Order of Man - OoM 029： Hunting, Fishing, Wildgame Recipes, and Harvesting Nature with Justin Townsend

00:00:00.000 The earliest skill sets of men included the ability to hunt, game, and provide for the tribe.

00:00:03.940 In fact, a man's ability to survive and protect and provide for his family and himself is still a primary mark of a man.

00:00:10.220 This week I have a conversation with Justin Townsend about hunting, fishing, and harvesting nature to do just that.

00:00:15.740 We'll talk about using nature as a resource to provide, how to create lasting memories in the outdoors with your family,

00:00:20.940 and everything you need to get started on your own hunting adventures.

00:00:24.420 You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest.

00:00:27.480 Embrace your fears and boldly chart your own path.

00:00:30.160 When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time, every time.

00:00:34.860 You are not easily deterred or defeated, rugged, resilient, strong.

00:00:39.920 This is your life. This is who you are.

00:00:42.460 This is who you will become at the end of the day.

00:00:45.380 And after all is said and done, you can call yourself a man.

00:00:50.660 Men, welcome back to the Order of Man podcast.

00:00:52.900 My name is Ryan Michler and I am the founder of Order of Man.

00:00:56.380 I'm glad you're back here this week.

00:00:57.840 We've got a great one lined up.

00:00:59.380 We always do with you today about one of the earliest skill sets that man has learned to master,

00:01:05.320 and that is hunting.

00:01:06.320 But I've got a couple of quick announcements that are exciting that I want to share with you

00:01:09.880 before we jump into the conversation.

00:01:11.640 First of all, I do this every week, but I want to say thank you to those of you who have left reviews.

00:01:15.620 Specifically this week, Vernon Foster, he has this to say about our show.

00:01:19.540 I love that Ryan has created a space for men to speak the truth and be vulnerable.

00:01:24.140 Too often we get caught up in ego of self and trying to live up to the expectations society has placed on us.

00:01:29.800 This show will challenge you to think about your real purpose and the legacy you want to leave behind.

00:01:34.840 Vernon, I appreciate you taking time to leave a review.

00:01:37.360 Guys, if you haven't left a review for us just yet, I know you're going to,

00:01:41.100 but I want to just send a quick reminder.

00:01:42.600 Head over to orderofman.com slash iTunes.

00:01:45.420 Take two quick minutes and do just that if you would.

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00:03:01.660 I'll also be doing an Order of Man meetup in Las Vegas that weekend for anyone that

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00:03:06.120 So be sure if you are going to go to that, be sure to email me at ryanatorderofman.com

00:03:11.100 so I know who to expect.

00:03:12.860 Now, you know this already, but all the show notes, the links and the best quotes for this

00:03:16.980 episode and my conversation with Justin can be found at orderofman.com slash 029.

00:03:22.560 Now, let me introduce you to my guest, Justin Townsend.

00:03:25.460 Justin has been a hunter and an angler since he was a child.

00:03:28.360 In fact, he's now teaching these skills to his two-year-old, so I know that it runs in

00:03:32.840 their bones.

00:03:33.320 He was raised in southeastern Oklahoma where fishing and hunting was used as a way to supplement

00:03:38.920 homegrown and store-bought food.

00:03:41.060 Justin moved away from home to college where he's able to fine-tune his culinary skills

00:03:45.140 as a professional chef.

00:03:47.520 And then as time progressed, Justin combined his passion for the outdoors and his love for

00:03:51.600 food and he created the online publication Harvesting Nature where he is the editor-in-chief and

00:03:57.180 he's also a pro staff member at First Light.

00:04:00.420 Today, we're going to talk all about Harvesting Nature.

00:04:03.280 Justin, thanks for joining us.

00:04:04.400 Glad to have you here today, man.

00:04:05.940 Thank you.

00:04:06.500 It's great to be on.

00:04:07.820 So I'm looking forward to our conversation.

00:04:09.400 One of the things that I have looked a little bit about what you're doing is you talk about

00:04:13.400 sourcing food from nature.

00:04:15.240 I'd like to hear a little bit more about what that is and why you think that's so important.

00:04:18.240 Okay, so basically kind of the whole purpose with Harvesting Nature is we look to promote

00:04:26.580 sourcing your meat from the wild, both wild fish and wild game through the means of going

00:04:34.260 out yourself, putting the time to research, plan, spend time with your family to get out

00:04:40.240 there and really, you know, hunt and fish as a way to, you know, to supplement the fruits

00:04:46.160 and vegetables you may have or other food that you may eat.

00:04:49.420 But this is kind of a, as we see it, a more responsible way to take command of your food

00:04:55.080 and sort of provide for your family.

00:04:57.240 Right.

00:04:57.440 And so what makes it more responsible?

00:04:59.540 Why do you take that approach and what are your thoughts behind that?

00:05:01.680 So if you go in the supermarket nowadays, I mean, most people go in, you look at the meat

00:05:06.100 counter, you look at the, you know, the shelves that have all the meat on there, you, you look

00:05:09.920 at that and it's just meat, you know, a lot of times many Americans and many people all

00:05:14.060 over the world are really disconnected from your food.

00:05:16.100 You don't know where it came from, what's its origins, where the, the life it lived previous

00:05:22.360 to it being packaged, sort of wrapped up and for sale on the shelf.

00:05:26.600 So the responsible side of it would be that you're sort of taking command in knowing that

00:05:32.300 once I'm out there and I select the animal that I'm going to harvest, that that animal

00:05:37.880 is being responsibly handled by myself.

00:05:41.240 And it's going through the process where I know its origins.

00:05:44.980 I know that it, you know, it lived a good life.

00:05:47.340 It, it died a clean way and it's sort of, you know, is, is coming from the field directly

00:05:52.600 to my table for my family.

00:05:54.600 So in a sense, it's kind of a strong connection of, of where your food comes from that I think

00:05:59.900 inherently as humans, we had a long time ago.

00:06:02.500 And then just through the years of, of growth of agriculture and growth of industrialization,

00:06:07.440 we've, we've sort of lost it.

