Justin (Choctaw) is an avid hunter, angler, and chef whose passion for the outdoors lead him to create Harvesting Nature in 2011. He continues to hunt, fish, and cook all while sharing his experiences with others through film, podcasts, print, and with recipes. He also proudly serves in the United States Coast Guard.
I was born and raised in northeast Pennsylvania, and currently live in the hill country of Texas.I consider myself a western hunter at heart, enjoying glassing vast landscapes and the thrill of the stalk.My motivations as an outdoorsman are rooted in the sustenance and physical aspects.In fact, my largest driving factor for physical fitness is preparing for upcoming hunts and ensuring I’m well prepared to climb mountains and cover ground with a heavy pack.
Brad lives in southeast Washington State with his wife Ali and pack of Llewellin setters on a small homestead. He serves the public as a fish and wildlife biologist and active Pheasants Forever life member. His free time is devoted to habitat, the pursuit of fin and feather, and writing about his outdoor passions.
Born and raised in Los Angeles Ara Zada is a chef, author, TV personality, food stylist and avid bow hunter. He has worked with Outdoor News, PBS, Food Network, ABC, CBS, NBC, TNT, Jaime Oliver Food Foundation and a range of others. His first cookbook ‘Lavash’ was released Oct. 2019. When he’s not cooking he’s shooting his bow, teaching his kids about the outdoors, training for triathlons and filling any available time with parkour.
Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food.
Chase Waller is a Mississippi-born outdoorsman with a passion for hunting, culture, and food. After joining the Air Force in 2011, he has hunted, fished, hiked, and camped across the globe. Currently residing in Riverview, FL with his wife and son, Chase spends his time exploring public lands, looking for new adventures, and tinkering with recipes. He is also an active member of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.
I live in NE Pennsylvania with my wife and two children. My passions include chasing whitetail deer during archery season, hunting waterfowl on local creeks, rivers, and agricultural fields, freshwater fishing, and assisting my wife with the vegetable garden. I spend almost every available minute on the water and in the woods with my kids and wife, and for us, spending time in the outdoors as a family is a way of life.
Kory is a lifelong hunter and angler from northwestern Pennsylvania.He enjoys filling his freezer with the wild game and fish that Pennsylvania has to offer.His goal is to show how he has introduced his three young children to the outdoors and fostered their passion for all things wild.Follow him on his journey on Instagram, @outdoorsmandad.
Dan lives his life with his wife on a small homestead in Western MA where he raises livestock, hunts, and farms to fill their pantries and freezer. He balances family, work, and life, but also maintains the connection to his food and its origins.
Cooking gives me a creative outlet to transform wild game and bring it into traditional recipes from around the world to help expand people's perceptions.My goal is to celebrate local fish and wild game and provide achievable, bright recipes designed to build confidence for new cooks, and inspire everyone to elevate their cooking.
I hope that by sharing and celebrating the food I create with the fish and wild game I harvest, I can highlight the great contribution so many hunters and anglers have made to conservation in this country, and reflect the freedom we have to enjoy America's great outdoors.
Benjamin Burgholzer is an enthusiast of wild foods and wild places, a part-time professor, small business owner, freelance writer, and the Managing Editor of Harvesting Nature. A novice backpack hunter and seasoned fly fisherman, when he is not working or writing, he spends as much time as possible in the mountains of Oregon, where he has recently moved to from upstate New York.
Ryan and Emily Long are Oklahoma residents that have hunted and fished all over. Their up and coming YouTube Page, “The Way We Hunt”, depicts a conglomerate of hunting, fishing, hunt training, product reviews, and wild game cooking. They are passionate about cooking with game they have harvested and making memories that will last a lifetime.
I was born and raised on a small ranch Northwest of Fort Worth, Texas. From a young age, nature always provided an outlet from reality. I have continued to cultivate this passion through formal education and creative writing. When I am not working as game bird research assistant, you can find my bird dog and I in the field chasing birds.
Born in Southern Illinois and raised in rural Ontario, Canada LC has always had a passion for the great outdoors. He is an avid hunter and fishermen with a passion for all things wild. LC loves to share his harvested fish and game dishes with friends and family and is devoted to teaching his children about the benefits of growing up with an appreciation for our hunting and fishing heritage.
I grew up in a family of anglers and hunters, and time spent in the Ontario outdoors with my father, siblings, uncles, cousins, and friends figured large in shaping who I am now. The most valuable lesson of the outdoors that I learned as a youth was that nothing took more importance than respecting the life of the animal that you had just hunted.
Dustyn always had a love for adventure and fostered a love for hunting and fishing after his military career began. He found an appreciation of wild game meats through his co-workers and then jumped into the pursuit of wild meat wholeheartedly. Cooking and serving wild game to his family and friends has become pleasurable achievement which he looks forward to at every new journey.
I am a husband and a father to a beautiful family that deeply enjoys hunting, fishing, and gardening.I grew up hunting and fishing in South Louisiana and currently live in Lafayette, LA (the Sportsman’s Paradise).
