All language subtitles for Yellowstone.Wardens.S06E08.1080p.WEB.h264-FREQUENCY[EZTVx.to]_[English] (SUBRIP)

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator]
Montana, a sprawling
outdoorsman's Eden

with ice-covered peaks
and unspoiled wilderness.

Patrolling and protecting
these natural resources

is a first-class band
of peace officers.

These are the wardens,

dedicated to the preservation
of the last best place.

[Joe R] And I'm trying to get
these guys off flying more.

I think we could utilize
these aircrafts

for law enforcement things

a lot more often than we are.

-[man] Drill?
-[Ed] Oh, I'm pissed

-over this [bleep].
-[Jeff] Oh, well.

[Ed] You get that camera out
of my face, cowboy.

Hey, you just calm down
a little bit, okay?

Just calm down.

[man] Team down on the west
side of the road,

there's a black bear that's
roaming around down there.

[Bryan] We hopefully have
got a mechanic to fix it.

But I've had
this happen before,

it seems like what does
go wrong will go wrong

when you're needed, you know?

[warden] Let's grab the girl.

-She's hurting.
-Would you...

Would you mind blowing
in a PBT for me real quick?

[warden] So there's a hundred
and thirty-one boats
upriver still.

[yells]

-Are you good?
-Grab on here,

we'll pull you over.

They're done.

That's an aluminum boat.

They're done.

There they go.

[theme music playing]

[Joe R] My dream job is flying

for the Fish,
Wildlife and Parks,

doing wildlife research

and flying for
the Fish, Wildlife and Parks,

especially in Montana.

Montana is home for me.

And I'm trying to get
these guys all flying more.

I think we could utilize
these aircrafts

for law enforcement things

a lot more often than we are.

We do a lot of fishery work,

but these helicopters

have proven their weight

in the Fish,
Wildlife and Parks.

[narrator] The state
of Montana has just purchased

several tracks
of private land

using natural
resource damage money.

With state-owned sections
already checkerboarded

throughout the area,
it was easy to form

the new Spotted Dog Wildlife
Management Area.

Spotted Dog is a newly
purchased piece of ground

and the wardens wanna
get kind of a lay

of the ground,

so to speak,
so they can figure out

where they might need
to concentrate their forces.

There's not very many
wardens in this...

In this state
and I think Spotted Dog

is going to be a major
hunting spot,

I think, on opening day.

So I think the wardens
are gonna want

to kind of figure out
where to be

and where the elk are

is where they're probably
gonna wanna be.

[narrator]
Operation Spotted Dog

takes place 80 miles
southeast of Missoula

near Deer Lodge, Montana
in Region 2.

Well, the reason we're gonna
fly today is Joe Kambic

is the new game warden
in Deer Lodge

and he hasn't had time
to learn his new district,

so the quickest way
to do that

is to put a bird in the air

and see what we got
for elk numbers

on our new game range

and it'll help Joe out
a lot on knowing

where to be on opening day.

That's the main reason
for flying today.

[narrator] Warden Mike Fagley
flies with Pilot Joe Rahn

while Captain Darrah
drives to Deer Lodge

where he meets up
with Warden Kambic

and the chopper
at the local airport.

[Joe K] So I just dropped Mike
off up on the eastern...

Or the western fringe
of Spotted Dog.

And there,
we saw probably all 300 elk

in scattered groups

and one monster bowl,

-one monster bowl, 350.
-Wow.

What we're trying to do
is figure out,

you know,
from these entrances

that we have on the map
where we wanna be.

And it sounds like
this is a spot to be.

[narrator]
Once a plan is in place,

Wardens Darrah and Kambic

head to the Spotted Dog
Wildlife Management Area

with Pilot Joe Rahn.

[upbeat music playing]

[Jeff] As we stated, this is
a brand new game range,

and we have
certain access points

where the hunters
can access it.

And the flying today
is twofold

to benefit
our new warden, Joe,

and also to benefit
the rest of us

that are gonna help him
to try to figure out

where the elk are

and where the hunters
are gonna be.

[Joe R] I actually started
flying fixed wing.

I paid for lessons
which got expensive,

so I joined the Army.
The Army's...

The Army's really how I got
started flying commercially.

I flew airplanes
throughout Montana

with my private
pilot's license

until I found out that,

you know, this is really
what I wanna do for a living.

