The guest
Steven Rinella & Cameron Hanes: Steven Rinella is the hunter, writer, and host of MeatEater; Cameron Hanes is an ultramarathon bowhunter and fitness/archery personality.
What this episode covers
This wide-ranging conversation centers almost entirely on hunting culture and craft. The trio breaks down the psychology of the bow shot (Joel Turner's open-loop vs. closed-loop systems, target panic, and pre-shot routines) and debates archery gear from whisker biscuits to the Garmin Xero sight. A large stretch covers wildlife management politics: Colorado ballot measures on mountain lion 'trophy hunting,' wolf reintroduction and its effect on elk numbers, coyote dynamics, and the role of urban voters. They also discuss the spiritual side of eating wild game, the rise of long-range rifle technology, social media's effect on hunting perception, and YouTube's restrictions on hunting content.
Recommended on this episode
BookRecommended
Coyote America
Dan Flores
“an amazing book, incredible book”
“Dan flores's book uh coyote America which is an amazing book [ __ ] incredible book when you realize how Wild those things are”— Joe Rogan
ProductRecommended
Whisker Biscuit
Trophy Ridge
“boy are those easy to tune”
“but whisker biscuits man I know they take a couple of seconds away from your Feer said but boy are those [ __ ] easy to tune”— Cameron Hanes
ProductRecommended
Garmin Xero bow sight
Garmin
“greatest thing of all time, It's Magic, you just put that pin right where it is”
“it's the greatest thing of all time and I know they're going to eventually work this out is that Garmin release do you saw that one that I was using last year”— Joe Rogan
ProductRecommended
Silverback release
Stan
“one of the best methods for learning how to shoot”
“Dudley had me on uh what's called a silver back which is I think one of the best methods for learning how to shoot”— Joe Rogan
ProductRecommended
Wise Guy release
Tru Fire
“that's a good one too because it's hot you're not yanking on it”
“I shoot a a trigger and I'll shoot that trigger till I'm dead you shoot the same Trigger he does you shoot the wise guy yeah that's a good one too”— Steven Rinella
The guest's own work
MediaBy the guest
MeatEater
Steven Rinella
“then Steve a brilliant idea meat eater yeah I mean meat eater right there you got the fork you got the forks on the freaking moose”— Cameron Hanes
MediaBy the guest
The Wild Within
Steven Rinella
“when I first saw your your original show the while within right that was what it was called when I first saw that show I was like oh I want to talk to that guy”— Joe Rogan
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
BookReferencedISBN verified
My Life with the Eskimo
Vilhjalmur Stefansson
“there's an Arctic Explorer uh V jalmer Stephenson and he would in his uh he had a book my life with the Eskimo”— Steven Rinella
ProductReferenced
300 Savage rifle
Savage Arms
“this uh let's see 300 Savage just old gun but 15 years old doing the push”— Steven Rinella
ProductReferenced
Black Rifle Coffee
Black Rifle Coffee Company
“I was hunting with Evan Hafer from Black Rifle coffee this uh past October we were both El hunting at this Ranch”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Bear Grease
Clay Newcomb
“Klay Nukem just did a bear grease episode about a guy a poacher and he interviews the guy at length”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Spirit of the Wild
Ted Nugent
“I would be at home watching Spirit of the wild she's like what the [ __ ] are you watching why you watching Ted nent”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Shooter
Antoine Fuqua
“remember Mark wallberg in that movie where he was like this recluse uh lived up in the Mounds... they wanted to get him to tell him where they'd kill him from”— Cameron Hanes
Big reveals from this episode
- Joel Turner's framework for beating target panic: the difference between open-loop systems (like swinging a bat) and closed-loop systems where you talk yourself through every step and stay in conscious control.
- Rogan calls the Garmin Xero bow sight 'the greatest thing of all time' for its clear LED-dot window, but says ranging glitches and a Utah legality change made him stop using it.
- Rinella explains the strategic logic behind trophy-hunting ballot language: creating 'trophy hunting' as a legal term would let opponents chip away at all hunting.
- In one Idaho region, elk dropped from 16,000 in 1995 to about 1,000 by 2016 after wolves were introduced, illustrating wolves' predation impact.
- Killing coyotes can paradoxically increase their numbers because disrupting pack dynamics triggers females to produce more pups (per Dan Flores' Coyote America).
- YouTube demonetizes/age-restricts hunting content for gore, raw meat, bone, and kill shots; advocacy groups have gotten Hanes' and a senator's restrictions overturned.
- Hanes describes the visceral difference between a rifle kill and a bow kill, recounting a 90-minute barefoot stalk to within yards of a bedded elk.
Worth remembering
- George Washington's false teeth were set in lead with horse teeth on top and slave teeth on the bottom, likely giving him lead poisoning.
- Acacia trees in Africa release foul-tasting chemicals when giraffes feed; downwind trees can respond, and plants react even to recordings of insects eating leaves.
- Rinella had a cadaver bone implanted in his jaw and would occasionally spit out little pieces of it before it healed over.
- John Jacob Astor became the richest man in the country off the beaver fur trade.
- Montana wolf specialist Diane Boyd came to believe the Idaho/Montana wolf reintroductions were ultimately unnecessary since wolves were dispersing in on their own.
- Federal waterfowl rules cap shotguns at three rounds, but an exception allows unlimited-capacity magazines for snow geese to protect Arctic habitats.
- Hanes hit a steel target at 990 yards on his first shot using a phone app to calculate the scope adjustment for distance, load, and wind.
- An anecdote about trapper Buck Bowden eating raw meat scraped off a wolverine skull while casually talking.
- Deep-dropping for swordfish happens in roughly 1,300 feet of water; new fishing tech includes line-mounted cameras that watch fish approach the bait.
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