Mountain Men Season 14: Premiere Date, Tom Oar’s Emotional Farewell, Returning Legends, and Meet Newcomers Chance & Soraya Painter

On August 4, 2025, the History Channel made it official: Mountain Men Season 14 premieres Wednesday, September 3, 2025, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. For fans, the date alone was enough to start counting down, but the announcement came with a headline that shook the core of the fanbase—Tom Oar, the last original cast member from the debut season in 2012, will make his final appearance as a regular. The news instantly rippled through social media groups, online forums, and fan pages, sparking both excitement for the new season and nostalgia for the man who became the face of the series. By locking in the date and dropping the retirement news in one go, the network guaranteed Season 14 would launch with both anticipation and emotion riding high.

Tom Oar’s Final Season

At 82, Tom Oar still holds his ground in Montana’s Yaak River Valley, where he and Nancy live in the hand-built log home that has sheltered them for decades. His daily rhythm remains true to the old ways—brain‑tanning hides, sewing buckskins, tending traplines, and splitting wood before the long winter sets in. But in Season 14, the focus shifts subtly; the camera follows him not just in his work, but in a season of quiet closure—reinforcing cabin walls, stacking the woodshed high, and passing on his lifetime of hard-earned skills. Then comes the moment from the Season 14 teaser that feels like both a confession and a farewell, his voice steady yet tinged with finality: “It’s hard to quit anything that you really like to do.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 𓆝 𓆟 Ivy O’Guinn𓆟 𓆞 (@ivyo)

It’s a sentiment that resonates even more when you look back at Season 13, which unfolded almost like a carefully crafted prologue to this goodbye. In “Apex Predator”, Tom joined friends Sean and 11‑year‑old Hank McAfee for a beaver‑trapping expedition on Montana’s Kootenai River. From the vantage of a drift boat, he guided Hank through spotting active lodges, setting both foothold and Conibear traps, and using scent glands for bait—lessons that paid off with three beavers, two weighing nearly 40 pounds. In “Chasing the Ghost”, Tom ventured deep into the backcountry with wolf specialist Paul Antczak, sharing his clean‑skinning method for beaver hides and helping secure a rare, large male wolf.

In “Depth Charge”, Tom and Nancy put their craftsmanship to work for a cause, creating a custom elk‑leg hunting bag and beaver‑tooth necklace for a local cancer charity auction—items that blended meticulous tanning, beadwork, and sewing. “Endurance” saw Tom team up with his brother Jack to carve a peace pipe from catlinite stone, pair it with a sumac stem, and finish it with a quill‑decorated otter‑skin pipe bag made by Jack’s wife, Connie. The result was a museum‑quality heirloom rooted in Native American tradition. For the finale, “The Finish Line”, Tom and longtime friend Will Stringfellow restored a rare elk‑hide Cheyenne‑style teepee, cutting lodgepole pine for missing poles and raising it to full height before capping the day with tomahawk throwing. These moments painted the portrait of a man whose skills, generosity, and spirit have defined Mountain Men from the very start, making his Season 14 exit all the more profound.

Who’s Returning and What They’re Up To (Season 14)

The returning cast aren’t just repeating old routines—each has a new challenge to conquer:

• Marty Meierotto swaps solo trapping for teaching, taking his daughter Noah on a bush-plane run into remote caribou country and guiding her through her first landing in rough terrain.
• Mike Horstman attempts to haul a 50-foot steel gangway across Kodiak Island’s brutal coastline to anchor his homestead’s access point.
• Bret Bohn & Ivy O’Guinn battle a relentless brown bear determined to strip their salmon nets—a direct threat to their winter survival.
• Lauro Eklund and Neil navigate narrow, freezing river channels by boat in pursuit of moose before ice seals off their hunting grounds.
• Jake Herak rides out with his dogs and horses to track mountain lions stalking local livestock.
• Paul Antczak draws on his wilderness background to tackle unfamiliar terrain and survival tests.

Newcomers — Chance and Soraya Painter

Season 14 introduces Chance and Soraya Painter, both 28, who have traded modern convenience for a life of self-reliance in the Alaskan bush. Raising three small children in such a remote environment means their days are a mix of rugged labor and family milestones. In their May 13, 2025 YouTube update, Chance is seen clearing ground for a new garden, staking out its borders with pink tape while children’s toys scatter the yard—a sign of the balancing act between homestead duties and parenthood.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Chance & Soraya Painter (@graywolfandpack)

The Painters’ property backs onto four miles of state land, giving them what feels like their own endless backyard to hunt, forage, and explore without encountering another person. But this remote paradise comes with challenges: meltwater pools, marshy ground, and drainage channels that can bog down vehicles—Chance admits to getting stuck just days before filming the update. Daily chores include hauling hay by hand from the trailhead until spring “green-up” allows truck access.

Life here is tied to the rhythms of nature and livestock. The Painters care for a growing flock of sheep, recently welcoming new lambs—one swaddled in a tiny sweater for warmth. Amid these chores, they celebrated the birth of their third son, wrapping him in a brain‑tanned beaver hide they trapped and tanned themselves. Even birthdays become part of the homestead story: Chance built a sandbox for one of their children, disguising it as a garden bed until the surprise reveal. Their journey blends hard-earned survival skills with the intimate, unpolished reality of raising a young family far from the conveniences most take for granted.

Why Season 14 Feels Different

This isn’t just another season—it’s a generational handoff. Tom’s exit closes a chapter that began when Mountain Men first aired, while the Painters’ arrival opens a new one filled with uncertainty, trial, and discovery. The mix of seasoned grit and raw, untested determination promises a season where every storyline matters, every challenge carries real stakes, and every viewer will be drawn deeper into the lives of those who choose to live on the edge of civilization.