Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 8, Episode 2 - Backwoods Justice - full transcript
Tensions boil over in Tennessee as Mike must answer for blowing up Mark and Digger's still. With Tickle in jail, JT answers the call when two outlaw shiners show up looking for help in the woods. Josh faces more bad news in the form of a bear.
♪♪
Law enforcement's steppin'
Up their game against us.
It's time we fight to
Save our way of life.
♪♪
I ain't able to do anything.
We want mike in front of us.
I'm not gonna bring
Him into slaughter.
Oh, my god, come on!
On this episode of
"Moonshiners"...
We think our place
Has been compromised.
Okay.
We was wonderin' if you want
To make a few extra dollars.
In virginia,
A risky proposition
Pulls a legal distiller
Back into the woods.
I gotta get up out of here.
A former lawman turns outlaw.
And settling
The score in tennessee.
You're not gonna sit
Here and tell me
I'm smart-mouthin' you
On my own damn property.
I don't give a damn, brother.
You're on my turf, son.
♪♪
This is how
We make the moonshine.
Captions paid for by
Discovery communications
High up in
The great smoky mountains
Of north carolina,
Moonshiner mark rogers
Is prepping for his
Season to begin.
Last season, mark got
Off to a rocky start
When his partnership
With mike soured.
Damnit to hell!
If you'd a got that damn
Pump like I told you to,
I wouldn't be down
Here wallerin' around
This damn furnace.
He fell short of
His season goal
And needed to find other means
To make it through
The long winter.
So I'm gonna have to
Go to the mountains,
Try to make a livin'
A little different way now.
I really didn't get as much
Liquor made as I expected to.
This season, I guarantee
You it'll turn out
A whole lot different
Than last season.
With an increase
In law enforcement
In the area, mark is
Using old logging trails
To dive deep into the mountains,
Miles from civilization.
Uh-oh.
Mountain laurel,
A near cousin to rhododendron,
Is an evergreen indigenous
To appalachia,
Making it ideal for cover
All year long.
♪♪
Mark's choice of location
For his still site
Is well-hidden
Off a remote logging trail,
Behind several hundred feet of
Densely tangled mountain laurel.
A canopy of hardwood
Trees will keep him
Shielded from any
Aircraft above,
While the laurel will
Make him invisible
To anyone who ventures
Nearby on foot.
And finally, a spring-fed
Mountain creek located
400 feet to the east
Will provide an endless supply
Of fresh water to make
Mash and distill liquor.
♪♪
♪♪
Ah, damn.
Ah, I pulled something
When I did that.
Just take it easy, bro.
I'm damn near worthless.
Five counties to the east,
To get his still site
Operational,
Josh is trying to work around
His injuries with help
From red dog
And his partner chuck.
-rinse that out for me.
-rinse it out?
Yeah.
Crazy chuck's a hard
Worker and a good dude,
And he's got a big ol' heart.
He'd do just about
Anything I ask him to do.
Shoot, this one stinks.
Still had mash in it.
Well, I ain't tryin'
To call red dog old,
But he's got
A little age on him,
And I don't wanna
Work him too hard.
I don't wanna wear him out.
-chuck.
-yeah.
Did you remember to get
The corn sugar yeast?
Yeah, I sure did, josh.
We're gonna have
Chuck be the mule
And haul all our grains
And all our sugar
And do all our heavy-duty work.
Oh, lord,
Look at all this crap.
Josh is all banged up
And now it's time to mash in.
He can't help at all.
I told josh I'd come in
And do the muscle,
And he wouldn't have to worry
About bringin' the corn in,
The sugar.
I'm not gonna let him do it
And re-injure himself.
Y'all come on in here.
What all you need, josh?
We need to start hikin'
Some water over here
And boilin' it down
So we can make some mash.
-the bucket brigade.
-I appreciate it.
The water supply's out,
So I got chuck and red dog
Dippin' water out of
The creek, old school way.
It's not a perfect system,
But it's gettin' her done.
Dump 'at water in here,
Chuck, please.
Watch it
I don't spill on you.
Hey, I wish that
I could help y'all,
But I can't do anything,
And we ought to already have
These things fired up.
In fact, let's fire 'em up.
We gotta hook this gas up.
♪♪
I can't hold the damn
Thing on there straight.
Okay, let me do it.
There it goes.
-you about full?
-sure is, josh.
All right, dog.
-all the way?
-yeah, turn it on all the way.
♪♪
We'll boil this down,
Steep some grains and melt
Some sugar, add some yeast,
And we'll be mashed in.
Mash is the fermented mix
Of ingredients from which
Moonshine is distilled.
It's made by heating water
With a grain or fruit of choice,
Adding sugar and yeast,
And allowing a week
To 10 days to ferment.
During the fermentation process,
Yeast consumes the sugars
And starches in the mix
And releases alcohol
As a byproduct.
Once the mash's alcohol
Level reaches 10% to 20%,
The yeast dies off,
And it's ready to distill into
High proof moonshine.
Let's start gettin'
These barrels up.
That's how I want, just
Like that one right there.
How many you think's
Gonna mash in today?
Four.
With me bein' broken all
To hell and this bein'
The first time me
And red dog and chuck
Have ever made a run
Of liquor like this --
About 40 gallons of
Water in each barrel.
It just doesn't make
A lot of sense for me
To go full bore,
So I'm only gonna make
Four mash barrels
The first time,
And we'll see how it goes.
We'll up the ante from there.
Josh,
We're about full, brother.
All right, so let's
Pack one bag of corn,
And we should have
A little bit of corn
Left over between
Those four barrels.
This a 50-pound bag.
Yes, sir, I want that bag split
Between them four buckets.
Really what you
Want is just enough
To make a good cap
About like that
All around the bucket,
The barrel.
Gotcha.
It feels so odd,
Not helpin' y'all do this.
Right now
I'm a one-arm bandit.
That's plenty.
Let's see what you got here.
If it wasn't for red dog
And chuck out here
Helpin' me, we wouldn't be
Makin' no liquor at all.
I'll be watchin' tv
Or somethin'.
Oh, yeah, that's gonna
Make some good stuff.
All right,
Let's do the sugar now.
This is a short-term solution.
Red dog said he's only gonna
Help me for a little while,
And it's up to me to
Figure it out from there.
But at the very least,
I'm up and runnin',
My operation's back in business,
And this is a half-step.
It's gonna get me through
To the next big step.
-making a big ol' hush puppy.
-yeah.
Is it good
And stirred up, red dog?
It's pretty close.
Good enough.
Let's go home.
We're gettin' her done,
Ain't we?
-all right.
-let's get out of here.
Magic words, buddy.
♪♪
I probably wouldn't
Have really believed
That mike done what he done
If I hadn't seen the video,
But I'm sure when mike
Done what he done,
He thought he was
Poppin' kelly's still.
Across the state line,
Daniel is on his way
To talk to mike about
His explosive behavior.
Oh, man.
♪♪
What are you doin', buddy?
I'm finishin' up
Changin' the oil
In this old junky truck
Of mine.
What're you into, buddy?
Ah, I come over here
To talk to you, man.
What's that?
You've kindly kept me in
The dark on somethin'.
The hell you talkin' about?
Well, talked to
Mark and digger,
And that's crazy,
Man, what you done.
But you didn't blow up what
You thought you was blowin' up.
You blowed mark
And digger's still up.
Now, where you gettin'
That *bleep* from?
A video camera footage.
They've got --
They had game cameras
Set up all around that site.
How in the hell was it
Mark and digger's still?
-he had it --
-I went to kelly's site.
He had it loaned.
He was makin' liquor for them.
I'm gonna tell you somethin',
Man, when daniel told me that,
I mean, I felt the blood
Leave me, you know.
I'm like, oh, my god.
There ain't no way,
I blowed up kelly's still.
