All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.S03E02.Armed.For.Winter.720p.NF.WEB-DL.x264-Pahe.in

NARRATOR: On this episode of
Life Below Zero,

Alaskans race to
arm themselves

against the onslaught
of winter.

GLENN: I got a problem here.
This doesn't look good.

The Hailstone girls take aim
at a crucial harvest.

That one, big one.

Sue's livelihood is threatened
by a nearby predator.

SUE: There was a bear sighting
just a few hundred yards away.

NARRATOR: A vital repair
puts Andy on edge.

ANDY: It doesn't take much
to take a tumble.

And Glenn
climbs to great heights

to protect
an essential food source.

GLENN: If I fell down,
it would be a painful death.

Whoa!

SUE: Everybody feels
it's going to be an extremely
aggressive bear year.

As a human,
boy, am I under the gun.

You know,
I better be packing heat

and I better be keeping
my head on a swivel.

I've got, this time of year,
a lot of hunters out here.

The nature of hunting,
you shoot the animal,

there's blood on the ground.

Bears have an extremely
keen sense of smell.

The bears
are getting drawn in.

NARRATOR: With bear season
three days away,

Sue Aikens cannot shoot a bear

unless it's an immediate
threat to camp.

SUE: Right now, it's not
open hunting season for them.

Very soon it is.

When it is then I can turn
the tables and go on the hunt.

Until then,
I've got to be protective.

I've been here 12 years.

I know pretty much every bush
and what it looks like
in every season,

visually, for miles.

If there's something out of
the ordinary, I'll pick it up.

You know, for me,

right here.

That's the camp
I'm protecting.

You have tents and campers
that have every right

to enjoy Alaska
and hunt for their meat.

As an owner
and as a good human being,

I wanna see that
they do it safely.

All right.

A prime example,

I'll get out and show you,
this is...

Twenty yards from
where I pump water.

This is, as uncomfortable
as it is for me,

exactly where I got attacked
and drug up into the tundra.

About five, six years ago,
a smart bear who was
hiding in the cut bank

and reached out
and snatched me,

and was just rolling
me around.

And you can still feel
here and here

where his teeth
went into my head.

The hips were torn
out of the socket

and he slipped out
over the bank.

The hips did not hold

and I ended up
having to drag myself up
from halfway across the river,

um, and got inside.

And I just had to lay here.

And it took ten days
for somebody to find me.

You cannot live here
and do this

without accepting your place
in the food chain.

There's the bottom,
there's the top,

and I'm somewhere around here.

I have to go relive
old memories.

See, you've got
two separate bear prints here.

A littler print
and a bigger print.

You know, obviously a little
bear highway going on here.

But it doesn't make me
very comfortable.

This is pretty fresh.

He's big enough,

definitely I'm spreading
my little fingers wide
to match up with him.

Looks like he's doing
the same damn thing
the other one did

is just hanging out here
waiting for an opportunity
to snatch me

when I'm getting water.

So that's kind of
not too comfortable.

It's also only 100 yards away,
if that, from the campers.

So I definitely need
to let them know.

GLENN: This is the last place
in the world

where I could
live this lifestyle.

I enjoy the autonomy
it affords.

I enjoy the confidence
it demands.

I like the connection
to nature I feel

when I live the way I do here.

Landed in a great spot.
It's dry here.

I'll be able to work
on them right here.

NARRATOR: Having recently
harvested a moose.

(GUN FIRING)

Glenn only has a short time
before the kill goes bad.

When I take a piece off,

I have to have
some place to put it
where it's gonna stay clean.

So I'm cutting a few
spruce trees

in order to make a rack
to set meat on.

Making some initial cuts
in the hide.

It's a very heavy hide
and it's very tight
on the carcass.

What I need to be
concerned about now
is salvaging this meat,

but, the job's
just getting started.

It's all about
meat preservation,
meat quality.

That's why it's important,

if possible,
to kill an animal
with one shot.

(GRUNTS)

I'm gonna set it right here.

I'm gonna take
the head off next.

And the head of a moose
is well attached to the body.

These antlers are designed
to smash into
another moose's antlers

when they're fighting.

So it's really sturdy,
the way it's built here.

It's got really tough
tendons in here,

ligaments, that I have to cut.

