TOM'S TOP MOMENTS OF 2022 | Mountain Men

trapping season is on here in the wild Northern Rockies all right Sean hey there mister and for the first time in over a year Tom Orr is not taking on the mountains alone we're just gathered up enough equipment to get this trap line organized for safety partner Sean McAfee's 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 do hope these packs can hold yeah we've 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 Tom's return to the Trap line is putting him to the test well it's a little different with no snow on it doesn't it his most reliable Beaver trapping ground sit just over the hill it's a humpback in here on foot isn't it mister yeah but as a treacherous climb he hasn't made on foot in decades normally we've got two 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 and this year we're a foot and we're getting older too so it makes it harder 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 y'all man and even though Tom can still make the climb he's about there aren't we we're getting closer it can be extra disappointing if the effort doesn't pay off let's just move our way down there there's got to be a beaver in here somewhere all right these piles stretch for several miles north of 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 well here's some Bieber saying right here oh yeah that's fresh too that's good and fresh that's encouraging yeah oh my God Sean here's the dam look at that ah yeah I bet that's been here a while there's the lodge on the island on the end of the island out there you see it over there I wonder how deep that is probably a good place to set a trap if you can make it out there it's uh but don't don't go in over your waders that water is 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 and go up over your head and next thing you know your waders are filling up well you get in there deep buddy where's the canoe when you need it yeah really I think we're gonna make it oh yeah oh look at this little spot it's a 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 a feed bed right here even though it's a slide I can just put a nice Caster Mound there anyway eh yeah okay placing the pungent Caster 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 going to catch him by the right rear foot but I'm just hoping I'm going to catch 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 [Music] all in all Tom and Sean have opened up six miles of trap line today which they hope will start producing fast we got a bit of a hump back 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 Snows come to lend a hand we 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 that's good all in a day in the far north if there's one thing that yours can count on after four decades in the mountains it's knowing that when the Snows come they almost always hit the yak Valley harder than anywhere else it's like a blizzard out there all right and more wood Tom's sitting out the storm but the work of a Trapper never ends Sean's arrived to run the line and bring in their catch before it's buried too deep hey hi guys hey good morning I brought a visitor today you guys remember hey good Hank good how are you okay hi Hank yeah this little guy had this day off so I figured we put him to work or something nine-year-old Hanks inherited a budding interest in hunting and trapping from his dad you want to put together a weasel box for catching a weasel in heck yeah [Music] the cedar box tricks the weasels by mimicking a burrow where its prey typically hides [Music] we need a trap to go in it yeah lots of traps in here it's super cool what traps do we need this is what we need to think once the Trap is laid inside the box now let's go see if it'll work then set in place among rocks or Fallen Timbers waiting for its quarry what are you doing we're gonna put a nail through here to hang your bait on it's really neat to have somebody young like that that is interested I mean most kids you know they're doing there whatever they called telephones or whatever you know most kids don't even know what trapping is and you can write your name on the box here and your address and it'll be years wouldn't that be neat to come back to this little trap and you got a great big old Wolverine in there that'd be cool you could see the excitement in him you know I mean he was he had his own box now with his own trap in it he's ready to go set this chat see if we catch a weasel hey come on to be successful at trapping that's a learning process you just look gone it's just set traps anyways here's an old set of weasel tracks and here's where he's front foot hitting here where his back foot hit and here's where he's two feet right there is good yep I think so those tracks like right where we set it so we're gonna catch a weasel here buddy all right see it'll just be cool to catch something well should we slip back out of here yeah it's just at that age you know we're trapping even a weasel or an urban you know would be a a big thing for that boy remember throughout somebody's life I think that'll work yeah we're betting on it aren't we yep [Music] snow-capped corner of the Montana wilderness Master Craftsman Tom Orr is busy in his Workshop this is a real strong bow and it needs to be taken down and wait it's so powerful that you can't even pull it today's task is a simple one but requires expert precision just like the thousands of projects he's carefully shaped by hand over his 40 plus years in the mountains foreign we want to do it very slowly yet while the work is familiar the past few weeks on the or Homestead have been anything but Tom normally does this but so he doesn't get out and do this I just recently our life has taken a little change it all started with one night he sat up on the edge of the bed and I woke up and said what's going on and he said I can't catch my breath I said do you want to go get this check out of your doctor and he said yeah and I really got nervous so they go in and they do some tests well what it was was his heart wasn't pumping the fluids out enough that they were settling in his lungs so he's got to take it a little easy so I'm filling in doing some of the stuff otherwise he'll get out here and do it and make me a nervous wreck this season has been completely different from ever gone through before it's coming down got to be like 40 pounds by now although I've never had any health problems I've always been very healthy all my life I have the doctor tell you to slow down you know to not do all the things that you normally do is kind of a bummer you know to hear that you know it looks pretty good he's never had to give up things he just does what he does crafting is good if he's working on