Joe Rogan Experience #1105 - Michael Hunter

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   Four, three, two, one.…

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:01

      Four, three, two, one. Hello, Michael.

   2. MHMichael Hunter0:06

      (laughs)

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:07

      Welcome. Thanks, man. Thanks for doing this. Thanks for coming in.

   4. MHMichael Hunter0:09

      100%, man.

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:10

      Uh, if people don't know the story, we'll give them the brief synopsis. I found out about your story online because there was this viral thing that was going on about a chef who was getting protested by a bunch of animal rights activists and vegans who decided to camp out in front of your business and try to, uh, uh, the restaurant called Antler in Toronto, try to... I don't know what the fuck they were trying to do. But you decided to butcher, uh, a leg of deer in front of them, and it became this horrific thing, like-

   6. MHMichael Hunter0:43

      (laughs)

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:43

      ... how could you do that? In a place that serves meat, how could you prepare the meat right in front of them? Like, how did this all get started?

   8. MHMichael Hunter0:51

      (laughs)

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:52

      How did it become such a crazy viral story? And why, why were they mad at you when there's a million other restaurants around you?

   10. MHMichael Hunter1:01

       All right. So, it started in about December, uh-

   11. JRJoe Rogan1:05

       About.

   12. MHMichael Hunter1:05

       ... about.

   13. JRJoe Rogan1:05

       Cl- cl- clue number one-

   14. MHMichael Hunter1:07

       Canadian. (laughs)

   15. JRJoe Rogan1:08

       ... possibly Canadian.

   16. MHMichael Hunter1:08

       The crazy Canadian.

   17. JRJoe Rogan1:09

       (laughs) Besides being nice. (laughs)

   18. MHMichael Hunter1:11

       Um ... Well, that's why it went viral, because I wasn't being nice. I wasn't the stereotypical-

   19. JRJoe Rogan1:15

       Oh.

   20. MHMichael Hunter1:15

       ... Canadian. No, um-

   21. JRJoe Rogan1:16

       Well, you weren't even being mean. You were just doing-

   22. MHMichael Hunter1:18

       No.

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:18

       ... your job in front of them.

   24. MHMichael Hunter1:19

       I was doing my thing. So, they started in December, and they really-

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:23

       I'm trying to keep this right in front of your face, so-

   26. MHMichael Hunter1:24

       Right. They, they really got pissed off with our ... We have a little chalkboard sign out front. Um, I'll give you the con- ... We have a 45-seat restaurant. So we're a small ... Uh, I have one business partner who's a, a, my best friend and family friend, and, um, we had a little chalkboard sign out front that said, "Venison is the new kale." And, you know, we get cute with our sign. We, we tease other restaurants around us. Like, we have fun with the sign, and it's fun. And, uh, this cyclist vegan, uh, rode by and took huge offense to our sign. And all of a sudden one day these protesters just showed up. So, um, originally I was just kind of frustrated because of they're totally misguided, because, um, we take a lot of pride in where our food comes from. Uh, we have vegan and vegetarian dishes on the menu, uh, and I, I really respect that type of diet. So, we were just totally floored with why this was happening. And, um ... So this started to go on. They started to come every week. And they went from, like, two or three people being kind of peaceful to being like 10, 15 people, not so peaceful. So, uh, it's when it turned not so peaceful, they were shouting at our, at our guests, and shouting in our door, and really trying to harm our business that, uh, I just kind of got fed up, last resort, went down ... We get a whole deer, uh, a couple times a month and we, we butcher it ourselves, and, uh, I just said, "Screw it. Screw it. I'm," like, "I'm gonna get these people to get out of here." So I thought that that would make them go away.

   27. JRJoe Rogan2:52

       (laughs) How did you think that was gonna make them go away and not escalate it?

   28. MHMichael Hunter2:56

       Uh, I don't know. I was just ... It was just totally like last resort. I was totally fed up. Um, I wanted to defend myself, defend our customers, you know. You could see people walking in visibly upset.

   29. JRJoe Rogan3:07

       Yeah.

