Steven Rinella
Steven Rinella (born February 13, 1974) is an American outdoorsman, author, and television host who founded the MeatEater media company and serves as the host of its flagship television series and podcast, MeatEater , which emphasize ethical hunting , wild game preparation, and the integration of field sports with conservation principles. Rinella, raised in Twin Lake, Michigan , and now residing in Montana with his wife and three children, has built a career communicating the practical and cultural dimensions of self-reliant outdoor living, drawing on personal experiences in hunting , fishing , and foraging across North America and beyond.
Rinella's authorship includes over a dozen books, several of which achieved New York Times bestseller status, such as American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon (2008), which chronicles his pursuit of the elusive animal, and Meat Eater : Adventures from the Meat Eater's Kitchen (2012), detailing recipes and narratives from wild food harvesting. His written works extend to guides like The MeatEater Guide to Wilderness Skills and Survival (2020) and historical explorations such as MeatEater's American History: The Hide Hunters (1865-1883) , blending empirical observation with first-hand accounts of ecological and human interactions in wild landscapes.
In television, beyond MeatEater —which airs on platforms including Netflix and has run for multiple seasons documenting hunts and cooking—Rinella hosts Hunting History with Steven Rinella on the History Channel , premiered in 2025, where he applies survivalist expertise to investigate unresolved historical enigmas, such as the Lost Colony of Roanoke, by retracing environmental and logistical challenges faced by past explorers. His media efforts have popularized hunting's role in funding conservation through excise taxes and user fees, countering narratives that decouple wildlife management from consumptive use.
Rinella's conservation advocacy earned him the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership's Conservation Achievement Award in 2017, recognizing his work bridging hunting organizations with broader environmental coalitions to protect public lands and sustain game populations. In 2025, the University of Montana conferred upon him an honorary doctorate in forestry and conservation, citing his influence in fostering collaborative efforts among disparate advocacy groups to advance habitat preservation and species recovery. Through these platforms, Rinella underscores causal links between regulated harvest, population control , and ecosystem health , grounded in data from wildlife agencies rather than abstracted ideals.
Steven Rinella was born on February 13, 1974, in Twin Lake, Michigan , a rural area in Muskegon County that provided ample access to natural resources for outdoor pursuits. He was raised there by his parents, Rosemary Johnson and Frank J. Rinella, alongside two older brothers, Matthew and Daniel.
Rinella's father, a World War II veteran who took up hunting and fishing in his later years after a blue-collar upbringing on Chicago's south side, introduced him and his brothers to these activities from an early age. The family engaged in generalist outdoor practices, including fishing on Lake Michigan , the Muskegon River, White Lake, and local ponds and creeks, as well as hunting squirrels and trapping muskrats and mink near their home. This hands-on involvement fostered a broad appreciation for wildlife and self-reliance , with the brothers often participating together in these pursuits.
His father's teaching style emphasized tough love and practical survival skills , influenced by wartime camping experiences, such as rigorous tarp-folding drills during family camping trips and enduring harsh conditions like a frostnip incident at age six while ice fishing .