a little project there at the table that's about as slow as you're going to get that man to move in the daytime now that you're doing the firewood I guess I'm gonna have to start doing the dishes that'll be the shake we've got to leave by two to go to town the checkup all right okay okay forward ever yep since it's midnight scare Tom's been on medication to strengthen his heart today he's due back in town for a series of tests that'll hopefully shed light on what's causing the problem I still got that one Bobcat set up there and then I need to go check and you all right yep okay but first he's got a snap his last two active traps before Bobcat season closes at sundown the doctor told him you can go about your normal routine without big strenuous stuff or if it's flashing red press it press both buttons I have no idea what just happened to gather more data on his condition Tom's wearing a heart rate monitor 24 7. he's got this vest on for his heart and this is a monitor when it beeps like that and the red light's going on you're supposed to press that light unless you're unconscious there's actually a defibrillator his heart should quit this shocks it back into Rhythm and this monitor thing records all this information that is related to the cardiologist so that they can tell what his heart has been doing they were concerned with us living way out here so far from any help if his heart would quit what happens then but it said shock delayed but was I don't know but that's what we're going to town for today to check on all this that's what we're shooting at now is just to find out what's happening because I mean we don't know go pull your last sets and don't fall over I think I'll be back okay you better we're counting on it all right at the age of 78 legendary Mountain Man Tom Orr is still as tough as they come expert at adapting to any obstacle Mother Nature throws his way all right we're gonna go pull some traps but now he's facing one of the hardest challenges of his life learning to slow down the last couple weeks this has kind of been a an eye opener I guess you could call it I woke up in the middle of the night apparently my heart wasn't pumping strong enough it was kind of scary really that you couldn't get enough air into your lungs and I didn't know how much more I could tolerate without passing out you know I haven't been running my snowmobile and this was one of the problems the doctors were worried about me getting this snowmobile stuck and having to dig it out of the snow so it says of this heart thing the doctor told me that I shouldn't be going as hard as what I was going and they were worried that I'd have a heart attack or a broke or something despite the dangers it's the last day of bobcat season and Tom's determined to check his traps one last time Bobcats are really attracted to Cliffs and rocks and stuff like that but getting to the sets won't be easy well the train is really quite rough and quite Steep and the medicine and heart monitor he's wearing are stop Gap treatments until the doctors can determine a diagnosis this new medicine my favorite got me out supposedly it's gonna improve my heart so it starts working better another step or two and you'll be able to see the Box Nancy I'm supposed to make a trip into town to see the doctor about this we're gonna find out if my heart is improving if it is how lucky I am or if it's not how unlucky I am I don't know hopefully there's no surgery involved all right never caught a bobcat so I'm just going to pull this set I trap because I love traffic I'm not really worried about never been able to trap again no matter what happens I'm gonna go on with this you know [Music] and I'm just going to leave the box here until next year and I'll come back and rebate it and put traps in it again next year we're all gonna die sometime yeah you know something might as well try to enjoy what you got left of it [Music] at 79 years old Montana Legend Tom Orr is taking it easier these days after a recent Health scare at least it's pretty warm today yeah supposed to be nice today and tomorrow but slowing down isn't Tom's Style yeah at least it's warm enough so we don't have to worry about ice forming over our traps and today even though doctors are still closely monitoring his heart he's back on the mountain there's always somebody that wants to get rid of them damn beavers they're flooding my basement they're eating my fruit trees Tom and Sean are answering the call of a local Homesteader whose Pond has been overrun by beaver looks like Beaver Country Mister yeah it looks like you're dead here their mission is to cut down the beaver population for their trouble they get to keep what they catch yeah well this looks good yeah this is nice looking he wasn't lying they're here aren't they yeah let's check up here I think I hear a dam up here these beavers in order to live through the winter they have to have deep water that won't freeze I mean if it freezes all the way to the bottom they can't get out of their dams they want to get to their Foods so that's why beavers create dams all right let's get our waders later up first so the Monitor and everything good as long as we don't get her wet or whatever yeah well as long as they don't fall in like and if it if it beeps on us or something there's you got there's a couple little buttons you got to push the buttons so it doesn't shock air or whatever yeah okay yeah I still wear a heart monitor 24 hours a day I mean I can take it off the shower for half an hour in the evening otherwise I have to wear it all the time if my heart stops yeah if my heart stops well then it shocks me okay just want to know what the the procedures are there it scares me to think of what might happen if I tumbled into the water with all this on so I try to be real careful but I I'm not going to just sit around you know what's the plan here Mister well grab some of these screens here we'll we're going to take them out and set them across the front part of this Dam okay and to block it off and then we're going to make entrances where the kind of bears are going to sit into them all right you got it fencing off access along the length of the dam funnels the beaver into one Corridor where they'll lay a trap all right go set a travel trap [Music] foreign traps all ready to fire there yeah tear some of that stuff out right in front of that right in front of the Trap knowing on the dam okay so the water runs over the dam just tear them sticks and stuff out of there so now the water level in the pond is going to start going down and those levers they probably will hear that water rush it over their Dam and they're going to come to repair it and when they come to repair it the only way they can get to