00:06:09.180 It sounds like it's more than just a connection with, you know, knowing where the food came

00:06:14.320 from.

00:06:14.660 Obviously that's, that has its health benefits, but it sounds like for you, it has way more

00:06:18.400 benefits than just beyond the health side.

00:06:21.260 Sure.

00:06:21.780 And, and for me, it lies in, you know, I, I grew up in a rural setting in Southeastern Oklahoma

00:06:26.660 and now I live in, in San Diego, California, which is a lot of busyness, a lot of going

00:06:31.480 around.

00:06:31.900 So getting out into wilderness, you know, sort of for food, for sure, my food allows me the

00:06:36.720 opportunity to kind of get back out, reset my batteries.

00:06:38.920 It, it helps fulfill my, my natural sense of adventure and, you know, that inkling I

00:06:43.840 have to kind of be out nowhere and just truly experience, you know, a lot of nature has to

00:06:49.080 offer.

00:06:49.660 How difficult is it for you to get out into nature where you're in more of an urban environment?

00:06:54.100 Is that, is that pretty, pretty far ways away?

00:06:56.740 I mean, what do you suggest to guys who maybe are more in an urban environment and want to

00:07:00.060 get out and do some of the things you're talking about?

00:07:01.880 Sure.

00:07:02.060 I mean, in, in most urban settings, like you will find a rural environment, a national

00:07:06.840 park, a state park, or, you know, a place to sort of get away from it all within just

00:07:11.860 a couple hours.

00:07:13.000 For me personally, if I want to go, you know, if I want to fish the oceans right here, it's

00:07:17.580 less than, you know, 10 miles away from my house.

00:07:19.740 If I want to go up to the mountains, it's a, you know, a 45 minute to an hour drive,

00:07:23.880 depending on where I want to go.

00:07:25.400 That was one of the challenges when I first moved here was sort of just researching and

00:07:29.000 seeing, you know, where should I go?

00:07:30.380 What should I do?

00:07:31.440 Connecting with local hunters and local anglers to kind of figure out the best spots to get

00:07:36.360 away to.

00:07:37.160 What do you think for somebody who's listening and, you know, is, is, is thinking, Hey, this

00:07:42.300 is something that I am interested in that I want to learn more about.

00:07:44.860 Where does someone start when it comes to harvesting nature to get out there, to start

00:07:48.880 fishing, start hunting, if they don't have any background in it from before?

00:07:51.840 There are, I mean, there's a number of resources online that, you know, you can Google or search

00:07:58.040 to look and see, you know, how to get started in hunting, how to get started in fishing.

00:08:03.520 I mean, a lot of it's very basic, but one thing I recommend to almost everybody that sort

00:08:08.640 of connects and ask that question is find somebody local, find a friend.

00:08:12.400 I mean, a lot of people in this day and age are connected via social networks, via, you know,

00:08:17.760 Facebook, the social media.

00:08:20.180 So someone's always got a friend of a friend that may do that and just sort of bounce questions.

00:08:25.060 That's one of the responsible things as a outdoorsman that I take on is it's always,

00:08:31.340 you always are seeking to sort of educate people who want to know.

00:08:34.520 And I think that's, that's fairly common across the board.

00:08:37.720 Right.

00:08:37.860 It sounds like it's a pretty open community.

00:08:40.020 I obviously there's a lot of hunters.

00:08:41.680 I'm in Southern Utah and the community is really open.

00:08:44.100 And everybody wants to go out and track together and talk about, you know, what they saw.

00:08:48.240 And so it's, it's pretty interesting.

00:08:49.980 And I, and I think you're absolutely right.

00:08:51.600 You can always find help, right?

00:08:53.700 What do you have a, uh, that a hunt or an experience that's maybe stands out as something

00:08:59.760 extremely memorable for you?

00:09:01.400 Let's see.

00:09:02.020 I mean, there's, there's a lot of hunts that stand out as memorable because me, it's sort

00:09:05.780 of rooted in family.

00:09:06.900 I mean, growing up, my grandfather would take me, you know, if I think from the age of eight

00:09:11.180 or nine, we would go out and that was sort of a, a ritual is like every Thanksgiving,

00:09:14.920 that's when our, uh, our general, uh, whitetail rifle season was in Southeastern Oklahoma.

00:09:20.540 So he would always like secure us a place to go hunting or we'd go hunting on my uncle's

00:09:24.940 land.

00:09:25.180 And it was sort of the chance for me and him to just get out and just spend time with

00:09:29.700 each other for me to learn growing up and for him to teach me.

00:09:32.880 So it's always in my mind is something that stood out.

00:09:35.840 And then even just beyond the hunt itself, you know, that following day or two days later,

00:09:40.480 when we all sat down with family to Thanksgiving meal, you know, there's, there's fresh venison

00:09:44.820 on the table that the family's of course, you know, wanting to hear about how, you know,

00:09:48.340 where did it come from?

00:09:49.360 Who shot it?

00:09:50.440 You know, it's just that moment of pride to you feel cause you know that the food that's

00:09:54.760 going on the plate is feeding your family and they're looking as you as the provider,

00:09:58.420 even though you may be an eight or nine year old little kid.

00:10:00.780 So it's great.

00:10:02.340 Yeah.

00:10:02.780 It sounds like you've turned that more into your, I guess your family has turned that into

00:10:06.560 a family tradition rather than just this thing that we have to get done.

00:10:09.460 Right.

00:10:09.720 It is.

00:10:10.920 And, uh, you know, growing up, it, the wild game and wild fish was a way to sort of supplement

00:10:15.640 what we had, you know, able to provide or grow or even get in the store, but it sort of has

00:10:21.160 grown into more as I've gotten older.

00:10:23.220 Do you have kids?

00:10:24.180 I do.

00:10:24.640 I have a two year old daughter.

00:10:26.360 Oh, so she's probably not hunting yet.

00:10:28.400 She's not hunting yet, but she, she knows she's been out with us, um, and seen us, you

00:10:33.320 know, uh, hunt rabbits, not any big game or anything getting too far out, but you know, rabbit

00:10:37.860 hunting and, uh, fishing a lot.

