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Hunt Quietly

Matt Rinella·192 episodes

SportsWildernessHunting ethicsLongform interviewsConservation debateOutdoor accessCritical commentaryStandalone episodes

The future of hunting is imperiled. More and more hunters are competing for limited numbers of licenses. Public land hunting is overcrowded, and private land hunting is increasingly unavailable to those unable or unwilling to pay for it. These are the dominant problems facing hunters today, and nobody in the hunting industry and hunting entertainment is talking about them. That is because they cause and even benefit from these problems, as do some hunting nonprofits. Join Matt Rinella and his guests as they rethink the future of hunting and implement steps to save our cherished pastime. Visit huntquietly.org to...

Why listen

Hunt Quietly is for hunters who want a sharper, less commercial conversation about the future of hunting. Matt Rinella and guests dig into crowding, public access, wildlife management, hunting media, influencers, nonprofits, and the economics shaping who gets to hunt. Listeners who care about conservation, fair opportunity, and uncomfortable debates inside hunting culture will get the most out of it.

Series(1)

Episodes

1 hr 10 min
Jun 2, 2026Episode 195
Elk nerd

Matt and Hunt Quietly contributor Adam Miller discuss wound loss data with Evan Hunter.  Check out Evan's YouTube channel, Elk Nerd, for information on understanding and preventing wound loss.

1 hr 8 min
May 26, 2026Episode 194
Hunters for Access update and critical turkey hunting advice

Matt and Montana Hunters for Access (HFA) president John Kuntz discuss goings-on with HFA and summarize essential, little-known, recently published advice from turkey hunting experts.  Who knew that "calling works best when it sounds realistic" and that "when the turkey is coming in from the right, you should ease your shotgun to the right?"

1 hr 20 min
May 8, 2026Episode 193
The enigma of Randy Newberg, and eating feces and starving yourself for likes

Matt Rinella and Jim Durkin discuss the truly perplexing role Randy Newberg plays in the hunting space, and the lengths hunting influencers will go to for attention.

1 hr 12 min
Apr 20, 2026Episode 192
What Jim Durkin and Matt Rinella hate about hunting TV

Jim Durkin has been watching hunting TV again, and he discusses how it's worse than ever.  Matt reiterates his beliefs that it's a destructive form of "entertainment."

1 hr 29 min
Apr 8, 2026Episode 191
Issues with Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife

Matt talks with Washington anglers Philip Olson and Alex Van Hine about problems with their states wildlife management agency.

1 hr 24 min
Apr 1, 2026Episode 190
East coast fisheries and shenanigans with fishing nonprofits

Matt talks with longtime fisheries conservation advocate Charles Witek.  To check out Charles' blog, search One Anglers Voyage.

2 hr
Mar 25, 2026Episode 189
Emory Wanger

Matt talks with Emory Wanger about a range of topics, including how TV huntin ain't huntin.

2 hr 22 min
Mar 4, 2026Episode 186
Landon Dekeyser

Matt talks with with Michigan outdoorsman Landon Dekeyser about steelhead fishing, and about crowding and opportunity in hunting.

1 hr 30 min
Feb 25, 2026Episode 185
Fishing nonprofits often prioritize $ over fish

Matt talks with fisheries biologist Paul Kameen about issues in the fishing industry-nonprofit complex.

1 hr 41 min
Feb 24, 2026Episode 188
Wisconsinites want conservation and access, their politicians do not

Matt talks with Ben Gruber, a conservation warden in Wisconsin about the imperiled Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, the state's conservation powerhouse that supports and protects lands, water, habitat, trails, parks, and outdoor access.  Despite enjoying greater than 90% support among the public, this crucial program is on the brink of being destroyed by self-serving, short-cited, and out-of-touch politicians.

1 hr 23 min
Feb 24, 2026Episode 187
Ken Sporalsky

Hunt Quietly contributor Jim Durkin talks with Ken Sporalsky about the difficulty of drawing western tags, reductions in non-resident tag allocations, and the ceaseless price increases for non-resident licenses.  They also discuss spot burning by celebrity hunters and the the negative impacts celebs have on hunt opportunity and quality.

1 hr 35 min
Feb 18, 2026Episode 184
Ducks

Matt talks ducks, duck conservation, and duck hunting culture with Justin Adamski from fullcolorwaterfowl.com.

1 hr 48 min
Feb 11, 2026Episode 183
Hunters ain't down with the Missouri Department of Conservation

Matt talks with Missouri hunters Heath Henry, Bill Kindell, and Craig Sondker of the Missouri Federation of Outdoor Resources.

