All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.S02E01

NARRATOR: On this episode of
Life Below Zero,
it's every man for himself.

Here in nature,
it's kill or be killed.

NARRATOR: Sue confronts
her darkest fears.

SUE: It's a man killer.

It's gonna defend its life
with everything it's got
and it's got an arsenal.

NARRATOR: While Andy and Kate
spill blood for guts.

ANDY: We basically
have nothing stored
for the winter.

NARRATOR: The Hailstones
battle the coming freeze.

The ice can just form
and you lose your whole net.

NARRATOR: And Erik ventures
to the edge of Alaska
in search of food.

In a few short weeks,
Alaska will be held
in winter's deathly grip.

For the men and women
who choose to live here,
it's an urgent race

to get prepared before
the freeze takes hold.

But in Kavik,
the bears are still weeks away
from hibernation.

My name is Susan Aikens
and I live on
the north slope of Alaska.

I'm the owner
of Kavik River Camp.

It's a remote
fuelling station.

For nine months
out of the year,
I'm 100% alone.

The closest neighbours
that I do have
on a consistent basis

are the 83 grizzlies that live
within 10 miles from my camp.

Welcome to Kavik.

NARRATOR: This year
the grizzlies are getting
too close for comfort.

SUE: The bears are awake.

I've had a couple of them
harassing camp.

There was a bear
headed towards camp
last night.

He got close.

We're talking
an inland grizzly.

This is a top predator.
It's a man killer.

It's gonna defend its life
with everything it's got,
and it's got an arsenal.

I've been attacked.
I don't wanna be
attacked again.

One of the biggest things
that I want to do right now

is go out there,
do some target practise.

Take a few shots and make sure
that I'm on target.

I want the safety of knowing
if I point it, and I shoot,
it will go down.

And it's a challenge for me.

NARRATOR: Taking down
a 1,000-pound grizzly

at 400 yards requires
a perfect shot.

Nope.

SUE: About five,
six years ago,

a smart bear who was hiding,
reached out and snatched me

and drug me up into the tundra
just a few yards
from the tent.

The hips were torn out
of the socket, you know,
discs spit out.

I mean, you can still feel
here and here where his teeth
went into my head.

(RIFLE SHOTS)

Imagine the sound it makes
when a bear's crunching
on your own head

and has his jaws
on your throat.

You don't know if that's
your last minute.

And it took 10 days for
somebody to find me,

but has it changed me?
Yeah, some.

I'm not gonna say
I'm more of a pussy now,

but I accepted that
I may be bear crap any day.

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.

Well, let's go look at it.

We got one here, one there.
It's good, it's good.

I'm in the kill zone.
You got to remember, I mean,

the can is this big, the bear
is gonna be this big

with a kill zone like that.

No, I'm pleased with it.

It is a mind pooch for me
to go and actively hunt
a bear.

I mean, I need...
I want the meat.

I want the hide.
I want the fat.

I'd like to find the one
that's harassing camp.

So, it's time to get
a little bit more aggressive.

But in the back of my mind,
I've got a lot of memories
that are getting away.

So, it's a good thing.

Get back in the saddle
and see what happens.

CHIP:
Subsistence is basically,
do-it-yourself.

When you're subsistence
fishing, you're fishing for
your own needs, your own food.

You're not buying it
from a store, it wasn't raised
in a factory.

This is the way to go.

We're not at the end
of the road,

we're 300 miles away
from the end of the road.

We fish, we trap, we hunt.

I like being self-sufficient.

I do what I do because it
doesn't matter who or where
you are.

If you're a man, you can hunt.

So I came up here in 1988
and I've decided
not to go anywhere.

NARRATOR: With seven mouths
to feed at home

and elders to support
in their isolated village,

Chip and Agnes Hailstone
depend on the land to provide
most of the food they eat.

I've been waiting to do some
fishing, but I was expecting
to do it under the ice.

I don't know if there's going
to be any whitefish at all,
but I might have a hope.

CHIP: We're gonna use
our boat,

we're gonna go put the nets
out until it starts to freeze.

Once it starts to freeze,
we'll take the nets out.

But the thing is,
that the fish are going by,

regardless of it freezing
over or not.

It doesn't matter
if the water's hard
or the water's soft.

-AGNES: Wait! One, two...
-Same time. Ready?
One, two, three!

CHIP: My wife has a tradition
of fishing here all winter.

