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By Kim Lemmon, Ohio’s Country Journal
I was fortunate enough to have one of my April 2014 blogs (“Mountain Monsters” — They’re more familiar than you think) catch the attention of the folks at Destination America who produce the show. A few e-mails were exchanged and before long it was all set up for me to have an interview with Trapper, one of the stars of the show.
Of course I was very excited, but a little nervous. I really like the program and I enjoy letting my imagination run wild as I watch it. I was afraid I might meet a polished actor rather than the man from the mountains that I had grown to admire on the show. Luckily, my fears were not founded.
As I sat down to talk to Trapper amid the forests of Salt Fork State Park, it became obvious pretty quickly that he is just a normal “good old boy” who hasn’t been changed by his television fame.
Although I refuse to make claims about the legitimacy of the “monsters” or the evidence shown during the shows, I can tell you that from what I can see, the men of “Mountain Monsters” are truly a group of fun-loving, hardworking hunters from Ohio and West Virginia. I personally think they would be a fun group of guys to get to know.
Though the program rarely portrays them as such, these guys are also a well-rounded group of intelligent and skilled men. Don’t let the TV drama fool you. These guys know the woods and what they are about, but they are also intelligent enough to know what draws an audience. Here are some quotes from Trapper about the guys in the show.
Huckleberry
“Huckleberry was an operator, and I was a boilermaker so we knew each other. Sometimes I pay so much attention to what‘s going on in front of me that I need someone to watch my back all the time. So he’s my ‘Huckleberry.’ He takes care of us.”
Buck
“He is Huckleberry’s friend. We just love Buck. The first time I met him he was a real skeptic. He’s coming around. We needed someone to do the heavy lifting and the grunt work for us. We’ve got some age on us — me and Huckleberry and Jeff. He’s always game for anything.”
Willy
“Willy is my neighbor. He’s the jack-of-all-trades. What a hard worker he is. During the filming season, he went from 215 pounds to 175 pounds building all those traps.”
Wild Bill
“We had a mutual friend say, ‘You’ve got to meet this Wild Bill guy,’ and we needed a really good climber to help Willy out on traps. They are both expert climbers. He is exactly the way he acts on the show. He’s the kind of guy you only give one shell to.”
Jeff
“Jeff was a good researcher so we brought him on. He knows his stuff.”
Trapper (About himself)
“The wampus beast, or wampus cat, in northern pleasant county is a pet peeve of mine. I have a ritual that virtually every Sunday morning I go up into the northern part of Pleasant County. I have a pipeline that I walk right away that is real fresh with tracks.”
In addition to finding out more about the men in the show, I had a few questions for Trapper about some of the episodes I had seen. In particular, I asked for details about my favorite creatures featured on the show, “The Hellhound of Kentucky.” During this episode, it appeared that, while the guys were searching for the beast in a corn field, the creature hit Trapper in the elbow and nearly knocked him down. I asked for clarification as to what really hit him.
“That’s terrible in that corn field,” he said. “It had to have been him. He made passing charges on us. I swung around and he hit that elbow, and he virtually knocked me down. We never got a clear view of him. You can’t see in those darn corn fields. I can’t even believe I took the team in there after him. He used those corn fields for cover. He moved from corn field to corn field undetected. In a corn field, if you got in there just after it rained you could see tracks. There was one set of tracks where you could tell he was after coyotes. His tracks and the coyotes ran together. It was pretty cool.”
So whether or not you chose to believe in the folklore or just consider it a form of Friday night entertainment, “Mountain Monsters” is sure to fit the bill. This fast paced adventure-filled show keeps viewers guessing and on the edge of their seats as the men chase after critters in the Appalachian region. When questioned on the hunting style the guys portray during the show, Trapper said with a laugh, “Nobody would want to watch us lay on a hill with a night-vision scope all night.”
I’ll agree with that. The fast-paced action of the show combined with the mysterious creatures it showcases are what keep me watching.
Mountain Monsters airs Friday nights at 10 p.m. on Destination America.
Be sure to also read, “Men of ‘Mountain Monsters’ investigate Ohio folklore.”
