{"id":43918,"date":"2016-01-20T18:46:51","date_gmt":"2016-01-20T18:46:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bounty-hunters-say-farewell-to-tv-show-but-not-the-chase\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T09:16:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:16:26","slug":"bounty-hunters-say-farewell-to-tv-show-but-not-the-chase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bounty-hunters-say-farewell-to-tv-show-but-not-the-chase\/","title":{"rendered":"Bounty hunters say farewell to TV show, but not the chase"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Clint
Clint Simmons, right, and Dayson Goetz, second from right, appeared in two seasons of \u201cRocky Mountain Bounty Hunters\u201d before Animal Planet canceled the program. But Simmons and Goetz are still in the business. Simmons runs a bail bondsman office in Durango and Cortez, and Goetz is based in Cortez.<\/span>Sam Green\/Cortez Journal file photo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The show featured local bounty hunting team Dayson Goetz and Clint Simmons as they combed Southwest Colorado for the region\u2019s most wanted runaways. \u201cRocky Mountain Bounty Hunters,\u201d which also followed a team in Montana, enjoyed two seasons and 16 episodes from 2014-2015 on Animal Planet before the television channel decided to cancel production.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnimal Planet told us they were going back to more animal-type shows,\u201d Goetz said. \u201cWe still had really good ratings. They decided they wanted to go back to that. Why it ever ended up on Animal Planet in the first place I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesman for Animal Planet declined to comment on the specifics of the channel\u2019s decision, saying only, \u201cIt\u2019s no longer in production.\u201d Its last airing on March 22, 2015, recorded 671,000 viewers, according to Nielsen ratings.<\/p>\n

Despite the cancellation, the show opened up major doors for Goetz and Simmons, who still hunt down fugitives, and the two started their own bail bondsman agencies. Both keep busy scouring the Southwest for suspects on the lam, with Goetz based in Cortez and Simmons running an office in both Durango and Cortez.<\/p>\n

Now, \u201cRocky Mountain Bounty Hunters\u201d is a fun memory, a check off the bucket list.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot everybody gets to do that in their life and we did, and it was awesome,\u201d Simmons said. \u201cBut I think my family liked it more than I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

When an individual is charged with a crime, a judge sets a bond to reduce flight risk. The individual can either pay the bond to be released from jail or wait behind bars until the court date. Suspects without the funds to meet their bond can opt to borrow money from a bail bondsman (with interest that is paid even if found innocent), who will return the sum if the individual shows up for the court date.<\/p>\n

If a suspect misses his or her court date, \u201cthat\u2019s when they have a problem with us,\u201d Simmons said.<\/p>\n

Bounty hunters tracking down fugitives have become commonplace on television ever since Dog the Bounty Hunter started tackling and choke-holding suspects on the run in the early 2000s. The reality shows, each with their own spin, have drawn criticism from those who fear bounty hunters are entrusted with too much power and not enough training. In 18 states, individuals can become a bounty hunter regardless of education, training or prior criminal history.<\/p>\n

Around 2010, Colorado did away with any requirements or licensing for becoming a bounty hunter.<\/p>\n

Tom Remy, a bail bondsman in Denver who runs a training course, said he recommends bail bondsmen do not hire recovery agents who have not undertaken some form of training.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe recovery agent needs to understand what they can and can\u2019t do,\u201d Remy said. \u201cWe instill in the recovery agent the fact they can go to jail. Don\u2019t believe everything you see on TV because you really don\u2019t have the power you see on these shows.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Goetz and Simmons completed a two-day training course in Denver and now require their agents to attend Remy\u2019s School of Bail and Recovery. Simmons showed no hesitation when questioned if law enforcement should be used for entertainment.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou bet,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople need to understand they can\u2019t outrun the law. Well, they may be able to outrun the law, but they can\u2019t outrun us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their own show\u2019s angle to catch offenders that \u201cdo whatever it takes to escape custody by fleeing into more than 3,000 miles of dense forest and rocky peaks\u201d garnered adamant praise by many, but also a fair share of criticism from others.<\/p>\n

\u201cTotally scripted,\u201d wrote Ignacio resident Barb Fierstad on the show\u2019s Facebook fan page. \u201cShows places in Durango\/Four Corners and then totally misrepresents them. They ride the train to Needleton, then are magically on a trail on Purgatory Flats, then the cabins in Cascade Creek, which you drive to, even though they supposedly took the train.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if there\u2019s any truth to claims that the show was scripted or that runaways were paid, Goetz was good-humored about the reality of reality TV.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome on, man, it\u2019s TV!\u201d he said, laughing. \u201cBounty hunting is not non-stop action. You have periods where you sit in a truck making phone calls to 20 different people or you\u2019re watching a house hours on end. That was one thing that made it difficult. That wouldn\u2019t make good TV.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two bounty hunters still love the business and show no signs of slowing down. Though the \u201cRocky Mountain Bounty Hunter\u201d trademark is owned by Animal Planet, they\u2019ve been in talks with other production companies about the possibility of a new show.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always a rush, especially when you enter a house in the middle of the night and don\u2019t know what\u2019s on the other side of the door,\u201d said Goetz, adding that he was first drawn to the profession while leafing through a CrimeStoppers magazine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got to thinking, and said, \u2018Oh (expletive), a guy could make a lot of money just hunting people.\u201d<\/p>\n

jromeo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Simmons, right, and Dayson Goetz, second from right, appeared in two seasons of \u201cRocky Mountain Bounty Hunters\u201d before Animal Planet canceled the program. But Simmons and Goetz are still in the business. Simmons runs a bail bondsman office in Durango and Cortez, and Goetz is based in Cortez.Sam Green\/Cortez Journal file photo The show […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43919,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[551,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-43918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-frontpage-feature-box","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43918"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85897,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43918\/revisions\/85897"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43918"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=43918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}