And I set there
And watched the footage.
He said, "What do you think
About your partner now?"
Well, I didn't know it
Was their damn still,
So you shouldn't have
No other thoughts
About your partner or nothin'.
That isn't his place
To ask you that damn question.
Yeah, I really wasn't mad at you
Over what that you done.
What bothered me is you kept me
In the dark about it.
I apologize if I didn't
Tell you no damn sooner.
They're actually
Wantin' me to carry you
Out there to 'em
And let you talk to 'em.
I agreed to help you,
And I agreed to back you,
And that's what I'm gonna do,
And that's what
I'll do here today.
If it takes bullets,
I'll back you.
We just need to make it right.
That way we can all make liquor
And make money
And move on with our life.
Mark said, "We have no ill
Intentions whatsoever."
Said, "All we wanna
Do is talk to him."
See if we can't get it
Straightened out.
I know I'm tired
Of the bickerin'.
You know, I'm not
Really lookin' forward
To talkin' to mark and digger.
I don't expect to be
Put on no trial
Or anything,
Because moonshiners
Go about doin'
Things their own way.
I expect to go in
There and talk to 'em,
And do what I can to make it up
To 'em and move on.
♪♪
We was wonderin' if you want
To make a few extra dollars.
A dangerous mission
For one young
Moonshiner in virginia.
I gotta get up out of here.
And the secluded fortress
Of moonshine in north carolina.
♪♪
Had a little brake problem here,
My brakes' done
Got to freezin' up.
Makin' smoke, you know.
In culpeper, virginia,
Tim is neck-deep in
Upkeep at the distillery
When a couple of skeletons
Come out of the closet.
-what's goin' on?
-how you doin' doin', tim?
All right, all right.
What brings y'all
To these parts here?
-we lookin' for tickle.
-oh, tickle?
Tickle ain't around.
Henry and kenny law,
These are some of the baddest
Outlaws the state of
Virginia ever seen.
Both of 'em pulled, like,
Six years in prison.
You know,
Both of 'em moonshiners.
They come out,
They went right back
To the woods, so they
Not scared of the law.
A problem with tickle?
No, we're thinkin' somebody
May have found our place.
Was wantin' to get tickle
To a little scoutin' around.
We go out and scout it out,
And the law wants
To catch us out there,
They would come straight to
My buildin' and raid it.
-tickle, he's good at that.
-yes.
But tickle done got
Himself in a pickle.
Tickle done got
Himself back in jail.
Oh, yeah?
I can't use him
And you can't neither.
-mm-hmm.
-that's not good.
After violating his parole,
The county judge ordered
Tim's old partner tickle
To serve out the remaining
Year on his sentence.
Well if tickle's back in jail,
I'm not surprised.
'cause when the law get on ya,
I've had 'em on me before,
They just --
They gonna stay on ya.
Well, if he's not around,
What about young blood? J.T.
-um, well...
-I mean, he's pretty good.
Well, I know he probably
Would be interested,
But I don't know if
I'm interested in that.
J.T., he kinda grew up as a kid
On the illegal side, same as me,
But in the last few years,
We've been legal.
What kinda -- I mean, you want
Him to do squirrel huntin',
Like checkin' out
The place I guess, you know,
See if anybody movin' in?
-exactly.
You think somebody's
Done come in on it?
Yeah.
We call it squirrel huntin'.
And that's what you do,
You just go out there
And you get your rifle,
And you camouflage up,
And you just snoop around,
And if you see something,
You know,
Like another person
Walkin' around in the woods,
And if they look like
They lookin' at the still site,
Then more than likely they are.
J.T.'s here.
Uh, uh, I don't know...
Can we talk to him?
Well, yeah, but I just wanna be
Cautious with him, you know.
We done come a long ways,
You know.
Oh, I don't blame you at all.
I don't blame you.
You know how it is,
He's the next generation.
We can't have him in
There with tickle.
We'll keep him safe.
We'll pay him pretty good, too.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, we'll talk to him then.
-take a look out.
-he's inside here.
Yeah, you need to conversate
With him, I guess.
-j.T.
-what's up?
-yeah, how you doin'?
-hey, henry.
Henry and kenny done
Come out the woods there.
What's goin' on?
-good to see you.
-what are you up to, man?
See your dad's got you
In here workin' hard.
Yeah, we're tryin'
To get it goin'.
They come lookin' for tickle,
But you know I told 'em tickle
Done got himself in trouble.
We think our place
Has been compromised.
Okay.
We was wonderin' if you want
To make a few extra dollars.
What are we talkin', I mean,
You know, we legal now.
Easy, it'd be easy money,
Ain't no hard work.
I've been in the same
Position as kenny and henry.
Ah, we go down to the still site
And you just get that
Feelin' sometimes.
I done seen a couple cigarette
Butts out there throwed around.
Yeah.
We don't smoke, so somebody's
Been there, you know.
And we haven't been able
To pick up anything
On the cameras, so we know
They must be out further.
And all we need is
Somebody camo'ed up,
And do a little scoutin' for us,
Like, two or three days.
See if they catch us out there
Scoutin' around,
Bein' who we are --
-they know you'd be connected.
-they're gonna know, right.
You, there's no connection.
I think I might be
Able to work with you.
If you do see something,
Then you know,
You're out here huntin',
You're squirrel huntin'.
You don't know what
They doin' over there.
Even though I'm legal now,
I still give respect
Back to these guys.
And you know,
It's kinda like savin'
That heritage,
That's what we doin'.
I can do that.
I don't mind gettin' up early.
-sure about that, young blood?
-oh, yeah. Sounds good.
I think j.T.'s maybe a little
Excited about it, really.
You know, and I'm trying to
Let him know
It's kind of
A serious matter here.
He's gonna make
The decision whether or not
These guys move
Their still place.
Hopefully, it's not
What they think it is.
-hopefully, it's nobody...
-yeah, I mean hopefully not.
But for them to get
Spooked like that,
It's a good possibility.
♪♪
-hey.
-yonder them boys come.
I hear 'em.
In tennessee,
Mike finally arrives
At mark and digger's warehouse
For his moment of judgment.
-well, well.
-howdy, boys.
-hello there, daniel.
-hello.
-how you doin' there, daniel?
-hello, mark. How are you?
Good to see you.
Who told you to sit down, son?
All right, brother.
That's the first damn time
Anybody's ever told me
I couldn't sit down somewhere.
Well, you can consider
Yourself told.
Well, I'm here to
Talk to you, brother.
You better be here to do
A little bit of listenin'.
Daniel, we appreciate you,
Brother.
-we'll see you brother.
-okay.
I reckon you know
Why you're here.
I do.
I know exactly why I'm here.
And I wanna get this
Stuff over with, you know.
May I sit down?
Go right ahead.
You seem to have pissed
Right on our front steps.
I see that.
We thought,
When we left that barn,
That everything
Was good with you.
You made your payments like
You're supposed to.
-that's right, I did.
-now what went wrong with this?
Well, let me tell you.
I did overreact.
Somethin' you done,
It's never been done in
Our neck of the woods.
Another liquor man didn't go
Blow up another man's still.
That's for the law.
That's what they did.
We thought we had worked it out
To where we would
Put the word out,
And you could sell 30 gallons of
Liquor in our county a week.
-right.
-is that not the deal?
That was the deal,
And that's fair.
You cost us a tremendous
Amount of money.
I did not intentionally blow
Yours and digger's still up.
My retaliation was toward kelly,
The way he set me up.
-you callin' it a setup.
-mm-hmm.
When kelly first
Brought you to us.
I am.
We saw that
As an arrangement.
He was a little concerned
To what might happen
To you over here in our county,
And still we're the ones with
The damn still blowed up.
Right. You know,
My still got stole.
My 250-gallon still got stole.
Kelly did not steal
Your still.
