All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.S01E15.The.Thaw.No.Time.to .Lose.720p.NF.WEB-DL.x264-KangMus

NARRATOR: On this episode of
Life Below Zero.

Summer is quickly
coming to an end.

SUE: I have to fill
my freezer.

Susie likes to be chunky.

NARRATOR:
Blood thirsty bugs invade
Glenn's mountain paradise.

(COUGHS) I got a mosquito
in my throat right now.

The Hailstones are looking to
strike it rich.

CHIP: I could be floating over
$20,000 mammoth tusk
as we speak.

I found it!

And Andy battles the Yukon
for a summer catch.

ANDY:
I'm using a net this year,
a small mesh net.

Nothing in the net.

Jesus Christ.

I've got a couple of
beautiful bulls that way.

I've got a major winter storm
coming in.

It's due to hit tonight
or tomorrow.

Gonna be here for a week.

Lots of snow,
ice and freezing.

I mean, my winter
is gonna set in.

It's... It's...

The middle of August,

and I'm worried about winter.

So, I have to fill my freezer.

Susie likes to be chunky.

NARRATOR:
Although the sun stays above
the horizon in Kavik

for more than two months,

winter will soon return

and the caribou will travel
out of Sue's reach.

Caribou are called
ghosts of the tundra.

You won't see anything
and then all of a sudden

they're popping up everywhere.

They're hanging here.
They're over there.

I say,
I get into the river bed,

try to snake my way over,
see if I can get 'em.

Pony up, girls.
It's time to go.

See, they're on the top,

and they're still
quite a ways away.

But I got a lot of
open ground without trees.

He's walking away.

He's standing there
looking dumb.

There's a baby.

Okay, so let's
think like a caribou.

What I'm going to do...

There's a little change
in elevation right here.

They're happy grazing
right now.

The wind kind of sucks
for what I'm doing.

That's why these guys,

by the time
I get part way out,

those guys are gonna
scent me and be gone.

These guys, as long as
I keep it kind of low

and scooch around,
I might stand a chance.

At some point I'm gonna
have to cross

absolutely open tundra.

That is a long shot.

I can't do that shot.

That is probably 400 yards,
500 yards.

I've got to get
my ass out there.

I can get a little closer.

Let's try it.

So I'm gonna slip down here,
kind of crawl,

hopefully get close enough
without anybody seeing me.

I'm gonna cross
a lot of open country.
They may see me.

GLENN: I just feel really well
living out here.

I just can't imagine
wanting to live anywhere else.

And I feel really alive
out here

in a way that I don't
when I'm not here.

This is my sod house
where I keep meat, mostly,

when I'm trying to
keep it cooler in the spring

when it warms up here.

Sod is just the roots
and some of the soil

that's on the top
of the ground.

This makes really good
insulation

and it's got some holes
in the sod.

It's been a long time
since I patched it up.

Right now,
the little chickadees,

they fly right through
those cracks.

So, I need to get
some more sod to put on it

to get it back in condition.

I'm looking for an area
where there's moss
growing on the ground.

And it's not easy
to find around here

but there's a place
about a quarter mile
down the lake.

NARRATOR: Summertime
brings huge swarms
of hungry mosquitoes

that makes Glenn's
every task miserable.

I just got to go
look for my head net.

I think I might have
left it over here
when I was grayling fishing.

Pretty essential.

Wouldn't want to head out
of here without a head net.

It's bug season so

they'll eat you up
if you're not protected.

The mosquitoes are
just a big problem out here.

In the summer it's like
the worst thing out here
is the mosquitoes.

If it wasn't for them,
it'd be paradise.

They go for your head.

They're attracted to
carbon dioxide in your breath

and they tend to swarm
around your head.

And that's one of the most
vulnerable places, so...

So, it's real important
to have a head net.

I'm gonna keep looking.

The problem is,

if you don't have a way
to protect yourself,

everything you do
becomes a lot harder

when you're just constantly
being harassed by mosquitoes.

You're just getting
hundreds of bites

and it just wears you out.

