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Longtime Mountain & Prairie listeners will remember Adam Gall– he’s a Colorado-based hunting guide who, along with his wife Ana, owns Timber to Table Guide Service. Adam is a highly regarded expert in the pursuit of elk and mule deer, and he offers a variety of outfitting services ranging from public land hunts for experienced hunters to private land hunts for beginners. In my first episode with Adam, we discussed his career path to guiding, which included stints as a wolf biologist and science teacher, as well as his advocacy for public lands and wildlife conservation.

In early January, I had the pleasure of joining Adam for my first-ever elk hunt, and this episode is a discussion about that extremely powerful experience. I had wanted to hunt elk ever since moving to the Rocky Mountains back in 2005, but I never took the necessary steps to learn how to do it. While I do have limited experience with bird hunting, I had zero experience hunting with a rifle. The idea of starting big game hunting from scratch was intimidating and overwhelming– plus, I have way-too-many other hobbies that fill my time– so elk hunting has been on the back burner for more than 16 years. But after getting to know Adam, learning about his skills as a teacher, and admiring his calm demeanor and reverence for wildlife, I decided that he was just the person to introduce me to the sport of elk hunting.

To be completely transparent, I was very nervous about all aspects of the hunt– my shooting proficiency, my ability to kill the elk quickly, quartering the animal, and processing the meat. I have the utmost respect for the skills required to be a responsible and effective big game hunter, so I was intent on approaching the entire endeavor with a high level of seriousness and focus. From the moment I arrived in Hotchkiss until we had processed the last pound of meat, Adam and Ana were exceptional teachers–we had a successful hunt and I left Hotchkiss with a new-found, life-changing appreciation for everything that is required to procure meat for my family.

The purpose of this episode is to provide instruction and insight for people like me– individuals who are interested in big game hunting and procuring meat but have no idea where or how to start. Even if you’ve never shot a gun, there will be useful information in this episode. Adam and I discuss all aspects of the hunt–from shooting practice at the gun range on the first day all the way to processing the meat into burger, steaks, and roasts four days later. I discuss the overwhelming emotions I felt after killing such a majestic animal, and the eye-opening experience of learning about specific cuts of meat with Ana. We discuss how Adam’s experience as a teacher makes him such an effective guide, and the importance of approaching hunting with respect, reverence, and curiosity. We talk about game management, food systems, private lands’ role in wildlife health, and much more.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Hopefully, it will give you the encouragement to pursue hunting if it is of interest to you. Hunting is obviously not for everyone, but as a person who eats and enjoys meat, I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in all the tasks that are required to put clean, healthy meat on my family’s table.

Thanks again to Adam and Ana for the once-in-a-lifetime experience, and thanks to you for listening. Enjoy!

Photos by Ed and Adam

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EPISODE NOTES

Topics Discussed:

4:45 – Thanks to Adam and Ana
6:15 – Why Adam enjoys teaching first-time hunters
8:15 – Adam’s background as a teacher
10:30 – Balancing fun and seriousness
16:15 – Details of the beginner’s private land meat hunt
21:45 – Importance of game management on private lands
23:45 – Hunt preparation
32:15 – Morning of the hunt
34:45 – The kill
37:45 – Respect for the taking a life
44:45 – Quartering the animal and processing the meat
54:45 – A foundational shift in perspective
58:00 – Cooking resources and ideas
59:45 – Closing thoughts

Information Referenced:

Adam’s first M&P episode
Timber to Table Guide Service
Dark Timber Lodge
Hotchkiss, Colorado
Paonia, Colorado
Colorado Parks and Wildlfe
Colorado Parks and Wildlife – Big Game Hunting
Backcountry Hunters and Anglers
Ryan Busse episode
Kate Kavanaugh episode
Buck, Buck, Moose: Recipes and Techniques for Cooking Deer, Elk, Moose, Antelope and Other Antlered Things by Hank Shaw – Amazon / Bookshop

Enjoy this episode? Then you might like these too:

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Posted on January 12, 2022 by ELR

Blog, Podcast, The Latest

Conservation, Conservationists, Ecology, Hunting & Fishing

A brief history of how and why reading became so important to me, followed by 18 specific book recommendations and the lessons learned from each. If you want to skip my rambling and go straight to the books, jump on down to Part 2.

Part 1: The Backstory

I’ve always enjoyed reading but didn’t take it seriously until the ripe old age of 31. Back then, my wife and I had recently moved to Costa Rica, where I didn’t have a cell phone, internet access was sporadic at best, and our half-broken television only beamed in three channels. My hyperactive brain has always needed near-constant stimulation, so reading books was my only real option for intellectual input.

