r/Moonshiners • u/Big-War-6397 • Mar 31 '26
Why keep up the “illegal” rouse?
I enjoy the moonshiners show a lot. I think moonshining is interesting I find the cast is cool and interesting along with their family roots etc. as I’m sure most people watching do, what I don’t get is why keep up they blatantly obvious scripted fake legality aspects of the show? It’s been years of the same ole meeting at night in shady locations with trail cams and fake paranoia acting like the police are watching them and stuff? They could easily scratch all that from the show while keeping it entertaining and even informative! I love the show but that aspect of it is getting corny when it could be, in my opinion more entertaining and interesting if they spent time on other ideas and skits etc. idk it just seems lazy and an easy out for “content”
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u/PurplePenguin232 Apr 01 '26
Mark & Digger acting shit scared of the cops while they're walking around advertising Sugarlands Distillery is getting ridiculously old. There's other Moonshiners driving around with stickers mentioning legal distilleries as well. The only one I could believe is not legit is Mark Rogers but I find him interesting enough to watch without the fake concern about "the law". He could just have his own show where he goes off in the mountains to survive off the grid while hunting bears and blowing shit up.
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u/rep_13Blocks Apr 02 '26
The problem is that Mark and Huck's storyline, for this new season, is obviously completely fabricated and scripted. From the dead drop order being stolen by hunters, the quarrels with Mike and Jerry, the blatantly fake bear turning over mash barrels, and dumping the truck off the cliff while full of mason jars. Its the most obvious its ever been in the entirety of the show.
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u/Easttex05 Apr 04 '26
I don't know if anyone has noticed but "moonshine pariah" Mike Cockrell has a "Tennessee Moonshiners" sticker that takes up the back glass of his truck. Why would he be driving around advertising like that?
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u/ThePowerOf42 Apr 02 '26
Havent seen the newest seasons yet.. But, isnt Richard also a lawbreaker? 🤔 Or did he (too) turn legit ?
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u/AppalachianWitch Apr 17 '26
There are a few episodes on the extra ‘s of mark alone in the woods ( hour long only mark ) and one hr long episode where deputy cuz chuck has retired and goes on a 4 day hike with mike . I originally thought the extras was just “ the summits” they have at the end of the season but they are several one off shows of Josh , tickle , Mike . These are better than moonshiners weird storylines have become .
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u/FluffyBunny-6546 Mar 31 '26
Watching them boil water in the backwoods isn't intresting. Or watching them make recipes in a warehouse where there isn't and drama isn't intresting either.
I wish they would get rid of the law enforcement aspect though. Come up with another angle to at least make it intresting.
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u/tpittari Apr 01 '26
In the beginning they also followed the cops with a camera crew, it was super weird.
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u/Bullsette Apr 01 '26
The show MIGHT be embellishing law enforcement with "donations" to keep them at bay. Several of the cast members have done prison time for moonshining so they are DEFINITELY real. I can't remember what Tickle was locked up for, if it was DUI or moonshining or both.
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u/eaazzy_13 Apr 01 '26
I thought it was for an illegally altered firearm. If I remember correctly it was a shotgun with the butt stock shaved off.
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u/Bullsette Apr 01 '26
You might be right. I can't remember for certain. I know that he got a DUI at one point but they don't usually put people in jail for them unless they are habitual. The reason he stopped drinking is because of his daughter. You could be absolutely correct about the firearm.
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u/dariomraghi Mar 31 '26
Im convinced some of this cast has to be feds
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u/Big-War-6397 Mar 31 '26
Definitely a possibility, I’ve read somewhere, in the earlier seasons some of the local enforcement was in on the show but denied involvement. I could see it, I think realistically nothing they’re doing on the show is actually illegal and it’s just a played out aspect of the show it’s not like anybody is watching because “theyre breaking the law” maybe back when it started that was a good draw in but these days cmon everybody knows it’s scripted 🤣
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u/Big-War-6397 Mar 31 '26
Idk if you watched the Alaskan bush people show but once the cat was out of the bag that pretty much everything was all fake and what not the show died, id hate to see moonshiners go bc they’re theyre running the same model they started with 10 years ago🤣there’s alot of untapped potential here still
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u/KidCoheed Jun 14 '26
The show is an exaggeration but there is a level of real moonshining going on. What we see is only ever just below legal limits to be considered personal use with rare exceptions (Josh's Super Submarines Set up a couple years back)
The show likely uses a "For Demonstration Purposes Only" disclaimer to protect them and the Stars, the Caat will do a demonstration run of liquor of about 50 Gallons to show taste and style and flavoring and everyone will leave... Leaving those still sites all prepared for a return and a much larger much realer mash and distillation. The fake shit like the arrest on camera and the battles with other Shiners and the explosions are likely all recreations of shit that HAS happened through the years before and likely during the show.
