184
Um, so, you know, the initial virality
of the whole thing was negative.

00:12:43.344 --> 00:12:47.735
And, uh, you know, I think it wasn't
until Monday that a local, you know,

00:12:47.815 --> 00:12:50.425
online blog magazine got ahold of it.

00:12:50.765 --> 00:12:54.775
Um, and they put it out there, you
know, then the mainstream media got it

00:12:54.775 --> 00:12:57.275
and it flipped, you know, instantly to.

00:12:57.574 --> 00:12:58.375
Positive for us.

00:12:58.375 --> 00:12:59.505
People were supporting us.

00:13:00.075 --> 00:13:03.905
Um, people loved, you know, my
reaction to it, but you know, the

00:13:03.905 --> 00:13:07.105
initial three, four days, you know,
I thought, I thought we were screwed.

00:13:07.495 --> 00:13:08.715
I thought her restaurant was canceled.

00:13:10.125 --> 00:13:11.724
So I feel like we're

00:13:11.725 --> 00:13:13.275
Travis Bader: moving past cancel

00:13:13.295 --> 00:13:13.835
Michael Hunter: culture.

00:13:13.885 --> 00:13:15.174
I don't know what you're feeling is.

00:13:15.174 --> 00:13:16.365
I really hope so.

00:13:16.625 --> 00:13:17.045
Travis Bader: Yeah.

00:13:17.275 --> 00:13:20.815
I just get the sense that people are
starting to wake up and say like, come on.

00:13:21.065 --> 00:13:21.445
Yeah.

00:13:22.364 --> 00:13:26.750
Michael Hunter: Um, You know, especially
because what I, you know, I did was

00:13:26.760 --> 00:13:30.920
within, you know, well within my rights,
it was sort of my, you know, protest back

00:13:30.920 --> 00:13:34.629
and, um, you know, someone said to me once
when I was worried about it at the time,

00:13:34.629 --> 00:13:36.150
you know, the world's run by meat eaters.

00:13:36.150 --> 00:13:38.699
This is not, this is not bad, right?

00:13:39.625 --> 00:13:41.425
Travis Bader: Did you go front
or you just in the window Here?

00:13:41.425 --> 00:13:41.875
Michael Hunter: In the window?

00:13:41.875 --> 00:13:41.995
Yeah.

00:13:41.995 --> 00:13:44.610
I didn't, I I knew that if I went
outside, you know, it, it would be bad.

00:13:44.665 --> 00:13:45.805
It would be very bad man.

00:13:45.805 --> 00:13:46.315
With a knife?

00:13:46.345 --> 00:13:46.855
Yeah.

00:13:46.885 --> 00:13:50.575
Well I, one of the guys that was like,
you know, putting the stuff on my kids

00:13:50.575 --> 00:13:54.295
online was standing on the sidewalk
and I knew that if I got within face to

00:13:54.295 --> 00:13:55.915
face of this man, it was gonna be bad.

00:13:55.915 --> 00:13:57.655
So I stayed inside.

00:13:57.805 --> 00:14:00.415
So you ended up on Rogan's
podcast 'cause of this?

00:14:00.474 --> 00:14:00.594
Yeah.

00:14:00.975 --> 00:14:01.325
Yeah.

00:14:01.345 --> 00:14:04.655
And, uh, you know, I knew who Joe
Rogan was, you know, this was,

00:14:04.695 --> 00:14:06.035
this was when he was still in LA.

00:14:06.405 --> 00:14:11.205
Um, I, you know, I, I didn't think
I even had Spotify or these podcast

00:14:11.245 --> 00:14:12.725
apps on my phone at that point.

00:14:12.735 --> 00:14:16.225
Like I, I didn't even know he had a
podcast, which was the funny thing.

00:14:16.294 --> 00:14:18.415
Um, like he's a guy from news radio.

00:14:18.725 --> 00:14:19.035
Yeah.

00:14:19.035 --> 00:14:22.925
Well, news radio, the UFC, you know,
fear factor, like I knew who he was.

00:14:23.465 --> 00:14:28.285
Um, but I didn't know, you know,
I think it was our podcast.

00:14:28.285 --> 00:14:30.454
The one I was on was 1105, I think.

00:14:30.714 --> 00:14:33.044
So he'd done a thousand
and 100 podcasts already.

00:14:33.045 --> 00:14:37.795
Like, you know, he wasn't like a new
guy, you know, and I just, I, I hadn't,

00:14:37.844 --> 00:14:39.015
I'd never listened to his podcast.

00:14:39.015 --> 00:14:41.644
So I didn't, I didn't know,
you know, how big he was.

00:14:42.094 --> 00:14:46.334
Um, but yeah, you know, that was, that
was, you know, incredible experience.

00:14:46.334 --> 00:14:49.864
He's a, he's a great guy, uh, you know,
a great voice for the hunting community.

00:14:49.864 --> 00:14:53.399
And, um, It was just, you know, it
was awesome to have someone like that

00:14:53.399 --> 00:14:56.899
sort of, you know, in our corner kind
of having our back a little bit, you

00:14:56.899 --> 00:14:58.430
know, and it, uh, it was amazing.

00:14:58.449 --> 00:14:59.739
What was that experience like?

00:15:00.259 --> 00:15:01.019
It was really cool.

00:15:01.029 --> 00:15:05.519
You know, my dad, uh, uh, lived
in Los Angeles, south of Los

00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:06.819
Angeles for about 30 years.

00:15:06.819 --> 00:15:07.519
So it was really great.

00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:11.009
I got to go visit my dad and, um, you
know, went to the studio and hung out

00:15:11.009 --> 00:15:14.819
with him for an afternoon and, um, Yeah,
it was a, it was a, you know, wonderful

00:15:14.819 --> 00:15:18.839
experience again, you know, he's, uh,
he's really great at what he does.

00:15:19.270 --> 00:15:23.360
Um, and I think that was probably
the first podcast I'd ever done.

00:15:23.460 --> 00:15:23.720
Yeah,

00:15:24.430 --> 00:15:28.220
Travis Bader: man, that guy, I like, I
don't really listen to too many podcasts.

00:15:28.220 --> 00:15:34.160
In fact, prior to starting my own podcast,
I was on one and I saw one live and, uh,

00:15:34.280 --> 00:15:36.560
the live one was a meat eater podcast.

00:15:36.560 --> 00:15:39.579
And at that time I'd never even heard
of meat eater and my wife got me

00:15:39.579 --> 00:15:43.500
this present of a go get to see this
live, go down to Seattle and cool.

00:15:43.819 --> 00:15:47.230
Well, I was like, I don't know
who this meat eater company is.

00:15:47.270 --> 00:15:48.840
I don't know who this
Steve Rinella guy is.

00:15:48.870 --> 00:15:50.950
And I'd almost in a podcast,
like, yeah, what is this?

00:15:51.779 --> 00:15:52.490
Thank you.

00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:55.460
But, um, but it was pretty cool.

00:15:55.460 --> 00:15:57.679
It was neat to get to meet
the guys and girls there.

00:15:57.680 --> 00:16:00.020
And she became friends with a few of them.

00:16:00.020 --> 00:16:03.870
Um, was asked to be on a podcast.

00:16:03.880 --> 00:16:07.319
Guy comes down, crack a couple
of beers, hooks in his recorder.

00:16:07.319 --> 00:16:09.020
I Well, this is kind of fun, actually.

00:16:09.020 --> 00:16:10.400
You just get to sit here and talk.

00:16:10.439 --> 00:16:11.449
This is amazing.

00:16:11.449 --> 00:16:13.430
So yeah, I'm kind of like you.

00:16:13.430 --> 00:16:14.129
I, I.

00:16:14.500 --> 00:16:17.300
I haven't actually heard too many
of Rogan's podcasts, but I did

00:16:17.300 --> 00:16:18.500
listen to the one that you were on.

00:16:18.520 --> 00:16:20.720
Cause of course I wanted to
hear what you had to say.

00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:24.369
And I think for the first, like the
majority of it, it was basically

00:16:24.370 --> 00:16:30.139
Joe talking and I'm like, did this
guy, like, I don't know, did this

00:16:30.139 --> 00:16:32.830
guy just like read an encyclopedia
before sitting down with you?

00:16:32.959 --> 00:16:36.470
He's pulling out dates and figures
and facts about hunting and it was.

00:16:37.050 --> 00:16:38.270
Michael Hunter: He's
extremely intelligent.

00:16:38.319 --> 00:16:42.650
Um, you know, he's got, I love the fact
that he's got experts from all different

00:16:42.650 --> 00:16:47.339
fields, you know, all walks of life,
um, you know, all political spectrums,

00:16:47.410 --> 00:16:52.039
you know, it's, uh, it's, it's really
neat listening to someone that, you

00:16:52.040 --> 00:16:55.520
know, doesn't have an agenda of his
own, you know, kind of going forth.

00:16:55.849 --> 00:16:59.830
Um, you know, the, the funny thing
with, with the vegan scenario, it just

00:16:59.830 --> 00:17:00.920
happened to kind of, he was, yeah.

00:17:01.470 --> 00:17:04.520
He had done a lot of vegan
bits on his new special.

00:17:04.530 --> 00:17:08.270
So it was kind of, you know, just
at that time when, uh, you know,

00:17:08.270 --> 00:17:11.350
the vegan cat thing was blowing up
on the internet and going viral.

00:17:11.350 --> 00:17:15.799
And I guess he, he had a lot of vegan
stuff material worked into his, uh,

00:17:15.819 --> 00:17:19.810
his show that he was, he was currently
either working on or I can't remember

00:17:19.810 --> 00:17:23.370
if he was already touring with it or
not, but, um, there was a big, Big kind

00:17:23.370 --> 00:17:25.370
of vegan bit in his, uh, in his act.

00:17:25.370 --> 00:17:28.830
So it, I kinda, I think it just fit
perfectly into, you know, what he was

00:17:29.100 --> 00:17:32.160
kind of thinking about and talking about
and, you know, making jokes about anyway.

00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:35.080
So, so what happened after that podcast?

00:17:36.260 --> 00:17:41.510
Um, you know, I, he found us
because it had already gone viral.

00:17:41.580 --> 00:17:45.839
Like every single news outlet
in Canada and the United States.

00:17:46.374 --> 00:17:49.274
Uh, had, had done a piece on it.

00:17:49.274 --> 00:17:52.554
You know, we did, we didn't
know what we were doing.

00:17:52.614 --> 00:17:57.604
Um, so we hired, we, we spoke to a person
in PR, um, that had actually specialized

00:17:57.604 --> 00:17:59.074
working for the government in crisis.

00:17:59.094 --> 00:18:01.314
PR had just happened
to be a friend of mine.

00:18:01.975 --> 00:18:03.514
So she kind of gave us some coaching.

00:18:03.974 --> 00:18:07.784
Um, we did one interview with a,
you know, big national magnet,

00:18:07.784 --> 00:18:09.704
the global mail, um, here.

00:18:09.784 --> 00:18:10.804
And she's like, that's it.

00:18:10.824 --> 00:18:11.995
Don't give any more interviews.

00:18:12.054 --> 00:18:12.995
That's the interview.

00:18:12.995 --> 00:18:13.995
That's the statement.

00:18:14.384 --> 00:18:15.414
Uh, every other.

00:18:20.139 --> 00:18:24.149
What happens is when you talk to, you
know, 10 different, you know, people

00:18:24.149 --> 00:18:27.740
or magazine outlets, whatever it is,
you know, it's like telephone tag.

00:18:27.780 --> 00:18:29.350
Your story will change a little bit.

00:18:29.360 --> 00:18:30.510
They get more views from you.

00:18:30.510 --> 00:18:32.859
They get so not by views.

00:18:32.860 --> 00:18:35.196
I mean like your opinions and you don't
want to like, I mean, you don't want

00:18:35.196 --> 00:18:37.350
to You know, I wanted to be respectful.

00:18:37.350 --> 00:18:39.090
I wanted to be educated.

00:18:39.210 --> 00:18:43.500
I, you know, so I, I just, we kept
it at one statement and it blew up

00:18:43.510 --> 00:18:47.389
like, you know, people magazine, the
Washington posts, uh, you know, Fox

00:18:47.389 --> 00:18:48.909
news, like it would just, it blew up.

00:18:48.909 --> 00:18:51.880
So, you know, it was already viral.

00:18:51.939 --> 00:18:55.300
Um, the real crazy part is
that it was all over the world.

00:18:55.470 --> 00:18:59.270
People were like, I've because of
cooking and traveling for events and

00:18:59.270 --> 00:19:00.600
stuff, I've worked all over the world.

00:19:00.950 --> 00:19:06.385
Um, Friends were sending me articles
from Russia, England, France, uh,

00:19:06.435 --> 00:19:11.204
Italy, Singapore, uh, Australia, New
Zealand, Africa, like, everywhere.

00:19:11.490 --> 00:19:13.530
It was in absolutely insane.

00:19:13.590 --> 00:19:16.950
And you know, you see these things
go viral, but when it happens

00:19:16.950 --> 00:19:18.270
to you, it's very different.

00:19:18.930 --> 00:19:24.660
. Um, you know, um, you know, it's, it's
a blessing that it was a positive thing.

00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:28.740
Um, but yeah, when, when people blow
up and go viral, like, uh, you know,

00:19:28.740 --> 00:19:30.030
I really feel for them sometimes.

00:19:30.030 --> 00:19:31.620
'cause it's not something
that you plan for.

00:19:31.620 --> 00:19:33.450
It's not necessarily
something that you want.

00:19:33.959 --> 00:19:35.879
Um, you know, and I.

00:19:36.340 --> 00:19:40.180
I want to be recognized for our positive
qualities at the restaurant and whatever.

00:19:40.180 --> 00:19:42.970
And I'm glad that it had a positive
spin, but you know, I'm forever going

00:19:42.970 --> 00:19:46.320
to be the guy that butchered a deer in
front of vegans in the window, you know?

00:19:46.320 --> 00:19:52.560
And, um, uh, yeah, so I don't, you know,
there's no ill will towards vegans.

00:19:52.560 --> 00:19:53.859
They're still welcome at the restaurant.

00:19:53.859 --> 00:19:57.920
We still, you know, it's, um,
but yeah, it's, uh, it was, it

00:19:57.920 --> 00:19:59.380
was a crazy experience, but.

00:19:59.904 --> 00:20:04.135
You know, being on the Rogan podcast,
again, it just sort of aided to that

00:20:04.245 --> 00:20:09.915
virality and we get so many, um, uh,
travelers from the States and all over

00:20:09.915 --> 00:20:11.085
the world that, Oh, we heard you on Rogan.

00:20:11.085 --> 00:20:11.724
We came for dinner.

00:20:11.724 --> 00:20:12.715
So you're still getting that.

00:20:12.754 --> 00:20:12.795
Yeah.

00:20:12.795 --> 00:20:13.764
Yeah.

00:20:13.764 --> 00:20:16.784
It's at the time people were
like driving from the States.

00:20:16.784 --> 00:20:18.155
So someone drove from Washington.

00:20:18.155 --> 00:20:20.335
Someone drove, I forget
where people drove here.

00:20:20.335 --> 00:20:21.254
Cause I heard us on Rogan.

00:20:21.254 --> 00:20:22.105
It was bizarre.

00:20:22.205 --> 00:20:22.455
Yeah.

00:20:22.495 --> 00:20:22.774
Wow.

00:20:22.815 --> 00:20:23.345
Really, really cool.

00:20:23.760 --> 00:20:24.760
Well, it's good for business.

00:20:25.180 --> 00:20:26.380
It was amazing for business.

00:20:26.460 --> 00:20:31.240
Um, you know, our, our business doubled
overnight at the time, which, uh,

00:20:31.310 --> 00:20:33.000
created its own set of challenges.

00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:34.500
You know, we had to hire new staff.

00:20:34.530 --> 00:20:37.439
The staff that were here got extremely
burnt out and tired and stressed.

00:20:38.499 --> 00:20:44.170
Um, Uh, our suppliers, like we buy from
little family farms and small suppliers.

00:20:44.180 --> 00:20:47.210
So, you know, they couldn't
necessarily keep up with the demand.

00:20:47.670 --> 00:20:49.610
Um, so yeah, it had a
whole slew of challenges.

00:20:49.610 --> 00:20:53.730
We had to hire security, um, on the
nights that they were here, we had to

00:20:53.730 --> 00:20:56.690
work with the police to make sure that,
you know, everyone was keeping the peace,

00:20:56.730 --> 00:21:00.210
you know, our supporters and the vegan
supporters, because they were clashing,

00:21:00.210 --> 00:21:03.810
there were hundreds of people on the
street at times, so they were clashing.

00:21:03.810 --> 00:21:05.370
It was, um, yeah, it was tough.

00:21:05.370 --> 00:21:06.500
It's not something that you, uh.

00:21:07.169 --> 00:21:12.649
You plan for, it's not something
you, uh, understand, um, you know,

00:21:12.649 --> 00:21:15.570
as a business owner, you don't even
know how to manage it at the time.

00:21:15.600 --> 00:21:18.129
So, and it has that calmed down

00:21:18.129 --> 00:21:18.499
Travis Bader: a bit now.

00:21:18.499 --> 00:21:18.849
Michael Hunter: Totally.

00:21:18.850 --> 00:21:19.059
Yeah.

00:21:19.059 --> 00:21:20.090
It's, that's, it's like,

00:21:22.305 --> 00:21:24.605
Travis Bader: So what do you have to do
next to get the, uh, the line up at the

00:21:24.605 --> 00:21:26.205
door, get the, uh, people driving from

00:21:26.205 --> 00:21:26.745
Michael Hunter: Washington.

00:21:26.875 --> 00:21:27.185
Yeah.

00:21:27.585 --> 00:21:32.024
You know, I think because after that COVID
happened and so all travel shut down,

00:21:32.035 --> 00:21:35.745
business travel, you know, has extremely
slowed down interest rates, the economy.

00:21:36.084 --> 00:21:38.425
Um, you know, there's new
challenges right now to face.

00:21:38.524 --> 00:21:43.825
Um, but you know, because of all that,
you know, we are so well known and, um,

00:21:43.975 --> 00:21:46.375
you know, it definitely, definitely,
it was a blessing in disguise.

00:21:46.475 --> 00:21:49.605
How long was your business
around before COVID hit?

00:21:50.320 --> 00:21:55.519
Um, we had been here for, I
think, two or three years and

00:21:55.600 --> 00:21:56.880
you're able to survive COVID.

00:21:56.980 --> 00:21:57.810
We were able to survive COVID.

00:21:57.810 --> 00:21:58.020
Yeah.

00:21:58.020 --> 00:22:01.349
And we had a, we had a really great
community around us that were supportive.

00:22:01.360 --> 00:22:04.440
We, you know, we were doing
takeout stuff, meal kits, uh,

00:22:04.470 --> 00:22:06.849
online cooking stuff with brands.