And to go on
and get the commercial rating

was cost-prohibitive

so I went...
That's when I joined...

Well, I actually went down
the recruiter

to join the Army.

And then I went to Alaska
to work on a fishing boat

to pay off my flight bills
after college.

And while I was in Alaska,

it's when the recruiter
called and said,

"Hey, you've been accepted

to the military
flight school,

the Army flight school,

warrant officer program."

So I flew for the airlines,
I flew for the hospital,

and I flew, you know,
Part 135 air taxi,

helicopters,
and little airplanes,

I flew Cherokees for PenAir.

So I flew off
of Mount McKinley,

I flew tours
in Denali National Park.

I flew for... I flew
in the bush

for outfitters, hunters,

bear hunters,
just little airplanes

for another outfit.

I flew search
and rescue actually,

it was for the hospital,

Anchorage Hospital,

Providence Hospital.

I flew up
the roof of Providence,

air ambulance,

picking up people
that got attacked by bears,

you know, airplane accident.

Well, the whole time
I was building up experience

to do exactly this job,

flying airplanes
and helicopters

for the Montana
Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

At the time,
it was Fish and Game.

The whole idea of flying
latched itself onto me

when I was about probably
six years old

watching Wild Kingdom.

I remember
the episode exactly.

They were... They were
tracking polar bears

in the Arctic

and they were flying
helicopters and darting it.

Remember that guy Jim

used to jump out
of that helicopter?

Well, I couldn't decide

whether I wanted to be Jim
or the pilot.

[narrator] Having found out
where most of the elk
were located,

Region 2 wardens
were ready for opening day.

[Jeff] The flight indicated
that we have

300 to 400 head of elk

on the game range

and we know where they're at

and now we know where to be,

so we've got a plan.

Ah, it's opening morning,

general big game season
here in Montana.

We're on the brand new

Spotted Dog Wildlife
Management Area.

New purchase by the agency,

it's about 30,000 acres
and it's new to everybody,

including the hunters
and myself.

So we're seeing some hunters
spread out here.

We kind of scouted
the area the last few days

and there are a lot
of elk in the area.

Wow.

It's about 10 minutes past
opening shooting light

and haven't heard a shot yet,
but that's gonna come.

They're just taking a little
while to find them.

-[gunshot]
-[Jeff] There we go.

Oh, it's three minutes off.

7:48.

Ain't this something?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Where's the other parking
area?

Right over the end there?

No, this is... This is...

This is one right here.

And then back behind over
where the towers are there...

-[man] Yeah.
-there's one there.

And then there's one way over.

-Way over?
-Yeah, it's called Jade Creek.

[man] Yeah, well,
that's where my son and I

-are supposed to be.
-Oh, okay.

We're way over, almost next
to Mosier's over there.

[Jeff] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

-Well, I heard a few shots.
-[man] Oh, did you?

Yeah, we heard, I think,
about four shots that way.

Maybe I better
pull the gun down, huh?

Yeah, maybe, yeah.

[laughter]

[narrator]
While the cowboys saddle up

and get ready
to round up cattle,

Captain Darrah moves down
the road

to check a few hunters.

[Jeff] 2-1, I gotta be out
checking some hunters here.

[man] [indistinct]

[Jeff] 10-4.

Hey, guys. What'd you get?

-[man] [indistinct]
-[Jeff] Oh, that's what it is.

I couldn't tell...
I thought it had a white belly

on it and I said, "What?"

[man] It's the fattest, little
shortest thing I've ever seen.

[Jeff] Huh.

[man] Almost size of a dog.

[Jeff] I saw...

I saw...
I saw that white belly.

I'm like,
"Did you shoot an antelope?"

-[laughter]
-[man] Saw an antelope, but.

[Jeff] You... Did you?

-Yeah.
-[Jeff] Oh, good.

You see any elk down in there?

I didn't.

I saw some cows.

[Jeff] Some cows. Uh-huh.

Cool.

Make a neat picture.

-Yeah.
-[laughter]

-[man] Yeah.
-[Jeff] All right.

[narrator] 85 miles
to the northeast

near Wolf Creek, Montana

in Region 4,

Warden Bryan Golie has an eye

on a few hunters
already with game down.

[Bryan]
That's a nice buck, that one.

Where's your tag at?

[man 1] 803 Cherub, FG42.

[man 2] FG42.

You looking for one of us?

[man 1] I am. Somebody said

maybe close
to the Dearborn area.

