The Real Yellowstone: A Documentary Worth Watching

So, you know about the TV show, Yellowstone! Cowboys, drama, pretty landscapes, and more plot twists than a US Forest Service road. But let’s face it for a minute. Life here is not quite the way “The Duttons” portrayed the Montana ranch life.

And then there’s The Real Yellowstone, Shepherds of Wildlife’s new documentary, which tells that story the way that story deserves to be told. No actors. No fancy editing. Just real Montana ranchers talking about what life out here is like.

This is not some slick Hollywood production. It’s rural families making a living off the land, confronting familiar real-life challenges as diverse as predators, land development, but also working hard to keep a ranching way of life in the current economy. They are out there, clocking long hours, raising cows, and doing everything they can to protect the way of life they’ve built over generations.

The movie pulls no punches. It demonstrates the conflict between environmentalists and livelihood. It shows what it is like to lose animals to wolves. It’s a story of what happens when it comes to families who have been pushed off land they’ve owned for generations.

If you’re tired of the cowboy soap opera version of Montana, check this out. It’s honest. It’s local. And it’s something that a lot of people around here care about.

You can watch The Real Yellowstone online on Shepherdsofwildlife. org/therealyellowstone.

Because if anyone is going to tell the story of Montana, it should be the people who live here.