A quick chat with author, outdoor advocate Steven Rinella of “MeatEater”

Rinella has written six books about hunting, fishing, wildlife, and wild-game cooking.

When he isn’t working, hunting, or fishing, Rinella enjoys cooking for friends and guests. He says he thinks he’s fed more game meat to more nonhunters than anyone in the country.

During an interview with the Outdoor Network, Rinella said it’s all about the meat.

“Hunting must ride on food,” he said. “It’s the only thing we all respond to. My living room is all horns, hides, racks and skulls. I never get tired of looking at them, but they have no impact on people who don’t hunt until you cook venison for them. Then we talk about the hunt, wildlife populations, what I prepared, the rules governing the hunt, and the culture of a hunting area. When you tie hunting to food, it speaks to people.”

Rinella recently took time from his work and travels – which keep him on the road half of the year – to answer some questions from Outdoor News.

ON: If God put a gun to your head and asked, “Perch or crappies?” what would you choose and why?

Rinella: Yellow perch. As a native of the Great Lakes and a lifelong resident of northern tier states, I remain a yellow perch loyalist.

ON: You fish often with fly rods, spinning rods, tip-ups, and spears. If you had to choose one method for now and forever, what would it be?

Rinella: If I really had to pick one setup, it’d be my halibut rod with a level-wind reel loaded with 80-pound braid. But man, I’d miss my spear gun and tip-ups.

ON: You often weave history and archaeology into your work when writing, hosting podcasts, and producing TV shows and documentaries. When you were in school, did you consider becoming a historian or archaeologist?

Rinella: No, I didn’t. I wasn’t really aware of those professions. I knew I wanted to be a trapper. Failing that, a writer.

ON: Were you always interested in cooking, and what’s the first dish you made?

Rinella: I was always interested in wild-game cooking.

My dad used cooking as a way to celebrate the harvest of wild game. Slicing and frying a deer heart is the first preparation that I attempted.

ON: Is there any animal whose meat you found hard to eat?

Rinella: Only dog and monkey.

I still can’t describe how coyote tastes. And in Vietnam, I ate dog meat seven straight nights, but I still couldn’t tell you what that tastes like, either. I could never get past my own psychological hangups. With every bite, I felt like I was eating part of every dog I’ve ever known, even though much of the world eats dog meat regularly.

ON: You respect cultural differences, and you often challenge hunters and anglers to evaluate their own dogmas, attitudes, and cultural beliefs. What do you find interesting about those discussions?

Rinella: Some people who oppose hunting lead ridiculously hypocritical lives, but that’s not unique to anti-hunters. What about the catch-and-release guy who lets every fish go all day, but then orders fish that night for dinner? Why is it OK to kill that fish? Where did that one come from? How much do you know about it? Don’t you think any of those commercially caught species get overfished, and that you might have something to do with it?

ON: You’ve offered dating, marital, and career advice on your podcasts. Do you believe in five-year plans for careers and businesses?

Rinella: It’s not that I don’t believe in them, it’s just that I’m not good at thinking that way. I focus on what’s next.

ON: MeatEater has performed well on the Sportsman Channel and Netflix for over 10 years. Are there any numbers, rankings, ratings, or viewership data that you regularly cite to impress folks about MeatEater’s success?

Rinella: You already cited the most compelling piece of data: 10 years!

ON: For years on TNN, ESPN, and other cable networks, hunting shows weren’t allowed to broadcast scenes with blood, guts, tallow, blood trails, or even skinned-out hindquarters. In contrast, MeatEater has never shied away from the sights and sounds of blood, field-dressing, and breaking down animals. Have you met resistance when sharing your straight-forward depiction of life/death scenes?

Rinella: I’m always amazed by how little blowback we get for that. Because we place all that blood within its broader context of life, death, and food, it’s not as startling as it otherwise might be.

ON: You’ve said “skunker” episodes perform well with MeatEater viewers. How about episodes involving animals that are wounded and lost?

Rinella: I don’t know that our skunkers perform well in terms of total audience numbers, but our diehard fans definitely appreciate them. Same with episodes dealing with lost animals. Many hunters appreciate seeing their world reflected back at them, and losing wounded animals is part of the deal. There’s no getting away from it.

ON: You and The MeatEater Podcast have been criticized for interviewing Tucker Carlson of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Fox News; Rue Mapp, CEO of Outdoor Afro; Rep. Rob Bishop, a Utah congressman who wants to transfer federally owned lands to states; archery/bowhunting analyst Ed Ashby, who thinks most modern bowhunting equipment is too flimsy and lightweight for big-game hunting; and archaeologists who say people shouldn’t keep arrowheads they find, even on private property. Why do you book guests and ask questions you know will trigger criticism, “unfollows,” and angry comments on emails and social media?

Rinella: If someone can’t handle hearing perspectives that differ from their own, I don’t care if they tune out. I can’t save those people from being angry all the time, but I can hope they do it elsewhere.