Mountain Men

It's funny how they tell us this is about people who live off the grid but none of them actually do. Marty is off grid when on his trap line but his home is quite modern, as are the others. While the voice-over does over dramatize and exaggerate the "danger aspect" for the most part we do see an honest portrayal of how Marty, Tom and the others live. The one exception is Eustace Conway who's story is total fiction. He does not live off the land but off the people who pay good money to visit his land. He in truth raises almost none of his own food. He claims to live on less than $2,000 per year and that selling firewood is his only source of cash income but check out his website, Turtle Island Preserve. You can visit Turtle Island and get a 2 hour buggy ride for $65 or take a half-day course on how to carve a wooden spoon for $95 but to send your kid to camp is $700 for 7 days or $1400 for 14 days. He claims to live like Daniel Boone but did Ol' Dan have his own website? This phony is a great disappointment and promoting such an obvious phony makes one question the whole series. Eustace is like a televangelist begging viewers to contribute when in fact he is in no need of help but is actually rather well to do. Very disappointing indeed.

It's hard to rate this series because some of the talent is cursed with terrible fake production and others are good. Each segment deserves its own rating. The Hawk family could be a good segment but winds up being the worst because of the terrible set ups by the production staff. The scenes with them noodling for catfish were so fake it should just be skipped over. The best segments are with the Tom Oor. Second best are Eustace. Anything with the hunting dogs are fast forward worthy.

I've watched the show for years but the cut Away to different segments has gotten old And they take forever to finish a segment because of commercials and cut sways and Recaps . It's just bad editing and continuity Can't keep watching

I understand the "negative" comments about the "staging and scripting", but I would challenge ANYONE to find a "Reality Show" that is or was 100% true to life without staging or scripting. Some have been so fake that it was found out that there was more scripting that REALITY.

What this show does show is the lifestyle that some people live and some things that people do to "survive and thrive". Is it staged? Sure, some of it is, but as far as I'm concerned is when I become a fan of a reality show, its because I like its ENTERTAINMENT VALUE and like the things I can learn. I'm a lifelong city boy, so real or staged, many of the things on Mountain Men offers me a chance to learn something I didn't know before.

Happy Viewing Brian

Tom is Awsome! He is the real deal, he is committed to always doing the right thing and works so very hard. He is an encyclopedia of knowledge and loves his lifestyle. Tom is my fav!