Me and digger did
Not steal your still.
Maybe y'all didn't.
No, there ain't no maybe to it.
Hell, we don't need your stills.
Hell, we've got way
More than you've got.
I understand that,
And I got mad
When I found my still stoled.
And that's understandable.
I got mad
And I assumed that --
Why don't you wanna
Apologize to me?
You thought you was
Blowin' my still up.
That's right, and I don't
Owe you an apology.
Yes, you do.
If you ain't got no more sense
Than to be helped,
Then it's your fault.
You could've
Called me and told me
They wanted to talk to me,
And I'd have been glad
To meet you two anywhere.
Because I'm scared of no man.
We don't give a *bleep*.
You're telling us
That you fear no man.
Well, that's a noble statement.
But we grew up in
This place right here,
In this county, when by god,
They was a handful you needed
To be scared of.
-let me say somethin'.
-kelly probably saved your life.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, you need
To be listenin' just a minute.
I just wanna, I will listen.
Son, you got two eyes
And two ears, one mouth.
You supposed to do
Twice as much listenin'
And lookin' as you are talkin'.
Well, I'm gonna
Tell you somethin'.
You gonna hear me,
Since I'm here.
I'm gonna talk, you ain't
Got to keep sittin' there
And you know, smartin' your
Mouth off to me about it.
You're not gonna sit
Here and tell me
I'm smart-mouthin' you
On my own damn property.
I don't give a damn, brother.
You're on my turf, son.
You're not gonna sit
Here and tell me
I'm smart-mouthin' you
On my own damn property.
I don't give a damn, brother.
You're on my turf, son.
♪♪
We're not your enemy.
What we're tryin' to do is get
On a even keel here with you.
You gotta understand how people
In our neck of
The woods operate.
But I didn't intentionally blow
Yours and digger's still up.
Mike, we talked to
You in the barn.
And we thought we had
Everything worked out
Where we wasn't gonna
Have any problems.
And I think that we kind of
Made ourselves clear
That we's gonna be good to
You if you's good to us.
That's exactly right.
Here's the resolution.
We want $7,500 for our
Still that you blowed up.
♪♪
And you're goin' back
Across the county line.
That ain't no offer.
This is a damn order.
I tell you what I can do.
All I'm runnin' on
Is a 30-gallon pot.
And money's tight.
But I'm runnin' some
High-quality brandies
Right now, and I'm gettin'
Roughly $200 a gallon.
I'd split that right
Down the middle.
I'm good with that
Payment if digger is.
I'm good with it.
Well, I'll do what I can
To do it,
And I make that promise to you
Standin' right here right now.
Don't dodge us.
Don't make us come
Huntin' you.
I promise you
I will not dodge you.
It won't end well
If we have to come huntin' you.
I will do everything
I got to do to pay my debt.
Me and mark and digger,
We got a deal.
You know, it's gonna be tough,
It's gonna be rough.
I just gotta double up and try,
But it's not
The end of the world.
And at least they're
Givin' me that chance,
That one more chance,
To prove myself to them.
I want you two to shake hands.
This one right here,
You need to apologize to him,
In my opinion.
I apologize, son.
Thank you.
Accepted.
You know, mike,
He's owned up to his mistakes.
We think we've got it resolved.
We hope we do.
I don't wanna take it
To another level
Because in my opinion,
The talkin's over.
♪♪
Timber!
With law enforcement
Ratcheting up
Their fight against moonshiners,
Mark is seeking refuge
Far from civilization,
High in the great smoky
Mountains of north carolina.
The winding access path
Through dense brush
Provides excellent cover
For his operation,
But makes it impossible
To transport large
Equipment to his still site.
Modern climbing harnesses
Are made of nylon webbing
And consist of a waistband
With two leg loops.
But with backwoods know-how,
Mark fashions himself
A safety belt out of rope
And a few simple knots
That will save him from
A life-threatening fall.
♪♪
Mark's cable crane will extend
From a logging trail
Across several hundred feet
Of laurel thicket
To his still site.
To build it, he's attaching
A 3/8-inch steel cable
Between two trees suspended
25 feet above the forest floor.
Next, he'll attach
A pulley system to the cable,
Allowing him to hoist
His equipment high into the air.
He'll then connect a tow line
Running from the pulley
To a hand crank at
His still site,
Which he'll use
To shuttle equipment
To and from the logging trail.
Mark's cable crane
May be backwoods
Engineering at its best,
But he's hardly
The first outlaw to go airborne.
One of the most
Famous in moonshiner lore
Was pansy mae stuttard.
She set up shop in
The mid-1920s
On a 27-acre property
Near point roberts,
Which she chose due
To its location at
The international border
Between british columbia
And washington state.
While the u.S. Was in
The heyday of prohibition,
Liquor was legal in canada.
So to quench the stateside
Thirst for the hard stuff,
Pansy mae used her
Very own homemade cable
And pulley system to ferry
Liquor from her house
On the canadian side
Of the border
Down to the harbor in
The dead of night,
Where waiting ships would
Load up,
Sail a couple of miles around
The international line,
Then sell her high-proof
Wares in the states.
Although mark is spending a day
Building his elaborate
Hoist system,
This will save him
Countless hours
Of carrying thousands
Of gallons of liquor
And supplies in
And out of his still site.
Now...
Now that the cable
Crane is built,
It's time to put it
To the test,
Hauling a 300-pound furnace
Into the still site.
♪♪
What the *bleep*?
Holy *bleep*.
Destruction strikes
In north carolina.
God almighty!
♪♪
♪♪
I know this truck's loud,
But nobody knows
Who we are in this truck.
Yeah, that's true.
Tim is en route to
Franklin county, virginia,
Where j.T. Has agreed to help
Outlaw moonshiners
Henry and kenny law
Confirm their suspicions
That law enforcement
Has been snooping
Around their still site.
Gettin' pretty close to
Old franklin county line.
Yeah, ain't gonna be long.
We're drivin' another
Farm use truck we got
And no one has seen it.
It's kinda camouflaged,
Kinda blends in.
I don't think it'd be
A good idea to take j.T.
Into a illegal still site
And drop him off
Drivin' my climax truck
I call it, you know,
The moonshine express.
Well, you know,
Thinkin' about it,
Henry told me to be
Here monday mornin'.
He didn't say nothin'
About you comin'.
Well, I mean, I think
I ought to drop you off.
You ought not have no
Vehicle there, you see?
-yeah.
-that's the thing.
Then I can be identified.
Yeah, just like when
You're moonshinin',
You don't wanna
Have your vehicle
Down there close to the still.
-yeah.
But they the outlaws.
We're not the outlaws.
We're just out here tryin' to
Help a friend out, you know.
Whether you're legal
Or illegal,
It's still
A moonshine brotherhood, see.
I'm gonna take that chance to go
Down there and help 'em out.
I mean,
I know they're good guys.
I mean, I trust 'em.
-still, trust your own instinct.
-all right.
You just have
Your story together
If you get approached
By somebody.
All right.
You're squirrel huntin',
And you got lost.
-okay.
-that's what you are.
Got it.
We gettin' back
In the sticks now.
Yep.
♪♪
♪♪
-what's goin' on?
-oh, not much, man.
Hey, kenny.
Wondering if you was
Gonna show up or not.
Oh, yeah, you told me
Be here, I'm here.
-it's good, it's good.
-yeah.
We puttin' sugar back,
Just checkin' some proof
On some of this corn liquor
We ran 'bout a year or so ago.
Yeah?
I'm a little 50/50 here.
I'm confident in what
J.T.'s capabilities are,
'cause he's smart,
He can think on his feet,
But I don't know who's
Out there in the woods.
It may not be
The law enforcement.
Maybe henry and kenny's got
Some rivals out there, you know.
Sometimes it's good to run
In law enforcement, you know.