00:10:39.980 She loves to go fishing.

00:10:40.900 So I try to get her involved as much as I can just so that she can get the experience

00:10:45.860 and, you know, truly understand that, you know, the animals out there that we're hunting,

00:10:49.480 we're not just out there hunting.

00:10:50.600 We're, we're bringing that back and that's food.

00:10:52.860 Well, and I think that's a big issue right now because you have the big uproar about,

00:10:56.400 you know, Cecil, the lion and how everybody's upset about that.

00:10:58.980 Talk to me a little bit about those that maybe think that what you're doing is, is not

00:11:02.740 right.

00:11:02.980 Cause I'm sure there's a lot of people that believe that and, and how you counter that

00:11:06.500 argument.

00:11:07.240 Sure.

00:11:07.440 And so you have really, I think in the past growing decades, hunting has sort of got a

00:11:13.360 really bad rap because people looked at it more from the trophy side.

00:11:16.620 So you go out there, you're looking for this, you know, huge animal with this huge, like,

00:11:21.140 you know, antlers there, the racks just amazing.

00:11:23.940 And that's what people out there chasing when that in all fact is just a small, small percentage

00:11:30.180 of the hunting community of itself.

00:11:32.400 Most of the hunting community are just like everyday guys and gals who are going out there

00:11:37.160 just in the pursuit of, you know, the very same thing that I am just adventure of getting

00:11:41.640 out because they enjoy being in nature.

00:11:43.580 They love the raw beauty and they love and respect the animals, you know, in hunting that,

00:11:47.820 that sort of brings it all together for them because they can go out and fulfill their

00:11:51.940 need for food, which is, I think the main reason that most people get out and go hunting

00:11:57.420 in that sorts.

00:11:58.920 Right.

00:11:59.040 I know for us when, you know, the hunting season comes around and we have venison or we

00:12:03.060 have elk meat in the fridge, like not only is that it's satisfying because, you know,

00:12:07.660 we, we provided, we took care of that, but then also just to have enough and to be, to

00:12:12.560 know that we'd be okay.

00:12:13.640 Right.

00:12:14.040 To have that storage built up.

00:12:15.720 Yeah.

00:12:16.120 Cause I mean, there's, there's always the instance that, you know, something happens and, uh,

00:12:20.160 you know, power goes out at the grocery store and they lose all their supply or, you

00:12:23.680 know, some natural disaster hits.

00:12:25.120 And if you know that you can fall back on your, your own provisions versus relying on

00:12:30.480 someone else to provide it, it provides a sense of comfort that's, that doesn't exist

00:12:34.520 a lot nowadays.

00:12:35.940 Right.

00:12:36.380 And I think that's just a manly characteristic or a manly trait to be able to provide for

00:12:40.800 yourself anyway.

00:12:41.520 So I think what you're saying is right on, what are your, uh, what are your fridges

00:12:45.240 look like?

00:12:45.660 Are your freezers that you have?

00:12:46.720 Do you have some big freezers?

00:12:47.700 I'm curious about that.

00:12:48.660 I do.

00:12:48.920 I have one big freezer.

00:12:50.380 Um, right now it's getting pretty sparse cause we're actually, we'll be next month,

00:12:54.260 we'll be rolling into the beginning of our, our sort of hunting season.

00:12:57.140 So right now we're, I've got kind of my meat in the freezer on reserve and we've been

00:13:01.620 going fishing a lot.

00:13:02.580 So a lot of the, the meat's been coming from either freshwater fishing or saltwater fishing.

00:13:07.140 Oh, right.

00:13:08.100 So yeah.

00:13:08.540 And then you'll stock that up with, with venison and elk.

00:13:11.740 I'm assuming as that comes up.

00:13:13.520 Yeah.

00:13:13.760 So we're, uh, we've got a couple of trips planned this year where we're headed to, uh,

00:13:17.140 the Sierra Nevada mountains to, uh, for mule deer and black bear all in the same trip.

00:13:21.700 And then we're headed up to, uh, Wyoming in October to hunt antelope up there.

00:13:26.640 So those will be the, the big freezer fillers this year.

00:13:30.160 What's the most difficult animal to hunt for you?

00:13:32.980 What's in your experience?

00:13:33.980 Oh, I mean, it, it's, that's a hard question to answer because, you know, each animal, uh,

00:13:40.060 and each environment that the animal lives in presents new challenges and, you know,

00:13:44.280 difficult challenges as well.

00:13:46.200 Honestly, probably, and it may sound funny hunting, um, hunting mule deer in, in Southern

00:13:52.320 California, uh, the mule deer, we kind of a mule deer, uh, black tail cross down here

00:13:57.380 and sort of hunting them has proved the most difficult because they're, they're fairly elusive.

00:14:02.160 There's not a lot of natural resources for them to thrive on down here.

00:14:05.640 So the population is very, very sparse.

00:14:07.700 And that's just something that I've been, uh, acclimating to over my time spent here.

00:14:13.160 Yeah.

00:14:13.620 That makes it pretty difficult, right?

00:14:15.280 Mm-hmm.

00:14:16.020 What, uh, you talk about respecting the animal.

00:14:19.720 And I think that's a side that a lot of maybe animal activists don't see.

00:14:23.720 They just see, think that you're killing a, uh, a harmless animal and an innocent, an innocent

00:14:29.040 creature and you're not going to harvest the meat.

00:14:32.560 What is it that you respect about the animals?

00:14:35.080 Because obviously it sounds like you've come to love and appreciate what they are.

00:14:40.100 And then of course, what they provide.

00:14:41.320 Tell me a little bit about that.

00:14:42.560 Sure.

00:14:42.760 And I mean, that's, you're absolutely correct in that first and foremost.

00:14:45.520 Like I, I respect the animal, you know, one for the life that it led.

00:14:49.320 And two is it's, it's being blessed upon me to provide for my family.

00:14:52.980 So that's one of the major things and sort of, I think it's the responsibility of the

00:14:58.320 hunter to, to get out there.