There.

Look at that.

The head's coming off.

There.

NARRATOR:
With daylight waning,

the meat must cool down
or Glenn risks losing
his kill to spoilage.

GLENN: This meat
has to get cool.

It's very warm in there,
and bacteria will start to
decay the meat

from the inside out.

See all that fat?

That's what I want.

If you're not eating
a lot of carbohydrates,
you have to eat a lot of fat.

Because you can't live
on a huge amount of protein.

If you eat too much protein
you'll get sick.

This is all kidney fat.
Look at that.

(GRUNTS)

That's really good kidney fat.

A bear will come along
or a wolverine will come along

and eat this part up.

Now the heart,

of course, I'm keeping.

The heart's really delicious.

I like to cut it up
in small pieces and fry it.

This heart I'll carry home
with me tonight.

So the first big step
is accomplished.

I got the guts out,
I got the lungs out.

This meat can cool off now.

And then tomorrow morning
I'll come over with my canoe,

probably two trips in my canoe

to get it back to camp
about a mile and a half
from here.

So, I got no control over
what happens tonight.

I'm just taking a chance.

Hopefully, no bears
come around and eat this up,

'cause if a bear comes,
it'll get all this meat
in one night.

CHIP: The whole idea
is to support the family.

Family is the centre
of folks' up here's,
you know, existence.

It's all about family.
I kind of like that a lot.

(DOG BARKING)

CHIP: We're going
on a caribou hunt.

We'll go upriver,
will put up a nice camp,
in, uh

same place we put
for the last how many years

and we're just gonna
go get our hunt on.

Our idea was to
go up and get them
before they start rutting.

They got a lot of fat
and when they start to rut

and they herd up their cows
and their harems,

they quit eating
and, uh, they'll burn that fat

and their meat
will taste awful.

Even a dog wouldn't eat it.

Everybody in the family here
can get five caribou a day.

This meat here is gonna
get us through dark winter.

For us, you know,
this is one of our
most pleasurable hunts.

Um, it's also
one of the most profitable.

And also we don't
wound any. None get away.

We don't have to
pack them across the tundra,

we just do them
right in the river,

and take them to the edge
and just work them.

Get them home. Be happy.

Settle in
and get our winter on.

AGNES: This year
we're taking on
four of the girls.

We're leaving one behind
to stay home

and watch the house
and her grandma.

So, um, this year
it's gonna require all of us.

It's gonna take team work
and, um, I let the school
know that, uh, the girls,

in case they don't come back
for Monday and Tuesday,

they'll be out on
a subsistence leave.

Which is just as good
as being in school,

because they get to learn
our traditional values.

And so, um, this is gonna be
a good trip for all of us.

Okay.

And you make sure
you guys lock the door
every time you guys go out.

I love you, bun. Thank you.

Catch ya later dudes!

CHIP: This, for us, is a...

It's an important hunt
because hopefully
they can all work,

and then they'll
all work together,

and they'll all see how
each other does something,

and they'll learn.

And it's really important
to not only learn
and participate,

but to do it with their family
so they can have
a connection with the area,

a connection with the animals,
and the things that we do.

And whatever their life
ends up turning out,

meaning, you know,
later in life, they can
always look back at this

and we can have a good time.

Let's put it
over here, huh?

Let's put the kitchen area
and the fire

and all that
shit right here

where we can watch.

Oh look,
I see a caribou in the willow.

CHIP: This is a
humane way to hunt.

You shoot them
in the back of the head.
They don't feel no pain.

There's no waiting
for them to bleed out.

We have to kill to eat.
There's nothing
wrong with that.

Ah, my ears are ringing.

Your ears are ringing?

(SIGHS) Okay, kiss me.
Thank you for your work.

Now I can do mine.

Well, this is
what we call camp meat.

This is our first bull.
Basically we'll be able
to get up in the morning

and have some
caribou for breakfast.

I got a good start here.

Tomorrow's gonna be
a better day.

I'm pretty sure that
tomorrow we'll be
seeing a lot more caribou.

Yup. It's been a good day.

ANDY: This is what Alaska
was built on,
that pioneer spirit.

That subsistence
way of living.

That traditional
way of living.

And, uh,
it's slowly going away

because we're really
starting to sell out.