Well, I'm gonna leave him
My .410 shotgun, you know,
I've been carrying
That thing 40 years.
Shotgun, man,
That's what he needs.
Yeah, yeah, it's lightweight
And it make noise.
So if he sees 'em,
Try to ease away,
But if they see you, you may
Have to shoot the shotgun.
Or call him on the cellphone.
Reception down here's
Poor, real poor.
Yeah, you may have to
Come and warn us.
All we gotta do is get
The equipment out of here,
Like the caps and worms,
And we'll cut the still.
You know, keep him
Far away as you can.
We don't wanna get him
Compromised in any kinda way.
I'm gonna scout out
The area and see if I can't see
Any movement,
Footprints, tracks, trails.
Just call me when
Somethin' happens.
We hope nothin's
Gonna happen, but...
-yeah, call me either way.
-oh, yeah.
You know, it's always
That second thought
In the back of your mind,
You know.
What am I gettin' j.T. Into?
When you don't know
Who you gonna run
Into just bein' in the woods.
Law enforcement,
Other moonshiners.
Sometimes you don't have those
Unknown things like that.
But he's watched me
Over the years,
And I've always
Taught him right.
He knows the ins and outs,
So he's pretty confident,
And I think he can
Handle himself.
Thought I might've
Seen somebody.
Get them out here.
♪♪
♪♪
Across the state line
In north carolina,
Mark is recruiting talent from
The other side of the law.
Hoo-hoo!
Hoo-hoo!
All right.
Ah...
yeah.
Take it down.
Yeah.
♪♪
They all right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No.
Black locust is a fast-growing
Hardwood tree found throughout
The smoky mountains.
With extremely dense fibers,
It burns hotter
Than most other wood
Available in appalachia,
And as a result puts
Off nearly no smoke.
♪♪
♪♪
Strawberries in
Right now, josh.
What do you think about
A good strawberry run?
Man, I don't know, chuck.
It'd take two weeks just
For that to run off.
Five counties east
In the smoky mountain foothills,
Josh, chuck,
And red dog are about to put
Their first run of
The season on the board.
What the hell?
Why in the hell would
Our barrel be up here?
That's a claw mark,
Ain't it?
I don't know, see it, you can
See claw marks plain as day.
There's teeth marks here, too.
Those are definitely
Teeth marks.
Look how wide
Apart they are, too.
Yeah.
Oh, look, yonder,
Yonder's a damn paw print.
-look at that.
-oh, man.
That's a big bear, buddy.
That's gotta be
A 400-pound bear.
Yeah, he put some
Weight on that foot.
Well, it is what it is.
Well, I hope
He don't come back,
But let's get this barrel
Back to the still.
-yeah.
-we'll put up some game cameras.
♪♪
-oh, my gosh.
-what the *bleep*?
Holy *bleep*.
Oh, man.
God almighty. He's been here.
What are you doin' with
Popcorn's cremation liquor?
Well, I just keep it
Around as a reminder.
The first jug of liquor that
Came off of big asheville,
Popcorn's 1750-gallon still,
He said,
"I want you to pour this on me
When you cremate me."
-ah, damnit.
-whoa!
Damn.
Least it was the lid.
There you go, popcorn.
Digger, hell, he's coordinated
As an ostrich with polio.
I hate that I did it,
But I don't feel
That there's any need on
Cryin' over spilt liquor.
It happened.
I'm just gonna put
It in a safer spot.
Sorry about that, popcorn.
Holy *bleep*.
That's a stinkin'
Mess right there.
In north carolina,
Josh's moonshine
Operation is under attack
From a 400-pound black bear.
Well, we definitely got
A bear in our still site here,
So we gotta
Figure out somethin'.
In the springtime,
There's no acorns fallin',
Berries are not ripe yet.
The bears are gonna eat
Whatever they can get.
They smell the corn
And the mash around
The moonshine still.
Just like goin' to
Your favorite restaurant,
They're gonna come
Back and get some more.
Let's get rid of this moldy mash
On the ground so it don't stink.
Yeah.
We'll get ready to
Make some liquor.
I'm not really worried about
The bear bein' a danger.
I'm more worried about
The bear bein' a nuisance.
He's wreakin' havoc,
Knockin' over mash barrels.
I got a lot of
Doctor bills to pay,
Little time to pay 'em in.
That's money that was
Supposed to be in my pocket.
-hey, chuck.
-yeah.
Will you help me
Hang these cameras?
All right.
All right, let's put it
On this tree over here.
Moonshiners often use
Motion-activated
Game cameras to see
What's happening when
They aren't at their sites.
Perfect.
All right.
Let's get this done.
Hook up the hose.
Let's do this.
♪♪
-I'm good to go over here.
-all right.
Let me get you hooked up.
All right, you should
Have mash comin'.
We got it.
We had 160 gallons
Of mash, roughly.
-we lost a barrel.
-yeah.
That puts us at 120 gallons.
So that's about
12 or 15 gallons
Of liquor we should
Yield off of it.
I'm really nervous about
Spendin' a ton of money
On sugar and yeast
To make a giant run
When this'll be the first time
That it's not actually
My hands and my muscles
Makin' everything happen.
So we're gonna make
One smaller run,
See how that goes,
And if it works out good,
Then we're gonna up it up.
Will you light
The burner for me?
Yep.
♪♪
Chuck, you mind start
Bringin' some buckets over?
-start fillin' the worm?
-yeah.
The worm coil must be kept cool
In order for alcohol to
Condense from vapor to liquid.
With their irrigation
System down,
That means hauling more buckets.
The worm's just about full.
I'm gonna give red dog
A break and finish this up.
I ain't tryin' to damn work
The crap out of red dog anyway.
just me?
Although, it would be
Fun for some payback.
I'm a better boss than
You were, red dog.
I'm a better employee
Than you were, josh.
We got three barrels
Of mash cookin' off,
And it's just a waitin'
Game at this point.
What y'all reckon we
Gonna do about this bear?
I don't know.
Now look, we can't
Shoot that bear.
That's a $4,000 fine for
Killin' that bear out of season.
We need money bad enough.
We don't need to give it
To the federal government.
We gonna have to do somethin'.
He's gonna keep knockin'
Our mash barrels over.
Oh, there she comes.
All right.
We makin' liquor now.
Dang straight.
No matter how many
Runs of liquor I make,
It never ceases to
Still fascinate me.
When that liquor starts
Runnin' out of that worm,
That's just dollar bills
Flowin' into the jar.
Think you got enough heads?
Oh, yeah.
The first few
Hundred milliliters
Out of the still contain
A high concentration
Of methanol,
Which can cause blindness.
First liquor of the year.
Finally we're makin' liquor,
And this is the moment of truth.
All right.
I like what I see.
♪♪
What do you think, boss?
That's good.
Mm-hmm.
Whoo-hoo! That's sweet corn.
God almighty.
That'll make a fat guy do
A double back flip.
Josh's first run of
The year yields him
15 gallons of high-proof
Corn liquor worth $1,500.
I really appreciate you guys.
I couldn't have done
It without y'all.
I know you're goin'
Against everything you said
To be out here to
Help me pull this off,
And you been workin'
Like a pack mule, so.
Things change, you know.
You needed it, bro.
-you needed it.
-yeah.
Despite his injuries, one week
Into 'shine season, josh leads
The count with 15 gallons.
♪♪
Next time on "Moonshiners"...
Look at this hussy.
She's huge.
In north carolina,
A snarling 400-pound
Visitor in the night.
Ain't gonna make no
Damn liquor long as she's here.
I don't know what to do.
Mine's gonna be more gooder.
Whatever you say.
May the best 'shine
Win in cocke county.
Whichever one's chosen,
We scale up,
And we sell this season.
If he spots you,
You need to shoot
That shotgun and haul
Ass across the river.
