‘Mountain Men’ Recap S07 E04: Fight or Flight – Mary Hawk Baby Born – Find Out Gender and Name

The Mountain Men, season 7 episode 4 ‘Fight or Flight’ recap starts now with Mary Hawk having her baby. In the Ozarks, Mary Hawk is in pain and Jason Hawk hopes the midwife will be there soon. Mary says the pain is manageable while Jason gets nervous that he might be the one delivering the baby. Her water breaks and she calls out to Jason who’s washing his hands in steamy hot water.

Mary Hawk gives birth – it’s a girl!

Jason Hawk runs back into the hogan ready to catch the baby. Mary says the baby is coming and says she should have called Maria sooner. She gets into a squat just as the midwife shows up. The baby is crowning, and they get her stood up since Mary says if she squats, the baby will come out.

They get her on a birthing stool and Jason comforts her while Jason and Maria work together to catch the baby and the arms are out and she moans and they pull the baby all the way out and lay it on Mary’s chest. He helps hold the slippery, goo-covered newborn.

Jason Hawk is sobbing and says thank you. Mary says the baby is beautiful and Jason announces to the camera that they had a little girl they will name Madeline Rose Hawk and call Maddie Hawk for short. Midwife Maria does some measurements and the baby weighs seven pounds nine ounces and perfect.

Read the recap if you missed Mountain Men, season 7, episode 1.

River Hawk thrilled to be a big sister on Mountain Men

Jason holds her and says catching his daughter was one of the best experiences of his life. He says he and Mary think being born into nature like this, you’ll always come back to it. Mary is back in the house with the baby when River comes home from school.

Jason’s excited for her to find out she’s a big sister. Jason goes out to greet his older daughter and brings her in. River immediately wants to know if it’s a girl or boy and she cheers to have a little sister.

She is crying and excited as she holds little sister Maddie. Jason says they have a piece of land, new daughter, and are establishing roots in their old homestead. He says it will be an interesting year.

Check out the recap if you missed Mountain Men, season 7, episode 2.

Mountain Men - Jason Hawk - River Hawk- Mary Hawk

Morgan Beasley survives night in the quinzee

In the Great Alaska Range on Mountain Men, Morgan Beasley is out of his quinzee and headed to his cold weather flying lesson. There are skis on the plane and no brakes on the bush plane he’ll be flying. He’s nervous about making a mistake that will cost his life.

Today is the scary challenge of a landing maneuver. His flying coach, Artic, says he’s known men to die making this mistake just a few miles from where they are. Morgan has 160 hours and 200 takeoffs and landings under his belt.

He skids into the snow and they take to the air and Morgan is happy to be in the air but he’s got to deal with unpredictable winter flight. They talk about wind and landing as two main dangers and then they’re ready to try and land the plane.

You have to come in slower on skis and the plane can “porpoise” and collide. Artic tells him to put down but he can’t do it and has to pull up, circle, and try again. Morgan Beasley says he was porpoising and couldn’t get the skis down into the snow.

Artic tells him to try again and he heads back down. Morgan nails the landing perfectly. He runs around and takes off once more to try it again. Artic wants Morgan to try another type of snowpack since flat light snow changes the rules of the game for bush pilots.

Mounain Men - Morgan Beasley

Flat light, porpoising, and other flight hazards

On Mountain Men, they look for someplace in the shadow. It’s called “flat light” when mountains cast shadows on the snow and make it hard for pilots to determine landing altitude. They find a spot and go in for a landing. The low light makes it hard to see the snow conditions.

Artic has him look out the sides to judge. These bush planes are controlled by sight alone without sophisticated instruments. Morgan must take back off and pulls off his sunglasses then goes to try again at the landing. Flat light landing attempt one was a fail.

Morgan tries again in the flat light and nails it perfectly. Artic says next he wants to work on emergency procedures since they’re common. Ice build-up can stall the engine so they set up a free fall to teach Morgan not to panic.

Morgan masters bush flying

You have to stay nose-down in a stall so you don’t have a dead drop and just fall out of the sky. Artic says the engine failed and he cuts it off at the flip of a switch. Morgan is going too slow and he coaches him to get the nose down. They skirt the mountains.

The free fall continues and Morgan curses when he realizes he’s not fast enough. Artic has to turn the engine back on to bail him out. Morgan admits it was unnerving and they go to do it again. They cut the engine again and he heads back down again. Morgan nails it on the second try.

