I am a rapid city and black hills resident. I knever knew that my area could look so dangerious. It is hard to be more than a mile from a road in the black hills. He is a tough guy but come on this is not the unsettled frontier it is more urban blight.
if he is so worried about rain why dosent he walk five miles or so and stay in a camp ground or a hotel. this epesode really shoots his credibily all to heck. i live in the black hills of south dakota you walk a mile in any direction you will find civilization.
That is so great, its almost as good as finding treasure behind mt rushmore. I am suprized he does not have a staged navtive american warparty that comes to try and raid his camp. Also he is pushing open fire regulations open burning is a HUGE NO NO in the back hills becuase ponderosa pine is so flamable.
Wild Buffalo wow that one is new to me. He must be a fast walker to go the 50-60 mi from the planes to the bad lands. Wonder if he got free ice water at wall drug. Maybe he can sley the robotic dinosaur they have in their court yard. It is so rediculous its funny, atleast mythbusters was cool.
Just watched the show. Thought it was great but the buffalo part was a little off. He portrayed the buffalo as being wild. Not sure if there are wild buffalo roaming the great state of South Dakota. I have been in the Black Hills and thought he did justice.
For those of us that don't live in South Dakota, this show lets us enjoy the interesting scenery there. He's giving tips for someone that might get lost there, like a tourist that doesn't know the area maybe. Plenty of people do get lost not far from a road, probably more often than those that get lost in an "unsettled frontier". Also when he went to the badlands he first said he would do it for his next challenge. They never implied that he walked there from where he was at before the commercial.
erin you evidently have never been here before. for one thing this is not a unsettled frontier. if you are lost in the black hill walk a hour or mabey two in any direction and you will find a road. and as for the bad lands walk for a hour and you will find a major road. there is a reason that you dont see on the news of people getting lost in the hills for more than a couple of hours. they are only 30 miles across and 100 miles long. He did the discover channel and his own credibilty a injustice.
Seriously I think the last person who got lost in the hills had altimers, he wandered away from the house. Bear does show survival skill but the situations are quite unlikly in the hills.
What would of been a more interesting situation would be for him to be stuck in a car in one of our rare but bad snow stroms. At least that would of been a more usefull and belivable topic.
I've only watched this show a couple of times and I always thought it was staged. This episode solidified that thought. I'm from South Dakota and the bison scene put me over the edge. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Seriously? Bear just happens to come across a dead bison? If the landowner killed it like he said, there was a reason it was put down. If it was lame, the rancher would have had it butchered. So, why would you eat it? What a crock!
During the black hills scenes I wonder how many times the crew had to quit filming because the whistle from the 1880 train (a tourist attraction) interrupted the scene.
The thunderstorm scene was also lame. If you are in a wooded area you can crouch in that area. Going out in the open and crouching makes no sense.
i almost died. that was the funniest thing i have ever seen. i grew up less than 3 miles from that COLD? waterfall. its a very nice place to swim. its known as hippie hole, or big falls. theres a trail to the falls from both ends. i have carried a strecher in to get people from the bottom of the falls. there is a road less than a mile from the falls. and a town (hayward) less than 3.
I live in South Dakota and I thought it was awesome that he came to the Black Hills and Badlands. Of course civilization is pretty accesable from most anywhere. They were trying to portray it back before it was civilized. And he was showing what you would have to do to survive back then. Yes he was probly in Custer state park when he saw the buffalo but I came across a dead buffalo when I was walking through there one time. And they probly drove him to the Badlands in an Escalade after staying at Watiki waterpark the night before. The point is he's showing how hard it would be to survive if it wasn't civilized. The badlands would be nearly impossible to surive. Yes, its somewhat staged but I still think its pretty cool.