And a worst fear is confirmed
In franklin county, virginia.
Looks like this might be
Where they been comin' in.
Somebody's comin'.
♪♪
Law enforcement's steppin'
Up their game against us.
It's time we fight to
Save our way of life.
♪♪
I ain't able to do anything.
We want mike in front of us.
I'm not gonna bring
Him into slaughter.
Oh, my god, come on!
On this episode of
"Moonshiners"...
We think our place
Has been compromised.
Okay.
We was wonderin' if you want
To make a few extra dollars.
In virginia,
A risky proposition
Pulls a legal distiller
Back into the woods.
I gotta get up out of here.
A former lawman turns outlaw.
And settling
The score in tennessee.
You're not gonna sit
Here and tell me
I'm smart-mouthin' you
On my own damn property.
I don't give a damn, brother.
You're on my turf, son.
♪♪
This is how
We make the moonshine.
Captions paid for by
Discovery communications
High up in
The great smoky mountains
Of north carolina,
Moonshiner mark rogers
Is prepping for his
Season to begin.
Last season, mark got
Off to a rocky start
When his partnership
With mike soured.
Damnit to hell!
If you'd a got that damn
Pump like I told you to,
I wouldn't be down
Here wallerin' around
This damn furnace.
He fell short of
His season goal
And needed to find other means
To make it through
The long winter.
So I'm gonna have to
Go to the mountains,
Try to make a livin'
A little different way now.
I really didn't get as much
Liquor made as I expected to.
This season, I guarantee
You it'll turn out
A whole lot different
Than last season.
With an increase
In law enforcement
In the area, mark is
Using old logging trails
To dive deep into the mountains,
Miles from civilization.
Uh-oh.
Mountain laurel,
A near cousin to rhododendron,
Is an evergreen indigenous
To appalachia,
Making it ideal for cover
All year long.
♪♪
Mark's choice of location
For his still site
Is well-hidden
Off a remote logging trail,
Behind several hundred feet of
Densely tangled mountain laurel.
A canopy of hardwood
Trees will keep him
Shielded from any
Aircraft above,
While the laurel will
Make him invisible
To anyone who ventures
Nearby on foot.
And finally, a spring-fed
Mountain creek located
400 feet to the east
Will provide an endless supply
Of fresh water to make
Mash and distill liquor.
♪♪
♪♪
Ah, damn.
Ah, I pulled something
When I did that.
Just take it easy, bro.
I'm damn near worthless.
Five counties to the east,
To get his still site
Operational,
Josh is trying to work around
His injuries with help
From red dog
And his partner chuck.
-rinse that out for me.
-rinse it out?
Yeah.
Crazy chuck's a hard
Worker and a good dude,
And he's got a big ol' heart.
He'd do just about
Anything I ask him to do.
Shoot, this one stinks.
Still had mash in it.
Well, I ain't tryin'
To call red dog old,
But he's got
A little age on him,
And I don't wanna
Work him too hard.
I don't wanna wear him out.
-chuck.
-yeah.
Did you remember to get
The corn sugar yeast?
Yeah, I sure did, josh.
We're gonna have
Chuck be the mule
And haul all our grains
And all our sugar
And do all our heavy-duty work.
Oh, lord,
Look at all this crap.
Josh is all banged up
And now it's time to mash in.
He can't help at all.
I told josh I'd come in
And do the muscle,
And he wouldn't have to worry
About bringin' the corn in,
The sugar.
I'm not gonna let him do it
And re-injure himself.
Y'all come on in here.
What all you need, josh?
We need to start hikin'
Some water over here
And boilin' it down
So we can make some mash.
-the bucket brigade.
-I appreciate it.
The water supply's out,
So I got chuck and red dog
Dippin' water out of
The creek, old school way.
It's not a perfect system,
But it's gettin' her done.
Dump 'at water in here,
Chuck, please.
Watch it
I don't spill on you.
Hey, I wish that
I could help y'all,
But I can't do anything,
And we ought to already have
These things fired up.
In fact, let's fire 'em up.
We gotta hook this gas up.
♪♪
I can't hold the damn
Thing on there straight.
Okay, let me do it.
There it goes.
-you about full?
-sure is, josh.
All right, dog.
-all the way?
-yeah, turn it on all the way.
♪♪
We'll boil this down,
Steep some grains and melt
Some sugar, add some yeast,
And we'll be mashed in.
Mash is the fermented mix
Of ingredients from which
Moonshine is distilled.
It's made by heating water
With a grain or fruit of choice,
Adding sugar and yeast,
And allowing a week
To 10 days to ferment.
During the fermentation process,
Yeast consumes the sugars
And starches in the mix
And releases alcohol
As a byproduct.
Once the mash's alcohol
Level reaches 10% to 20%,
The yeast dies off,
And it's ready to distill into
High proof moonshine.
Let's start gettin'
These barrels up.
That's how I want, just
Like that one right there.
How many you think's
Gonna mash in today?
Four.
With me bein' broken all
To hell and this bein'
The first time me
And red dog and chuck
Have ever made a run
Of liquor like this --
About 40 gallons of
Water in each barrel.
It just doesn't make
A lot of sense for me
To go full bore,
So I'm only gonna make
Four mash barrels
The first time,
And we'll see how it goes.
We'll up the ante from there.
Josh,
We're about full, brother.
All right, so let's
Pack one bag of corn,
And we should have
A little bit of corn
Left over between
Those four barrels.
This a 50-pound bag.
Yes, sir, I want that bag split
Between them four buckets.
Really what you
Want is just enough
To make a good cap
About like that
All around the bucket,
The barrel.
Gotcha.
It feels so odd,
Not helpin' y'all do this.
Right now
I'm a one-arm bandit.
That's plenty.
Let's see what you got here.
If it wasn't for red dog
And chuck out here
Helpin' me, we wouldn't be
Makin' no liquor at all.
I'll be watchin' tv
Or somethin'.
Oh, yeah, that's gonna
Make some good stuff.
All right,
Let's do the sugar now.
This is a short-term solution.
Red dog said he's only gonna
Help me for a little while,
And it's up to me to
Figure it out from there.
But at the very least,
I'm up and runnin',
My operation's back in business,
And this is a half-step.
It's gonna get me through
To the next big step.
-making a big ol' hush puppy.
-yeah.
Is it good
And stirred up, red dog?
It's pretty close.
Good enough.
Let's go home.
We're gettin' her done,
Ain't we?
-all right.
-let's get out of here.
Magic words, buddy.
♪♪
I probably wouldn't
Have really believed
That mike done what he done
If I hadn't seen the video,
But I'm sure when mike
Done what he done,
He thought he was
Poppin' kelly's still.
Across the state line,
Daniel is on his way
To talk to mike about
His explosive behavior.
Oh, man.
♪♪
What are you doin', buddy?
I'm finishin' up
Changin' the oil
In this old junky truck
Of mine.
What're you into, buddy?
Ah, I come over here
To talk to you, man.
What's that?
You've kindly kept me in
The dark on somethin'.
The hell you talkin' about?
Well, talked to
Mark and digger,
And that's crazy,
Man, what you done.
But you didn't blow up what
You thought you was blowin' up.
You blowed mark
And digger's still up.
Now, where you gettin'
That *bleep* from?
A video camera footage.
They've got --
They had game cameras
Set up all around that site.
How in the hell was it
Mark and digger's still?
-he had it --
-I went to kelly's site.
He had it loaned.
He was makin' liquor for them.
I'm gonna tell you somethin',
Man, when daniel told me that,
I mean, I felt the blood
Leave me, you know.
I'm like, oh, my god.
There ain't no way,
I blowed up kelly's still.
And I set there
And watched the footage.
He said, "What do you think
About your partner now?"
Well, I didn't know it
Was their damn still,
So you shouldn't have
No other thoughts
About your partner or nothin'.