it is to swim right through these two easy swimming through channels to get to it hopefully that's that's what will catch the Beavers that's what trapping is is trickery well hold on a second oh Tom's pushing his limits to Portage around a fallen spruce I'm sure my doctor probably wouldn't elect to see me Dragon the canoe up but there's some things that guys just gotta do well he's wired to a monitor that will jump start his heart if it stops he's not sure of his limits snow helps her slide huh yeah it does piece of cake Tom we did it hold it right there and I'll see if I can get back in you know and I had Sean there help me he did more than I did as far as it goes for pushing and pulling nope all right I I made it all right we got a path worn out anyhow right all good you ready yep the south side of the pond doesn't have a dam but there's still plenty of sign of activity there's a nice crossover right here that's the spot there isn't it should we do it sure you wanna go get some rock pick up some rocks yeah I am putting some weight I'm just using Rock here in this ground bag we're gonna do a foothold set on the bank there where Beaver climbs up to smell a little scent pile but this drown bag here they run out the wire and this is what keeps them from getting eaten up by the Eagles and whatnot all right guys this is the trick this is a scent Mound or a Caster Mound that's called this is scent that comes from a beaver and we're gonna put that right there on that little Mound and what he'll want to do he'll want to climb up on top of this pile and deposit some of his own scent on top of this to say this is my pod and when he does that he should get caught in the Trap and fear makes him head for the deep water to get away from whatever it's got a hold on him and he'll slide down that cable out in the deep water and and less than four minutes he should be drowned with all their sets in play the only thing to do now is wait all right should we work on back to the truck sure let's kind of head on back down that way all right yesterday they laid a gauntlet of traps designed to rid this Pond of nuisance Beaver that's what satisfies me is to go to check them traps and find out just how good you are at this hey we got one hey all right man almost like you know what you're doing Tom uh-huh youngster yep just a young man that means there's more in here sure let's pull that even a juvenile Beaver is valuable capable of hauling in nearly eight hundred dollars once Tom transforms every last usable part into a sellable craft cool dump this one at the pickup and yeah and get the canoe and we'll go check the other one thank you it looks like we got one hey yep yeah whoa he's a big one too yeah look at that sucker let me see a vacuum little front leg huh yep good front leg catch dang it's a big one two Beaver is a good haul but it's just a start the traps will all be reset for round two don't capsize the boat with that big old bugger here yes sir we got him it was well worth it and it'll be a place that we'll be able to go back to every year a little more fur that we get the more stuff we have to sell Joe ought to be happy yeah man he's got something out of here the first time did Tom come down here and trap some beavers and look what you did yeah drop some beavers good work man do believe that's a wrap let's go home and do some skinning you gotta [Music] in the remote Yak Valley here we are Tom Orr is making his final push of the season and he's relying on family to get the job done hey hey are you ready for this yeah I'm ready all right well let's get it ever since Jack moved to the yak three years ago just a few more Strokes on this thing all right we'll be ready to go he's been a big help oh hell that's straight yeah and with the Trading Post just about to reopen all right they've got some last minute work to do Jack and I plan on making a couple Rawhide covered primitive drums out of a hollow tree that we cleaned out the center of it foreign here's our rawhide lots of the Native Americans the drum was the thing that that called the people together was probably one of the first instruments ever made the design is simple but the work is intricate because each piece of the drum set is handcrafted all right so I brought a couple muskrat skins I thought I'd trim out some muskrat skins and glue them to the top of this yeah I think that sounds good if you put a strip of fur around the top of the drum and then cover over the fur with the Rawhide that gives the drum a little better sound Tom's already trapped skinned and tanned the Muskrat skins ready for the Rawhide shall we spread it out on the table here yeah we soak the Rawhide and water overnight to make it soft and flexible the Rawhide comes from an early winter deer hunt it too has been tanned and now it's cut into thin strips to be woven and sewn like thread I'm gonna put a rawhide handle inside this drum to hold it back I'm going to drill two holes on this side and then I'm going to stretch a piece of Rawhide a back and forth across here so it'll be a hand grip to hold the drum when you beat it I left Grandpa's drill at home so we're gonna have to go to modern technology here foreign the Rawhide is Twisted into tight cords while it's wet and pliable this will be the hand grip that you hold it by this Rawhide is still wet though so it it'll shrink and get stiff it'll be hard to be a bunches here I'm checking for score Marks here which would make weak spots you can't have a hole in the middle of your drum you know it's it's got to be one solid piece stretched very tightly over the wooden part of the drum the drum head is the Showcase of the build shrinking of the Hide after it's put on the drum heads is what makes the sound of the drum the bigger drum we'll have Rawhide on the top and the bottom the hand drum will only have Rawhide on one side of it and we need to punch holes to lace the Rawhide on with each piece of Rawhide is cut large enough to overlap the rim of the wood frame where it'll be tightly secured with the threads isn't it huh you're getting it heck yeah to do things together to help out one another you know it's always a good thing we'll be done with this in a minute or 20 years is the god I gotta lace this all the way around here and that's that'll start pulling this all up together hopefully each piece of the drum is made from durable natural materials and painstakingly assembled as the hide dries it shrinks and that makes the cover super super tight the set of drums look simple but they are so intricately crafted that Tom and Jack should be able to sell the set for around 500 at the Trading Post I think that was the last hole thank God huh yeah okay I have one more night here Hey Thomas that's that's