I thought that was hippie hole. I lived in Rapid City for four years while i went to school, and there are always different opions when you come from an area. It wouldn't be that hard for a tourist who decides to go out in the wilderness to get lost. People get lost all the time, sometimes within a 1/4 of a mile from a road. Now I know most tourists in that area don't just go out wandering around, but some of those tips would be helpful. Thats all the show is for is helpful tips in case something should happen. As for hippie hole, I know from experience that you can get lost down there if you haven't been there before, my friend got somewhat lost and it took us a couple hours to find him. Could have been because he was drunk and went wandering off, but there is always a chance that someone could get lost. I'm sure some people from the other areas the show has been have said you can't get lost there, maybe its because you know the area.
Everyone except for erin143, is being ignorant. Why waste your time writing stuff that makes no sense. He never said he was walking from the Hills to the Badlands. And if the Black Hills area is so not "wild" explain the mountain lions. Or are they pretty tame? Also its not like anyone was ever killed from a mountain lion, buffalo, or rattle snake right? Don't be ridiculous. The Black Hills are a beautiful place that is possible to get lost in. Perhaps not for a week, but long enough to need to know how to survive. The Badlands are dangerous and could take a lot of time to get out of. Bear shows survival skills and I believe he did a hell of a job. Don't like the show don't watch it.
Wasn't South Dakota a suggested location for his newest season? Now, you all are harping on how he did it. Obviously, you people can never be pleased. At least Bear and Discovery are using your suggestions! I think that counts for a lot.
You guys go out and shoot your own film and see how well it goes.
I’m also from South Dakota and have spent a LOT of time hiking in the Black Hills. I have extremely low expectations from this program but I was still disappointed. Here’s a question for those defending the program- if he’s actually trying to pass on “tips” that would be useful to someone who is lost and not familiar with the area, don’t you think he’d mention the fact that there are hundreds of miles of little gravel roads and old logging trails? Funny how he always seems to pass up the truly useful information in favor of overdramatized stunts and how he always makes his situation out to be much, MUCH worse than it really is. For example- before he jumps into the pool he says he’s going to have some “tough going”; found this on YouTube- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vjuqOW016A&feature=related yeah, looks like it must be a really “tough” area . Spent most of his time in or around Custer State Park, was never in the Great Plains at all, and never came close to the interior of the Badlands let alone crossed any part of it. The Dakota fire pit, the peg fire, the pathetic “tepee” were by far the worst demonstrations of actual survival skills that I’ve ever seen. Obviously he had just learned to do those things himself and had a fairly poor teacher himself to boot. That is assuming he didn’t just look at pictures in a book of course.
quote:
Also its not like anyone was ever killed from a mountain lion, buffalo, or rattle snake right? Don't be ridiculous
Mountain lion- extremely elusive More people are killed in the US by lightning every year than have been killed by mountain lions over the last 100. Can’t even remember the last time there was an incident in the Hills. Buffalo- are domestic animals and present no danger to anyone with the intelligence level of a 6 year old. Just keep your distance. Rattlesnake- again extremely elusive, most people will never see one outside of the Reptile Gardens (tourist trap near Rapid City) and I can’t remember ever hearing of someone dying from a rattlesnake bite in the Hills. I think you are the one who shouldn’t be ridiculous.
quote:
You guys go out and shoot your own film and see how well it goes.
Give me all of the support and equipment that Bear gets and I’d be glad to. I can guarantee it would be a heck of a lot better than this farce. Of course I’d be interested in showing people some of the more remote areas as opposed to just finding someplace close to the highway and I’d be more prone to focus on the environment and the scenery instead of just having the camera pointed at me all of the time. And of course I may not be a “survival expert” but I actually do know how to do the things he attempts to demonstrate; also I would tell people what they shouldn’t do and then actually NOT do those things as I’m telling them not to. All in all I’d have to say it wouldn’t be too hard to one up this show.
One last thing- DON’T PEEL THE BARK OFF OF BIRCH TREES!!!!!! That part seriously outraged me (he uses this word in this context on the show so it must be acceptable to use it here also right, mods?). There is birch bark lying all over the place; the stuff lasts practically forever. Killing a tree just to get a little bit of bark despite the fact that you can find it on the ground everywhere is the kind of thing that someone with absolutely no regard or respect for nature would do. Man VERSUS wild is truly the perfect name for this show. A true survival expert is at home in the wild and gets on quite easily. Bear Grylls is obviously no survival expert as is demonstrated by the fact that he struggles no matter where he is or what he’s doing.
