Original subtitles

The beautiful backcountry of Montana

is an adventure lover's paradise.

From the towering mountains to the flowing expanse

of golden prairies, this wilderness

can be enjoyed in many ways, yet nothing

is more classic than to explore it on horseback.

Today we are on location visiting

the Ranches at Belt Creek.

What's going on, Coyote pack?

Today we are on location in Belt, Montana.

So today, we're here with Mark Hawn,

and we're going to head out into the ranch, aren't we?

Yeah.

So we're getting ready to head out on 7,000 acres

of pristine Montana wilderness.

Heading down into a dry Canyon up to the mountain tops

is going to be absolutely beautiful.

And we're going on the horses, right?

Yes.

Riding on horses through the ranches at Belt Creek.

OK.

Well, if you guys are ready, I know the crew and I are ready,

let's saddle up and head out there.

The overall goal of this adventure,

aside from admiring the beautiful expanse

of this landscape, is to ride the horses out

through the valleys and up onto a vista, where we can

capture some epic drone shots.

But before we can head out, first, let's meet our horses.

This is Sonny.

Hi, buddy.

That's a good-looking horse right there.

Hey, how are you?

This expedition into the wilds of Montana

will be led by Jenny Hennes, who has spent her entire life

training and riding horses.

All right, guys.

We are heading out to ride some horses today.

Now, Jenny, this is Dorito.

Correct.

And this is the horse I'll be riding.

This is your horse.

Yes!

I love paint horses.

All right, I'm going to actually climb up onto the horse now.

Is it OK to mount?

Go for it.

Here we go.

You guys ready?

Let's see it.

Oh, boy.

Very graceful. - That's right.

Ready to go.

You've done this before.

I was actually an extra in "Dances with Wolves."

That's not true.

All right.

Is that true, Mario?

Absolutely not.

Saddle up, cowboys. I'll wait for you.

- All right. - Are we going to race?

No lone riders out here.

I don't think we're supposed to race, Mario.

Hey, Dorito.

How's it going, buddy?

What's the horse's name, Mario?

His name is Dorito. Dorito?

Yeah. Hi, Doritos.

Cool ranch Dorito. Oh.

I see what you did there.

Yeah.

Coolest horse in the herd.

All right, guys.

I'm putting on my sunglasses.

True cowboy style.

Here we go.

I don't think cowboys had sunglasses.

Well, they do now.

All right, boys.

Well, you better saddle up. Ready, Mario?

Ready. All right, let's go.

Let's mount up.

Here we go. Thank you, Mario, for my camera.

Thanks for that.

Good luck, buddy. All right.

We'll see you on the trail.

See you.

Nice to meet you, Dusty.

And how is he? - He's great.

He's great?

Trustworthy.

All right, trustworthy.

And could leave everyone in my dust, right?

I don't know if he leaves people in the dust

or if he gets left in the dust.

I'm not sure where his name comes from.

Ryan, how are you doing?

I'm going. - All right.

We got Ryan out here today.

He's one of the "Brave Wilderness" editors.

Off trail. Off trail!

Horseback riding, isn't it?

First time.

First time, off trail already.

Sonny got a carrot over here.

Sonny.

Oh, Sonny.

Oh, boy.

Just pass by me.

OK.

Beautiful, Sonny.

Beautiful.

Sonny likes the grass.

Beautiful.

All right, stop.

All right, guys.

We are headed down into the canyon right now.

What's really cool is this little dog here running with us,

that's Busy.

And Busy pretty much runs the show around here.

Keeps all the bears away.

Dorito, Dusty, and Blackjack are all highly trained

thoroughbred horses, and they are

known for their agility, speed, and high-spirited personalities.

And it didn't take us long to realize

that each of these horses definitely

had their own personalities.

Why are we going down here?

Blackjack, no.

Whoa-oh.

That's like first-person perspective right there.

If you guys are watching, this is exactly what

it feels like to trot.

Check this out.

Here we go.

Good girl.

Woo!

Yup.

Very bouncy shot right there.

How's it going, Coyote? Good.

How's Dusty doing?

Dusty is doing great.

How are we looking, Jenny?

Looking good. So far, so good.

We've made it partway down into the canyon.

Dusty, how are you feeling?

