Living the Outdoors with Marc Drewek: 11/12/25

November 13, 2025·52 min·4 clips

Marc Drewek wrote Wings in the Timber for his daughter so she would know who he was — 'the trails I walked, the things I loved' — and because hunting 'isn't a hobby, it's the essence of who I am.'

It starts at the radio show. After the network and sponsor business, Mark settles into the usual Living the Outdoors rhythm, with Randy in the studio and the phones open. Then the useful part gets oddly specific. Deer fat, instead of landing in a barrel, becomes a small lesson in trimming it, rolling it into mesh, and turning it into suet for birds. The bag matters. Nuthatches and downy woodpeckers need something to grip while they poke through and work at the fat. A nailed piece did not work, though it did give the dog a chance to handle the problem in the bluntest way available. That bit gets the laugh it deserves. From there, the conversation sits with the weirdness of deer fat being useful while still sounding deeply unappealing. Mark says he will not eat it now, and they circle around how different it is from good lean meat. The whole segment has a garage-bench feel: outdoor wisdom tested against memory, mess, and whatever someone tried last time. Connor's rendering project stays unfinished in the best way. Nobody turns it into an expert segment; they just sound curious enough to see what he comes up with. The close gets sentimental without getting glossy. Randy jokes about Edith Brodsman, an old English teacher, being flabbergasted that he wrote a book after flunking him. Then the show points listeners toward the next Fleet Farm appearance and returns to its plain outdoor ethic. Take someone outside if you can. Mark treats that as something that helps the other person and changes the one doing it, too.

As heard by us

Loose outdoor talk that moves from practical details to memory, use, and a few good laughs.

Living the Outdoors settles comfortably into its usual lane: practical outdoor talk with no attempt to dress it up. A backyard question opens into birds, deer fat, and what still has a use after a stretch in the woods.

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Why you'd press play

For when you want backyard bird talk, deer fat, and a little local memory from the outdoors.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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