He says the lesson has been awesome and says he and partner Margaret Stern both have a lot to learn with bush flying. Artic says bush flying takes a lot of time and practice to master. They hug it out and Morgan goes. He says a bush plane out here is a lifeline.

Mountain Men - Tom Oar - Sean McAfee

Tom Oar tracks muskrat on Mountain Men

In the Yaak Valley in Montana, Tom Oar has his apprentice Sean McAfee out for a trapping lesson. They are working on muskrat. Tom says having Sean on the trapline last year really helped him. They set traps in the snow water’s edge.

This year, 74-year-old Tom Oar has Sean out full-time. They are going after beaver too. Tom tells him a muskrat hat goes for $200. They are at the edges of ponds near cattails which they like to eat. He coaches Sean to only since the trap by 3-inches to get it by the leg.

Sean feels pressure to help Tom be successful. They lay more out on the trapline. Tom assures him he’ll be a muskrat trapper soon. They have all their trap sets over five miles of traplines. Tom admits he’s still learning too but is happy with their start.

Sean and Tom spot wolf tracks

He spots fresh wolf track that wasn’t there when they came in this morning and Sean notices them too. The wolf population in the area has been steadily climbing. Tom says it’s more wolf signs than he’s seen in 40 years so Tom and Sean must trap these wolves.

They spot a deer buried in the snow and think the wolves will come back for it. Tom says they need to do something about it or the wolves will eat all the game they’re trying to trap so they set traps on the trails coming back for the fresh deer carcass.

Sean says catching a gray wolf is hard. Tom admits Sean knows a lot about wolves. The wolf population is a threat to both humans and game animals. Sean tethers the trap to a tee and sets the trap and sprinkles a light dusting.

They must be careful not to leave any human scent on the trap or the wolves will smell and avoid it. Sean backs out away from the trap carefully. Tom says they have to stop them from killing all the big game. The two men leave.

Marty Meierotto, muskrats and wolverines

In the White Mountains of Alaska, Marty Meierotto is fighting to clear his trapline. He’s working old lines in the mountains he hasn’t worked for years. The wild took over while he wasn’t on the trapline for four years. Marty is trying to run 150 miles of trapline to make up for prior losses.

Marten pelt prices are up, and he’s happy to find and reset his traps on a long line before it gets dark again. Marty spots fresh wolverine tracks and sees he’s on his trapline and says it could be a lynx but he can tell by the gait it’s a wolverine.

Marty says wolverines are scavengers and a food source like a trapline will all be eaten up and can put him out of business. He snags a marten not long after he reset the traps and hopes the line will produce for him this year.

Marty stops at one of his favorite spots with a fantastic view. He says for 30 years, he’s the only human that’s been up there but a few years ago, a wolverine almost ate Marty out of business so he must trap the wolverine so he sets up a cubby.

You must have good bait and a heavy trap for an animal that big since wolverines weigh 50+ pounds. He sets the trap tight and Marty says getting the line set is crucial to him, so he can start catching fur. He opened this line more than 30 years ago and remarks on how fire ripped through the land.

Jake Harek vs. the wolves

In the Tobacco Root Mountains of Montana, it’s Mountain Men lion hunting time. Jake Harek is out with his trusty dogs chasing the big tomcat. They pushed it seven miles then wolves got too close and Jake hopes to find the cat again and keep pushing it.

The walker hounds pick up the scent but Henry breaks off from the other dogs and Jake wonders what’s up and chases Henry. Jake says Henry always takes off on a second scent when one shows up and he hopes they’re pushing two cats off the herds.

He races through the snow, worried about Henry who is alone and might be in danger. Henry has a bobcat cornered and it looks like a fight is brewing. Henry barks and Jake yells and encourages the dog to tree the cat and bays at the hissing cat.

Jake praises him but spots a couple of scratches from the bobcat and pulls him away then looses him to chase the mountain lion. Jake finds the three dogs, Clutch, Henry, and Marlene have cornered the lion and treed it as Jake spots the tail up high.

It’s the same young tom he’s been tracking. Jake tries to keep track of each lion he sees so he’ll know it for next time. They pushed it almost 12 miles away from the ranch and he’s satisfied so Jake hopes this will help build his reputation because he takes his job seriously.

That’s it for Mountain Men S07 E4 Fight or Flight. Check back with Soap Dirt soon for more Mountain Men news and recaps.