Mountain Men (2012–…): Season 11, Episode 2 - No Turning Back - full transcript

-Coming up on "mountain men"...

-What the [bleep]

-Crap, harry,
our camp is tore up.

-That's bear tracks right there.

-Oh, yeah, that's definitely
bear tracks.

-If we want to just
muscle through.

Things are gonna break,
tires are gonna pop,

Stuff's gonna happen.

Oh, that's way flat.

-Normally, this time of year,

We're pulling sleds
behind the snowmobiles.



-Bit of a hill there, huh?
-Yep.

-But we don't have no snow
this year, so now we're walking.

-Oh [bleep]
-you're gonna roll!

Go, go, go, go, go!

[ animal howls ]

-3,000 feet up...

In idaho's
jagged sawtooth mountains...

-And that works for me.
-I like it.

-...Harry and kidd youren
have a critical mission ahead.

-That'll shed some rain.

-Everything should stay
dry there.

-Yeah, just build a little fire
out in front of that tonight.

Let's go find some cows first.

Right now, in the fall,



That's the time
we start gathering

All the cows off the mountain.

We got to get them down to the
low ground before there's snow.

-The yourens' 60 head of cattle
are a drop in the bucket

In a state that's home
to more than 2 million.

But for the brothers,

Their herd is the fulfillment
of a lifelong dream

That they're hoping will ensure
their future in the mountains.

-Harry and I are the
sixth generation idaho ranchers.

That's kind of what our family's
always done since the 1860s,

So it's a legacy.

The first couple
of years with our cows,

It felt like every cent
that we made off of 'em

Went right back into them,
and I feel like this year,

The cows will actually make
a little bit of money.

-Here in the sawtooths,
the yourens

Are able to take advantage
of mother nature's bounty

To help make a profit.

High-elevation pasture land

Feeds the herd all summer,
free of charge.

-Where we're running our cows
for the summertime,

It's about 15 miles
straight uphill.

Come on. Catch up, buddy.

But wintertime in idaho
is not easy by any means.

You have a ton of snow,
and it lasts forever.

Come on, up the hill, guys.

-The only cost
of living off the land

Is the work it takes to drive
the cattle up the rugged peaks

In the spring
and back down in the fall.

-All winter long, there's 6,
8 feet of snow up there,

And if the cows get stuck up
there in the snow, they'll die.

Can you get across right there?

-Right here looks pretty good
but I'd watch this.

-Little muddy right there.

Beau doesn't like it.

Easy, bud.

-Oh, yeah, it's a little deeper
than you think.

-Some of these creeks
up in the mountains up here,

They can be
a little bit deceptive.

Especially when they're winding
through the mud.

Some of them are bottomless
pits, you step in and just sink,

But looking up
and down the stream,

This seems like
the best spot to cross.

Horses say otherwise.

Muddy [bleep]

[ horse neighs ]

-Hey!

-Coming through! Look out!

Hey! Whoa!

I tried to step
my horse across there,

And he instantly told me no.

Horses don't really love it.

-It looks like sand, but you
do sink in it pretty good.

-There we go.

There we go.

I think I'm gonna bring
the cows back across here.

We should probably
just let them pick their way

-Yeah. Well, let's go see
if we find some cows first.

We gotta be getting close.

♪

-High up in montana's
tobacco root mountains...

-What are you thinking,
five trees?

-Yeah, that's definitely
the goal.

-Jake herak and his
girlfriend, anika,

Aren't chasing mountain
lions today.

They're on the hunt
for high-grade timber.

-You know, there's quite
a bit of dead stuff here.

Maybe let's take a little hike

And see if we can't spot
something that we like.

-Their plan is to mill
their own lumber

For a big project
they're taking on,

All because of an even
bigger decision

They've recently made together.

-In the offseason,
I actually proposed to anika,

And we are now engaged
to be married.

So, definitely a lot
of excitement for one summer.

-Very exciting.

-To start the couple off,

Anika's family gifted them
20 acres of prime montana soil,

Ready to be turned
into a homestead.

-Having a piece of land

To establish
a little homestead on

Is definitely a dream
come true for both of us,

But there's a lot of work ahead
of us in order to make it home.

-Their goal is to start
building as soon as possible,

But before they can
break ground on anything,

They need to stockpile
as much lumber as they can.

-There's a lot of good trees
in here,

They're just all still green.

