Now Serving Deer Meat For Dinner 

Behind Robert & Sarah Arrington’s Quest To Bring A Wholesome Outdoor Lifestyle To The World 

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If ​​you haven’t heard of Robert and Sarah Arrington and their family YouTube channel DeerMeatForDinner, you likely don’t spend much time surfing the web looking for excellent outdoor content. In fact, the channel has a whopping 3.46 million subscribers! 

When my editor asked me to call Rob for an interview, I confessed that I hadn’t heard of him before. What I found out through a little research was that I was about the only person who hadn’t heard of DeerMeatForDinner. Rob’s is a compelling story, and one we’re happy to share with our readers. 

Robert Arrington’s Florida Roots 

A self-professed “Florida cracker,” Rob’s roots run deep in the Sunshine State. His mother’s side of the family goes back to the 1800s when her family came to Florida to work on the numerous cattle ranches in the state. 

So, what’s the deal with being a Florida cracker? That’s one of the first things we wanted to find out from Rob. 

“A cracker was just a cow hunter, what most people now call a cowboy,” Rob said. “My grandpa was just a poor old cow hunter who made his living on the back of a horse chasing the rear ends of other people’s cows. 

“Back in the day, they obviously had no cell phones, but the women would hear the guys coming and they’d be working the cows and they’d have a cow whip. They’d be popping that whip that’s called a cracker. The women would know that the guys were coming based on the sound of the cow whip and say, ‘Here come the crackers.’ Here in Florida, all the cowboys are still known as cow hunters.” 

Growing up in Florida, Rob’s love for hunting, fishing, and the outdoors came naturally. Raised before the day of tablets and cell phones as many of us were, Rob was content to spend his time outside enjoying what nature had to offer. 

“As a little boy, I had few rules other than don’t cross the road and be back by dinner on time with your hands washed and your hair combed,” he said. “We weren’t wealthy, but we had a really cool family. So, I spent all my time hunting in the backwoods with my pellet gun and hunting dogs for quail, squirrels, doves, and rabbits. I would always bring them home, and my mom made me clean the rabbits and all the doves. 

“I’d put them in the freezer, and when we had enough she would make a big old stew or jambalaya or some cool goulash. And we would always feed on that. So, I’ve always known hunting animals as a way to provide food.” 

What Rob didn’t know was that hunting and fishing for animals to provide food would one day earn a good living for himself and his family. That’s where Deer Meat For Dinner comes into the picture. 

How Deer Meat For Dinner Got Its Name 

Deer Meat For Dinner is an in-depth look at who Rob and Sarah are as individuals, as a couple and as parents to their two daughters, who they homeschool. They take their girls with them pretty much everywhere they go and, as a family, they’re meat eaters who eat what they harvest. 

So, what’s the deal with the name? Why would a guy name his business something so seemingly odd? 

“In 2013, I was in my kitchen at the condo cooking some deer meat,” Rob recalled. “My girlfriend, who’s now my wife, was working on some stuff at her desk. I thought, “Man, is there another way to cook deer meat?’  So, I went online and typed deermeatfordinner.com. It came up on GoDaddy, ‘Buy now for 9.99.’  So, as God is my witness, I didn’t have the money. I said to Sarah, ‘Hey, do you have any money on your credit card?’ She said, ‘Yeah, I’ve got a little bit.’ I said, ‘I’m going to buy a URL.’ She’s like, ‘What’s a URL?’ I said, ‘You know, deermeatfordinner.com.’ She’s like, ‘What are you going to do with it?’ I said, ‘Do you like deer meat for dinner?’ She’s like, ‘Yeah, I love deer meat for dinner.’ And I said, ‘Great. We’re going to own that.” 

The rest, as they say, is history. Rob was soon surprised by the number of people that were coming to watch his videos. 

“From there, I started making videos and it just started growing,” he said. “It didn’t take long, like a month, and I was like, ‘Holy mackerel! We’re going to really put some time and effort into this.’ And I started gaining subscribers and people started following along.” 

Since then, Rob has been on a constant quest to film his outdoor and family adventures. And they don’t all involve deer meat—from diving for lobsters, to hunting elk, to catching huge alligators, Deer Meat For Dinner takes viewers around the country and the world on an unforgettable ride that keeps family and wild-caught-and-killed protein in the forefront. 

Throughout the program, Rob highlights the importance of the sustainable harvest of game animals, along with great ways to prepare those animals for the table. He sees it as somewhat of an outreach to those who don’t know much about hunting and game meat. 

“I think of myself as having people watching on a fence, and they can either fall into the pro-hunting and pro-outdoors life or they can fall into the anti-hunting side,” he said. “I try to make a message in a show that makes them fall on our side. Enjoy this because what we have is a very beautiful, family-friendly lifestyle. It’s a great way to raise our kids and live our lives. I want more people to do this and enjoy this.” 

Living The Good Life 

Indeed, hunting and fishing are very big parts of Rob’s and Sarah’s lives. With or without cameras, you’ll often find them on the boat, in the woods or on the range. 

“That’s what we do. That’s who we are,” Rob said. “You know, a lot of people don’t look at hunting and fishing as a lifestyle but as a pastime. But to me, it becomes who you are in a large way. So right now, I don’t even know what else to think about. I don’t play video games at all. I’m not into partying. I’m not into anything that people do a lot. 