NARRATOR: As winter closes in,

Andy Bassich is amidst
the most vital part
of the year,

the chum run.

Ah, shit!

ANDY: I'll have to
stop the wheel and

see if I can't fix
some of this fencing.

It looks like
something's coming
loose here on one of these.

I don't know.

Gosh, it looks like one
of the poles just broke loose.

NARRATOR: The Yukon River
current powers the fish wheel

that provides the vital supply
of food for the dog team.

Without it running,

Andy and Kate risk losing
hundreds of fish a day.

ANDY: Let me get this wheel
stopped and try to do a
Band Aid fix for right now.

So, I went out
and just got a stick

and stuffed it
down into the pipe

and made kind of a
makeshift splint for it.

A piece of this pipe broke.

It's really loosened
this whole section here.

And then, the wire started
breaking and popping off.

This mesh is what
gives it a lot of strength.

So, if I lose this mesh,

then the whole wheel
doesn't have
a lot of strength to it.

It's a pretty critical thing.
I can't afford to
have this be broken.

Anything that's
dipping into the water

six times a minute,
for 24 hours a day,

there's gonna be
wear and tear on it.

(CHUCKLING)
I'm forced a lot of times
to be out here,

like this,
out in the middle of the river

in a very dangerous position.

If you fall in,
there's a potential
of being trapped underwater.

Once you're under the water,
if something snags you,

you bump your head,

it doesn't take much
to hold you.

And this water's really cold.

It's probably about
42 degrees right now.

So, it's not a good thing to
end up in the Yukon right now.

Everything's really slimy.

Once you get that
on the bottom of your boots

it doesn't take much
to take a tumble.

It's pretty dangerous work.

I really don't like being
out here, but I have to do it.

I can't afford for a day to be
down because of maintenance.

This will be a kind of a
quick fix until next year.

I'm glad I noticed that.

That could have been a real
catastrophe tomorrow morning.

The most important thing
to me right now

is that this wheel
keep running.

It would be nice if we could
catch 300 fish or more.

To do this efficiently,
we gotta be fishing 24/7.

SUE: You've gotta be an active
participant in your own life.

Trust me, you're gonna be
an active participant
in your death.

You know, don't make it
come too soon
by not living right.

SUE: The biggest predator
is my bear population.

They should be
asleep right now.

They should be hibernating.

They're not.
They're walking around.

The longer they stay up,
the more food they need,

they're burning up
their winter calories

that they need
for hibernation.

I'm laying out the guns

that I'm gonna choose
to have in this building.

In the dining hall
it was very cut and dried.

I had over a decade to decide,

if I'm laying in bed,

this gun is always here.

This gun
is the next one I grab.

And it's set up for that.

This is an all-new building

and I...
I don't have that set up yet.

So, it's disconcerting for me.

I don't feel that
I'm being as proactive.

So what I need to do,
set them out
and make decisions.

You know, uh,
if I'm laying here

and

at the front
of the building...

(VOCALISES ROARS),
...smash, smash, smash.

You've gotta
be able to do this.

I'm right-handed,
so this has to come up

and I can deal with it
anywhere around here.

If he's that far away,
I'm gonna have time
to grab this.

So its resting place,
I have to decide,

I'm thinking
I've rolled out of bed,

the next thing I need to do,
it's two steps to grab it,

another step to turn.

I perceive my job as

making sure
that Kavik camp
is as safe as it can be

for anybody that wants
to come through.

The clients that I have,
they provide
one hell of a service,

and the service
they provide is life.

They take care of me,
I take care of them.

CHIP: According to
my wife's society
and her upbringing,

I give her everything.
She runs the money.

She goes out where
the food goes.

She's, uh, in charge of
basically all of
our resources.

Basically the women
are in fricking charge.

CHIP: Today is already another
great family day.

I got my family
kicking back and
out of the wind

and we're watching
caribou doing their thing.

Hopefully we'll get
some bulls out here

and let the girls
take some shots,

nail some caribou,
and carry on from there.

We'll see how well it goes.

AGNES: Down the river
on the other side

they're coming down this way.

Mary, maybe
you'll be the shooter.

You'll be the first shooter
and then when
you're gun-empty or whatever

I'll get my pistol
and try to catch
your wounded.

