9.0/107 votesLoading...#1 - Bush Pig: New Zealand Wild Boar
Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 10/21/2012
Steven Rinella and local Wild Pig legend, Darren Moore, spend a wild, action-packed day tracking down Captain Cook boars in the thick New Zealand bush. Their tools for the job include two little pig dogs, a knife, and some real grit. These pigs are tenacious and possibly dangerous to both the men and the dogs, and this is as visceral as a hunt gets. When success is had, Steve learns an eye-popping technique for field-prepping whole hogs.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
9.0/107 votesLoading...#2 - Cooking Special: Giving Thanks
Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 11/18/2012
The Pilgrims didn't get their turkey at the store and neither does Steven Rinella. On this special Holiday episode Steve cooks three enticing dishes: Wild Turkey Galantine, Smoked Black Bear Ham, and his take on the traditional Mincemeat Pie. Appetites will run large as Steve makes a special meal for his family and friends.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
9.0/108 votesLoading...#3 - Sea Bear: Alaska Spring Bear and Seafood
Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 1/9/2014
Steven Rinella ventures out to his hunting and fishing shack on a remote coastline of southeast Alaska’s Prince of Wales Island. While hunting bears from a skiff and a canoe, Steve gathers a variety of prime seafood and makes a discovery about his own motivations as a bear hunter.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
9.0/105 votesLoading...#4 - Land of the Giants: Idaho Mule Deer (2)
Season 6 Episode 5 - Aired 2/11/2016
The quest for a giant mule deer buck in Idaho continues as Steve and Ryan get closer to their prey -- and the slow-cooked roast of their dreams.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.9/107 votesLoading...#5 - First Timers: Montana Mule Deer featuring Joe Rogan and Bryan Callen (2)
Season 3 Episode 10 - Aired 5/5/2013
The second installment of a two-part episode covering the first hunt taken by comedians Joe Rogan and Bryan Callen. If all goes well, Steven Rinella will treat these newbies to traditional camp meals such as buck liver cooked with onions and a whole venison head roasted in a bed of coals.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.9/108 votesLoading...#6 - South Texas Redfish and Flounder
Season 9 Episode 1 - Aired 9/23/2020
Steve and chef Jesse Griffiths target redfish and sea trout with guide JT Van Zandt and flounder with Captain David Dupnik and end up with a feast.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.8/108 votesLoading...#7 - First Timers: Montana Mule Deer featuring Joe Rogan and Bryan Callen (1)
Season 3 Episode 9 - Aired 4/28/2013
In this two-part episode, television personality Joe Rogan and his best friend, comedian Bryan Callen, join Steven Rinella on a float trip for mule deer through the rugged Missouri Breaks, hunting and camping along the way. This is as adventurous of a first hunt as anyone could hope for, and Steven’s special guests are in for a memorable experience in some gorgeous country.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.8/105 votesLoading...#8 - El Venado Blanco: Mexican Coues Deer
Season 3 Episode 15 - Aired 11/3/2013
Steven Rinella returns to his favorite hunting grounds of Sonora, Mexico to hunt for Coues deer during the peak rutting season. Steve sets camp in the high country and spends days glassing for these small and elusive deer while his hunting partner, Remi Warren, tries to stalk one with a bow. To cap off the hunt, Steve cooks a batch of venison ribs braised in a Dutch oven buried beneath the coals.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.8/106 votesLoading...#9 - Up at the Cabin: Prince of Wales Island Black Bear with Paul Neess
Season 5 Episode 16 - Aired 4/23/2015
Returning to his hunting shack on Prince of Wales Island, Steve uses a canoe to quietly slip up on his exciting but dangerous prey: giant black bears.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.7/1023 votesLoading...#10 - Into the Clouds: Sitka Blacktail Deer
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 1/1/2012
Steve wants to hunt where few have hunted before. To gain access to pristine ground, he charters a float plane to drop him high in the Alpine zone of Alaska’s Coastal Rainforest at a little used landing spot. He plans to spend three days alone in the wild hunting for black tail deer. The primary challenges are steep and technically challenging terrain, drifting fog banks, and nearly incessant rain and snow. If he lands a black tail, Steve plans to cook up Rock-Pounded tenderloin to feast on before the float plane returns to bring him back to civilization.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.7/107 votesLoading...#11 - The Top of the Bottom of the World: New Zealand Tahr (1)
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 10/28/2012
Steven Rinella gears up for a massive climb into New Zealand’s Southern Alps in pursuit of Chamois and Tahr. Guide and friend, Remi Warren, will show Steve the ropes of hunting the high-country of New Zealand’s alpine. The men will travel light and hunt for food as they go, basing out of an alpine hut as they locate their quarry. This hunt turns adventurous quickly; with an impassable glacial river between Steve and his goal, things get dangerous and intense.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.7/107 votesLoading...#12 - The Top of the Bottom of the World: New Zealand Tahr (2)
Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 11/4/2012
Steven Rinella continues his hunt in New Zealand working towards his ultimate goal. Featured meals will be rock-grilled Chamois, Tahr Tartar, and a mountaintop Tahr-B-Q.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.7/107 votesLoading...#13 - Primal Cuts: Bone-In Cooking Special
Season 3 Episode 14 - Aired 10/27/2013
In this cooking special, Steven Rinella shows his fans some of his favorite preparations for big, bone-in cuts of red meat. Interspersed with highlights from his recent caribou, buffalo, and mule deer hunts, the show features recipes that utilize some of the most underappreciated parts of big game animals. This episode is an attractive and delicious tribute to Steve’s gun-to-table ethic.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.7/1010 votesLoading...#14 - Sky Island Solitare: Backpack Hunting Coues Deer in Arizona
