Mountain Men

The ten closest calls counted down.

Relive the mountain men's best battles against nature's deadliest predators

The Mountains of North America haunt the imagination, masking a danger few are willing to confront. Despite the challenges, some choose to live this way, the last of their kind. Eustace Conway lives deep in the mountains of North Carolina. He moved here 33 years ago in search of a more "truthful" existence. In the years since, he's built a home, and survived by hunting, fishing and raising animals. Tom Oar lives with his wife on the Yaak River in Montana. He is 100 miles from the nearest town, a place he hasn't ventured to in 10 years. Marty Meierotto, his wife Dominique and their daughter Noah live in the small Alaskan town of Two Rivers. Every month, Marty pilots his bi-plane, traveling into the bush in search of the wolverine and lynx pelts he needs to make a living. While he's on the Black River, he must hunt moose and caribou to survive in the wilderness. Together, these men represent America's true MOUNTAIN MEN.

Tom Oar tries to save a friend's water supply and hunt his winter's meat surrounded by grizzlies. Eustace Conway deals with the threat of someone trying to take his land. Marty Meierotto combats life or death situations due to breakdowns.

A dispute between Eustace and Justice quickly escalates, leading to dramatic repercussions; Tom has difficulty navigating through the Rockies and gets lost; Marty must endure extreme conditions in his effort to reach home.

In the Yaak Valley of northwest Montana, the worst fire season in living memory threatens the home of Tom Oar. In Alaska, Marty Meierotto flies into the heart of a vicious storm on his annual journey to his remote winter trapline. Turtle Island, Eustace Conway's refuge in the Blue Ridge Mountains, comes under threat from developers. And a new mountain man, lion hunter Rich Lewis, leads his dog team through Montana's Ruby Valley in pursuit of a deadly puma.

Marty Meierotto arrives at his Alaska trapline, but the unseasonably warm weather is impeding his plans. In North Carolina, Eustace Conway discovers two headless chickens in his henhouse, and begins a hunt for the predator responsible. In northwest Montana, Tom Oar discovers a grizzly bear has been prowling his property, while in the southern corner of the state, Rich Lewis frantically searches for his missing hound, Turbo.

Desperate for food after a grizzly bear ravaged his garden, Tom Oar embarks on a last-ditch deer hunt. Marty Meierotto begins to establish his winter trapline, breaking fresh trail in the uncharted wild. In the Ruby Valley of Montana, Rich Lewis pursues a marauding wolf pack that has slaughtered a neighbor's cattle. And in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Eustace Conway must deal with Scout, a careless intern with "a dose of city boy in him.

This season opens as a polar vortex sweeps across the nation and plunges America into a brutal early winter. Tom Oar is behind on his winter preparations because he's spending time with family in Florida and facing a possibly life-changing decision. Will he sacrifice leaving the mountain man lifestyle behind to live closer to his family? In the Ruby Valley, a bloody encounter with a mountain lion leaves Rich Lewis's lead hunting dog Brandy in a life or death situation, and could end her career forever. Marty Meierotto takes advantage of a break in the harsh weather to embark on his annual trip to the Great Alaskan Range, but this year instead of leaving his wife, Dominique and their daughter Noah behind he's taking them with him. And in New Mexico's rugged and relentless High Desert, we meet Kyle Bell who is teaching his son Ben the dying ways of the mountain man lifestyle.

As winter tightens its grip on the nation, the mountain men fight the elements to stay alive. In New Mexico's Cimarron Valley, Kyle Bell and his son Ben scramble to save a herd of bison from a fast approaching winter storm. In North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains, Eustace Conway and his friend Preston brave the wettest winter in decades to stop a dangerous landslide from washing out a rural road. In Montana, Tom Oar prepares himself for the fight of a lifetime after a run in with a pack of wolves while Rich Lewis braves a blizzard to put meat on his table for the winter. And deep in Alaska's wilderness Marty Meierotto and his family settle into their new remote surroundings.

As the worst winter in decades rages across the nation, the Mountain Men must fight to stay on top of the food chain. In the Yaak Valley, the growing wolf population comes knocking on Tom Oar's door, and quickly turns into a blood feud. In Alaska, Marty Meierotto's traps are coming up empty, causing him and his family to regroup and figure out how they're going to survive the season. In the Ruby Valley of southwest Montana, Rich Lewis bags enough meat to survive the winter, but his battle has only begun as hungry predators catch the scent. In North Carolina, Eustace Conway struggles to bring a 100-year-old sawmill back to life to keep his property in the black. And in New Mexico's Cimarron Valley, Kyle Bell puts his 10-year-old son's mountain man skills to the test on his first hunting trip.

In the Season 4 premiere, unpredictable extreme conditions lead to the survivalists finding new ways to adapt.

Tom defends his home against the threat of a bear; Morgan makes a fatal miscalculation on thin ice.

Morgan gets stuck in the grips of an ice desert with no shelter in sight; Marty's return to Alaska's Revelation Mountains takes an unexpected turn.

Morgan's land fails to provide, leaving him locked in a life or death battle with hunger. Tom's bad luck streak continues into a new season. Rich takes a bruising fall.

Rich deals with the aftermath of his accident. Morgan's search for food intensifies. Eustace gets a golden opportunity, but it may be more trouble than it's worth.

Morgan's surprise discovery could finally put food on the table. Tom's hard work doesn't pay off.

Winter descends on the mountains without mercy; Marty is trapped in 50-below weather; Morgan and Tom forge new alliances; Rich battles a rogue grizzly.

Morgan races the ice to gather critical supplies; Eustace digs out from a devastating tornado; Marty takes to the air in a bid to win the season.

Morgan fights to stay afloat on a treacherous river run; Jason loses everything; routine training turns to live combat for Rich's dog team.