1 hr 41 min
Feb 2, 2026Episode 182
R1 versus R2

Matt and fellow Hunt Quietly contributors Jim Durkin and Nick Buckley discuss the copious data indicating that hunter recruitment and reactivation (R2) are at cross-purposes with hunter retention (R1).  They also discuss new data indicating that hunting social media is eroding our reputation among the non-hunting public.

2 hr 23 min
Jan 26, 2026Episode 181
Celebrity poaching

Matt talks Celebrity poaching with Wyoming hunter David Mercado.

2 hr 18 min
Jan 26, 2026Episode 179
Celebrity poaching

Matt talks Celebrity poaching with Wyoming hunter David Mercado.

1 hr 31 min
Jan 1, 2026Episode 178
John Long

Matt talks with John Long, a lifelong hunter and backcountry guru.

1 hr 16 min
Dec 14, 2025Episode 177
Gold medal in hypocrisy

Matt and Hunt Quietly contributor Adam Miller discuss some paradigmatic examples of hypocrisy amongst hunting celebrities and organization.

1 hr 36 min
Nov 24, 2025Episode 176
Wild Origins Canada

Matt talks with Mark Hall from Wild Origins Canada, a nonprofit dedicated to conveying the truth around conservation and sustainable use of wildlife.

1 hr 44 min
Nov 10, 2025Episode 175
The Ethical Predator

Matt talks with Grant Richardson from the Ethical Predator Movement.

1 hr 25 min
Oct 27, 2025Episode 174
North American Grouse Partnership

Hunt Quietly contributors Ben Loss and Matt Rinella talk with Ted Koch from the North American Grouse Partnership.  If you care about the future of prairie grouse, this is an awesome nonprofit that is worthy of your support!

1 hr 7 min
Oct 13, 2025Episode 173
Hunters for Access is working!

Matt talks with hunters for access volunteers Chad Richards, John Kuntz, Jeff Hancock, and Joe Gaff.  Please go to huntersforaccess.org and support our efforts!.

1 hr 33 min
Sep 29, 2025Episode 172
Celebrating hunters more than wildlife

Matt talks with John Bohuniek about realigning the hunting community away from idolizing hunters towards celebrating wildlife.

1 hr 16 min
Sep 15, 2025Episode 171
The Downriver Project

Matt talks with Gil Damon from The Downriver Project, a group devoted to fighting environmental degradation of waterways in Florida.

2 hr 41 min
Sep 1, 2025Episode 170
Nephi Cole

Matt talks with Nephi Cole, co-host of the Your Mountain podcast.

1 hr 2 min
Aug 17, 2025Episode 169
Unlike Outdoor Life, we are pleased the Take Me Fishing program was cut

Jim Durkin and Matt Rinella celebrate recent cuts to the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation, the nonprofit that administers that Take Me Fishing program.  They also take issue with Outdoor Life coverage of this development.

1 hr 32 min
Jul 31, 2025Episode 168
Does idolizing hunting celebrities make you less intelligent?

In addition to discussing research suggesting celebrity worship makes people dumber, Matt and Jim Durkin discuss the recent initiative to sell of public lands, an American express survey quantifying people's motivations for choosing travel destinations, DOGE cuts to fishing recruitment, and some ridiculous quotes by hunting promoters.

1 hr 38 min
Jul 24, 2025Episode 167
Turkeys for Tomorrow

Matt talks with Jason Lupardus, CEO of Turkeys for Tomorrow.  This group is developing science-based solutions to the problem of declining turkey populations.

1 hr 42 min
Jul 14, 2025Episode 166
Miscellany with Phil Lewer

Matt and fellow Hunt Quietly contributor discuss feral cat trapping, hunting ethics, mushroom and asparagus spot-burning, juicing dogs, the new pope, what Phil is currently eating, and b.s. hunting orgs.

1 hr 20 min
Jul 7, 2025Episode 164
Ryan Busse

Matt talks with 2024 Montana gubernatorial candidate Ryan Busse.

1 hr 18 min
Jun 30, 2025Episode 165
Infinite outdoors and LandTrust

Matt Rinella and fellow Hunt Quietly contributor Adam Miller discuss growing threats to non-pay hunting from access commodification companies.

1 hr 41 min
Jun 23, 2025Episode 163
Antelope conservation

Matt talks with Robert Mahaffey from the South Dakota Antelope Foundation.

1 hr 54 min
Jun 17, 2025Episode 162
Flying V

Matt hones his amicable disagreement skills and finds some common ground with Brady Davis and Matt McCormick of Flying V, a ranch management and ducking hunting media company.

