I have really enjoyed picking my buddy's brain who was on Season 9 in Labrador about all the behind-the-scenes stuff. A few random things I found interesting:
- As far as remoteness, they aren't more than a handful of miles from a big lodge where all the crew stays. Makes sense. They have to be close and there are a lot of folks that put these shows together: producers, techies, medic/health advisors, cooks, etc., etc.
- Rarity of big game kills, where legal, is due to a couple things: 1. "safety assessors" go through each area beforehand to make sure it is safe and everyone is on equal footing, which essentially pushes a lot of the big game off from the beginning; 2. planes going to the aforementioned nearby lodge, bringing everything from supplies to other guests, are frequently buzzing low overhead. During his time there, they were doing the show "Frozen" based out of the same lodge.
- The restrictions drive them all crazy (you can shoot a beaver, but can't trap them; and on and on). They keep very close track of food caught on camera, calories, weight, etc. to help verify you're not cheating.
- They have a strict diet system once you tap to get you back healthy before sending you home. I think my buddy said 900 calories/day to begin, then adding 100 calories each day thereafter. He was there 12 weeks total: 2 week boot camp, 6 weeks doing the thing, 4 weeks recovering.
- Every contestant does a serious fattening up regiment beforehand. They all know it's half bushcraft/hunting/trapping/gathering and half a starvation contest. Unfortunately for my friend, he gained 20 lbs, but got Covid real bad 2 weeks before and lost 14 of it.
- Medications: you can bring your normal prescriptions, inhalers, etc.
Anyway, just some random things.