00:22:06.859 --> 00:22:09.960
You know, we did a dinner series
with Amex that was all online and

00:22:09.960 --> 00:22:13.970
we sent Like recipe kits to people's
homes and did like a cooking class.

00:22:13.970 --> 00:22:16.790
And, um, yeah, we had a really,
really great community in

00:22:16.790 --> 00:22:18.270
the city that supported us.

00:22:18.760 --> 00:22:18.980
So

00:22:18.980 --> 00:22:21.919
Travis Bader: I'm from BC
and in BC, we have off sales.

00:22:21.930 --> 00:22:25.210
I've had that for quite some time, uh,
where people can come in, they can buy

00:22:25.210 --> 00:22:27.600
alcohol from a restaurant, pub, whatever.

00:22:27.600 --> 00:22:28.020
And then, yeah.

00:22:28.230 --> 00:22:28.860
Go home with it.

00:22:28.860 --> 00:22:34.000
But I understand here, it's only been
around for four years because of COVID.

00:22:34.389 --> 00:22:34.770
Okay.

00:22:34.780 --> 00:22:37.280
It was because of COVID and nothing
to do with any of your input or

00:22:37.280 --> 00:22:37.449
Michael Hunter: what?

00:22:37.469 --> 00:22:38.310
No, not at all.

00:22:38.310 --> 00:22:42.070
Like we, that was one of the, they
changed that law almost immediately

00:22:42.070 --> 00:22:45.310
so that restaurants could sell,
you know, basically dead stock

00:22:45.310 --> 00:22:48.320
that, you know, if you had, you had
bottles of beer, you could sell it.

00:22:48.330 --> 00:22:50.970
If you had wine unopened from
your cellar, you could sell it.

00:22:51.399 --> 00:22:54.870
Um, so they, they actually changed
that law to help kind of support us.

00:22:55.250 --> 00:22:59.725
Um, Um, so yeah, that was one of the ways
that, you know, we stayed in business.

00:22:59.764 --> 00:22:59.905
Yeah.

00:22:59.905 --> 00:22:59.975
I

00:22:59.975 --> 00:23:02.135
Travis Bader: read a rumor somewhere
that, uh, you may have had a bit

00:23:02.135 --> 00:23:04.014
of a hand in, uh, complaining.

00:23:04.024 --> 00:23:05.344
No, well, yeah, we,

00:23:05.925 --> 00:23:08.644
Michael Hunter: I actually got, I took
the blame for it, but my business partner

00:23:08.645 --> 00:23:10.074
actually wrote and sent the letter.

00:23:10.554 --> 00:23:14.374
Um, they, they kept toying, well, I don't
know if toying with us is the right word,

00:23:14.374 --> 00:23:19.835
but, um, You know, Ontario was one of the
worst provinces to be in during COVID.

00:23:19.835 --> 00:23:23.775
They shut us down for the longest,
uh, and they kept trying to reopen

00:23:23.775 --> 00:23:26.555
and then they'd, they'd open and
then it would get so bad, you

00:23:26.555 --> 00:23:27.734
know, it would get out of control.

00:23:27.734 --> 00:23:30.484
So they'd shut us down and it was
this like open, close, open, close.

00:23:30.484 --> 00:23:33.365
And they had said that we
could open, it was springtime.

00:23:33.415 --> 00:23:35.764
You know, we could open our
patios or whatever it was.

00:23:36.185 --> 00:23:38.675
Um, so we ordered in all
this food, all this beer.

00:23:38.715 --> 00:23:42.185
I think we opened, you know, had
a keg tapped and then after the

00:23:42.185 --> 00:23:44.395
weekend, they shut us down or it
was like, you know, they opened

00:23:44.395 --> 00:23:45.724
for two days and then shut us down.

00:23:45.724 --> 00:23:49.194
So my business partner wrote a
strongly worded email, uh, or

00:23:49.195 --> 00:23:50.575
letter to the Ford government.

00:23:50.784 --> 00:23:53.835
And then he also sent it to,
uh, forget which newspaper, but

00:23:54.205 --> 00:23:55.365
so the newspaper published it.

00:23:55.365 --> 00:23:59.415
And basically my business partner
sent the government, um, An

00:23:59.425 --> 00:24:01.235
invoice for our keg or something.

00:24:01.235 --> 00:24:03.715
It was like trivial, trivial.

00:24:03.715 --> 00:24:03.915
Right.

00:24:03.915 --> 00:24:07.884
But it was, uh, you know, there was some
sort of comic relief behind it, but,

00:24:08.195 --> 00:24:12.234
um, so that was published and, uh, but
yeah, that didn't have anything to do

00:24:12.245 --> 00:24:14.924
with the, the law is changing, but that
was just a, Hey, you know, you told us

00:24:14.924 --> 00:24:18.554
we could open, you know, the stuff has
a shelf life, you know, now we can't

00:24:18.564 --> 00:24:20.035
sell it, we're closed for another month.

00:24:20.485 --> 00:24:21.784
Um, did you get paid back?

00:24:21.825 --> 00:24:22.175
Travis Bader: No,

00:24:22.254 --> 00:24:26.715
Michael Hunter: they ignored our email
letter, whatever it was, but, uh,

00:24:27.004 --> 00:24:30.415
yeah, that was, That was another thing
that kind of got us some publicity.

00:24:30.495 --> 00:24:33.455
Um, but we did, we did some other
stuff, you know, we were, we set up a

00:24:33.465 --> 00:24:35.865
go fund me for, um, healthcare workers.

00:24:35.905 --> 00:24:39.785
We did a, we did, um, some meals
for, uh, nurses and doctors and

00:24:39.785 --> 00:24:42.034
things like that, that we took
to the hospital and delivered.

00:24:42.545 --> 00:24:44.804
Um, and it was again, just
to get rid of our stock.

00:24:44.805 --> 00:24:47.965
Like we had fridges full of food that,
you know, we didn't want to go to waste.

00:24:48.325 --> 00:24:49.825
Um, you know, food banks.

00:24:49.999 --> 00:24:54.360
Um, you know, can only take certain things
or so much, they don't take prepared food.

00:24:54.360 --> 00:24:58.249
So, um, yeah, it was a really great way
to, um, you know, sort of raise money

00:24:58.530 --> 00:25:02.489
to pay for the food, but also, um, you
know, feed the frontline workers that

00:25:02.489 --> 00:25:04.149
were, uh, you know, working so hard.

00:25:04.649 --> 00:25:05.849
Travis Bader: Now you work
with a number of different

00:25:05.849 --> 00:25:07.039
companies right now, don't you?

00:25:07.179 --> 00:25:08.510
I think Mossy Oak is one of them.

00:25:08.530 --> 00:25:09.110
On the hunting

00:25:09.110 --> 00:25:09.350
Michael Hunter: side.

00:25:09.350 --> 00:25:09.600
Yeah.

00:25:09.600 --> 00:25:15.485
So I, you know, My love of food
and, and wild food, um, you know,

00:25:15.485 --> 00:25:16.874
inspired me to write a cookbook.

00:25:18.155 --> 00:25:21.125
You know, I think it started 15 years ago.

00:25:21.195 --> 00:25:26.944
Um, I had, uh, I was working at an Italian
restaurant called Scarpetta at the time.

00:25:27.374 --> 00:25:31.044
Um, the head chef there was a big,
famous chef from the States and he had

00:25:31.044 --> 00:25:34.875
just opened a restaurant in Toronto
and he handed me his cookbook and, um,

00:25:34.925 --> 00:25:38.665
you know, to me, You know, Scott was
just a regular guy, you know, and I

00:25:38.665 --> 00:25:41.955
kind of was like, if this guy can write
a cookbook, I can write a cookbook.

00:25:41.955 --> 00:25:47.185
And, um, you know, I, I grew up,
um, fox hunting with hounds, but it

00:25:47.195 --> 00:25:50.735
wasn't really for food and I didn't
start hunting for food until I was 18.

00:25:51.315 --> 00:25:54.545
Um, but I, you know, the more time I
spend outside, the less time I want

00:25:54.545 --> 00:25:56.405
to spend in the kitchen at work.

00:25:56.505 --> 00:25:59.919
And, um, I was just obsessed with,
you know, foraging and cooking.

00:26:00.250 --> 00:26:03.520
I was even gardening and, and,
uh, I was obsessed with hunting

00:26:03.600 --> 00:26:05.669
and, um, it was new for me.

00:26:05.669 --> 00:26:08.220
So all my friends and family,
you know, it was new for them.

00:26:08.600 --> 00:26:11.750
They wanted me to either take them
or teach them or show them what, you

00:26:11.750 --> 00:26:12.870
know, basically what I was learning.

00:26:12.870 --> 00:26:16.880
And I just got this idea, like, I want to
write a book about what I'm doing because

00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:18.250
there's so many people interested in it.

00:26:18.250 --> 00:26:18.819
So.

00:26:19.100 --> 00:26:20.680
That's sort of how the book came to be.

00:26:20.800 --> 00:26:21.940
Travis Bader: How has the
book been doing for you?

00:26:22.530 --> 00:26:23.070
Michael Hunter: Book's great.

00:26:23.090 --> 00:26:27.750
You know, it's, um, it was, it launched
during COVID, um, but it was, it was

00:26:27.750 --> 00:26:31.279
a great time to have a product that
was shelf stable that we could sell

00:26:31.280 --> 00:26:35.660
to, you know, support ourselves, um,
and, you know, really well received,

00:26:35.750 --> 00:26:39.340
you know, by the, by the public, um,
you know, I think it's approachable,

00:26:39.400 --> 00:26:43.135
um, You know, to the home cook as
well as, you know, professional chefs.

00:26:43.635 --> 00:26:46.365
Um, you know, the recipes aren't, you
know, too challenging or difficult.

00:26:46.365 --> 00:26:49.965
And, you know, a lot of the stuff, uh,
there's a little foraging guides that

00:26:50.195 --> 00:26:53.295
some of the stuff, mushrooms and whatever
you can find in the city, which is funny.

00:26:53.874 --> 00:26:58.154
Um, um, but yeah, so that's, I think it's,
uh, you know, approachable for, you know,

00:26:58.154 --> 00:27:01.325
people that are, you know, want to learn
about hunting and foraging and fishing.

00:27:01.785 --> 00:27:06.265
Um, but it also appeals to, you
know, uh, home cooks and chefs.

00:27:06.585 --> 00:27:07.145
It's amazing

00:27:07.145 --> 00:27:07.795
Travis Bader: what you can find

00:27:07.795 --> 00:27:08.055
Michael Hunter: growing

00:27:08.065 --> 00:27:09.455
Travis Bader: out of the sidewalk
that you can actually eat.

00:27:09.465 --> 00:27:10.365
Yeah, it's bizarre, right?

00:27:11.245 --> 00:27:13.260
I'd be careful in the
city, but Perhaps, yeah.

00:27:13.260 --> 00:27:17.245
Yeah, I did a little hike around here
for a few miles this morning and just

00:27:17.395 --> 00:27:21.394
kind of establishing a baseline and,
uh, looking at the little gardens

00:27:21.394 --> 00:27:24.484
that people have, impromptu gardens,
people in the little back alleys have

00:27:24.484 --> 00:27:26.325
set up and, uh, it's pretty cool.

00:27:26.335 --> 00:27:27.165
Michael Hunter: Yeah, it's neat.

00:27:27.165 --> 00:27:31.090
You know, there, there's lots of, uh,
Of city parks where there'll be huge

00:27:31.110 --> 00:27:34.900
mushrooms growing on trees that are
edible and, um, you know, wild herbs

00:27:34.900 --> 00:27:36.520
growing down by the riverbanks and stuff.

00:27:36.520 --> 00:27:37.870
It's, uh, it's pretty neat.

00:27:37.930 --> 00:27:41.870
It's fun to, uh, you know, explore and,
and see what's around that you can eat.

00:27:42.210 --> 00:27:42.880
So

00:27:43.465 --> 00:27:47.375
Travis Bader: How do you find
navigating the, the social media

00:27:47.375 --> 00:27:49.005
side of things, the marketing side?

00:27:49.005 --> 00:27:51.715
Cause you're working with hunting
companies, you're working with firearms

00:27:51.715 --> 00:27:56.914
companies and, and Meta, which owns
Instagram and Facebook, uh, their

00:27:56.915 --> 00:28:00.084
AI bots and their, everyone else.

00:28:00.875 --> 00:28:03.045
But on top of that, you're going
to have all these eyes on you.

00:28:03.045 --> 00:28:03.505
The, yeah.

00:28:03.700 --> 00:28:06.639
Perhaps other vegans who are
constantly reporting your posts.

00:28:06.649 --> 00:28:07.020
Michael Hunter: Yeah.

00:28:07.300 --> 00:28:07.570
Yeah.

00:28:07.570 --> 00:28:09.100
I'm definitely feeling that right now.

00:28:09.110 --> 00:28:12.699
You know, it never was an issue for me
because I found that it's, you know,

00:28:12.699 --> 00:28:17.409
when you talk to people about hunting
from the food side of it, um, it really

00:28:17.819 --> 00:28:21.059
piques their interest when they're
not, when they're non hunters, um, you

00:28:21.059 --> 00:28:26.125
know, people that don't hunt and aren't
firearm shooters, um, You know, they

00:28:26.125 --> 00:28:28.495
just think, Oh, we just want to kill
stuff and put the head on the wall.

00:28:28.495 --> 00:28:31.875
And it's, you know, for many
hunters, it's so far from the truth.

00:28:32.435 --> 00:28:34.714
So I, you know, I didn't
have any issues with it.

00:28:34.754 --> 00:28:39.424
Um, you know, I think now that Meta is
using AI technology to flag posts, I'm

00:28:39.424 --> 00:28:44.985
going through the ringer, um, you know,
Turkey calls optics, you know, things

00:28:44.985 --> 00:28:46.825
are getting flagged as dangerous weapons.

00:28:46.825 --> 00:28:50.784
And it's like, these are legal tools
that I'm using, uh, you know, like

00:28:50.784 --> 00:28:53.905
sports shooting and clay shooting and
all these things are Olympic sports.

00:28:54.225 --> 00:28:56.424
Um, you know, why am I
being flagged for this?

00:28:56.425 --> 00:28:59.314
But, you know, it's at the end
of the day, it's their private

00:28:59.314 --> 00:29:00.555
company, they can do what they want.

00:29:00.555 --> 00:29:04.685
And, you know, we all sign up and, you
know, I agree to the terms and conditions.

00:29:04.685 --> 00:29:07.685
So, you know, it's, it's frustrating
at the end of the day, but.

00:29:07.885 --> 00:29:11.345
Um, you know, there's not, there's
not much we can do about it.

00:29:11.345 --> 00:29:14.405
And I'm just, I'm exploring
sort of other platforms and, and

00:29:14.405 --> 00:29:15.635
trying to focus on the cooking.

00:29:16.190 --> 00:29:18.130
Travis Bader: Yeah, I guess that's
where the question is kind of going.

00:29:18.130 --> 00:29:21.260
Like for me, if I'm taking a
picture, it's got a firearm in it.

00:29:21.260 --> 00:29:25.000
I'm now very conscious about, maybe
it's just a part of the receiver, right?

00:29:25.130 --> 00:29:27.710
And you can kind of see a bit of the
trigger and people who know can put

00:29:27.710 --> 00:29:29.360
it together, but hopefully AI isn't.

00:29:29.380 --> 00:29:29.660
No,

00:29:29.660 --> 00:29:30.230
Michael Hunter: mine's been flagged.

00:29:30.230 --> 00:29:33.189
I had a turkey call and it's
the same thing, the receiver of

00:29:33.189 --> 00:29:34.559
a shotgun and it's got flagged.

00:29:35.050 --> 00:29:35.300
Really?

00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:39.730
I had a shotgun shell in a, in an
open receiver, uh, that got flagged.

00:29:39.900 --> 00:29:40.710
Like, it's just.

00:29:41.660 --> 00:29:42.180
Travis Bader: Just crazy.

00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:42.820
So

00:29:43.040 --> 00:29:45.690
Michael Hunter: I've tried appealing
it and it's not, I've appealed it

00:29:45.690 --> 00:29:49.320
and overcame some stuff before, but
this one's seeming to, it's sticking.

00:29:49.370 --> 00:29:50.550
So would you just pull it down then?

00:29:51.000 --> 00:29:51.900
I've just left it up.

00:29:51.929 --> 00:29:56.110
It just, you know, like says my accounts
not being shown to non followers.

00:29:56.110 --> 00:29:57.020
Like it's okay.

00:29:57.099 --> 00:29:59.710
Like, They're not going to, they're not
threatening to take my account down.

00:29:59.710 --> 00:30:03.250
So we'll see, but yeah, it's frustrating,
you know, especially when I'm, I'm

00:30:03.260 --> 00:30:07.049
trying to grow a business and, uh, I'm
passionate about, you know, sharing

00:30:07.049 --> 00:30:08.780
wild food and recipes with people.

00:30:08.780 --> 00:30:13.010
It's, it's, uh, you know, it's
frustrating, but what other avenues

00:30:13.010 --> 00:30:18.075
are you looking at, um, I might start
focusing more on kind of YouTube

00:30:18.125 --> 00:30:20.435
and just the cooking side of things.

00:30:20.515 --> 00:30:24.285
Um, you know, I haven't
really monetized my YouTube.

00:30:24.285 --> 00:30:27.755
I don't, uh, I haven't really
focused on putting content on there.

00:30:27.755 --> 00:30:31.765
So, um, I might start, yeah,
looking at, looking at doing that.

00:30:31.765 --> 00:30:34.905
I've, I've, I've developed a
page and sort of a little COVID

00:30:34.945 --> 00:30:36.545
project was just to get a page up.

00:30:36.995 --> 00:30:39.995
Um, and I've just, I've got some
long for a couple of long format

00:30:39.995 --> 00:30:41.365
videos, but most of them are shorts.

00:30:41.765 --> 00:30:43.675
Um, but yeah, I might
start focusing on that.

00:30:43.855 --> 00:30:45.675
Uh, Tik Tok is even more strict than meta.

00:30:45.675 --> 00:30:51.525
So I know the Tik Tok is just food,
but, but, you know, like if it's, it's

00:30:51.525 --> 00:30:54.644
a private company, let's, and it's
their terms and conditions, you know,

00:30:54.644 --> 00:30:55.504
what are, what are we going to do?

00:30:55.595 --> 00:30:59.004
Yeah, we need, uh, someone in the
hunting community to start a platform.

00:30:59.125 --> 00:30:59.434
Yeah.

00:30:59.434 --> 00:31:00.434
And then actually take

00:31:00.434 --> 00:31:00.754
Travis Bader: off,

00:31:00.755 --> 00:31:06.285
Michael Hunter: you know, maybe Twitter's
the answer, uh, you know, Musk and his

00:31:06.295 --> 00:31:07.485
free speech, you know, I don't know.