-They're only targeting dry,
standing timber

That doesn't need
to cure for months

And can be used immediately.

-Just finding that right one.

-Hey, is that one gonna work?

-Oh [bleep] yeah,
that'll work perfect.

I mean, that thing's straight
for 40 foot.

-The taller the tree,
the better,

But felling anything
this big is dangerous.

-First thing you want to do
is kind of clear out this area

Because I'm gonna be
falling this tree

And landing it this way

And I need to make sure
that I can escape.

♪

All right, anika.
Make sure you're safe.

♪

There she goes!

♪

You good?
-Yeah.

-All right,
that was the easy part.

Now the work begins.

♪

♪

-At their base camp in alaska's
susitna river valley,

The clock is ticking
for designated hunter

Martha tansy
and her daughter, elli.

-We haven't really seen
much moose here.

-Yeah.

-They're on a 3-week mission
to bag 2,500 pounds of meat.

-I'm thinking about
moseying down

And checking out a new area.

[ gunshots ]

-So far, they've harvested

Several hundred pounds
of caribou,

But with just a week left
in the hunting season,

The bulk of the herd
has already migrated south,

And they haven't
spotted anything in days.

♪

-Elli and I, you know,
we're very grateful

For being able
to get some caribou,

But right now our focus
is on moose.

-Moose roam
the valley year round

And can yield nearly three times
as much meat

As a single caribou.

Just one kill will ensure

That they reach
their goal this winter.

-That's our big, big, big animal
that we need

To get down
to be able to feed everybody.

-But with no sign in the area,
martha and elli

Need to push deeper
into new territory.

-So, we're kind of over here,

And I was thinking about
using this drainage to get over

To this, like, swampy area
with a lot of water

And that marsh and stuff.

Let's go pack our bags.
Okay?

-While the new hunting grounds

Are only 25 miles away
on the map,

Nothing is ever a straight shot
in alaska's backcountry.

-We might have some challenges
getting over there.

Looks like there's maybe
an access trail,

But it's really hard
to tell from these old maps.

Might be a little bit
of a trek to get to it,

But I think
it's worth the risk.

-Martha's customized
rock crawler

That she calls her moose buggy

Is built to conquer some
of alaska's harshest terrain.

-Having a vehicle

That's capable
of going anywhere offroad

Helps overcome all challenges.

-But extreme offroading
takes a toll

Even on the toughest vehicles,

And right out of the gate,
martha senses a problem.

-Seems like
something's not right.

It's like real floppy.
Do you feel that?

-Yeah.

♪

-Here's a good spot
to pull in right there.

♪

Oh, shoot.

Oh, that's way flat.

Tire issues in the woods,
it's a big deal.

It's leaking right here.

These tires, they're very big.

The whole assembly

Is hundreds of pounds
to deal with.

We just need to think
things through, make a plan,

And be as safe as possible.

It's gonna be kind
of a challenge,

But we'll get it done.

-The rugged backcountry
of alaska's susitna valley

-Okay, come my way.

Has just taken a bite
out of martha's moose buggy.

-So, elli, can you push
that bar back?

There we go.

-Martha has a spare,

But the assembly weighs
more than 200 pounds,

Making it difficult
to change on the fly.

-I got a great big tire
high up on the back bumper,

Which is a good place
for traveling,

But it's kind of challenging
for getting off

And getting this
leaking tire back up there.

We're gonna put this
snatch block right here

And have the winch come up.

-An improvised pulley system
using a pry bar, a power winch,

And a snatch block should give
martha the extra muscle

She needs to get the job done.

-So, the lines gonna go
in the snatch block.

There we go.

-Hundreds of miles
from civilization...

-Just feed the line up
if it snaps.

-...The last thing martha needs

Is for something else
to go wrong.

-Hopefully we can have it
lift up

And swing that tire
off of the mount and down.

All right, lined up.
Push it my way.

Yep. Oh, perfect.

Falling down.

Never know what's
gonna happen out here.

Like, every single day,
we have challenges that come up.

Push on this way.
There we go.

Okay, we'll lean it
up against here.

Perfect.

So now next challenge
is get this jacked up

And get this tire off.

All right.

Elli, can you grab this side?

We're gonna go straight up
and off, okay?

1, 2, 3.

That's enough.
There we go.

Carefully roll it over here.

All right.

We should be able to roll
this new one over

And just muscle it on hopefully.

-1, 2, 3.

-That's good, elli.

All right.
Those should be good.