I just got a phone call
reported on the...

Just outside 244,

Exit 244 and I-15

there on the west side
of the road.

There's a black bear

that's roaming around
down there.

[indistinct radio chatter]

How's it going?

[Bryan]
Oh, they're just calling me.

Looks like you got
a few anyway, huh?

Just make sure
everything's legal, right?

-Everything's legal.
-Cool.

I figured it was.

I'm just giving you grief.

Okay, you guys,
have a good day.

[narrator]
After checking these hunters,

Warden Golie responds
to the bear call.

If it becomes a problem,
just call me back.

[man] 10-4. Thank you, sir.

So, I mean,
a black bear causing problems?

It's...
I don't have any black bears

causing any problems
down there,

so I'm not sure
what's going on.

[theme music playing]

[narrator] It's opening day
of elk season in Montana,

and Warden Bryan Golie
is having little trouble

with the exhaust system
on his truck.

[Bryan] We hopefully have
got a mechanic to fix it,

but I've had this happen
before, similar incidents.

Seems like what does go
wrong will go wrong

when you're needed, you know.

Apparently,
we got it half fixed.

It's got a little leak in it,

but I guess it's good enough

for game wardens, right?

[narrator] 85 miles
to the southwest in Region 2

near Deer Lodge, Montana,

Captain Jeff Darrah
is responding to a call

of an elk that has been
harvested

in a hunting district,

and the hunter
does not have proper tags.

And what we have here
right now

that we're gonna deal with
in a little bit

are two young men

who killed cow elk
with the permit

that's good for this district
on the map

and they killed him over here

in what they call Bielenberg.

Captain doesn't write
enough citations

like the other guys,

so he's gotta get out

and take a look at it.

There we go.

Here's the section in the bond
schedule that we have,

and this is a section of law,

and to kill an animal

in the wrong district,

which is probably what I'll
cite these gentlemen with.

Carries a bond of $135.

[man] 21, we split up
a little bit.

That first bunch looks like
it's getting close to you.

Right now, one of our
block management technicians

who has less law enforcement
authority than a game warden,

who he actually ran
into the violation,

is kind of ferrying
the bunch down here right now

and we're waiting
for him to show up.

It sounds like there's
a fairly large party of them,

maybe as many as four
or five vehicles altogether.

So they're probably
not gonna be happy to do this,

so we'll see
how their attitude is

and how they react

and what I believe
and what they tell me.

-Hey, guys.
-[man 1] How are ya?

-[man 2] How is it going?
-[Jeff] Good.

-How are you doing today?
-[Ed] I'm pissed.

[man] Well, we don't know yet.

-[Jeff] Why are you pissed?
-[Ed] I'm pissed.

[Jeff] You didn't get
your elk or what?

[Ed] No, I'm pissed
over this [bleep].

-[Jeff] Oh, well.
-[Ed] You get that camera

out of my face, cowboy.

Hey, you just calm down
a little bit, okay?

Just calm down.

At this point,
it's discretion on my part.

We haven't even introduced
ourselves together

-and you're already pissed.
-I'm Ed [bleep].

-Ed, I'm Jeff Darrah.
-[Ed] You're the new guy?

[Jeff] I'm not the new guy,
I'm the old guy.

-[Ed] Oh, you're the old guy?
-[Jeff] I'm the captain

-out of Missoula.
-[Ed] Okay.

Okay? Let's not be pissed,

-let's just talk.
-[man] I'm not pissed.

Okay.

[narrator]
Captain Darrah immediately

deescalates the situation

by the way he introduces
himself and body language.

-[man] Yeah.
-[Jeff] Okay.

Now let's do this
like gentlemen

and scholars like we all are,

-okay?
-[man] Okay.

[Jeff] Let's just one
or two people talk.

I don't need a whole bunch
of people talking

at the same time.

I'm not here to railroad you

or screw up your day.

We're just trying
to figure out what happened.

Okay.

[narrator]
After checking permits,

Darrah breaks out a map

and regulations
determining exactly

what portion of the district
the tags are valid for.

[upbeat music playing]

[Jeff] They were told

that they could hunt
in the Bielenberg

with the permit
that they had,

so we're gonna
talk about that

and I'm gonna see
if I believe that,

I guess, or not.

[man]
When I put in for that tag,

I called Fish and Game
headquarters, right?