00:31:07.920 --> 00:31:08.530
Travis Bader: Interesting.

00:31:08.590 --> 00:31:08.800
Michael Hunter: Yeah.

00:31:08.800 --> 00:31:08.960
I'm

00:31:08.960 --> 00:31:11.740
Travis Bader: always curious
about that just because I'm in a

00:31:11.750 --> 00:31:14.520
similar type of business other than
the, uh, the cooking part of it.

00:31:14.560 --> 00:31:14.780
Yeah.

00:31:15.580 --> 00:31:18.069
Uh, hunting outdoors,
firearms and all the rest.

00:31:18.070 --> 00:31:21.209
And I've, I've, I think
the, uh, the newsletter is a

00:31:21.210 --> 00:31:23.369
pretty, uh, uh, valuable tool.

00:31:23.450 --> 00:31:23.750
Okay.

00:31:23.999 --> 00:31:27.142
That's something that I've come to
learn because, um, you know, Meta can't,

00:31:27.142 --> 00:31:29.785
can't Uh, but controls around that.

00:31:29.965 --> 00:31:34.655
So utilizing meta to grow a
newsletter list by providing free

00:31:34.655 --> 00:31:36.425
assets or whatever it might be.

00:31:36.925 --> 00:31:38.325
I'm terrible at monetizing things.

00:31:38.325 --> 00:31:42.055
I tend to give it all away for
free, but it's one of these things.

00:31:42.925 --> 00:31:44.234
That's something I've been exploring.

00:31:44.735 --> 00:31:46.925
But you just got back from a bit
of a road trip too, didn't you?

00:31:47.075 --> 00:31:47.505
Michael Hunter: I did.

00:31:47.505 --> 00:31:47.795
Yeah.

00:31:47.795 --> 00:31:51.485
I, uh, I drove to West Point,
Mississippi, the, uh, the home of Mossy

00:31:51.485 --> 00:31:56.065
Oak, um, where, uh, I've, I've, uh,
I've got some dear friends down there.

00:31:56.144 --> 00:31:59.785
Um, That, uh, I went and
picked up a black lab puppy.

00:32:00.965 --> 00:32:03.005
And this is your first
puppy in a long time?

00:32:03.185 --> 00:32:04.355
My first puppy in a long time.

00:32:04.365 --> 00:32:08.294
Like, uh, I mentioned, I grew up
with, uh, hounds and fox hunting dogs.

00:32:08.335 --> 00:32:10.965
Um, fox hounds, as they're called.

00:32:10.965 --> 00:32:13.254
But, um, and I had German
shepherds growing up.

00:32:13.555 --> 00:32:17.255
Um, you know, recently in the last decade,
my mom's had a couple of lurchers, which

00:32:17.255 --> 00:32:20.425
are like, uh, uh, greyhound crosses.

00:32:20.495 --> 00:32:21.005
Travis Bader: Okay.

00:32:21.085 --> 00:32:23.615
Michael Hunter: Um, but yeah, it's been
a long time since I've had a puppy.

00:32:23.615 --> 00:32:26.584
So it's a definitely a
eyeopening experience.

00:32:26.585 --> 00:32:28.164
Did you get much sleep last night?

00:32:28.485 --> 00:32:30.035
Last night I did, the night before, no.

00:32:30.265 --> 00:32:35.045
So, uh, last night was, uh, I
think he slept from 1030 to 530.

00:32:35.075 --> 00:32:36.225
So that was, it was great.

00:32:36.615 --> 00:32:37.015
It's like

00:32:37.015 --> 00:32:38.025
Travis Bader: having a newborn, isn't it?

00:32:38.065 --> 00:32:38.355
Yeah.

00:32:38.385 --> 00:32:41.285
I completely, so got a
puppy a couple of years ago.

00:32:41.285 --> 00:32:45.615
I was out, um, there's, um,
a place I was voted into.

00:32:45.615 --> 00:32:49.965
They've only got eight members and
you either have to leave or pass away.

00:32:49.965 --> 00:32:53.115
And unfortunately somebody passed
away, but that opened a spot.

00:32:53.125 --> 00:32:55.215
I was voted in for a hunting shack.

00:32:55.545 --> 00:32:59.505
And, uh, with that hunting shack also
comes the ability to do some Pheasant

00:32:59.505 --> 00:33:01.415
hunting, which I'd never done before.

00:33:01.475 --> 00:33:01.645
Yeah.

00:33:01.645 --> 00:33:06.335
I mean, these are, these are released
birds, but it was, um, it's always just

00:33:06.335 --> 00:33:09.005
been water fowl and out in that area.

00:33:09.005 --> 00:33:13.055
But anyways, a pheasant happened
to show up, flew up in the air.

00:33:13.055 --> 00:33:14.095
I shot the thing.

00:33:14.095 --> 00:33:16.264
It went down with a thud,
feathers everywhere.

00:33:16.885 --> 00:33:20.485
And I look over at my buddy, like,
Hey, it's my first pheasant, right?

00:33:20.485 --> 00:33:21.795
And everyone's hooting and hollering.

00:33:21.795 --> 00:33:22.275
And yeah.

00:33:22.970 --> 00:33:26.400
And then I spent the next four
and a half hours looking for it.

00:33:26.400 --> 00:33:26.570
Yeah.

00:33:26.570 --> 00:33:32.790
I couldn't find the thing and I must've,
like it was a solid shot in the thing.

00:33:32.790 --> 00:33:32.930
Yeah.

00:33:32.930 --> 00:33:33.830
There's so many feathers.

00:33:33.830 --> 00:33:34.969
It went straight down.

00:33:34.970 --> 00:33:35.889
I thought for sure.

00:33:36.260 --> 00:33:39.660
It must've had enough energy to
do a runner and it's a swampy,

00:33:39.660 --> 00:33:41.119
kind of marshy area and, and.

00:33:41.180 --> 00:33:44.850
Anyways, I got on the phone, I called my
wife up and I said, we're getting a dog.

00:33:46.600 --> 00:33:48.260
She's like, well, I've
already been researching them.

00:33:49.150 --> 00:33:49.940
She was already on it.

00:33:49.969 --> 00:33:54.060
We got ourselves a puppy, a small
Munsterlander, Munsterlander, and I'd

00:33:54.060 --> 00:33:55.490
never even heard of the breed before.

00:33:55.490 --> 00:34:00.685
But yeah, it's, um, A great versatile
dog, really good for upland game

00:34:00.745 --> 00:34:04.815
and, um, it's been doing well
for waterfowl as well for me.

00:34:04.845 --> 00:34:05.695
Yeah, which is awesome.

00:34:05.795 --> 00:34:06.355
Pretty cool.

00:34:06.355 --> 00:34:09.185
They're supposed to have tons of energy
outside and turn it off inside, which

00:34:09.575 --> 00:34:13.334
he kind of does, but what I wasn't
prepared for was the first few weeks

00:34:13.475 --> 00:34:17.955
of basically having a newborn in the
house and you're up every couple hours,

00:34:17.955 --> 00:34:19.725
letting it out and dealing with it.

00:34:19.785 --> 00:34:22.555
Yeah, that was, uh,
Yeah, I opened it for me.

00:34:22.595 --> 00:34:22.965
Yeah.

00:34:24.815 --> 00:34:25.085
Michael Hunter: Yeah.

00:34:25.105 --> 00:34:26.745
It's wild, but he's, uh, he's great.

00:34:26.775 --> 00:34:29.865
Like I've, I've been crate training him
and he doesn't go to the bathroom in

00:34:29.865 --> 00:34:33.615
his crate and I let him out every couple
hours and, uh, yeah, he slept last night

00:34:33.615 --> 00:34:34.755
for the first time, so it was great.

00:34:35.090 --> 00:34:35.570
Amazing.

00:34:35.820 --> 00:34:35.950
So

00:34:35.950 --> 00:34:38.570
Travis Bader: tell me a little bit about
the food that you get in here, right?

00:34:38.570 --> 00:34:41.070
Because people are going
to say, hold on a second.

00:34:41.080 --> 00:34:44.675
You can't have wild game in a
restaurant, which is true, except

00:34:44.675 --> 00:34:45.608
Michael Hunter: for maybe what?

00:34:45.608 --> 00:34:45.919
Newfoundland?

00:34:45.919 --> 00:34:46.499
Newfoundland, yeah.

00:34:46.500 --> 00:34:47.370
Or if it's charity.

00:34:47.370 --> 00:34:49.110
So if we're doing a
charity event, we will.

00:34:49.240 --> 00:34:54.700
Um, but, uh, yeah, so we work with all the
local game farms that are in Ontario and,

00:34:54.750 --> 00:34:56.940
uh, a farm in Alberta for their bison.

00:34:57.480 --> 00:35:01.050
Um, so it's all game animals, but they
are, uh, you know, slaughtered in a,

00:35:01.300 --> 00:35:02.969
you know, federally inspected facility.

00:35:02.970 --> 00:35:04.470
It goes to a processor and then we.

00:35:07.545 --> 00:35:12.804
So we do like duck, pheasant, uh, we
do lots of wild fish, uh, well, you

00:35:12.804 --> 00:35:18.205
know, seafood and shellfish, um, uh,
and then, yeah, I think we do, uh, duck,

00:35:18.205 --> 00:35:21.154
rabbits, wild boar, venison, bison.

00:35:21.425 --> 00:35:25.675
Um, I think right now there's wild
shrimp from BC or side stripe shrimp.

00:35:25.725 --> 00:35:25.945
Right.

00:35:26.885 --> 00:35:30.625
Um, we'll do, you know, East coast
scallops and oysters and things like that.

00:35:30.665 --> 00:35:34.435
Um, We're doing, uh, a
steelhead trout at the moment.

00:35:34.665 --> 00:35:38.235
Um, we'll do Arctic char when
that's running and salmon, springs,

00:35:38.265 --> 00:35:39.565
halibut, you know, all that stuff.

00:35:39.565 --> 00:35:40.524
So beautiful.

00:35:40.905 --> 00:35:42.025
And a little bit of lobster too.

00:35:42.115 --> 00:35:42.435
Yes.

00:35:42.445 --> 00:35:45.075
Thank you very much for
my lobster delivery.

00:35:45.964 --> 00:35:46.104
Travis Bader: Yeah.

00:35:46.105 --> 00:35:47.205
That was an interesting one.

00:35:47.245 --> 00:35:51.014
I, uh, I'm Halifax was over
there for the last few weeks.

00:35:51.015 --> 00:35:54.705
I spent a week with the armament
technology, fantastic company doing

00:35:54.705 --> 00:35:56.295
some small mouth bass fishing.

00:35:56.945 --> 00:35:59.745
First time I've ever, uh, Fish or
small mouth bass, cause we don't

00:35:59.745 --> 00:36:01.055
really get it where we're at.

00:36:01.065 --> 00:36:05.105
Apparently there's some secret spots where
people have released them, but, um, in BC.

00:36:05.120 --> 00:36:09.060
And, uh, and all you can eat
lobster was at the, uh, the

00:36:09.060 --> 00:36:10.930
owners, we call them cabins.

00:36:10.950 --> 00:36:12.300
You guys call them cottages, I think.

00:36:12.310 --> 00:36:12.510
Yes.

00:36:12.920 --> 00:36:13.320
Yes.

00:36:14.040 --> 00:36:15.370
At the owner's cottage up there.

00:36:15.420 --> 00:36:16.029
Yeah, cool.

00:36:16.120 --> 00:36:17.270
Yeah, that was really good.

00:36:17.400 --> 00:36:20.299
And so anyways, I was looking
for places to get lobster.

00:36:20.330 --> 00:36:24.300
Turns out right at the airport, they
got lobster right there and still pretty

00:36:24.300 --> 00:36:26.040
fresh because their season just ended.

00:36:26.080 --> 00:36:26.280
Yeah.

00:36:26.350 --> 00:36:29.675
And, um, so I call them up
and Yeah, not a problem.

00:36:29.675 --> 00:36:30.335
We'll put some aside.

00:36:30.335 --> 00:36:31.255
Like I had no clue how it worked.

00:36:31.255 --> 00:36:34.165
I didn't realize they have
hundreds of lobster right there

00:36:34.165 --> 00:36:35.885
in a, in a tank at the airport.

00:36:35.915 --> 00:36:36.205
Yeah.

00:36:36.265 --> 00:36:36.805
Oh, hilarious.

00:36:36.805 --> 00:36:37.655
Which is pretty cool.

00:36:37.685 --> 00:36:38.105
Yeah.

00:36:38.585 --> 00:36:42.204
And, uh, I said, well, you know, he
was hoping to get what, 10 pounds

00:36:42.205 --> 00:36:45.514
of lobster and so okay, yeah,
we'll have it all ready for you.

00:36:45.515 --> 00:36:48.765
So I go and I pick it up
and, uh, get the bill.

00:36:48.765 --> 00:36:49.595
I'm like, holy crow.

00:36:49.595 --> 00:36:50.755
They sure hosey at the airport.

00:36:50.755 --> 00:36:51.015
Okay.

00:36:51.035 --> 00:36:51.495
Whatever.

00:36:51.505 --> 00:36:51.745
Right.

00:36:51.765 --> 00:36:55.035
And I keep going to check out with
this thing and, uh, they put it on

00:36:55.035 --> 00:36:57.755
the scale and looking at the weight
and I look at the receipt and.

00:36:58.345 --> 00:37:00.495
They give me, it was almost
23 pounds of lobster.

00:37:00.545 --> 00:37:01.055
Oh no.

00:37:02.225 --> 00:37:05.805
And I'm like, ah, okay, well, I guess
he's getting 23 pounds of lobster.

00:37:06.865 --> 00:37:07.414
I thought, Oh wait a minute.

00:37:07.414 --> 00:37:08.495
I haven't even looked at the box yet.

00:37:09.074 --> 00:37:10.605
What if he can't use 23 pounds?

00:37:10.605 --> 00:37:11.854
What if I go back and forth?

00:37:11.855 --> 00:37:15.555
So I'm running back over and I
explained to them and okay, fair enough.

00:37:15.555 --> 00:37:19.219
And they, they go back and get them
down to about 11 pounds and they go.

00:37:19.220 --> 00:37:23.920
And, uh, put their dry ice pack in, then
of course the airport, they're like,

00:37:23.920 --> 00:37:25.940
well, that's a, that's a check on bag.

00:37:25.940 --> 00:37:27.350
We want to charge you an extra 70 bucks.

00:37:27.350 --> 00:37:29.380
I'm like, oh man, can
I just gate check it?

00:37:29.399 --> 00:37:30.340
I'm like, okay, no problem.

00:37:30.340 --> 00:37:31.350
You can gate check it, right?

00:37:31.350 --> 00:37:31.570
Okay.

00:37:31.729 --> 00:37:33.830
So go through security.

00:37:34.170 --> 00:37:36.660
Security says, what are you
doing with dry ice in here?

00:37:36.660 --> 00:37:39.470
Oh, come on.

00:37:39.470 --> 00:37:39.720
Right.

00:37:39.870 --> 00:37:41.360
I guess they usually use frozen peas.

00:37:41.370 --> 00:37:46.075
So, uh, I, uh, I said, well, those
Ziploc bags that you have over

00:37:46.075 --> 00:37:47.345
there, can I get a bunch of those?

00:37:47.525 --> 00:37:48.155
And they're like, yeah, okay.

00:37:48.155 --> 00:37:51.285
So I ran over to Tim Horton's on the
other side and got him to fill a fly's.

00:37:51.285 --> 00:37:53.425
And anyways, it all worked out.

00:37:53.484 --> 00:37:53.925
Well, thank

00:37:53.925 --> 00:37:54.225
Michael Hunter: you, man.

00:37:54.225 --> 00:37:55.995
I didn't realize how much trouble it was.

00:37:56.315 --> 00:37:57.234
Travis Bader: I wouldn't call it trouble.

00:37:57.234 --> 00:37:58.036
It was just kind of fun.

00:37:58.036 --> 00:37:59.024
It was a bit of an adventure.

00:37:59.034 --> 00:38:01.095
I'd had enough time to
go through and do it.

00:38:01.095 --> 00:38:04.715
It was just a interesting dealing with
each one of the individuals on there.

00:38:04.735 --> 00:38:05.555
Oh, that's so funny.

00:38:06.130 --> 00:38:08.190
Michael Hunter: I'm, I'm surprised
that they would actually pack it with

00:38:08.190 --> 00:38:11.050
dry ice at the airport when you're
telling them you're flying with it.

00:38:11.150 --> 00:38:12.130
Travis Bader: Well, that's it, right?

00:38:12.130 --> 00:38:12.620
Well, I guess Because it

00:38:12.620 --> 00:38:13.900
Michael Hunter: changes
the cabin pressure, right?

00:38:13.900 --> 00:38:16.080
Which can be like detrimental to flying.

00:38:16.180 --> 00:38:16.430
Travis Bader: What,

00:38:16.789 --> 00:38:17.209
Michael Hunter: what does?

00:38:17.209 --> 00:38:17.820
The dry ice?

00:38:17.829 --> 00:38:18.580
The dry ice, yeah.

00:38:18.730 --> 00:38:19.620
Travis Bader: Is how it is.

00:38:19.650 --> 00:38:22.285
Michael Hunter: Because
it's a gas and it's Yeah.

00:38:22.285 --> 00:38:25.505
So it'll change the cabin pressure,
which can, you know, cause an emergency.

00:38:27.075 --> 00:38:27.245
I

00:38:27.245 --> 00:38:30.174
Travis Bader: figured it was because
like when I was younger, we'd use dry

00:38:30.215 --> 00:38:31.835
ice and we'd put them in bottles and

00:38:32.205 --> 00:38:32.215
Michael Hunter: a

00:38:32.495 --> 00:38:34.774
Travis Bader: little bit of water,
cap them up and throw them and

00:38:34.774 --> 00:38:35.834
watch them hopefully blow up.

00:38:35.894 --> 00:38:36.224
Yeah.

00:38:37.345 --> 00:38:38.404
Michael Hunter: Well, I
guess that too, right.

00:38:38.404 --> 00:38:41.265
It can, it can, uh, the pressure
can explode and it also, it

00:38:41.265 --> 00:38:42.545
changes the pressure in the plane.

00:38:43.965 --> 00:38:44.205
Yeah.

00:38:44.205 --> 00:38:44.795
It's a good point.

00:38:44.825 --> 00:38:45.225
Travis Bader: Okay.

00:38:45.405 --> 00:38:47.685
Michael Hunter: There's actually like,
uh, stories of little hobby, Okay.

00:38:48.035 --> 00:38:52.615
Pilots, uh, you know, flying with guys on
hunting trips that, that they didn't ask.