Cayla is a conservation professional that resides in North Dakota with her husband and pudelpointer, Finley. Together they enjoy avidly hunting, fishing, and otherwise frolicking their way through the seasons.
First and foremost, I am a husband and dad, but I am also a plumber, an angler, and proud to say, a hunter. Though I started hunting much later in my life than most people who hunt, it has become a huge part of my life in a short amount of time. It has expanded into so much more. Hunting has made me into a hiker, nature lover and I even started gardening. My love of the outdoors has grown so much in my adulthood. I have found out that as long as I can be outside, I seem to be content. At the lake or in the mountains, I just seem to find my happy place.
Gunnar has devoted his life to his passion for hunting and wild game cooking. This has led him to create his own archery company, Orskot Archery. Orskot Archery focuses on ethical hunting using modern equipment, as well as scratch-made wild game food. Gunnar’s connection to nature is deeply rooted in him and drives his passion for the outdoors. When he’s not hunting, Gunnar can be found in the kitchen working on recipes for his upcoming cookbook.
Jim Hasley serves as a Vice Chairman in the Florida Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.He’s been plying the woods and waters of Florida and the Southeast for decades; he loves family, friends and food.For questions or comments Jim can be reached at jimhasley@icloud.com
There is so much to do in this world, and quite honestly, I’d like to do it all. Or at least most of it. I didn’t start fishing until my late 20’s. Didn’t even touch a gun until age 29 when I decided I’d like to try eating squirrels. But now I love both hunting and fishing. My bucket list is incredibly long, as I hope to hike, camp, fish, hunt, dive, paddle, climb, and bike in dozens of states and countries.
Megan Plete Postol is an outdoor writer, journalist, and conservation advocate. She lives near the gorgeous wilds of the Adirondack Mountains. As an outdoor writer she is able to merge her two passions: the written word and the natural world.
Tera is a wildlife biologist who lives in Northern California with her husband, two children, and Chesapeake Bay retriever Maple. She grew up in Colorado camping, boating, and backpacking with her family.She was introduced to hunting when she met her husband and together the two are raising their children to hunt, fish, and enjoy everything nature has to offer.
At forty years young, Adam has split his life almost equally between the Rocky Mountains, and the gulf coast. Cooking professionally from a young age, as well as having a deep relationship with nature set the pattern early for the adventures to come.
Lindsey Bartosh lives in southeastern Utah where she spends her time hiking, biking, hunting, and fishing. She runs a website, huntingandcooking.com, and also a weekly radio show about seeking, pursuing, and processing wild game.
I live in rural Southern Alberta, where the edge of the prairie meets the foot of Canada’s awe-inspiring Rocky Mountains. I grew up here, and after a quite a few years spent abroad, I eventually made my way back to my roots to realign myself with the community that raised me.
My hope is to reach out to our future generations to pass on the tradition and honor of the harvest with the same caring hand that passed it down to us. I hope to help shape our image as outdoorsmen and women not as blood thirsty hunters that are after every animal in the woods, but as harvesters that honor wildlife and that are passionate about fair chase, ethical hunting and fishing, for those hunters and anglers that live the tradition of the harvest. I hope to inspire others to be that small piece of this big pie known as conservation to take part in caring for the wildlife we admire, the land we know, and the outdoors we love.
Chef Victoria "Tori" Loomis, honors the effort it takes to bring a meal from harvest to the plate, and that respect is evident in every meal she prepares. She has a deep-rooted appreciation for bringing people together, to gather, and to #EATGOODFOOD. Tori is passionate about telling authentic culinary stories through food. “Perspective is only as powerful as the ingredients we choose to lace within it. The same can be said for our food, our time, and our daily habits.”
Kendra Stoner is a free diver, rock climber, forager, hiker, surfer, solo adventurer, world traveler, and advent epic experience seeker. Most would say she is an adventure gal with a super power of connection. Her ability to connect to those she meets creates beautiful interactions and opportunities, and her love for nature allows for an incredible connection to the world around her.
Jack is an outdoorsman born and raised in the Tongas National Forest of Southeast Alaska. He was introduced to hunting and fishing at the young age of 6 and hasn’t looked back since. His greatest peace of mind can only be found in the high mountains and open waters of his home in Alaska. He hopes to share both his stories and the harvest that may accompany them.
Collin is a novice hunter and angler who is quickly becoming more seasoned each year. He began his outdoor adventures in PA as a kid, and has had the opportunity to hunt and fish in various places across the U.S as an adult. His newest journey will take him to the Pacific NW where he will continue to grow his passion for the outdoors whilst learning to hunt and fish in new country.
Heidi Chaya is a food journalist, farmhand, and avid home cook. Her experiences living and working in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley provide her with many opportunities to expand her culinary horizons and continue to learn and grow through fishing, foraging, and hunting.
I was born in Anne Arundel County, Maryland on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. My family moved to Southern Maryland when I was seven. Southern MD was where my parents instilled in me a love of the outdoors. Summers were spent fishing, crabbing and camping. Blue crabs, rockfish, perch, and croaker were always plentiful in my youth. Many summer days were spent out on the Patuxent River and its tributaries, casting rods and pulling trot lines. Winter time was spent hunting for food to fill the freezer. The winter menu in the Peake household consisted of White tail deer, ducks and geese.