-[Jeff] Okay. Okay.
-[man] And I don't know,

-a lady... I talked to a lady.
-[Jeff] Talked to a lady.

[man] But she should put me
to a guy that's usually there.

-[Jeff] Okay.
-[man] And she says,

"He'll know everything
you wanna know."

-[Jeff] Okay.
-[man] And I talked to him.

[Jeff]
We'll talk to him about it

and see whether
or not they did it.

If I feel like
they did actually call

and it did seem like
a misunderstanding,

uh, those kind of things
can happen to anybody.

I don't want [indistinct]
all of this.

[man] Yeah.

[Jeff] Mmm-hmm.

Okay.

Well, this is the situation

I'm in, um, as a game warden.

There's no way I can prove

that that phone call
took place.

You know, it's kind of...
it's kind of--

-[man] It's word against word.
-[Jeff] It's... Yeah, exactly.

-[man] I understand that.
-[Jeff] Uh, you know,

and if you didn't make
that phone call

and you went back
to Anaconda or wherever,

you know, and said, well,
we pulled one over on him.

[theme music playing]

[wind howling]

[theme music playing]

[narrator]
It's opening weekend

of the general big
game season,

and elk are the primary
target for hunters

in Western Montana.

While Warden Bryan Golie
spent his morning

at the muffler shop,

Region 2 Captain Jeff Darrah
has been dealing

with the hunting district
boundary clarification

and the use of tags

that are essentially
invalid for the district.

I guess the worst
case scenario here is

they could be cited for,
uh, unlawful elk

and, uh, have
their elk confiscated.

I'm not gonna take your elk

because I think
that there might be something

to what you're telling me,
but I can't prove it.

So what I'm gonna do is this.

I'm gonna write you

a commission rule
regulation citation.

-[man] What's that?
-It's a citation.

It's the smallest citation
I can write ya,

but it's basically saying

you shot this elk
in the wrong district.

-Okay?
-[man] Okay.

Now, what I could do
is take both elk

and write you
a thousand-dollar ticket.

-[man 1] Oh, yeah?
-[man 2] Oh, what?

So I'm gonna do that, okay?

Um, so what I'm gonna do is
I'm gonna let you keep the elk

and I'm gonna write you each

a commission regulation
ticket.

You don't... You don't lose
your privileges.

-[man] Okay.
-You don't have to pay
restitution.

The bond on it
usually is $135.

[man] Oh, that's a lot
better than the thousand.

So that's better
than a thousand.

So that's about as fair
as I can treat you.

This is relatively
a new regulation.

Um, I believe this is
the second year of it.

It used to all be one district

and it wasn't split in half,

but it has been split in half.

Granted sometimes
they're confusing

and, uh, what have you,
but it's like anything.

You have to know the rules.

Been advertised
and it's in the regulations,

so it's up to the hunter
or the sportsman

to, uh, to know
what the regulations are.

They're getting a pretty good
deal here.

They're getting
to keep their elk.

And they're pretty good guys,
hardworking guys.

Sure they're gonna eat
this elk.

So they hopefully won't make
this mistake again.

They have probably
a pretty good education

after here today.

-Hey, thanks, guys.
-[man] All right, man.

-Really, thanks a lot.
-I appreciate it.

[Jeff] You bet. You bet.

-Okay?
-[man 1] Okay.

You can come on down
and visit us sometime.

-[Jeff] All right.
-[man 2] Okay.

Thanks, guys.
Uh, it was an accident.

Uh, several of them were here.

It's fairly obvious that,
uh, they were confused

on what the regulations were
and where they were.

They said they placed
a phone call in

and they thought
they had it figured out

and explained to them,
but it wasn't right.

And whether they just didn't
understand

or they, uh, weren't
told right, I don't know.

But, uh, let them keep
their elk.

I wrote them.

Uh, it was about the smallest
ticket I could write them,

and I think everybody
learned a lesson.

And they get to keep their
elk, and they're happy.

[narrator] Region 4
Warden Bryan Golie's day,

well, it started off
at the repair shop.

But now he's back on patrol.

Ready to roll?

-Indeed.
-[Bryan] Okay.

-You're out of here.
-[Bryan] Thank you very much.

You're most welcome.

We have some hunters
up here to check,

uh, on a piece of public land

and there are some elk
here close,

so we're gonna find out
where the elk are.

So, a nice bull, huh?

Yeah.