Or um, I'll shoot and then
you'll reload your gun.

NARRATOR: While the women
shoot at their targets,

Chip will employ
a more traditional
hunting tool.

This is something
you'd use out of a boat.

We have a lance with a
pokey end and a long shaft.

And you grab a hold
of the back and you shove it
through into the animal,

and you hold onto it
and you withdraw the thing.

This here is from
a Mosin rifle,
an old Russian surplus rifle.

And I bought it for like
five bucks in Kotzebue.

And it won't cost me
a single bullet.

Yep. (LAUGHS) Sweet.

AGNES: Oh look,
they hit the water!

Chip, there's
caribou crossing.

Time to go, Mary.

You ready?

You can't shoot
from that far, babe.

You guys gotta
take care of this.

Get up on this guy.

Shoot it Ag, with the pistol.

It is coming.

Shoot it, Ag!

CHIP: I got him.

Right on.

We got one, two, three,
four, five right here.

So we just nailed six caribou.

My wife and my daughter,
they got four

and I lanced two of them.

So, the lance works,
it's been tested.

It's an awesome ride.

GLENN: People have become
so civilized,

part of that process
is removing ourselves

from the reality
of life and death.

Real events that happen.

GLENN: I'm paddling
across the lake now.

I got about a mile
and a quarter paddle

and then I'll get over
to the far shore.

And 250 yards from the shore
I got a moose down over there.

I'm gonna use my sled
to move it down to the lake.

It will probably
take 11 loads,

over three miles of walking,

and then I'm gonna
have to take
two trips with this canoe,

to get that whole moose
back to camp.

NARRATOR: Yesterday,
Glenn processed a moose,

but was unable
to bring it back to camp.

This morning,
he heads to the kill

with the possibility
that scavengers
have taken the meat.

Now that it's getting light,
the birds are getting active.

There're at least
a few ravens over there.

Those ravens, they wouldn't
normally be here.

They're here
because of that kill.

I'm standing up here
so I can get a look

over the top of the brush
on the shoreline.

Let's see if I see anything
going on back there.

So far I've been very lucky
with the scavengers.

I've never lost a moose yet,

but there's bears
around the lake,

there are a few
wolverines around,

there are wolves.

There's too much brush,
I can't see.

I won't know
until I walk up to it.

The main thing
I'm concerned about

is that it's possible
a bear could have found this
during the night.

Bears have a very good nose

and they can smell a moose
from a long ways away.

There. That's the moose.
It looks like it's okay.

No bears or wolverine
or anything big
got to it last night.

But there are birds on it.

I gotta get over there
and start working on it

cause those grey jays
will peck a lot of fat off it.

-They're on it right now.
-(JAYS TWITTERING)

Hey, get off that!

This tarp is to keep the meat
as clean as possible.

It's heavy.

I gotta start sledding
this meat over to the lake.

Every time I leave here,
there's a chance a bear
could come along.

So, I gotta keep my rifle
with me at all times.

One load down,
about ten to go.

Hunting alone, that's the only
way I've ever hunted.

When I first came out here,

the biggest thing
I'd ever killed
was a snowshoe hare.

That's been a big challenge,
just learning how to hunt.

I'm sure a lot of times
I'm out here
reinventing the wheel.

(GRUNTS)

There it goes.

Final load.

That's a good feeling.

Get this moose
packed out of here,

salvage all of this meat,
and have six months of food.

I got my final load,
the head, in here.

I'm ready to head for camp.

About a mile and a quarter
and I'll be home.

This morning when I came
out for the first load,

it was glassy calm water.

Now the wind's coming up.

The waves are getting bigger.

Sometimes they can get so big

that it isn't safe
to be out here.

I've been caught out on a lake
in big waves before
in a canoe,

and it's no laughing matter.

This water's so cold

that your survival in it
is just a matter of minutes.

Right now it's okay but

it could get rougher.

So I'm gonna stay
fairly close to shore
on the way home.

Okay, I gotta get this
last piece of meat,

the neck, up onto the rack.

That's the heaviest
piece of meat,
the way I cut it.

So, I'm not gonna be able
to carry it up there.

I can't wait to eat
that moose nose.

I like moose nose.

Just thinking about it
makes me hungry.