00:15:00.940 Once you've made the decision to pull the trigger, you know, that that animal is going

00:15:04.860 to fall, that you do the responsible thing.

00:15:08.320 And one, take care of it.

00:15:09.960 You know, don't waste, don't, you know, don't waste the meat.

00:15:13.380 Don't leave a bunch of meat.

00:15:14.360 Take what you can take all that you can so that you can responsibly use it, which would

00:15:19.600 be, you know, preparing it in a proper way as far as eating it.

00:15:22.980 So do you do, so obviously rifle hunt, um, archery as well, muzzleloader, what, what

00:15:27.660 are, what is it that you're primarily hunting or how you're hunting the, the, the means of

00:15:32.080 hunting, I guess.

00:15:33.000 Sure.

00:15:33.340 Um, right now, primarily it's going to be, uh, uh, rifle hunting being in the West.

00:15:38.160 It's a, we're hunting public land, a lot of big tracks, you know, several hundred or

00:15:42.300 thousand acres land, and we're going out and backpacking and actually camping and sort

00:15:46.140 of moving around and hunting.

00:15:47.060 So it's primarily rifle because we're looking at animals who at a distance of two to 300 yards

00:15:52.580 can sort of steve your movements and move away.

00:15:55.100 So we're, we're training and practicing and going out for these sort of long distance

00:16:00.300 shots on these animals.

00:16:02.280 How are you training?

00:16:03.400 What is your training skill?

00:16:04.260 Obviously there's, there's training with your weapons and there's probably physical training

00:16:08.060 as well.

00:16:08.400 What does that look like for you?

00:16:09.440 Um, so I'll go ahead and start with the weapons.

00:16:12.480 I mean, we go out, we'll shoot, um, you know, we sight our rifles in anywhere between a hundred

00:16:17.120 to 200 yards and we sort of go out every couple of weeks and practice with our rifles,

00:16:21.900 just get familiar, make sure that we're keeping them clean to maintain all through that.

00:16:25.940 There's no faults in any equipment.

00:16:27.860 And then going out and spending some time on a, the 200 yard range as well, just shooting,

00:16:33.020 working with a range master.

00:16:34.200 And then the physical side of it is kind of an everyday thing.

00:16:38.160 Um, I personally, I do a lot of high intensity training.

00:16:42.120 So, you know, sort of the more popular CrossFit workouts that you're building your core, your

00:16:47.120 legs, your shoulders, and your back, cause you're going to be carrying, you know, a 30,

00:16:51.060 40 pound pack.

00:16:51.920 And then if you get meat, you're looking at another 60 to a hundred pounds on top of that.

00:16:55.760 And then, you know, we have the luxury here in Southern California that we have a lot of

00:17:00.080 mountains around here.

00:17:00.860 So at least once or twice a week, you know, we're putting on a 30 pound pack, or I even

00:17:05.740 have a backpack for my daughter that we'll carry in and we'll go hike up and down the

00:17:09.220 mountain, excuse me, just sort of make a day of it so that we can get out there and get

00:17:13.420 our exercise in and sort of rope it in and spend some time with some family as well.

00:17:17.220 And it's so valuable to have that preparation.

00:17:19.320 I mean, I don't know if you've ever been on a hunt or any activity where you weren't adequately

00:17:22.840 prepared.

00:17:23.380 I'm sure you've got experiences with that and just think about how much harder it is, right?

00:17:27.420 Oh yeah.

00:17:27.920 And it's especially, you know, in the West, you're, you're hunting places where you may

00:17:31.980 have the potential to, you know, go several thousand feet in elevation gain over just

00:17:36.140 a short period.

00:17:37.160 And if you're not physically fit for that, if you're not trained up for that, then making

00:17:41.080 it up that incline or making it over the next hill is it one, it's, it feels like I'm

00:17:46.540 hindering myself from doing what I came out here to do, but also three in the back of

00:17:49.920 your mind, you're like, there's probably the best deer over that next ridge and I can't

00:17:55.900 get there.

00:17:57.280 And that's gotta be frustrating.

00:17:59.340 Yeah.

00:17:59.660 And so just getting out there too.

00:18:01.480 And also, you know, one of the people, one of the things I don't think people consider

00:18:05.020 a lot is the more physically fit you are, the less prone you are to injury.

00:18:08.420 And if you get an injury out in the back country where you're, you know, five to 10 miles away

00:18:12.980 from the nearest emergency service provider, that puts you in now a life threatening situation.

00:18:19.300 So training to prevent things like that is also, you know, something in the front of

00:18:24.780 my mind.

00:18:25.940 So let's talk about that because obviously you need to be prepared and I'm sure you have

00:18:30.640 some degree of, you know, first aid training or you know a little bit about that.

00:18:33.980 What, to what degree do you, do you know about first aid and how to, how to take care of

00:18:37.860 yourself in a situation like that?

00:18:39.860 Um, I mean, personally, I, uh, going through college and then sort of right after college,

00:18:44.220 I spend a lot of time working in the security industry, uh, working in hotels, restaurants,

00:18:49.700 nightclubs and stuff like that.

00:18:50.480 So we were taught a lot of first aid sort of on the spot, but I've also took it upon

00:18:54.580 myself to sort of research, you know, wilderness first aid.

00:18:58.760 Uh, there are a lot of military first aid guides that are really good because they, they

00:19:03.260 believe it or not, tend to put you in the same situations where you're far away and just

00:19:06.680 sort of have to use what's on hand at the time, but sort of familiarizing yourself

00:19:12.000 and keeping yourself sort of in tune with what's going on as far as like the first aid

00:19:16.820 world and reading and researching will certainly help, but always having a good first aid kit.

00:19:22.100 Um, I carry one, a small person, one on myself.

00:19:24.940 Sometimes I'll carry a large one in my pack, but usually whoever, at least one person in

00:19:29.320 our party will have, you know, a full size first aid kit that we'll, we'll carry that

00:19:33.080 allows you to treat most basic injuries that aren't life threatening.