-With the spare in place,

The only challenge now
is to secure the flat.

-You got this?
Slow and steady.

You're gonna bring it
over towards me.

Bring it out and over.
Okay?

Hold tight.
I'm gonna let it down.

All right.

All right, this looks good.

All right, hop in.

We still have
a long way to go, okay?

I'm really glad that we were
able to get our spare on safely

And get our flat tire
back up there mounted,

But the reality is I don't have
a good spare anymore.

So, I'm gonna have
to drive really, really careful,

But we're gonna move forward

And do what we came here to do
and find some moose.

♪

♪

-Trapping season is on here
in the wild northern rockies.

-All right, sean.
-Hey, mister.

-And for the first time
in over a year,

Tom ore is not taking
on the mountains alone.

-We're just gathering up
enough equipment

To get this trap line organized.

-For safety, partner sean mcafee
has kept his distance

During the pandemic.

-What else you need, buddy?
-Drone cables.

-But now, with sean's help,

Tom can finally reopen
his full 12-mile line.

-Sure hope those packs can hold.
-Yeah.

-Got a lot of gear.

-Twice what he's been able
to manage on his own.

-Checking traps
is like a full-time job.

So, I'll do my best
to ease tom's workload.

That way, he can spend more time
preparing furs

And getting them
to the trading post.

All right.
-That's a heavy one.

-I'll take that one.

-I'll remember that.

-Got a bit of a hike
ahead of us.

-Yeah.

-Trapping season is limited
to just 12 weeks,

So it's always important
to start strong.

-This weather is crazy, tom.
No snow.

-Yeah.

-But mother nature's
already doling out a challenge.

-Well, here we are, mister.

-It's late fall, and so far,
northern montana

Remains unseasonably warm.

Temperatures are in the 60s

When there should already
be snow on the ground.

-Wow.

-Pretty wet today.

Normally, this time of year,

We're pulling sleds
behind the snowmobiles.

Well, we don't have no snow
this year, so now we're walking.

-Covering 12 backcountry miles
on foot is a demanding hike,

Especially for tom, who at 78,

Is feeling the effects of age
more every year.

-My knees are kinda bad,

But I'm still able to do it,
so I'm tickled with that.

All right.
-I'll follow you, man.

-The lack of snow
doesn't just affect their speed,

It also changes their strategy.

-The snow tells a story.

Every animal that tracks
in the snow

Leaves evidence of where he is

Or where he's going
or what he's eaten.

When there's not much snow
or no snow on the ground,

You're just going by
what you've learned in the past.

Let's put one right underneath
this little tree here.

Let me do this weasel one.

You set the trap in the bottom
of the birdhouse,

Close the lid
over the top of it,

And that's where
the weasel goes in.

The bait's hanging in the back.

-Yeah, that's cool.

-But you won't catch a martin
in it

And you won't catch a mink
in it,

Because they can't get in, yeah.
-Sure.

-All right.

There's some beaver ponds
on the other side of this hill

That we need to get over the top
of this hill to get down to.

Can we do it?
-Let's do it.

-All right.

-A bit of a hill there, huh?
-Yep.

It's easier in a snowmobile.

♪

♪

-High up in idaho's
sawtooth mountains...

-You hear that, kidd?
-I hear cow bellering.

-...Kidd and harry are closing
in on their herd.

-There they are right there
in the big opening.

-Looks like a pretty
good slug of them.

I bet you that's
the majority of them anyway.

-Gotta be the bulk of them.

We don't know
until we count them.

-See if those dogs will just
get them stopped right there.

-Get ahead.

A good cow dog is worth
about three good people

When you're gathering cows,

Because they smell
and see things that you can't.

They're a predator,
and the cows are prey.

The natural instinct
when there's a predator around,

Stay together.

-The herd has been grazing
here free range for six months.

-Lay down. Down.

-So, the first task
is to make sure

That all 60 head
are accounted for.

-While them dogs
got them stopped out there,

Let's go give them
a little count

And look over and make sure
everything's good.

-Now harry and I
just need to ride up in there,

See how many cows we got,

And get them lined out
in the right direction.

One, two, three, four.

-How many did you count?
-All of them.

-With all 60 rounded up,
their task now

Is to get them 7 miles down
to the spy camp before dark.

-Off the mountain, let's go.

Running your cows out
on the mountains,

There's lots of things
that can go wrong.

This country is really
thick with timber.