“Depending on what season it is, I’m into what’s coming up. What’s the weather like? It seems like every single time I walk outside, I look at the wind. Where’s the wind coming from? And how strong is it? If it’s flat calm, I want to go out fishing. If it’s windy, I want to go out in the woods. Light wind is good for fishing but bad for hunting.” 

With his answers to our questions, Rob sounded somewhat like a modern-day mountain man of the Jeremiah Johnson sort. But that’s not how he chooses to describe himself. 

“I don’t consider myself a mountain man,” he said. “The moment I’m around a true mountain man, I realize how much I’m not a mountain man. But I do consider myself an outdoorsman. I feel like you could take me in any swamp or any piece of ground, anywhere in America or the Amazon and drop me off and I’d feel very comfortable. Or even in the ocean—I’d feel very comfortable. 

“But if you take me to a city around a bunch of people, I feel very uncomfortable. I just don’t like being around huge crowds. I don’t know what other people are doing. I don’t know what they’re thinking. But out in the woods, I could find some swamp cabbage and make dinner with wild game. Same with the ocean. I could be stranded on an island and I’d figure out how to eat really good.” 

Close Calls While Afield 

Along the way during his adventures around the world, Rob has run into at least a couple of life-or-death situations during the filming of his videos. Fortunately, he was able to survive both of the most notable ones. 

About 15 years ago he was deep in the jungles of Guyana when he spotted a fer de lance. He caught the snake, but cut his finger while doing so. Suddenly, the cut finger, on the hand with which he was holding the snake, started to burn. 

“I realized, ‘Oh my goodness, I think the venom, which is deadly, is now in my finger,’” he said. “I threw the snake down and whacked off his head, jumped into the river and started taking dirt and rubbing it on my hand. I was feeling my underarms checking my lymph nodes. I’m praying to God, ‘Please. I can’t be envenomated by a snake I’m holding like that.’ And luckily for me, I didn’t get envenomated. But I remember thinking this could get really bad really fast if venom got into my bloodstream.” 

Another close call was at home in Florida last year when Rob was trying to catch a nuisance alligator. He suddenly began to stagger, threw his fishing rod onto the ground and began asking to be taken to the hospital. 

“Luckily for me, I had the stroke just a couple miles from the Cleveland Clinic in Port St. Lucie,” he said “As soon as I had the stroke, which came on like a wave, they got me to the hospital. One of the leading doctors, Dr. Mark Babi, took great care of me. I actually had another stroke that night, and from that second stroke, I have more lingering problems. I had a clot in the back of my brain stem that really sort of messed up some of my speaking that I have worked hard on getting better.” 

Favorite Wild Game Dishes 

If you wonder what Rob’s favorite wild game meat is, simply look no further than the name of his website and YouTube channel. 

“I love eating good food, and the best way to eat good food is to make good food,” Rob said. “I’m not a chef, I’m just some guy who cooks at the house. I like what I make, and a few other things, too. Regular fried or grilled deer meat is probably my favorite meat in the world. There are a couple of muscles in the ham that I like to cut out and then slice into steaks or cube them and just fry them.” 

On the other hand, the most delicious wild game meal Rob ever had didn’t involve deer meat at all. That occurred on a hunt in Saskatchewan shortly after he had killed his first bull moose. 

“We cut up loins and grilled it over an open fire, and literally the fat was just oozing out of the meat as we were grilling it,” he said. “And then we had the Northern lights as a backdrop while we were eating dinner. It was one of those spiritual, amazing moments that I’ll never forget in my life. I had just killed my first bull moose. I’m eating grilled tenderloin from that moose while looking at the Northern lights.” 

Deer Meet For Dinner Is A Family Affair 

While the show is a family show and chronicles the life of the Arrington adults and children, many aren’t aware that Deer Meat For Dinner is turning into a family business. And Rob is proud of that fact. 

“Aria and Emma were both born on YouTube,” Rob said. “Literally, we announced them on YouTube. Their births were on video and every single week of their life has been on YouTube. So, they don’t think of me filming as weird. They come in my office and just grab a camera and go out in the yard and film with their friends and do whatever, and it’s so cool seeing their perspective. So, when they’re filming, they’re saying things and looking at the camera a certain way and showing certain things that I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I didn’t even think about that. That’s a really cool perspective.’” 

In fact, Sarah and the girls already have their own YouTube channels. Although there’s no pressure for Aria and Emma to turn theirs into a business anytime soon. 

“My wife is DeerMom and she’s got over 110,000 subscribers,” Rob said. “And then my children have DeerAria and DeerEmma. We’ve already built their channels, but we don’t show them yet. I want my kids to have a normal childhood. For now, we’ll make money, you guys be kids. Sarah and I both think that’s the right way to go. When they get older, they can decide what they do.”  

The Road Ahead 

What does the future hold for the Arringtons? As a devout Christian, Rob has just the perfect answer to that question. “You’d have to ask God,” he said. “I’m not a goal-oriented human being. I’m a day-oriented guy. Every single day I just try to do my best with that day.” 

Follow along with the Arrington’s on YouTube via @deermeatfordinner and @deermom, and bring your family along for the ride. It’s truly wholesome, family-friendly entertainment, and that’s not all that easy to find these days. 

Editor’s note: Deer Meat For Dinner is honored to be sponsored by some of the biggest brands in the industry. Check them out at deermeatfordinner.com/pages/partners.