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Member 'southdakota' you evidently misread my post, which starts: "For those of us that don't live in South Dakota this show lets us enjoy the interesting scenery there." OK that includes me, and no, more specifically, I've never been there.
When I said: "He's giving tips for someone that might get lost there, like a tourist that doesn't know the area maybe. Plenty of people do get lost not far from a road, probably more often than those that get lost in an "unsettled frontier"." I was responding to this earlier post by Zimm98: "It is hard to be more than a mile from a road in the black hills. He is a tough guy but come on this is not the unsettled frontier it is more urban blight."
I agree that SD is not an unsettled frontier. The point I was making is that people do frequently get lost not far from roads, especially if they don't know the area, and furthermore that this probably happens more often than people getting lost in a place that qualifies as an "unsettled frontier".
I would add to that now, that not as many people venture out into "unsettled frontiers", and those that do, are usually well prepared. On the other hand plenty of people go for short hikes in unfamiliar areas not far from roads and civilization etc. and get lost and are not very well prepared. I think it's great that this SD episode presented tips for the average person that might find themselves in such a situation, while showing us some new and interesting scenery. It is a refreshing change from the extreme scenarios that often don't really apply to many people, like glaciers and extreme cold, deserts and swamps. Not that the extreme shows aren't interesting.
The only thing that would have made this episode remotely authentic was to have Bear come up on one of those Wall Drug signs as he's stumbling around in the Badlands!
Hi folks. Alot of discussion here about our "little" state. I'm a life long resident and have hiked and off-roaded the Black Hills and Badlands alot. I'm by no means a survial expert.
I agree with the downside, much of this was staged in a pretty hokey fashion if you know the area. We don't have bison roaming free anywhere, even the Custer state park herd (the featured buffalo) are captive. Trust me, to get them to run like that, there were men on horseback just behind that hill chasing them. However, yeah, they are dangerous, even the domesticated ones. I know ranchers who raise them. You have to have a fence around 8 to 10 feet tall because: 1) They're powerful, and 2) they can jump really high. They aren't all that friendly either. I've seen news video of a park buffalo bull throwing a man to the top of a 30 foot tall tree. The man barely survived. He was dumb and got way too close. Just a year or so ago a motorcyclist in Custer State Park was killed by a buffalo. It does happen. But the advice someone gave here is right, keep your distance and they ignore you. Same thing with Elk, keep your distance and your fine, get close and they will happily kill you, especially when they're in rutt.
Mountain Lions someone mentioned. Yes, we have them. They are very rare! However, a man was mauled by one at Pactola Lake about four months ago. He was fishing and the cat was in a tree, it pounced on him, tore him up a bit and ran off. The man survived and thought the cat already had a deer and was just protecting it's food.
However, did you know more people are killed by deer than pretty much any other one kind of animal? Yep, it's true. We have a TON of deer here.
Rattlesnakes? Around 8,000 people are bitten by rattlesnakes in the U.S. each year. Of those, fewer than 15 (avg) result in death. This has much to do with being able to get help quickly. If you are lost and get bitten, your chances aren't real good. However, while you will see rattlers on the plains and sometimes at the edge of the Black Hills, you are most likely to see them in the Badlands. My grandmother lives at the edge of the badlands and finds them sunning on her back step many mornings.
However, all this aside, it was some nice shots of our state and hopefully more people will come to visit now. It's not a dangerous place, in fact, it's a pretty fun place to visit... particularly the Black Hills.
