Petersburg was the backdrop of several films, documentaries, and reality TV shows over the last year. But this winter, the spotlight was on one of the town’s residents, when a local hunting guide reluctantly showcased his talent for trapping wolves, along with his love and respect for the animal on a popular hunting program.
"MeatEater" is a Netflix series, a podcast, a YouTube channel, and a lifestyle company based around all things hunting, fishing, and trapping. Clay Newcomb is one of the show’s hosts. It was his idea to film an episode for the "MeatEater" YouTube channel about hunting Sitka blacktail deer and wolves in the region’s dense coastal rainforests.
“In North America, Southeast Alaska ranks at the top of the heap for just visual beauty,” said Newcomb. “Being at sea level, but also seeing these huge mountains in the distance. Just — the variety of wildlife that is in Southeast Alaska, from the whales and sea lions and all the waterfowl to the deer and the wolves… It was incredible. It truly was.”
The program has a prominent culinary element: it’s in the name, after all. So, episodes usually wrap up with the host and their guide cooking up their catch. And this time, the "MeatEater" crew were catching wolves. But Newcomb decided against sampling his quarry.
“No, we didn’t (eat the wolf),” Newcomb said, laughing. “In the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, one of the seven tenets of the model means we never kill wildlife for no reason. Primarily, the reason that we harvest wildlife is to eat them. You do that with deer and moose and elk… And even mountain lions and different predators. Bear meat is incredible! The way we view wolf management is — fur-bearers. And so, we didn’t eat the wolf.”
That’s not to say Newcomb hadn’t at least considered eating the wolf. But, he says he didn’t want it to be a stunt — he just kept the fur instead.
Newcomb says when he set out to film the episode, they were bracing for negative reactions from the public. Wolf hunting is controversial across the country, and especially in certain parts of Southeast. Several conservation groups have challenged the Alaska Department of Fish and Game over the last few years for allowing people to harvest what they consider to be too many of the region’s Alexander Archipelago wolves. But some residents believe there are actually too many wolves preying on deer, which they rely on for meat.
Petersburg master hunter David Benitz was Newcomb’s guide for the trip. He’s also a longtime friend. Benitz has hunted in Southeast Alaska for over 30 years, and he says he’s invested in keeping wolves on the landscape — even though he hunts them.
“I mean, I enjoy the wolves as much as the next guy,” said Benitz. “I love listening to them howl. When I’m out there, I like seeing them. I like seeing their tracks and stuff, but they’re a renewable resource. I like to harvest them when I can.”
Hunting wolves and braving the elements to get to where they live is no skin off Benitz’s teeth. But doing all of that on camera? He says that was a little out of his comfort zone.
Benitz describes himself as a “man of few words,” and as someone who generally avoids the spotlight. Newcomb had to beg and plead with him for several years to come on the show.
“Having a camera follow you around all the time is not that much fun,” said Benitz. “I’m not really a people person, so being around a camera is different for me.”
Eventually, he warmed to the idea. That was so he could give the world a peek into his lifestyle in Southeast Alaska, and to net some exposure for his guiding business.
“Trapping in general — it’s just in my blood,” said Benitz. “It’s something my grandfather did up here and just something I really enjoyed doing. Trapping wolves is challenging, they’re pretty smart. Certain way to do it, and it’s just a good challenging sport to get out there. It’s a way of life for a lot of us guys up here and there’s quite a few of us that do it. And it was just a way to put it out there and let people see it for what it is.”
In spite of his initial reluctance to guide a hunt on camera, Benitz says he’s ready to do it again. "MeatEater" staff didn’t confirm or deny whether they’re planning to return to Southeast for round two. But Benitz says he’s agreed to guide the film crew on another hunt in August — this time, for mountain goats.