Jan. 2016 update: Trapper is not dead. Read the article at this link: https://ocj.com/2016/01/mountain-monsters-trapper-is-not-dead/
Please bring the show back, even the reruns. I love these guys and love this show. I have missed it. To all the ones that don’t like the show turn the channel, they are plenty others shows to watch. Again, please bring the show back.
wow.. just wow. i admit, the show is entertaining but come on folks! there are really ppl out there that believe this stuff?!? LMAO it’s entertainment ffs.. like any good mockumentary, it’s NOT real but good ole fashioned television
funny thing about some people, they say these creatures don’t exist and truth be known…………they’ve never been in the woods. as far as pictures, footprints (very large), signs and scents, I’ve been there done that………….because I’ve gone out in the woods here in north central Kentucky
I can’t believe how dumb tv shows have gotten! I feel sorry for the people that this show is making fun of, and the ones who are dumb enough to think this is real.
whether these shows are real or not . there are things that go bump in the night . things that cannot be explained by rational means. most people are closed minded and donot understand. that all folklore is based on some real event or animal .most people beleive in ahigher being even though they have never seen or heard from them .just remember we find new creatures everyday., so dont let the disbeleivers stop you from believing anything is possible.p.s. i like this show
Love the show… Now Alaska monsters,… swamp monsters.
Alaska monsters has the same type cast: same number of “star”; same dialogue, same type trap making.
In my pursuit to determine fact or fiction the one common denominator in both Mountain Monsters and Alaska Monsters is each member of each team always wear the same “outfit”. Watch the second, fifth, fifteenth episode all wearing the same outfits; hats too.
I will still watch. Funny and entertaining
Hunting since I was 7. Never would I hunt with a loud mouth like Bill. This show could be real but WAY too much noise by the “team”. Also if people see them during the daylight hours…why do a night hunt?
This show is a hoot…who doesn’t love seeing “Buck” take a bounce off the ground, “pro-wrestling” style? Of course it’s not real. If anything, you’d have university researchers out there with them, taking footprint casts, setting up several trail cameras, and collecting scat and other material to glean DNA from and determine exactly what these “creatures” are… I would just like to know all of their FULL names and what it is they really do for a living, as well as how they ended up on TV. THAT is the real mystery here! But I do enjoy watching it, for the entertainment alone.
I absolutely love mountain monsters they do fire there weapons occasional watch lizard demon episode love watching willy And wild bill the show is just good entertainment beats any of the other reality crap out there yes it’s fake but still love it
Well, Mountain Monsters certainly stirs up a great deal of controversy on both sides of the isle. I don’t really care what people think of the team, the “creatures”, they attempt to catch or the research behind them that proves or disproves their existence. One thing I do know from reading the various posts that speak negatively about the show, is this. If you lived or have ever lived in a rural environment (& no that doesn’t mean you live just outside of the city limits and the McDonald’s sign can’t be seen from your house), I’m talkin’ actually living in the country. When you look out your window you see either cattle pasture land or woods as in “a forest”. I’m also talking about hunting from your youth to adulthood and beyond. Not just carrying a rifle and sitting on a comfortable chair watching a soybean patch with apples, salt licks and/or any other attractant. I mean actually hoofing it into the woods, to where you hear nothing from the outside world and actually hunt. If you do that or have done it more than once or twice; over the years you will see and you will hear things that cannot, do not & are not explainable. If you haven’t? Then you’re not looking, not listening and are totally unaware of the surroundings you are in. For the man or woman that do pay attention, they will all have some story or tale of something they can’t explain. It may not be bigfoot, or some other undiscovered mammal, but you’ll be aware that there are things out there that do not fit into nice & neat descriptions or accounts of your trips that will leave you stumped and you’ll be open to interpretation. Other than that, just watch the show, enjoy it. For you others? Pick up your remote & turn the channel and quit complaining. That’s how easy it can be fixed. That’s my .02 worth!
