Joe Rogan Experience #1105 - Michael Hunter
Joe Rogan (host), Michael Hunter (guest), Narrator, Narrator, Narrator
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Joe Rogan and Michael Hunter, Joe Rogan Experience #1105 - Michael Hunter explores chef Defies Vegan Protests, Defends Ethical Hunting and Wild Food Joe Rogan interviews Toronto chef and hunter Michael Hunter, whose restaurant Antler became the target of persistent vegan and animal-rights protests after a cheeky sidewalk sign reading “Venison is the new kale.”
Chef Defies Vegan Protests, Defends Ethical Hunting and Wild Food
Joe Rogan interviews Toronto chef and hunter Michael Hunter, whose restaurant Antler became the target of persistent vegan and animal-rights protests after a cheeky sidewalk sign reading “Venison is the new kale.”
Hunter explains his philosophy of ethical, local, and wild-sourced meat, his background in hunting and foraging, and why he butchered a deer leg in the restaurant window in response to activists harassing his guests.
Rogan and Hunter contrast small‑scale, ethical hunting and farming with factory farming, discuss wildlife population control, conservation funding from hunters, and the psychology and extremism within some activist and vegan circles.
They also dive into wild game cookery, nose‑to‑tail eating, foraging mushrooms, indigenous food traditions, and the complex moral and ecological questions around eating animals versus plants.
Key Takeaways
Targeting small ethical operators misdirects activism away from real systemic abuse.
Hunter’s restaurant buys from local, humane game farms and serves wild-inspired dishes, yet was singled out while nearby butcher shops and likely factory‑meat users were ignored—energy that could be better aimed at industrial factory farming practices.
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Understanding where meat comes from tends to reduce waste and increase respect.
Both Rogan and Hunter argue that killing and butchering an animal yourself is emotionally difficult and humbling, which often leads people to eat less meat, waste less, and value the animal’s life and meat more.
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Hunting and licenses are a major funding source for wildlife conservation.
Mandated fees and excise taxes on hunting licenses and gear (e. ...
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Population control of certain wild species is ecologically and economically necessary.
Examples like feral pigs, overabundant deer, snow geese, and urban turkeys show that without hunting or reintroduced predators, overpopulation leads to crop destruction, disease, and suffering—impacts that also affect plant-based food systems.
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Factory farming is the strongest ethical and environmental argument for eating less or different meat.
Both men condemn industrial livestock systems for cruelty and ecological damage, promoting instead wild game, truly pastured animals, and regenerative farms (e. ...
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Vegan diets can work, but often require careful planning and supplementation.
They discuss B12 and iron deficiencies and note that many vegans feel fine yet have never checked blood markers; those committed to veganism are urged to monitor labs and use algae, organzied supplementation, and nutrient-dense plant sources.
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Foraging reconnects people with ecosystems and reveals non-obvious ethical complexities.
Hunter’s foraging for morels, chicken‑of‑the‑woods, wild leeks, and cedar shows how rich wild plant foods can be, while Rogan notes that large-scale crop agriculture still kills countless animals and insects—complicating a simple “plants good, meat bad” narrative.
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Notable Quotes
“I think that if you do eat meat, you should be able to kill an animal and experience that.”
— Michael Hunter
“No one contributes more to conservation than hunting. No one.”
— Joe Rogan
“People that don’t hunt and haven’t killed an animal don’t understand the respect and the amount of effort that goes into that.”
— Michael Hunter
“This is the wrong fight. The battle is factory farming.”
— Joe Rogan
“Meat doesn’t come from the grocery store. It’s not in a styrofoam package. That’s not where it comes from. It’s an animal.”
— Michael Hunter
Questions Answered in This Episode
If activists redirected their efforts from small ethical restaurants to factory farms, what specific policies or campaigns might have the greatest impact?
Joe Rogan interviews Toronto chef and hunter Michael Hunter, whose restaurant Antler became the target of persistent vegan and animal-rights protests after a cheeky sidewalk sign reading “Venison is the new kale.”
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
How should societies ethically balance animal welfare, habitat conservation, and the need for population control in overabundant species?
Hunter explains his philosophy of ethical, local, and wild-sourced meat, his background in hunting and foraging, and why he butchered a deer leg in the restaurant window in response to activists harassing his guests.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
What concrete standards should define “ethical meat” for restaurants and consumers, beyond marketing labels like “organic” or “free-range”?
Rogan and Hunter contrast small‑scale, ethical hunting and farming with factory farming, discuss wildlife population control, conservation funding from hunters, and the psychology and extremism within some activist and vegan circles.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Could a large modern city realistically feed itself primarily on wild game and regenerative farms, or is that only viable at small scales?
They also dive into wild game cookery, nose‑to‑tail eating, foraging mushrooms, indigenous food traditions, and the complex moral and ecological questions around eating animals versus plants.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
How can vegans and ethical omnivores collaborate on shared goals—such as ending factory farming—despite disagreeing on whether humans should eat animals at all?
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Transcript Preview
Four, three, two, one. Hello, Michael.
(laughs)
Welcome. Thanks, man. Thanks for doing this. Thanks for coming in.
100%, man.
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-
(laughs)
... 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?
(laughs)
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?
All right. So, it started in about December, uh-
About.
... about.
Cl- cl- clue number one-
Canadian. (laughs)
... possibly Canadian.
The crazy Canadian.
(laughs) Besides being nice. (laughs)
Um ... Well, that's why it went viral, because I wasn't being nice. I wasn't the stereotypical-
Oh.
... Canadian. No, um-
Well, you weren't even being mean. You were just doing-
No.
... your job in front of them.
I was doing my thing. So, they started in December, and they really-
I'm trying to keep this right in front of your face, so-
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.
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