Two Bulls, One Arrow Each: The Double Kill Story You Need to Hear

Man, this one's for anybody who just loves talking to a regular dude who's put in the years and killed a lot of elk — because that's exactly what this episode is. Brian Rae grew up in Idaho with an outdoors family, killed his first buck AND his first bull at 12 years old within two weeks of each other, and has been chasing bulls in some of the nastiest, steepest, most brutal backcountry ever since. We get into it all in this one. Brian tells the story of getting truly lost overnight at 19 — no coat, dead flashlight, sleeping next to a fire he built with toilet paper and a lighter, and the almost unbelievable coincidence of how he found his way back to camp. We talk about how close that feeling of panic really sits, even for guys who know these mountains better than anybody. Then we get into the good stuff — the hunting. Brian breaks down calling in two six-point bulls back to back with his buddy Chad, a wounded-bull recovery that turned into "a bathtub full of blood," and an eight-yard, full-draw standoff with a black bear that walked right down a game trail at him. But this isn't just war stories. Brian gets into the real strategy behind killing a herd bull consistently — why getting close beats bugling every hundred yards, why he mimics satellite bulls instead of challenging the herd bull head-on, and why wind and thermals will beat you every single time, no matter how good your setup is. If you want to hear what it actually takes to kill mature bulls year after year — not the highlight reel, the real work behind it — this episode is for you. This Episode is Brought to You By onX Hunt This episode's hunt-planning talk is powered by onX Hunt. Whether you're building color-coded waypoints, markups, and tracks or organizing an entire hunt folder before you ever set foot in the field, onX is where the planning happens. If you drew a tag this year, don't just show up and figure it out — build the system, build the plan. Upgrade to onX Elite and unlock the full hunt-planning toolset. onxmaps.com Use code TRO when you sign up or upgrade to Elite. Bridger Watch A smartwatch built specifically for hunting — with the best mapping capabilities of any wearable on the market. Save offline maps, pan and zoom right on your wrist, and integrate directly with your onX account to send waypoints, tracks, and markups straight to your watch. It's not replacing your phone's mapping — it's your backup when your phone dies, drops, or gets left in the truck. bridgerwatch.com Chapter Timestamps Time Segment 0:00 onX Hunt sponsor read — hunt planning & Elite features 2:15 Bridger Watch sponsor read — the wearable built for hunters 5:00 Welcome Brian Rae — Idaho roots and growing up in an outdoors family 8:30 First buck and first bull at 12 years old, two weeks apart 13:30 The "Hell Hole" story — lost overnight at 19, no coat, building a fire with toilet paper 20:00 Finding his dad's voice at the outfitter camp — the wild coincidence 24:00 Getting the whole family GPS units for Christmas 27:30 Arizona 2021 — dropping his phone miles from the side-by-side, texting his wife via inReach 34:00 Switching from rifle to archery in the early 2000s after wolf reintroduction 37:00 The double bull story with hunting partner Chad Booth — calling in two six-points back to back 44:00 The "laughing bull" and getting outsmarked by herd bulls 47:30 The tree-falling, sneaking-in six-point stalk 51:00 The wounded bull recovery — "a bathtub full of blood" 56:00 What actually makes a hunter successf