Joe Rogan Experience #2100 - Steven Rinella & Cameron Hanes

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.

• 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.
  00:33:11
• 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.
  01:12:40
• 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.
  01:36:43
• 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.
  01:49:47
• Killing coyotes can paradoxically increase their numbers because disrupting pack dynamics triggers females to produce more pups (per Dan Flores' Coyote America).
  02:01:44
• 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.
  03:14:49
• 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.
  02:51:32

• 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.
  00:07:49
• 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.
  00:20:46
• Rinella had a cadaver bone implanted in his jaw and would occasionally spit out little pieces of it before it healed over.
  00:09:51
• John Jacob Astor became the richest man in the country off the beaver fur trade.
  01:33:34
• Montana wolf specialist Diane Boyd came to believe the Idaho/Montana wolf reintroductions were ultimately unnecessary since wolves were dispersing in on their own.
  01:40:19
• Federal waterfowl rules cap shotguns at three rounds, but an exception allows unlimited-capacity magazines for snow geese to protect Arctic habitats.
  02:11:40
• 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.
  01:29:22
• An anecdote about trapper Buck Bowden eating raw meat scraped off a wolverine skull while casually talking.
  01:54:29
• 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.
  03:01:21

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