It’s funny how the real “who you are” can sit dormant, buried inside you for years. Occasionally showing up here and there in glints and flashes, but never really coming into full fruition until some spark ignites a passion that can no longer be contained. I’ve always enjoyed the outdoors. I dabbled in cooking at a young age and eventually worked in a restaurant for a while. I stumbled into a degree in English because I found the writing more enjoyable than math or business. The outdoors, cooking, writing. Those were things I liked. I never gave much thought to them in a way that defined “who I am.”  I came to hunting later in life than most and very quickly realized that in addition to having a new “hobby,” I also now had access to all new ingredients with which to work and some good stories to tell. Over time hunting, fishing, growing, foraging, cooking and writing have developed from individual pastimes, grown into passions and eventually converged into a way of life that brings me to hunt and cook just about everything a season will provide.

Twenty years later there are still many things I like, but a small precious handful of things I am: husband, dad, hunter, fisherman, outdoorsman, cook and writer. I can be found wandering New York’s Hudson Valley and beyond in constant pursuit of wild and local things to eat and new ways to cook them, living my belief that the very best food is local food. I enjoy spending time outdoors with my boys, teaching them self-reliance and sharing with them the joy of sitting down to a well-earned meal.  

Along with my wife and sons, I share my piece of the world with a dog, cats, rabbits, chickens and a pair of freeloading goats. In watching those goats I’ve noticed that for all the time they spend penned up being fed and catered to, they always seem far happier wandering the rocks behind our house filling themselves with whatever they find on their own along the way. It makes sense: I feel the same way.  

You can follow my musings about hunting, fishing, gathering, cooking and anything else that comes my way on the following channels:

Blog: www.TheFreeloadingGoat.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/TheFreeloadingGoat
Twitter: @freeloadinggoat
Instagram: TheFreeloadingGoat