A human couldn't live out here
without a way

to protect themselves
from the mosquitoes.

And I sewed this shirt out of
a really tight-woven cotton

that they usually
don't bite through.

They usually
don't get through my pants,

but if you don't have anything
to protect you,

you won't last long out here.

This isn't a place where
you'd want to end up
naked on the tundra.

You'll get eaten alive.

Mosquito in my eye.

I did not find
my mosquito net.

(CLEARS THROAT) Got a mosquito
in my throat right now.

Looked everywhere I can
think of

and could not find it.

But I got other things to do
so I'm gonna have to
move on.

Look at this.

How'd that get there?

I have no idea.

(SIGHS) Relief.

Try getting me now.

Little bastards.

CHIP: Since our kids
are grown up enough

that they can watch
themselves.

Me and her in the last
few years have been back to

being really good partners
on a lot of things.

Especially hunting.

Hell, it's all good.

We are going
mammoth tusk hunting.

This is the time of the year
where you can actually

walk down the beach
and find things like,

um, $10,000 piece of tusk

or a real nice tooth.

NARRATOR: Indigenous Alaskans
have a long tradition of

making art from
mammoth remains.

Harvested from
their native lands.

Yep, I'm ready to go
check out the other side
of the lake.

CHIP: Mammoth tusk,
dire wolves.

Maybe even a
10,000-year-old beaver
would be mighty fine.

That you can make
beautiful things out of...

Just recycle them back.

Uh, that she'll sell...
Make something out of it.

Well, you can obviously see
I could use a new boat.

Tusk came along,
I can definitely get
a new boat.

It would be really beneficial.

Bye, Mom!

Love you, kids. Be safe now.

Bye!

Right on!

And this is how you find them.

NARRATOR:
While it's illegal to remove
mammoth remains

from state and federal lands,

Alaskan natives are exempt
from these laws.

Do you want to walk
or do I walk?

I can get off here.

We're gonna drift on
to see if we spot stuff
away from the shore.

We'll direct you to them.

Oh, man, I can smell
the smell of mammoth

and I can see the dark ground.

(SAWING)

ANDY: Everything
is planning ahead.

Utilising the resources
when they're here.

Nothing is right now, here.

Everything seems to
always be for the future.

Make sure that all the lines
are in front of you

so that when that goes out,

nothing can wrap around you
and toss you out.

-Okay.
-Okay.

Kate's daughter Jacquie,
who's up visiting for a month,

is here to help us

and to reunite with her mom
and to meet me.

Here's a good
life jacket for you.

JACQUIE: I've never
been here before.

I called my mother and
told her that I'd like
to see her.

She invited me to come
and experience her life
and I jumped at the chance.

To come here
and be with my mom,

and learn her lifestyle

is the chance of
a lifetime for me.

Today I'm gonna see
what she's made of physically,
as far as work.

The king salmon run
on the Yukon river
is in dire straits right now.

It's been tanking
for about a decade now.

And I'm one of the people
that's pretty outspoken

about conservation of
king salmon, so...

To practise
what I'm preaching,

I'm not gonna be using
my fish wheel any more.

I'm using a net this year.
A small mesh net.

So, I'm gonna be learning.

Um, one of the dangers
that you have

when you're net fishing
is buttons.

Or anything like a belt.

If it loops
over your knife handle,

when you go to
let the net back out...

(SWISHES)
It'll just take you with it.

NARRATOR: To set the net
requires a two-step approach.

First, Andy and Jacquie
will drop a carry-line
tied to the shore.

-Is it there?
-Yeah, we're tight.

It will be pulled taut,

and then an anchor will be
released to keep it in place.

Let the ball go.
Just let it go.

JACQUIE: This is heavy.

ANDY: Yeah.

There it goes.

Yeah.

-It's kind of fun. (CHUCKLES)
-Yeah.

Next process
for us to take care of

is that it's a new net.

I need to set the net up
on the ground.

We'll go get Kate,
we'll put everything
in the boats.

And the three of us
will go out

and stretch the line out.

You grab it, Kate.