[Bryan]
Is this your first bull?

-Yes.
-[Bryan] Wow.

It's her first elk,
first anything.

-[woman] Yeah.
-[Bryan]
We're gonna go back to school

on Monday, show the boys

how it was done,

you get pictures and all that.

So that way you can say
the game warden checked you

and everything was perfect.

There's nothing.

No, no, I'll pay for that one.

Yeah, that's a nice one.

Very nice.

I didn't think there
was any left up there,

to be honest with you.

[man] I was surprised
to see him right there.

Been thankful, huh?

Okay.

I like checking tags

because this is the first
thing I checked all day.

It's really been kind
of boring.

Nice job.

This is my first elk ever.

I don't know,
you call that a point?

I would. It's over an inch.

Six, seven.

So seven by six myself.

-[Bryan] Not bad?
-[man] Not bad at all.

Well, today's been very slow
for an opener.

I've seen some, actually some
really nice bull elk,

a few nice deer,

but by and large
it's very slow.

Um, and I don't know
if it's the weather

or it's just the new...
It's a new opener on Saturday.

May have people
a little goofed up,

but, uh, we'll see
if tomorrow is a busier day,

and I suspect it will be.

[narrator] In the shadows
of the crazy mountains,

the Yellowstone River

becomes a rainbow of color

during the Annual Boat
Float Weekend.

Launching jet boats,

wardens are prepared
for a crazy weekend.

[rock music playing]

[Paul] I guess the thing
I like about jet boats

is I like being able
to go shallow.

It's the only watercraft,

you know, outside of a raft

that you can get up
and down this river.

It's kind of a challenge
to work out

of, tough if you're
by yourself.

That's why we usually
partner up

because, you know,
the hard parts
on the jet boat

is not so much
running the river,

which can be difficult too,

but, you know,
stopping along shore,

that's typical
when we suck up gravel.

[narrator]
Operation Boat Float

takes place
in Central Montana

near Big Timber
on the Yellowstone River.

[Paul]
Unlike, uh, most motors,

there's no propeller
obviously,

and the way that they work,
it's got a grate down here

and an impeller,

and it works
like a giant vacuum.

And it sucks up water
through here

and it spins it around
this housing

and it actually narrows it
down so it's pressurized.

So it comes out of this hole
right there

and all it is shoot
a jet of water.

So there's no, you know,
moving parts down here,

there's no propeller
to catch on the rocks,

and this is what enables
us to go so shallow.

And this barely hangs

maybe an inch below
the bottom of the boat,

so, you know,
when you're planed out,

you're really only running
in about, geez, what?

Three to five inches of water,
something like that,

and it's the only kind of boat
where you can get up and down,

you know, really gravelly,
rocky rivers like this,

so they're a lot of fun,
a challenge to work at,

but a lot of fun.

Some of the things we'll be
looking for this weekend

is primarily water
safety contacts,

uh, ensuring that the rafters

and, you know, any vessel
that's, uh, being propelled

by a paddle basically,

a raft, a canoe, a kayak,

they all need to have
a life jacket,

personal flotation device.

How are we doing, guys?

-It's going well [indistinct]
-[Paul] It is.

-Um...
-Oh, no.

[Paul]
Hey, I'll tell you what,

we can see that you're not
using your trolling motor,

but I didn't see
a registration on this boat.

-Do you have it?
-We got the numbers in here

if you wanna see.
We'll take 'em out.

[Paul] Well, they need
to be attached to the boat.

-Oh, they're on a wire.
-[Paul] Because otherwise

we just stop everybody
because we can't tell.

But you have... You have had
this thing registered?

Yeah, open it up.

[Paul] All right.
Well, let's just see
the registration then

and you might have
to wait until later

to stick it on, but we'd like
to see it on tomorrow

-if you're gonna use the boat.
-[man] We'll stick it on
right now.

-[Paul] Okay.
-[man] It's got some clips
on it.

-[Paul] Oh, it does? Okay.
-[man] Yeah.

[man] There you go.

-Oh.
-It's got attachable.

-Yeah.
-[Paul] Okay.

-Yeah. I appreciate it.
-Yup.

[Paul] And there's a...
Is that permanent?

-[indistinct]
-[Paul] Is that permanent

registration sticker
on that placard right there?

-Yeah, it's on that one.
-[Paul] I saw the green.

-Okay.
-It's 11.

