I enjoy these shows. I haven't seen all the episodes of Gold Rush but am looking forward to finishing it.

I have to point out that a PBS series called "Pioneer House" did something very similar and in that show they had to deal with the fact that they did NOT get to make their own rules because no portion of the United States is without hunting laws and therefore they could not hunt for game since game seasons were not within the window of the show's filming.

I also have to note that the "easy" land for settling has all been taken long, long ago. Any frontier land left nowadays will be extremely difficult to make a living from. A counter to that would be to rent some of the "easy" land for this endeavor. But even then, the fidelity to the original frontier will be hurt (no supply of buffalo chips for fuel, no herds of buffalo to hunt, can't hunt anytime, have to protect the Preble's Jumping Mouse habitat while plowing, etc)

(Note that the Gold Rush guys ran afoul of Alaska Fish & Game for digging in the creekbed......)

I'm looking forward to watching it :-)