-Got it?
-Got it!

Kate, hold on to one end.

Jacquie, hold on
to this end here.

Kate, don't let go!

Kate, hold on to it.
We're trying to get the boat

facing the other way.
Okay, girls?

KATE: Got it!
JACQUIE: Yeah!

Walk forward now.
Kate, you walk back.

There you go.
Now you guys can just
ferry the line.

Let go of the line.

-We're going out
to the anchor, okay?
-Okay.

When you just pulled that,
you just pulled my anchor in.

ANDY: You know, we're gonna
go through some struggles.

We're gonna have some tangles,

we're going to have some...

Missed cues on
who's doing what, when.

That's the way to do it.
Just like that. All right.

Now, let's ferry our way
up to the float.

Like everything in life,
experience is knowledge.

And we're gonna gain
a lot of experience

in the next couple of days,
messing with this net.

We're gonna go way upstream

and then we'll
have to re-adjust

once I get out
into this current.

Fishing on the Yukon
can be dangerous.

People drown every year.

From either cold water
or just falling out of boats.

KATE: That line's gonna go
tight on her.

Shit!

Shit.

I'm caught.

Shit!

Thank you!

Okay, be ready to
grab the line, Jacquie,

'cause we're gonna
come in relatively fast.

Should be easy to grab now.

You go back there, Kate,
and just sit back there.

-Right on
the little wooden box.
-Okay.

I will pull gently.

No, don't pull anything yet
until your mom's ready.

-Here you got it? All right.
-Oh... I got it.

All right.
Let's go out to the ball.

Gently.

I'm gently, gently going.

All right, slow down,
'cause you got a lot
of momentum.

I think regular net fishermen
are probably laughing
their ass off at me.

Oh, yeah. It's the newbies
out on the river.

"What a dumb-shit?
How come you don't
do it like this?"

This is a technique that
a commercial fisherman

described to me
in a bar one time.

That was about 15 years ago.

And I thought
I'd just give it a try,
see if it works.

All right, Kate,
pull us towards shore.

Okay, stop.

I think we're almost there.

You guys did good on that.

After I get this tied up,

we're gonna go back
along the line

and I'm going to put in
all the shackles,

and then we should be done.

Like everything in my life,

every day is
an experiment for me.

I set the net
non-traditionally.

Kate has never really
net fished with me,

Jacquie's never done it.

Kate, let's go some more.

So we're all a bunch
of greenhorns out here,

trying a totally new method.

I hope we catch
all our fish in one day.

It looks like it's gonna work.
We'll see.

I think we can just let go
and float away.

-Let go?
-Yeah.

One, two, three...
We're fishing!

Yay! (LAUGHS)

Come on fishy, fishy,
fishy, fishies.

All right, nets in.

Just a matter of time now.

KATE: Yes, it is.

GLENN: As enjoyable as it is
living out here,

it's even better
if you've got someone
to share it with.

You know, most of the time
that I lived up here

I wasn't out here alone.

I had a family out here.
I had two kids.

Their mom and I, we split up

a couple of years ago.

Unfortunately,
things just didn't work out.

I'd rather not
be living alone.

But there aren't
a whole lot of people

that want to live the way
I want to live out here.

I'm looking for something
that is mostly just moss.

And a place where
it's easy to cut it.

Where there aren't trees
and limbs in it.

Where there isn't much brush
growing through it

and where it's thick enough.

This place would be
easy to cut

but I think it's
really thin here.

You can just tell
by walking on it,

it's not soft and cushy.

It's hard to find moss
around here

that's good for building
a sod house with.

This here is not the best

but it's probably about
as good as I'm going to find

anywhere close by tonight.

When I cut sod, I use an axe.

Underneath this moss
that I'm getting,

there's dirt
and it's got rocks in it.

That's why I'm not
swinging it very aggressively.

'Cause I don't want to chip it
but it is really hard
on the bit of the axe.

This moss can be used
for a lot of things

besides just the sod house.

If I had some extra,
I'll put it in a pile,

leave it in the yard.