looking pretty good all right we're about to put the Rawhide cover and the big drum here I just gotta lace it on through all these little holes the larger drum has Rawhide on two faces which will produce a deeper sound they're stitched together using Rawhide thread that will tighten as it dries all right I think that's a good drum but it looks good to me all right should we get the paint yep I'm pretty dry yep and now it's time for the finishing touches uh we're gonna paint some images on these drums we get after so Earth paints they just come from the ground like uh the black that I'm using this all it is is a piece of charcoal that's been granulized and we're mixing it with hide glue to make it stick in the past most all glues were made from from hides of course I have lots of hide scraps and scrapings and stuff so I make my own glue to mix with the Earth paints to get them to stick to the subjects that I I paint I'm painting a buffalo this is a image of a of a black bear it was from a picture that I seen in a book the natural paints Tom uses are long lasting his recipe is the same as what's found in ancient cave paintings and rock art that's thousands of years old yeah I think the Lord thank you I think you got it it's looking good Jay I think it's fine if you let them drying we got to make drumsticks yeah but we're not done yet [Laughter] with spring in the air on the or Homestead my brother and I are gonna run south here about 50 miles and go Turkey Hill life's getting back to normal just in time for the last big hunting season of the year I feel healthy healthy enough to shoot a damn turkey anyhow if it's flashing red press it press both buttons for the past two months Tom's been on doctor's orders to take it easy and wired to a heart monitor 24 7. he's got this vest on for his heart and this is a monitor there's actually a defibrillator if his heart should quit this shocks it back into rhythm but now he's finally free Tom went in and had an echogram on his heart and the numbers of his heart strength are up so off with the vest and on with life and he is getting better I think she's ready to go it was real neat to get rid of that life vest that I wore because now that it's gone I can do my own thing hey how are you buddy oh okay looks like a nice day for it any day is a nice day for the young man after my own heart all right I got the necessity I bet you're glad to get rid of us I think it's going to be a great time you guys going all right baby we'll be back with the turkey you guys have fun get that cornbread dressing ready all right safe out there love you [Music] done what I wanted to do most all of my life I had a job one time back in the 60s ever since I've created my own lifestyle I've been lucky real lucky let's go shoot a turkey [Music] wild turkeys typically live in hardwood forests where they feed on nuts seeds and insects they're big birds there's lots of meat on them I think Tom goes easily 25 pounds a big one the best way to locate The elusive Birds is to listen sit down on this log let's call it good idea it's a custom call a friend of mine made for me yeah it's really neat for that by cranking on the lid of it it makes the imitation of a of a hand turkey looking for a mate usually the best time to use it is in the spring like this yeah [Music] hahaha well that's good I mean every time we've collect this collie's answered yeah yeah Tom and Jack have located their prey maybe we need to find a spot where can set up the blind we need to get set up before he knows we're here and they can't smell you but they can spot you way better than you can spot them but to get them close enough to shoot they'll need to set a trap I'm just looking for two trees that are about six or eight feet apart they set the decoys up in here maybe put our blend right in there this decoy here is a young male and this one here is an adult female it should get the the boys all rattled got this old raincoat we could use for a little bit of cover this is a an old boy scout Slicker oh it's a Cub Scout for a day and quit them they were too soft we just opened the whole thing up into a rectangular so now all that is is just a shield that both my brother and I can sit side by side here's a face mask while turkeys don't have a great sense of smell they are notoriously skittish and will spot anything out of the ordinary way to cover our our bright faces they can't see us Cocker guns and make any moves we have to do to get ready to shoot my account is a single barrel Ivory Johnson probably as old as what I am and John my brother was using this twice as old the gun was made about a hundred years before I was born by a guy that was the designated gun maker to Queen Victoria I don't like guns that are made after I was born you're ready yeah I'm ready [Music] they're just not answering up sometimes it just takes time you gotta have patience foreign you've been sitting there behind this blind for hours and hours you wanted to finally pay off you know [Music] finally the flock is in sight you have a Motorola call but they need to move within 50 yards to ensure a clean kill they're still way out there they're all kind of hung up right here I met a dirt pile foreign you guys a bunch of them went behind the mount them turkeys all went kind of behind it and they go out of sight they're coming closer I think we should shoot oh maybe we better take them ready ready I got two of them doesn't look like we're gonna have to chase them either it took a long time to get a damn turkey yeah the object was for both of us to get one we had to wait until there was enough of them there to where we could both get a shot it was the bird congratulations yeah same to you bud what Beauty look how pretty what a nice Bird yeah bunch of meat there in there the bird weighs in at about 20 pounds let's check this one out there are big birds there's lots of meat on them and the second is even larger enough for a good family feast all right this is like Thanksgiving we've got turkey wings we get feathers for floods and arrows and we got Wing Bones we can make them wing bone turkey calls yeah and we can eat them sounds good to me now All That Remains is a long hike back to the truck they got a little white to them too huh yeah I guess we should have shot little air once maybe we should have just heard it over to the truck and then shot deep in the heart of North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains Another Mountain Man is forging ahead I appreciate y'all coming up to help out it's a big task because Eustis Conway has a new plan for his future my dream is to teach people about the traditional Mountain ways survival skills and homesteading skills Back To Nature just sort of traditional lure of all