-[Paul] That's the one.
-Okay.

-All right.
-[Paul] All right.

-You guys got life jackets?
-No problem. Yeah.

-There's mine right there.
-[Paul] And are you
having fun?

-[indistinct chatter]
-[man] Indeed we are.

We're not having fun at all.
Are you having fun?

[indistinct chatter]

[Paul] No, we're doing okay.

Not as much fun for all
of you guys are doing,

but we're doing okay.

[man] Yeah. Yeah.

-[Paul] I'm not bored yet.
-Yeah.

-You're not bored yet?
-[Paul] No.

[man]
You got [indistinct] date?

-[man 1] Yeah.
-[man 2] Sweet.

[Paul] Good deal.

-[man] [indistinct]
-I'm permanent.

Yeah.

You're permanent?

-[Paul] You're semi-permanent.
-Yes, we are permanently

attached to the boat. Bye.

If you don't wear that,
that goes on my boat.

Yeah. Oh

-Really?
-Geez.

[woman] I love it.

[Paul] That was surprising.

I didn't expect him to pull
that out of the cooler.

[theme music playing]

[wind howling]

[theme music playing]

[narrator]
The Upper Yellowstone River

is known as a great trout
fishery

and is generally
a peaceful float.

Today, uh, it's a different
story.

As the Annual Boat Float
takes place,

it's a three-day event
starting in Livingston

and ending
in Laurel, Montana.

We'll be making
sure that people are,

you know,
safe and sober enough

to be driving
these motor vehicles,

particularly a little bit
later in the day

after they've had some time
to, you know,

have a few drinks

and the sun
kind of gets to them.

So we'll be doing some general
safety checks for that.

[narrator]
With exceptionally high water
for this time of year,

Warden Luepke and Fagone

head to a section
of the river

with big rapids,

knowing that a rescue
or assistance

might be around the corner.

Not far behind,
Warden Sergeant
Chris Anderson

and Justin Hawkaluk

will be joining in the action
here on the Yellowstone.

[man 1] 5-9 for 5-2.

[man 2] Go ahead.

[man 1] We're just gonna hang
by the drop river

probably out here.

You tell me that you kind
of move the drop here.

[man 2]
No, it's the perfect spot.

[upbeat music playing]

[man] That's about 10:30

and the mass of floaters
are putting on upriver,

probably a couple hundred
boats coming down.

It's a pretty good size
rapid right now

and the river is high
like this.

Last year when we were here,

uh, we had to do
some pretty fair

amount of search and rescue.

Um, a lot of rafts, you know,
people would be floating down

this river and rafts that
aren't equipped
for this river

and they'll flip over in this
and they'll need our help.

That's one
of the things we do.

A lot of people make it.
It's kind of a surprise.

There should be a whole
bunch of people coming down.

They can also lose a lot
of their equipment,

paddles, and life jackets

and, uh, beer cans,
tackle boxes,

the whole deal, you name it,
everything goes in the water.

It's a pretty
good place to sit

and wait for them to come
and watch them.

[narrator] Meanwhile,
150 miles to the southwest

in Region 7,
near Decker, Montana,

Warden Mike Krings
is on patrol

at the Tongue
River Reservoir.

This is Tongue River
Reservoir State Park,

um...

in the pretty, pretty
southeast corner of Montana.

It's a pretty good-sized
state park.

It's water-based.

It's right
on Tongue River Reservoir.

I don't know how big

Tongue River Reservoir
is exactly.

It's... As far as,
uh, surface acres

or surface feet
or anything like that,

it's about six miles long,

and the, um, average
is probably about
a half mile wide.

[narrator] Warden Krings has
come across a campfire

at an unauthorized site.

Good. I'm Mike,
I'm local, game warden.

Hey, nice to meet you.

-Brenner [indistinct]
-Brenner?

Nice to meet you, Brenner.

Um, we actually
don't allow fires

-at these sites so--
-[Brenner] Oh, okay.

[Mike] Yeah,
there's a sign right here

-that says, um, and I guess...
-Yeah.

the grass is starting
to hide it a little bit.

Um, you know,
no fires outside of...

Outside of camp rings
that we provide.

-Yeah.
-So all these sites

out of the main campgrounds
can't have fires.

-Okay. I actually...
-Okay.

-I did see your sign.
-Oh, okay.

I'm not gonna lie.

