Mountain Men

[THE PILGRIM]

Do you guys watch Mountain Men? I was just watching our local NM hero go after a Buffalo, as in Bison. His name is Kyle Bell and he is a big game guide.
In the show he claims to live in the Cimarron Valley. His web site says he lives in Folsom, NM which is not in the Cimarron Valley
There are no 'wild' buffalo in NM. There are all on private ranches. The Boy Scouts have some, Ted Turner has a bunch. Several Indian tribes have some.
The other large herds are located on several large ranches.
The bufs can be hunted in several places, prepare to pay.
When I looked at Kyle's web site, it says no buffalo hunting avaiable at this time! I love reality TV!

 

[DR505]

The real Mountain Men all disappeared in the 19th Century. All after them are somewhat poseurs.

 

[Ματθιας]

When was the show filmed?

 

[jack the toad]

Do you guys watch Mountain Men?

Nope, I prefer mountain women.
I have watched the series just enough to know that I don't want to watch it. Don't care for any of the un-reality tv that I've seen unless someone considers staged and scripted as reality.
Today there's more tv but less to watch in my opinion.

 

[vigil617]

I watch it mostly for the scenery which, for this flatlander, is the stuff dreams are made of.

'Course, watching it on TV means I can't feel the wind and the cold.....

 

[george minze]

Eustace and his buddy have a truck breakdown and have to walk miles back their place...Wonder why they didn't catch a ride with the TV crew... Sort of deflated the suspense. O' well it is TV I guess it beats the family fro Arkansas that has I think 20 kids. Yet they take all those high dollar trips.....Mom an Dad seem like nice folks as do the kids...I guess I know what the parents do for a past time.....I mention that to my wife and the argument starts...I know better to open my mouth but...The devil gets me.....

 

[kozmic]

I'm guilty of watching it. Not 100% sure why. I do find some of the characters to be genuine (whether their escapades are or not is debatable) but, they are generally likable folks.

I did notice this week that Marty's "airstrip" seemed to have a few tire or ski tracks on it. I assume it's the camera crew's and gave them a pass on the BS meter.

All-in-all compared to the other total trash we are subjected to on the tube; it's a pretty good show.

 

[feralmerril]

I dont think I have seen the series you are discussing but about two years ago the national geographic channel had a show on three mountain men crossing the mountains riding horses and mules and carrying BP rifles and wearing the period cloths. I had watched it and by chance a few weeks later one afternoon Theresa and I was having lunch at Chili`s in the bar section.
The place was almost empty and a lady came in to meet her boy friend that was the star of the show that I had already seen. They had made a date to watch it again on TV at Chili`s. It was neat. We all watched the show together and of course, discussed it as I had worked where some of it was filmed in the tetons years ago when I was in the national park service.
I asked him how he got on the show. He said, "They found me". I believe he is a local cowboy and hunting guide type that lived here.

 

[Gaffer]

My guess is that the producers of the show make the choices as to what is said and done and the mountain men are only guilty of allowing such twisted BS to be filmed as the truth. The old guy in the western hat from Montana is so lame it even hurts me to see him get around. If these men even were aware of how it makes them look they probably would not do it but I am sure they like the money and laughable fame.
Most of these type of shows are so inaccurate it is sad. However the majority of viewers have no experience to know the difference.

 

[SmokewagonSD]

Did anyone else notice that the buffalo in last nights episode had ear tags?

 

[billwill]

I watch a little but Eustace, the mountain man guy here in the Appalachian Mountains (our deadly part of the world) just drives me nuts. He is depicted as being out in the middle of nowhere. He is actually 8 miles and 16 minutes (according to Google maps) from Boone (In 2012, Boone was listed as one of the 10 best places to retire) and Appalachian State University (17,000 enrollment, 6th largest university in NC).

Not exactly a 2 day slog through rock, snow, and raging rivers to get to Starbucks, the bagel shop and Walmart. The guy has skills but he is not living and making it in the frozen north.

 

[DR505]

Did anyone else notice that the buffalo in last nights episode had ear tags?

It was a cow...those were earrings; all the rage in the days of yore.