early people after teaching his neighbors Harrison and Ashley had a homestead from scratch last winter but you're spreading your feet out I'm not determined than ever to share his knowledge this whole Camp is part of my legacy and I've got the vision Freedom Camp is on the way and he's called on some old friends to help I know if Dad was here he'd be excited about doing this stuff and I I am too Travis and Joseph are the eldest sons of eustace's late business partner Preston Roberts wow who dedicated many years of his life helping Eustis realize his dream check it out we're like a business of turning Turtle Island into a self-sustaining preserve where like-minded people can come to work hard and live free your dad really wanted everybody to come and learn these traditional ways that's one of his really biggest deepest Inspirations and just education yeah but after years of setbacks there's still a lot of work to be done before Eustis can welcome guests to Freedom Camp the road getting in here to Turtle Island is rough like it's kind of an understatement yeah it was pretty sketchy getting in here today the main obstacle on the road is a dangerous stretch that narrows to just under seven feet overhanging a steep drop off heck I get stuck on that road sometimes myself and the solution is to call in the big guns there she is that looks like a serious piece of equipment [Music] biggest shovel I've ever had it's a nice one I'll just jump in the seat and Crank It Up see if it'll start up just turn that key yeah that's how we like it yeah traveling at a slow crawl it'll take Travis close to an hour to Pilot the track hoe to the work site have fun while he inches up the mountain Eustis and Joseph's mission is to survey the road and create a plan of attack foreign this thing is like dangerous on steroids here yeah man the first step to widening the road is to drop a giant beech tree it's about to pop man that's intense made a mess that's what you got to do to build a road you got to make a mess yeah well it's down and nobody's hurt that's the main thing luckily the tree didn't slide too far down the hill which means they can salvage the valuable Timber yeah we gotta figure out how to work this thing up let's go 16-8 we'll make a cut once the tree limbs are bucked they'll cut the trunk into more manageable 16 foot sections there's Travis then use the track hoe which has finally arrived to carry the weight what we do is we pull it up and then we just cut a section off at a time it was just sort of like dissecting like cutting up a block of cheese [Music] this is a big block of cheese [Music] hold on ready yeah here we go whoa whoa whoa coming down all right now go going up ah now we're talking now who wants to ride on this side to keep it balanced three thousand pounds there but all right stay back boy come on boy these logs weigh thousands of pounds and if one of them falls on you you're gonna be dead there's just no two ways about it nice yep back on Turtle Island Mountain Man ingenuity Eustace is flexing his mechanical muscle to build the access road that's been a dream but never a reality for years we got the trees out of here now we got to get the stumps out we got to cut this big hump off so that we can widen the road and straighten it out a little bit oh yeah that's what we want it's like we're taking a problem the bank on one side and we're moving it and building up the bank on the other side the road which sits Atop A Dangerous 70-foot drop-off is too narrow for safe Passage so they're tearing out the protruding bag that's pinching it off and Shifting the dirt to the Cliffside Edge I'm just moving this dirt and trying to stack it up we're trying to raise the level of the Road by two or three feet you know we're trying to bring it up so that the water will flow properly and get the ditches cut and the Dozer is pretty good at that raising the road will help prevent erosion and washouts but Eustace is taking an additional step to defend against powerful Mountain storms you see the ditch all the way down through here this is where the water is going to end up running and it has to keep going downhill until it hits a culvert it's all about the water really the Culvert is an underground water system that allows the drainage coming down the mountain to go under the road instead of get on top of it you want the top of the road to be high high and dry ditch will Channel runoff into a pipe that'll be laid beneath the road to drain water down the Cliffside that's it right there two tons of rock and dirt will hold the pipeline in place and will get sturdier over time as it's compressed by the pressure from above yeah I'm just gonna smooth it out pretty soon here I'll be able to drive over the thing it's kind of exciting I look forward to the maiden voyage yeah that's what I'm talking about yes sir this road is what we need now it's nice and wide I've got over 18 foot right here where it used to be too narrow to get through now we just need to smooth all that up heck yeah being able to pass on my legacy is really important to me now that we have this better access we're a real big step closer to Freedom Camp I'm glad you guys came up here and helped me make this happen it's looking good isn't it I just see campers coming in right now lined up Preston would be smiling big time right now I believe he's here with us today I think one of the things of making the happiest is seeing the boys work on it you know it's really wonderful for me and I think Joseph feels this way too to get up here and work on something that Dad was passionate about that's really great it's got a stone print on it this road is singing like a band of angels I just love it I just feel like Preston is so happy that we got it done too you know it's just a dream that we had together and he's not with us to celebrate it but his boys are Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains Freedom Camp Circle right here Eustis Conway is getting closer to realizing his dream we need a place where we can have people Circle up and gather together where we can have classes and teach about freedom and these old traditional ways [Music] but if he's going to turn Turtle Island into a place where people can gather and learn still got a lot of work to do these are the logs that we'll make our friendship Circle bench out of lit it right down the middle [Music] and he's enlisted his neighbor Harrison cribb to help him with his latest project you see how this has that bend in it we can turn that bend to match the shape of the circles having these curves will make that circle look really nice yeah let's fire up the mill let's do it [Music] Eustis will construct six eight foot bench tops using his own Prime Poplar Lumber