As for this show, Bear illustrates what you might go through if you were in, for instance, a small plane crash. I'm in Civil Air Patrol, the civilian search and rescue arm of the USAF, and I can tell you that a crash of a small aircraft in an area like the Hills is a deffinate possibility with the wind currents you get in such terrain. Having driven alot of the deep, back trails, I can see where a person could get lost. There are areas where you would have to go several miles to find people, if you knew which direction to go. You may find logging roads, but they wind around and don't always lead to anything. (Don't ask me why I know that fact!) You could follow one of these old roads and never find a sole, especially if you were down in a more remote canyon.
The show is truly a worst case scenerio survival show. It's not about how people used to survive here. It's also not about being a survivalist, which is a person who lives off the land. It's about surviving a catastrophic situation and getting out alive. That's why he gives tips like taking the bark off a tree or making a small fire in an open area to boil your water. (Yes, you want to boil the water in Black Hills streams before drinking it, no matter how clear it is. My son got some crystal clear creek water splashed in his face last month and ended up with a ghiardia parasite that made him pretty sick for two weeks.) What's more valuable, one tree or your life? Bark lying on the ground is too wet. Besides, removal of the light colored layer of birch bark won't kill the tree, though it can weaken it some. Removing the dark inner layer, calle the phloem, kills a birch tree. Birch bark is commonly harvested for a wide variety of uses. In fact, going to the survivalist stuff, Native Americans routinely used birch bark for everything from clothing to canoes.
All that said, I'm not a fan of the show. It was edited to make it look like you could go from the Black Hills right to the Badlands. They should have clarified a little better. Also, when it comes down to it, the Black Hills are pretty heavily populated, so you would have to be lost in just the wrong area to really have problems. Otherwise, pretty much everyone in the state is willing to help out any stranger. People are just like that here.
Yes, the publicity is nice, but I wish someone would show us in an accurate light. This isn't the wide open frontier, we have roads and technology (most of those previously mentioned campgrounds are wifi hot spots) and a little bit of everything you find anywhere else in the U.S. The Black Hills is actually a huge tourist destination. (You know, Mt. Rushmore and such.)
All in all, it was some really pretty video of the west side of our state, but not real close to reality.
Fist of all thank you BG for coming to south dakota. there was a time when this was an unsettled frontier, and it was hard to survive without the knowledge and experience of living in our territory. as a native american i still am amazed with the beauty and uniqueness of our region. just imagine how enjoyable life was before it was "settled". and also thanks for showing the diversity of terrain on just a few hundred of miles of land on the west side of the state. i would like to include (to the critics)..imagine having to cross the entire state INCLUDING THE MISSOURI river and LIVE to tell about it, without your car, shoes, proper clothing, cell phone, tents,RV'S or whatever else makes your life so much better to bash a tv show about "HOW TO" for those of you narrow minded, disrespectful, and hateful people...have you ever thought of what makes you the way you are? i know there are people in this world like YOU, and i stay aware of people like YOU! god forbid an entire world war would happen, and your survival would be based on what you know, you probably wont make it based on your attitude and personality, you'd be considered WEAK in my eyes! maybe BG should do a special on how you get by day to day without someone bashing you. BG keep up the good work. i enjoy your show for all the locations you go to, all the techniques you share, and for all the extremes you go through to show us what it would take to LIVE. i hope you come back to south dakota again and enjoy your stay!
I enjoyed the South Dakota episode and was out there this summer too. I post my poetry on FanStory.com, much of it is using my adventures into my writing under Mike K2.
The weather out there was no joke and Bear might be interested in my post, "When The Woods Turned White." It is pictured with my humble abode that worried a cowgirl. cut and paste into your browser. http://www.fanstory.com/displaystory.jsp?id=214180
Great post rosebud_sioux_warrior, well said! It would have been an even better episode if Bear had spent some quality time with you and other native americans while he was in your territory. A special show of BG with native americans would be something definitely worthwhile to see.
I’ve lived in the Black hills most of my life and I’d have to say that this was the most ridiculous thing that I’ve ever seen. I won’t ever see this show the same way again, if I ever watch it again. I understood that this was just a tv show and that things were going to be staged and set up. I understood that Bear wasn’t actually on one continuous journey and that they’d jump around so he could show different terrains and obstacles that someone might encounter. But watching the show that was filmed in my back yard blew me away. I had no clue that it was this bad. Now I can’t help but wonder if all of the episodes are like this.
