Modern Day Mountain Man

Modern Day Mountain Man is a brand and docuseries illuminating the marvels of God’s creation and the personal, life-changing transformations of Alaska hunting guide, Billy Molls, and his clients as Billy self-films his adventures in some of the most pristine, rugged, and remote wildernesses in the world. Modern Day Mountain Man films are real, raw, and authentic.

The seed for Modern Day Mountain Man was sown on Lightning Creek, 3 miles from the Molls family farm in Wisconsin. After milking the cows one Saturday morning in early October, young Billy and his father, Joe, loaded an oar boat and a heap of rusty Victor #1-1/2 long spring traps in the back of the farm truck, and drove to the bridge below Henry Hientz’s farm. The Molls family had trapped this lazy creek for more than 50 years, but this served as Billy’s greatest adventure to date and a defining moment in his life.

As father and son oared along the marshy shore looking for muskrat sign, they soon lost sight of the road, sight of the powerline, and sight of the old Hientz farm. “I was maybe 8 years old, but the memory is so vivid; it was a light switch moment in my life,” recalls Billy. “I was surrounded by nature, and up ahead was a bend in the river. I had no idea what was waiting for us, or where it led, but I couldn’t wait to find out! Right there—in that moment—I knew I’m going live my life in the wilderness.”

With a dream of becoming a professional trapper like his grandpa and living his life like the mountain men of old, the fur market crashed in the late 80’s and Billy’s vision quickly switched to hunting.

He began to dream of becoming an outdoor writer or hunting film producer, and somehow, someday go hunting in Alaska… Years later, in the back of Outdoor Life magazine, Billy read a tiny classified ad that set the course for his life: “Big Game Guides Needed, Hunting Guide School, Trout Creek, MT.”

“Hunting in Alaska was my ultimate goal, but it was more of a pipe dream. Even as a kid, I grew up working 7 days a week. We didn’t have money or time for vacations or hunting trips, but seeing that ad for a guide school gave me hope that I might make it to Alaska! From that day forward, I was determined to become an Alaska hunting guide.”

Biily’s First Alaskan Hunt

Billy’s first Alaskan hunt was the spring of 1998 on Kodiak Island. Billy was a packer: A human mule. A packer’s job is to keep his mouth shut, do as he’s told, pack as much weight as he can handle, and shadow the guide when possible.

By Divine appointment, Billy’s first client, John, brought with him a video camera to document his hunt. On Day 6, guide, Kreg, spotted a huge bear on a high snowy mountain on the head of a steep drainage.

After a perfect stalk, John was in position for the shot. He handed Billy his video camera, “Would you mind filming the shot?”

One of The Largest Brown Bears Ever Taken Caught on Film

Indeed, Billy filmed the shot on what turned out to be one of the largest brown bears ever taken. Six months later, Billy returned home from Alaska to find John had mailed a VHS copy of the footage to Billy’s parents. The first person to watch it was Billy’s grandpa, Bill.

“That was an amazing movie!” said the old sage to his grandson. “You guys had the adventure of a lifetime!” Billy was inspired to buy his own video camera and has since filmed hundreds of Alaska adventures!

Modern Day Mountain Man Is Born

Founded in 2005, Modern Day Mountain Man began as a television show. Business structure and network guidelines quickly stymied Billy’s creativity and passion of portraying what hunting in Alaska was to him. Billy decided from that day forward he would produce his films the way he wanted and walk the long, lonely road of marketing them himself.

“Television wasn’t for me. I wanted the freedom to tell the story I wanted to tell, in the time frame needed to tell it. To this day, every Modern Day Mountain Man film is filmed and edited as though we were producing it for my grandpa.”

While Billy continues to guide sparingly in Alaska, he and his team continue to work tirelessly to produce many seasons’ worth of unreleased footage, showcasing dozens of adventures.

Billy is also blessed to now be filming his own national and international hunting adventures, as well as hosting hunting and fishing trips around the world.