MeatEater Episode Rating Graph

While it’s considered a long-standing hunting tradition to eat the heart of your first kill, the heart is otherwise often underutilized in a wild game chef’s repertoire. Using the hearts from a wild boar, mule deer, caribou, moose and elk, Steven Rinella shares five of his favorite methods of preparing this underappreciated, nutrient-rich muscle.

Steve explains what goes into beaver trapping while retelling stories of the mountain men who depended on this animal, for both its surprisingly delicious meat and incredible hide.

After four years of waiting, Steven Rinella draws a coveted, limited-entry public land elk tag and heads into New Mexico’s Gila National Forest on a solo backpack hunt. His biggest challenge here is the vast expanse of hills covered in enough timber to hide an army – demanding lots of glassing and even more hiking. Here, even just one missed opportunity could result in an empty freezer at home.

Steve continues his hunt with friends Doug and Mark for Fortymile caribou during the herd's winter migration, culminating in a camp-stove fondue.

Along with two buddies from the midwest, Steve flies into the wilderness of remote east-central Alaska to hunt during the Fortymile caribou migration.

Steve and Clay Newcomb travel to the wilds of interior Alaska for moose.

Now on dry land, Steve and Jesse hunt nilgai, a large Indian antelope. The successful duo butcher a beast and dig into unique nose-to-tail dishes.

Steve joins ranch manager and wildlife biologist Ben Binnion for a couple of days during his annual pig roundup to learn about the other side of the Texas hog story.

The Alaskan backcountry hunt continues as Steven Rinella and Rorke Denver manage to maneuver their way through the thicket and find themselves hot on some bears. Their luck holds out and the hunt is successful, but Rorke soon learns that the hunt is only half the battle. After a lesson in field butchering, Rorke and Steve head back to camp to do a little fishing and foraging to round out their bear feast.

After a spring bear hunt near his cabin on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska, Steven Rinella sets out with traps and rod in hand to reap in the wealth of seafood in the waters nearby. There, he catches Dungeness crabs, spot prawn, and rockfish and takes some time to dig clams on the shore near his cabin. Before returning home, Steve demonstrates how to clean and prep the seafood to freeze and store. Back in the kitchen, Steve creates a handful of dishes—both traditional and not-so-traditional—that take full advantage of that irreplaceable flavor of wild-caught seafood.

In this cooking special, Steven Rinella shows his fans some of his favorite preparations for big, bone-in cuts of red meat. Interspersed with highlights from his recent caribou, buffalo, and mule deer hunts, the show features recipes that utilize some of the most underappreciated parts of big game animals. This episode is an attractive and delicious tribute to Steve’s gun-to-table ethic.

Steve and Evan Hafer struggle to find blacktail deer on Alaska's Prince of Wales Island.

Masters of their respective fields, Steven Rinella will take Navy SEAL Rorke Denver deep into the Alaskan backcountry to hunt black bears in the mighty Alaska Range. After several flights and a long climb up the ridge, the men will trade secrets and look into the differences and similarities between the hunter and the warrior. The bears are out and hungry, but they’re fast and in dense cover, forcing the men to work hard for their mountain meal.

Steve and his friend Remi Warren stalk Roosevelt elk on Afognak Island in the Gulf of Alaska, but inclement weather proves a significant obstacle.

On an angling expedition along the Rewa River in Guyana, Steve and his Macushi guides catch exotic species such as black piranha and vampire fish.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but is often overlooked by wild game cooks at home. Following a series of successful hunts across North America this past fall, Steven Rinella demonstrates how to cook a variety of breakfast classics using wild game ingredients—including black bear bacon, which Steve has never tried before.

Set lines, limb lines, trot lines, turtle traps, bows and arrows, they all make it out onto the Kentucky water with MeatEaters Steven Rinella & Kevin Murphy.

Kentucky hunters and their dogs take Steve hunting for gray squirrels and cottontails, yielding a meal of biscuits, gravy and fried small game.

A wild turkey hunt in the challenging swamps of South Carolina turns into a success when biologist and conservationist Robert Abernethy guides Steven.

In Colorado's White River National Forest, Steve and his friend Brody Henderson chase mule deer through aspen groves, then taste-test their harvests.

Steven's appetite and recipe book are ready to collaborate with chef Eduardo Garcia, who helps him cook whitefish empanadas, muskox tongue and more.

While hunting in Wyoming, Steve disproves common myths about antelope and shares information about proper hunting and meat preservation techniques.

Over an open campfire, Steve demonstrates three different outdoor methods of preparing and cooking trout, ranging from savage to sophisticated.