So I began reading, and reading a lot.¹

*It’s admittedly weird how focused I am on reading.*

I first went down a rabbit hole of Theodore Roosevelt biographies, which only reinforced my obsession with reading—TR read at least a book a day, even while President. Then I dug deep into subjects I would’ve never previously read for leisure—the history of Central America, critiques of US financial markets, new-to-me ideas on spirituality, obscure travelogues, and the occasional novel. This was before e-books were a thing, so I’d borrow books from my wife’s coworkers and beg our friends visiting from the US to load up their suitcases. Whatever I could get my hands on, I would read.

And an unexpected thing began to happen: The more I read, the less I knew. With each book completed, I realized that many of my closely held ideas and beliefs were built on an intellectual foundation that was shaky at best, uninformed and ignorant at worst. Most of what I “knew” was based on nothing more than the influence of communities I had found myself in by happenstance and/or my place of birth—not on a wide array of diverse and well-informed nuanced perspectives. It became clear that, despite being “well-educated,” I had only been operating with a small fraction of the available information. I had so much more to learn.

When I reflect back to those 12 months in Costa Rica, I think of it as the year I “woke up.” Before moving down there, I’d never really traveled internationally, so immersing myself in a foreign culture shook me up in a good way. That was also our first year of marriage, and my wife’s level-headedness, astonishing brainpower, and compassionate questioning rubbed off on me. And after layering on the hundreds of new ideas from dozens of mind-expanding books, I can confidently say that I returned to the US at the end of that year a much different, much better person—more curious, more humble, and more sure of just how little I actually knew.

In the years since, I’ve continued to approach reading with a level of seriousness that could rightly be described as weird and/or obsessive. I have no dreams of being a Jeopardy champ, so I’m not interested in gathering information for information’s sake. But I unabashedly seek out wisdom, and I’ve found books to be the most efficient wisdom-delivery system on earth.² While I have long since forgotten much of the specific information in the books I’ve read, many of their overarching lessons remain firmly embedded in my brain, serving as a trusted guide through this increasingly nutty world.

Here and now, at age 44, I’m very happy (and relieved) with how things are working out both professionally and personally. But I often wonder “What if I’d started reading seriously at age 18?” Could I have saved myself many of the headaches and idiotic mistakes that I made from age 18-30? Would I have moved out West sooner? Quit that bullshit job at Merrill Lynch sooner? Skipped the college-years sloppiness and more quickly committed myself to the doctrine of the Strenuous Life? Would I have voted differently? Traveled more? Ditched the boring acquaintances? Worked harder to find what TR called “work worth doing”?

*Indoctrinating my 2-week-old daughter into the Cult of the Strenuous Life.*

Who knows.

But if I could talk to my 18-year-old self, my advice would be simple: Commit to serious reading, and commit to it NOW. Not reading for good grades, but reading for life, for yourself. Read books that make you uncomfortable, books whose ideas fly in the face of everything you’ve been taught. Gather as much information and as many perspectives as possible, then make up your own mind. Don’t be a contrarian or a know-it-all asshole, but respectfully question everything. Read to understand just how much you don’t know. Fully commit to curiosity, which will produce genuine humility, which is an invaluable personality trait, especially these days.

“Okay, you know-it-all, white-haired old man, what the hell should I read?” my 18-year-old self may ask. And I’d respond aggressively: Start with the titles below, smart ass! Not for the facts and figures on their pages—you’ll eventually forget most of that stuff. But for the larger life lessons that each book imbues. And when you finish these 18, follow your newfound curiosity and pick 18 more. Read those, then repeat. Do not stop.

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So, I’ll be right here, waiting around for time travel to become a reality so I can take this list back to 1996.³ But until then, I hope you, kind human who has read this far, will enjoy reading a few of these titles and perhaps learn a lesson or two in the process.

Part 2: The Books & Lessons

^{(in no particular order)}

The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard [Amazon | Bookshop]
Lesson: You will be surprised at how much you can fit into a day/week/month/year with adequate focus and enthusiasm.

Don’t Bite the Hook: Finding Freedom from Anger, Resentment, and Other Destructive Emotions by Pema Chodron [Amazon | Bookshop] This is an audiobook only.
Lesson: You are not at the mercy of your crazy-ass mind.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck [Amazon | Bookshop]
Lesson: The “American Dream” is not as simple as you have been led to believe.

The Practice: Shipping Creative Work by Seth Godin [Amazon | Bookshop]
Lesson: Produce creative work, put it out into the world, repeat. And start right now.

Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West by Hampton Sides [Amazon | Bookshop]
Lesson: A master storyteller can make even the densest topics accessible and endlessly fascinating.

Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram [Amazon | Bookshop]
Lesson: True innovators rarely adhere to social norms and/or the professional status quo.