At the risk of everyone thinking I am making this up or am crazy, I have never seen this show but I know the Grassman is real. My sister and I saw one very close and very personal. We didn’t trap it or photograph it, we ran like heck and so did the grassman! In the same area about 15 years prior, the livestock kept turning up dead and the farmers had a hair sample taken to OSU from a barbed wire fence it had obviously crossed paths with. The hair was not identified as belonging to any known animal nor was it identified as hoax.
I just want to clarify, he/she ran in the opposite direction, not after us! We scared it as much as it scared us I think.
I seen your show when you was in perry county ohio witch is where I live born and rased, unfortunately I have never seen then grassman or heard him that I know of, but It would be awsome to do an investigation just for the personal experience. As I grew up I was always told storyes about the grassman, I just thought it was to keep me out of the woods but looks like the storyes are real after all. The things I would give just to do one hunt for the grassman.
what I’d like to know is how the heck do they plan on trying to trap the grassman so far pit trap didn’t work neither did the van or foot traps I’m glad buck’s back and one day I’d like to meet the aims team
so the only way you guys could catch the ohio grassman is too get a van do the same thing with last one but reinforce the whole roof that how that sucker got out
I saw the program where a creature jumped in the back of the side by side with buck . It was a puppet,
I just saw wild bill neff at a bp gas station today 1/10/16 about 9am in my home town of Danville Ohio Knox county he was dressed in his army camo clothes, boots and hat like on TV but I did not get to talk to him.
Are yall ever going to shoot those guns? My husband and I really enjoy the show, but too much drama from men! Let’s see some evidence of these creatures.
I watch mountain monsters as much as I can. Trapper looks so much like my late father, it makes me miss my father less. Lisa Trissell
I know the show is fake ,but I really luv to watch it lol.The characters are perfect
1-23-15 just watch the first show of the season. It ended with them saying trapper going to hospital and he might not make it. Can’t find any information how he is
WHY don’t they just put some motion cameras around the trap or the door so they will be sure to get some photos or video of what goes in or around the trap?? aka the time the big foot broke out whatever they had in the trap??
I did like to watch but after last night show and them not smart enough to collect dna from blood this show is all fake
If you look at some of their scenes, there are lights in the woods.
Trapper died
????
Love them
Where did you find the information that Trapper died?
Search Trapper-Mountain Monsters. It will give you some appearance information. If you search a little more you can find how to get an autograph. They are on Facebook.
my condolences to trappers family.
I also have a question the Ohio bigfoot episode where they saw another group kill and cart away bigfoot there was a lot of blood did they take samples to get DNA from it
Hello Everyone,
Thanks for reading my blog. Trapper IS NOT dead. Please read my newest blog for the latest information: https://ocj.com/2016/01/mountain-monsters-trapper-is-not-dead/
Read this blog for more details: https://ocj.com/2016/01/mountain-monsters-trapper-is-not-dead/
He didn’t die. Read this blog for more details: https://ocj.com/2016/01/mountain-monsters-trapper-is-not-dead/
He didn’t die. Read this blog for more details: https://ocj.com/2016/01/mountain-monsters-trapper-is-not-dead/
He didn’t die. Read this blog for more details: https://ocj.com/2016/01/mountain-monsters-trapper-is-not-dead/
He didn’t die. Read this blog for more details: https://ocj.com/2016/01/mountain-monsters-trapper-is-not-dead/
The guys with the van and truck that shot and took the Cornish Giant away from the men at the end of last week’s episode were a Marine recon unit tasked with the elimination of “problem” beasts! They were using the Mountain Men to drive the beast to them. Remember the two shots that rang out? Those were big caliper rounds, using night scopes. Those men are very efficient at what they do. Remember the boys joked about “kicking Marine ass?” They were told to “stand down” and not create any problems or publicity. I was surprised they were able to show the men loading the carcass! Remember 4 guys grabbed the bag and dragged it into the trailer! Those were some SERIOUSLY STRONG MEN to pull that off in under 30 seconds! They were in the truck and rollin’ in under a minute. Military efficiency. Do you think 30,000 people are missing in Alaska since 1970 from getting lost? When they get to certain size they become man-eaters. The Cornish Giant was wearing his Buckeye welcome real thin….