Morgan battles a bear-infested island for a critical head start on the season as winter approaches; Tom is caught in Montana’s deadly wildfires; Eustace wrestles with the aftermath of Preston’s death; and the Hawk clan prepares for a life-changing arrival.

The bears keep Morgan on the run as he tries to secure his catch and escape with his life; Eustace struggles to get back to work without Preston; Jason and Mary prepare for their due date; Tom scales treacherous terrain and Jake readies his team to face down the lions.

In a risky bid to get out of the red, Marty fights to reclaim his long-abandoned turf; Morgan races to build a shelter in the snow and ice of subzero Alaska; Eustace gets a boost in horsepower; Jason and Mary brace for a home birth; and Jake's lion hunt takes a dangerous detour.

As winter closes in, Morgan and Margaret fly North to track down the great caribou migration and secure meat; Marty preps his trapline for the arrival of his daughter, Noah; Jake starts his season tracking two lions. Eustace takes on an apprentice and uncovers some illicit activity on his new land; Kidd and Harry rescue horses from a pack of hungry wolves.

Eustace and Raleigh battle a polar vortex to get their lumber business back online; Mike braves a bear-infested landscape in search of fresh meat; Morgan and Margaret chase the migrating caribou, hoping to secure enough food for winter.

As night descends across the mountains, Mike treks through bear country with fresh meat on his back; Morgan battles dark and dangerous terrain in a last-ditch effort to fill his freezer; Jake's latest lion hunt takes him deep into wolf territory.

As winter descends in the mountains, Jake's first lion hunt ends in a near-deadly dust up; Tom and Nancy face a surge in the local coyote population; Jason comes face to face with a marauding black bear; Mike fights predators on land and sea to secure some fish for the winter; and Josh Kirk hunts down a deer for the larder.

Eustace and Raleigh try to restore an antique buzz saw; Tom takes on a massive new dugout canoe project; Jake's quest for winter meat takes him on a dangerous high-altitude hunt; Kidd and Harry race against a winter storm to round up rogue cattle; and Mike competes with a giant Kodiak bear to score his salmon supply for winter.

Tom and Sean brave the bitter cold in search of better trapping grounds; Jake seeks revenge on the lion that injured his hound; Eustace and Raleigh struggle to fix a storm-damaged bridge that connects Turtle Island to the world outside; Mary forges her first Ozark blade; and Josh loses a bison to a pack of hungry wolves.

Tom and Nancy face the challenges of isolation at the onset of winter; Jake hunts pronghorn antelope, and faces down a deadly rattlesnake; Eustace has new neighbors and begins teaching them his mountain man ways; Mike takes a perilous sea journey in search of better hunting grounds; and Martha puts her off road capability to the test while traversing Alaska's toughest terrain.

Jake clashes with a surging coyote population; Martha and Elli takedown a bull moose in rain-soaked Alaska; while Mike struggles to obtain meat for the winter; Tom catches his first fur of the season, while Nancy crafts a one-of-a-kind buffalo hide coat; and Kidd and Harry build a cabin size meat smoker into a hillside.

Kidd and Harry bring down an enormous bull bison; Eustace races the weather to provide his neighbors with heat; Martha and Elli battle nasty terrain while transporting their prized moose harvest back to civilization; Jake pursues mountain lions.

In the Season Premiere, Montana's Tom and Nancy Oar prepare for the long winter ahead. Jake Herak battles dense fog and mountain terrain on foot in pursuit of elk. In Wyoming, Josh Kirk attempts to move a 150-year-old log cabin to the heart of his bison ranch, but the hazardous journey threatens to topple the historic structure. And in Alaska, Martha and Elli Tansy each harvest a caribou, sending them on an all-night off-road mission to extract their kills.

Tom Oar reunites with Sean McAfee to set his winter trap line, but miles of grueling terrain put the veteran trapper's endurance to the test; in Alaska, Martha and Elli Tansy embark on an off-road expedition to new hunting grounds.

In Idaho, Kidd and Harry Youren hunt a black bear that tore up their camp, but the chase leads them into a dangerous confrontation. In Alaska, Martha and Elli Tansy finally have a bull moose in their sights, and bring it down.

Eustace hunts for his winter meat in the pre-dawn hours. Jake harvests a deer with bow and arrow. Tom helps his friend Paul prepare for trapping season. Ray stalks elk through knee deep powder, and spends a frigid night on the mountain. Aron hauls his winter supplies over a treacherous off-road trail, but the final stretch of the mission proves most daunting.

Tom instructs young Hank on some essential Mountain Man skills. Newlyweds Jake and Anika hunt elk in the bone chilling cold; Paul takes on an infestation of nuisance badgers; Ray uses bushcraft technology to haul his elk meat out of the backcountry; Aron and Jen clash with a pack of wolves prowling the outskirts of their homestead.

Tom packs a traditional muzzleloader on a winter deer hunt with Sean and Hank; Jake and Anika complete a successful elk hunt with a backbreaking pack out; Aron and Jen cut down dead trees that threaten to destroy their cabin.

Marty installs floats on his bush plane and flies to a remote lake to hunt moose.

Marty searches for a bull moose that vanished in thick brush; Mike packs the meat from a bull elk.

Lauro travels north with his team of sled dogs to hunt caribou; Daniel rebuilds a cabin.

Marty guides Noah through her first bush plane landing at a remote caribou camp while Mike hauls a 50-foot gangway across land and sea to his Kodiak homestead.

Marty flies to new hunting grounds in search of an elusive caribou herd and Lauro and Neil build a trapping and fishing camp to help feed their sled dogs.

Chance and Soraya slaughter a ram to provide meat for their growing family while Lauro begins preparation for this year's Iditarod by taking his team on a fall training run.