Sugar in the Blood: A Family’s Story of Slavery and Empire by Andrea Stuart [Amazon | Bookshop]
Lesson: The “history” you were taught in school left out most of the story. Ask yourself why, then proactively seek out the missing pieces.

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport [Amazon | Bookshop]
Lesson: The ability to focus is a superpower.

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson [Amazon | Bookshop]
Lesson: Your life experience would be vastly different, likely unrecognizable, had you been born with different colored skin.

Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan [Amazon | Bookshop]
Lesson: Adventure and travel will make your life infinitely richer. Also, start surfing immediately.

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear [Amazon | Bookshop]
Lesson: There are few things more powerful than consistent, small actions over an extended period of time.

Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West by Sara Dant [Amazon | Bookshop]
Lesson: There’s a lot more to the American West than cowboys and Indians, mountain climbing and fly fishing.

Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu by J. Maarten Troost [Amazon | Bookshop]
Lesson: Despite what the university’s career services people tell you, it is perfectly acceptable, perhaps even advisable, to pick up and move to a developing country immediately after grad school.

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant [Amazon | Bookshop]
Lesson: Do not become “stuck in your ways”—that’s a miserable approach to life. Cultivate curiosity, develop a perpetually open mind, and remain intellectually humble.

Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manual by Jocko Willink [Amazon | Bookshop]
Lesson: Discipline is the foundation upon which all success is built. Self-discipline is difficult and there are no shortcuts.

Life Work by Donald Hall [Amazon | Bookshop]
Lesson: There are plenty of people out there who are truly obsessed with their work and love it. Make every effort to surround yourself with those kinds of people.

Che: A Revolutionary Life by John Lee Anderson [Amazon | Bookshop]
Lesson: The difference between hero and villain is all a matter of perspective.

The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology by Gregg Krech [Amazon | Publisher’s Site]
Lesson: If you are feeling anxious/unsure/depressed/angry/worried, quit ruminating and take action NOW.

Notes

¹ Looking back, it was actually kind of weird how much I read. It could possibly be classified as “obsessive.” For better and/or worse, my default personality setting is all-or-nothing.
² Experience delivers wisdom most effectively, but it’s not necessarily efficient. Substantive conservations with wise people is another way to gain wisdom, which is exactly why I started my podcast.
³ Since many of these books were published post-1996, I’d technically have to take the physical books with me as well, assuming there’s room in the Delorean.

_{If you enjoy these kinds of posts, please consider supporting Mountain & Prairie via Patreon. Support options start at as little as $2 per month!}

Posted on December 23, 2021 by ELR

Blog, The Latest

Elliott Woods

Elliott Woods is a Montana-based veteran and multimedia journalist who has reported for publications including Outside, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and many more. His most recent project is a podcast called Third Squad, which tells the powerful story of “one journalist, 12 Marines and two decades of war.” Back in 2011, Elliott was an embedded journalist with a group of Marines who were positioned deep in one of Afghanistan’s most dangerous regions. Nearly a decade later, Elliott embarked on a cross-country road trip to reunite with the surviving members of the team and discuss how that violent deployment impacted their lives. Third Squad tells the stories of these Marines, offering raw insights into the impact of war on individual soldiers, both on the battlefield and back at home.

Elliott was born and raised on the east coast, and as a kid, he never had strong ambitions to join the military. However, after an unsuccessful stint in college left him lacking purpose and low on options, he decided to join the National Guard. Elliott was eventually deployed to Iraq, where he served for a year as an Army combat engineer. When Elliott had finished serving and returned to college at the University of Virginia, he approached his education with a new focus and purpose, and it was there that he discovered writing and journalism. As a journalist, Elliott has traveled everywhere from war-torn regions of the globe to well-known conflicts in the American West– from the Gaza Strip to the front lines of the Keystone XL Pipeline protests. Whether reporting on public lands, outdoor adventure, or war, Elliott brings focus and intensity to all of his projects.

Elliott and I met years ago, so it was great to reconnect and have an in-depth conversation about his life and career. We started out by discussing his upbringing in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and how he developed a love of the outdoors at an early age. We discuss his education, his failed first attempt at college, and his path to the military. We discuss his time in Iraq, his career as a journalist, and the origins of the Third Squad podcast. We talk about the current state of journalism, and Elliott discusses why he feels the need to cover stories that involve dangerous people and places. We talk about hero culture, the importance of having a purpose, how the natural world has been a healing force in his life, and Elliott offers up some excellent book recommendations.

I encourage all of you to check out Third Squad, as well as Elliott’s 2016 TED Talk that I reference in the conversation. There are links to everything in the episode notes. Thanks to Elliott for all of his hard work and for joining me for such an important conversation. Enjoy.

Photos courtesy of Elliott Woods.

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