That isn't his place
To ask you that damn question.
Yeah, I really wasn't mad at you
Over what that you done.
What bothered me is you kept me
In the dark about it.
I apologize if I didn't
Tell you no damn sooner.
They're actually
Wantin' me to carry you
Out there to 'em
And let you talk to 'em.
I agreed to help you,
And I agreed to back you,
And that's what I'm gonna do,
And that's what
I'll do here today.
If it takes bullets,
I'll back you.
We just need to make it right.
That way we can all make liquor
And make money
And move on with our life.
Mark said, "We have no ill
Intentions whatsoever."
Said, "All we wanna
Do is talk to him."
See if we can't get it
Straightened out.
I know I'm tired
Of the bickerin'.
You know, I'm not
Really lookin' forward
To talkin' to mark and digger.
I don't expect to be
Put on no trial
Or anything,
Because moonshiners
Go about doin'
Things their own way.
I expect to go in
There and talk to 'em,
And do what I can to make it up
To 'em and move on.
♪♪
We was wonderin' if you want
To make a few extra dollars.
A dangerous mission
For one young
Moonshiner in virginia.
I gotta get up out of here.
And the secluded fortress
Of moonshine in north carolina.
♪♪
Had a little brake problem here,
My brakes' done
Got to freezin' up.
Makin' smoke, you know.
In culpeper, virginia,
Tim is neck-deep in
Upkeep at the distillery
When a couple of skeletons
Come out of the closet.
-what's goin' on?
-how you doin' doin', tim?
All right, all right.
What brings y'all
To these parts here?
-we lookin' for tickle.
-oh, tickle?
Tickle ain't around.
Henry and kenny law,
These are some of the baddest
Outlaws the state of
Virginia ever seen.
Both of 'em pulled, like,
Six years in prison.
You know,
Both of 'em moonshiners.
They come out,
They went right back
To the woods, so they
Not scared of the law.
A problem with tickle?
No, we're thinkin' somebody
May have found our place.
Was wantin' to get tickle
To a little scoutin' around.
We go out and scout it out,
And the law wants
To catch us out there,
They would come straight to
My buildin' and raid it.
-tickle, he's good at that.
-yes.
But tickle done got
Himself in a pickle.
Tickle done got
Himself back in jail.
Oh, yeah?
I can't use him
And you can't neither.
-mm-hmm.
-that's not good.
After violating his parole,
The county judge ordered
Tim's old partner tickle
To serve out the remaining
Year on his sentence.
Well if tickle's back in jail,
I'm not surprised.
'cause when the law get on ya,
I've had 'em on me before,
They just --
They gonna stay on ya.
Well, if he's not around,
What about young blood? J.T.
-um, well...
-I mean, he's pretty good.
Well, I know he probably
Would be interested,
But I don't know if
I'm interested in that.
J.T., he kinda grew up as a kid
On the illegal side, same as me,
But in the last few years,
We've been legal.
What kinda -- I mean, you want
Him to do squirrel huntin',
Like checkin' out
The place I guess, you know,
See if anybody movin' in?
-exactly.
You think somebody's
Done come in on it?
Yeah.
We call it squirrel huntin'.
And that's what you do,
You just go out there
And you get your rifle,
And you camouflage up,
And you just snoop around,
And if you see something,
You know,
Like another person
Walkin' around in the woods,
And if they look like
They lookin' at the still site,
Then more than likely they are.
J.T.'s here.
Uh, uh, I don't know...
Can we talk to him?
Well, yeah, but I just wanna be
Cautious with him, you know.
We done come a long ways,
You know.
Oh, I don't blame you at all.
I don't blame you.
You know how it is,
He's the next generation.
We can't have him in
There with tickle.
We'll keep him safe.
We'll pay him pretty good, too.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, we'll talk to him then.
-take a look out.
-he's inside here.
Yeah, you need to conversate
With him, I guess.
-j.T.
-what's up?
-yeah, how you doin'?
-hey, henry.
Henry and kenny done
Come out the woods there.
What's goin' on?
-good to see you.
-what are you up to, man?
See your dad's got you
In here workin' hard.
Yeah, we're tryin'
To get it goin'.
They come lookin' for tickle,
But you know I told 'em tickle
Done got himself in trouble.
We think our place
Has been compromised.
Okay.
We was wonderin' if you want
To make a few extra dollars.
What are we talkin', I mean,
You know, we legal now.
Easy, it'd be easy money,
Ain't no hard work.
I've been in the same
Position as kenny and henry.
Ah, we go down to the still site
And you just get that
Feelin' sometimes.
I done seen a couple cigarette
Butts out there throwed around.
Yeah.
We don't smoke, so somebody's
Been there, you know.
And we haven't been able
To pick up anything
On the cameras, so we know
They must be out further.
And all we need is
Somebody camo'ed up,
And do a little scoutin' for us,
Like, two or three days.
See if they catch us out there
Scoutin' around,
Bein' who we are --
-they know you'd be connected.
-they're gonna know, right.
You, there's no connection.
I think I might be
Able to work with you.
If you do see something,
Then you know,
You're out here huntin',
You're squirrel huntin'.
You don't know what
They doin' over there.
Even though I'm legal now,
I still give respect
Back to these guys.
And you know,
It's kinda like savin'
That heritage,
That's what we doin'.
I can do that.
I don't mind gettin' up early.
-sure about that, young blood?
-oh, yeah. Sounds good.
I think j.T.'s maybe a little
Excited about it, really.
You know, and I'm trying to
Let him know
It's kind of
A serious matter here.
He's gonna make
The decision whether or not
These guys move
Their still place.
Hopefully, it's not
What they think it is.
-hopefully, it's nobody...
-yeah, I mean hopefully not.
But for them to get
Spooked like that,
It's a good possibility.
♪♪
-hey.
-yonder them boys come.
I hear 'em.
In tennessee,
Mike finally arrives
At mark and digger's warehouse
For his moment of judgment.
-well, well.
-howdy, boys.
-hello there, daniel.
-hello.
-how you doin' there, daniel?
-hello, mark. How are you?
Good to see you.
Who told you to sit down, son?
All right, brother.
That's the first damn time
Anybody's ever told me
I couldn't sit down somewhere.
Well, you can consider
Yourself told.
Well, I'm here to
Talk to you, brother.
You better be here to do
A little bit of listenin'.
Daniel, we appreciate you,
Brother.
-we'll see you brother.
-okay.
I reckon you know
Why you're here.
I do.
I know exactly why I'm here.
And I wanna get this
Stuff over with, you know.
May I sit down?
Go right ahead.
You seem to have pissed
Right on our front steps.
I see that.
We thought,
When we left that barn,
That everything
Was good with you.
You made your payments like
You're supposed to.
-that's right, I did.
-now what went wrong with this?
Well, let me tell you.
I did overreact.
Somethin' you done,
It's never been done in
Our neck of the woods.
Another liquor man didn't go
Blow up another man's still.
That's for the law.
That's what they did.
We thought we had worked it out
To where we would
Put the word out,
And you could sell 30 gallons of
Liquor in our county a week.
-right.
-is that not the deal?
That was the deal,
And that's fair.
You cost us a tremendous
Amount of money.
I did not intentionally blow
Yours and digger's still up.
My retaliation was toward kelly,
The way he set me up.
-you callin' it a setup.
-mm-hmm.
When kelly first
Brought you to us.
I am.
We saw that
As an arrangement.
He was a little concerned
To what might happen
To you over here in our county,
And still we're the ones with
The damn still blowed up.
Right. You know,
My still got stole.
My 250-gallon still got stole.
Kelly did not steal
Your still.
Me and digger did
Not steal your still.
Maybe y'all didn't.
No, there ain't no maybe to it.
Hell, we don't need your stills.