a little bit just a little bit is all we need grade a hardwood that could be sold for 500 a log which is why he wants to get as many slabs as he can from each one every log we're just going to try to saw in half so that we actually get two good bench surfaces out of each one so that's where I want my saw cut to try to accentuate the circle here we go while Eustis operates the five foot steel blade Harrison stands ready to offload the finished product Eustis gave me a holler that I needed some help with the Friendship Circle and you had to step in and help him because he's helped us out tremendously it's our last board right there Harrison hard to believe last year Harrison and his girlfriend Ashley helped use this operate his sawmill in exchange for advice and wisdom about how to survive their first winter off grid we've got a full flow here you see how much water is coming out oh yeah eustace's idea for Freedom Camp I truly believe that and I want to be there to help spread the message here at Turtle Island we got water here [Music] three yeah nice bench top huh yeah that's awesome this is a serious heavy custom-made board this isn't something you just go pick up at the hardware store [Music] yeah nice [Music] that's the last one we've got them all sold out great love it the dream is build it and they will come just need to clear some of this out so I can see it better the goal is to create Circle seating for an outdoor classroom with a campfire as the centerpiece we need a place where we can have people Circle up and gather together where we can see each other face to face have classes and recognize the unity of all of us in that Circle really nice having your help this is awesome the next step is to put some rocks down to support the benches so we can get them up in the air so they'll circulate and won't rot as fast I like that big flat surface yeah this is the Target right here one two three yeah we need another one of these rocks at every Union where the logs are going to come together right we have to make sure that each rock is completely stable it has a flat surface up and spaced out just right so that we can put our wooden benches right on top of the flat surface with a foundation in place Eustis and Harrison can start assembling the bench top slabs yeah that's right that's right I said one two three that's good I love the way it curves like that you know like yeah it's just making the circle already once the logs are stacked in place they're cut like puzzle pieces to create a custom fit once you make a cut you can't add the wood back on so it's real important to make your Cuts accurately and we want to cut a little here and a little there so that when we finish it actually fits together [Music] all right let's cut this next here if you'll get right there and take the weight off then I'll pull this chunk out one two three oh yeah that's looking right yeah let's do the same thing over here one two three yeah our lines our angles are looking good aren't they yeah I sure are that's it one two three oh yeah that's looking good the final step is to lock the entire circle together with Corner braces last screw here oh yeah all right what do you say good job how about that awesome now that we have all the benches completely in place and done we need to pick the dead center spot for the fire pit so that right there is our Center that's going to allow people to have a nice place to sit and stay warm and brighten people's life for years and years to come let's start building that thing it's a big day on Turtle Island useless you got trees growing in your Greenhouse where Eustis finally has everything he needs to complete a big project literally it's been 17 some years since I started the foundation of this greenhouse that gives you an idea how hard it is to find a big pile and we're talking 350 square feet of glass to cover this thing but before the glass can be installed they'll have to reclaim and refurbish the site when I built it there were none of these trees around here they just all grew up over the years that's one thing about nature it doesn't wait for anybody but this is the perfect spot that I chose for the greenhouse the winter sun just tracks right across there yeah basically I've sort of dug back into the bank and the Earth on the bank will heat the back of the greenhouse and the sun will heat the front of the greenhouse are you coming down oh oh basically we're gonna build a wooden frame at an angle all the way across here coming up to a ridge all the way down the ground supported by these primary support places and just deck it with glass but the double pane glass weighs 700 pounds and this Foundation has seen better days unfortunately the masonry is kind of jacked up we just have to do a lot of repair basically right on top of the Mason we had put some bolted down Framing and it's just a little bit too deteriorated to work with so we're going to take all of the old wood off and just come back with all new Lumber we need to get all the old loose stucco off and any dirt and leaves and get it ready for the new stucco to stick on there bam that's it the places that were broken were some of the most important places to not be broken a Corners Corners take more abuse and so we were having to make sure we do a really good job well Joseph that corner is a little funky but I believe it's solid yeah growing food really is the foundation for Freedom just like this masonry work is the foundation for our Greenhouse it's an amazing machine right here 100 plus years old you know it really makes me happy to see this thing working like it is to be as old as it is I figure it's better to invest one time in buying a sawmill and learn how to run it and then you don't have to keep buying and buying and buying and buying and buying boards forever and just buy one saw mill and make all the boards you want for the rest of your life the giant steel saw blade makes quick work of the job that's what I'm talking about now that's a ridge being right there I think that's heavy duty enough what do you think that board right there would cost it'd be in the hundreds for surgeons yeah and that's why I think Freedom you know being able to get your own make it yourself make it yourself have the the knowledge the skills the freedom to go out and get it that's that's real Freedom that's empowerment that's a freedom board right there boys all right let's go use it yeah that's good right there Travis with Timber freshly milled and the glass he's been waiting for let's just grab our tool belts and start framing let's get to build this thing Eustis is ready to turn a long delayed dream into a reality [Music] once the framing is up All That Remains is the moment they've been waiting