As a young man, Chad “Savage” Lenz would be dropped off in the woods, where he spent a few weeks bow hunting and living off only what he could carry with him.
The Caroline-area man, who has just wrapped his first season as OLN’s new Mantracker, usually didn’t even bother with a tent.
“I’d just get somebody to drop me off and I’d say, ‘Well, pick me up just 20 miles over here in a couple of weeks and hopefully I’d see you there.’ ”
Later, like many young Albertans, Lenz answered the call of the oilpatch for a few years before he found himself without a job during one of the industry’s inevitable busts.
Freshly unemployed, he headed to the Yukon, where he began guiding hunters. And the 43-year-old hasn’t looked back since, now running his own company Savage Encounters.
It was Lenz’s years of hunting and guiding experience that first attracted the producers of Mantracker, who were looking for a replacement for Terry Grant, the silver-bearded tracker who became a fan favourite through the series’ first six seasons.
Lenz was tracked down at a hunting show in Reno, Nev., in January 2011.
“One of the producers saw me in the booth and liked the way I looked and came and talked to me,” he said. At first, Lenz thought they just wanted him to be the “prey” for the Mantracker.
The tracker pursues two-person teams on courses ranging from 30 to 50 km at various wilderness locations in the U.S. and Canada.
It soon became clear they had bigger plans and Lenz found himself auditioning with a dozen other prospects. The prospects had been shortlisted from hundreds of applicants, many of whom had turned out for talent searches held in four communities, including Red Deer.
“Obviously, I had the look and they just had to kind of make sure I had the goods,” says Lenz.
The list was whittled down to four and they were sent on a one-day chase in Florida to pick a winner.
Lenz said his tracking skills put him over the top.
“I have a very good tracking background. I’m very aggressive and I’m very good on a horse,” he says.
“I’ve been hunting since I was 10 years old. Hunting people is a little different than hunting animals, but it’s the same basic concept.”
He has been able to draw on his experiences in the air cadets and search and rescue training he’s taken. On the hunting side, he can draw from his experience all over North America, and in Kurdistan, Africa and Australia.
The first 12 episodes are now in the can and are already airing at 7 p.m. Mondays on OLN.
Lenz said it has been a great experience and the married father of three said his kids are his biggest fans.
He gives full credit to the producers and editors for turning the hunts into the kinds of gripping hours of entertainment that have kept viewers coming back.
“It’s amazing to me how they put this stuff together,” he says, calling the production team the best in the business.
He also has a lot of respect for the prey. In his first season, they included roller derby women, a pair of U.S. Air Force Space Command officers, and even Red Deer radio personalities Andrew Loughrin and Zap Davids.
“I’d say the most challenging aspect is trying to figure out people,” said Lenz. “That’s the unknown.
“You get people from all walks of life and they do all kinds of stuff that you can’t even think of. They leave booby traps, fake tracks, going in places that you would never expect them,” he said.
“The best thing is to watch these people overcome their fears and see what people have.
“It’s amazing how, when people are put in unknown situations, they can adapt and succeed. It’s crazy how good people are at that.”
He’s still waiting to hear whether he will be back for next season. It’s a bit like changing James Bonds and he figures OLN is waiting to see how he rates.
“I’m hoping they’re impressed by what they’ve seen so far.
“I would say by far it’s the best job I’ve ever had.”
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com