8 episodes · 4th December 2023
Considered a nuisance and trash fish, the Asian carp has overtaken the Illinois River's biomass and now outcompetes native species. Lucky for Yia, fishermen Clint Carter and Dave Buchanan have devised an ingenious way to rebrand this delicious fish by calling it Copi. Copi is now finding its way into restaurants across the country and Yia gets treated to a shore lunch after his day on the water.
When Yia receives an offer to join Ryan "Backwoods" Dodd and his mentor, Barry Carter, on a squirrel hunt, he can't resist. Squirrel is hugely popular in the Hmong community and was a family favorite in the Vang household when Yia was growing up. As squirrel hunting has fallen out of favor with the hunting community, Backwoods, Barry, and Yia are excited to highlight this once-fashionable protein--even if it means they have to share.
In the Yellowstone National Park ecosystem, lake trout are an invasive species destroying the native cutthroat trout population. The highly-prized "Midwest" fish is one of Yia's favorites and a trip to Yellowstone with Western River Anglers is an adventure he can't resist. Jay Harris teaches Yia to fly fish, with hopes of landing a shore lunch and removing this tasty but invasive trout.
Duck hunters universally agree: diver ducks are not worth shooting because they allegedly taste fishy. Yia joins Quinn, Ashton, and Jacob of the Teton Valley Lodge to hunt a pond in Ashton, Idaho to compare and contrast the flavor profiles of puddle ducks and diver ducks.
Ten minutes from where Yia grew up sits Woods and Meadows hunt club, where Rocky Biegel and Jim Borsky spend their time chasing pheasants with their dogs in Warren, Wisconsin. Yia nervously returns home for the first time in 20 years and discovers he and Jim have something in common, over a bowl of pheasant fried rice and pasta.
Described as a keystone species, beavers heavily influence their environment. But when the population moves into the wrong properties, it's up to Wisconsin state trapping educator Jim Binder to help landowners remove these destructive pests. Yia joins Jim to remove beavers who are destroying a local landowner's food plots and duck pond.
The Canada goose was once a federally endangered species, but through years of protection, the population has exploded. Unfortunately, they are now doing millions of dollars a year in damages to farms and city parks. Yia joins Peter Krog and Travis Samp of Pit Properties to enjoy a luxurious goose hunt from a heated blind while snacking on a gourmet breakfast.
When the deer herd exploded on Sean Vaughn's family farm two years ago, predatory wolves soon followed. To curb the issue, Sean has invited friends and family, and now Yia, to come out and harvest does. By going against traditional trophy hunting, Sean hopes to remove enough of the deer from the property to encourage the wolves to move on, while also preventing the spread of chronic wasting disease. For Yia, this will provide his first chance to take a deer with a bow.
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