There's predators up here.

-While predators aren't
usually a danger in the summer,

Encounters increase in the fall
when food becomes scarce.

-It's best to keep
a level head, stay calm,

And get them back to the ranch
as safe as we possibly can.

Come on, girls.

-In montana's yaak valley,

Tom's return to the trap line
is putting him to the test.

-Looks a little different with
no snow on it, doesn't it?

-His most reliable
beaver-trapping grounds

Sit just over the hill.

-It's a hump back in here
on foot, isn't it, mister?

-But it's a treacherous climb

He hasn't been on foot
in decades.

-Normally we got 2 foot
of snow on the ground

By this time of year,

And we're running
our snowmobiles back in here.

We're pulling equipment
on sleds.

This year, we're afoot,
and we're getting older, too.

So, it makes it harder.

-Watch your step there.

-Loose rocks.
-Yep.

-While tom is still one of the
toughest men on the mountain,

Every step is a reminder
of long-ago injuries

That never quite healed.

In nearly 30 years
as a champion rodeo rider,

Tom's knees took a beating

And have never been
the same since.

-Good job man.
-Phew.

-And even though tom
can still make the climb...

-Just about there, aren't we?
-We're getting closer.

-...It can be extra
disappointing

If the effort doesn't pay off.

-Well...
-[ chuckling ]

It just don't look like
there's any beaver in here.

♪

-Deep in the alaskan bush,
martha and elli

Are pushing into moose country,
hoping to harvest the last

Of the meat
they need for the winter.

-I'm gonna take it
nice and easy through here.

-They've covered 20 miles
of rugged terrain today,

And with just five more to go,

There's only one last obstacle
in their way.

-Mud bogs can be deceiving,

Especially after
a whole bunch of rain.

-And now that they no longer
have a spare tire,

They can't take any chances,
especially in deep mud holes,

Where the bottom
is a complete unknown.

-I'm trying to be
really cautious.

I could break something,
tear something up.

Feeling like we're slipping
a little bit.

There's, like, a rock
or something.

-Yeah.

-Not really what we need
right now,

But I'd rather play it safe.

Run the winch line out, and
let's get us out of this safely

Without breaking anything.

-Martha's electric winch
is an essential tool

On the back roads,

One that helps her out
of many dangerous situations.

-We want to just muscle through.

Things are gonna break,
tires are gonna pop,

Stuff's gonna happen.

So, you know, we put the effort
in to do it the right way.

-With no large trees
within 200 feet of the truck,

Martha uses a land anchor
to secure the winch.

-Takes a little bit of time,
but I think it's worth it.

Put that thing out there,
bury it into the ground,

Run the winch line out,
and be able to pull us over

Whatever this is
so we can keep on going,

And hopefully not tear up
any equipment.

That should be good.

♪

-Keeping the winch line
taut at all times

Is key to safely clearing
any hidden obstacles.

♪

-There is that big ol' rock.

♪

♪

Think we're free here.

Let's get this unhooked.

I'm really glad that
that land anchor worked,

And we were able
to get over this obstacle.

We still have a lot
of ground to cover,

And hopefully we'll be able
to make it to hunting camp

As soon as possible.

Let's get out of here.

♪

♪

-Back in montana...

♪

-You good?
-Yeah.

-...Jake and anika have just
felled the first of many trees

They'll need to build
a homestead on their new land.

-All right.

That was the easy part.

-Yeah.
-Now the work begins.

-Without the equipment they
need to haul out the whole tree,

Jake and anika will de-limb

And break it down
into smaller sections.

-As I pace it out,

I see we definitely have plenty
of room to make a beam here.

So, we're gonna take this thing
and skid it on down

And make a beam out of it.

-The shortened 22-foot log

Still weighs as much
as 700 pounds.

To lift it out of the creek
bed to be milled,

Jake's using an old
loggers trick of the trade.

-So, this is just like,
your standard come-along,

But it's actually called
the roll point.

-Smaller logs serve as rollers

To move the heavy timber along
and avoid snags.

-All right, coming in.

♪

All right.
-I'd say we're good.

-Yeah, I think we've got it
far enough

We can get it with the truck.

-Now it's the truck's turn
to help pull the log

Down the hill, where
it will be milled into beams.

-This happens a lot
out here in the mountains.

I need to figure out something

And I was always told
to work smarter,

Not harder, adapt
and overcome.

So, I'm gonna have you
stay outside the car.