Her dad grew up doing that
and her grandparents did that

and the people before them
did that.

NARRATOR: Unusual weather
is disrupting
Chip and Agnes's ability

to find resources.

Waiting is not an option.

AGNES: This year
is totally different.

I guess it has to do with
global warming or something,
but our river's not frozen.

It's like three weeks late
and it's still running.

Usually we've come put
our nets out under the ice.

But we didn't get a chance
to do that.

It's sun shining
and the river's flowing

when it should be cold
and dark and clear. (CHUCKLES)

But the fish ain't waiting
for the ice to freeze.

It's just like
freaking me out a little.

AGNES: Okay, just about ready?

CHIP: Mmm-hmm.
So are you ready to feed?

-I'm gonna go out.
-Yup!

When you have your nets out
and it's not totally frozen,
the ice can just form

and just come take your net
away and then you lose
your whole net.

Yeah, it's a little bit risky,
but it's worth it.
The whitefish are worth it.

Hopefully I'm not out here
wasting my time.

-CHIP: Yeah, I'm just going
as slow as I can.
-Yup.

Hold on!

CHIP: You got time.

Yee-hee!
I don't want it to rip my net.

There! Go ahead!

Okay!

I think that's
at the drop-off.

-I can't hear you.
-That's good!

-Should I go park the boat?
-AGNES: Yup!

-Thank you!
-Yup!

Well, we're just gonna have to
leave it there
for a little bit

and just come back later
and see how it's doing.
I hope I catch some fish.

Sure wouldn't mind
a real good load of fish.

ERIK: My choice in life
to live out in the bush

and do the things that I do.

All it is, is a choice.

It's an unbelievable life
I get to live. I feel
very fortunate every day.

My name is Erik Salitan,
I'm a registered
guide outfitter.

I live in the Arctic of Alaska
in the village of Wiseman.

Right now I'm in Iliamna,
Alaska, just finishing up
my coastal brown bear season.

NARRATOR: With his
guiding season over,

Erik plans to make the most
of his remaining time

in the southern part
of the state to stock up
for winter.

ERIK: The guiding season
is over,

and I'm happy just to unwind
here, and look forward

to just doing a little
personal hunting of my own

and get ready for
winter trapping season,
which is my passion.

Alaska has more
brown bear, grizzly bears
than ever in recorded history.

There's an estimated 35,000 to
40,000 bears in the state
of Alaska.

Here on the Alaska peninsula,
is one bear
every square mile.

Whereas up in the Brooks Range
where I live year round,

it's up to one every
50 square miles.

So there's a lot more
bears here.

While I was out stretching
my legs, I discovered here
a bear-killed bear.

So right at the base of this
big mound you can see
the carcass

of the smaller brown bear
that the larger bear killed.

The bottom line is,
here in nature,
it's kill or be killed.

That's a more than respectably
sized paw.

You wouldn't want that
to tear into you.

That was probably a
7.5 to 8' bear.

And this was the loser.

The big bear, he weighed more
than twice what this bear did.

There's a pelvis right here
and the spine of the bear.

That bear,
he entirely consumed him.

He's actually cracked open
the skull to get the brains,
he's ate the tongue out of it.

I mean, he's really
just chewed it all to heck.

I mean,
this is freaking awesome.

Nothing gets me more excited
than to come out

and to see this kind of things
in the natural world.

I mean, a true 10' bear.

He killed this, you know,
4 or 500 pound bear,
and he ate him.

And that's awesome!

ANDY: No matter how much
you prepare,

it seems like you're never
prepared for winter.

And when it comes,
it comes with vengeance.

And it comes fast.
And it comes hard.

My name is Andy Bassich,
I live about 15 miles
downriver from Eagle, Alaska.

I like being as independent
as I can.

Everything you see around
here, I did pretty much solo
or with the help from Kate.

I'm gonna pull the bulldozer
up, I want to hook the bridle
onto the chain there.

These days are jam-packed
full of work, work, work.

We're only two people,
but we can get it done.

Living out in remote areas,
you rely on
the natural resources.

And for us fishing for
chum salmon is probably

the most important thing
we do every year.

It feeds our dogs
for 365 days.

I depend on them for safe
transportation, companionship,
and to protect us.

A day or two ago we just fed
out the last stick of fish
to the dogs.

