Harvesting Nature

Join podcast guest, James Cameron, on a whitetail deer hunt in Eastern North Carolina while he sits in a pine tree thicket. He downs a doe, only to have a black bear appear out of the trees and begin dragging his deer away. Does he recover his deer or lose it to a bear?

This is my take on the classic South Philadelphia Hot Beef Sandwich, except I’m using beaver. Yes, that’s correct, beaver. Beaver is often an overlooked wild game meat, but trust me, as long as you avoid the castor glands when skinning and butchering, it is excellent. Among the game meats I’ve used for this recipe, it ranks up there with bear and is far superior to venison.
I smoked the meat for about 1-1/2 hours and then put everything in a cast iron Dutch oven and slowly braised it on the pellet grill until the meat fell apart, which took an additional 3 hours or so. This is a delicious, but sloppy, sandwich so be sure to have plenty of napkins on hand.

The monarch butterfly presents a continent-wide icon of the butterfly genera. Its red-orange wings with defining black outlines and white freckles once danced over pastures, thistle and milkweed across their North American range, but land use changes since the 1980s have dramatically affected monarch populations.

Access to public land and public water is the lifeblood allowing many sportsmen and women to engage in their avocations of choice. While public land is vital to providing habitat for countless species of plants and animals, it also provides the space and environment for outdoor enthusiasts to recreate in a natural setting. Whether it be in pursuit of wild game for the dinner table, a short trail ride to clear the mind, or camping trip with family, access to public land is the key to enjoyment.

Earlier this month, a reservoir holding byproducts from an old phosphate mining operation just south of me in Florida at Piney Point came in imminent danger of a collapse that would spill an incredible amount of wastewater into Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The situation has thus far kind of stabilized. There is no 20-foot wall of water barreling down to the ocean. The discharges are being monitored and, so far, meet water quality standards. But, sitting here thinking about it and reading reports from various news agencies, I realized something. We suck at this.