The Most Interesting Thing About Mountain Men

Mountain Men is a television show currently on its 7th season (as of November 2018), airing weekly on the History Network since 2012. The show follows a handful of men; all living in remote, backwater areas of America. Each of the men has their own distinct personalities as well as jobs that they specialize in; ranging from trapping animals for fur, to mountain lion hunting, to blacksmithing.

I’ve been watching the show on a regular basis for about 3 years now, and I can safely say that the show still keeps me entertained and excited. It has many bright aspects to it that draw me in, like the compelling and loveable personalities, the nature education it provides, the problem solving situations that the men are placed in, and finally the beautiful portrayal of nature. Mountain Men is completely transparent when it comes to their demographic. The show is obviously aimed at outdoors-y types. The most interesting thing about the show itself is that it fully understands its target demographic and creates situations that are compelling and exciting to them. Mountain Men understands the male psyche in the way that watching it stimulates our primal instincts.

The show itself has many underlying themes and topics that men specifically find compelling. Living off the grid, solidarity, reliability, failure, and educational development are all things that you’d hear your tough, surly old dad ranting about time and time again. Men love to self-insert themselves into situations like the characters deal with in the show, and I believe that Mountain Men understands this about the target viewers. When I watch it I feel a sense of empowerment, like I can be better than myself, more like the characters on the screen. That is what is most important about Mountain men; the feeling of empowerment it gives men is why the show has been successfully running for so long.

Very few things in life spark as much adrenaline as chasing a mountain lion through the Montana outback or setting traps for wolverines and wolves. However, the show isn’t all thrills and action; it also deals with the real and human aspects of life on your own out in the wilderness. Following the characters as they fight to stay alive every day; building shelter, gathering food and dealing with wild problems that a city boy would never encounter. It really puts into perspective just how different we live and how good and easy the majority of urban dwellers have it.

Failure plays a big part in all of the men’s lives. It really gives the show a human aspect. Not every character is a “winner” by the end of every season. By that I don’t mean the show is a contest, I simply mean that in some cases the men end up worse than where they started. Maybe not all their plans worked out. Nature has a tremendous impact on the lives of these men; weather, predators and the environment all determine how they live, what they eat, and how they survive. Sometimes, things just don’t work out and Mountain Men teaches you to keep moving forward.

Deep down, every man has that voice in the back of their head that tells them to just disappear off the grid. It is a primal instinct after all, for hundreds if not thousands of years men had to live off the land, unspoiled and vulnerable. This is what the most interesting aspect of Mountain Men is as a show; it speaks to that voice that ALL men have in their head.