All you [Edited Content] need to just stop watching the show. Man vs Wild is the freakn bomb. Bear is out there showing survival techniques for any kind of terrain. I'm sure there have been plenty of people who got lost in the black hills, you can get lost anywhere! So, all the best to Bear and keep up the good work.
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hi bear i got a calage for you. if you can survie nothern utah.Utah is so unfor give able i got lost at thare once and i was so thurty so can you show me how i should of do it? my email address is [Content Edited]
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I had to comment after reading the steaming pile that southdakota wrote. I've been to the badlands, the black hills, across s. dakota in the dead of winter: it is a barren wasteland.
I want to compliment Bear on: 1. his encyclopedic knowledge of plant life: every episode blows my mind-clearly he's been at this forever, to recognize them on sight, for a quick decision go/no go. 2. his mention of his Christian faith motivating him in every aspect of life, particularly since he's from England which is currently in an all out culture war the likes of which you or I in America could not come close to fathoming in our best or worst drug induced, hallucinatory nightmare from hell. 3. his positive, infectious Good Attitude. 90% would fail in the same tasks only due to the lack thereof.
Seriously guys, if some of you have a problem with the show or don't like it. Why do you spend time going to this website and posting at all. Pretty lame. The show must hold some relative interest for all of you who post. The bottomline is that it's a good show and Bear is an entertaining fellow. If you thought you could do it better, you probably would be doing it. I'm sure it's better than most all of our jobs. Those of you who beat him down don't have to do so to make your pathetic lives feel more accomplished. Rock on Bear!
Next summer im going to go out west and was getting some backround knowledge incase that might be me. Thanks Bear, you might just save my life! P.S Hope everything will go well on your new shows!
Man Vs. Wild is one of the best shows on TV. Although, Bear does eat a lot of grubs, (he must intestines of steel), he is teaching a very valuable lesson to all those who are open-minded to suggestions regarding surviving in the wild.
First off, Bear Grylls is a freakin stud! All of the different things he does are pretty amazing. Second I am a college student in the northern Black Hills and an avid outdoorsman and have had many wonderful experiences in the beautiful hills. With that, I was an employee this last summer in Custer State Park. Part of my job was dealing with tourists everyday, and let me tell you, they are not always so bright. Just as an example a question asked almost everyday is, "where in the park is Custer Battlefield?" What these people are refering to is the Battle of the Little Bighorn which is over 300 miles away in Montana. After dealing with people like this everyday and seeing how they act it would be no surprise to me to see somebody get lost both in Custer State Park and the Badlands. If they did they would be in a world of hurt and more than likely in my mind would not be courages enought to even attempt to save themselves. Bear, keep doin what your doin, the show is awesome!