Hell, we've got way
More than you've got.
I understand that,
And I got mad
When I found my still stoled.
And that's understandable.
I got mad
And I assumed that --
Why don't you wanna
Apologize to me?
You thought you was
Blowin' my still up.
That's right, and I don't
Owe you an apology.
Yes, you do.
If you ain't got no more sense
Than to be helped,
Then it's your fault.
You could've
Called me and told me
They wanted to talk to me,
And I'd have been glad
To meet you two anywhere.
Because I'm scared of no man.
We don't give a *bleep*.
You're telling us
That you fear no man.
Well, that's a noble statement.
But we grew up in
This place right here,
In this county, when by god,
They was a handful you needed
To be scared of.
-let me say somethin'.
-kelly probably saved your life.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, you need
To be listenin' just a minute.
I just wanna, I will listen.
Son, you got two eyes
And two ears, one mouth.
You supposed to do
Twice as much listenin'
And lookin' as you are talkin'.
Well, I'm gonna
Tell you somethin'.
You gonna hear me,
Since I'm here.
I'm gonna talk, you ain't
Got to keep sittin' there
And you know, smartin' your
Mouth off to me about it.
You're not gonna sit
Here and tell me
I'm smart-mouthin' you
On my own damn property.
I don't give a damn, brother.
You're on my turf, son.
You're not gonna sit
Here and tell me
I'm smart-mouthin' you
On my own damn property.
I don't give a damn, brother.
You're on my turf, son.
♪♪
We're not your enemy.
What we're tryin' to do is get
On a even keel here with you.
You gotta understand how people
In our neck of
The woods operate.
But I didn't intentionally blow
Yours and digger's still up.
Mike, we talked to
You in the barn.
And we thought we had
Everything worked out
Where we wasn't gonna
Have any problems.
And I think that we kind of
Made ourselves clear
That we's gonna be good to
You if you's good to us.
That's exactly right.
Here's the resolution.
We want $7,500 for our
Still that you blowed up.
♪♪
And you're goin' back
Across the county line.
That ain't no offer.
This is a damn order.
I tell you what I can do.
All I'm runnin' on
Is a 30-gallon pot.
And money's tight.
But I'm runnin' some
High-quality brandies
Right now, and I'm gettin'
Roughly $200 a gallon.
I'd split that right
Down the middle.
I'm good with that
Payment if digger is.
I'm good with it.
Well, I'll do what I can
To do it,
And I make that promise to you
Standin' right here right now.
Don't dodge us.
Don't make us come
Huntin' you.
I promise you
I will not dodge you.
It won't end well
If we have to come huntin' you.
I will do everything
I got to do to pay my debt.
Me and mark and digger,
We got a deal.
You know, it's gonna be tough,
It's gonna be rough.
I just gotta double up and try,
But it's not
The end of the world.
And at least they're
Givin' me that chance,
That one more chance,
To prove myself to them.
I want you two to shake hands.
This one right here,
You need to apologize to him,
In my opinion.
I apologize, son.
Thank you.
Accepted.
You know, mike,
He's owned up to his mistakes.
We think we've got it resolved.
We hope we do.
I don't wanna take it
To another level
Because in my opinion,
The talkin's over.
♪♪
Timber!
With law enforcement
Ratcheting up
Their fight against moonshiners,
Mark is seeking refuge
Far from civilization,
High in the great smoky
Mountains of north carolina.
The winding access path
Through dense brush
Provides excellent cover
For his operation,
But makes it impossible
To transport large
Equipment to his still site.
Modern climbing harnesses
Are made of nylon webbing
And consist of a waistband
With two leg loops.
But with backwoods know-how,
Mark fashions himself
A safety belt out of rope
And a few simple knots
That will save him from
A life-threatening fall.
♪♪
Mark's cable crane will extend
From a logging trail
Across several hundred feet
Of laurel thicket
To his still site.
To build it, he's attaching
A 3/8-inch steel cable
Between two trees suspended
25 feet above the forest floor.
Next, he'll attach
A pulley system to the cable,
Allowing him to hoist
His equipment high into the air.
He'll then connect a tow line
Running from the pulley
To a hand crank at
His still site,
Which he'll use
To shuttle equipment
To and from the logging trail.
Mark's cable crane
May be backwoods
Engineering at its best,
But he's hardly
The first outlaw to go airborne.
One of the most
Famous in moonshiner lore
Was pansy mae stuttard.
She set up shop in
The mid-1920s
On a 27-acre property
Near point roberts,
Which she chose due
To its location at
The international border
Between british columbia
And washington state.
While the u.S. Was in
The heyday of prohibition,
Liquor was legal in canada.
So to quench the stateside
Thirst for the hard stuff,
Pansy mae used her
Very own homemade cable
And pulley system to ferry
Liquor from her house
On the canadian side
Of the border
Down to the harbor in
The dead of night,
Where waiting ships would
Load up,
Sail a couple of miles around
The international line,
Then sell her high-proof
Wares in the states.
Although mark is spending a day
Building his elaborate
Hoist system,
This will save him
Countless hours
Of carrying thousands
Of gallons of liquor
And supplies in
And out of his still site.
Now...
Now that the cable
Crane is built,
It's time to put it
To the test,
Hauling a 300-pound furnace
Into the still site.
♪♪
What the *bleep*?
Holy *bleep*.
Destruction strikes
In north carolina.
God almighty!
♪♪
♪♪
I know this truck's loud,
But nobody knows
Who we are in this truck.
Yeah, that's true.
Tim is en route to
Franklin county, virginia,
Where j.T. Has agreed to help
Outlaw moonshiners
Henry and kenny law
Confirm their suspicions
That law enforcement
Has been snooping
Around their still site.
Gettin' pretty close to
Old franklin county line.
Yeah, ain't gonna be long.
We're drivin' another
Farm use truck we got
And no one has seen it.
It's kinda camouflaged,
Kinda blends in.
I don't think it'd be
A good idea to take j.T.
Into a illegal still site
And drop him off
Drivin' my climax truck
I call it, you know,
The moonshine express.
Well, you know,
Thinkin' about it,
Henry told me to be
Here monday mornin'.
He didn't say nothin'
About you comin'.
Well, I mean, I think
I ought to drop you off.
You ought not have no
Vehicle there, you see?
-yeah.
-that's the thing.
Then I can be identified.
Yeah, just like when
You're moonshinin',
You don't wanna
Have your vehicle
Down there close to the still.
-yeah.
But they the outlaws.
We're not the outlaws.
We're just out here tryin' to
Help a friend out, you know.
Whether you're legal
Or illegal,
It's still
A moonshine brotherhood, see.
I'm gonna take that chance to go
Down there and help 'em out.
I mean,
I know they're good guys.
I mean, I trust 'em.
-still, trust your own instinct.
-all right.
You just have
Your story together
If you get approached
By somebody.
All right.
You're squirrel huntin',
And you got lost.
-okay.
-that's what you are.
Got it.
We gettin' back
In the sticks now.
Yep.
♪♪
♪♪
-what's goin' on?
-oh, not much, man.
Hey, kenny.
Wondering if you was
Gonna show up or not.
Oh, yeah, you told me
Be here, I'm here.
-it's good, it's good.
-yeah.
We puttin' sugar back,
Just checkin' some proof
On some of this corn liquor
We ran 'bout a year or so ago.
Yeah?
I'm a little 50/50 here.
I'm confident in what
J.T.'s capabilities are,
'cause he's smart,
He can think on his feet,
But I don't know who's
Out there in the woods.
It may not be
The law enforcement.
Maybe henry and kenny's got
Some rivals out there, you know.
Sometimes it's good to run
In law enforcement, you know.
Well, I'm gonna leave him
My .410 shotgun, you know,
I've been carrying
That thing 40 years.
Shotgun, man,
That's what he needs.
