Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks prefers to do things his way. On the ice, he excels as a hybrid, elite-level defenseman and point-scorer. Off the ice, his diet is hyper-specific: When he eats meat, he likes it from his own ranch that he and his family maintain in Texas. Burns says he feels healthier when consuming leaner and fresher game, and enjoys the oversight he has over the process of preparing his own meals, a luxury he doesn’t get on the road.
Many professional athletes find and maintain unusual (and expensive) hobbies, but when Burns gets going about how he populated his land with game including white-tailed deer, antelope, and wildebeest—yes, wildebeest—it becomes clear this is more than a hobby. Burns hunts and farms his own food because, he says, he has a genuine love for nature and wildlife.
It took a while to find the right plot of land—roughly two years, in fact—but Texas was always going to be the spot, given that Burns’s wife is from there. “We wanted to get a place where we can go to when everything’s said and done,” he says. “We finally found this place where there was enough space for what we wanted to do. I’m a huge animal lover, and I’ve been collecting all types for a while. I just love them, and I wanted animals to be a part of my kids' lives too.”
In an interview with GQ, Burns talks about maintaining a diet where you’re harvesting your own meat, what it’s like to run a ranch, and why the outdoors are such a special place for him.
GQ: What kind of animals are you raising on the ranch? Is it mostly livestock?
Brent Burns: Actually, we don’t raise any of the animals as livestock—we let everything live naturally there. We have a lot of axis deer, which is a deer from India. It’s really, really good meat, and such a beautiful animal. There’s a lot going on with it, and the rules around it.
Basically, there’s a season when you’re allowed to kill deer—say, for example a white-tailed deer. There’s a way their reproductive schedule works, and a way their antler schedule works, and so on. The hunting season is based on them having babies. You don’t want to hunt a white-tailed deer in the spring because the doe are pregnant. It’s not good for the species to do that. There’s a lot of criticism of hunters and hunting saying that it’s not good for conservation, but the entire thing is based around conservation. Every rule we set is based on keeping the deer herd healthy. For axis deer, there’s summer and winter bucks. So I’m able to hunt them in the summer and not screw anything up.
So is there a sustainability angle to this for you?
That’s a big part of it for sure. I’m also just very into that lifestyle. I love the outdoors and I love animals. I love to watch them, study them, all that. Hunting is difficult on public lands because of how much I have to travel during hockey season. I had to find a different way to get involved. Where we live in California, it’s hard to find deer in season during the winter.
Is that mostly because it’s a geographical thing? I can’t imagine there’s a lot of white-tailed deer in San Jose.
Yeah, it’s a big city that sprawls out, so you have to drive pretty far to find them. There’s unbelievable hunting in California if you go way further north, but it’s just such a long drive and I usually don’t have the time to do that. The ranch was my solution. Getting my family involved, and giving us all the chance to learn about the animals, hunting, and also a healthy supply of the best meat we can have.
How do you run the ranch? Is it just a huge swath of land that you leave natural?
Yeah totally. There were a lot of animals already there on the property, and we’ve left it like that for the most part. We’ve introduced a couple of species to the land, and changed some things around to get it the way we wanted it. In total, it’s probably got about a half-dozen different animals. We sometimes breed animals and sell them to other ranches as well—antelope, wildebeest, different goat and sheep species, mostly.
What I’m gleaning is this sounds like a really big operation. How do you manage all of the logistics of it?
We have somebody there full time, and he takes care of the property. He’s been unbelievable for us; he’s the guy that I can really lean on for learning what to do. He’s basically a walking encyclopedia for everything there because he’s been doing it for so long. He never went to school for this either; it’s all experience.
How do you incorporate the meat from hunting into your diet? Are you able to bring it with you when you travel for away games?
Nope, I just don’t get to eat it when I travel. But when I’m back home and eating the game meat, I notice how much more stable my weight is, and how much better I feel. Then when we go back on the road and I have to try and manage my diet while we’re traveling, it’s pretty hard. When you’re eating out at restaurants and such, you can’t control how they make your food. When I’m at home, I’m eating stuff that's slimmer and fresher. We cook a lot of our own veggies too.
I just really love it. It’s great at home when I prepare a steak, and I can remember things like where I got it and who I was with when we harvested the animal. It’s special, you know? You’re preparing the whole meal. I really just love the whole process.
Did you grow up hunting and farming when you were younger?
No, but I was always interested in it. I think around 2016 is when I went on my first hunt, and ever since then, it’s become more and more of a lifestyle for me. I have always been a huge animal guy, though. Ever since I was a kid, my favorite thing was going to the zoo. I have a ton of pets. It’s just something that's always been there for me. The ranch is amazing because it gives me the opportunity to be around animals and study them up close. It’s a big responsibility to make sure you’re doing the right things for the animals.
When you’re able to see the animals in a natural environment, it must be really something else.
Of course—I’m not hunting them every day. You get to see them eat, communicate, fight, feeding the babies. You’re a part of something so many people don’t get to see. There’s nothing better than just sitting in a tree and watching nature.
What are your plans for the ranch in the future?
Hopefully to just keep it in the family. I’d love to pass it down to my three kids, who have also gotten really into the outdoors. That’s kind of the reason why we got it in the first place, and keeping it as a special place for them would be great.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Real-Life Diet is a series in which GQ talks to athletes, celebrities, and everyone in between about their diets and exercise routines: what's worked, what hasn't, and where they're still improving. Keep in mind, what works for them might not necessarily be healthy for you.
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By Emily Abbate