I'm gonna pull forward
and make sure

That this is hooking that
just perfectly like that

And make sure that
this gets sucked in tight.

-I'll just follow it along.
-I'll have you follow along,

And just yell if this thing gets
caught on something real big.

-All right, let's do it.

-Like it?
-Yeah.

-Stuck in tight?

-Yeah, you're good.

We got a hill coming up.

Watch the hill!

♪

Oh [bleep]

You're gonna roll!
Go, go, go, go, go!

-...Jake and anika
are fighting gravity...

-Pull! Pull!

-Keep going. Keep going.

-...And winning.

-Good!

-I couldn't see behind me.

Alls I could hear
was you screaming.

Scared the [bleep] out of me.

-Well, I mean, you were
halfway in the ditch here,

But it worked out.

-I got them tires rolling,

And it actually pulled it
right through,

And we're very fortunate,

Because that would have
caused us a big problem

And wasted a lot of time.

This is just a nice, level spot

For us to actually
mill these boards out.

Let's unhook this one
and go find another.

-All right.

-Their goal is to cut down

As many dead pines
as they can today...

-There she goes.

-...And try their hand at
milling the beams they'll need

To start construction
on a new homestead.

♪

-Quite the pile here.

We're gonna go ahead
and start milling.

This is the part
that makes me nervous,

The stuff that
I haven't done before.

-Jake's portable chain-saw mill
requires a guide board

To keep the cuts straight.

-This slides right along
this guide board,

And that's why
we screwed this down.

So, I'm gonna attach the saw
to this little tool here,

And this is what's gonna
allow us to rip these boards out

And make some nice beams.

-Operating a chain saw
like this is risky,

Because it's hard to maintain
adequate pressure

And avoid dangerous kickbacks.

♪

-Cutting the tree down
is very easy,

But when it comes to milling,

Good lord, do you put
some effort into this.

♪

♪

All right, we got
our first straight edge here.

-Good job.

-One down, couple more to go.

♪

♪

-Come on, girls,
off the mountain.

-High in the sawtooths...

-Let's go!

-...The yourens' herd
is on the move...

-Go on! Hey!

-...But cattle aren't built
for the mountains.

-Come on, girls, cut a trail.

[ whistles ]
cut a trail, let's go.

This terrain
is very unforgiving.

It's really steep,
it's really brushy.

If a cow gets hurt up
on this mountain here,

She's done, there's nothing
you can do about it.

[ clicking tongue ]

No, wrong way, girls.

Back.

-Bring it back.
Bring it back.

Trying to keep everything
together through the brush,

It's not easy.

-Good job, dogs.
Come on.

-It's best to keep a level head,

Stay calm, slow is smooth,
smooth is fast.

Come on, cows, get out
of this timber.

Find a trail.

-For a startup ranching
operation,

Every head counts,
and so does every pound.

-We don't want to
push him too hard,

Because we sell them
by the weight.

A cow won't go so far
that she'll kill herself,

But we can walk some weight
off of them, for sure.

-Want to line them out now?

-Yeah.

We're breaking this up
into two days.

Half today, half tomorrow.

-The plan is to move the herd
7 miles down the mountain

To the spy camp before dark.

Then start the final
8-mile push by daybreak.

-Come on, girls.

-It's not an aggressive
schedule,

But it does depend
on everything going right.

-Yeah, let's get them lined out
towards the creek.

Come on, cows, find a crossing.

-Hey, hey, hey, hey.
Whew, jumpy.

Lay down, down.

Maybe let them come up
towards me a little bit, har.

-No. No.

-Easy now.
-Okay.

Come on, cows.
There we go.

We got a leader.

-There we go.

-Almost.

-Hey.

-Gosh damn it.

-Did we just lose half of them?
-Son of a bitch.

-Deep in alaska's
susitna river valley...

-Oh, man, this is gonna be
such a nice spot.

-...After navigating 25 grueling
miles of rugged terrain,

Martha and elli
finally arrive in moose country.

-This is perfect, elli.

You can see this whole valley.

-Their plan is to camp
overnight and spend tomorrow

Scouting to determine

If the gamble to get here
was worth the effort.

-We'll set up
the spotting scope.

We can just look
and look and look.

-But with storm clouds
on the horizon,

They'll need to improvise
a hunting shelter

To shield them
from the elements.

-Can you find a pole?
Just cut the limbs off of it.