Thanks for the great article! My husband and I love this show and can’t wait for each season; we’ve wondered what the guys were really like. It’s great to read they are normal guys who love what they do. Initially, I thought the show was a total joke, but my husband convinced me to give it a shot – and I’m so glad I did. From a folklore perspective, these guys are keeping area legends alive and well, something we are losing as our society becomes more technical and less romantic. Thanks, guys, for doing a delightful job and taking us along for the adventure!
I live in the UK I am a great fan of the show I love it you guys do a fantastic job I have family over in the great USA .so I don’t ever won’t you guys to stop the show at all a big thank you to the team love you guys keep it up ron.
Real or fake, I love the show and the men! I’m so tired of people complaining, why don’t you just change the channel?
I ran into Wild Bill at Walmart last week, he lives in Birch River. He’s friends with my brothers and hunted with them a lot, my brother was a avid hunter until his hunting accident. Bill told me he had hunted with my brother just 2 days before his accident. He didn’t realize that I was still living here in Nicholas Co cause my brothers had relocated to Ohio. But he’s the same in person as he is on Tv. He’s a common site here in Nicholas Co and is quite entertaining.
Trapper isn’t even a southerner he is from NY and is an ex pro football player. The show is for amusement only. It’s awful funny how scientists spend their who2life lookinf for evidence of bigfoot and find nothing but these guys not only find him every.episode they have found about 10 different species of bigfoot. I enjoy tbe.show because it makes me laugh but by no means is it fooling anyone.
Just watched the episode where they were hunting The Lightning Man & The Thunder Bolt Boyz Band lol in Blair, Pa. Funny thing, the ending credits say “Filmed in W. Virginia with The assistance of the west Virginia film industry investment act. Really? I’m as let down as you but chalk it up as another show for entertainment purposes only.
Another interesting tidbit, Huckleberry and buck are pretrade as father and son in the show. However in an interview Trapper says they are just friends. Even though it’s completely staged, I’m Still a big fan. I do believe Trappers injuries are completely real and a factor of getting old as dirt.
When ppl say a reality tv show is fake, this means they spend all their time watching it, looking for signs that it aint real. I don’t see the point in that.
I find this show quite interesting, and watch it whenever I can. I truly believe it’s very real. This world is full of all sorts of weird things, from bigfoots to the paranormal to oversized cats (Cherokee death cat) and dogs (hellhound). Perhaps ppl don’t want to believe it because the idea of these monster size creatures being around scares the s**t out of them, but that doesn’t change the reality. I watched an interview with Trapper on YT. He said the hardest part was determining from the eyewitnesses which was fact and which was fiction. I don’t believe the show is staged, as even professional actors can’t fake fear and adrenaline spikes like that, at least not very well.
Don’t tell me this show is fake. I don’t want to hear your negativity about it, or your reasons why, because there are just as many reasons, if not more, to see that it’s reality.
Amen to that. The ppl who say MM is fake are so negative, it’s a pain when I come across that stuff. These ppl don’t have open minds. When you think about it, there’s much of the sea that hasn’t been explored, so certain creatures can’t be ruled out of existence just because they haven’t been sighted and captured. That’s what the AIMS team does, except its on land. Creatures have been heard, sighted, and captured on vids and trail cams, they just haven’t been captured, because they’re as smart as ppl are, if not smarter – they know their terrain and they’ll know if something’s not right.
You found a different John Tice. They were born in different years. Trapper said in a previous season that he was 67 years old. The John Tice (which is trapper’s real name) you found was born in 1960 – too young to be the same guy. I looked it up and did the math. MM’s trapper was born in late 1940s-early 1950s.
I love to watch mountain monsters and the crew. I believe some of it is real there are large wild pigs brought from Russia… There is Bigfoot I believe too.. Good they keep away from us but think territorial like us what is new.. Maybe in futire we can catch something?!!!
I’m hoping one of the creatures devours one of the obese yokels on the show. Watched three shows. I’ve had enough. Beyond stupid.