Joe Rogan Experience #1224 - Adam Greentree
Joe Rogan (host), Adam Greentree (guest), Narrator, Narrator, Narrator, Narrator, Narrator
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Joe Rogan and Adam Greentree, Joe Rogan Experience #1224 - Adam Greentree explores australian bowhunter Adam Greentree on wilderness, tech, and hunting ethics Joe Rogan and Australian bowhunter Adam Greentree talk about extended time in wild places, close encounters with predators, and how modern life contrasts with raw nature. They explore wolf, bear, lion, and pig behavior, and how firsthand experience of hunting reshapes one’s relationship to meat, fear, and comfort. The conversation dives into hunting ethics, predator management, social media, and the strange incentives of modern technology and virtual reality. Throughout, they return to a central theme: humans are deeply disconnected from nature, and hunting and time in the wilderness can re‑anchor people to reality and responsibility.
Australian bowhunter Adam Greentree on wilderness, tech, and hunting ethics
Joe Rogan and Australian bowhunter Adam Greentree talk about extended time in wild places, close encounters with predators, and how modern life contrasts with raw nature. They explore wolf, bear, lion, and pig behavior, and how firsthand experience of hunting reshapes one’s relationship to meat, fear, and comfort. The conversation dives into hunting ethics, predator management, social media, and the strange incentives of modern technology and virtual reality. Throughout, they return to a central theme: humans are deeply disconnected from nature, and hunting and time in the wilderness can re‑anchor people to reality and responsibility.
Key Takeaways
Predators are efficient, intelligent, and emotionally neutral about killing.
Stories of wolves running caribou into freezing rivers and returning hours later, or mountain lions and bears eating prey alive, underscore that nature is brutal but purposeful, not malicious. ...
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Hunting, done within scientific limits, supports conservation and healthier ecosystems.
They emphasize that regulated hunting—especially of apex predators like mountain lions and bears—follows biologist-set quotas to keep prey populations (deer, elk, moose) healthy, and tag and license money funds habitat and species management; bans often lead to government kills with no meat recovery instead.
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Killing and eating your own meat creates a deeper, more honest relationship with food.
Greentree explains how his wife went from refusing venison to preferring wild game once she tasted it and understood its origin, and both men describe the profound satisfaction and responsibility that come from stalking, killing, butchering, and cooking an animal yourself.
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Modern comfort and virtual experiences can erode resilience and meaning.
They worry that hyper‑immersive VR—especially for thrill and sex—will let people simulate achievements (racing, climbing Everest, sexual conquests) without effort or character development, leading to softer bodies, weaker minds, and less incentive to be kind or capable in real life.
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Short, miserable trips in harsh conditions produce long-term appreciation and joy.
Rogan and Greentree note that multi-day hunts in cold rain or endless mud feel awful in the moment but permanently deepen gratitude for hot water, dry clothes, and sunshine in a way that shallow fun, like rollercoasters, never does.
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Respect for land shows in small actions, especially trash.
Greentree has used his platform to incentivize followers to pack out garbage, and contrasts pristine New Zealand backcountry huts—maintained by users—with trashed U. ...
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Online anonymity and constant connectivity encourage aggression and distraction.
They point out that people feel safe being vicious on social media because there are no real-world consequences, and both have experimented with stepping back from feeds or outsourcing posts to regain focus, sanity, and time in the real world.
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Notable Quotes
“Nature don't give a fuck, does it?”
— Adam Greentree
“One of the reasons why it’s hard to have sex with people is it forces you to develop your personality.”
— Joe Rogan
“I’m not a blanket killer… if something’s not in a good healthy population, I’m not interested in hunting it at all.”
— Adam Greentree
“Sometimes the stuff that sucks while you’re doing it is fun for the rest of your life.”
— Joe Rogan
“Why place another cow in the paddock to put strain on the landscape if there’s already a wild animal there you can eat?”
— Adam Greentree
Questions Answered in This Episode
How would widespread lab-grown meat and virtual reality sex change the ethics and culture of hunting and human relationships?
Joe Rogan and Australian bowhunter Adam Greentree talk about extended time in wild places, close encounters with predators, and how modern life contrasts with raw nature. ...
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Where should societies draw the line between ‘letting nature take its course’ and actively managing predator populations?
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What practical steps could reconnect urban dwellers to nature in a way that changes how they see meat, wilderness, and personal comfort?
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Is there a responsible way to scale the New Zealand-style culture of shared, well-kept backcountry huts to more crowded countries?
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How might social media platforms be redesigned to reduce anonymous hostility while preserving free expression and community building?
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Transcript Preview
Three, two, one. All the way from-
(laughs)
... down under. How are you, brother? What's going on?
I'm good.
Good to see you again, man.
Yeah. Hell, yeah.
You're on a wild, uh, magical mystery tour of the United States of America here.
I am. It's been amazing.
With your kids, your cute little kids.
Yeah. They're cute.
Your daughter is damn adorable.
They're cute if they're not your own. (laughs)
They're, uh... Am I adorable? I love kids. But you, uh, you're taking them too. You took everybody, like, you're-
Yeah.
... you're here for how many months?
Uh, five months.
You moving? Tired of Australia?
No. Hell no.
Come on, bro. You know it's not.
Just a big trip.
No, it's better over here.
(laughs)
(laughs)
It is. I love America. It's awesome.
Is it better?
Um-
You can't say that. They won't let you back in.
Yeah, probably not.
(laughs)
They're very different, you know, but-
Yes.
... the American landscape, how unique the landscape is, you know-
Yeah.
... from the Rocky Mountains, you know, to the deserts, just insane.
Does Australia have any mountains?
Yeah, heaps, yeah.
Oh, really?
Everyone thinks Australia's just (laughs) like this fucking flat piece of sand, don't they?
Yeah. Yeah.
But it's not.
With monsters in it. (laughs)
There's there's heap- there's heaps of mountain ranges and shit.
(laughs) Really?
So yeah, yeah.
How tall do they get?
Um, I don't know the height, but they're up there. Yeah.
Like a real mountain? Like Rocky Mountain mountain?
Like a real mountain, like Rocky Mountain, yeah.
Really?
Yeah, yeah.
Wow. Dude, let me tell you something. Your 28 days that you did in the Rocky Mountains out here that we put on Instagram, you know, that, that, we, you know-
Yeah, yeah.
... we, we're promoting it constantly.
Yeah.
That was like one of the most talked about, like every... I got calls from all my friend- Bert Kreischer was fucking obsessed with you.
(laughs)
H- he wouldn't stop calling me about it. He's like, "The fuckin' guy's by himself."
Yeah, yeah.
"The, the, the video with him with the grizzly bear and he's pointing the gun at it. Jesus Christ."
Yeah. The fucking weirdest thing is it's, that's normal shit. It is. That's very normal.
Yes.
But society's so removed from it now.
Well, if you're out there, it's normal to get false charged by a grizzly bear.
Yeah.
That is normal, but-
You're living with nature, yeah.
It's one good reason not to fucking be out there. (laughs)
(laughs) I was talking with, uh, Kim about this w- we hiked into the back of Montana to the spot that's usually got a bunch of grizzly bears that I go to, and, uh, we were talking about you, how you won't come out to Australia hunting because you're scared of everything.
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