Ben Long

Feb 12, 2025 | themeateater.com | Eli Fournier |Ben Long |Jordan Sillars

When it comes to public lands, there aren’t many people with more influence than the Secretary of Interior. Under his or her leadership, the Department of Interior oversees 11 federal bureaus, offices, and land-management agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and US Fish & Wildlife Service. Collectively, those agencies manage 425 million acres of land—an area larger than all of Alaska. So, who’s leading the department under President Trump?

Jan 22, 2025 | themeateater.com | Ben Long |Ross Robertson |Shane Townsend |Mark Kenyon

My friend Jack is a tough retired Montana logger who hunts like a cougar. Sure, he enjoys his hunting buddies. But for decades now, each hunting season, he disappears alone into the high country with a simple kit of dried food and a rifle after bighorn and elk. Often, he returns with game. Always, he returns with an adventure. While I share Jack’s taste in solitary hunting, I don’t have quite his tenacity. For me, a day or two alone is often enough.

Nov 28, 2024 | themeateater.com | Ben Long |Patrick Durkin |Mark Kenyon |Tony Peterson

The signature Thanksgiving tradition dish is elk slow-roasted in coffee and whiskey. It will be served with a side dish of hunting stories. Some of the stories will be old and polished like a riverstone. Others are like new flakes off a block of obsidian. Either way, the tales are as nourishing as the elk roast itself. My group of about a dozen friends has gathered together on Thanksgiving for more than 30 years. Some of the kids now have children of their own.

Nov 21, 2024 | themeateater.com | Jordan Sillars |Ben Long |Travis Hall |Congressman Robert Broussard

Ever wanted to hunt a hippo? It’s probably not something you’ve considered. But if Teddy Roosevelt had gotten his way in 1910, hippo tags would have been available to American hunters from Florida to Texas–not to mention, as the New York Times put it, “lake cow bacon.”Here’s what happened.

Nov 7, 2024 | themeateater.com | Nathan Ratchford |Ryan Callaghan |Noah Davis |Ben Long

There is simply nothing like the grouse woods in the fall. The fire of color, the explosion from thick cover, and the taste—ah, the taste—ruffed grouse rivals that of all game birds. But bringing the king of game birds to the table is no easy task. Ruffed grouse have spent thousands of years evolving to avoid every predator, us included. To hunt them successfully, especially in the eastern and midwestern parts of the country, you need to be smart, skilled, and a tad bit lucky.