00:19:38.480 Right.

00:19:39.000 Yeah.

00:19:39.200 And if, and if it was something like that, then I assume, you know, you'd, you'd call

00:19:41.980 in at that point or make emergency preparations or something like that at that point.

00:19:45.860 Yeah, absolutely.

00:19:46.560 And when we're far back country, we have a, a GPS monitor too, that, that allows you to

00:19:51.820 signal sort of for, for emergency services to come, come out and find you and they'll,

00:19:56.780 they'll come out and rescue you and assess whatever damage at that time.

00:20:00.100 So, so there's emergency training, survival training, obviously, you know, your way around

00:20:05.320 a weapon, a rifle.

00:20:06.160 What other types of skills do you feel like men should develop as they're looking into

00:20:11.980 harvesting nature and, and doing these sorts of things that you're talking about?

00:20:16.000 Two major things come to mind.

00:20:17.540 One would be sort of, you need to kind of have a biological sense of where you are and where

00:20:22.440 you're going, not just for the sense of the pursuit, but, you know, think about if we want

00:20:27.260 to touch back on safety, like what time of year is it?

00:20:29.900 Am I going to have any other predator animals out there that I'm going to have to keep an

00:20:33.640 eye out for, you know, bears, mountain lions, you know, even be rattlesnakes should, I should

00:20:39.120 always be mindful of my environment of where I'm going and sort of researching possible

00:20:44.140 scenarios that I may encounter to sort of mentally prepare myself a little better for

00:20:48.100 that situation.

00:20:49.080 The other thing I would like to tie back into sort of that being responsible and taking care

00:20:54.980 of the animal, researching butchering techniques, packing meat, cleaning it, all those things

00:21:01.000 are very important because if you're a couple miles away from where your, your ice chest

00:21:05.220 is, you know, it may take you two trips if you're going three or four miles to carry all

00:21:10.720 the meat back and you need to know how to one, quickly and adequately get it off the animal

00:21:16.120 and then two, to get it back without, you know, losing meat or causing damage or, you know,

00:21:22.040 eventually down the road making your family sick if that was the case.

00:21:25.400 So let's talk about that a little bit.

00:21:27.780 I mean, to what degree are you breaking down the animal and, you know, what does that process

00:21:33.000 look like just generally because I know it's different for every animal that you're, you're

00:21:36.560 hunting but what does that look like for you and on a long hike like you're talking about?

00:21:40.540 I mean, it varies animal to animal.

00:21:42.460 What you're going to look at is something you have to think is once the animal is down in

00:21:46.920 front of you, you have some major components which you want to take or that you may want to

00:21:51.240 take depending on, you know, the availability of hauling the weight.

00:21:54.980 You'll look at, you know, if they have antlers or their skull, the hide, if it's an animal

00:22:00.740 that you may want to keep the hide to tan or to reuse or to give to someone or the main

00:22:06.100 focus would be the meat.

00:22:06.980 So each animal has a different amount of meat but what you want to focus on would be, you

00:22:12.360 know, the quarters which would be the front and back shoulders, the left and right hinds 0.83

00:22:18.480 and then, you know, any tenderloin or back strap.

00:22:22.160 Uh, neck meat is, is a often unused element and are you going to take ribs?

00:22:27.920 Are you going to leave the bones completely or are you going to take everything off the

00:22:31.220 bones?

00:22:31.480 These are all sort of considerations that you have to run through your mind once that

00:22:36.580 animal's down because, you know, within a matter of minutes, the temperature outside,

00:22:40.800 even though it may be September, October, November, maybe in the seventies and all of a sudden

00:22:45.520 you're dealing with meat that has the potential to go bad if you don't get it cooled down

00:22:48.820 quick enough.

00:22:49.820 So how many guys do you typically hunt with and then do you all have tags or are you just

00:22:53.400 feeling one tag at a time and helping each other out?

00:22:55.780 Um, it, it varies, uh, animal to animal.

00:22:58.560 Um, on this most recent, uh, September trip where we're going to go up to Sierra Nevada is

00:23:02.660 it's going to be probably, uh, myself and then one of, uh, the guys that I regularly hunt

00:23:07.000 with and he's actually got a mule deer tag and I'm going up with him to sort of scout

00:23:11.260 and help out.

00:23:11.840 But I've also, uh, purchased an over-the-counter, uh, black bear tag as well so that the area we're

00:23:17.620 going at is known for a good population of black bears.

00:23:21.540 So if that opportunity presents itself, I certainly want to be prepared and, you know,

00:23:25.700 have the tag on hand.

00:23:27.560 So let's talk about another component of your website.

00:23:29.720 Obviously you've got this hunting component and the tracking and the actual, you know,

00:23:33.220 shooting and all of that, but then you've got this other component, which is the recipe

00:23:36.320 component and how to then prepare this food to make it enjoyable, right?

00:23:41.000 Yes.

00:23:41.340 So tell me a little bit about why that, how you got into that, maybe even some of your

00:23:46.140 favorite recipes.

00:23:47.400 Sure.

00:23:47.760 So I started off, uh, cooking in college first started off in catering and then moved my way

00:23:53.420 into, uh, working in a regular restaurant and sort of, I always have, have grown up with

00:23:58.040 a passion for food.

00:23:58.920 And, you know, I saw my grandmother and, you know, other family members preparing wild game

00:24:02.960 and stuff like that.

00:24:03.620 And sort of, as I went to college, it kind of got put on the back burner, but I still learned

00:24:07.660 to cook a variety of things and learn to prepare and sort of write recipes and really tune that

00:24:11.680 ability.

00:24:12.700 And then once I got out of school and moved out here to California, I was able to sort

00:24:17.680 of take those skills and apply it to the real world.

00:24:20.220 And I was like, man, what a great idea.

00:24:22.120 Let's take wild game and let's make it one easy, straightforward, and really delicious

00:24:28.580 for people to prepare.

00:24:30.440 And so that sort of evolved the whole concept of, of writing and sharing those recipes.