00:38:52.665 --> 00:38:53.855
And they're actually plane goes down.

00:38:54.235 --> 00:38:56.624
I've, I, so I've heard
they could be folklore.

00:38:56.624 --> 00:38:57.165
I don't know, but.

00:38:57.265 --> 00:38:58.115
Travis Bader: Oh, that'd be interesting.

00:38:58.325 --> 00:38:59.864
That never even crossed my mind.

00:38:59.935 --> 00:39:01.365
I'm sure the listeners will have.

00:39:02.275 --> 00:39:02.565
Someone

00:39:02.565 --> 00:39:03.655
Michael Hunter: will
correct me if I'm wrong.

00:39:03.655 --> 00:39:04.065
I'm sure.

00:39:05.035 --> 00:39:06.565
Travis Bader: And let us know.

00:39:06.875 --> 00:39:07.225
Totally.

00:39:07.225 --> 00:39:07.555
Yeah.

00:39:07.665 --> 00:39:08.995
That's, you know, I love it.

00:39:09.015 --> 00:39:12.695
If you really want something to take
off, put some inaccuracies in it.

00:39:13.215 --> 00:39:14.165
Everybody will jump in.

00:39:15.105 --> 00:39:15.674
I've heard

00:39:15.674 --> 00:39:17.924
Michael Hunter: that people try
and engagement farm by putting

00:39:17.924 --> 00:39:19.164
spelling mistakes in their posts.

00:39:19.165 --> 00:39:22.675
So I don't care about likes
and comments that much, but

00:39:23.105 --> 00:39:23.435
Travis Bader: yeah.

00:39:23.635 --> 00:39:26.675
One thing I've learned is if
you're going to be posting about.

00:39:27.205 --> 00:39:28.855
Um, foraging.

00:39:29.565 --> 00:39:32.935
There's that whole community that knows
a lot more about foraging than I ever.

00:39:33.035 --> 00:39:33.335
Yeah.

00:39:33.355 --> 00:39:33.755
The Latin

00:39:33.765 --> 00:39:34.685
Michael Hunter: names of everything.

00:39:34.725 --> 00:39:37.485
I don't know them, but
I know some of them.

00:39:38.285 --> 00:39:38.915
They're ovate.

00:39:38.915 --> 00:39:39.644
Okay.

00:39:39.645 --> 00:39:44.984
Um, the one thing I love is when complete
strangers, um, send me pictures of

00:39:44.985 --> 00:39:47.885
mushrooms that, you know, when you're
taking a picture of a mushroom and you

00:39:47.885 --> 00:39:51.525
want it for identification, you have
to get multiple angles, you know, the

00:39:51.525 --> 00:39:55.430
soil or the The wood that it's on, you
know, the gills or the absence of gills.

00:39:55.720 --> 00:39:58.600
There's all these things you should do
when photographing mushrooms to try and

00:39:58.600 --> 00:40:03.869
get the ID, you know, on top of getting
a spore print, which is one of the most

00:40:03.869 --> 00:40:06.240
accurate ways to help identify mushrooms.

00:40:06.850 --> 00:40:10.419
I'll get these like blurry photos
of like one angle of a mushroom.

00:40:10.420 --> 00:40:12.990
I don't know if it's in dirt or
wood from a complete stranger.

00:40:12.990 --> 00:40:14.330
And it's like, is this safe to eat?

00:40:14.350 --> 00:40:17.570
And it's like, well, and a lot
of times I'll send them back, you

00:40:17.570 --> 00:40:19.030
know, as a complete stranger, you.

00:40:19.680 --> 00:40:20.730
Might not want to ask this.

00:40:20.730 --> 00:40:23.940
You know, what if I'm wrong, , like, you
know, what if I mean well, but I'm wrong.

00:40:23.945 --> 00:40:24.930
Like, you could die.

00:40:24.960 --> 00:40:25.050
Yeah.

00:40:25.050 --> 00:40:25.440
You know?

00:40:25.445 --> 00:40:26.220
So Yeah.

00:40:26.280 --> 00:40:29.820
Please don't send me mushroom
ID pictures , because I'm, I'm

00:40:29.820 --> 00:40:31.230
also not a mycologist, you know?

00:40:31.235 --> 00:40:33.420
No, I know, I know the
mushrooms that I know.

00:40:33.870 --> 00:40:37.890
Um, but, you know, there's, there's,
uh, a vast, uh, array of mushrooms

00:40:37.890 --> 00:40:39.570
that, you know, the scientists
don't even know what they are.

00:40:39.570 --> 00:40:42.630
It's such a, a, you know, huge, uh, topic.

00:40:42.810 --> 00:40:45.810
Um, so I always

00:40:45.810 --> 00:40:46.410
Travis Bader: find that funny.

00:40:46.500 --> 00:40:49.500
I see the memes and people in the
mushroom forest, like, Oh, what's this?

00:40:49.500 --> 00:40:51.540
And they take a picture
atop somebody's head.

00:40:51.550 --> 00:40:52.680
And they're like, Oh,
do you know who this is?

00:40:52.850 --> 00:40:53.030
Right.

00:40:53.030 --> 00:40:54.560
It's like same sort of thing.

00:40:54.570 --> 00:40:55.990
God, you got to have all
these different angles.

00:40:57.040 --> 00:40:58.140
Michael Hunter: You know who Hank Shaw is?

00:40:58.329 --> 00:40:58.690
I do.

00:40:58.720 --> 00:40:58.920
Yeah.

00:40:58.920 --> 00:41:03.080
He, we actually, he did a, uh, one of his
book, his book tour came through Toronto.

00:41:03.100 --> 00:41:04.180
So we did a dinner with Hank.

00:41:04.420 --> 00:41:04.910
Travis Bader: Beautiful.

00:41:04.930 --> 00:41:05.180
Michael Hunter: Yeah.

00:41:05.260 --> 00:41:05.670
Okay.

00:41:05.690 --> 00:41:06.300
So great dude.

00:41:06.455 --> 00:41:07.885
Travis Bader: He was the guy
that got me into foraging.

00:41:07.935 --> 00:41:08.385
Oh, cool.

00:41:08.405 --> 00:41:08.885
Yeah.

00:41:08.955 --> 00:41:13.655
So I went down, visited with him and went
through the sheer Nevada mountain range.

00:41:13.665 --> 00:41:18.035
And I, I had, I had zero
interest in foraging.

00:41:18.365 --> 00:41:20.815
I had zero interest in going
out and picking mushrooms.

00:41:20.815 --> 00:41:24.265
And, but the second you learn
about it and you learn a little bit

00:41:24.275 --> 00:41:25.304
about they're everywhere, they're

00:41:25.304 --> 00:41:25.914
Michael Hunter: everywhere.

00:41:25.945 --> 00:41:26.175
Yeah.

00:41:26.185 --> 00:41:28.655
And you don't, you don't see
them until you, someone shows you

00:41:28.655 --> 00:41:30.645
and then you're like, then you
recognize that they're everywhere.

00:41:30.695 --> 00:41:31.115
Travis Bader: Oh yeah.

00:41:31.205 --> 00:41:34.065
And it's like, It's like an
Easter egg hunt for adults, right?

00:41:34.065 --> 00:41:34.985
It's fantastic.

00:41:35.035 --> 00:41:35.345
Michael Hunter: Yeah.

00:41:35.475 --> 00:41:37.775
Travis Bader: I can also see how
people can get lost when they're.

00:41:37.825 --> 00:41:38.445
Oh yeah.

00:41:38.525 --> 00:41:38.945
Michael Hunter: Yeah.

00:41:39.035 --> 00:41:40.145
I would, I would be hunting.

00:41:40.195 --> 00:41:41.545
Uh, we used to piss my friends off.

00:41:41.545 --> 00:41:44.665
I, we'd, you know, we'd be turkey
hunting and they'd be 300 yards

00:41:44.665 --> 00:41:47.344
ahead and I'm on my hands and knees
in the woods picking morels and

00:41:47.344 --> 00:41:48.454
they're like, where is this guy?

00:41:48.465 --> 00:41:49.584
Like, are you kidding me?

00:41:49.584 --> 00:41:50.145
What are you doing?

00:41:50.145 --> 00:41:51.865
And I'm like, I got a hat full of morels.

00:41:51.865 --> 00:41:52.845
And they're like, can you eat those?

00:41:52.845 --> 00:41:54.945
And I actually sent my friend home.

00:41:54.955 --> 00:41:55.985
Like we found tons.

00:41:56.115 --> 00:41:58.035
And, uh, you know, his
wife wouldn't touch them.

00:41:58.055 --> 00:41:59.115
And he was like, I don't trust those.

00:41:59.115 --> 00:42:00.935
And anyway, that's funny.

00:42:00.975 --> 00:42:02.355
But they got to be cooked first, right?

00:42:02.825 --> 00:42:03.815
Yeah, they should.

00:42:03.825 --> 00:42:04.115
Yeah.

00:42:04.464 --> 00:42:07.714
Travis Bader: I, um, friend went out and
picked a bunch of morels and she's like,

00:42:07.714 --> 00:42:09.154
I don't know why we all got stomach aches.

00:42:09.155 --> 00:42:09.794
I don't know what's going on.

00:42:09.794 --> 00:42:10.575
We're eating them raw.

00:42:10.664 --> 00:42:10.924
Yeah.

00:42:11.244 --> 00:42:11.494
Yeah.

00:42:11.744 --> 00:42:11.974
Yeah.

00:42:12.015 --> 00:42:14.964
That, that might be why apparently
they should be cooked first.

00:42:14.964 --> 00:42:15.554
Michael Hunter: Yes.

00:42:15.565 --> 00:42:15.885
Yeah.

00:42:16.205 --> 00:42:16.285
Yeah.

00:42:16.295 --> 00:42:18.415
I think all they, you know,
they recommend all, all wild

00:42:18.415 --> 00:42:19.575
mushrooms to cook them first.

00:42:19.575 --> 00:42:23.175
But I've eaten a little bit kind of here
and there raw, but yeah, you should.

00:42:24.905 --> 00:42:26.975
If you eat a big bowl full of them
raw, you're going to get a stomachache.

00:42:27.095 --> 00:42:27.935
I think that's what they did.

00:42:27.955 --> 00:42:28.565
They're out hunting.

00:42:28.575 --> 00:42:29.725
They just put them in
a salad or something.

00:42:32.015 --> 00:42:33.825
Um, they're also like little bugs too.

00:42:33.825 --> 00:42:36.874
Like I'll put them in, uh,
uh, chanterelles can be too.

00:42:36.874 --> 00:42:40.024
Put them in, uh, I think a salt water
for five to 10 minutes and you'll

00:42:40.024 --> 00:42:41.224
see all the little bugs come out.

00:42:41.725 --> 00:42:42.305
Right.

00:42:42.364 --> 00:42:42.644
Yep.

00:42:43.530 --> 00:42:46.110
Travis Bader: Yeah, I'll, I'll, I'll
just visually look for if they're buggy

00:42:46.110 --> 00:42:47.300
or not, but I guess sometimes you can't

00:42:47.350 --> 00:42:50.980
Michael Hunter: tell, yeah, they're
like those tiny little fly, uh, worms.

00:42:51.070 --> 00:42:51.430
Okay.

00:42:51.469 --> 00:42:54.000
Uh, they're a little white guys and
they'll just, even though you think

00:42:54.000 --> 00:42:56.589
there's no mushrooms in them, they'll,
if you're cooking them, it's, it's not a

00:42:56.589 --> 00:43:00.020
big deal, but I always try and soak them
for a couple of minutes in saltwater.

00:43:00.090 --> 00:43:00.790
Travis Bader: That's disgusting.

00:43:00.930 --> 00:43:01.220
Yeah.

00:43:02.840 --> 00:43:04.729
Michael Hunter: Give them a
rinse and a shake and you'll see.

00:43:04.730 --> 00:43:06.000
See all the dirt and stuff at the bottom.

00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:09.110
And then the one thing for the
tip I have for, for washing wild

00:43:09.120 --> 00:43:11.860
mushrooms, cause a lot of, you know,
mushrooms will soak up the water.

00:43:12.170 --> 00:43:15.389
Put it on a baking sheet with a kitchen
towel for, you know, five, 10 minutes

00:43:15.390 --> 00:43:17.250
or put it in your fridge on that towel.

00:43:17.250 --> 00:43:20.059
And they'll absorb all the extra water
and they'll, they'll kind of dry out.

00:43:20.110 --> 00:43:20.969
Oh, that's a good idea.

00:43:21.995 --> 00:43:26.775
So you should be washing them, you know,
you definitely should be cooking them.

00:43:26.775 --> 00:43:30.014
But, um, if you want to get, you
know, sometimes the morels and

00:43:30.015 --> 00:43:32.475
chanterelles, depending on the
soil, they can be really sandy.

00:43:33.015 --> 00:43:36.464
Um, and the morels is all little
holes in the, uh, you know, that

00:43:36.465 --> 00:43:37.805
kind of brain like structure.

00:43:38.084 --> 00:43:39.935
Um, it's a good spot for sand.

00:43:40.274 --> 00:43:42.595
Um, so if they're really
sandy, I'll always wash them.

00:43:42.595 --> 00:43:42.755
Yeah.

00:43:42.785 --> 00:43:44.615
Cause it, nothing like
worse than kind of gritty.

00:43:46.035 --> 00:43:48.005
So you're a big time turkey

00:43:48.005 --> 00:43:49.145
Travis Bader: hunter
from what I understand.

00:43:49.335 --> 00:43:52.105
Michael Hunter: So turkey hunting was
the first animal I hunted for food.

00:43:52.645 --> 00:43:56.705
Um, and I was, as a chef, I, you
know, I was like, I've been working in

00:43:56.705 --> 00:43:58.715
restaurants since I was 13 years old.

00:43:59.125 --> 00:44:01.929
Um, and turkey is really the, one
of the only meats in the world.

00:44:02.310 --> 00:44:06.000
That's you know mass produced farm that
everyone knows what it tastes like.

00:44:06.600 --> 00:44:12.540
So to, to see the stark contrast between
wild Turkey and farm Turkey, uh, really

00:44:12.540 --> 00:44:14.750
just, you know, blew my socks off.

00:44:14.750 --> 00:44:17.649
It was, um, immediately after
shooting it, it's like, Oh, it's a

00:44:17.649 --> 00:44:21.034
lot smaller than these farmed things,
um, were, were really interesting.

00:44:21.355 --> 00:44:22.885
You know, I told my friend
I wanted to pluck it.

00:44:22.885 --> 00:44:24.205
So he showed me how to pluck it.

00:44:24.665 --> 00:44:26.915
And you know, the fat's
yellow, the skin's yellow.

00:44:26.965 --> 00:44:27.845
I was like, Oh wow.

00:44:27.865 --> 00:44:31.695
The breast meat, um, you know, it was
like, it was like pink, like pork,

00:44:31.855 --> 00:44:36.665
you know, um, uh, the legs are dark,
like almost like deer meat, you know,

00:44:36.665 --> 00:44:38.604
it was just so visually different.

00:44:39.055 --> 00:44:40.715
Um, and then when I cooked it.

00:44:40.905 --> 00:44:44.955
Um, my mom, you know, we invited my friend
that took me hunting for dinner and my mom

00:44:44.955 --> 00:44:46.745
says, this doesn't even taste like Turkey.

00:44:46.745 --> 00:44:49.485
And he said, uh, you know, no,
that shit in the grocery store

00:44:49.485 --> 00:44:50.334
doesn't taste like Turkey.

00:44:50.345 --> 00:44:52.065
This is how Turkey is
supposed to taste like.

00:44:52.345 --> 00:44:54.365
And that was really the light bulb for me.

00:44:54.445 --> 00:44:57.074
Um, I had just seen the
documentary food Inc.

00:44:57.604 --> 00:45:00.425
Um, so I was learning about, you
know, hormones and, you know, the

00:45:00.425 --> 00:45:04.825
foods that animals aren't even sick or
consuming all these, um, uh, antibiotics

00:45:04.825 --> 00:45:05.905
and hormones and things like that.

00:45:06.480 --> 00:45:09.350
And I was just sort of already,
like I'd started a vegetable garden.

00:45:09.350 --> 00:45:12.260
I was, you know, trying to buy
organic and it was really conscious

00:45:12.260 --> 00:45:13.550
about where my food was coming from.

00:45:13.550 --> 00:45:16.350
And then this turkey came to light
and it was like, this is what

00:45:16.360 --> 00:45:17.549
turkey is supposed to taste like.

00:45:18.029 --> 00:45:20.549
Uh, and that's when I went
down the hunting rabbit hole.

00:45:21.820 --> 00:45:26.230
Travis Bader: You know, I always, growing
up, I wasn't a big fan of turkey and I

00:45:26.230 --> 00:45:28.440
wasn't a big fan of like a Thanksgiving.

00:45:28.495 --> 00:45:33.345
Dinner, because I'd pick up as a kid,
I'd pick up the vegetables with my fork.

00:45:33.345 --> 00:45:35.655
And if they didn't fall through the
tines and they probably weren't cooked

00:45:35.655 --> 00:45:40.575
enough and, and the, uh, I mean, you cut
into the Turkey, if you didn't see a big

00:45:43.155 --> 00:45:44.405
probably it wasn't cooked enough.

00:45:44.825 --> 00:45:49.235
I remember coming home long
shift and my wife had, um.

00:45:49.840 --> 00:45:53.850
Put in a long shift at work and, uh,
but she wanted to make a Thanksgiving

00:45:53.850 --> 00:45:56.270
dinner and did up some turkey.

00:45:56.270 --> 00:45:57.439
I'm like, Oh my God.

00:45:57.439 --> 00:45:59.210
I like, this is not my favorite food.

00:45:59.760 --> 00:46:03.700
Brussels sprouts and the
turkey and cranberries.

00:46:03.700 --> 00:46:06.290
And like, none of these things
are things I grew up that I liked.

00:46:06.290 --> 00:46:09.940
And I'm like trying to put on
a brave face and be like, okay,

00:46:09.940 --> 00:46:14.420
well, I can eat anything basically,
um, porridge is probably the only

00:46:14.420 --> 00:46:16.759
thing I've had a difficult time,
but that's a different story.

00:46:17.220 --> 00:46:25.790
Um, And I was blown away by how good it
was and how, when it's prepared properly

00:46:26.310 --> 00:46:29.010
and you don't just put the whole bird
in the oven, she's like, well, the

00:46:29.019 --> 00:46:31.800
breast cooks at different temperatures
and rates and the leg meat will.

00:46:31.800 --> 00:46:32.979
And so you take them all apart.

00:46:32.979 --> 00:46:35.640
It doesn't have the pretty
presentation of a whole bird,

00:46:36.049 --> 00:46:37.089
but it's going to taste good.