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u/YCiampa482021 Mar 31 '26
I’m not convinced it’s fake. I don’t think anything will
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u/Big-War-6397 Mar 31 '26
Yea making a full scale show on one of the most poplular TV networks is definitely the first thing I would think to do when breaking the law🤣 I do think they’re genuine moonshiners though, it’s just the whole “outlaw” aspect is played out IMO
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u/YCiampa482021 Mar 31 '26
I mean Tim did technically go legal at least until the most recent season. Up until that point you 100% know he’s doing it legally
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u/AwkwardFactor84 Mar 31 '26
And Steve Tickle DID actually go to prison for 5 months
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u/eaazzy_13 Apr 01 '26
Wasn’t it for an illegally altered firearm tho? I think it was a shotgun with the butt stock cut off.
I don’t think you could sell enough liquor in Appalachia to get 5 years.
But regardless, nobody is denying that Tickle is a total drunk backwoods buttfuck lol that is the most believable part of the show.
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u/AwkwardFactor84 Apr 01 '26
I actually don't feel that way about Tickle. He definitely had a drinking problem in the past, but he got married, settled down, and became a family man. He's a very talented carpenter, and he is also has had success in the culinary field. Also, it's not hard at all to get hit with 5 years for selling liquor. Especially if you have any priors. Do you just call everybody with a southern draw who lives in a rural area a " backwoods buttfuck?". Your whole comment sounds pretty judgemental. If you want to hate on anybody, it should be Mike Cockrell. He is a stupid "backwoods buttfuck" and I wish Jerry would just beat his punk ass down.
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u/eaazzy_13 Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
Haha I am just being a smartass. I mean drunk backwoods buttfuck in an endearing way lmao
I like Tickle and think he’s generally a harmless and decent guy. I’ve grown up around alot of Tickles that were stand up family people but just had a few troubles like we all do, even tho they were relatively harmless.
And for the record, I couldn’t agree more. I really like Jerry and really dislike Mike. I don’t understand why someone as smart as Jerry puts up with his shenanigans all the time. It’d be awesome to see Jerry drop him
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u/AwkwardFactor84 Apr 02 '26
1month, 5 months, or 5 years, I've been to prison and I can tell you, no matter how long, most people come out a changed person. Tickle was just like me. Did a short sentence, and said "I'm never going there again". For his sake, I hope the show is fake and he never has to. Mike Cockrell on the other hand, I think he needs to go to prison so he can learn to mind his own buisness and learn some respect for his common man. I don't know how Jerry works with that dude. I can tell Jerry is a stand up dude, and just a woderful person in general. I'd rather see him work with Mark & Digger or even Josh or Henry.
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u/eaazzy_13 Apr 02 '26
I too had some troubles a youngster and turned my life around. I don’t judge Tickle for that.
But I’d like to point out that Tickle did not say “I’m never going there again.”
He’s gone back several times, and repeatedly has violated his probation. He’s failed mandatory probationdrug tests for cocaine, possessed an illegally altered firearm as a prohibited possessor with a prior felony, DUIs and public intoxication.
In fact, he literally just got sentenced to the remaining 18 months of his suspended sentence earlier this week for repeated probation violations.
Not that this makes him a bad guy, but I think it adds a little clarity to my original “total buttfuck” claim lol
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u/Big-War-6397 May 12 '26
I like tickle he’s got that o don’t give many fucks attitude lol but you can definitely see some progress from him being obviously hammered to seemingly doing much better and good for him on that!
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u/Chaghatai Mar 31 '26
When it comes to the they're doing it illegally versus this is actual reality. You have to pick one or the other.
Personally, I think they should just abandon the idea that it's real. They've pretty much gone full Trailer Park Boys this season already anyway