Tom on Mountain Men

[PEARL DRUMS]

Tom is a 100% stud. That dude lives hard with a beat up body and just keeps going and going. I admire that greatly in a man. I don't care what the writers do, I can see through it.

[JacksonCash]

Man, I am out of the loop on this one. What channel is this on?

[bow101]

Man, I am out of the loop on this one. What channel is this on?

Its on History channel up here.

[country]

I'd have to agree with pearl.  I bet he's seen and done more than most

[4dog]

Yeah no doubting hes a tough old guy,but, i bet a little sliver of him died inside thinking he was duping people that dont know any better about a two day bow build,, course he could be thinking ,, i can buy a new truck with all this new cash i just got for duping all those unsuspecting city folks too..either way...lol..personally..its tv ..i dont expect much reality in my tv

[seabass]

I don't know about the credibility of tv,but I have an osage flight bow from the fourties that has sinew on the back and belly.it is from a ninety year old lady that was flight shooting champ in my state in 1946.i would love for one of you guys to recreate it.Pearl,blackhawk.anyone interested?i can send you the bow for dimensions.

[Bryce]

I don't put much stock in "reality" shows a bow build in 2 days is very much doable. But with sinew, snakeskin, and a finish.  that's not possible.
But they're making tv for the yuppies that think living on a mountian side is adventurous and a crazy way of life.
But when your born and raised that way (like most of us on PA) then watching it isn't all that enjoyable, or interesting.

Responses to the show probably sounds like this;

Yuppies:"why is he chopping wood in the wind and snow!? That's nuts! He's gotta be freezing!"

CountryFolk:"gotta keep warm"

[JW_Halverson]

When he and his brother went out to release the "hawk" (peregrine falcon) I kinda sat there with my jaw hanging slack and agape.  Most falconers would dope slap an apprentice for using the wrong name for a bird, whether it was hawk, falcon, or sulphur crested cockatoo.  As a group, they are sticklers for details and look down their noses at folks with OCD as "disorganized".  Fact is, falcons are genetically closer to parrots than they are hawks, it's just dumbfounding that a falconer would screw up that badly.

Yeah, it's nitpicking. But no more so than us nitpicking the now famous 2 day sinew backed bow.  It just ain't so.  I just can't watch this stuff anymore, I feel what little intelligence I had is slipping away rapidly.

[WillS]

The problem is, these shows aren't meant to be intelligent.  Life doesn't have much drama, so if a show was REAL then nobody would watch.  A non-bowyer isn't going to be too happy when his Friday night tv dinner is ruined because a 40 minute show is 100% filled with a bloke making a bow over a period of 2 months.  It's not tv.

Now, one could argue "don't show the fake stuff then" but lets face it... How many prime time shows out there even mention Osage bows, sinew backing, snake skin etc? If that adapted scene got one new person into making bows, or discovering falconry, then it's hard to say it's a bad thing.

We're all the same - everybody has passions about something, and if that subject appears on tv it's never shown properly because the rest of the public who don't give a hoot won't be interested in the details and will switch over.  It's a nightmare being a professional musician because I can't watch shows like the voice or x factor etc as I know how insane the format is, but I love how many younger kids are learning to sing or play an instrument based off the shows.  The moment they actually try it, the shows begin to look fake to them, they move away from the screen and learn properly.

Somebody watching mountain men might think bow making looks awesome, primitive, creative and so on, grab some wood, make some mistakes, research, learn, make more mistakes and so on until 10 years later people are asking him for advice on a Perry reflex because they saw a commercial for beer that was set in a forest where guys were shooting cans with hand made bows or something.... I dunno.

Point is, be glad TV went to the trouble to feature a hand made bow, instead of a shop bought recurve, and don't worry about details.  Entertainment TV isn't there for learning, it's an introduction.

[4dog]

Sucked all the fun outta that thread didjnt ya.     but yup.

[Eric Krewson]

I disagree, I a lie is a lie no matter who tells it and under which conditions. Putting out misinformation is telling a lie.

Of course there are allowable lies, like like answering the question "honey, does this dress make me look fat", but that is about it in my opinion.

[huisme]

+1 WillS

I didn't become a bowyer because I watched a guy spend a week making a bow properly, I did it because some reality tv magic produced one from a 2x4 in an episode of whatever show I can't remember the name of. I broke three bows before discovering ceder isn't the best bow wood, and two more before I discovered you should have a clean back. Three one-month lasting bows later, I discovered bowyers who would give me advice, and my first (seriously underweight) properly tillered BL bow from a stave I gut myself was born. Now people want to buy my bows, but I just want to experiment with new designs and woods.

'Reality' tv doesn't make the claim that everything they do is realistic, or especially that what they do should be attempted. We don't think Bear Grills runs just as authentic a survival show/situation as Les Stroud, do we?

[Ed Brooks]

Here's a seen from a show that has bugged me from the 1st time I seen it. Dual Survival ( I like the show) this is set in Washington State. 1st off we don't have many turkeys, very few turkeys on the wet side of the Mt.s.
 Dave kills a Turkey with a bow, if you watch the video at about 40 seconds. Dave runs after the bird, it looks to me as the turkey hits the end of its leash and bounces back at him. Or was it just me reading too much into it. Anyway hope you enjoy it. Ed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gjM1x5G-K0

[Bryce]

Ed that guy 'Dave' is a known liar. And I would not be surprised if he and the producers cooked that scene up.
But you are right, we have dang near 0 turkeys this side of the cascades. The only ones Ive seen are either in the store or are being raised for slaughter.

[Joec123able]

Ed that guy 'Dave' is a known liar. And I would not be surprised if he and the producers cooked that scene up.
But you are right, we have dang near 0 turkeys this side of the cascades. The only ones Ive seen are either in the store or are being raised for slaughter.

Dave canterbury ? "a known liar " hahahahahahahahHahahahahah