I occupy a weird space by identifying as an outdoorsman, yet living in a concrete jungle of Toronto. I rarely, if ever, meet like-minded individuals in the city, so I truly appreciate the times when I do, and I savor the stories, ideas and knowledge that we share.
Elle is a passionate conservation advocate, hunter, angler, and wildcrafter focused on procuring real food while exploring wild kinship. She's a content strategist and content writer for a marketing agency by day, moonlighting and weekending as a life coach, yoga & meditation facilitator, holistic wellness practitioner, and Artemis Sportswomen ambassador. Elle resides in the Idaho mountains with her husband Forrest, 2 remarkable mutts, Zoi and River, and 2 laid-back cats, Astrid and Ayla.
I grew up in Central New York in the small Village of Ilion.Hunting, fishing, and shooting were always a part of life.After high school, I stayed local and attended a community college where every chance I got before, between, and after classes, I went out in the woods to hunt.Post-college I went straight into the workforce and life got extremely busy for me.I often stayed up for days on end only taking a couple of hours between work shifts.But still, I made time to chase big and small game. I have a strong passion for public land and public access opportunities in the country as well as an interest in habitat organizations as many people I talk to say they still be hunting if they had good places to go.I look forward to sharing some stories and hopefully helping people with some insight on the activities that we all enjoy and love as sportsmen and women.
Natalie Auer is an avid cook and new hunter/angler. She lives in the beautiful Hudson Valley of New York State with her two sweet children and wonderful husband Jon. She attended college in Poughkeepsie New York at Marist College School of Business and studied Fine Arts. She works in banking and loves to spend as much time as she can outdoors with her family.
Troy is an avid whitetail hunter from Kentucky, currently residing in Washington, DC. He is a military dentist, and spends his spare time trying new venison recipes or exploring new places with his wife and dogs. Don’t ask him to commit to anything during the month of November, and don’t let him hear you complain about venison being “gamey.”
I have lived, worked, hunted, and fished my way around the U.S. since leaving my Virginia home for the first time in 2003. Now settled in southeast Washington, my science career focuses on the conservation of endangered species and fish and wildlife habitat restoration and management.
My personal life involves maintaining a small homestead, serving Pheasants Forever as a Life Member, and exploring our natural resources with my Llewellin setters (my oldest, Finnigan, pictured below), my lovely wife, and the best friends and family anyone could be blessed with.
Writing is a large part of my outdoor passions, reliving every precious minute afield. I hope to inspiring others to get outdoors and experience what our public lands and waters have to offer, as well as to give back through mentorship and conservation.
I first discovered this wonderful blend of flavors a few
years back. The first dish was a
combination of a successful late season archery hunt on public land and the
remainder of tails from a crawfish boil for my birthday. After peeling several pounds of tails, I began
to think, “These would be really good paired with some backstrap.” The seed had been planted. Ever since that day, I reserved this recipe
for special occasions. It’s easy to prepare,
but just takes a bit of time and patience to perfect. You are sure to impress your friends and
family with this recipe. It pairs well
with both red wine or cold beer.
I used Guidry’s creole seasoning. This Creole seasoning mix
is made from a range of fresh, natural ingredients, including yellow onion,
bell pepper, celery, green onion, parsley and garlic. You can substitute your
own mix of these vegetables if you cannot find Guidry’s in your local market.
Like what we are creating? Buy us a coffee to say thanks!
Ingredients:
½ length of backstrap (the large end)
2 Tbs butter
¼ cup Guidry’s mix
½ lb Louisiana crawfish tails (peeled and cooked)
½ cup plain bread crumbs
¼ cup water
Seasoning to taste
Preparation:
Bring a cast iron pan to medium heat.
Add butter to the pan
Add the Guidry’s mix
Sauté your onions and bell peppers in butter
until softened.
Then add your crawfish tails to warm through.
Add plain bread crumbs and enough water to get
the consistency of thick oatmeal.
Season your stuffing according to your specific
taste.
Allow the mixture cool long enough so that you
can use your bare fingers to stuff the backstrap. You also don’t want to start cooking the meat
with hot stuffing.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
Make a pocket into the thick end of your
backstrap. I like using a filet knife
for this work. Make sure that you don’t
cut all the way through to the bottom of the backstrap.
Season the meat really well.
Spray a disposable meatloaf tin with non-stick
spray or rub with oil.
Place the backstrap into the tin.
Fill the pocket with the stuffing
Place your dish into a pre heated 350 degrees
oven.
Bake uncovered for approximately 18 minutes for
a nice medium rare temperature. This
will vary depending on the size of your backstrap and the amount of stuffing
that you use. I suggest that you err on
the side of medium rare. Enjoy.
Follow Jason on Instagram at @edible_outdoors_cook or on Facebook on Edible Outdoors
I am a husband and a father to a beautiful family that deeply enjoys hunting, fishing, and gardening. I grew up hunting and fishing in South Louisiana and currently live in Lafayette, LA (the Sportsman’s Paradise).