Once it dries out,
it's really good for wick.

I make a lamp sometimes
with it in winter.

Use it to wipe things up
that spill.

I can use it for toilet paper.

Supposed to be antibiotic.

I guess it's good
to put it on a wound.

Dragging down through
this side
one more time.

Pull out as many
of those little roots
as I can.

(GRUNTS)

Now, I'm just
tearing off the roots
on the bottom of it.

Trying to get it
as thick a piece as possible.

Just like a big roll
of fibreglass insulation.

Now, I'm gonna see
if I can carry this thing.

(GRUNTS)

Do it right now.

Shit!

(CHUCKLES)

I got to roll that back up.

That's what I wish
I'd brought a cord for.

Tie it so it wouldn't un-roll.

I got the sod.

I got a couple holes
in the house that
I'm gonna patch up.

And then the sod house
will be in good shape

when I get here next fall.

CHIP: We're hunters.
We're opportunists.

And the thing for us to do
as opportunists is

to make the most
out of every opportunity.

'Cause if it passes by you,
then you're poor.

We call it scouting.

We're looking for
nice chunks of wood,

nice pieces of bone.

Anything that we can
make artwork out of.

NARRATOR: Mammoths went extent
nearly 12,000 years ago.

But their remains
are preserved

in the frozen permafrost.

Warmer temperatures
melt the ice

and reveal
the bones in the mud.

We could be floating over
$20,000 mammoth tusk
as we speak.

And I try to jab it with
my little poker here

on the end of this
walrus harpoon.

The ocean sifts out
all the sand

but out here is where
we got to keep our eyes open

for tusks, teeth...

JON: This looks like
a good place to check.

But it is a little sketchy.

This is all permafrost
right here.

Frozen water under a big layer
of mud and sod and tundra.

That could fall anytime.

Found a bone.

Nice big one.

-Antler?
-No.

Looks like a leg bone.

-Is that a mammoth?
-Yeah.

(CHUCKLES) All right.

It might be a femur,
if that's the hip.

AGNES: It's the mammoth.
It's got to be, yeah?

Ooh!

I found it!

That's a tree stump there.

Yep, sure does look like
the end of one, doesn't it?

See what he's got
going on over here?

Looks like a horn.

That's nothing.

Good start.

Well, now here's
something interesting.

This was cut by people.

-You see the cut?
-Mmm-hmm.

They snapped it off.

Here you can see
where they cleanly cut

the base of this
by chopping it.

Probably getting themselves
specific pieces and toss this.

This was done a long time ago.

This is all wet mud.

All this permafrost here
is melting like crazy.

New stuff falls down
every day.

All that new stuff is
10,000 plus years old.

AGNES: Sometimes you come out
with little pieces.

Sometimes you come out
with the whole piece
of tusk or bone

or some kind of hoof
or tooth or something.

This is it.
This is what we do.

Playing in the mud all day.

(CHUCKLES)

As you can see over here
there's a big old bluff

with a whole lot
of permafrost.

A mammoth could have
easily gone and died

and 10,000 years later,
have us look for it.

I think, today, we'll get
a whole mammoth tusk or two.

Looks pretty nice.
We're getting to
the interesting parts.

There's a whole lot of
treasure out here.

ANDY: Nobody
gets away from here

without a little bit of work
one way or another.

That's the way it is out here.

This is kind of a
working dude ranch
of the North.

All right, so what's the bet?

I'm going to say one salmon,
one burbot, one shea.

I'll get one of something.

I hope.

(LAUGHS)

NARRATOR: Andy's opted
for fishing king salmon
in a sustainable way

using a simple net.

He's about to find out
if the eco-friendly gamble
pays off.

ANDY: To practise what
I'm preaching,

I'm not going to be using
my fish wheel any more

as a matter of
trying to provide

some conservation for
the king salmon

so it has less of an impact
on the overall run.

Great. Nothing in the net.

Nothing?

That's not good.

ANDY: Jesus Christ.

I'm gonna take you guys
to shore.