I was waiting
for it to burn down

and get some coals
and then I was gonna cook

a burger or two on it...

-Okay.
-on the coals.

That's what I was gonna do.

[Mike] Yeah.

If you wanna just toss the...

Toss the stuff
as it burned off

-and cook on the coals.
-[Brenner] Okay.

You know, let you go ahead
and do that.

[Brenner] Yeah. I'll grab a...

I'll grab something
and I'll put water on it

-and get it out when I'm done.
-Okay.

Yeah, just toss those...

Toss the burning ones
into the lake

and when you're done,

put it out real good
but no more fire snags.

-Brenner.
-Done.

-All right, nice to meet you.
-You too.

Some stuff is people
get tickets on and...

But we give out lots
of warning,

we give people
the benefit of the doubt

and a lot of times

and it just depends
on the situation.

That guy was real
upfront about it

and he was pretty cool
about it.

Not that big a deal.

[country music playing]

[narrator]
The Annual Boat Float

takes place in July
on the Yellowstone River

between Livingston
and Laurel, Montana.

Woo.

[soft music playing]

That search and rescue boat
from Sweet Grass County

that came up.

So there's a hundred
and thirty-one boats

upriver still.

[narrator] This raft comes
to rest on a submerged rock

right in front of Wardens
Anderson and Hawkaluk.

They move in to assist.

Yeah, that rock will kind of
end your day [laughs]

in one of these things.

[rock music playing]

[narrator]
With more rafts on the way,

the day, well, you could say
it could get interesting.

[Paul] So they just
keep coming.

Oh, that one was close.

That one was close.

[man] Oh.

[Paul] There she goes.
There's one.

Come on, let's go get her.

Let's do it.

We don't have to go in.

Don't have to jump in.

I'll just drag her.

You all right?

-I'm fine.
-Okay.

Actually gonna get
in the calm and flip it.

[Paul] That's okay.
You wanna just flip it over?

Yeah.

Thank you.

[Paul] You can get
back in it, okay?

-Oh, yeah.
-[Paul] Okay.

[man] There's another one
up there.

-What?
-[man] Actually,

there's another flipped over
up there.

[speaking indistinctly]

[Paul] What?

Oh.

[man] You need a paddle, Paul.

[Paul] It's right there.

See, her friends are coming.
Look.

I got it.

[Paul] You're gonna...
You guys get him to shore?

[indistinct chatter]

[Paul] There's a boating bag
right there.

[indistinct chatter]

[Paul] Oh, yeah, we did.

We had a couple of kayaks
and I didn't see a...

One inflatable kayak,
one hard kayak.

They just flipped.
They're not equipped

to take that rapid
and they flipped.

Lost a bunch of gear.

Didn't even have
life jackets on.

So the other fishing game unit
had to go

help them out downriver.

We did have the kind of
yellow one jet boat

that came up to help,
but they about jumped...

Bumped into us.

So hopefully they'll be
staying out of our way

and hoping just to pick up
garbage downriver.

That's good clean fun
right there if we're going.

Honestly,
only half of the people

that are going to be on here
in about two hours from now.

[soft upbeat music playing]

[narrator] Back at
the Tongue River Reservoir

near Decker, Montana,
Warden Mike Krings

is doing water safety
checks as well.

-Howdy.
-[man] How are you doing?

Good, how are you guys doing?

-[man] Good.
-Good.

Guys, I'm Mike,
I'm a local game warden.

Just doing
some water safety checks.

[woman] Okay.

Wanna make sure you guys
have enough life jackets on.

You can go ahead and turn
the boat motor off real quick.

You guys are good?

Okay. You guys are good.

[narrator] Everyone
has life jackets, but...

[Mike] I can see you guys...

I can see you guys have had
a little bit to drink.

Who's driving the boats?

[man] I am.
I haven't had anything.

[Mike]
You haven't had anything?

-Yeah.
-[Mike] Okay.

Would you take off
your glasses real quick?
I just wanna...

I just wanna take a look
and make sure

you haven't had anything
to drink at all.

[man] No.

How long you guys
have been on the water?

Three, two hours since noon.

Okay. Do you mind
just following my finger

for just a second?

[country music playing]

[narrator] Warden Mike Krings

is doing a water safety check

on the Tongue River
Reservoir.

And he's come across boaters
who have been doing

a little partying.

[laughter]

-[indistinct chatter]
-Okay.