for let's just see if we can put that first big heavy piece here and we have designed it is for it to overhang this way several inches of break on Center there yeah that's perfect I love it glass on the greenhouse a long time waiting for this coming to fruition let's get another piece sounds good weather conditions in the Blue Ridge Mountains are known to turn on a dime and what started as a sunny morning is now a rain drenched afternoon what side you won't go to The Far Side all right glass is Slippery When Wet I've got it go ahead but Eustace has waited too long to finish this job to give up now all right half inch all right we're there the Roberts brothers are forging ahead carefully is it going to stay there yeah I'm not holding nothing just don't move it all right sweet I like that that looks good one more to go the Roberts brothers are making this happen we're just doing one frame piece after another and getting everything put together well you know it will have trays of plants started in here I believe it's time for that big guy that sound all right to y'all yeah I think we need to get that last one on there be really careful with this rain though yeah on three everybody ready one two three one two three one two three oh that was a little bit of a sudden wasn't it but we did it yeah this is the last piece guys I feel so good about this that looks good doesn't it yeah it already feels warm in here it does doesn't it and it's raining this is where we're going to grow some food and plant some seeds of Freedom let the people see how you can have personal empowerment security and the kind of insurance that you can't buy from an insurance company we've got the greenhouse done now we're ready to teach about growing plants but there's a few more things we need to get ready for Freedom Camp I think there always will be and we'll always be expanding and growing there's just always something else we can do to make it a little better and that's really what we want to do is just make it a little better all the time never stop improving people how to live off the land has been a lifelong passion for Eustace Conway almost Conway you say Joe good to see you and one of the most important Mountain Man skills is learning how to hunt watch a few guns let me see what you got I'm hoping to get some guns because I've got to have some to teach with you know I've got to have some for the campers and a shotgun or 22 to get some food all those things help people control their Destiny here's the sweet limb 22. yeah yeah I can teach the young people with that yes sir nice it's hardly a scratch on it you sure you want to let go something that nice I'm hoping to trade these guns on some Lumber to do some furniture work with stuff that uh can't buy anywhere else at any of the big stores or the lumber yards what else have you got here Joe I just think people should know how to hunt you know that's an ancient thing that goes back to the earliest Humanity if you know that you can get food it empowers you as an individual and a family and Community just allows you to live 30 out six to the scope oh yeah this is a classy if Eustis likes what he sees he'll take the gun in exchange for an equal value of lumber from his sawmill you're like I mean you can see it I could use this but the scope is a little fog yeah it's been around a while yeah but it has these will be great training tools these look like exactly what I want to work with now we just need to get you some Lumber to get you what you want if you want some High character and you want Live Edge I'm thinking right here with all these knots like all these swales which I want some special wood something that's just different than anything you can buy at any lumber yard he wants High character Live Edge interesting art opportunity you might call it put that on the mill and custom saw it like right now it's just a log form right but I guarantee you by the time you get all these big knots sticking out that you'll have character there I can't just saw this myself you'd have to help out but if we saw this you'll be able to see in it once we open up it's like open in a book you can read it you see the grain pattern and you can see the Live Edge that sounds like that bill will be kind of hard to beat at least we'll get to see it that way yeah he's game that hits you in gets some sawdust on him a little man glitter here and so I hope he's happy with this Lumber feels like it's my opportunity to get the gun there is a lot of little parts to this Eustis is getting a helping hand to turn out the lumber he needs to seal a deal so you'll be right here as a board comes out Joe's job is to offload the boards as they're cut just peel it off but that's not as simple as it sounds you might pull one off and let it sit here and pull the next one to get two or three and then carry them and then run back okay and if there's one rule to remember when running the 100 year old sawmill it's the steer clear of the five foot blade it'll cut your head off he'll cut you in half he'll cut your arm off it's totally unforgiving it doesn't love you it doesn't love your mama has no conscience no I just give him a crash course and say Joe it's dangerous interact your own risk and let's go do it any questions about all of them when we're getting started yeah they've selected this furniture grade log for its unusual and distinctive shape thank you the First Slice trims the bark but deeper Cuts reveal the character and quality inside the heart of the wood wow that is beautiful buddy yeah some serious character you got some real shape to it oh man look at that there's a lot of art to be created with us sir well you've got yourself trained you're happy I'm happy I'm very happy yeah I love having these guns they're really going to empower me to empower the people to learn how to use these tools I'm tickled to death with it that's some beautiful stuff that's awesome I'm glad we could hook you up with just the right thing well let's go get those guns all right buddy let's go Square this thing up yeah [Music] Eustace is taking aim yeah whoo oh okay that feels right he's now the proud owner of six new firearms not too shabby let's make a heck of a deer rifle right here five of the guns are in perfect working order so far five or so but he can't be sure about the Remington until he makes an upgrade to give the rifle a fair chance I need to put a better scope on it just to see how it hits a small price to pay for What's otherwise been a favorable deal I think you could fit on here there's a whole lot better foreign times more clear to put the rifle to the test he first sights in the scope okay let's see how this goes every time you put a new scope on you have to adjust it to get