How about you, Dorito?

Good horse, huh?

Dorito is doing an awesome job.

I just finished giving the audience a first-person

perspective in trotting.

Whoa!

It's a bit of a bouncy shot.

It is bouncy.

He's got the gimbal. - How's it going, guys?

Going good.

Gimbal is working well on this horse.

Nice. All right.

See you later, guys.

Forward ho.

How's it going, Mark?

Going good.

Three amigos with GoPros.

Having a good time on the trail.

flies, looking for bears.

Whoa!

Strike zone.

Riding horseback out in the backcountry of Montana

doesn't get much better than this.

Isn't that right, Blackjack?

He said yeah.

It's pretty cool to be out here in Montana on horses.

And I can just imagine what it was like back 100 years ago

when people were coming across the prairie,

settling some of these lands and just

experiencing this wilderness for the first time.

Pretty cool.

Woo!

Look at that view!

Wow!

Big sky Montana!

We made it.

Yes!

What an epic ride, huh, guys?

- Yeah. - That was incredible.

Good boy, Blackjack.

Certainly was.

Exploring through the canyons and finally making it

to this plateau, which looks like the perfect place

to fly the drone.

I think that sounds about right.

Why don't we get the bird out, get some epic shots?

That sounds good to me.

All right, guys.

How about an intro?

Let's do it.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

I'm Mario Aldecoa.

And I'm Mark Vins.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see you on the next location.

All right!

Woo!

All right, let's turn her on.

Here we go.

Yeah.

It's a beautiful morning here in the Brazilian Pantanal.

Today, we're heading out on the Cuiaba River.

This protected habitat is known for its high concentration

of jaguars, one of the world's largest cat species.

I'm going to be working alongside Abbie Martin.

Abbie is the founder and president

of the Jaguar ID Project.

And over the past decade, she has been cataloging

these incredible cats.

She's not only giving them names and collecting their stats,

but she's creating a genealogy family tree.

To this point, she has documented over 300

of these beautiful felines.

So with any luck, we are going to see some beautiful cats,

get some epic shots, and learn all about the work

that Abbie's doing.

These big cats are the true kings and queens

of this Brazilian wilderness.

And the moment you catch sight of one,

their mystique captures you in a way that never lets go.

This is the closest we have been to a jaguar yet.

We've got two of them right down at the water drinking.

Wow!

Beautiful.

It never gets old seeing jaguars, does it?

No.

She's getting up.

Over the past quarter century,

the Northern Pantanal specifically

has become famous for its high concentration of jaguars.

Once upon a time, cats in this area

were heavily hunted for the fur trade.

Many others were killed by farmers who saw them as a threat

to livestock in what is commonly known

as the jaguar-cattle conflict.

But the good news is that this population

is currently flourishing.

And now, people travel from all around the world

to admire, film, and photograph these cats,

as local communities recognize that a living jaguar is far

more valuable than a dead one.

Amazing morning so far.

This is our second jaguar sighting.

And right now, the lighting is really nice.

We actually haven't really seen jaguars on the sand bank

that often.

That's a cool shot right there.

Coming right up to the water's edge.

So, the unique markings that I look for on Patricia

is this L that kind of frames her eye there.

And on her left, right where, like about where her heart

would be, there's almost a rosette pattern

that looks like a heart.

So what's super cool is Patricia

is Abbie's favorite cat.

Patricia is the logo for the Jaguar ID Project.

So this is so cool that we are filming the cat that

is literally the symbol of the Jaguar ID Project on the day

that we're actually filming with Abbie.

How crazy is that?

That was awesome.

That was the first time they've ever walked towards the camera.

So we got head-on shots.

You pressed record, right?

Oh, no.

Yeah, we did.

To capture the best cinematography of jaguars

in action, Trent and Mario spent months building, testing,

and ultimately rigging a camera and gimbal

system that was designed specifically

to the specs of this boat.

These will be our beauty shots.

Patricia is very slowly slinking through the water hyacinths

and the taller grasses.

Abbie said she's in hunting mode.

The way you can tell is their shoulders become hunched

and they stick closer to the ground

just like you might see your own cat doing as it stalks,

you know, a little laser pointer in your family room.

This is a much different scenario though.

This cat's looking for caiman.