I got all of the meat
on the platform now.

And now it's
onto the next step.

I gotta still
protect this meat.

Tomorrow, I'm gonna try
and get all this meat hung up

where the bears
can't get to it.

SUE: Everything here is just
a huge amount of money.

It's a... It's a huge risk.

And I enjoy it,

but you bet your bottom dollar

I'm gonna be out here
protecting it.

I've got several bears
in the area.

I've got a lot
of people in camp,

a lot of meat in camp,

which is gonna draw attention.

People ask me and
I usually say
it kind of funny, you know.

"What do bears
like to eat up here?"

"You know, berries and
slow tourists, and we're
fresh out of berries."

NARRATOR: With two days
remaining until
bear hunting season opens,

Sue must take
every step she can

to prevent bears
from attacking camp.

SUE: You now, what's...
What are my avenues
for protecting camp?

Walk the perimeter.
Are there prints?

What is it?
What kind? How close?

Is it a mom with cubs?

I've got to do
all those visuals.

Get the bleach.

Typically what I do
this time of year,

lightly the rest of the year,
this time of year definitely,

I get bleach
and I sprinkle it around camp.

Bears can smell
from ten miles away.

Very strong, acrid scents

will burn their noses

and deter them somewhat.

This right here,
this is my storage closet,

but this time of year
it's the meat shed.

People hang it,
put tarps down.

I try to keep it
as clean as possible.

All the meat and everything
is still here.

You can see over here,
bear, bear, bear, bear.

This is not the first time

that the bears
have taken out parts
of the building.

I keep repairing it.

You know, you've got
brand new claw marks.

So, time for me
to get the bleach.

You spray down
the whole building.

You know, you do what you can.

Try to protect the camp.

This is just
your basic bleach,
you know.

And you just...

You know, you're just
gonna wanna
get the grounds.

You're not trying to
perform miracles and scrub it.

Whenever you have meat,

somebody's gotten blood,
you do it.

It's still my privilege
to make people's visits

as great as they can be.

But it's my burden
to keep them as safe as I can.

I don't see anything
fresh that worries me

but I can't take chances.

You must be proactive.
You can't leave it to chance.

A sucker, a pork chop
leaves it to chance.

You wanna be a pork chop?
Go right ahead.

You know,
I'll serve the applesauce.

ANDY: That's what
life is out here.

You're always adapting
to new situations

and you don't just blindly
go out and do things.

You gotta think about
what you're doing

and have a
plan A and a plan B.

It's starting to warm up
a little today.

Finally. Our wind died down.

I'm just gonna cut these whole
so we can get them
done quicker.

NARRATOR: With minor repairs
being made
to their fish wheel,

Andy and Kate
must work quickly

to keep up with the demand
of their daily haul.

Okay baby. I'm ready.

We work pretty good
as a team doing this.

My job is basically
to collect the fish,

cut the fish,
and hang the fish.

Kate's job is to help
getting fish from the boat
to the cutting table.

It's a huge help having
a second person there

to just transfer fish
from the table.

Once I start cutting,
I can cut really fast,

but if I have to
take breaks to get fish

from the boat to the table,

it really slows me down.

I'm gonna have to check
the wheel again.
No downtime.

Dawn to dusk,
that's what fishing is around
here this time of year.

Pretty critical
to fish this wheel

as much as
I possibly can right now.

Hopefully a quick trip over.

I'm hoping I have a good
300 fish in the wheel,

maybe 400.

Holy shit!
What the hell
is going on there?

That don't look good.

It looks like the boxes
are both full,

but my flotation
isn't the same on both sides.

I've got a problem here.
This doesn't look good.

I've got a couple of holes or
a hole in at least one barrel
on the outside pontoon.

I'm almost underwater here.

NARRATOR: After
a minor repair,

Andy faces yet another
breakdown of the fish wheel.

One of the barrels
is taking on water,

and if not repaired,

the wheel could sink
into the Yukon River.

So one of the problems
that I got right now

with that barrel leaking
is that

it's hitting my
lead right there.

It's tipping the wheel down.

That basket is
kicking out at an angle

and as it comes down,

it's hitting
the side of that lead.

And if that basket
hooks on this lead,

it could start ripping
the whole fish wheel apart.