   30. MHMichael Hunter3:07

       Um, you know, they're being shouted at, being screamed at, called a murderer as they're walking in for dinner. Like, you're going on a date. You wanna have a nice time.
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   Oh, I do. …

   1. MHMichael Hunter15:00

      people that ... Like snow geese, I don't know if you know much about snow geese.

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:02

      Oh, I do.

   3. MHMichael Hunter15:02

      But, like-

   4. JRJoe Rogan15:03

      I read that article that you retweeted actually.

   5. MHMichael Hunter15:04

      Yeah, they ... Like a NatGeo article that I, that I posted, you know, these birds fly in flocks of like 20,000, 30,000 birds and they land in a farmer's field and they eat everything.

   6. JRJoe Rogan15:14

      Everything.

   7. MHMichael Hunter15:14

      And they destroy it. And, you know, like 10, 15 years ago, these populations of birds, they weren't like they are now.

   8. JRJoe Rogan15:20

      Mm-hmm.

   9. MHMichael Hunter15:21

      So, um-

   10. JRJoe Rogan15:22

       Well, large-scale agriculture is also responsible for the boom in the population of, of deer.

   11. MHMichael Hunter15:26

       Right.

   12. JRJoe Rogan15:27

       You know, deer in, uh, in America, particularly like in the Midwest, where all the farms are, it's ... What is it, a fucking coincidence that there's all the deer-

   13. MHMichael Hunter15:35

       (laughs)

   14. JRJoe Rogan15:35

       ... where all the farms are? No, it's not.

   15. MHMichael Hunter15:37

       Yeah.

   16. JRJoe Rogan15:37

       My, my good friend Doug Duren, he has a big ass farm in Wisconsin, beautiful place, in the Driftless Area. Do you know what that is?

   17. MHMichael Hunter15:45

       No.

   18. JRJoe Rogan15:45

       It's where the, the glaciers didn't pass through.

   19. MHMichael Hunter15:48

       Okay.

   20. JRJoe Rogan15:48

       So there's ... It's not flat.

   21. MHMichael Hunter15:49

       Right.

   22. JRJoe Rogan15:49

       There's all these hills and it's very beautiful, and lakes.

   23. MHMichael Hunter15:52

       Mm-hmm.

   24. JRJoe Rogan15:52

       It's a phenomenal place. But essentially, he's got ... The deer that he hunts and that, that, uh, he, he and his friends hunt on his property, they're farm animals.

   25. MHMichael Hunter16:03

       Totally.

   26. JRJoe Rogan16:03

       They're eating corn.

   27. MHMichael Hunter16:04

       Yeah. They're just eating grain. (laughs) Yeah.

   28. JRJoe Rogan16:05

       These fucking creatures are e- ... I mean, he grows corn, he's a farmer.

   29. MHMichael Hunter16:08

       Yeah.

   30. JRJoe Rogan16:08

       So he grows all this corn, the deer are eating all this corn and they are fucking delicious, man.
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   Sure. …

   1. MHMichael Hunter30:00

      Berkshire, there's Tamworth, there's all these different kinds of breeds.

   2. JRJoe Rogan30:02

      Sure.

   3. MHMichael Hunter30:03

      Breeds of hogs.

   4. JRJoe Rogan30:03

      They've- there's variations-

   5. MHMichael Hunter30:04

      Yeah.

   6. JRJoe Rogan30:05

      ... but they're all the same animal.

   7. MHMichael Hunter30:06

      Gotcha.

   8. JRJoe Rogan30:06

      What's crazy about wild pigs is-

   9. MHMichael Hunter30:08

      Yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan30:08

       ... if you took a domestic pig-

   11. MHMichael Hunter30:10

       Mm-hmm.

   12. JRJoe Rogan30:10

       ... you know, like Babe-

   13. MHMichael Hunter30:12

       Yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan30:12

       ... release Babe out into the forest, they morph.

   15. MHMichael Hunter30:15

       Right.