Our boat driver is saying that she

wants to cross the river.

Oh, the boats have given her enough space now.

Hopefully, she's going to make it all the way across.

These cats are incredible swimmers.

The jaguar is the most aquatic-oriented

big cat on the planet.

The speed at which she can move across the river is--

it's crazy.

This cat is just zooming.

Yeah, it's definitely actively hunting.

She's entered the reeds now, which is, you know,

where the caimans hide.

So, we'll see what happens in the next few minutes.

She's coming right into view.

We find ourselves fixed right in the middle of a full on jaguar

hunt.

That was an attempt right there.

That was awesome.

Jaguars are considered super apex predators.

And aside from their grappling retractable claws,

their primary weapons of choice are

kept hidden within their skull.

Robust and relatively short by design,

it is densely packed with muscle,

providing them one of the strongest

bite forces of any cat species.

But their teeth, those will send chills down your spine right

before they snap it.

Specifically designed for penetrating the thick hide

and scales of prey items like caiman,

just a single bite is powerful enough

to crush the back of a skull, or sever

the spinal column, rendering their victim

completely helpless.

When it comes to being an effective killer,

nothing in the mammalian kingdom is more lethal than a jaguar.

One way that we're able to keep an eye on the cat

without physically seeing her is just

watching the movement of the grasses,

which are much taller than she is,

and also the flight of birds.

Because the birds are the first alarm

sign that a cat is in the area.

OK.

So the jaguars decided to forge the river.

It is swimming from one embankment to the other.

It's a very wide stretch.

We're just giving her lots of space so we don't spook her.

And she's going to try to hunt this other shoreline

where, hopefully, there will be some better options for food.

Oh, she missed.

Oh, so close.

My heart's racing.

Ugh.

Abbie, how did she miss that one?

You saw how she kind of like

was trying to grab with her hands?

Yeah.

Sometimes they get a hold and they

just get a hold of their mouth and just

start rolling in the water.

But it's escaped again.

What a close call.

So Abbie, we're getting into another cat's

territory, Estela's, who we saw last night.

Will she hunt in Estela's territory?

Yeah, yeah.

She'll continue to hunt here.

If Estela feels like she's going to get too close to her kill,

there could be a cat fight.

Wait a second.

Estela caught a caiman last night?

Yes, she did.

And wouldn't you know it?

We just missed it.

We have been watching her sleep for several hours,

but chose to go down river to film

a couple drone shots since she didn't seem very active.

Then all of a sudden, a call came over the radio waves

and boats began rushing to the area where we left Estela.

And as we arrived, the last thing we saw

was her pulling a caiman up the embankment and out of sight.

Ugh!

Talk about frustrating.

We missed a hunting behavior.

We missed a jaguar catching a caiman.

We had the opportunity for the shot.

We had it.

It's unfortunate, but it is what it is.

We got to move on and we'll find a way to get the shot,

and that's the nature of what it is.

I imagine that these two have already encountered before,

like their territories overlap.

But when food's involved, it's a different story, you know, so--

We'll see what happens.

Well, we lost the cat.

Patricia disappeared up over a hill and deeper into the jungle,

and we have not seen her for about 20 minutes now.

The good news is that all the boats are gone.

We are the only boat out here now,

and we got the closest we have been to filming

a jaguar catching a caiman.

She literally had her paw on the front of the reptile.

But unfortunately, it thrashed, got away,

and she remains hungry, just as we remain hungry for capturing

this amazing shot.

We are all so busy trying to fight for the life

that we want that most of us never take the time to slow down

and appreciate the very moment we are living in.

The jaguar lives and dies by its daily moments.

There are no opinions, no influences,

no regrets for being anything other

than exactly what they are--

perfectly designed survival machines.

Unfortunately, we never reconnected with Patricia.

But two days after our departure from the Pantanal,

our friend and wildlife photographer, Marlon du Toit,

witnessed Patricia finally catching a caiman.

Jaguars can sometimes go days without having a meal.

It's all about being in the right place at the right time.

And when it comes to filming a kill shot,

the exact same philosophy applies.

What an amazing experience getting

to explore the Brazilian Pantanal for seven

straight days, filming its most celebrated apex predator,

the jaguar.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see you on the next adventure.