So the only thing I think
I'm gonna be able to do is

if I can, try and lighten
this wheel up

and see if
I can't get a barrel
underneath of it.

I've never done that before
out in the middle
of the river,

and I definitely know
I'm not gonna be
able to do this alone.

So, I'm gonna have to
go back and get Kate.

But the first thing
I've got to do is

I gotta get all this
heavy fish off that pontoon.

I gotta get this wheel
emptied out

so that the lead's
not being hit
by the baskets

and stabilise the situation

so that nothing gets
ripped apart on me right now.

It would be disastrous for me

to have to
pull this wheel out right now

right in the
middle of the run,
the peak of the run.

The best I can do
is get in there,

fix things as best as I can
out in the river,

keep it fishing, and

hopefully, I can make it
through the season here.

CHIP: It's a
dog-eat-dog world.

Big fish eat little fish.

Nobody apologises
or prayers for them.

If you're in nature,
you're probably
gonna get eaten alive.

It's good to be a human,
we're the top predator.

CHIP: It's cows and calves.
There's more coming though.

Yeah, there's one decent bull.

Yeah,
there's lots behind them.

(SIGHS)

They hit the water.

NARRATOR: The entire
Hailstone family stocks up

for the dark winter ahead.

This is their last day

before the caribou
can no longer be hunted
for the fall season.

-Sorry about that.
-One bull, Ting.

Get closer!

AGNES: We just want
that one big one
right in front of you!

Carol, get it,
watch what
you're doing, Ting!

Wait until he separates
from those two!

-Ting, get it! Ting, get it!
-Give it a shot.
Give it a shot.

-There you go.
-Yay! (CLAPPING)

Grab a hold.

Here, Ting.

Straight to me,
straight to me.

Qutan made a shot and
Tingmaq put a second one in it

for what we call a sure-shot.

There's nothing wrong
with what we call
a double-tap up here.

And all it...
All we're doing
is making sure

that the animal
is dead as quickly and
as efficiently as possible.

KIDS: Oh, bonfire! (LAUGHTER)

That's lots!

-MARY: Scary.
-TING: Don't be scared.

-And you, you're like...
-There we go.

(LAUGHTER)

Oh!

CHIP: Well, we teach our kids
this lifestyle as best we can.

And my kids, I think,
are pretty well
getting at understanding it.

As long as my kids
keep looking forward

and they keep profiting
from what's going on,

it could be
in learning something,

it could be in making money.

It doesn't matter,
they just gotta keep
moving forward.

And I think
my wife teaches that
to these kids pretty well.

And, um, I think the kids
have learned from me that,

you know,
you gotta just be
loyal to your lifestyle.

I also try to let them enjoy
everything they're doing,

because I try to enjoy my day
and enjoy my life

and enjoy the work
that I have to do.

And as long as
I can get that across
to the kids,

I think they'll keep
working too,

with a positive attitude
and a smile.

GLENN: I don't
know the future,

I don't know how long
I'll live at this location

here in the Brooks range.

But I know that even
if I ever leave here,

the place has left
an indelible impression on me.

It's one of the
most special places

that I have ever been to
in the world.

(DOOR CREAKS SHUT)

This is the first snow
of the year
down here at lake level.

It's getting colder,
and winter is
just around the corner.

I'm gonna hang
that meat up today.

It's not really safe until
I get it up high enough that
the bears can't get to it.

This is a meat-pole
that I built the first fall
I was out here

when I killed my first
moose ten years ago.

It's about 20 feet
above the ground

right here on this end.

It's tried and tested,

bears cannot get to meat
on this meat pole.

I'm gonna have to
go out on that pole

and attach ropes
to hang the meat from.

And I'm gonna hoist the meat.

And I can also use
that line for safety

when I'm crossing the pole.

Working alone I have
to be very careful

because there's
nobody to help me.

Every time I get up here
by myself I always think,

what the hell would I do

if I knocked that ladder down

trying to get back onto it

and I was stuck up here
with no ladder.

If I fell down,

broke my back,
it'd be a slow, painful death

laying there on the ground
freezing to death.

This meat is much too heavy

for me to just pull it up,
even with a rope.

When I put
my pulleys up there,

I'll be able to
position them here

by pulling on this cord
that I've rigged.