Season 5 Episode 9 - Aired 3/5/2015
Steve embarks on a quiet solo hunt in southern Arizona to stalk the wary and elusive Coues deer and savor some rare alone time in the desert.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.6/108 votesLoading...#15 - Strange Hunt in a Strange Land: New Zealand Red Stag
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 10/14/2012
Steven Rinella flies halfway around the world to take on the mystical Red Stag in one of the most beautiful settings in the world—New Zealand’s South Island. Steve learns whether his North American hunting skills will translate for these foreign beasts.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.6/108 votesLoading...#16 - Bull By Boat: British Columbia Moose
Season 4 Episode 3 - Aired 1/23/2014
Steven Rinella and his buddy Ryan Callaghan float a remote river on a moose hunt that results in some of the most dangerous moments in Steve’s life as a hunter. The two hunters travel far from civilization in a raft to search for the massive moose that call the area home.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.6/1010 votesLoading...#17 - Burger Extravaganza: Cooking Special
Season 5 Episode 4 - Aired 1/29/2015
Tackling the subject of ground game meat, Steve shares recipes from his "Wild Game Cookbook" sure to improve any chef's burgers, meatloaf and more.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.5/1014 votesLoading...#18 - The Sweetest Meat: Alaskan Black Bear
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 1/8/2012
To find the best-tasting game meat, you have to earn it. As the cold Alaskan winter approaches, bears flock to the high country of Alaska's Chugach Range while feasting on cranberry and blueberry. As summer turns to fall, the bears have exhausted low-elevation fruit and their quest to fatten up pushes them into higher and less accesible terrain. The hard work and long hike pays off, as berry-fed black bears provide some of the finest tasting meat available to the American hunter. The meat is so good, that Steven Rinella plans to fry it in it’s own fat as a celebratory meal if he is lucky enough to land a bear on this trip.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.5/106 votesLoading...#19 - The Greatest Draw: Alaska Dall Sheep (2)
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 1/20/2013
The culmination of Steven Rinella’s Tok Sheep hunt should not be missed, and just in case the Dall Sheep hunt isn’t enough, Steve and his hunting partners head upriver to chase bears. An exciting stalk ensues, and plenty of meat eating is enjoyed. Featured meals are Dall sheep steak with wild blueberry pancakes, Dall ribs cooked over a rock oven, and willow-roasted black bear loin.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.5/106 votesLoading...#20 - The Northern Rockies: British Columbia Grizzly (1)
Season 4 Episode 5 - Aired 2/6/2014
Steven Rinella and his buddy Ryan Callaghan, a British Columbia guide, hike into the steep backcountry of northern British Columbia in search of grizzlies. This alpine adventure includes some intense and up-close bear action – almost too close.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.5/1018 votesLoading...#21 - Deer the Hard Way: Prince of Wales Island featuring Joe Rogan and Bryan Callen
Season 5 Episode 3 - Aired 1/22/2015
Comedians Joe Rogan and Bryan Callen keep the mood light as they join Steve for some Sitka blacktail deer hunting in the mountains of Alaska.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.5/1013 votesLoading...#22 - Alaska Moose (1)
Season 7 Episode 2 - Aired 10/2/2018
Steve's friends Janis and Papa Janis join Steve on a moose and caribou hunt in east-central Alaska that's the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.4/1011 votesLoading...#23 - Stalking the Grey Ghost: Arizona Coues Whitetail Deer
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 1/15/2012
To hunt some of the most elusive game, the predator must become its prey. Steven Rinella drew a tag to hunt the elusive Coues Deer in the stark mountains of southern Arizona, where his spot and stalk skills will be pushed to the limit hunting these tiny, ghostlike deer. To successfully take a deer Steve will have to become equally invisible, quiet, and attuned to his surroundings...he will need to become a desert ghost. In tune with the local culture, Steve will pack a small kit of tortillas, chiles, and all the fixings to prepare fire-grilled heart tacos.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.4/109 votesLoading...#24 - Brotherhood, Badlands and Pack Llamas: Montana Mule Deer
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 1/29/2012
Along with a trio of cantankerous and spit-hurling pack llamas, Steven Rinella, along with his brother Matt and good friend Matt Moison camp and hunt in the arid and frozen badlands of Eastern Montana for mule deer. Freezing cold temperatures and unforgiving topography add to the already-challenging job of finding and stalking a Mule Deer buck. In this environment the deer have all of the advantage: they can spot, smell, and hear hunters long before they are anywhere near shooting range. To combat the freezing temperatures, Rinella plans to make a hunter's stew to celebrate a successful hunt.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.4/109 votesLoading...#25 - True North: Alaska North Slope Caribou
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 1/6/2013
Steve and special guest, the author Tim Ferriss, travel to the remotest corner of Alaska to catch the annual migration of the famed Western Arctic caribou herd. On the open tundra they are met with challenges, wild adventures, and grizzlies. After two intense hunts for bull caribou, they feast on a stew of caribou sirloin and root vegetables thickened with bone marrow.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of MeatEater
Every episode of MeatEater ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of MeatEater!
Hunter, author, cook and conservationist Steven Rinella treks into the world's most remote, beautiful regions, bringing game meat from field to table.
Genre:Documentary
Best Episodes Summary
"Bush Pig: New Zealand Wild Boar" is the best rated episode of "MeatEater". It scored 9/10 based on 7 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 10/21/2012. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Cooking Special: Giving Thanks".