Episode 719: From Vegetarian, to Butcher to Hunter & What in the heck is FACE?

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Brant MacDuff has an interesting story. The Brooklyn, NY native and self described animal lover who’s always wrestled with eating meat. The economic environmentalist/taxidermy historian and now author joins me on this week’s show. We talk about the mental gymnastics of wanting to be a vegetarian but always coming back to eating what humans are supposed to eat – MEAT! So in his process, he became a butcher’s apprentice to better understand the cuts of meat he was feasting on. The next step in that process was to go into the woods and kill his own natural protein.

In his book “The Shotgun Conservationist” Brant beautifully blends his journey into becoming a hunter with the positive economic impact hunting provides for conservation across the globe. We share stories and reflect on the emotions (or lack of) that comes along with taking a life. Every hunter reacts differently but we all feel something in that moment. A hunter residing in a one bedroom apartment in Brooklyn also seems quite rare, keep in mind his is littered with taxidermy and a wild game chest freezer.

(Brant and I at the SCI show in Nashville)

Next with sit down with Tristan Breijer – Policy Advisor for FACE (European Federation for Hunting and Conservation). FACE is essential in protecting the rights of our brothers and sisters across Europe. Much like SCI and Sportsmen’s Alliance do for us in North America. Tristan breaks down some of the latest anti hunting legislation that has been proposed in Belgium and France. Keep in mind that alot of bad/anti hunting policy originates in Europe before rearing it’s head in the U.S. and Canada. We also get into a recent study conducted by FACE, SCI and other partners that proves most Europeans are OK with hunting and that there’s a big difference between approval vs acceptance of hunting.