Right now the total focus
in my mind is getting
that fish wheel in the river

and starting to turn it
and getting slimy with fish.

It's kind of
an automatic fishing machine.

It's an ancient design,
brought over to North America
during the Gold Rush of 1896.

It's relentless.

There's no motors,
it's all by the power
of the river.

I could stick
this fish wheel in
and I'll catch 500 fish a day.

I've built a lot
of fish wheels over the years.

This wheel here was the result
of 30 years of building them

and seeing what works,
what holds up,
and what doesn't hold up.

Pushing this fish wheel in
is a bit of a challenge.

It's not really designed
to be twisted or turned
at all.

We're going down over
a pretty steep bank,

so there's gonna be a lot
of weight, a lot of momentum.

If it gives out as I'm trying
to pull it down
into the river, I'm screwed.

So we have to go slow
and Kate will be my
second pair of eyes here

to kind of listen and watch,
and hopefully we'll get it
in the water.

Without any damage.

Damn it! Fuckin' eh!

NARRATOR: Andy and Kate
must successfully launch
their fish wheel

into the Yukon to catch
a year's supply of food
for their dogs.

They cannot risk damaging it.

ANDY: This isn't working
worth a shit.

There's a lot on my shoulders
right now.

I've got to start fishing.

We basically have nothing
stored for the winter.

Andy's taking
the bracing off
the fish wheel now

and pretty soon we'll see
those baskets turn.

Without this fish wheel,
I don't think that we could
afford to live down here.

Twenty-five dogs is a lot
of mouths to feed.

So it saves us thousands
of dollars a year
in dog food alone.

A year's supply of salmon
for 25 dogs and two adults,
you do the math.

Are we ready to roll?

-ANDY: I think so.
-All right!

Fish! Fish! Fish!

Here we go!

Yoo-hoo!

(KATE LAUGHS)

Feeling pretty good!

So right now, the current
of the river is pushing
this thing, making it turn.

Basically like a giant
water wheel with scoops.

Fish are gonna swim upstream
and the scoop
will pick them up.

And they'll come up in the air
and the fish come sliding out
into the box.

And then they're dog food.

I think the most important
thing in my life
is independence and freedom.

There's very few places left
in the world
where you can go live

and carve out a life
for yourself and do it
on your own terms.

And that's why I work
the way I do to live here.

That it for the night?

-I want to go
get my tape measure.
-Fish!

We got fish! (LAUGHS)

It's a good thing.

I think the run's happening
right now, we're kind of
missing out on it.

So it's good we're getting
the wheel in now.

This girl's got
a lot of buddies out there.

CHIP: Our deal is to be
out here
and to get what we can.

We don't survive here,
we live.

AGNES: We're just about
to check our net
down the river.

We set our net yesterday.

Knowing if, when the ice
gets a little thicker,

then it just could take my net
away, but it's just now
starting to freeze

so hopefully there's still
whitefish.

And hopefully there's still
fish with eggs in them.

Hee! I'm so excited about
what's in the net.

-Start it?
-CHIP: Yeah.

(ENGINE SPUTTERS)

AGNES: Hee, frozen?

CHIP: Frozen.

AGNES: We could...
(SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE)

CHIP: Yup.

AGNES: Let us go that way
until it starts thawing out.

CHIP: This time of year,
everything's freezing.

My lower unit there,
I ran it clear of water

as best I could
when I ran it last.

But now it's full of ice,
and it won't turn.

And we could make it turn,
but our biggest
problem is that

the impeller in the pump
will strip.

So I don't feel like
damaging it.

That's why we didn't
fire up the motor.

We should just
start breaking all this.

CHIP: Catch it! Catch it!
You got the hook?

(GRUNTS)

AGNES: Oh, look a whitefish!

I think that's a whitefish.
Yay!

-One, and it has eggs!
-Oh! It's full of eggs, too!

-(AGNES LAUGHS)
-CHIP: Yeah, right!

Another one with eggs!

I'm so happy
I could keep fishing!

CHIP: According to some folks,
the animal spirit will return,
so folks up here say catch.

They say catch 'cause
they're utilising it, not
'cause they're killing it.

Death is a permanent thing.

Death is like if you
wasted it, if you killed it,
threw it away.

This was well worth our time.

We got the egg-laden
whitefish that we wanted.

We don't got a whole bunch of
them, but we didn't put out
a big net.

We're opportunists,
but we also know
what to look for.