00:46:37.149 --> 00:46:37.399
Yeah.

00:46:37.705 --> 00:46:38.305
How do you like to

00:46:38.305 --> 00:46:38.955
Michael Hunter: cook your turkey?

00:46:39.485 --> 00:46:41.905
Um, so wild turkey versus farm turkey.

00:46:41.935 --> 00:46:43.985
I will stick a whole
farm turkey in the oven.

00:46:44.295 --> 00:46:49.214
Um, but, uh, wild turkey, I, I pluck
it, um, because I want to, I want to

00:46:49.214 --> 00:46:50.754
make stock with the bones and stuff.

00:46:51.105 --> 00:46:57.030
Um, but I will, uh, separate the leg and
the breasts and, um, The recipe in my

00:46:57.060 --> 00:47:01.440
cookbook, which I love and I still make,
is I stuff the breast with goat cheese,

00:47:01.490 --> 00:47:06.649
morels, and ramps, wild leeks, um, with
like a sourdough kind of bread crumb.

00:47:06.700 --> 00:47:10.300
And it is absolutely my favorite, one
of my favorite things of all time.

00:47:10.760 --> 00:47:13.549
Um, and then what I've been doing
recently is I would usually either

00:47:13.549 --> 00:47:17.430
smoke or braise the legs, but I've
been into the pressure cooker lately.

00:47:18.210 --> 00:47:21.280
So turkey legs in a pressure cooker
take like anywhere, depending, cause you

00:47:21.280 --> 00:47:23.119
can get different weights for the top.

00:47:24.195 --> 00:47:24.595
pressure.

00:47:25.045 --> 00:47:27.415
So the higher the pressure,
the lower the cooking time.

00:47:27.505 --> 00:47:31.784
Um, but yeah, you can do turkey legs
and a high pressure pressure cooker

00:47:31.785 --> 00:47:33.375
in about half an hour, 45 minutes.

00:47:33.805 --> 00:47:36.525
And I cook it with stock
and barbecue sauce.

00:47:36.595 --> 00:47:40.884
And then once the meat can be shredded
just by hand or with a fork, uh,

00:47:40.905 --> 00:47:43.395
reduce that cooking liquid into
your barbecue sauce, mix it all

00:47:43.395 --> 00:47:45.265
together and do like sliders or.

00:47:45.280 --> 00:47:46.370
Pulled pulled turkey.

00:47:46.640 --> 00:47:47.130
Amazing.

00:47:47.140 --> 00:47:47.920
It's incredible.

00:47:48.000 --> 00:47:51.700
Um, so that's been my go to, uh,
you know, lately for turkey legs.

00:47:52.020 --> 00:47:52.150
Travis Bader: Yeah.

00:47:52.150 --> 00:47:54.039
Those pressure cookers are
amazing when they can do two.

00:47:54.040 --> 00:47:54.410
Yeah.

00:47:54.410 --> 00:47:55.899
Michael Hunter: And I've, I've
just started, I've been sort of

00:47:55.919 --> 00:47:57.440
reading about pressure canning.

00:47:57.440 --> 00:47:58.539
So that's kind of why I got it.

00:47:58.810 --> 00:47:59.209
Travis Bader: Okay.

00:47:59.209 --> 00:48:01.910
Michael Hunter: Um, uh, and, you
know, doing a little bit of, uh,

00:48:01.930 --> 00:48:02.364
just kind of pressure canning.

00:48:02.365 --> 00:48:02.945
Preserving.

00:48:02.945 --> 00:48:07.445
I want to can, uh, friends of mine's
do canned moose, um, but they're not

00:48:07.445 --> 00:48:11.055
using jars, they use actual cans, um,
because they're lighter and easier to

00:48:11.055 --> 00:48:15.105
travel with and, uh, they'll do, you
know, whatever seasonings basically

00:48:15.115 --> 00:48:17.635
have like, ready to go meal in a can.

00:48:18.075 --> 00:48:22.395
Um, that's safer when you can, uh,
when you pressure can it, it doesn't

00:48:22.405 --> 00:48:25.334
have to have, you know, higher
salt or higher acid to preserve it.

00:48:25.345 --> 00:48:25.745
Right.

00:48:25.775 --> 00:48:28.385
The heat and pressure, um, you
know, basically preserves it.

00:48:28.685 --> 00:48:31.075
And they said, yeah, you just throw
the can in the fire when you're on a

00:48:31.085 --> 00:48:35.445
snowmobiling trip or a hunt trip, um, and
heat stuff up in the fire, just in a can.

00:48:35.445 --> 00:48:35.755
So.

00:48:35.810 --> 00:48:36.790
For me, that was really cool.

00:48:36.790 --> 00:48:39.590
So I've been sort of researching
and geeking out on that recently.

00:48:39.670 --> 00:48:40.490
Travis Bader: That is a good idea.

00:48:40.520 --> 00:48:43.290
Well, does, don't those cans have
like a coating on the inside?

00:48:43.290 --> 00:48:46.529
So your food doesn't,
um, uh, react with it.

00:48:46.529 --> 00:48:48.810
That could, if you're in the
fire, kind of melt off of it.

00:48:48.949 --> 00:48:51.590
Michael Hunter: Um, that, I don't
know that would, I think they're

00:48:51.590 --> 00:48:54.660
just tin, but I, I'm not sure,
maybe grocery store cans have that.

00:48:54.660 --> 00:48:55.170
I'm not sure.

00:48:55.170 --> 00:48:58.035
Um, Cause it was actually
a restaurant in Quebec.

00:48:58.035 --> 00:49:02.685
They've been doing like a duck confit, uh,
cassoulet kind of dish in a can where they

00:49:02.685 --> 00:49:04.554
open it up at your table and dump it out.

00:49:04.554 --> 00:49:06.045
So, and they heat that up.

00:49:06.094 --> 00:49:09.125
I think they steam the can or
something, but, um, got it.

00:49:09.125 --> 00:49:09.344
Yeah.

00:49:09.344 --> 00:49:12.714
So I think, yeah, I think you'd have to
be careful about what kind of tin you're

00:49:12.714 --> 00:49:14.935
using and if there is that coating on it.

00:49:15.045 --> 00:49:19.135
Um, but, uh, Yeah, I actually, I
haven't, I've, I've, I've done the

00:49:19.135 --> 00:49:20.455
pressure canning and the glass.

00:49:20.455 --> 00:49:23.095
I haven't found the, the cans are
a different little bit of different

00:49:23.095 --> 00:49:25.405
setup and you have to actually
buy the machine to seal them.

00:49:25.465 --> 00:49:25.765
Travis Bader: Right.

00:49:25.945 --> 00:49:27.235
Michael Hunter: It's like
this big tabletop thing.

00:49:27.235 --> 00:49:29.215
And they're, uh, a
couple thousand dollars.

00:49:29.215 --> 00:49:30.955
So I haven't, I haven't
graduated to that yet.

00:49:30.955 --> 00:49:31.285
Not yet.

00:49:31.345 --> 00:49:32.365
Not that serious yet.

00:49:32.365 --> 00:49:34.345
Not yet, but, uh, one day.

00:49:34.495 --> 00:49:34.855
Travis Bader: Yeah.

00:49:34.885 --> 00:49:36.115
Well, I was lucky for the longest.

00:49:36.115 --> 00:49:38.575
I'm right next door to the studio in.

00:49:39.395 --> 00:49:42.975
Vancouver, uh, was a
butcher packer supply.

00:49:43.755 --> 00:49:49.125
And so every year for Christmas and
birthdays and Valentine's day, the gift

00:49:49.125 --> 00:49:50.375
was, Hey, you're getting a meat slicer.

00:49:50.415 --> 00:49:50.794
Oh, cool.

00:49:50.794 --> 00:49:52.825
Hey, you're getting a sausage stuffer.

00:49:52.825 --> 00:49:53.474
Perfect.

00:49:53.474 --> 00:49:54.124
Absolutely.

00:49:54.124 --> 00:49:54.544
Perfect.

00:49:54.605 --> 00:49:55.365
And she loved it.

00:49:55.375 --> 00:49:57.094
So it worked out well for everybody.

00:49:57.094 --> 00:49:57.484
Yeah.

00:49:57.885 --> 00:49:58.045
Yeah.

00:49:58.045 --> 00:49:58.765
Pressure cooking.

00:49:58.845 --> 00:49:59.335
Oxtail.

00:49:59.375 --> 00:50:01.015
That's one of my favorite
things that a pressure cooker.

00:50:01.375 --> 00:50:01.785
Michael Hunter: Jamaican

00:50:01.785 --> 00:50:02.695
Travis Bader: cuisine, oxtail.

00:50:03.720 --> 00:50:06.860
So when it comes to turkey, I
haven't done much turkey hunting.

00:50:07.360 --> 00:50:10.250
School me, if I'm going to be a
successful turkey hunter, what are

00:50:10.250 --> 00:50:11.629
some things that I need to be good at?

00:50:11.630 --> 00:50:13.559
Michael Hunter: I guess, prepare
yourself for disappointment.

00:50:13.639 --> 00:50:14.079
Okay.

00:50:14.080 --> 00:50:14.819
Okay.

00:50:14.820 --> 00:50:15.620
I've got that, check.

00:50:15.690 --> 00:50:16.320
Travis Bader: I got that one.

00:50:16.740 --> 00:50:17.160
Michael Hunter: Yeah.

00:50:17.179 --> 00:50:20.989
Um, so turkeys have incredible eyesight,
you know, they can't smell us, thank

00:50:20.990 --> 00:50:24.170
God, or we'd never shoot them, but,
um, they just have incredible eyesight.

00:50:24.170 --> 00:50:26.250
So, um, really they're good.

00:50:26.330 --> 00:50:28.050
Get yourself a really good blind.

00:50:28.100 --> 00:50:32.040
Um, or, uh, you have to be really
still and kind of sit, sit behind

00:50:32.040 --> 00:50:33.300
some kind of natural blind.

00:50:33.770 --> 00:50:37.730
Um, but yeah, movement, movement
and, you know, camouflage and

00:50:37.730 --> 00:50:40.710
just like having mesh kind of over
your face and gloves and stuff.

00:50:41.310 --> 00:50:45.749
Um, but yeah, movement is kind of
their number one sort of, uh, things

00:50:45.750 --> 00:50:47.160
they'll pick off if they see you.

00:50:47.620 --> 00:50:50.395
Um, So you just have to
sit really, really still.

00:50:50.505 --> 00:50:54.445
Um, and then, you know, calling there's
all kinds of, you know, mouth calls.

00:50:54.445 --> 00:50:57.145
I, I, like a diaphragm type
call that I like cause you can

00:50:57.145 --> 00:50:58.365
kind of have your hands free.

00:50:58.825 --> 00:51:02.605
Um, but you, you know, you can
use a box call, a slate call.

00:51:02.605 --> 00:51:05.034
They all kind of make different,
you know, similar sounds.

00:51:05.584 --> 00:51:10.895
Um, I would, you know, just, I would watch
some sort of videos on how to call, right.

00:51:11.705 --> 00:51:13.735
Uh, you know, don't over call.

00:51:13.785 --> 00:51:17.215
Um, but yeah, Turkey, Turkey hunting is
something that, uh, you know, now I've

00:51:17.215 --> 00:51:23.570
been doing, uh, about, you know, 20 plus
years of, and, you know, No matter how

00:51:23.570 --> 00:51:27.340
much of an expert you think you are,
you'll be humbled a few times a year.

00:51:28.260 --> 00:51:32.349
And, uh, it's, I think it's a
sickness because it's the same amount

00:51:32.349 --> 00:51:36.189
of effort that goes into like deer
hunting or elk hunting or whatever.

00:51:36.190 --> 00:51:38.540
It's, it's the exact same amount of
effort, the same amount of driving,

00:51:38.540 --> 00:51:39.550
the same amount of preparation.

00:51:39.990 --> 00:51:42.190
It's a whole different set of
gear and money you're going to

00:51:42.190 --> 00:51:46.625
spend for like 10 pounds of meat,
like it is a sick obsession.

00:51:47.075 --> 00:51:48.995
Um, but I love it.

00:51:49.195 --> 00:51:55.025
And it's, it's, um, the excitement that
that bird, uh, causes, um, you know,

00:51:55.025 --> 00:51:59.255
makes the, when they gobble, I don't know
how they can be so freaking loud, but

00:51:59.265 --> 00:52:03.005
all the hair stands up on your back and
your neck and it's just, Oh my goodness.

00:52:03.014 --> 00:52:04.975
This thing is just screaming at you.

00:52:04.975 --> 00:52:07.725
And it, it's kind of similar to
elk hunting when they bugle that

00:52:07.995 --> 00:52:10.744
scream, you know, just makes all
the hair on your body stand up.

00:52:11.095 --> 00:52:14.415
Um, But it's this little bird, you
know, I, I took a really dear friend

00:52:14.415 --> 00:52:15.965
of mine hunting that's from Brazil.

00:52:16.205 --> 00:52:18.635
Um, obviously they don't, they
don't have wild Turkey in Brazil,

00:52:18.635 --> 00:52:19.785
but he's hunted all over the world.

00:52:19.785 --> 00:52:20.435
He's hunted Africa.

00:52:20.525 --> 00:52:21.465
He's hunted Cape Buffalo.

00:52:21.955 --> 00:52:24.105
Um, he's always wanted
to go Turkey hunting.

00:52:24.105 --> 00:52:28.204
So we took him Turkey hunting, uh, and
he was shaking for like 10 minutes after

00:52:28.205 --> 00:52:31.595
and he goes, I haven't shaken like this
since I, you know, shot a Cape Buffalo.

00:52:31.605 --> 00:52:33.155
Like he was just, he couldn't believe.

00:52:33.545 --> 00:52:35.965
You know, how, uh, exciting this bird was.

00:52:35.965 --> 00:52:38.465
And, and, uh, it took him
a long time to shoot it.

00:52:38.475 --> 00:52:41.995
Cause he was just, there was, I think a
bunch of Jake's and some, some, you know,

00:52:41.995 --> 00:52:45.644
less dominant Toms and the big dominant
Tom and they're all like, he just had this

00:52:45.644 --> 00:52:47.915
huge, uh, kind of show in front of them.

00:52:47.915 --> 00:52:50.185
And we kept being like, Hey, you
need to shoot, you need to shoot.

00:52:50.445 --> 00:52:52.195
He was just watching, he
was just taking it all in.

00:52:52.255 --> 00:52:54.975
And, uh, yeah, it was just
such an incredible experience.

00:52:54.975 --> 00:52:55.645
And it's, it's.

00:52:55.725 --> 00:52:57.115
It's an amazing bird.

00:52:57.175 --> 00:52:59.495
Um, and, uh, it's an amazing hunt.

00:52:59.925 --> 00:53:02.865
Um, so yeah, if you're new to it or
haven't, you know, gone turkey hunting,

00:53:02.865 --> 00:53:06.665
I would highly recommend it, but, um, it
can be frustrating, you know, sometimes

00:53:06.665 --> 00:53:10.094
they're incredibly stupid and they just,
they do exactly what you want them to do.

00:53:10.095 --> 00:53:12.985
And they march right in and, you know,
some people use decoys sometimes.

00:53:13.005 --> 00:53:15.305
You don't use decoys, but
they come right to you.

00:53:15.305 --> 00:53:17.885
You know, they come when
they're called and it's amazing.

00:53:17.945 --> 00:53:21.075
And then other times you will like,
I remember one turkey, it took me

00:53:21.075 --> 00:53:22.805
like 20 days to actually shoot one.

00:53:23.314 --> 00:53:25.995
Uh, I wanted, uh, you know, I
wanted to jump off a bridge.

00:53:26.025 --> 00:53:30.834
Like it was, my wife was like, can you
either shoot one or like stop hunting

00:53:30.835 --> 00:53:32.315
because you're miserable to live with?

00:53:34.025 --> 00:53:36.695
And the later in the season, like
it starts in the spring, you know,

00:53:36.855 --> 00:53:38.315
our season is at the end of April.

00:53:38.685 --> 00:53:42.585
Um, And I think sunrise is like
seven o'clock or something.

00:53:42.585 --> 00:53:45.595
So you go out at like five or six by
the end of the season, you're getting

00:53:45.595 --> 00:53:49.855
up at like 3 00 AM to get out there an
hour because the, you know, the, the,

00:53:49.865 --> 00:53:53.545
the sun is changing, the sunrise keeps
changing, getting earlier and earlier.

00:53:53.585 --> 00:53:56.344
And it just gets, as the season
goes on, it's like more miserable

00:53:56.344 --> 00:53:57.424
and miserable you become.

00:53:57.925 --> 00:54:02.015
But, um, yeah, it's, it's, uh,
it's, uh, it's a fun addiction.

00:54:02.115 --> 00:54:03.965
Travis Bader: Well, that's one of
the fun things about the hunt is that

00:54:03.965 --> 00:54:05.755
you can actually hunt in the spring.

00:54:05.765 --> 00:54:06.035
Yeah.

00:54:06.055 --> 00:54:07.045
So we've totally, yeah.

00:54:07.055 --> 00:54:07.925
Breaks up the year.

00:54:08.035 --> 00:54:08.455
Yeah.

00:54:08.475 --> 00:54:08.815
So we've got.

00:54:09.135 --> 00:54:09.395
Bear.

00:54:09.395 --> 00:54:10.235
Do you have a spring bear here?

00:54:10.325 --> 00:54:10.705
We do.

00:54:10.815 --> 00:54:11.205
Okay.

00:54:11.555 --> 00:54:12.975
That's just in Nova Scotia.

00:54:12.975 --> 00:54:14.965
And they had a big vote
on whether they could.

00:54:15.035 --> 00:54:15.165
Yeah.

00:54:15.165 --> 00:54:16.035
They stayed it right.

00:54:16.035 --> 00:54:18.695
They, they stopped it or they
went ahead with, I can't remember.

00:54:18.695 --> 00:54:19.094
No, no.

00:54:19.095 --> 00:54:22.905
The, apparently they put the vote out
to a Halifax residents and they're

00:54:22.905 --> 00:54:24.014
like, no, we like these bears.

00:54:24.014 --> 00:54:24.964
We don't want, they're fuzzy.

00:54:24.965 --> 00:54:25.384
They're cute.

00:54:25.424 --> 00:54:25.674
Right.

00:54:25.695 --> 00:54:25.855
Yeah.

00:54:25.865 --> 00:54:26.775
Until they rip up your.

00:54:26.800 --> 00:54:28.440
Um, shed trying to get your garbage.

00:54:28.540 --> 00:54:28.940
Totally.

00:54:28.940 --> 00:54:31.720
And they've got enough to
support the spring hunt, but

00:54:31.870 --> 00:54:32.980
it was, it was voted down.

00:54:33.080 --> 00:54:33.330
Yeah.