Steve enlists the aid of passionate sooty grouse hunter Barbara Gabier to help him puzzle through the complexities of this unconventional prey.

In this two-part episode, television personality Joe Rogan and his best friend, comedian Bryan Callen, join Steven Rinella on a float trip for mule deer through the rugged Missouri Breaks, hunting and camping along the way. This is as adventurous of a first hunt as anyone could hope for, and Steven’s special guests are in for a memorable experience in some gorgeous country.

The Pilgrims didn't get their turkey at the store and neither does Steven Rinella. On this special Holiday episode Steve cooks three enticing dishes: Wild Turkey Galantine, Smoked Black Bear Ham, and his take on the traditional Mincemeat Pie. Appetites will run large as Steve makes a special meal for his family and friends.

Steve and Ryan head into the mountains of Idaho to backpack hunt in their quest to bag a beast with a mighty reputation: the giant mule deer buck.

Set against his annual muley hunt, this year in southwest Colorado, Steven Rinella takes to the lectern and fills us in about his favorite critter, the mule deer. As Steve hunts he will share his vast knowledge about the species, how to hunt it, how to butcher it, and most importantly, how to cook and eat it.

Tackling the subject of ground game meat, Steve shares recipes from his "Wild Game Cookbook" sure to improve any chef's burgers, meatloaf and more.

At a South Texas ranch, Steven and Clay Newcomb host wild-game chef Jesse Griffiths, who turns their white-tailed venison into five flavorful dishes.

Steve spends an episode in the kitchen demonstrating how to prepare several of his favorite game dishes that include turkey, trout, dove, and venison.

Steven Rinella takes to the thorns and thickets of a West Texas canyon in search of javelina. Smelling the animals is easy, but getting a clear shot with a bow is a whole other story. Featured meal is boiled javelina with cactus pears.

Steven Rinella is invited by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to hunt elk during the rut in the coal country of southeastern Kentucky, a place once roamed by his hero Daniel Boone. This is Steve’s first eastern elk hunt, and he quickly realizes that the rules of the game here are different. If he manages to bump into one, he’ll prepare what was supposedly Boone’s favorite meal: elk liver.

Steven Rinella heads to Wisconsin to spend a few days on his buddy’s historical family farm. He will enlist other locals to help him hunt for a big buck or tasty doe in the cold upper reaches of the state. Featured meal is Butterflied Venison Steaks and Hassenpfeffer (Peppered Hare Stew).

Steve heads into the jungle for exciting nighttime hunting with the Tsimane that brings him face-to-face with a threshold he vowed never to cross.

Along with a trio of cantankerous and spit-hurling pack llamas, Steven Rinella, along with his brother Matt and good friend Matt Moison camp and hunt in the arid and frozen badlands of Eastern Montana for mule deer. Freezing cold temperatures and unforgiving topography add to the already-challenging job of finding and stalking a Mule Deer buck. In this environment the deer have all of the advantage: they can spot, smell, and hear hunters long before they are anywhere near shooting range. To combat the freezing temperatures, Rinella plans to make a hunter's stew to celebrate a successful hunt.

Steve hunts Sitka blacktails on Prince of Wales Island with his friends Ryan and Mark but ends up with a dinner of fried sea cucumbers.

Steven embarks on what he deems a "humbling, humiliating" hunt for deer during Pennsylvania's flintlock season, using 18th-century firearms.

Steve and Janis serve turkey pâté and tacos before taking first-time hunters Tracy Crane and Maggie Smith into the hills of Montana for wild turkeys.

During the cold closing days of elk season, Steve ascends thousands of feet into the Bitterroot Mountains of Western Montana, seeking a legal bull.

Steve and chef Jesse Griffiths target redfish and sea trout with guide JT Van Zandt and flounder with Captain David Dupnik and end up with a feast.

Accompanied by country music star Luke Combs, Steven stalks pronghorn on the plains of Wyoming but encounters an unusual obstacle: a flock of sheep.

The targets abound when Steven hunts feral goats on the Big Island of Hawaii, then picks up a rod to fish for wahoo and gray snapper offshore.

Steve and Ryan Callaghan hunt for wild hogs and feral sheep with Danny Bolton.

Steve embarks on a quiet solo hunt in southern Arizona to stalk the wary and elusive Coues deer and savor some rare alone time in the desert.

On Prince of Wales Island in Alaska, Steve and former producer Morgan Fallon go fishing, stalk Sitka blacktail deer, and prepare a delicious feast.

Actor and comedian Joe Rogan joins Steve on a bowhunting expedition to the Great Basin of Nevada for skittish quarry: the high desert mule deer.

