{"id":571058,"date":"2026-03-30T16:32:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T16:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/571058\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T16:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T16:32:12","slug":"eatwild-asks-a-big-question-is-hunting-the-most-ethical-thing-a-meat-eater-can-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/571058\/","title":{"rendered":"EatWild Asks a Big Question: Is Hunting the Most Ethical Thing a Meat Eater Can Do?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Miki Dutca cares a lot about food. Beyond the taste, cooking techniques, or what wine might pair best<\/a> with it, she cares a lot about where it comes from, the journey it took to get to her plate, before she\u2019s even taken the first bite. Several years ago, the more she learned about that part, the more conflicted she felt.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen videos of industrial farming. They\u2019re quite sad, and they\u2019re quite impactful,\u201d she says. \u201cI was considering becoming a vegan, vegetarian<\/a>, you name it. Then I met a few hunters who opened my mind to a different possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no getting around it: in order to eat meat, something has to die. To Dutca, being involved in the process was a responsible solution. \u201cI wanted to be very aware of the pain I choose to inflict as a meat eater, and to be present and honor that life,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

That search brought her to EatWild<\/a>, an organization dedicated to educating people on hunting, foraging and cooking wild food. She met founder Dylan Eyers, and discovered a whole new approach to meat consumption.<\/p>\n

Today, Dutca and Eyers are married, with a freezer full of consciously sourced meat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very rare that we come across a chicken that isn\u2019t a grouse,\u201d laughs Dutca, over a plate of homemade whitetail deer osso bucco and risotto in their East Vancouver home. The two split their time between Vancouver and their home in Secret Cove on the Sunshine Coast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo: Adam and Kev Photography<\/p>\n

Happily ever after aside, Dutca\u2019s search for a more conscious path to food sourcing is a common entry point for folks interested in the EatWild programming. The EatWild mission is to introduce and educate newcomers on how to hunt in B.C. There are many satellite skills that accompany hunting: firearms safety, wilderness survival, regulatory knowledge. Eyers and his team at EatWild can help with all of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cHunting is about curating knowledge,\u201d says Eyers. \u201cI just happen to have really good mentors, and I\u2019ve come to spend a lot of time in the same little bit of woods.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo: Adam and Kev Photography<\/p>\n

Part of EatWild\u2019s goal is to pass that mentorship onto hunt-curious urbanites who don\u2019t have someone in their lives\u2014traditionally a relative\u2014to mentor them. And as the popularity of home cooking rises, people have become more interested in food sourcing beyond the grocery store.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t just about hunting, either. Foraging, fishing<\/a>, and locally sourcing food is something Eyers and Dutca are passionate about.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo: Adam and Kev Photography<\/p>\n

That common ground has connected them with lots of people in the Vancouver food scene. They namedrop Salvio Volpe and La Quercia<\/a> as places they\u2019ve connected with people over a shared interest in hunting, foraging and harvesting. And it doesn\u2019t take a long conversation with them to see that they believe there\u2019s no better place in the world to discover the rich cornucopia of wild meat and plants than Canada\u2019s west coast.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery chef we talk to wants to learn how to hunt,\u201d says Eyers. That gives them unique access to Vancouver\u2019s food community. \u201cHaving somebody from the chef community say, \u2018We want to spend time with you guys because you\u2019re doing this thing we want to learn,\u2019 it\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inspiration goes both ways. When they find a dish at a restaurant<\/a> they really like, the couple tries to replicate it back at home. It can spark connections and collaborations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a bounty come springtime of all the nourishing plants that rear their first shoots, which are edible and delicious,\u201d says Dutca. \u201cThey provide that excitement for going out in the forest and looking for something as soon as the days get a bit longer and the forest is greener.\u201d<\/p>\n

EatWild is neither Eyers\u2019 nor Dutca\u2019s full-time job, but they still manage to host a full calendar of events that combine wild foraging and harvesting with cooking and eating.<\/p>\n

For their \u2018Wild by the Sea\u2019 trips, they spend the day harvesting shellfish<\/a> and end the day with a picturesque long table dinner on the beach. EatWild\u2019s mushroom foraging workshop ends with attendees taking their haul of fiddlehead and oyster mushrooms to a friend\u2019s restaurant in Secret Cove to make fresh pasta ai funghi.<\/p>\n

One of EatWild\u2019s most popular offerings is their animal butchery workshop. Participants are taken through a step-by-step dismantling of an animal, usually a pig, and shown where each cut of meat comes from, and what cooking technique each pairs with, cooking wise.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: How to Talk to the Butcher Like a Pro<\/a><\/p>\n

Hunting veterans attend to learn how to be more efficient with their field dressing. Hunting newbies attend to learn how to process a deer in the wild. Home chefs attend who want to learn more about each cut of meat. Some come just for fun or to expand their life skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that a little light goes off in that workshop where people are like, okay, so it\u2019s not just how it goes together, it\u2019s more like why.\u201d says Eyers. \u201cYou\u2019ve got half that group of hunters, half that group of interested foodies, and by the end of it, they have common ground. That\u2019s the coolest part.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo courtesy of Eat Wild<\/p>\n

For someone like Dutca, who has a passion for food and wine<\/a> (with a level 3 WSET to prove it), any opportunity to showcase wild game in new, interesting, and creative ways is a win. One of her goals is to convert folks who aren\u2019t as familiar with some of the more obscure cuts. \u201cI\u2019ve made numerous liver pates, for example, that are more of a liver mousse,\u201d she says. \u201cPeople have received them extremely well. You often hear people say, \u2018My experience with liver in general\u2014not even wild liver\u2014has been not that tasty growing up.\u2019 That\u2019s been my passion project. To make organs palatable and exciting to unsuspecting people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The EatWild pitch is that anyone dedicated enough can become a hunter. But Eyers is interested in beyond just the hunt, he cares about everything that happens before, to prepare for it, and then afterwards: the responsible harvesting, and ultimately cooking and consuming. For him, that\u2019s what creates the best parts of the EatWild community.<\/p>\n

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