00:54:33.570 --> 00:54:35.190
Um, but yeah, the,

00:54:35.200 --> 00:54:35.310
Michael Hunter: the

00:54:35.310 --> 00:54:35.679
Travis Bader: turkey

00:54:35.679 --> 00:54:38.040
Michael Hunter: hunting's the, um,
have you done much bear hunting?

00:54:38.460 --> 00:54:39.280
I have not.

00:54:39.320 --> 00:54:42.770
Uh, so I have a friend that, that runs
hounds after them, which I quite love.

00:54:43.349 --> 00:54:46.890
Um, so it's kind of nostalgic cause
he's got some fox hounds mixed in with

00:54:46.890 --> 00:54:48.460
his walkers and coon hounds and stuff.

00:54:48.780 --> 00:54:50.820
Um, so I I'm really into that.

00:54:50.970 --> 00:54:53.030
Um, I've done some of those
sitting over a barrel.

00:54:53.030 --> 00:54:55.180
I've never actually, actually I
have killed one over a barrel.

00:54:55.540 --> 00:54:57.500
Um, but I find the hounds more fun.

00:54:57.780 --> 00:54:58.100
Travis Bader: Okay.

00:54:58.170 --> 00:54:58.340
Michael Hunter: Yeah.

00:54:58.340 --> 00:54:58.949
In BC, we

00:54:58.949 --> 00:54:59.950
Travis Bader: can't do it over a barrel.

00:55:00.010 --> 00:55:01.149
Can't, can't beat them.

00:55:01.190 --> 00:55:02.199
Alberti can.

00:55:02.239 --> 00:55:02.499
Yeah.

00:55:02.690 --> 00:55:05.160
Um, that's where I shot, shot
one over a barrel was in Alberta.

00:55:05.180 --> 00:55:05.520
Yeah.

00:55:05.930 --> 00:55:09.890
Um, so I've, I've never,
I've never hunted over bait.

00:55:09.939 --> 00:55:10.034
Yeah.

00:55:10.034 --> 00:55:13.380
Um, I think it'd be an
interesting thing to try out.

00:55:13.690 --> 00:55:16.240
I mean, it's, um, Yeah, I feel
like getting eaten by bugs.

00:55:16.260 --> 00:55:16.590
It's great.

00:55:16.620 --> 00:55:18.150
Yeah, I guess so, eh?

00:55:18.700 --> 00:55:22.210
Uh, but yeah, for the, uh, for
those turkeys there, I'll see them

00:55:22.210 --> 00:55:24.450
all over the side of the road in
areas where I can't hunt them.

00:55:24.450 --> 00:55:26.879
And then the second they go out
there in the wild, is morning time

00:55:26.879 --> 00:55:28.140
a better time to get them, is?

00:55:28.520 --> 00:55:28.860
Michael Hunter: Yeah.

00:55:28.860 --> 00:55:31.710
So when we, so when they first,
when I first started hunting them

00:55:31.710 --> 00:55:35.400
here, it was fairly new, um, You
still had to take a turkey, cause

00:55:35.400 --> 00:55:36.340
they were extinct in Ontario.

00:55:36.350 --> 00:55:39.320
So you had to take, they reintroduced
them in the eighties, I believe.

00:55:39.750 --> 00:55:43.520
Um, and now they're flourishing, which
is, which is wonderful for conservation.

00:55:43.530 --> 00:55:49.160
But, um, when I first started hunting
them 22 years ago, uh, you could only

00:55:49.160 --> 00:55:51.059
hunt till like 11 or noon or something.

00:55:51.270 --> 00:55:51.620
Okay.

00:55:51.679 --> 00:55:52.469
You could only shoot one.

00:55:52.490 --> 00:55:55.240
You had to take a turkey course
on how to identify the wild turkey

00:55:55.240 --> 00:55:57.800
and, you know, all the rules and
regulations around turkey hunting.

00:55:58.080 --> 00:55:59.620
You had to take it to a way station.

00:56:00.345 --> 00:56:00.605
Really?

00:56:00.605 --> 00:56:02.105
To have it weighed and recorded and stuff.

00:56:02.495 --> 00:56:04.535
Um, so there was all these strict
rules around turkey hunting.

00:56:04.535 --> 00:56:06.455
So you could, you actually
couldn't hunt in the afternoon.

00:56:06.885 --> 00:56:08.645
Um, now you can hunt in the afternoon.

00:56:08.655 --> 00:56:09.614
They cut it off.

00:56:09.735 --> 00:56:14.654
I think it's till like five because,
um, later than five, they just

00:56:14.654 --> 00:56:16.784
start coming to their roost tree
and they don't want people shooting

00:56:16.784 --> 00:56:18.235
them out of the trees, right?

00:56:19.370 --> 00:56:23.750
I think is the sort of logic behind
that, but, um, they're more vocal

00:56:23.750 --> 00:56:26.090
in the morning, so it's definitely
more exciting for a single morning.

00:56:26.590 --> 00:56:32.779
Um, I actually have had probably better
luck around the 10 AM, 11 AM kind of time.

00:56:33.220 --> 00:56:34.899
At 6 AM, they all fly down.

00:56:35.105 --> 00:56:36.805
And, uh, they start doing their thing.

00:56:36.825 --> 00:56:38.365
So they're, they're chasing their hens.

00:56:38.365 --> 00:56:39.855
They've got their sort of routine.

00:56:40.335 --> 00:56:44.854
Um, if you're calling a dominant Tom,
he's most likely with hens that he's

00:56:44.875 --> 00:56:46.425
been kind of courting all season.

00:56:46.765 --> 00:56:50.264
So when you put up your hen decoy,
or if you're making your hen sounds,

00:56:50.265 --> 00:56:54.374
it's hard to pull the Tom away from,
uh, active, you know, real hen.

00:56:54.874 --> 00:57:00.775
Um, so after that sort of first
sunrise, you know, vocal show and,

00:57:00.775 --> 00:57:03.305
uh, sometimes you'll see them across
the field, but they won't come.

00:57:03.305 --> 00:57:08.145
Um, I think around like nine or 10,
the hens will go back and sit on

00:57:08.145 --> 00:57:09.405
their nests cause they've got eggs.

00:57:09.445 --> 00:57:09.745
Right.

00:57:09.755 --> 00:57:12.755
So then the toms are out cruising,
looking for, looking for love.

00:57:12.815 --> 00:57:13.075
Right.

00:57:13.075 --> 00:57:13.725
Travis Bader: Looking for love.

00:57:13.765 --> 00:57:17.635
You know, that 10 11 window, I
think I've got more game in that

00:57:17.635 --> 00:57:19.504
window than any time of the day.

00:57:19.624 --> 00:57:21.864
And everyone talks about first
light and yes, I've gotten

00:57:21.864 --> 00:57:23.424
game at first light, but, um,

00:57:24.104 --> 00:57:24.334
Michael Hunter: I

00:57:24.424 --> 00:57:25.955
Travis Bader: seem to
get, get more game in

00:57:25.955 --> 00:57:26.525
Michael Hunter: that window.

00:57:26.725 --> 00:57:27.055
Yeah.

00:57:27.105 --> 00:57:30.695
And it's, uh, but yeah, you, you know,
there are definitely, it's like hunting

00:57:30.695 --> 00:57:32.555
is, is like every kind of hunting.

00:57:32.555 --> 00:57:35.985
It's, um, A lot of luck
and, and, uh, it can happen

00:57:35.985 --> 00:57:36.085
Travis Bader: any

00:57:36.085 --> 00:57:36.695
Michael Hunter: time of day, but.

00:57:37.300 --> 00:57:40.280
Travis Bader: Yeah, my buddy,
he says, you know, tip I use is

00:57:40.280 --> 00:57:43.330
I'll drive up to an area and I'll
early morning, I'll honk my horn.

00:57:43.330 --> 00:57:47.190
And if I hear something gobble back at
me, okay, that's where I get out at.

00:57:47.190 --> 00:57:47.810
I'm like, okay.

00:57:48.130 --> 00:57:48.840
Michael Hunter: It's so funny.

00:57:48.840 --> 00:57:50.979
Like you'll hear a train
go by and they'll gobble.

00:57:50.979 --> 00:57:52.340
It's called a shock gobble.

00:57:52.359 --> 00:57:54.469
So they just, they get
startled when they gobble.

00:57:54.760 --> 00:57:54.850
Yeah.

00:57:54.850 --> 00:57:56.510
You slam your car door, they gobble.

00:57:56.900 --> 00:58:00.269
Um, I know some people, they hunt
sort of crown land and they'll gobble.

00:58:00.410 --> 00:58:02.880
They'll drive around and just
kind of call it the truck window.

00:58:02.880 --> 00:58:04.580
And if something answers
back, they shut the door.

00:58:04.580 --> 00:58:08.310
They run out with their gear and they kind
of go set up, you know, 20 yards from the

00:58:08.310 --> 00:58:09.930
road or whatever the legal limit is, but

00:58:10.320 --> 00:58:10.470
Travis Bader: I don't

00:58:10.470 --> 00:58:11.480
Michael Hunter: know how ethical that is.

00:58:11.489 --> 00:58:14.210
But, uh, yeah, it's, there's all,
there's all kinds of ways you can do it.

00:58:14.690 --> 00:58:16.129
So you're working

00:58:16.130 --> 00:58:17.589
Travis Bader: on a new cookbook, perhaps.

00:58:17.629 --> 00:58:18.520
Michael Hunter: Working on a new book.

00:58:18.549 --> 00:58:18.899
Yeah.

00:58:18.899 --> 00:58:22.970
So I, uh, the first one was very
successful and I was really happy with it.

00:58:23.010 --> 00:58:24.970
Uh, definitely a labor of love.

00:58:24.970 --> 00:58:25.330
Yeah.

00:58:25.415 --> 00:58:26.915
Um, and it did really well.

00:58:26.915 --> 00:58:29.365
And, and, uh, my publisher
was, was really happy.

00:58:29.365 --> 00:58:32.585
It sold really well in the States too,
which was, um, you know, really lucky

00:58:32.585 --> 00:58:34.134
for a first time Canadian author.

00:58:34.615 --> 00:58:38.765
Um, and, uh, I've definitely
been a lot more passionate and,

00:58:38.814 --> 00:58:40.835
uh, inspired by cooking outside.

00:58:40.934 --> 00:58:43.714
Um, so I mentioned earlier, the
more time I spend outside, the

00:58:43.714 --> 00:58:45.005
less time I want to spend inside.

00:58:45.495 --> 00:58:48.965
Um, you know, and, and I've just
created some really cool recipes

00:58:48.965 --> 00:58:51.015
cooking out at camps and hunting trips.

00:58:51.095 --> 00:58:55.625
Um, so I wanted to do a book sort of
more focused on cooking outside Uh,

00:58:55.625 --> 00:58:58.795
you know, a little bit of a barbecue
sort of theme to some recipes.

00:58:59.145 --> 00:59:02.585
Um, but, uh, you know, over
the fire, some pizza recipes.

00:59:03.035 --> 00:59:05.394
Um, you know, I, I spoke about canning.

00:59:05.394 --> 00:59:08.415
There's a, a canned moose recipe
in there sort of inspired by my,

00:59:08.415 --> 00:59:09.684
uh, friends from Newfoundland.

00:59:10.195 --> 00:59:15.075
Um, but, uh, yeah, so this, this
next one is over the fire themed.

00:59:15.945 --> 00:59:16.245
I like

00:59:16.245 --> 00:59:16.765
Travis Bader: that a lot.

00:59:16.835 --> 00:59:17.045
Michael Hunter: Yeah.

00:59:17.155 --> 00:59:19.155
Have, have you ever had moose nose?

00:59:19.540 --> 00:59:24.930
I have actually, I had moose nose
in Russia of all places and, uh,

00:59:25.070 --> 00:59:30.055
kind of gelatinous cartilagey,
um, Yeah, definitely interesting.

00:59:30.065 --> 00:59:32.845
I would love to try like
an indigenous recipe here.

00:59:32.865 --> 00:59:33.245
Travis Bader: Right.

00:59:33.295 --> 00:59:36.155
Michael Hunter: Um, cause I think
in, you know, in Russia, Siberia,

00:59:36.155 --> 00:59:37.775
they've kind of got their own recipes.

00:59:38.075 --> 00:59:40.665
Um, but yeah, definitely
interesting, you know, kind of cool.

00:59:40.995 --> 00:59:44.585
Um, would yeah, I'd love to, uh,
I've got some indigenous friends,

00:59:44.605 --> 00:59:48.925
uh, to hit them up for a recipe
or to taste, uh, their cooking.

00:59:49.025 --> 00:59:50.005
Travis Bader: I'd be interested.

00:59:50.055 --> 00:59:50.415
I

00:59:50.415 --> 00:59:50.885
Michael Hunter: haven't had

00:59:50.885 --> 00:59:51.475
Travis Bader: moose nose.

00:59:51.475 --> 00:59:53.495
I hear, you know, in some
cultures that's a delicacy.

00:59:53.535 --> 00:59:53.855
Michael Hunter: Yeah.

00:59:53.935 --> 00:59:57.695
And Russia is very cool, uh,
in terms of culinary, not, not

00:59:57.695 --> 01:00:02.000
their Politics and policies, but,
um, they can serve wild game.

01:00:02.110 --> 01:00:05.620
So, um, my friend that was working there,
I don't think the restaurants open, you

01:00:05.620 --> 01:00:07.660
know, these days with what's going on.

01:00:08.280 --> 01:00:11.320
Um, but he, uh, worked at a
place that everything was wild.

01:00:11.480 --> 01:00:13.710
Like they didn't bring in
anything that was farmed.

01:00:13.810 --> 01:00:16.950
Um, so I went in there and they had this
dry aging room and there was ducks and

01:00:16.960 --> 01:00:18.490
beaver and moose and all this stuff.

01:00:18.610 --> 01:00:21.430
I was like blown away as a chef for me.

01:00:21.430 --> 01:00:22.810
That's, you know, my dream.

01:00:23.090 --> 01:00:28.710
Um, and, uh, Because, you know, unlike
fish, you can't, unless you hunt

01:00:28.730 --> 01:00:33.500
yourself, you can't buy wild game, um,
because of market hunting and, and,

01:00:33.500 --> 01:00:36.310
uh, unless you go to Newfoundland,
um, because, you know, market

01:00:36.310 --> 01:00:38.080
hunting and the 1800s has ruined it.

01:00:38.170 --> 01:00:42.190
So, um, you know, you can buy
wild fish as a non fisherman.

01:00:42.600 --> 01:00:45.900
Um, but you know, I think kind of
people have the right to eat wild game.

01:00:46.030 --> 01:00:49.930
Uh, and I think with some species
that are overabundant, um, you

01:00:49.930 --> 01:00:51.000
know, maybe there's a way to do it.

01:00:51.670 --> 01:00:53.590
So how come Newfoundland
can get around that?

01:00:53.590 --> 01:00:53.959
Works.

01:00:54.440 --> 01:00:55.340
Travis Bader: What's
so special over there?

01:00:55.340 --> 01:00:55.640
There's a couple

01:00:55.640 --> 01:00:58.260
Michael Hunter: of different sort of
theories, uh, and I've spoken to my

01:00:58.260 --> 01:01:01.360
friends out there and they said that,
you know, it's just, it's always the way

01:01:01.360 --> 01:01:03.020
it's been and no one's ever changed it.

01:01:03.050 --> 01:01:07.200
Um, I heard it was a way to sort of cull
the moose cause the moose are non native

01:01:07.200 --> 01:01:08.840
to Newfoundland, the island anyway.

01:01:09.250 --> 01:01:12.610
Um, and they're sort of pushing
out the wild caribou population,

01:01:12.620 --> 01:01:13.700
they're just eating all the food.

01:01:14.170 --> 01:01:17.040
Um, you know, I've heard, you know,
I don't know how accurate it is,

01:01:17.040 --> 01:01:18.280
but there's more moose than people.

01:01:18.280 --> 01:01:19.750
So they're trying to kind of cull that.

01:01:19.760 --> 01:01:19.780
too.

01:01:19.790 --> 01:01:19.900
Yeah.

01:01:19.900 --> 01:01:20.720
I don't know if it's true or not.

01:01:21.320 --> 01:01:22.140
But, um.

01:01:23.125 --> 01:01:24.905
And I've also heard it's a tourism thing.

01:01:24.905 --> 01:01:27.785
They want people to experience
Newfoundland and they did it for tourism.

01:01:28.315 --> 01:01:32.475
Uh, you know, I don't know the, the ins
and outs, the legal stuff behind it,

01:01:32.545 --> 01:01:34.575
but, uh, you know, for them it works.

01:01:34.895 --> 01:01:38.525
Um, I don't know if it's all
species or just some species, but

01:01:38.525 --> 01:01:41.055
again, in terms of conservation,
I think there's a way to do it.

01:01:41.225 --> 01:01:43.225
Um, I definitely don't want.

01:01:44.390 --> 01:01:47.060
Just support my entire
restaurant with wild game.

01:01:47.060 --> 01:01:51.220
But, uh, you know, in certain seasons,
I think there'd be, it would be fun

01:01:51.230 --> 01:01:57.110
to, uh, explore how to do it as a,
as a feature or as a, you know, now

01:01:57.110 --> 01:01:58.450
we can do it as a charity event.

01:01:58.960 --> 01:02:01.960
There's a lot of red tape and, and
hassle that goes along with it.

01:02:01.960 --> 01:02:06.175
But, um, you know, I think if people have
the right to eat it and try it, um, You

01:02:06.175 --> 01:02:09.175
know, we've had some ideas and spoken
to some people about, you know, ways

01:02:09.175 --> 01:02:12.695
that we could try and do it, whether,
you know, every hunter in Ontario

01:02:12.695 --> 01:02:14.515
can get two buck tags a year, right?

01:02:14.565 --> 01:02:21.655
Um, you know, without allotting any more
tags, you know, why couldn't I use one

01:02:21.655 --> 01:02:23.205
of my tags to bring to the restaurant?

01:02:23.315 --> 01:02:27.095
You know, it's, you know, right now
it's against the law, but I think

01:02:27.105 --> 01:02:28.315
it'd be something to consider.

01:02:29.205 --> 01:02:32.945
You know, it might be interesting
for tourism for Ontario and, um, you

01:02:32.945 --> 01:02:35.335
know, I think, I think, you know,
there'd be a lot of controversy.

01:02:35.335 --> 01:02:39.085
We might get the vegans back, you
know, but, uh, you know, for me,

01:02:39.085 --> 01:02:41.985
it's a, I want to share that with
people and I don't like, I don't want

01:02:41.985 --> 01:02:46.025
to necessarily make money off it or
support my entire restaurant with it.

01:02:46.035 --> 01:02:47.465
Cause I don't think you could do that.