00:24:35.260 Some of those favorites, I mean, I, I've done some, uh, corn venison Reuben sandwich, which

00:24:41.320 is probably it's up there on the top, top favorites.

00:24:44.560 And that's sort of, if you look at the, the gourmet versus the non gourmet, I guess that

00:24:49.060 would be on the, the lower non gourmet side where, you know, some others we've, uh, a friend

00:24:54.060 of mine has brought me some salmon from Alaska and we took it, you know, seared it off, mix

00:24:58.560 it with, um, some purple sweet potatoes, some squash, and just really got a nice fresh seasonal

00:25:04.920 dish out of it, which was a little more on the gourmet side than just, you know, a sandwich

00:25:08.840 or, you know, venison corn dogs or something like that.

00:25:12.560 Right.

00:25:12.660 So it sounds like, and a lot of it's probably just trial and error, right?

00:25:15.580 Just trying new things, testing new things out.

00:25:17.880 Yeah.

00:25:18.280 And that's, that's exactly right.

00:25:19.600 It's something I talk, you know, when people ask me about cooking, you know, how do you get

00:25:22.980 into it?

00:25:23.400 How did you start all that?

00:25:25.060 It's just, you're going to fail.

00:25:26.720 I guess it's sort of one sort of failing with, with grace, but two also realizing that you

00:25:33.260 are going to fail and having the confidence to try something anyway.

00:25:36.200 So have you made something that's like completely inedible?

00:25:39.200 You just took a bite and you're like, I can't do this.

00:25:41.360 Um, I have, I mean, there's, there's been dishes like that and usually you can doctor it

00:25:45.900 up to the point, uh, that you can come back from it.

00:25:49.140 But I tried to, uh, replicate this pemmican recipe and sort of use some coconut oil.

00:25:55.160 And I did, uh, venison jerky and ground it up and sort of made like this paste like bar

00:26:00.940 thing, but, uh, ended up putting too much cardamom in it and it came out with like a

00:26:05.700 really overpowering off flavor.

00:26:07.620 And I was just like, I still have the bar in my fridge and my wife's like, are you ever

00:26:11.480 going to eat those?

00:26:12.140 And I'm like, give me time, give me time.

00:26:14.660 So, so, so do you eat them or are they still in there?

00:26:17.880 Uh, they're still in there.

00:26:19.980 So in a, in a bad enough situation, you would be able to have those and need, and eat

00:26:25.120 them if you needed them, right?

00:26:26.340 Oh yeah.

00:26:26.680 And I, I still pluck one off and throw it in my pack.

00:26:29.100 You know, if we, if we're going out for a day trip or something, I'll, if I get absolutely

00:26:33.460 hungry and don't have anything else, I'll snack on it.

00:26:35.380 Cause it's, it's a pemmican sort of a, an American Indian recipe that takes dried meat

00:26:40.880 and dried berries and they mix them with fat.

00:26:42.960 And I substituted the fat for coconut oil.

00:26:46.000 So basically you get this high protein, high calorie boost of energy just off eating one

00:26:50.700 of the, one of these bars.

00:26:52.080 And so if you're out hiking and moving around, it's the perfect meal.

00:26:55.460 Yeah.

00:26:55.620 Sounds like it.

00:26:56.440 Awesome.

00:26:56.980 Well, let's talk about equipment a little bit.

00:26:58.820 What, what type of equipment do you, do you have?

00:27:01.040 What type of equipment do you recommend for somebody who maybe is just getting started?

00:27:04.720 What should they be looking at in terms of clothing or, uh, you know, backpacking gear or

00:27:10.460 even, even down into the rifles and the weapons you're using?

00:27:13.720 Sure.

00:27:14.080 Um, I mean, you know, there, there are several different styles of hunting all over the country

00:27:18.820 that, that require you to have different types of equipment.

00:27:21.540 It's sort of the joke that, uh, me and my friends have, you never kind of catch up on

00:27:24.980 needing to buy something, either something fails or you're like, oh, this is new and

00:27:28.980 it would be great to have.

00:27:30.200 But basically I think everybody should start in, in the essence with just the beginning.

00:27:35.900 Like you're going to hunt with a bow.

00:27:37.560 You're going to hunt with a rifle.

00:27:38.640 Does your state only allow you to hunt with a shotgun?

00:27:42.180 I mean, sort of researching a lot of what's going on with local laws and stuff will dictate

00:27:46.800 what type of weapon you need.

00:27:49.120 Um, beyond that, uh, the style of hunting you're going to go in would be, you know,

00:27:55.560 are you going to be hunting out West where you're going to have, you know, large tracks

00:27:59.080 of land, you're going to be hiking a lot.

00:28:00.520 Are you going to be, you know, like in the Southeast heading out to a tree stand and sort

00:28:04.700 of driving your truck, walking 50 yards and sitting in a tree stand that would also kind

00:28:09.100 of dictate what equipment you needed.

00:28:11.020 And then, um, various other situations would be what animal type.

00:28:14.460 Cause you know, if I'm going out deer hunting, I'm going to, I'm going to need my camouflage,

00:28:18.800 my pack, my rifle, skinning knife, all that.

00:28:21.640 But if I'm going duck hunting, it's going to be a shotgun.

00:28:24.060 I need waders, you know, I need a cooler.

00:28:26.240 I need things to bring the ducks back and to carry them decoys.

00:28:29.680 It's just, uh, dependent on the animal.

00:28:31.740 Um, as far as a specialized equipment, I mean that I use, I I'm pretty basic, uh, binoculars,

00:28:38.360 rifle, my pack.

00:28:39.800 I, uh, I carry just a basic backpack with, uh, it has a two liter water reservoir in

00:28:44.920 it and, you know, kind of the, the camel pack, if you will.

00:28:49.060 And, um, you know, rifle, I use a, a Savage axis.

00:28:52.940 It's a 308 caliber rifle, which 308 is a good caliber to where you can hunt almost any animal

00:28:58.900 in the United States with, uh, pretty easily as far as big game.

00:29:02.180 And then, uh, camouflage, my camouflage of choice is first light.