And then, I'm gonna
fuck around with some
other stuff, okay?

Yeah.

Oh, well.

KATE: Careful, Jacquie.

Don't tie it off,
just leave it.

I'm gonna go back out.

Yeah, I'm pulling my net out.

I've got better things to do
with my time

than fuck around with this.

A lot of important things
to do this summer

that I can't dedicate
all day long

just to fishing right now.

SUE:
Most people, where they live,
it's the middle of August.

They're still thinking about
putting on the bikini

and drinking coconut drinks
with little hats.

For me, I'm worried about
getting enough meat in

'cause I will be below zero,
four weeks from now.

NARRATOR: Sue's on the hunt
for caribou.

But in the wide open field
of the tundra,

she's got to get close
and stay hidden

or lose her shot.

If you look,
of the six that are there,

you can only see
one-and-a-half.

If you can't see them,

they can't see you.

So I'm trying to use
the topography of the area
in my favour.

But, as you see,
it's not like I have a forest
to hide behind.

So I have to use
what nature gives me.

Sometimes it's just
a four-foot elevation change.

I'm about to
lose my cover.

Dirty, rotten, prick bastards.

They know something's up, man.

Ah, come on, come on, come on.

(SIGHS)

(WHISPERING)
It looks closer than it is.

It's 100, 150
to maybe 200 yards.

This guy's curious.

(GUNSHOT)

(RELOADING)

I spined him.

Okay, go down, stay down.

(GUNSHOT)

-There's one down.
-(RELOADING)

I got one down over here.

I got some more standing here.

I'm allowed five caribou
for a whole year.

Stop.

Broadside me.

-Really?
-(LOADING)

They clipped a weed.

Willow brush.

I've got a few more
running here.

But they're running.

We'll just go retrieve now.

Let's go see what I got.

All right, little caribou.

Well, I got him.

It's a little bull.

So, he'll be
a tasty little meat bull.

This animal
gave up its life so that I,

you know, can eat this winter.

It's a harsh environment.

But I appreciate
every single life that I take.

Gives me life.

So I say thank you.

Time to get him done, though.

I'm gonna walk back here

and, uh, get the four-wheeler.

Get my knives.
Get them set up.

Cut them up.
Get him in the bag.
Get him cooled down.

He's number one.
I got four to go.

Yeah, I could have hung out
and tried to get
the other little dudes.

But, uh, let's take care of
what I got first.

Get that taken care of,
and then see
what else is out there.

Winter's gonna
come in with a roar

and I need to be
ready for that.

CHIP: This is the life
that happened to me.

I guess you could say
I chose it.

But, um, I didn't come here
with a plan.

I didn't have any idea
I was going to
ever live like this.

But me living like this
makes sense.

AGNES: I wish I could
find the bones

so I can be a happy
little Eskimo.

Come on saber tooth.

Come on dire wolf.

Come on T-Rex. (CHUCKLES)

Smells nasty up here.

I almost want to barf.

(GASPS)

Oh, look at the size of
these bear tracks.

CHIP: Isn't that crazy?

AGNES: Look like, uh...

-CHIP: Brown bear.
-Big one and a small one.

(GRUNTS)

Another nice leg bone.

Getting closer and closer
to something.

AGNES: Mammoth bone, or what?

I'm not sure.

CHIP: We got a nice mammoth,
look like an ulna radius.

A bison leg
or maybe a horse leg,
and then we got...

That's a front leg
from a caribou.

Let's move on
to the next spot.

NARRATOR: These small fossils
will bring the Hailstones
some extra cash.

But they'll need
a more substantial find
to get the most

out of the time and fuel
they're burning.

(EXCLAIMS)

Oh, look at that deep crack.

It's clay.

It's real clay.

-Let's get by, huh?
-Yeah.

It's going back
a long way, too.

AGNES: Fuck that.

Hey, I see a bone.

AGNES: You see a bone?

A little bone.

Oh, you found a bone!

-It looks like
a bear forearm, huh?
-Yeah.

No, it's too short
to be a bear's forearm.