   16. JRJoe Rogan30:15

       Like with a very short amount of time.

   17. MHMichael Hunter30:17

       Interesting.

   18. JRJoe Rogan30:17

       Their snout extends, their hair becomes darker and thicker, their tusks lengthen.

   19. MHMichael Hunter30:22

       Interesting.

   20. JRJoe Rogan30:23

       It's very weird. They're a weird animal.

   21. MHMichael Hunter30:25

       That's crazy.

   22. JRJoe Rogan30:25

       Pigs are a weird animal because what-

   23. MHMichael Hunter30:27

       They are a weird animal.

   24. JRJoe Rogan30:28

       When they're domestic, they're sweethearts.

   25. MHMichael Hunter30:30

       Yeah.

   26. JRJoe Rogan30:30

       I mean, unless you fall in their cage when they're hungry.

   27. MHMichael Hunter30:32

       (laughs)

   28. JRJoe Rogan30:32

       And they fucking eat you which is really crazy.

   29. MHMichael Hunter30:35

       Eats you alive.

   30. JRJoe Rogan30:35

       It's one of the main ways that farmers die, falling into cages and get eaten by pigs.
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   Oh, here? …

   1. MHMichael Hunter45:00

      from, they've... You know, like you were talking about the mountain lions. That's kind of our version. Uh, I don't think there's any mountain lions where I live, but, um, the coyotes are a problem. They're nabbing people's dogs and cats everywhere.

   2. JRJoe Rogan45:09

      Oh, here?

   3. MHMichael Hunter45:09

      Off, off, off the trail, people were walking on their leash and they're coming out and-

   4. JRJoe Rogan45:13

      Oh, yeah.

   5. MHMichael Hunter45:13

      ... nailing their little dogs.

   6. JRJoe Rogan45:13

      It happens out here. I had one kill a chicken of mine two weeks ago.

   7. MHMichael Hunter45:17

      Crazy.

   8. JRJoe Rogan45:18

      Yeah, I've got a video of the dead, dead fucking chicken in my-

   9. MHMichael Hunter45:21

      Jesus.

   10. JRJoe Rogan45:21

       ... chicken coop. And then, uh, here's what's really dark. I dug a hole and it buried the chicken. We don't eat our chickens. We just use the eggs.

   11. MHMichael Hunter45:28

       For eggs.

   12. JRJoe Rogan45:28

       And they're like pets. I mean-

   13. MHMichael Hunter45:30

       Yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan45:30

       ... like there's a video of me from my Instagram walking, uh, in my yard holding my daughter's bunny and the chickens, they're like, they're following me around. I wrote, "I'm the motherfucking chicken whisperer."

   15. MHMichael Hunter45:40

       (laughs)

   16. JRJoe Rogan45:40

       Because it's a crazy video because these chickens just follow me.

   17. MHMichael Hunter45:44

       Yeah.

   18. JRJoe Rogan45:44

       I mean, they literally-

   19. MHMichael Hunter45:45

       That's awesome.

   20. JRJoe Rogan45:45

       ... they're like pets.

   21. MHMichael Hunter45:46

       Yeah.

   22. JRJoe Rogan45:47

       So when, um, this chicken died, I was bummed out. It was a sweetheart of a chicken too. And this was a chicken that we used to... We would turn over rocks and she would come and get the worms.

   23. MHMichael Hunter45:57

       Eat the worms.

   24. JRJoe Rogan45:57

       And so she would follow you around. I'm like, "Come on, sweetie. Here we go." And it's really like a pet. Oh, here it is. Here's a video of me walking. Like look at them.

   25. MHMichael Hunter46:05

       That's so cool.

   26. JRJoe Rogan46:05

       They just follow me around, man.

   27. MHMichael Hunter46:07

       I know. And a lot of farmers and, and people with little hobby farms, they use chickens as insect control-

   28. JRJoe Rogan46:12

       Yes.

   29. MHMichael Hunter46:12

       ... in their vegetable gardens.