 

[feralmerril]

We live in SW utah near Cedar Breaks, Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks. I am constantly amazed and always reminded of how tough and rugged those people had to be! Theresa and my biggest recreation is riding our RZR on the trails around here. We live right on the old spanish trail and yesterday rode on a tough 25 mile section of it. It is unbelievable rugged, steep country. I have been flying over it too and it is hard to imagine what the pioneers went through to get over it. I cant begin to understand how the early Mormons got here by pushing those handcarts! For you that havent heard of them they were a high two wheeled push cart with a small box that carried all their belongings! No horse, just push the darn cart from back east to utah! Check this out!
Mormon handcart pioneers - Ask.com Encyclopedia

 

[diamonback68]

I did watch briefly, but not any more because there is absolutely no reality in that so called reality show or any of the others for that matter.

 

[Biginge]

Watched it for five minutes last year, been re-arranging my sock drawer and washing my horse ever since.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

When was the show filmed?

Good question. The guy in Alaska is obviously in very cold nasty weather.
The NM guys who are up almost to the CO line appear to be in cool weather but not that nasty. And their buf hunt isn't state controlled, so they can hunt anytime.
The Alaska guy appeared to be in a dangerous situation. I would expect the film crew to have a satelitte phone with the number of their bush pilot programmed!

 

[Rustyt1953]

Scripted? Camera crews? Do you mean to tell me Gilligan could have left the island any time he chose?

 

[feralmerril]

When anyone left from back east to go west before the railroads were built they were looking at about six months of hiking or riding----one way! Probley most of them started out thinking they aren't coming back. Now people complain about the 4 hour plane ride! I ride the trails a lot. Still, they were built by others. I do it on a machine and anything beyond a mile after we leave the truck I am progressively concerned as to my sanity as both my wife and I arent in shape to walk out in this steep country. Sometimes we get 35 miles one way from the truck. A ten minuet drive on the rzr away from the trailhead is more than I want to walk back if there is a breakdown. 54 + years ago I worked walking daily in the mountains but I was 19 years old. My wife insists we go well equipped. Sometimes I get aggravated loading and carrying all that stuff but some of it occasionally comes in handy. Specially the porta pottie! I have been recording our "tracks" on a APT called "My tracks" on a Samsung Tab 2.
The Tablet has a GPS built in it. You just turn it on and it records your trip. It gives your speed, the time the trip took, elevation and the distance you went. When you get home you can bring it up on or as a map or goggle earth. You can zero right down on it and it will even fly you down the trail or road just as you drove it! The other day I tried it out in my airplane. It worked well. So far I have recorded about 30 jaunts since I learned it a couple months ago. This is probley old stuff to many here but I have been computer challenged. It is real intriguing to me!
Watching tv about the west is one thing when they show guys riding through meadows but to get to those meadows there is a lot of steep rocks, brush and trees to navigate! Maybe a few murderous savages hiding behind them too! It seems in those days there were also many Grizzleys too where there are none now. This is the way to go!

 

[george minze]

Gilligan was supposed to be a spoof....The reality shows are supposed to be real..(Well almost real) The producers seem to think we all live in some Mega city and believe that stuff....Well they just might be right..I hear what some of the people in NYC say about the government and I wonder how much moxie the really have. I'm afraid they might be able to navigate around the Big Apple but in Missouri they would be considered a dumb butt. On two trips to NYC I was amazed how many have not owned an auto nor were able to drive..I guess it isn't practical to be a driver in Manhattan. The produces of these so called reality shows are basing their product for urban consumption I guess. Sort of like the gun shows..Most people with gun experience didn't buy into Sons of Guns or the other over the top what I called (Gunners Soap Opera's)..Somebody buys this stuff or, I guess better said ..watch the stuff....I am as guilty as most and end up watching some of it out of pure boredom...I'm getting old..My excuse.....Whats yours???

 

[Mule Packer]

I watched it last night...simply because nothing else was on, so it was basically just "mental chewing gum."

I got turned off on the program several weeks ago when ol' Tom permanently kept a mountain lion off of his place by yelling, "Get outta here!!!"

I also thought it was kinda humorous when he was afraid a grizzly bear was frequenting their place. He was going to be out of town for several days, so he taught it wife how to shoot a gun in order to protect herself from the grizzly. The gun?...a single-shot .410. Obviously, he must not love his wife much.

Lots of discrepancies. I keep telling my wife, though, that they could really increase their viewing audience by letting the wolves attack ol' Tom, or by finding Marty frozen to death by his broken down snowmobile, or by letting that little kid in New Mexico get eaten by a bear. Now that's what I call entertainment!!!