Steve returns to his black bear roots in southwest Montana for a spring black bear hunt. He's hunted these mountains before, it's a special place and he's glad to be back.

Steve and his buddy Ronny Boehme head to southeast Wyoming, where they shoot clays with Gov. Matt Mead before heading out on a sage grouse hunt.

Steve and his buddies Ryan and Mark have better luck splitting up as they continue their quest for a Sitka blacktail deer at the start of the rut.

Steven and Jeremy Romero stalk the States' sole population of free-range Persian ibex, an exotic species imported into New Mexico during the 1970s.

Steve and Jean-Paul Bourgeois visit Ronnie Collins in Louisiana for some backwater duck hunting.

After a day practicing on clays with shotguns before hunting for game in Virginia, Steve demonstrates easy grilling techniques for dove and pigeon.

The sika deer hunt in the marshes of the Chesapeake Bay yields better results -- and some delicious venison -- once muzzleloader-rifle season opens.

The Coues deer hunt in Mexico continues, and the ranch chef shows the crew how to make fresh chili colorado tamales with venison.

On an alpine mountain goat hunt in the Rockies, Steven and guest Kurt Racicot discover that whiteout conditions make their elusive prey tough to spot.

With fellow bird hunter Ronny Boehme and wildlife biologist Ed Arnett, Steve hunts surprisingly delicious sandhill cranes near Lubbock, Texas.

Returning to his hunting shack on Prince of Wales Island, Steve uses a canoe to quietly slip up on his exciting but dangerous prey: giant black bears.

Steve and Janis hunt the forests of Washington for bull elk, but a bad arrow shot results in a slightly spoiled harvest and Steve feeling remorseful.

Steven Rinella and his buddy Doug Duren give comedians Joe Rogan and Bryan Callen their first taste of Midwest deer hunting culture by sitting in freezing ground blinds on opening day in Wisconsin. The biggest challenge isn't the cold, it's the temptation to shoot a young, immature buck on Doug's well-managed farmland. It just wouldn't be a trip to the Duren Family Farm without a little trapping and duck hunting thrown in, rounding out the larder for a big wild game feast.

After tuning up their shooting skills by taking aim at squirrels, Helen and Brittany hunt whitetail deer in Wisconsin with Steve and guide Doug Duren.

Steve and Janis head to the Sonoran Mountains of Mexico to hunt the elusive Coues deer & javelina.

Steve joins wildlife biologist Parker Hall as they set lines for flathead catfish on the Missouri River and hunt gray squirrels for a unique recipe.

Steve flies with his brother Danny to the alpine ridges of Alaska, where they stalk Dall sheep while marveling at the stark beauty of the landscape.

Steven Rinella gears up for a massive climb into New Zealand’s Southern Alps in pursuit of Chamois and Tahr. Guide and friend, Remi Warren, will show Steve the ropes of hunting the high-country of New Zealand’s alpine. The men will travel light and hunt for food as they go, basing out of an alpine hut as they locate their quarry. This hunt turns adventurous quickly; with an impassable glacial river between Steve and his goal, things get dangerous and intense.

Continuing on his Guyana voyage, Steve, with guides Rovin and Dennis, goes deep for redtail catfish then learns to craft arrows with curassow feathers.

In the third and final leg of his Guyana journey, Steve and his party portage their boats around rapids to bow-fish for pacu, an herbivorous piranha.

After early success on their moose and caribou hunt in Alaska, wild game has eluded Steve's party, so he and Janis decide it's time to take action.

Steven Rinella and his friend Ronny Boehme drive into the mountains of southwest Montana to hunt the high ridge tops for dusky grouse. Featured meal is dusky grouse jalapeño poppers and grouse fettuccine with a white wine and cream sauce.

After gathering venison and fish by bow, Steve learns about meat care in a hot and humid locale, then bids farewell to the Tsimane with a banquet.

Steven and his brother Matt load up the llamas for a backcountry spring Turkey hunt in Montana’s Powder River Breaks. This rugged terrain is the brothers’ long time stomping ground and they will pack deep into the badlands to get away from people and close to some Toms. Featured meal will be camp-fried turkey schnitzel.

America’s desert Southwest is a sharp, hard country of cactus, deep canyons, and big cats. Steven arrives to learn the truth about one of the hunting world’s most controversial acts—tracking a Lion with dogs until it is bayed on a cliff or in a tree. Learning from two expert lion hunters, he immerses himself in a style of hunt that is utterly new to him. He is humbled by the challenge it presents, this hunt is physically brutal and emotionally taxing. Sometimes the reward of the hunt is the thrill of success and a delicious meal, and other times it’s a more personal, and possibly more important lesson of knowledge and humility.