Would you...
Would you mind blowing

-in a PBT for me real quick?
-I don't mind.

Okay. You don't...
You don't appear to be...

I... Right.

Okay. Overly intoxicated.

-Thank you.
-I just...

I just wanna make sure
we got sober drivers out here.

Oh, absolutely, yeah.
I got my brother coming in.

I'm not driving
the boat anymore.

[narrator] In Montana,
there's no recourse

for refusing a breath test
while boating.

And Krings
returns him to his boat,

checks he had a driver
and he's on his way.

They all seemed pretty good
and willing to cooperate.

And I wasn't picking up

that anybody was
really intoxicated.

[narrator]
Back at the Boat Float,

several rafts
have made the rapids

and are now spectating
as more boats are on the way.

[rock music playing]

[Paul] Watch this raft here,
the trampoline.

-Oh.
-[man] That made it.

[indistinct chatter]

[Paul] Yeah,
the big pool float made it.

We are trying to protect
a resource here,

which is the Yellowstone
River, of course,

so we'll certainly
be looking for littering.

That can be a problem.

A lot of people drinking beer
out of cans, of course,

and that tends to litter
as the day goes on, too,

so we'll definitely be real
careful to supervise on that

and catch some people
throwing some cans overboard.

[narrator] Not only
are people littering,

but also they're picking up
debris from wrecks.

[Paul] Oh, there's the stuff.

[indistinct chatter]

[Paul] There's a cooler.

Let's go get some garbage.

[indistinct chatter]

[Paul] Oh. Oh.

Oh, my gosh.

[narrator]
Springing into action,

Wardens Paul Luepke
and Derek Fagone

move in to assist
Anderson and Hawkaluk

with this cap-sized box.

[rock music playing]

[narrator]
While Anderson and Hawkaluk

take care of the pontoon,

our other wardens
get back in position

for the next one.

Moments later, this raft
looks like an accident

just waiting to happen.

[intense music playing]

[narrator] Our wardens
are back in action.

[Paul] Let's grab the girl,
she's hurt.

[boat engine revving]

[indistinct chatter]

Grab that rope.

[narrator]
Wardens Anderson and Hawkaluk

get to the people first,

so Luepke and Fagone

go for the raft
and other trash.

[indistinct chatter]

Just get the paddles
and the can.

You're good?

[indistinct chatter]

All right.
He's gonna make it ashore.

Get this...
Let's get this boat.

He's okay, he's okay.

[indistinct chatter]

-Woo.
-Woo.

[man] Gotta beat the heat.

-Woo.
-Let's go, guys.

[Paul] They're not worried
about the dog.

Those things can swim.

You got it, Fagone?

Here's some life jackets.

I can... I can get...
Probably get these.

[man] Yeah, buddy.

[woman] Woo.

[Paul] That looked like,

I think it was an inflatable
kayak, a two-person one.

There was a man
and a woman in there

and they flipped over
of course on the big raft

again, the...

Or the big...

The big rapid taking a raft

that's not really designed
for that much water.

Flipped over.

The woman had a cast
on her arm

and it didn't look like
she could swim real well.

She was fairly panicky.

And the water is so cold,

it'll just shock
the heck out of you

as soon as you fall in.

Luckily our other
fish and game unit,

our other boat was right there
and they just plucked her out.

It looks like they're just
dropping her off the shore

right by their boat.

We'll have to get
their lifejacket to them

at some point
but it's still...

It's still going on.

Wow.

[narrator] Hey, the day's
been filled with excitement

but this boat
just may take the cake.

[indistinct yelling]

[Derek] Oh.

[Paul] They're done.
That's an aluminum boat.

They're done.

There they go.

They're not gonna get
that boat off either.

[Derek] [indistinct]

[Paul] No way.

Get your net, Derek.

This is mostly
gonna be a net job.

[narrator]
Hawkaluk and Anderson

move in to help this boat.

Here you go.

[narrator]
While Luepke and Fagone

go after all the contents
of the cooler.

[intense music playing]

[chuckles]

[narrator] Luckily,
no one was injured.

The boaters
were transported to shore

and the wardens did make
a recovery on the boat.

You know, I was actually
pretty impressed

for a little while there

when they down
on the first rapids.

But those boats
get so full of...

Full of water and unstable.

A boat like that
has zero business

being on the river like that.

But that doesn't seem
to stop people.

So who knows?

[upbeat music playing]