My thought was to build us
a real quick blind

To protect us, but then also
camouflage us, too.

So, we can wake right up
and just start glassing.

So, we're gonna try
to put up some paracord...

All right, elli,
so I got this last corner.

...From tree to tree to tree
and kind of make a box.

That should hold it.

-Branches of low-lying brush
will provide added protection...

-There we go, perfect.

-...And help camouflage
their new hunting spot.

-We can sit there,
see the moose,

And we can shoot right over it.

Tomorrow morning
when that first light comes out,

Hopefully we'll be able
to spot a moose.

So, when we're out here,
every day is a challenge.

I understand
there's gonna be things

That are gonna come our way,

And we're just gonna
tackle them when they come.

Each time something happens,
we're gonna figure out

A way to get over it,
and we're gonna reach

That goal of trying
to find those moose.

♪

♪

-In montana, tom and sean
have burned a lot of energy,

And even more daylight,

Reaching their usually
reliable trapping grounds,

But so far, it's a bust.

-Let's just move our way
down there.

There's got to be a beaver
in here somewhere.

-All right then.

-These ponds stretch for several
miles north to the south.

So, we just got to go
further downstream to find them.

-While there's no obvious
sign of beaver here,

Tom reads the land
with an expert's eye

And knows which clues to follow.

-Here's some beaver sign
right here.

-Oh, yeah.

-That's fresh, too,
good and fresh.

-That's encouraging.

-Yeah.

Well, by god, sean,
here's the dam.

-Look at that.

-I bet that's been here a while.

There's the lodge and the island

And the end of the island
up there. See it over there?

-I wonder how deep that is.

-That will probably
a good place to set a trap,

If you can make it up it,

But don't go in
over your waders.

That water's cold.

-Yeah, why don't I at least try?

-Once the frost
finally sets in,

The pond will freeze over,
making the lodge

Easily accessible by foot,
but as long as it's warm,

Sean will have to take
his chances with the deep.

-Hard bottom here, tom.
-Yeah.

-A little bit darker
out here, though.

Pretty tricky to see the bottom,
making sure you don't fall

In some sort of trench
or go up over your head.

Next thing you know,
your waders are filling up.

-Well, you're getting
in there deep, buddy.

-Where's a canoe
when you need it?

-Yeah, really.

-I think we're gonna make it.

Oh, oh, oh,
look at this little spot.

Nice-looking slide over here.

-All right.

-This little beaver slide here

Where these guys are going in
and out of this pond.

This is their feed bed
right here.

Even though it's a slide,

I can just put a nice castor
mound there anyway.

-Yeah, great.

-Placing the pungent
castor glands on a mound of mud

Tricks the beaver into thinking

There is a competitor
moving in on its turf.

When it comes to investigate,
it'll trip the foothold.

-Tom will tell you

He's gonna catch him
by the right rear foot,

But I'm just hoping
we're gonna catch 'em.

I like it.

-With one trap rigged
by the lodge,

The next place to lay a snare

Is smack in the middle
of the dam itself.

♪

-It should work.

-All in all, tom and sean
have opened up

6 miles of trap line today,

Which they hope
will start producing fast.

-We got a bit of a humpback
to that pickup tonight.

-Yeah, really.

We got a bunch of stuff done,
though, huh?

-It's only half the job,
but it's a solid start,

And the best they can hope for

Until the snow
has come to lend a hand.

-We've got a long ways
to walk out of there,

But at least now,
we've got light packs.

We don't have a bunch of weight
on our backs.

It's almost like
just being free.

-Let's do 'er.
-Call it a day.

♪

♪

-In the sawtooth mountains
of idaho...

-Gosh damn it.

-...Half the herd is on the run

-Son of a bitch.

After being spooked
by a creek crossing.

-They ran off into the worst,
nastiest thicket

They could find.

-Kidd's gotta find
the rogue cattle

Before the dense brush splinters
it into smaller groups.

-Find your way
through these trees.

-The smaller the herd,

The more vulnerable it is
to predator attacks.

-I don't want to ride
right behind these cows.

I want to get around them.

If I keep coming
along behind them,

All I'm doing
is driving them farther

And farther and farther away.

So, the best option
I have right now

Is to just keep riding
far enough

That I think I'm ahead of them,
turn around and come back.

[ whistles ]

There they are right there.

Come on, buddy.
Get ahead. [ smooching ]

Step up. Get ahead.