Put the cord through there.

Let's see what happens.

I can get it up there
good and high.

Now,

no bear's gonna
get a hold of that.

Whoa!

(EXCLAIMS)

Start all over.

It's not good
that the ribs fell

'cause they
could have gotten dirty
if they landed on the ground.

But it's better those ribs
fell from up there than me.

It's about 20 feet high.

I got to start all over again.

The way I attached it

when I was
trying to lift it up

and take that other cord off,

the pin slipped out

and without tension on it,
it wouldn't hold it.

It fell out,
the meat fell down.

One piece down,
several more to go.

Once I get this meat upwards,
safe from bears,

it's safe
for the rest of the winter.

I'll be able to
keep this meat,

because it's gonna
get cold enough here.

It's gonna be frozen
in a short time

and the meat
will last me until spring.

All right.

I'm gonna try and get
the head up there.

The last load.

The weather
got a little breezy
and cooler this afternoon,

couldn't be better
than this for the meat.

I'll be able to
leave this meat up here
until next spring.

I've got six month's food here
in just one week's labour.

It was well worth the effort.

ANDY: We live out here
to live a certain lifestyle,

to be connected to the land,

to get the resources
from the land,

and a lot of people
don't understand

how important that is to us.

All right. (SIGHS)

So this is the replacement
barrel, I take it?

Well, I don't think there's
any replacement.

I think
this is an addition. (LAUGHS)

NARRATOR: In order to
keep the fish wheel

from sinking
into the Yukon River,

Andy must modify a barrel
to help the wheel stay afloat.

I'm gonna weld
some tabs on it,

'cause, uh, there's no way
to hold onto this

when it's in the current.

Tighten up these bolts here.

I think we're ready
to go across the river

and flounder about.

Once we get out there,
I'll start figuring out

what's gonna work
and what's not
gonna work.

I mean, that's kind
of the way I do things.

I just get a plan A, try it.

If it doesn't work,
hopefully, an obvious plan B
comes into play

and you just modify
what you're doing
and try and make it work.

What I'm thinking is,

if we get a line on it here,

get a line on it there,

and then attach a line here,

we can stick it down.

We tend to catch
a lot more fish at night.

So I wanna get
this thing fixed

so that,
at least, I'm fishing
through the night tonight.

Yeah, that's what we need.

Come to papa.

(GRUNTING)

Ooh, yeah,
I think we almost got it.
Hold that right there.

We just gotta keep it
from flipping out.

Somehow, I gotta get something
around the barrel here

to keep it
from wanting to
roll out that way.

There's a red tie-down,
long tie-down strap.

Maybe I can get
that around it.

Brr! That water's cold.

(SHUDDERING)

Man, I don't think
I'd wanna go swimming in that.

So I'm hoping I can
just secure this really well

so that it can't pivot
or... Or move at all.

I think we got it.

Hopefully we can just
get going on our fishing

and not have to mess with
fixing the old girl any more.

You the man, Andy!
You the man!

That was luck.
That feels pretty secure.

So I think
I'll get this thing
spinning again.

And hopefully,
we'll come in tomorrow

with some really,
really full boxes.

That'd be good.

SUE: I live just a few miles
from the Arctic Ocean.

I've been here for 12 years.

For nine,
ten months of the year,

I'm 100% alone out here.

I wouldn't be here
if I didn't love it.

Hey, buddy.

MAN: Looking good.

So did you see anything?

-Nothing.
-Okay.

I see you though,
you look good.

-God bless you.
-(LAUGHS) Thanks.

NARRATOR: With less than
24 hours before
bear hunting season opens,

Sue must continue
watching over the safety
of her remaining guests.

You know, it's an
uncomfortable feeling.

I mean, I'm used to it.

I have the bears
getting really close.

This feels very much
like it did the other year

when I had the altercation
with the bear.

You know,
I called it an alpha push.

So, I mean, this is kinda your
pointed line of demarcation.

You know,
take your little paw,
run it down.

Here is my runway and camp,

here is the wilderness
and the bear's playground.

He crosses this line,

I can use deadly force

and by God I'll do it
if that means keeping
my people and camp safe.

I got people to keep safe,
and a camp to guard,

and that's what I'm gonna do.