00:29:06.460 They have a merino wool camo, which is, which is really lightweight and durable.

00:29:11.440 So if you're out in the field, um, certainly where weights a constraint, having multi layers

00:29:16.700 that are super lightweight and will dry quickly and don't have a lot of odor, uh, certainly

00:29:22.020 helps and plays in a key factor and sort of the success of your hunt.

00:29:25.640 We'll make sure we make links to some of those because I know some guys are going to want

00:29:29.080 to go back and see a little bit about what you're talking about.

00:29:31.500 So we'll make links available on the show notes.

00:29:33.820 What, uh, what type of hunt do you recommend someone start with?

00:29:36.640 I mean, is it, Hey, go on a deer hunt.

00:29:38.340 Is it, you know, go hunt ducks.

00:29:40.340 What type of hunt would be a good starting point?

00:29:43.980 I guess you would.

00:29:44.580 Um, I guess in its basic form, probably one of the easier hunts to get into would be,

00:29:52.420 you know, small game, rabbit, squirrel, things like that, uh, upland game birds.

00:29:57.640 So you have dove, pheasant, chukar, a lot of those different, um, upland game birds are

00:30:03.080 relatively easy.

00:30:04.020 I mean, if you know somebody with a field, you know, that will allow you, you know, to

00:30:08.740 come out and hunt there, that, that would be a good starting point.

00:30:11.680 It sort of depends.

00:30:12.760 I mean, I grew up deer hunting first cause that's what my family did.

00:30:15.760 So if you sort of make that connection with someone and whatever style of hunting they're

00:30:20.720 doing now, I would recommend just, you know, trying it out.

00:30:23.560 And it's not to say you have to do that forever, but it gives you a good launching pad to sort

00:30:28.080 of bridge over to different hunting types and network and meet people who may show you

00:30:32.120 different things.

00:30:33.120 Yeah.

00:30:33.560 I mean, between that, what, what the people around, you know, and then also something with

00:30:37.540 a high success rate, I imagine is, is something that's valuable as well.

00:30:41.220 So you actually want to be out there again, right?

00:30:43.180 Exactly.

00:30:43.640 I mean, personally, myself, Southern California, there's not a lot of water, so we don't get

00:30:48.220 out a lot to go duck hunting, but growing up in Oklahoma, there was a ton of water.

00:30:52.920 So going duck hunting was something that was relatively easy to do.

00:30:56.340 So sort of knowing what sports more popular in your area is a good way to approach it.

00:31:02.820 Yeah.

00:31:03.120 Especially if you're considering, you know, bringing your, your children into it and things

00:31:06.920 like that.

00:31:07.300 Cause I know over time, you know, they'll get, they'll get bored and antsy and things like

00:31:11.320 that.

00:31:11.640 I, that's actually something that I deal with is that I get, I get bored, which causes

00:31:16.140 frustration.

00:31:16.660 I get antsy.

00:31:17.400 What are some of the things that you do?

00:31:19.560 I mean, it sounds like a lot of hiking and things going on.

00:31:21.420 Are there some activities or things that you do to keep your mind on the task at hand rather

00:31:25.340 than veering off and getting bored?

00:31:28.480 I mean, or is that not an issue you deal with?

00:31:31.000 No, no, no.

00:31:31.400 It is certainly an issue.

00:31:33.000 I've dealt with, I've dealt with it since I was, you know, a young boy in the deer

00:31:35.920 stands sort of growing up.

00:31:37.160 I was always like, you know, you'd sit there for two or three hours and you're like, I'm

00:31:40.580 cold.

00:31:40.960 I'm stiff.

00:31:41.440 I've been sitting in the deer stand since six o'clock this morning and it's now 10.

00:31:45.100 And then you get down, go to the truck.

00:31:47.160 And on the way back out, you see like the huge buck that would have walked past your stand

00:31:51.720 had you stayed another 20 minutes.

00:31:53.760 It's sort of, I've unfortunately been faced with that a lot.

00:31:57.180 Uh, the good thing about the style of hunting now, this Western hunting, getting out is

00:32:01.280 that, you know, you're sitting on a hilltop and you're glassing the furthest hill or whatever

00:32:06.040 point you feel comfortable shooting at and sort of watching and looking.

00:32:09.220 So there's always that interesting fact that at any given second, any given moment, something's

00:32:13.420 going to move or something's going to come out or something's going to crest the hill.

00:32:16.740 So that adds an element of interest to it.

00:32:18.640 But honestly, I've seen people do a number of things.

00:32:22.280 You know, uh, one of my friends, he, he hunts, uh, up in Western Pennsylvania and some of

00:32:28.040 his family members, they hunt out of big box blinds there.

00:32:31.060 And his uncle, you know, has like a, a heater in his stand and he reads a newspaper and sort

00:32:36.440 of just, it's more than a hunt to him.

00:32:38.780 It's his relaxation point to kind of go out there away from it all and, you know, enjoy

00:32:42.460 his newspaper and a thermos full of coffee.

00:32:44.680 So there, there are several things.

00:32:46.960 I mean, I think it's okay to obviously, you know, you won't, your main focus when you're

00:32:50.800 out there wants to be, to be the hunt.

00:32:52.720 But if you have things that you can do, you know, maybe if you want to sit out on the side

00:32:57.720 of the field and read a book while you're watching for deer, I mean, I see nothing wrong

00:33:02.300 with that.

00:33:03.340 Yeah.

00:33:03.740 Just, just whatever you want to, whatever you want it to be.

00:33:06.120 Right.

00:33:06.320 I mean, it's, it's your time.

00:33:07.380 It's your activity.

00:33:08.080 Make it something that's going to be enjoyable for you.

00:33:10.020 And, and that's absolutely it too.

00:33:11.360 The moment that you sort of take that enjoyment factor out of it, that then presents a self

00:33:17.020 challenge.

00:33:18.120 And why am I here?

00:33:18.960 Why am I out here?

00:33:19.640 Why am I doing this?