it zeroed in so you have to take a few shots see where it's hitting and adjust the windage and adjust the elevation there the windage and elevation knobs adjust the reticle and help Shooters line their target up perfectly in the crosshairs looks like it's just a little down to the right that's very surprisingly close we've got left and right looking good just need to raise it up a couple [Music] let's go see what that is yeah I think that might work right in the Bulls nice to have one zeroed in nicely now that we've got the guns sort of checked out we need to work on building the shooting range so that Freedom Camp can have a good place and a known place like meet you at the shooting range I need some steel targets that'll make a good planking noise kids will love it when it comes flying around I'm not even gonna wait I'm just going to build one right now untouched hollers deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains hold a bounty of Nature's finest Timber bring the saw we'll go cut it down all right including a rare species that Eustis Conway doesn't often Harvest that's brand new in there oh yeah but today Ian Harrison are cutting down a black locust for a special project that requires high density wood [Music] [Music] [Applause] man what a big fall you could feel the weight the Earth shook from the weight of this dense tree it's like a big long Rock hitting the ground well it fell right where we wanted look at that yeah nice Cut thank you Eustis needs the tree to rebuild one of the most important facilities on Turtle Island the blacksmith's forage before I hit you hit over the years these were light on it to craft everything he needs to be self-sufficient feel that good rushing sound that's what you want but with his 20 year old forge wearing thin this has taken longer than I wish it would you setting out to build a new and improved one using the strong dense Locust wood for the framework the black Locus is a tree that's just like perfect for this Condition it's rot resistant it is harder to catch on fire and it's good it's just going to last and last and last you know it's like the Energizer Bunny of woods is the heaviest wood in the forest everything else is like light and fluffy compared to this clocking in at a massive two tons the log isn't going to be easy to move grab that rope and thread it through that pulley if you will okay yeah we'll get this show on the road here so we're going to use a system of putting a pulley up high if you put it up high on a Hillside and high on a tree then when you pull the rope and it tightens up into the pulley it'll lifts the tree up makes a world of difference there you go all right I think that's gonna work even with the leverage provided by the pulley muscle power won't be enough to lift the tree up the bank oh yeah well that's what horsepower is all about let's just wrap it twice around there all right and then come back here so I'm I think we're ready like basically you get up there you get to a position where I can see you you can see me we have a lot of obstruction against us so let's try to get it right okay [Music] foreign okay [Music] oh be careful oh yeah it's it's down in there but I think the angle is right if we break that Bond like if we dig it out and get it up then I think we start pulling again there's a good chance we can do this yeah there you go just dig that away one two three one two three one two three one two three one two three not happening about uh bringing that fulcrum over here muscle power alone can't lift the densest tree in the forest but by wedging smaller logs underneath one by one they might be able to get the leverage they need I see that okay let me get there we both get on that one two three one two three one two three one two three uh it's it's close enough I think the Rope would lift and pull it if you can go ahead and get in position I'm going to head down to the truck and we'll see if we can pull it and hopefully get it up out of that ground you all ready all right that's what we want oh yeah that's all technique with the Locust finally free it's broken down into smaller sections to prepare it for the mill [Music] 10 years right oh I feel real good about getting this Locus all loaded up but we still have a lot ahead of us I mean we've got to get this Locus to the mill so we've got to get this show on the road so we've heard some beer we're going to get some boards out of this location no matter how hard it is when you open the wood up and you get to look inside it's really interesting you can see the grain for the first time and this is some really nice locusts so we're kind of opening a book here and peeking into the pages you never know what it's going to be like what it's going to look like how good it's going to be how bad it's going to be is it going to be filled with ant cavities or is it going to be solid and this one's surprisingly and wonderfully just came out splendid that's some good stuff right there yeah that's nice once we get these sideboards cut out we'll build a box and we'll put the legs on it and we'll have basically a black locust box with legs cob on the inside have a good forage for Freedom Camp awesome [Music] start putting it together sure the goal is to teach students how to live off the land a lifestyle used to suspend decades building for himself Lucas is challenging to build man that lasts a long time one day longer than a rock all right so that's one side that's all we need for that side stand that up just like that yeah Okay so we've got all the sideboards on let's just turn it up and study it we'll figure out how we're going to make the bottom to this box okay the bottom is the load bearing part of the box that needs to be sturdy enough to hold a Cobb mixture as heavy as concrete Mark the outside of that pull that up underneath there there you go yeah that's perfect all right put him in beside it there we go let's see if we can put that last board in there all right that's like a perfect fit yeah that's nice sweet let's get some cob and get it done yeah let's get it done sand clay we're gonna do it

Channel: HISTORY

Views: 1,406,515

Keywords: history, history channel, history shows, history channel shows, the history channel, documentary history channel, history documentary, documentary, history channel full episodes, documentaries, history channel documentaries, TOM'S TOP MOMENTS OF 2022, best of, compilation, top moments, mountain men compilation, 2022, mountain men, wilderness, wilderness survival, survival, remote living, wildlife, homesteads, mountain life, wild animals, wilderness shows, survival shows, season 11, 11

Id: lIy07DEoYfc

Length: 84min 47sec (5087 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 23 2022