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Rodney: Put a little baste on there.
Narrator: Rodney Carr has a passion for taking what nature provides and turning it into a delight for the senses.
His fascination for this started out early, where he developed a love for the hunt from his father.
Rodney: He'd get his hunting gear out, and I was right there.
The thrill of my life was loading that hunting vest with his shells knowing that my father going hunting,
and I couldn't wait for the opportunity for me to be old enough to go hunting with him.
Narrator: That time came, and Rodney's love for the sport grew as the years went by.
This day begins before dawn breaks in the north central Missouri skies.
Rodney: I'm excited. I love this.
I mean, it's a beautiful morning.
The thrill is being out here having an opportunity.
[ Turkey Call ]
Rodney: I'm a patient man.
If it was easy, everybody would do it.
And I'm just one of those guys that keep coming back for more.
[ Turkey call ]
Narrator: In the quiet moments between calls,
Rodney has time to reflect on how his interest in preparing wild game and edibles began
stirring up memories of the family kitchen from decades past.
Rodney: It started with my mom.
She would take that wild game that my father would get,
and she'd make that stuff so delicious that, I had four other brothers and we used to fight over it.
And I just learned to enjoy and appreciate the taste of wild game.
If it's prepared right, it's delectable.
[ Turkey Gobbles ]
[ Gunshot ]
Narrator: For many hunters like Rodney, who live in or near cities,
finding good places to hunt in the rural landscape is essential.
Like his father before him, he knocked on doors, got to know people,
and developed relationships with landowners built on respect.
Rodney: You come up there and you show an appreciation for their property.
You want to share the harvest that you get with them.
Don't just go up there and go hunting; you stop by and you visit with them.
Actually talk to them and say, “How you doing today?'
After a while you start building relationships with them,
somebody that really cares about them and their land, and that’s what it’s all about.
Narrator: And those relationships often led Rodney to his other outdoor passion:
collecting and cooking with wild edibles.
Rodney: Blackberries, persimmons, wild hickory nuts, pecans, poke greens, gooseberries, morel mushrooms.
It's not as appreciated anymore, the things that can be found in the wild that you can supplement an evening meal with.
And I try to bring that back to my family and back to the table.
Narrator: Rodney Carr is what you might call an amateur chef specializing in things wild.
He has garnered a lot of recognition
from the Missouri State Fair Wild Game and Wild Edibles competition for his creations.
Rodney: It takes a little bit more care because wild game or wild meat has less fat in it
so that means it has to be prepared a little differently, because dried wild game will turn most eaters off.
A lot of times when you are experimenting, you have a lot of failures, but you learn something from each one.
And every time you try something new, you experiment with different tastes, different seasonings, different mixtures
you’re gonna come across different tastes that you've never had before.
And then you can go to the next meat, and say, "Well, that worked pretty good there,
let's try it here but we're gonna add something or take something away.
And you come up with some pretty interesting combinations.
[ food sizzling ]
Rodney: I prepare wild game at least once a week at home, and I make it a part of my diet.
I try not to make it a big deal, but other than another meal I'm gonna eat,
because that's the key to wild edibles, wild game.
And if you take the "wild" out of it, it's food.
Narrator: It all boils down to the fact that what matters to him is the affection he has for every part of the process,
starting in Missouri's fields, forests, and streams, and ending up at the dinner table.
Rodney: I look forward to opportunities to hunt in the wild,
and cook what I've gathered in the wild,
and I have a good time with it; that's what ultimately is what makes it good for me is that it's just fun doing it.