[ smooches ]

There you are!

I get them lined out.

We're headed right back
towards harry to the main herd.

-There we go. That a girls.

-Hey, you got 'em.

Found another six pair
and the bull.

-That's a pretty
big relief for us.

We have all of our cows
together now.

Time to head off down the hill
right here

Straight towards spy camp.

Come on, girls, good dogs.

That a girls.

Har, once we get
these cows below camp --

What the [bleep]

Crap, harry,
our camp is tore up.

That's bear tracks right there.

-Oh, yeah,
that's definitely bear tracks.

-Idaho is home to more
than 20,000 black bears,

Making run-ins
like this fairly common,

But once a bear finds
a new food source,

It's likely still lurking
in the area.

-Looks like he pretty much
cleaned out all of our food,

Most of the horse grain.

-The dilemma they face now
is whether to stay the night

Or try to push through the last
7 miles before dark.

-I think we should keep going.

It'll be a long push to get down
out of here with those cows.

If we go hard, we might
make it before dark.

-That's a lot of miles
to put on those cows in one day.

-It is a lot of miles
for the horses, too,

But if we stay here,
the horses --

We don't have any grain,
we don't have any feed,

We don't have any food for us.

-I didn't want to drive
these cows

Down off the mountain
all in one day.

Stressing them out is doing the
exact opposite of what we want,

But our plan of camping up here,
it's gone all to hell.

-It just turned
into a really long day.

-Back in montana...

-All right, let's get
this flipped over.

This will be the last cut
of this beam.

-...Jake and anika are getting

The hang of
their new chain-saw mill.

♪

-All right.

-Jake's now confident enough
to try his hand

At even thinner cuts to make
a pile of finished boards.

-Good-looking board there.

We put a little bit
of stain on that,

And that's gonna last
a long, long time,

Probably into the next
person's lifetime.

So, that's pretty awesome.

Let's get these boards loaded,

And I'll come back and get
the other ones a later day.

-They'll need to put in at
least three more days of milling

Before they'll have enough
boards to start construction,

But today's effort has
put them well on the path

Towards laying a strong
foundation for their future.

-All right, we hit
the maximum load

On this little, tiny trailer.

-Got a lot done.

-Well, we just got
accomplished in one day

What it took me all week.

-It's a good start.

-This is definitely what the
mountain-man life is all about,

Being able to go out there
in the wild

And pick off
some natural resources

And build something out of it.

We always wanted
to set our roots here,

And now that
we've acquired property,

That's what we intend on doing.

♪

♪

-As daylight fades in idaho...

-The cows are moving slow.

-I really didn't want
to drive them

All that far in one day.
-A long ways.

-We got these cows
almost back to home.

We're pretty damn close now,

But these cows are getting
really, really tired, though.

-Come on, cows.
Get out of this timber.

-Harry and kidd's prized herd
covered a grueling hike of

15 miles in a single day.

-We're here.

-And they finally
arrived home.

-I'll swing wide and get out
around and go open the gate.

-Okay.

-Safe for another year

From the fast-approaching
winter freeze.

-Today was a hard day.
Definitely a little worried

About the stress
we put on the cows.

That's a long ways to go,
but it turned out all right.

There they go. They got it.

Just took them a minute
to see it.

We have our cows,
everybody lived through it.

That's it.
They're all here.

How many did you count?
-61 counting the bull.

-Good work.

-There's always
gonna be something

That comes up
running cows out here.

You're always gonna be
dealing with some threat

Somewhere,

But now we have
a bigger problem to deal with.

We need to take care
of that bear.

Want to go up there...
-In the morning?

-Like, first thing in the
morning, go back up there?

-I say we get rid of him now

And then we won't have to worry
about our cows

When we kick them out
in the spring.

-Tomorrow harry and I
are gonna get

On those bear tracks
while they're fresh.

To the barn.

-See if we can get this bear.

-Next time on "mountain men"...

-[ whispering ] oh, there it is.

♪

[ gunshot ]

-Really old set
of weasel tracks.

-That's cool.

-It's real important
to pass the knowledge on

Or there aren't gonna be
no trappers

If you don't teach
the kids how to do it.

Agh!

-It's time for me to get
my butt in gear

And start nailing some
of these decking boards down.

Gonna ease on to this baby
super slow.

Make sure it's gonna support me.

[bleep]

[ dog barking ]

-If I scream, pull me out!

♪

Bear! Bear!