WildFed Podcast — Hunt Fish Forage Food · Daniel Vitalis

Hunting New Zealand with Philipp Spahn — WildFed Podcast #166

·1 hr 31 min·5 clips

Philipp Spahn left his successful gym due to chronic fatigue, sparking a journey into hunting and wild foods.

Host Daniel Vitalis interviews Philipp Spahn, a fellow hunter-gatherer and content creator based in New Zealand. Spahn shares his journey from gym ownership to a life centered on wild foods and discusses New Zealand's unique hunting culture. The conversation explores the contrasts between North American and New Zealand hunting systems, including regulations and species management. Spahn explains that New Zealand requires no hunting license, allows rifle hunting for geese, and has year-round seasons for most game. All hunted species are non-native, introduced by Europeans or Polynesians, and include seven deer species, elk, chamois, and tahr. He mentions the historical extinction of the massive, flightless moa bird and its predator, the Haast's eagle, by the Maori. Spahn describes his personal shift from a fitness career, which led to chronic fatigue from overtraining, to teaching himself hunting after moving to a rural area. A surprising insight is Spahn's envy of the North American model where hunting is linked to conservation funding, contrasting with New Zealand's view of non-native game as "pests." He reflects on the identity crisis of moving from being a fitness expert to a hunting novice. The discussion references Sebastian Junger's book "Tribe" on the human need for camaraderie and purpose, which hunting can fulfill. Spahn's partner, Cheska, films their adventures and recently obtained her firearms license, highlighting their collaborative content creation. The tone is conversational and reflective, with both hosts sharing personal stories and vulnerabilities about their transitions into hunting. The style is educational, offering a comparative look at international hunting practices and philosophies. This episode would appeal to hunters curious about international regulations, those interested in personal stories of lifestyle transformation, and fans of rewilding and ancestral skills content. Listeners seeking highly technical hunting tactics or strictly local conservation topics might find less relevance.

As heard by us

A hunting conversation that uses New Zealand to think about ecology, self-reliance, and what feeds us.

New Zealand is presented as more than a hunting destination; it becomes a place where ecology, history, and self-reliance meet. The discussion moves from year-round hunting, no licenses, and exotic game to the moa's disappearance, then widens into the question of how people stay…

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want hunting talk that reaches past the campfire.

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