Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Tom on the show Mountain Men

My wife and I watch this quite often.. I real some of this is silly, but Tom seemed pretty honest.. She heard that Tom had passed away.. Or another report has him moving to Florida.. Anyone up on this??

https://www.distractify.com/p/what-happened-to-tom-oar-mountain-men

The article says he moved to Florida.

Now, he mighta got there and croaked....

I always enjoyed watching Tom.

Tom and MArty were my favorites, they are the real deal. Along with Heimo Korth on Last Alaskans.

I always enjoyed Tom's appearances. Man, I'd love to have some of his hand crafted stuff.

He's not dead, I looked around. Still kicking apparently.

I liked him too.

My late friend Don Prentice who passed last year about this time at 90, had both Tom and Jack Oar in his high school classes in Rockford Illinois. I would have to guess when that might have been but I'd put it in the early 60s.

Don talked often about the "rockford boys". They were a wild bunch of outdoors enthusiasts. Jack and Tom Oar were among that group. There was a guy they nicknamed Bowie Knife Weaver. Those guys would have knife fights and do some outrageous stuff. The one thing they did that amazed me. One guy would climb a tree near the top then let his friends chop it down! They loved the excitement of riding it to the ground.

Don was pretty sketchy about Tom and Jack moving West. He didn't say when but that Tom moved to the Yaak River area, a remote area of NW Montana. According to Don, Tom was very involved in the mountain man rendezvous events and made things to sell there. Tom's wife was known for her elaborate porcupine quillwork.

Jack Oar became a well known falconer and lived near Howe in the Little Lost River Valley.

https://missoulian.com/news/state-a...69ab140-4c86-11e3-9af4-0019bb2963f4.html

I think I saw the two of them in one episode of the Mountain men TV show.

FYI Don was also a falconer and rock climber. He and Yvon Chouinard used to climb together. Yvon, the founder of Patagonia, mentions Don in his autobiography.

I have never met Tom. Would love to meet him and talk to him about our late mutual friend Don.

Yes. Even though the shows are heavily scripted, Tom and Marty always seem to stand out as being the most believable. On Last Alaskans, I liked Bob Harte, along with Heimo.

Tom is probably still there, he was in the season 8 finally (the article was before season 8 and says he moved), also his brother moved from ID to down teh road from Tom in MT. I doubt he's going anywhere.

Like Marty, but don't think I could handle his life, spending winters in the VERY cold running the trap line, alone (well with the camera guys). He is gone, told the show he wanted to spend the time on the trap line with his daughter. Maybe he'll come back after one year??

The trout guide I used to use lived next door to Tom. He told us that the show was originally pitched as a DIY woods craft show where Tom could show his crafting skills. But it morphed into the current "reality" show thing that is totally faked. The episode where Tom "must find a deer to survive the winter" was filmed from a roadway with a general store/cafe a hundred yards away. And where the cast ate right after "Cut!" and after which, Tom flew to Florida for a short fishing vacation. Tom makes a pretty penny from it, though. Enough to quell his disappointment in what it has become, apparently.

I like Marty too, but I have a hard time believing he could make money trapping when he's got fuel, insurance, and maintenance to cover on the plane, and keeping a sled running too. It would be a cool life, but I just don't see where the profit would be made. It's been a long time since I trapped, and I'm a little surprised to hear the prices they say they are getting on their pelts, but that must be the case. I caught mostly muskrats with a few fox and beaver back in the day.

He gone.