00:33:21.040 And, you know, is it something that I'm making myself do or is it something that I'm excited

00:33:25.540 to get up every morning to go out and do?

00:33:28.400 Yeah.

00:33:28.800 Cause I'm sure with, with guys, I mean, we have a tendency to be obviously competitive

00:33:32.180 and then we, we sometimes can get obsessed with certain tasks and it's like you said,

00:33:36.180 no longer enjoyable.

00:33:37.180 It's, we feel like either we have to, or we're just taking it to this level that it's no longer

00:33:40.760 enjoyable for us.

00:33:42.440 So I know, I know a lot of hunters pride themselves on what their longest shots are.

00:33:47.400 So I'd be really curious what your longest shot is and what your closest shot is.

00:33:52.700 Probably longest shot, maybe 150 yards.

00:33:56.320 Mm-hmm.

00:33:57.420 Shortest shot.

00:33:58.640 I mean, if you're talking about rabbits or duck or something, you know, with a shotgun,

00:34:01.800 it's going to be fairly close.

00:34:03.580 Sure.

00:34:03.840 Um, shortest shot, probably maybe five, 10 yards away.

00:34:08.180 Yeah.

00:34:08.560 So really close.

00:34:09.600 Mm-hmm.

00:34:10.000 Well, Justin, this has been such a great conversation.

00:34:11.920 I've got a couple other questions as we wind things down.

00:34:14.320 Um, the first, the first question I have for you, which I didn't prepare you for this.

00:34:17.920 So I'm throwing you in under the bus here a little bit and I'm on the spot is what do

00:34:21.780 you think it means to be a man?

00:34:24.060 Um, for me to be a man, I mean, it's, you know, to be responsible, respectful, to treat

00:34:30.640 everyone as an equal and how you want to be treated, be responsible for your family, you

00:34:36.880 know, take charge of, of the aspects of your life and sort of, you know, if things fail,

00:34:43.300 figure out why they failed, work with your family to find a solution, be a good example

00:34:48.440 for your family, for your friends, for everyone and inspire others to do great things through

00:34:54.960 your actions.

00:34:56.100 So I guess live, live a bold and, you know, great life in any way that you can.

00:35:01.400 Great explanation.

00:35:02.800 Hey, if we want to learn more about what you're doing with Harvesting Nature, whether it's

00:35:06.960 recipes or some of the activities and the hunts and the things that you're doing, how

00:35:10.140 do we connect with you?

00:35:10.800 How do we learn more about what you're doing?

00:35:12.460 Um, so we're on, um, all the major social media platforms.

00:35:16.200 Uh, you can look us up by Harvesting Nature and of course our website, which is www.harvestingnature.com.

00:35:22.480 Uh, we put out, uh, almost daily articles that range anywhere from hunting to fishing to

00:35:29.220 wild game recipes, to preparing physical, physically for hunts and, uh, getting outdoors as well

00:35:36.280 as just, uh, you know, some great photo essays and things like that.

00:35:40.900 Uh, we also, you know, we have 20 riders that are located all across North America that contribute.

00:35:45.940 So we get a really wide range of personalities and opinions and experiences that, that allow

00:35:51.940 just about anybody to connect with what we're really striving to do.

00:35:55.620 Awesome.

00:35:56.080 Again, we'll make, uh, we'll make that all available in the show notes so people can connect

00:35:59.920 with you.

00:36:00.280 But Justin, I really appreciate your time.

00:36:02.000 Glad you were here.

00:36:03.240 Glad you shared some of that insight.

00:36:04.500 I know it's going to inspire some guys to get out there and start taking advantage of

00:36:07.480 some of the stuff that's available for them.

00:36:08.820 So thanks again for being on the show.

00:36:10.660 Great.

00:36:10.740 No problem.

00:36:11.180 Thank you so much for having me.

00:36:13.060 There you go, guys, Mr. Justin Townsend.

00:36:15.060 I hope that you were inspired to take action on some of those skills that are as old as men.

00:36:19.400 You can see why Justin loves it so much and how he's been able to develop these skills

00:36:23.260 and create some very cool memories with his family as well.

00:36:26.300 I know that's something that fathers out there like myself really are trying to create.

00:36:30.280 So now you have an opportunity to do that.

00:36:32.020 Now, again, if you enjoyed the show, if you learned something new, if you're feeling generous

00:36:35.540 or you just want to say thank you for the information we're putting out there, if you

00:36:39.500 would take two quick minutes, head over to order of man.com slash iTunes and leave your

00:36:43.860 rating and review.

00:36:44.800 I'd love to hear those.

00:36:45.580 And I will try to feature one in an upcoming show.

00:36:47.840 If you'd be willing to jump over there and do that for us.

00:36:50.200 Now, quick reminder again, the thrive conference, October 16th and 17th.

00:36:54.660 If you use those codes, I mentioned before brotherhood one nine seven or brotherhood three

00:36:59.940 nine seven, you'll save over 70% on the ticket prices and you'll have the opportunity to

00:37:05.000 learn about entrepreneurship from some of the world's best entrepreneurs.

00:37:09.560 And then lastly, you'll be able to have the meetup with me and some of the other guys from

00:37:13.540 order of man.

00:37:14.080 And I'll be looking forward to meeting you there.

00:37:15.540 You just got to email me if you do want to go.

00:37:17.400 So I know, and you, again, you can email me at Ryan at order of man.com.

00:37:21.900 And then if you go to thrive, las Vegas.com, enter one of those codes, brotherhood one nine

00:37:27.660 seven or brotherhood three nine seven at checkout.

00:37:29.740 You'll be able to get those discounts guys.

00:37:31.840 I look forward to talking with you next week, but until then take action and become the man

00:37:36.060 you were meant to be.

00:37:37.920 Thank you for listening to the order of man podcast.

00:37:40.760 You're ready to take charge of your life and be more of a man.

00:37:43.680 You were meant to be, we invite you to join the order at order of man.com.

Order of Man - October 01, 2015

OoM 029： Hunting, Fishing, Wildgame Recipes, and Harvesting Nature with Justin Townsend

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