i dont have tv but i guess u guys got a big laugh out of bear. i dont know y he doesnt just go in the wild wild it isnt that hard.... well i guess it is but there are some kool mountains north of wilcox that he would have fun in the are way out of the way i almost died there lol. i dont know y he likes his urine so much i just got done watching the one episode where he is in the moab desert. and i thought that was a bit unecessary i wouldve used the dead squirrel water. idont know y it took him 3 days to walk to a place he could c though he must be slow. i can walk way far and i dont even need as much water as he does. lol good times good times. well adios yall hav fun blogging
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maybe all you talkers from South Dakota, and i'd like to note that it's not ALL of you from there, should find a place that is wild, barren, unforgiving, and has no civilization in any reasonable distance whatsoever and go there since you can stand so high and mighty as the ultimate survival judges. that way you can be exercising your great survival skills and knowledge while we who want to see, learn, and explore safely watch the show and post our messages. oh, and maybe you could do us the favor of taking a video camera along because then we can at least witness the footage of such a place and it's beauty while we watch your survival skills pale in comparison to what this show presents to us. and maybe while you're out there you can think long and hard about what this show is really about because, obviously, as you have so readily displayed your lack of knowledge to all, you just don't get it. i really have a positive attitude toward what i see and learn here and it sickens me to finally take the time to click around the website and all i see are your bull posts about what you think the show is about, or how bad the episode is just because you know well the area you live in. guess what? i know the area i live in very well too!! does that make me an almighty authority and genius on this entire show? oh, cool, well, sign me up Bear, i'd like to come along. i would, in fact, but that's not the point here. i live in the appalachians, moved here a year ago. first time i went hiking i was coming down rocky slope when i decided to stop and get a picture. after i took the downhill shot shot i turned around to get an uphill one when i noted a rattlesnake about 5 feet away from me and he was rattling alright. i'm not scared of snakes but the surprise froze me for a second or two. he could've had me just like that. i was watching for snakes all day because they are reportedly abundant here and this was the only one i saw on a 12 mile hike. point is: it happens. people do get lost not far from roads or civilization. people get injured and can't travel far, fast, or at all. that doesn't matter anyway, because the show is still educational and most of the skills and techniques can be used in many places. besides that, it is beautiful scenery in historic parts of the country which is nice to see for us who don't live there and it might even promote these places. so get a clue, and stop raining on everyone's parade. watch something else if you think there's anything better on.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: mod_ivy,
Originally posted by MvW_Mod_Melissa: Tune in for tonight's new episode premiere, 10:00pm ET/PT - South Dakota!!
Enjoy,
MvW_Mod_Melissa
I'm just curious. He Comes along alot of LUCKY chances. When it comes to food Dead animals that are just killed lying there for him to eat. He strips away alot of bark for a bite of bugs. My ?? is does he leave all this UNREST like SNARES and TRAPS when he leaves.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: mod_ivy,
Originally posted by MvW_Mod_Melissa: Tune in for tonight's new episode premiere, 10:00pm ET/PT - South Dakota!!
Enjoy,
MvW_Mod_Melissa
Back to my ?? I would just like an answer from someone on his show who would know. I know wrong page but it will get there but if anyone here has the answer I'm interested.
Originally posted by Tar Heels: What I saw on South Dakota was awesome,but I dont think there are any "wild" buffalo there still. I know there used to be but not any more
Yellowstone National Park holds the only remaining population of 'continuously' ranging wild bison.
And this is what was discovered on a Wikipedia search; List of Wild Bison Herds
United States
Publicly-Owned
Note: Only the first eight of the herds in this category have been (so far) found to be free of cattle genes. Links to papers regarding cattle genes in wild bison Remaining herds fit into the criteria of wild bison in other regards (and have in some cases very low frequency of cattle gene introgression), thus their management is still considered relevant in relation to other wild herds.
Yellowstone National Park- Wyoming, Montana and Idaho
Henry Mountain BLM - Utah
Grand Teton National Park- Wyoming
Wind Cave National Park - South Dakota
Badlands National Park - South Dakota
Teddy Roosevelt National Park - North Dakota
Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge - Oklahoma
Catalina Island - California
Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge(Spring 2007)
Custer State Park- South Dakota
Bear Butte State Park- South Dakota
Sandsage Bison Range and Wildlife Area - Kansas
Big Basin Preserve - Kansas
Maxwell Wildlife Refuge - Kansas
Delta Junction Bison Range - Alaska
Farewell BLM Herd - Alaska
Chitina and Copper River Herds - Alaska
National Bison Range - Montana
Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge - Iowa
Antelope Island State Park - Utah
Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge - Nebraska
Tall-Grass Prairie Preserve - Oklahoma
House Rock WMA - Arizona
Raymond WMA - Arizona
Blue Mounds State Park - Minnesota
FIELD_MESSAGE_ortariclisit [edit] Privately Owned
American Prairie Foundation - Montana
Cross Ranch Reserve - North Dakota
Niobrara Valley Preserve - Nebraska
Samual H. Ordway Preserve - South Dakota [edit] Canada