It's a little too stout
to be a reindeer or a caribou.

-Maybe a pony.
-Maybe a pony. Yeah.

Oh, another chunk of bone.
Bigger!

I wonder if we can find,
like, a horse's skull
or something here, maybe.

Me, I'm just scooting along,
watching the beach for

any kind of bones
sticking out of the water

or making sure
I have him in view, and...

My son is over there.
He's catching up.

But he's going to the top.

We found quite a few
different things...

Here and there...
all along this area.

Every year is different.

Sometimes,
you don't find hardly any.

And sometimes, you just find
all the femur bones.
(CHUCKLES)

-Come!
-(CHIP CACKLES)

-This is awesome.
-Son, your dad
found something.

Mother-fuckers!

Come on, Agnes,
get the fuck over here.

You've never seen
a leg bone saying, "Take me"

like this one does.

AGNES: Holy shit!

CHIP:
That's fucking crazy, huh?

Oh, my goodness.

(SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE)

(SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE)
From up there I think, too.

That's a good, big,
solid piece.

That's what we're looking for.

I take my time
and I put, like,

a month into something
like this.

And then I just get
real detail

and make it into
a person standing up
or something.

And then, a couple of grand.
Couple of few grand.

Depending on who
I'm selling it to.

When you start to find
things like this

after you walk for a few hours

it makes you feel better

and you know there's
something really out there,

so you just keep walking.

Mom!

I've got a piece of mammoth
over here.

CHIP: There be mammoth tusks
in these here hills.

We were at three-fourths
the way up
and you can just barely see

the edge of this tusk
sticking out right here.

I'm gonna get a shovel
and a couple of tools
and dig it out.

Definitely mammoth ivory.

You can tell from the colours
and the...

The way it's set right now.

Holy shit and to hell.

Awesomeness.

We're looking
at a bull tusk here.

And it looks like, um,
it's been sitting here so long

it's got green moss
growing on it.

So it might just be
a little piece.

It might be
a foot and half long.
We don't know.

Might be the whole tusk.

It might be both sides
if we keep digging!

I knew there was
something up here.

I could just smell it.

Yeah, let's hope
it's long, huh?

-It looks the butt end.
-Yeah, butt end.

Butt end!

You never know
until you pull them out,
how long they really are.

Yep.

It looks like
it's all broken up all ready.

Yeah, looks like
it's permafrosted up.

It's kind of busted up,

so you can look at
all the grass and the moss
that's growing on it.

-This thing has been...
-Oh, I moved the whole thing.

Yep, here it goes.

This thing's been here
quite a while.

-I didn't mean to...
-It's starting to come apart.

But these small pieces
can be made
into jewellery easily.

Oh, you gotta dig.

This one here looks like
it's been exposed
for quite a while.

CHIP: It's still valuable
to making inlays.

They make scrimshaws.

They make little utensils,
little spoons and hands
and little carvings.

And, um, a mammoth ivory
is beyond 1971.

And since she's uh...

They're both members
of the corporation
that owns this land,

this is their land, too.

And they're legally
allowed to gather
these kind of things.

-Oh, fuck!
-You didn't cut him.

-I didn't mean to do that.
-There's no blood.

This can turn into
a nice little chunk of change.

I'm not sure what it will
turn into until we cure it up

and we dry it out,
and clean it off
and see what we got.

(SNIFFS) Smells like mammoth.

I would say you guys got
a good score there,

especially if you guys
make it into jewellery.

I'd say we can easily make
a couple thousand bucks
out of this stuff.

GLENN: But there was
a period in my life

when I got very interested
in travelling

and most of the places
where I travelled were cities.

But there was still
this part of me

that was really interested
in nature.

I need to fix up my sod house
right now.

I got the sod.

I got a couple holes
in the house
I'm gonna patch up,

and then the sod house
will be in good shape

when I get here next fall.

NARRATOR: Glenn will soon
leave his camp for Fairbanks

where he'll spend
the rest of his summer

with his family and friends.

I might be able to tear
some pieces off

without even using my axe.

