TV’s History Channel Reality Show Mountain Men includes Marty Meierotto in its cast as a Survivalist and Alaska’s toughest trapper. Born in Wisconsin, Marty began his trapping career at age 8. He now lives with his wife and daughter in Two Rivers, Alaska. Marty is an expert at building with logs, so of course, up in the wilderness he has a log cabin and at home, he and his family live in a nice log home –  both built with his own hands.

Along with his role on Mountain Men, Marty works as a smoke jumper for the Alaska Fire Service in the summer and in the winter he traps in some of the most remote areas in the state. Marty claims to have never seen another human being there who was not accompanied in by him. He is an expert trapper who can successfully harvest any furbearer his state has to offer. He spends extended periods of time out on his trapline in the frozen Alaskan mountains at least 200 miles from the nearest civilization, thus the need to be a survivalist!  Marty does run his line with a snowmobile but even that can be risky in  Alaska’s unforgiving environment. Being prepared is his motto and he is meticulous with all of his equipment and plans, as failures or mistakes could be deadly.

Marty drove with his brother to Alaska in 1985 with the plan being “to live in the woods” and he continues to do just that.   He is a tough, strong man who looks the part of an Alaskan Trapper not only on the show but in real life as well. Along with his TV fame, he was featured on the cover and in a 12 page article in a recent Field and Stream magazine. Marty’s friend, Al Dubord, (also an Alaskan trapper) was born and raised in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and also moved to Alaska years ago. Al’s take on Marty? –  “Marty is the real deal”! Marty is an upbeat individual with a quick wit. He is also a “down to earth” man who doesn’t like to brag or call a lot of attention to himself.

Friday @ 4:00 p.m. |  Make Your Own Luck

Saturday @ 1:00 p.m. |  How Trapping made me a better Bowhunter

From humble beginnings as a school boy trapper, Tom Miranda has taken his love of the outdoors and turned it into the career of a lifetime.

Running trap lines near his home town of suburban Columbus, Ohio… Tom learned the ways of the wilds. Catching muskrats, mink and raccoon…Tom learned to love nature in these early years, to respect and cherish it.

After high school, when many graduates went off to college, Tom was off to the wilds of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula……. to build his own log cabin and launch his professional trapping career. Questioning parents and confused friends didn’t understand, but Tom knew that his life pursuit was found along the streams and in the wild places.

Several years later, Tom found himself in South Dakota, working as a government trapper and hunter, mastering the art of trapping and honing his skills. In the mid 1980’s Miranda gained notoriety as a professional trapper who offered 15 trapping and over 40 hunting lessons on VHS video. He has also authored 7 books. Miranda used his small airplane to operate his Dakota trapline, a novelty that made his video instructions popular.

In 1992, Tom became the Adventurous Saturday morning bowhunter on ESPN. The “Outdoor Adventure Magazine” TV series took Tom around the globe on exciting expeditions, and his viewers followed. Hunting whitetails one week, ducks the next…

An accomplished bowhunter, Miranda has taken sixty plus whitetails on video and the Super Slam® North American Big Game animals with archery tackle. If it’s big game bowhunting… Miranda likely has done it. Miranda spent 20 seasons on ESPN… and currently his series “Territories Wild” airs on Outdoor Channel.

In 2011 when Miranda completed his 13-year quest to capture the archery Super Slam on video, SCI Record Book officials contacted Tom about his hunting accomplishments. With over 20 years of producing TV bow hunts, Miranda had been scouring the globe bowhunting big game and SCI knew it. A list of species was generated and with some quick fact checking, Safari Club determined that Miranda was very close to accomplishing the World Hunting Award. After some discussion and planning, Miranda had his mounts scored, entered them to SCI and set out to fill the specie gaps in his bowhunting collection.

In the last five years, Miranda has went full draw on over 50 big game animals on five continents to complete and receive his World Hunting Award ring. SCI’s World Hunting Award is a prestigious milestone, especially for bowhunters. To date only five archers have qualified: Archie Nesbitt, Gary Bogner, Byron Saddler and Ricardo Longoria and Tom Miranda.

Unique to Miranda is the fact that Tom has captured all of his bow hunts on video, complete with the arrow impacts. A feat that attests to Miranda’s dedication to his craft as a television producer, host and bowhunter.