   30. JRJoe Rogan46:13

       Oh, they're great for that. They're great for... They, they will fuck up some mice too, man. You ain't never seen nothing like it.
5. 1:00:00 – 1:08:21

   (laughs) …

   1. JRJoe Rogan1:00:00

      and they grind that fat fuck into a hamburger.

   2. MHMichael Hunter1:00:02

      (laughs)

   3. JRJoe Rogan1:00:03

      And it's just not the same. I'm not- uh, you know, I'm not endorsing eating LeBron James, but I'm saying there's a difference in what the- the composition of their body is. It's a different thing. It's a very different thing.

   4. MHMichael Hunter1:00:14

      Totally.

   5. JRJoe Rogan1:00:15

      Yeah, I mean, I think wild things, whether it's wild salmon or, you know, even wild vegetables, I think would be probably better for you.

   6. MHMichael Hunter1:00:24

      So yeah, that's- that's a big part of what I do, is- is, and it's why- one of the reasons why I love nature so much, is- is foraging.

   7. JRJoe Rogan1:00:30

      Mm.

   8. MHMichael Hunter1:00:30

      And I take my kids out to the woods and we go pick mushrooms, and since they were, like, you know, babies, my son's been dragged in the woods since he was one. And-

   9. JRJoe Rogan1:00:37

      What kind of mushrooms?

   10. MHMichael Hunter1:00:38

       Uh, so my favorite one to harvest where I live is morels.

   11. JRJoe Rogan1:00:41

       Oh, yeah.

   12. MHMichael Hunter1:00:42

       Uh, they're really funky looking. They kinda look like a brain or something, something weird. Um, uh, there's-

   13. JRJoe Rogan1:00:46

       I order them online. I've never seen them in the wild.

   14. MHMichael Hunter1:00:48

       There is nothing that tastes quite like them that you can- you can buy. And they-

   15. JRJoe Rogan1:00:52

       They're almost like a meat.

   16. MHMichael Hunter1:00:53

       They're very meaty. They're very meaty. And there's a couple different kinds. There's, like, black ones and- and kinda white or yellowish ones. Um, and they're just, like, it's so fascinating to go out into the wild and- and pick your own food, and when you come home and cook it, like, nothing else tastes like that. And y- like, mushrooms from the store, they're totally different, and it's just- it's something really special that you can go and experience in the wild.

   17. JRJoe Rogan1:01:12

       Yeah, morels are, uh, a real weird one, and I've been reading up on them. One o- one of the strange things is when there's fire.

   18. MHMichael Hunter1:01:19

       Forest fires.

   19. JRJoe Rogan1:01:19

       Yeah.

   20. MHMichael Hunter1:01:20

       They pop up, like the next-

   21. JRJoe Rogan1:01:21

       Yeah.

   22. MHMichael Hunter1:01:21

       ... the next season, they're like cleansing, they're- they're cleansing the earth. I don't ... I- I'm not a mycologist, so I don't know. Uh, you know, I just enjoy finding them and eating them. (laughs) But I do know there's a cleansing property to decaying, uh, to decaying, uh, matter. So when-

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:01:36

       Yeah.

   24. MHMichael Hunter1:01:36

       ... when trees fall down, like, the- the best place to find morels is, uh, I look for trees with no bark on them, so they're- they're really super old, uh, that's called a dead elm tree, and they like the rotting roots of these dead elm trees. And, you know, you're- you're in the bush and- or in the field and you kinda see this one tree that has no bark on it and it's about to fall over. There'll be, like, 20 morels at the base.

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:01:56

       Wow.

   26. MHMichael Hunter1:01:57

       And they're- they're kind of- they're feeding off the root system that's underground.

   27. JRJoe Rogan1:02:00

       Yeah, I'm f- absolutely fascinated by mushrooms. I had, uh, Paul Stamets on the podcast. He's-

   28. MHMichael Hunter1:02:05

       I saw- I saw that one.

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:02:06

       How great is that guy?

   30. MHMichael Hunter1:02:07

       Super cool. With his mushroom hat?

Episode duration: 1:46:26