Here's a place
where the sod slid down.

I use this sod house
mostly for storing meat,

and in the fall,
I'll be hunting for moose

that will get me
through the winter.

I'll probably be putting
the moose in this sod house

because in the sod house
the birds can't get to it.

That's how I use the sod house
in the fall.

In the spring,
I use the sod house
to keep meat cool,

when it would be
too warm outside

to keep meat any more.

Okay, that's all patched up.

This side here

is where a grizzly bear was
trying to get in here one day.

The grizzly bear
was pawing down the sod.

And I patched it up
a little bit.

But I need to finish that.

I had a moose
in this sod house,

and the bear came along

and tried to get in there
to get that moose meat.

For some reason, he didn't
feel like using the door,

so he started clawing at it
right here.

I was inside,
and I woke up and looked out,

and there was a grizzly bear
right here,

digging into the sod house.

It was dark out.

I could just see him
in the moonlight.

And I asked him to leave,
and he did.

He walked away,
he went up that trail

and growled a little bit.

And then he came back,
so I yelled at him to leave.

"Go away! Get out of here!"

So he walked over there
about 30 yards away
from the camp

and then he turned around
and started walking back
towards me.

And I shot over him,
just to warn him,

and he kept walking
towards me,

so I had to shoot him.

That's the grizzly bear
that I use in there
for bedding.

So, after I shot the bear,
he got to go in the sod house.

Looks pretty good.

I think I'm all done for now.

I'm gonna keep
one piece of sod here

in case bears come
and rip more off.

ANDY: Living out here,
we try and utilise
all resources.

We provide 90%
of our food needs here.

In the combination of hunting,
fishing and gardening.

It's about 10:00 at night,

and I'm hoping that
I can get a net in tonight

and maybe start
catching a few fish.

NARRATOR: Andy's last attempt
with the net failed.

This one has to pay off,

or he could miss
the king salmon run entirely.

King salmon
are the first salmon

to come upriver here,
uh, in the upper Yukon,

and they really...

In the summertime months,

they're the only fish
we really have in the river.

The big problem,
though, is that

this run is less than half
of what it historically is.

And they really need to have
some conservation measures
put on 'em.

That's why I'm out
with this smaller mesh net,

and I'm hoping to catch
almost all males.

If I catch any females,

I'm gonna turn them loose if
they are alive and undamaged.

I'm gonna pull into shore here

and start getting ready
to set a net.

I think what I'm going to do
is just set the anchor and
the line and everything,

and then I'll come
back through

and attach the net to it
after I get the anchor
and the line out.

I gotta get out there
quite a ways.

Okay, that's gonna go
on my anchor.

The end of that
goes to the float.

So, we'll give this a shot
and see how it goes.

I like working alone,

and I always have
and I always will.

I can go at my own pace,

and I don't feel like I have
to keep someone else busy.

And that works just fine
for me.

Sometimes it's more useful
to have hands on deck,

but they better know
what the hell they're doing.

(CHUCKLES) Otherwise,
they're not a help.

Yeah, I think that line
will work there.

Out here where the current is,

is where I want
that ball to be so...

I'm gonna extend this out
another 20 yards or so.

For me, about 12 to 15 feet

is gonna be ideal for
fishing with this net.

I think this will eventually
work for me really well.

It's like anything you do.

The first time,
it's kind of a cluster.

The first time you do it.

And then once you do it
a few times,

you figure out what works well
and what doesn't.

All right, I'm gonna
leave it like that.

I can feel it on the bottom.

And I think I'll fish it
like this for a day.

Come back in the morning,
check it out.

Put the net in last night.

I'm gonna go down and see
if we have some salmon

or some sheefish
or white fish or pike.

Hopefully we have
something to cut up

and put on the grill tonight.

Go out and see
what we got here. (SIGHS)

There might be something
right here.

All right, now we got
a couple of kings here.

It looks like
one is still alive here.

We'll see if she's a female
or a male here.

That's a male,
so I'm not too worried
about releasing that one.

Pull this net up on
and try and get him
untangled here.