1 hr 25 min
Jun 9, 2025Episode 161
Nonprofit salaries

Matt and Jim Durkin discuss the eye-popping salaries paid to some hunting nonprofit CEOs.  Other topics include the National Wild Turkey Federation, Hunters for Access, and Adam Weatherby literally eating feces to grow his Instagram followership.

1 hr 24 min
Jun 2, 2025Episode 160
Miscellany

Matt Rinella and Jim Durkin discuss hunting influencer Cam Hanes, the dishonesty of hunting TV, new farm bill provisions, and technology in hunting.

1 hr 7 min
May 26, 2025Episode 159
Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Matt talks with forester Tyler Ritchie about goings on with timber, public access, wolves, and deer in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

1 hr 41 min
May 19, 2025Episode 158
Erik Nylund

Matt talks with ex-staffer for senator John Tester about a range of topics, including some of the b.s. that goes on at conservation nonprofits.

1 hr 12 min
May 14, 2025Episode 157
Hunting advocacy

Hunt Quietly contributors Matt Rinella and Adam Miller discuss hunting advocacy, a topic that couldn't possibly be more relevant in this time of threats to public lands.

1 hr 58 min
May 5, 2025Episode 154
Hunter behavior

Matt talks hunter behavior with Hunt Quietly web designer and all around contributor Phil Lewer.

2 hr
Apr 28, 2025Episode 156
Panel discussion, Part 2

Matt talks with Jeremiah Goin, Erik Scarr, and Nick Buckley in this second of a two-part series involving hunters from throughout the country.

1 hr 46 min
Apr 21, 2025Episode 155
Panel discussion, Part 1

Matt talks with a panel of hunters from throughout the country.  Thanks to Joe Hogan, Robert Reardon, Scott Fitzwilliams, and Cameron Weddington for providing their insights in this episode!

1 hr 5 min
Apr 7, 2025Episode 153
Duck Psychopathy

Hunt Quietly contributor Jim Durkin chats with Justin Adamski of Full Color Waterfowl.  Justin is an outdoor photographer and digital creator focusing on waterfowl and waterfowl conservation.  Their conversation is centered around the alarming, disgusting trend of people posting videos with crippled waterfowl.  Justin has posted a series of videos condemning this behavior.

1 hr 25 min
Mar 30, 2025Episode 152
The least crappy bow company

Matt Rinella and Hunt Quietly contributor Matt Love struggle to identify a compound bow company that isn't terrible for hunting.

1 hr 12 min
Mar 23, 2025Episode 151
Mark Norquist

Matt talks with Mark Norquist from Modern Carnivore.  This is Marks second time on the podcast.,

1 hr 9 min
Mar 17, 2025Episode 150
Land Tawney

Matt Talks with Land Tawney, former President/CEO of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and current leader of American Hunters & Anglers.

1 hr 16 min
Mar 9, 2025Episode 149
Real Estate dealings at Real Tree

Hunt Quietly contributors Nick Buckley and Matt Rinella talk about a range of topics including a bit about Real Tree's involvement in commodifying hunting lands.

2 hr 14 min
Mar 2, 2025Episode 148
John Eberhart

Hunt Quietly contributors Matt Rinella and Ben Loss talk with whitetail guru John Eberhart.

1 hr 47 min
Feb 17, 2025Episode 147
Corruption and/or incompetence at National Wild Turkey Federation

The Hunt Quietly team conducted in-depth research into NWTF over the last several months.  This research uncovered widespread problems with their reporting.  NWTF grossly overreports the acres they conserve and the dollars they devote to their mission.   Evan Curtin, Nick Buckley, and Matt Rinella explain all of this and try to determine if these problems stem from corruption, incompetence, or both.  Hunt Quietly recommends against donating to organizations that do hunter recruitment, and NWTF does lots of that.  And in the case of NWTF, there are many additional reasons for Americans to spend their precious conservation dollars elsewhere.  A sincere thanks to David Fontenot, Chris Brewer, and Thomas Doyle for assisting  with research for this episode.

1 hr 33 min
Feb 8, 2025Episode 146
Backcountry Hunters & Anglers doubles down on hunter recruitment

Matt and Jim Durkin talk about several recent developments before turning their attention to Backcountry Hunters & Angers, an organization that, despite the name, works to reduce hunt quality and quantity.

1 hr 24 min
Jan 20, 2025Episode 145
Dr. Ed Ashby

Jim Durkin chats with Dr. Ed Ashby, Vice President of the Ashby Foundation.  Ed has dedicated 30 plus years to studying arrow performance and broadhead lethality on six continents.

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Listening context

Casual listening
Best for: long drives, commutes, housework, evening listening
Tone: candid, critical, conversational, contrarian

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