01:02:47.535 --> 01:02:48.175
Um, yeah.

01:02:48.500 --> 01:02:52.580
Uh, you know, sustainably, um, but I
would like to share that with people that

01:02:52.580 --> 01:02:56.160
necessarily don't hunt, you know, like
my wild Turkey experience, like, unless

01:02:56.160 --> 01:02:59.330
you go and hunt one or know someone that
hunted one that can gift you that meat,

01:02:59.680 --> 01:03:02.880
which is pretty precious considering all
the work that goes into that little bird.

01:03:02.880 --> 01:03:07.040
But, um, you know, I, I think that,
uh, uh, I think people, people

01:03:07.080 --> 01:03:08.750
would really enjoy that experience.

01:03:09.520 --> 01:03:13.170
Travis Bader: So do you, I'm guessing
you spend more time now outside of

01:03:13.170 --> 01:03:14.590
the kitchen than inside the kitchen.

01:03:14.640 --> 01:03:15.000
Michael Hunter: Yeah.

01:03:15.200 --> 01:03:17.540
Travis Bader: Um, and you spend a
lot of time traveling too, don't you?

01:03:18.200 --> 01:03:18.690
I have.

01:03:18.690 --> 01:03:18.840
Yeah.

01:03:19.930 --> 01:03:20.170
Yeah.

01:03:20.190 --> 01:03:25.360
How was that having a young family,
running a restaurant, traveling?

01:03:25.410 --> 01:03:25.670
Yeah.

01:03:26.105 --> 01:03:27.095
Michael Hunter: How do
you deal with all that?

01:03:27.375 --> 01:03:28.015
Yeah, it's tough.

01:03:28.045 --> 01:03:28.985
You know, we're lucky.

01:03:28.985 --> 01:03:32.885
We have great staff here and I wouldn't
be able to do it if, if we didn't.

01:03:33.175 --> 01:03:36.365
Um, you know, definitely the first
five, we've been here nine years now.

01:03:36.365 --> 01:03:40.395
So the first five years I was here a
lot, um, you know, nights and weekends

01:03:40.395 --> 01:03:43.655
and my whole life, you know, as a
13 year old kid, I've been working

01:03:43.655 --> 01:03:45.525
nights and weekends in restaurants.

01:03:45.525 --> 01:03:46.675
So, um.

01:03:47.260 --> 01:03:49.380
You know, I've got two older
kids and one young kid.

01:03:49.850 --> 01:03:52.360
Um, so now I just, I want to
spend more time with my family.

01:03:52.490 --> 01:03:55.450
So we, I know we've got a great
chef here that, you know, we'll,

01:03:55.450 --> 01:03:58.550
we'll work together on the menu,
uh, but he runs the day to day.

01:03:58.740 --> 01:04:01.050
Um, and I get to see my family.

01:04:01.240 --> 01:04:05.980
So, uh, the traveling thing, you
know, that's, uh, I don't travel,

01:04:06.050 --> 01:04:10.980
uh, You know, I, I, once a month,
I'll take a few days for a trip

01:04:11.000 --> 01:04:12.750
somewhere during hunting season.

01:04:12.750 --> 01:04:16.810
I was, I'm sure you do, you travel more
and, um, on the road more, but I don't,

01:04:16.850 --> 01:04:21.600
I'm not really gone for more than five
days to a week, you know, every month.

01:04:21.930 --> 01:04:22.920
It's still a fair bit.

01:04:23.250 --> 01:04:24.900
It's a fair bit, but you know, I think.

01:04:25.650 --> 01:04:27.520
If I was in the restaurant
every day, I'd never be home.

01:04:27.550 --> 01:04:27.830
So

01:04:29.120 --> 01:04:29.490
Travis Bader: that's the way my

01:04:29.490 --> 01:04:30.700
Michael Hunter: life was
like for a long time.

01:04:30.700 --> 01:04:33.630
So for me, it doesn't feel like a lot,
but, um, I guess, you know, for the

01:04:33.630 --> 01:04:35.270
average family, that's nine to five.

01:04:35.360 --> 01:04:35.650
Sure.

01:04:35.690 --> 01:04:39.210
That seems like a lot, but, um, you
know, my wife used to travel a lot for

01:04:39.210 --> 01:04:41.260
her work, so she really understands it.

01:04:41.700 --> 01:04:45.040
Um, and for me, just on the sort of.

01:04:45.500 --> 01:04:50.550
Business side, you know, now I, I, you
know, I work with some brands, uh, because

01:04:50.550 --> 01:04:55.150
I have a unique, um, you know, niche
that I can write recipes for hunting

01:04:55.150 --> 01:04:58.430
companies and work sort of in the, I
can still work in a food space, but

01:04:58.430 --> 01:05:00.120
in the outdoor space at the same time.

01:05:00.560 --> 01:05:03.570
Um, uh, that, you know, now
it's a source of income.

01:05:03.570 --> 01:05:06.480
So it's, it's, it's my hobby,
but it's also work now.

01:05:06.480 --> 01:05:06.700
So.

01:05:07.745 --> 01:05:08.125
Travis Bader: Yeah.

01:05:08.125 --> 01:05:11.545
You know, there's always that, uh, that
difficulty of making your hobby, your

01:05:11.545 --> 01:05:15.295
work, and all of a sudden the thing you
found so much pleasure and joy in is

01:05:15.605 --> 01:05:18.635
now becoming something that's your work.

01:05:18.635 --> 01:05:18.895
Right.

01:05:19.725 --> 01:05:21.095
Is that something you
have to wrestle with?

01:05:21.175 --> 01:05:22.285
Michael Hunter: A little, a little bit.

01:05:22.295 --> 01:05:24.395
It's not, uh, it's not too bad.

01:05:24.505 --> 01:05:28.870
Um, You know, there was only really
once that I got really frustrated with

01:05:28.870 --> 01:05:31.740
something because it was supposed to
be a deer hunt where we were going to

01:05:31.740 --> 01:05:35.030
film some stuff and it turned into,
no, we're just filming some stuff

01:05:35.030 --> 01:05:37.910
and it's looking like a deer hunt and
I was like, yeah, this isn't cool.

01:05:37.920 --> 01:05:40.410
Like I voiced that pretty clearly.

01:05:40.440 --> 01:05:43.700
Uh, but yeah, it was, it was, that
was probably my only experience

01:05:43.700 --> 01:05:47.750
that wasn't, uh, wasn't fun, but,
um, I'm not a pretend deer hunter.

01:05:48.450 --> 01:05:50.180
I was like, this is no,
no, no, wait a second.

01:05:50.180 --> 01:05:52.370
Like, I'm like, well, it really
doesn't matter if we shoot a deer.

01:05:52.370 --> 01:05:53.900
There's, we've got all the,
we're still at the filming.

01:05:53.900 --> 01:05:54.650
I'm like, no, no, no.

01:05:55.740 --> 01:06:00.190
So, um, but, uh, yeah, for the most
part it's, it's been very positive.

01:06:00.190 --> 01:06:04.310
And, uh, I've met some of my best friends
and closest friends today from the hunting

01:06:04.310 --> 01:06:05.700
community and the outdoors community.

01:06:05.700 --> 01:06:07.780
And it's, um, it's, yeah,
it's been a blessing.

01:06:08.200 --> 01:06:08.460
Travis Bader: Yeah.

01:06:08.460 --> 01:06:14.010
It's, uh, a friend of mine,
he's an instructor and, uh,

01:06:14.090 --> 01:06:15.810
teaches hunter education and.

01:06:16.175 --> 01:06:21.085
Firearm safety and he's, uh, I think
he's, what's in his seventies now.

01:06:21.205 --> 01:06:21.465
Okay.

01:06:21.465 --> 01:06:24.750
Anyways, um, Indo Canadian fellow.

01:06:24.790 --> 01:06:29.260
And he talks about, he says in his thick
accent and telling me about, he says,

01:06:29.260 --> 01:06:32.340
you know, people talk about hunting
and they talk about firearms and they

01:06:32.340 --> 01:06:38.250
say that these are just, um, tools
that will hurt people and that'll bring

01:06:38.250 --> 01:06:42.210
people down and he says, all, all of
my friends, I've met so many people.

01:06:42.210 --> 01:06:42.814
This is.

01:06:42.965 --> 01:06:46.975
Going out hunting and these fires, this
is a tool that I've used my entire life.

01:06:47.245 --> 01:06:51.105
And I've made connections with people that
I'd never be able to talk to otherwise.

01:06:51.615 --> 01:06:54.485
And, uh, he says my closest
relations and friends that I

01:06:54.495 --> 01:06:56.205
have are all because of this.

01:06:56.205 --> 01:06:58.615
And I always liked that
perspective that he had.

01:06:58.685 --> 01:06:58.985
Yeah.

01:06:59.225 --> 01:06:59.655
Um,

01:07:00.170 --> 01:07:00.410
Michael Hunter: Yeah.

01:07:00.410 --> 01:07:01.260
And it's very strange.

01:07:01.260 --> 01:07:06.010
Like in North America, uh, I think it's
changing a little bit, but, you know, I

01:07:06.040 --> 01:07:09.670
think of like, you know, duck dynasty and
these sort of redneck, you know, hunters

01:07:09.670 --> 01:07:13.630
and they, I'm sure they ham it up a bit
to lean more into that, but, uh, you

01:07:13.630 --> 01:07:16.950
know, in, in Europe and other parts of the
world, hunting is a very high class kind

01:07:16.950 --> 01:07:20.020
of nobility type, uh, sport, you know?

01:07:20.380 --> 01:07:23.150
Um, and in North America,
it's really looked down on.

01:07:23.270 --> 01:07:28.480
Um, you know, Um, you know, when you
actually talk to hunters and talk

01:07:28.490 --> 01:07:32.480
about the conservation piece, like all
of the money generated from tags and

01:07:32.480 --> 01:07:36.310
generated from hunting sales in the
States, percentages of those sales go

01:07:36.310 --> 01:07:40.120
towards conservation where, and, you
know, if you look at the whole Africa

01:07:40.130 --> 01:07:43.680
sort of hunting, uh, controversies
that, uh, You know, without the

01:07:43.680 --> 01:07:45.260
hunting dollars, those animals die.

01:07:45.330 --> 01:07:45.730
Right.

01:07:45.880 --> 01:07:50.000
Um, and I was, you know, even as a hunter,
I didn't understand the African thing.

01:07:50.000 --> 01:07:53.720
And I think it was a Cecil the lion sort
of thing that blew up and went viral.

01:07:53.720 --> 01:07:54.960
I was like, you know, that's stupid.

01:07:54.960 --> 01:07:56.020
Why would anyone shoot a lion?

01:07:56.020 --> 01:07:59.610
And then someone actually took the time
to talk to me about, okay, the money

01:07:59.610 --> 01:08:03.200
that is generated by hunting these
animals actually pays for the rangers

01:08:03.200 --> 01:08:04.420
that go in there and protect them

01:08:04.950 --> 01:08:05.120
Travis Bader: because

01:08:05.120 --> 01:08:07.690
Michael Hunter: without, you know,
the, the anti hunting community,

01:08:07.690 --> 01:08:09.490
they don't, Spend enough money on it.

01:08:09.680 --> 01:08:12.480
So it was just sort of fascinating.

01:08:12.480 --> 01:08:15.140
And then when you actually look at
the sort of the, some of the science

01:08:15.160 --> 01:08:19.080
behind animal management that, you know,
some of these animals like lions or

01:08:19.080 --> 01:08:22.750
whatever, that they're, they are hunting
in Africa, they're too old to breed.

01:08:22.760 --> 01:08:24.470
They won't let the younger lions breed.

01:08:24.480 --> 01:08:29.370
It's actually better for the population
if you shoot the oldest dominant one.

01:08:29.790 --> 01:08:29.890
Travis Bader: So

01:08:29.890 --> 01:08:33.105
Michael Hunter: it's kind of fascinating,
you know, not that, uh, You know, I'm not,

01:08:33.165 --> 01:08:35.415
I don't have any desire to go and do it.

01:08:35.855 --> 01:08:39.295
Um, but at least now I understand it
and I'm not sort of ignorant about it.

01:08:39.765 --> 01:08:41.075
You've hunted outside of Canada?

01:08:42.115 --> 01:08:45.295
I have in, uh, in, in the States.

01:08:45.315 --> 01:08:45.865
Yes.

01:08:46.005 --> 01:08:50.815
Um, I think we're, I've done
hunting in Italy, um, with Frankie.

01:08:51.275 --> 01:08:54.135
Um, uh, did some shooting in Brazil.

01:08:54.185 --> 01:08:56.235
There's some things you can do
while bored and stuff like that.

01:08:56.635 --> 01:09:01.160
So, um, Again, I don't think they had
proper sort of management practices

01:09:01.160 --> 01:09:02.800
and, and they sort of banned hunting.

01:09:03.220 --> 01:09:07.390
Um, it's coming back now with, uh,
you know, the invasion of wild boar.

01:09:07.820 --> 01:09:10.910
Um, uh, but I think that's

01:09:10.910 --> 01:09:11.220
Travis Bader: it.

01:09:11.980 --> 01:09:14.790
It's interesting looking at different
cultures and how they approach hunting.

01:09:14.800 --> 01:09:16.780
Like you're saying in Europe, it's, uh, I,

01:09:17.470 --> 01:09:18.170
Michael Hunter: we're all the same.

01:09:18.495 --> 01:09:21.245
Which is like, I've hunted with
Italian guys that we don't speak

01:09:21.245 --> 01:09:23.745
the same language, but we'll
laugh like someone will miss.

01:09:23.745 --> 01:09:25.825
And then they start razzing their
body, you know, like, it's like,

01:09:25.835 --> 01:09:28.725
we're all the same and it's, we're
all doing this for the same reasons.

01:09:28.725 --> 01:09:30.025
And we just want to put food on it.

01:09:30.025 --> 01:09:33.315
Like it's, it's, it's really funny
when you start looking at the different

01:09:33.315 --> 01:09:35.005
cultures, but like, we're the same people.

01:09:35.355 --> 01:09:35.895
Travis Bader: That's it.

01:09:35.945 --> 01:09:38.255
You're connecting with nature,
you're connecting with each other.

01:09:38.325 --> 01:09:38.575
Yeah.

01:09:38.965 --> 01:09:41.395
Uh, you're doing
something that's not easy.

01:09:41.445 --> 01:09:41.625
Yeah.

01:09:41.675 --> 01:09:44.955
There's a shared adversity to it all
and there's a celebration at the end.

01:09:44.975 --> 01:09:45.175
Yeah.

01:09:45.240 --> 01:09:46.810
Yeah, that's pretty cool.

01:09:46.840 --> 01:09:49.470
Is there any, well, what do
you see yourself in the future?

01:09:49.480 --> 01:09:53.060
Where do you see things going with
yourself personally and with Antler?

01:09:53.230 --> 01:09:53.540
Michael Hunter: Yeah.

01:09:53.540 --> 01:09:56.850
You know, we, um, we've been here
for nine years, so it's, we, you

01:09:56.850 --> 01:09:58.050
know, we're struggling with growth.

01:09:58.080 --> 01:10:00.670
We'd, we'd love to grow the
brand and grow the business.

01:10:00.740 --> 01:10:04.010
Um, you know, we've had some bad luck
with the economy and things like that.

01:10:04.450 --> 01:10:07.440
Um, you know, we had a, we were trying
to buy a building during COVID and

01:10:07.440 --> 01:10:11.210
that fell through, um, our interest
rates now with borrowing and real

01:10:11.210 --> 01:10:12.930
estate are really out of whack.

01:10:12.930 --> 01:10:13.210
So.

01:10:13.825 --> 01:10:17.315
You know what, I'd like, I'd love to
grow the brand and maybe, uh, uh, maybe

01:10:17.315 --> 01:10:20.605
a few more locations, maybe a little
bit of a different type of concept.

01:10:20.675 --> 01:10:25.395
Um, one thing we didn't plan on here is,
um, being so meat focused, especially

01:10:25.395 --> 01:10:28.455
with, if I butchered a whole salmon in
front of the window, it might've been a

01:10:28.455 --> 01:10:32.955
lot different for us, but I love seafood
and it's, I love fish and seafood and

01:10:32.955 --> 01:10:35.165
it's, people come here to try game meat.

01:10:35.165 --> 01:10:38.445
So it's, I didn't realize that with the
name and with the thing in the front

01:10:38.445 --> 01:10:40.034
window that, uh, we'd really do that.

01:10:40.505 --> 01:10:46.965
Turn into a wild game kind of steakhouse,
but, uh, nothing's any wrong with that.

01:10:46.965 --> 01:10:50.865
I just, I, I would love to sell more
fish and it's hard with our name, um,

01:10:50.905 --> 01:10:54.585
and concept that we've sort of created,
but, uh, so I'd love to do a bit more

01:10:54.585 --> 01:10:57.185
of a seafood focused concept, um, like

01:10:57.185 --> 01:10:59.095
Travis Bader: a completely separate
restaurant, a different restaurant.

01:10:59.105 --> 01:10:59.485
Yeah.

01:10:59.565 --> 01:11:00.545
Um, that'd be good.

01:11:00.615 --> 01:11:01.005
Yeah.

01:11:01.805 --> 01:11:02.295
Thought up yet?

01:11:02.295 --> 01:11:02.595
I don't

01:11:02.605 --> 01:11:03.045
Michael Hunter: have a name.

01:11:03.045 --> 01:11:04.655
No, finding a name for the
restaurant was actually the

01:11:04.665 --> 01:11:05.955
hardest part of opening restaurant.

01:11:06.035 --> 01:11:06.555
Was it really?

01:11:06.555 --> 01:11:07.315
One of the hardest part.

01:11:07.315 --> 01:11:07.515
Yeah.

01:11:07.515 --> 01:11:09.415
We had hundreds of names
on a white chalkboard.

01:11:09.855 --> 01:11:12.415
Um, and it was very difficult because
once, you know, that name, like

01:11:12.415 --> 01:11:15.945
that's your identity forever, you
know, until you're, until you close

01:11:15.945 --> 01:11:18.215
it, so, uh, or rebrand or whatever.

01:11:18.215 --> 01:11:20.635
But, um, Yeah, I would love,
I would love to work with more

01:11:20.635 --> 01:11:25.635
fish, um, you know, we've got the
other, other book in the works.

01:11:25.745 --> 01:11:27.605
Uh, I'd like to continue
the, the cookbooks.

01:11:27.605 --> 01:11:31.115
I think it's, uh, it helps me as a
chef grow and it's forcing me to kind

01:11:31.115 --> 01:11:32.895
of come up with new ideas and recipes.

01:11:33.465 --> 01:11:36.775
Um, yeah, I'd like to do
some more media stuff.

01:11:36.775 --> 01:11:40.605
I may have a show in the
works and the outdoor space.

