#2489 - Ryan Bingham

What It Covers

Joe Rogan and musician/actor Ryan Bingham cover 147 minutes of wide-ranging conversation spanning Bingham's bull riding career from age 10 to 23, his role on Yellowstone, wilderness survival skills from a Montana guide school, the 2025 LA wildfires, wildlife management debates around wolves and mountain lions, and the cultural contrast between California and Texas rural life.

Key Questions Answered

• •Wilderness Fire-Starting: Dead pine branches ignite within seconds using a lighter, even in wet conditions — far more reliable than small twigs. A Montana guide school instructor demonstrated this during a timed drill where students had two minutes to build a four-foot flame. Fritos work as emergency kindling in wet environments due to high oil content, burning slowly like candles and sustaining flame long enough to ignite damp wood, as confirmed during a six-day Alaska hunting trip.
• •Axis Deer Bow Hunting Difficulty: Despite 30,000 axis deer on Lanai with no hunting season and year-round pressure, bow hunters succeed at roughly 1-in-150 odds. The deer evolved alongside Bengal tigers and react to incoming arrows at 275 feet per second — moving clear of a shot within 10 yards of impact. Afternoon hunts in high wind offer better success rates by masking sound; still-hunting and spot-stalk approaches produce far more blown stalks than waiting at travel corridors.
• •Wolf Reintroduction Consequences: Colorado's wolf reintroduction program sourced animals from Oregon packs already documented killing livestock, then released them directly onto private ranch land. Three wolves were dropped on one rancher's property. Ranchers now require 24/7 mounted patrols to protect cattle. Wolves also exploit mountain lions by trailing them, stealing fresh kills, and forcing lions to hunt again — effectively doubling deer mortality pressure in reintroduction zones.
• •Mountain Lion Population Management: California banned hunting mountain lions with dogs, which is the primary method for identifying sex, age, and size before harvesting. Removing dogs from the equation caused harvested bear numbers to drop sharply while populations rose. Trail camera data from Tejon Ranch's 270,000-acre property documented 16 distinct mountain lions using a single water source. Stomach content analysis of problem cats shows roughly 50% of their diet consists of domestic pets.
• •Equine Therapy and Human-Horse Bond: Horses reduce anxiety and depression symptoms through direct contact, with equine therapy programs formally used for addiction recovery and mood disorders. The human-horse relationship spans thousands of years of co-dependence for transportation and survival, likely encoding a neurological response to proximity with horses. Children from urban environments show measurable behavioral calming within 20 minutes of first contact — shifting from visible anxiety to relaxed engagement without structured intervention.
• •Toxic Contamination After Urban Wildfires: The Palisades fire burned structures containing asbestos, lead paint, EV battery chemicals, treated lumber, and consumer electronics. Rain carries surface ash and chemical residue into groundwater, making well water in areas like Topanga Canyon potentially compromised. Removing contaminated topsoil from individual lots does not address lateral migration from neighboring properties. Residents returning weeks after containment reported throat irritation and respiratory discomfort from residual particulate in the air.
• •Manual Labor as Career Clarification Tool: Taking physically demanding jobs — hay stacking in 110-degree barns, fiberglass insulation installation without respiratory protection, fence post setting — provides direct feedback on career direction. Bingham credits a Mexican neighbor in Laredo teaching him one fingerpicking song, La Malagueña, as the foundation for his entire music career. Learning one or two guitar chords at a time, then writing songs about weekend rodeo trips, built his songwriting practice organically from a single technical starting point.