Yeah, yeah, it's lightweight
And it make noise.
So if he sees 'em,
Try to ease away,
But if they see you, you may
Have to shoot the shotgun.
Or call him on the cellphone.
Reception down here's
Poor, real poor.
Yeah, you may have to
Come and warn us.
All we gotta do is get
The equipment out of here,
Like the caps and worms,
And we'll cut the still.
You know, keep him
Far away as you can.
We don't wanna get him
Compromised in any kinda way.
I'm gonna scout out
The area and see if I can't see
Any movement,
Footprints, tracks, trails.
Just call me when
Somethin' happens.
We hope nothin's
Gonna happen, but...
-yeah, call me either way.
-oh, yeah.
You know, it's always
That second thought
In the back of your mind,
You know.
What am I gettin' j.T. Into?
When you don't know
Who you gonna run
Into just bein' in the woods.
Law enforcement,
Other moonshiners.
Sometimes you don't have those
Unknown things like that.
But he's watched me
Over the years,
And I've always
Taught him right.
He knows the ins and outs,
So he's pretty confident,
And I think he can
Handle himself.
Thought I might've
Seen somebody.
Get them out here.
♪♪
♪♪
Across the state line
In north carolina,
Mark is recruiting talent from
The other side of the law.
Hoo-hoo!
Hoo-hoo!
All right.
Ah...
yeah.
Take it down.
Yeah.
♪♪
They all right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No.
Black locust is a fast-growing
Hardwood tree found throughout
The smoky mountains.
With extremely dense fibers,
It burns hotter
Than most other wood
Available in appalachia,
And as a result puts
Off nearly no smoke.
♪♪
♪♪
Strawberries in
Right now, josh.
What do you think about
A good strawberry run?
Man, I don't know, chuck.
It'd take two weeks just
For that to run off.
Five counties east
In the smoky mountain foothills,
Josh, chuck,
And red dog are about to put
Their first run of
The season on the board.
What the hell?
Why in the hell would
Our barrel be up here?
That's a claw mark,
Ain't it?
I don't know, see it, you can
See claw marks plain as day.
There's teeth marks here, too.
Those are definitely
Teeth marks.
Look how wide
Apart they are, too.
Yeah.
Oh, look, yonder,
Yonder's a damn paw print.
-look at that.
-oh, man.
That's a big bear, buddy.
That's gotta be
A 400-pound bear.
Yeah, he put some
Weight on that foot.
Well, it is what it is.
Well, I hope
He don't come back,
But let's get this barrel
Back to the still.
-yeah.
-we'll put up some game cameras.
♪♪
-oh, my gosh.
-what the *bleep*?
Holy *bleep*.
Oh, man.
God almighty. He's been here.
What are you doin' with
Popcorn's cremation liquor?
Well, I just keep it
Around as a reminder.
The first jug of liquor that
Came off of big asheville,
Popcorn's 1750-gallon still,
He said,
"I want you to pour this on me
When you cremate me."
-ah, damnit.
-whoa!
Damn.
Least it was the lid.
There you go, popcorn.
Digger, hell, he's coordinated
As an ostrich with polio.
I hate that I did it,
But I don't feel
That there's any need on
Cryin' over spilt liquor.
It happened.
I'm just gonna put
It in a safer spot.
Sorry about that, popcorn.
Holy *bleep*.
That's a stinkin'
Mess right there.
In north carolina,
Josh's moonshine
Operation is under attack
From a 400-pound black bear.
Well, we definitely got
A bear in our still site here,
So we gotta
Figure out somethin'.
In the springtime,
There's no acorns fallin',
Berries are not ripe yet.
The bears are gonna eat
Whatever they can get.
They smell the corn
And the mash around
The moonshine still.
Just like goin' to
Your favorite restaurant,
They're gonna come
Back and get some more.
Let's get rid of this moldy mash
On the ground so it don't stink.
Yeah.
We'll get ready to
Make some liquor.
I'm not really worried about
The bear bein' a danger.
I'm more worried about
The bear bein' a nuisance.
He's wreakin' havoc,
Knockin' over mash barrels.
I got a lot of
Doctor bills to pay,
Little time to pay 'em in.
That's money that was
Supposed to be in my pocket.
-hey, chuck.
-yeah.
Will you help me
Hang these cameras?
All right.
All right, let's put it
On this tree over here.
Moonshiners often use
Motion-activated
Game cameras to see
What's happening when
They aren't at their sites.
Perfect.
All right.
Let's get this done.
Hook up the hose.
Let's do this.
♪♪
-I'm good to go over here.
-all right.
Let me get you hooked up.
All right, you should
Have mash comin'.
We got it.
We had 160 gallons
Of mash, roughly.
-we lost a barrel.
-yeah.
That puts us at 120 gallons.
So that's about
12 or 15 gallons
Of liquor we should
Yield off of it.
I'm really nervous about
Spendin' a ton of money
On sugar and yeast
To make a giant run
When this'll be the first time
That it's not actually
My hands and my muscles
Makin' everything happen.
So we're gonna make
One smaller run,
See how that goes,
And if it works out good,
Then we're gonna up it up.
Will you light
The burner for me?
Yep.
♪♪
Chuck, you mind start
Bringin' some buckets over?
-start fillin' the worm?
-yeah.
The worm coil must be kept cool
In order for alcohol to
Condense from vapor to liquid.
With their irrigation
System down,
That means hauling more buckets.
The worm's just about full.
I'm gonna give red dog
A break and finish this up.
I ain't tryin' to damn work
The crap out of red dog anyway.
just me?
Although, it would be
Fun for some payback.
I'm a better boss than
You were, red dog.
I'm a better employee
Than you were, josh.
We got three barrels
Of mash cookin' off,
And it's just a waitin'
Game at this point.
What y'all reckon we
Gonna do about this bear?
I don't know.
Now look, we can't
Shoot that bear.
That's a $4,000 fine for
Killin' that bear out of season.
We need money bad enough.
We don't need to give it
To the federal government.
We gonna have to do somethin'.
He's gonna keep knockin'
Our mash barrels over.
Oh, there she comes.
All right.
We makin' liquor now.
Dang straight.
No matter how many
Runs of liquor I make,
It never ceases to
Still fascinate me.
When that liquor starts
Runnin' out of that worm,
That's just dollar bills
Flowin' into the jar.
Think you got enough heads?
Oh, yeah.
The first few
Hundred milliliters
Out of the still contain
A high concentration
Of methanol,
Which can cause blindness.
First liquor of the year.
Finally we're makin' liquor,
And this is the moment of truth.
All right.
I like what I see.
♪♪
What do you think, boss?
That's good.
Mm-hmm.
Whoo-hoo! That's sweet corn.
God almighty.
That'll make a fat guy do
A double back flip.
Josh's first run of
The year yields him
15 gallons of high-proof
Corn liquor worth $1,500.
I really appreciate you guys.
I couldn't have done
It without y'all.
I know you're goin'
Against everything you said
To be out here to
Help me pull this off,
And you been workin'
Like a pack mule, so.
Things change, you know.
You needed it, bro.
-you needed it.
-yeah.
Despite his injuries, one week
Into 'shine season, josh leads
The count with 15 gallons.
♪♪
Next time on "Moonshiners"...
Look at this hussy.
She's huge.
In north carolina,
A snarling 400-pound
Visitor in the night.
Ain't gonna make no
Damn liquor long as she's here.
I don't know what to do.
Mine's gonna be more gooder.
Whatever you say.
May the best 'shine
Win in cocke county.
Whichever one's chosen,
We scale up,
And we sell this season.
If he spots you,
You need to shoot
That shotgun and haul
Ass across the river.
And a worst fear is confirmed
In franklin county, virginia.
Looks like this might be
Where they been comin' in.
Somebody's comin'.
♪♪