(GRUNTING)

We got ourselves a nice
king salmon here.

This is going to be
a good eating.

This is a male,
and they get some pretty
gnarly teeth on 'em.

And as they come upriver,
they begin to morph,

and they'll get
really hooked jaws

and a really hooked
beak right here.

Their teeth tend to get
bigger and bigger.

And the way they get
caught in the net,

as you can see,
he swam into the net,

and then when he tried
to back up

his teeth got caught
into this webbing on the net.

It's probably...

I'm guessing that's
a 20-pound fish.

Twenty-two, maybe.

He's still alive.

One of the things I like to do
on these fish

is called gilling them.

So, you take the gills
right here,

you can see this is where
all the blood is.

This is how they breathe.

You tear that gill and
they're gonna bleed out
really quick.

And that really helps a lot.

See how their heart
is pumping this blood out.

That cleans
a lot of that blood
out of the meat,

and it makes it a lot better
for processing it.

The blood is what will spoil
the meat.

So you have to get that out.

Well, we got something.

Feels good
to finally catch a few fish.

-Fishy, fishy, fishy.
-Geez.

BOTH: Oh, wow!

Looking good, boys.

Oh, that is so beautiful.

The king salmon
is the prime salmon in Alaska.

Probably one of the prime
salmon in the world.

You know, it's a tradition,
you have to kiss the fish

when you eat your
first king salmon.

Let's do your tradition.
A nice, bloody big male.

Kiss the fish.

Oh, there's gonna be
some good eating tonight.

I'm thinking why don't we
strip the big one,

and we'll turn the little guy
into a barbeque tonight.

So what I like to do is
come in behind the head here.

I'm extremely excited
to get back to my home

and tell everybody
what I've done here

and all the things
I've learnt,

and it's just gonna be awesome

to be able to tell everybody
what life's like here.

Hey, Jacquie,
what part do you want?

You want a piece of tail
or a piece of head?

Piece of tail, please.

-Head or tail? This one?
-That's fine. That's fine.

-You want the skin on it?
-Yeah.

-There you go.
First king of the year.
-(GLASSES CLINK)

First king.

Well done.

SUE: My safety depends on
having guns and bullets.

Booyah!

My health, my food
and being alive.

I mean, it's all dependent on
the guns and the bullets.

All right, time to go to work.

I'm gonna skin him.

Quarter him up.
Get what I can.

It is very hard on me,

the whole skinning
and gutting,

'cause your half bent over.

That's hard on the old
bear injury,

and, uh...

My surgery that I just had.

But they're pretty easy
once you get 'em going.

This is a littler guy.

Um, caribou, while their racks
are enormous,

um,

there's not...

You know you might get
a 100-120 pounds, maybe,

out of a big guy.

This little guy here,
I don't know,

probably 70, 80, maybe.

I like the heart.

I don't know,
it's tasty all the way
around, man.

Yummy, yummy meat.

I'm anaemic. It gives me iron.

The game bag.

Most people
want to hang their meat

so that it cools down.

But the bugs.

You've got flies,
mosquitoes, bugs.

They will lay their eggs
on the meat instantly here.

You put it in a game bag,

and the flies and the bugs
can't get at it.

I'm just trying to get
the big pieces off,

and then I'll get to getting
the rest of the meat.

Am I a pro at this? Nope.

Has anyone ever taken
the time to say,

"This is exactly
the right way to do it,

"so you don't
look like a moron?"

No.

See, here's a nice
piece of meat.
It's called the back strap.

Look at that, nice and red.

The Sue-way.

You take a life,

you be respectful about it
and you use that meat.

I mean, yeah, I suppose
I could saw these up

and put them on the barbie,

but I kind of
like the rib meat.

I'll put it in the crock pot
and have sandwich meat
for a week or more.

This is the end of the road
for cutting this guy up.

Um...

Guts are there,
I got the heart
and stuff I wanted.

I have widdled the meat down

to what I feel is really good.

I have been respectful.

I thank the animal
for helping me out.

Excellent day.
Really profitable.