01:11:40.755 --> 01:11:49.070
Um, and, um, Just continue to kind of
keep growing as a, as a hunter and a chef.

01:11:49.160 --> 01:11:51.180
Are you writing the
full book front to back?

01:11:51.200 --> 01:11:52.990
You got people helping with certain areas?

01:11:53.200 --> 01:11:57.170
So this, the first book, um, I
definitely had a lot of help.

01:11:57.290 --> 01:11:59.540
Uh, this book, I took
on more of the writing.

01:11:59.650 --> 01:12:00.390
Um.

01:12:00.510 --> 01:12:03.100
Myself, um, which was
a challenge, but fun.

01:12:03.610 --> 01:12:07.220
Um, I, I definitely want to create more
of a team environment for the book.

01:12:07.310 --> 01:12:09.350
Um, my business partner is a photographer.

01:12:09.700 --> 01:12:14.280
One of his sort of jobs that, uh, careers
that he has as a, is in photography.

01:12:14.630 --> 01:12:17.130
So he does, uh, he does
the food photography.

01:12:17.130 --> 01:12:20.560
I actually took a lot of the
landscape and wildlife photography.

01:12:20.560 --> 01:12:20.910
I did.

01:12:21.460 --> 01:12:26.530
I love photography, but I would, I would
love, um, And when I was spoken to,

01:12:26.710 --> 01:12:29.700
you know, guys like Hank Shaw or, or I
actually, I don't know if he has a team,

01:12:29.700 --> 01:12:33.330
but there's a, there's a guy actually
on the East coast, um, chef Michael

01:12:33.330 --> 01:12:35.580
Smith, he's done, I think, 12 books.

01:12:35.850 --> 01:12:36.720
So he's got a team.

01:12:36.720 --> 01:12:39.500
He's got some guys in the kitchen
that help him, the photographers.

01:12:39.850 --> 01:12:42.480
Uh, he does all the writing, but
he's, he's got a team that kind of.

01:12:43.185 --> 01:12:43.735
that help.

01:12:44.085 --> 01:12:45.265
I think it's three or four people.

01:12:45.625 --> 01:12:48.525
Um, yeah, I'd like to, I'd like to
maybe get a little team together for the

01:12:48.525 --> 01:12:51.125
books because it's, it's so much work.

01:12:51.145 --> 01:12:55.015
The, like my books are a hundred
recipes, uh, and the writing, the

01:12:55.015 --> 01:12:56.535
photography, the cooking, everything.

01:12:56.535 --> 01:12:58.755
It's, it's just crazy
how much goes into it.

01:12:58.755 --> 01:13:02.605
And then you have to reshoot stuff
and take multiple takes of things.

01:13:02.605 --> 01:13:04.445
And it's, um, it's very, very difficult.

01:13:04.445 --> 01:13:04.655
So.

01:13:05.185 --> 01:13:07.865
Travis Bader: Well, if you can
template that, you know, Hank, Hank,

01:13:07.865 --> 01:13:09.765
I don't think he's got a team he does.

01:13:09.785 --> 01:13:11.445
He's a very talented writer.

01:13:11.445 --> 01:13:15.605
And I think his photos were mostly at the
one point anyways, was Holly doing it.

01:13:15.755 --> 01:13:16.045
Yeah.

01:13:16.105 --> 01:13:21.745
But, um, uh, I think if you're able
to template that and so everyone's got

01:13:21.745 --> 01:13:23.815
their tasks and you can roll it out.

01:13:24.740 --> 01:13:25.600
That'd be a lot of fun.

01:13:25.620 --> 01:13:28.820
But then of course you're relying on
this whole team, but the same breath,

01:13:28.830 --> 01:13:33.040
then you don't have to necessarily be
the one driving it forward at every step.

01:13:34.710 --> 01:13:36.970
Michael Hunter: Um, definitely
in the writing, the recipes, like

01:13:37.290 --> 01:13:40.210
I'm great at scribbling a recipe
or in my phone, in my notes.

01:13:40.210 --> 01:13:43.080
But when it comes to, you know,
putting it in the cookbook format,

01:13:43.090 --> 01:13:46.720
it's a very special Particular
format and, uh, uh, the list of

01:13:46.720 --> 01:13:48.310
ingredients has to match the method.

01:13:48.310 --> 01:13:52.540
And it's, yeah, it's definitely,
uh, definitely, uh, a

01:13:52.540 --> 01:13:54.340
challenging, challenging work.

01:13:54.410 --> 01:13:55.290
Do you do much baking?

01:13:55.880 --> 01:13:56.740
I love baking.

01:13:56.820 --> 01:13:57.050
Yeah.

01:13:57.090 --> 01:13:57.340
Yeah.

01:13:57.340 --> 01:14:02.230
I actually, uh, my business partner and
I did a, uh, bread course in Chicago

01:14:02.230 --> 01:14:06.110
with a, um, uh, master, uh, French baker.

01:14:06.670 --> 01:14:10.725
Um, just to kind of, uh, You know,
learn some more about sourdough and

01:14:10.725 --> 01:14:12.895
natural, uh, yeasts and stuff like that.

01:14:12.895 --> 01:14:14.165
But yeah, I love baking.

01:14:14.165 --> 01:14:16.885
I love pizza, uh, even pastry.

01:14:16.885 --> 01:14:18.155
I love the pastry kitchen.

01:14:18.655 --> 01:14:21.525
So just a lot of chefs will
specialize and some chefs, they,

01:14:21.535 --> 01:14:24.025
they don't hate pastry and they
hate baking and sort of vice versa.

01:14:24.065 --> 01:14:25.445
But, uh, yeah, I love it all.

01:14:25.815 --> 01:14:26.105
I love it.

01:14:26.105 --> 01:14:27.425
I just, I love challenging.

01:14:27.425 --> 01:14:30.735
I love going down the rabbit hole of
information and figuring things out.

01:14:31.105 --> 01:14:35.105
Um, recently I, I had a
sort of distilling and.

01:14:35.640 --> 01:14:40.290
Uh, moonshining sort of rabbit hole during
COVID, um, which was interesting and fun.

01:14:40.300 --> 01:14:42.820
And then I later found out
completely illegal in Canada.

01:14:43.180 --> 01:14:43.950
Well BC,

01:14:43.980 --> 01:14:44.740
Travis Bader: you can actually do it.

01:14:44.800 --> 01:14:45.400
Oh, cool.

01:14:45.430 --> 01:14:45.730
Yeah.

01:14:45.730 --> 01:14:46.110
I didn't know that.

01:14:46.120 --> 01:14:46.340
Yeah.

01:14:46.380 --> 01:14:48.830
You can have a, you're just not
supposed to be selling it, I guess.

01:14:48.870 --> 01:14:50.559
But aside from that, you can have stills.

01:14:50.560 --> 01:14:50.880
Yeah.

01:14:50.950 --> 01:14:51.530
Michael Hunter: Very cool.

01:14:51.590 --> 01:14:53.660
Travis Bader: Um, I think,
I say, not that I would.

01:14:53.670 --> 01:14:54.579
Yeah, I haven't

01:14:54.580 --> 01:14:57.610
Michael Hunter: checked that out, but,
um, but because of that and my hobby

01:14:57.610 --> 01:15:01.110
and learning about fermentation, we
actually, um, developed a gin, uh, with

01:15:01.110 --> 01:15:05.180
a local distillery, uh, called Nickel
Nine and we're doing a cedar gin.

01:15:05.385 --> 01:15:07.695
So gin is usually juniper forward.

01:15:08.045 --> 01:15:11.225
Uh, one of our cocktails in the
early days of antler and we still

01:15:11.225 --> 01:15:13.395
have today is a cedar gin sour.

01:15:13.815 --> 01:15:17.465
So we're taking gin, uh, we're trying
to figure out ways we incorporate

01:15:17.475 --> 01:15:19.125
foraging into the cocktail menu.

01:15:19.605 --> 01:15:22.735
So we started infusing, you know,
store bought gin with just the

01:15:22.735 --> 01:15:24.725
green cedar boughs, like the leaves.

01:15:25.255 --> 01:15:27.740
Um, and it kind of, Had this
beautiful forest flavor.

01:15:27.740 --> 01:15:31.350
So we, uh, you know, it took a while
to figure out how long to infuse it.

01:15:31.480 --> 01:15:33.670
You know, if you do it too long,
it goes Brown and you're going

01:15:33.670 --> 01:15:35.000
to get more of a woody taste.

01:15:35.440 --> 01:15:36.830
Um, so I think it's a couple of days.

01:15:36.830 --> 01:15:40.420
We do it with that green leaf
from the Cedar and it has a very

01:15:40.420 --> 01:15:42.260
fresh kind of foresty flavor.

01:15:42.290 --> 01:15:44.860
And then we do a, like a
Cedar gin sour with that.

01:15:45.350 --> 01:15:50.360
Um, so, you know, post COVID and
my moonshining sort of a hobby.

01:15:50.730 --> 01:15:53.220
Um, we wanted to put this
in a bottle and sell it.

01:15:53.480 --> 01:15:56.465
So, um, Uh, now, yeah, now we
have the antlered cedar gin.

01:15:56.555 --> 01:15:57.245
I see right there.

01:15:57.255 --> 01:15:58.125
Besides behind you there.

01:15:58.145 --> 01:15:58.865
Get a picture of that later.

01:15:58.935 --> 01:15:59.495
But yeah, I had

01:15:59.495 --> 01:16:00.265
Travis Bader: some last night actually.

01:16:00.265 --> 01:16:01.030
It was fantastic.

01:16:01.030 --> 01:16:02.165
Yeah, it was very good.

01:16:02.255 --> 01:16:03.615
Michael Hunter: Uh, so that's
kind of how that happened.

01:16:03.615 --> 01:16:04.825
There's another project.

01:16:04.855 --> 01:16:08.585
Uh, I love, um, tapping, uh, trees
for maple syrup in the spring.

01:16:09.225 --> 01:16:12.575
So I want to try and use that and,
and to, uh, to distilled sort of,

01:16:12.575 --> 01:16:15.045
um, a product that we're working on.

01:16:15.435 --> 01:16:15.595
You guys have a

01:16:15.595 --> 01:16:17.025
Travis Bader: lot of sugar
maples around here, don't you?

01:16:17.025 --> 01:16:17.375
Yeah.

01:16:17.585 --> 01:16:18.095
Yeah, especially

01:16:18.095 --> 01:16:19.025
Michael Hunter: on north of the city.

01:16:19.375 --> 01:16:23.365
Um, one of the farms where I grew up,
um, I play on the neighbor's farm.

01:16:23.525 --> 01:16:28.115
Uh, my mom sold the farm long ago,
but, um, I still go up and tap the

01:16:28.115 --> 01:16:31.435
neighbor's trees and my business
partners cottage we tap up there.

01:16:31.895 --> 01:16:35.365
Um, and just sort of for our own use,
you know, I make about 50 liters,

01:16:35.365 --> 01:16:38.455
I think a year, which is not enough
for the restaurant, but we'll do some

01:16:38.455 --> 01:16:39.725
little features or dinners with it.

01:16:39.725 --> 01:16:41.025
But most of it is just for home.

01:16:41.330 --> 01:16:41.750
Travis Bader: Okay.

01:16:41.790 --> 01:16:46.740
And so 50 liters, that's going to
be like, how many to make 50 liters?

01:16:46.740 --> 01:16:47.090
How much?

01:16:47.090 --> 01:16:48.460
That's a ton to make 50 liters,

01:16:48.460 --> 01:16:48.690
Michael Hunter: isn't it?

01:16:48.700 --> 01:16:52.490
I find that it's depending on the season,
but you generally get a liter per tap at

01:16:52.490 --> 01:16:54.440
the end of the year, a finished syrup.

01:16:54.560 --> 01:16:55.010
Travis Bader: Okay.

01:16:55.020 --> 01:17:00.380
Michael Hunter: So it's anywhere from
20 liters to 40 liters of, of raw sap.

01:17:00.545 --> 01:17:02.415
Boiled down to make one liter of syrup.

01:17:02.445 --> 01:17:02.905
That's crazy.

01:17:02.935 --> 01:17:03.965
And that depends on the tree.

01:17:03.965 --> 01:17:07.795
So a sugar maple has a higher sugar
content than like a red or silver maple

01:17:07.795 --> 01:17:09.675
or where you guys are, the big leaf maple.

01:17:09.705 --> 01:17:10.035
Yeah.

01:17:10.375 --> 01:17:12.955
Um, but yeah, they all have sugar.

01:17:12.955 --> 01:17:15.295
It's just the actual species of tree.

01:17:15.295 --> 01:17:17.865
The sugar maple, uh, has
a higher sugar content.

01:17:18.105 --> 01:17:20.135
Travis Bader: We've got family
in Nova Scotia who will do it.

01:17:20.585 --> 01:17:24.035
I've never done it back in BC
because it's, I don't know.

01:17:24.035 --> 01:17:25.024
I I've heard people do it.

01:17:25.025 --> 01:17:25.515
Birch.

01:17:25.565 --> 01:17:25.955
Michael Hunter: Yep.

01:17:26.095 --> 01:17:26.265
Yeah.

01:17:26.265 --> 01:17:26.865
You do birch syrup.

01:17:26.875 --> 01:17:28.785
Birch syrup happens, they run later.

01:17:28.795 --> 01:17:32.205
So you can actually make maple syrup
first and then the birch starts running.

01:17:32.905 --> 01:17:36.805
Maples, uh, they stop running when
that, when they start to bud and the

01:17:36.805 --> 01:17:38.275
snow melts, they're kind of done.

01:17:38.375 --> 01:17:40.545
Um, what happens when it freezes at night?

01:17:41.075 --> 01:17:43.855
and thaws during the day,
the sap flows up the tree.

01:17:44.295 --> 01:17:47.465
They're trying to feed the, the,
the, the buds to grow leaves.

01:17:47.885 --> 01:17:51.665
Um, and then once the snow melts, uh,
the birch start running for some reason.

01:17:52.645 --> 01:17:54.665
Travis Bader: Is there anything
that we haven't talked about

01:17:54.805 --> 01:17:55.655
that we should be talking about?

01:17:55.655 --> 01:17:56.595
I'm sure there's lots,

01:17:56.725 --> 01:17:59.515
Michael Hunter: but, uh, yeah,
that's it that comes to mind.

01:17:59.845 --> 01:18:00.315
Okay.

01:18:00.365 --> 01:18:00.975
Well, I'm looking

01:18:00.975 --> 01:18:01.385
Travis Bader: forward to

01:18:01.385 --> 01:18:01.835
Michael Hunter: when you're

01:18:01.935 --> 01:18:03.275
Travis Bader: over here in BC

01:18:03.275 --> 01:18:03.395
Michael Hunter: or.

01:18:03.395 --> 01:18:04.505
Yeah, I'll let you know.

01:18:04.825 --> 01:18:06.425
I've taken up spearfishing.

01:18:06.855 --> 01:18:07.215
Yeah.

01:18:07.265 --> 01:18:10.475
Uh, I love, I love throwing
out crab and prawn traps.

01:18:10.575 --> 01:18:11.355
BC is great.

01:18:11.365 --> 01:18:11.985
I love BC.

01:18:11.985 --> 01:18:12.505
Well, guess what?

01:18:12.505 --> 01:18:13.375
I've got prawn traps.

01:18:13.575 --> 01:18:14.505
You're really awesome, man.

01:18:14.505 --> 01:18:14.995
Let's hang out.

01:18:15.105 --> 01:18:15.605
And spears.

01:18:15.845 --> 01:18:16.405
Oh, amazing.

01:18:16.405 --> 01:18:16.665
Cool.

01:18:16.675 --> 01:18:16.985
Yeah.

01:18:17.025 --> 01:18:17.765
Travis Bader: I got a, um.

01:18:17.835 --> 01:18:20.295
A couple of spearguns, but
you know what I prefer to use?

01:18:20.295 --> 01:18:21.665
It's just a Hawaiian sling.

01:18:21.725 --> 01:18:22.225
Oh, really?

01:18:22.245 --> 01:18:22.635
Yeah.

01:18:22.775 --> 01:18:23.365
What do you use them?

01:18:23.895 --> 01:18:28.405
Michael Hunter: So I've only done it once
and, uh, a friend of my wife's actually,

01:18:28.405 --> 01:18:31.795
who I've become really great friends
with, uh, he's a, I think carpenter

01:18:31.835 --> 01:18:34.875
contractor by trade and he's, he makes
his own spear guns on the Island.

01:18:34.875 --> 01:18:38.205
So it's, it's, I think it's
Bickerson, Brett Bickerson, Bickerson

01:18:38.205 --> 01:18:39.815
spear guns from Vancouver Island.

01:18:39.815 --> 01:18:40.575
I'll have to check it out.

01:18:40.575 --> 01:18:40.765
Yeah.

01:18:40.795 --> 01:18:44.625
So he does their kind of a wooden,
uh, frame or stock, I guess.

01:18:45.045 --> 01:18:47.995
Um, and then he's got the rubber
bands and the metal spears.

01:18:48.395 --> 01:18:50.415
Well, you've done some
work with meat eater too.

01:18:50.895 --> 01:18:51.355
Yes.

01:18:51.405 --> 01:18:51.705
Yeah.

01:18:51.745 --> 01:18:52.655
So Kimmy Werner.

01:18:52.930 --> 01:18:53.330
Yes.

01:18:53.380 --> 01:18:54.570
Have you done anything with her?

01:18:54.810 --> 01:18:59.250
I've met her at a Traeger barbecue
conference, which was awesome.

01:18:59.250 --> 01:18:59.850
She's great.

01:19:00.180 --> 01:19:02.890
Um, I haven't actually
worked or connected with her.

01:19:02.940 --> 01:19:05.770
Um, I haven't been to Hawaii
in a while, but, uh, yeah, I'd

01:19:05.770 --> 01:19:06.460
love to do something with her.

01:19:06.460 --> 01:19:06.960
She's great.

01:19:07.160 --> 01:19:07.950
Travis Bader: Interesting.

01:19:08.400 --> 01:19:08.770
Okay.

01:19:08.790 --> 01:19:09.820
Michael Hunter: Well,
we'll talk more off air

01:19:09.820 --> 01:19:10.460
Travis Bader: here, but, uh,

01:19:10.840 --> 01:19:12.300
Michael Hunter: thank you so
much for being on the podcast.

01:19:12.300 --> 01:19:13.810
Thanks for having me and coming to Antler.

01:19:13.810 --> 01:19:14.240
This is great.

01:19:14.410 --> 01:19:15.520
Travis Bader: Oh, I really enjoyed it.

01:19:15.520 --> 01:19:16.180
And are you kidding me?

01:19:16.180 --> 01:19:17.170
I'm definitely gonna be back here.

01:19:17.230 --> 01:19:17.470
This is.