This wasn't like something
that came up unexpectedly,

this is something
we've anticipated
and waited for.

AGNES: Good to know,
there's still whitefish
with eggs in the river.

Look at that!

Oh!

That's beyond
kissing a goddamn fish.

-Check it out, look
how much there is!
-I see! I see you're just...

Man, I want to eat those,
just not like that, but...

AGNES: Mmm.

CHIP: My crazy Inupiaq wife.

AGNES: Fish eggs, fish eggs,
eat them up, yum!

ERIK: When I go out
into the woods,
I'm confident to know

that I'm gonna be prepared
and ready to do battle
with nature.

NARRATOR: Erik is on
the search for
a delicacy impossible to find

at his home in Wiseman,
black-tailed deer.

But to get one, he'll have to
fly to a remote area of
Kodiak Island.

-Hey! What's going on, Taj?
Good to see you man.
-Hey, Erik, how's it going?

-Ready to go out hunting?
-Let's do it.

Where you fixing on going?

Well, we're gonna go to
the south end of the island.

There's a couple beaches
down there. Tide is low,
and we'll get in.

Should be a good spot
for you.

Cool. Let's go have
a look around.

Kodiak Island is very similar
to the Alaska peninsula

where I do my guiding
for coastal brown bears.

The weather here is awful in
general and you need to be

really careful about
what days you chose to fly.

We better get out of here
'cause the weather's
gonna be coming in.

Let's roll.

In this country here,
if the weather is good,
you better go.

'Cause you never know when
it's gonna get bad again.

(ENGINE STARTS)

(TAJ SPEAKING)

NARRATOR: If the pilot
misjudges the terrain,
the plane could hit

hidden boulders and holes
or get stuck in the mud.

ERIK: Another good one, man!

TAJ: Easy money!

ERIK: Easy money.

All right, buddy.
Hey, thanks a lot for the
ride.

-No problem.
-Are you sure you dropped me
off in a real spot?

-Well, we'll find out.
-Is this the camping spot
or the hunting spot?

-We'll find out.
How good of a hunter are you?
-Okay.

Uh-oh! Uh-oh!

I'm out here on a beach
in Kodiak, and I got
a pile of stuff.

I'm gonna hike around and find
a good camping spot
away from the tide,

protected from the wind
and the weather,

and then I'm gonna
pack my gear over there

and get my camp set up.

This is gonna be my home
away from home for a while.

We're just throwing up
our bomb shelter here,

you always want to set up
your tent as soon as
you get to your camp.

I mean, it was pretty good
weather when we got here
but already

you can see on the horizon
there's some...
Something ugly coming.

Setting my tent up here,
I really can't help it

'cause I had to get out
of the wind,
but there's a bear trail.

So when I tie down my flaps
I'll have a little
alarm system with my...

With my tie downs if
a bear comes through.

Trip on my tent.

It's known to happen.

Comfort is subjective.
It's a matter of perception.

I think excessive comfort
is detrimental to
one's character.

Here in Alaska,
they have the same day
airborne law,

but you may hunt deer
the same day you fly,

so if a deer comes out
onto the tidal flat
or something,

we'll be eating
venison tonight.

It's raining
pretty good here, but,

just more in the interest of
stretching the legs
than anything,

I'm gonna go and do
a little walk around and
see if I can't spot a deer.

NARRATOR: Erik's hunt starts
on the beach, where the tracks
of the deer he is hunting

and the many bears
on the island are most
easily spotted.

(SOFTLY)
There's a track, a deer track
along the beach.

Just working my way
along the shore here,
really quiet.

Walking on the beach
where I can keep
a pretty low profile.

I'm hoping here about dark,

I'll be able to walk up on
Sitka black-tailed buck.

But we'll see what happens.

I'm gonna have to pull
the plug here for the night.

Tide's coming in, it's making
my beach really small
and it's getting dark.

The tide comes in too much
on me, I won't be able
to walk the beach home

and I'd have to deal with
quite a few miles of brush
and cliffs here in the dark,

so I'm gonna start moving
back towards camp and get down
that beach before,

before the tide gets
all the way back in.

ANDY: There's very few places
left in the world where you
can go live on your own terms.

This is one place that
you can still do that.

My goal in my life is to
die here.

You have to want to
live this way.

ANDY: It's a shitty day on
the Yukon, second day of
fishing and

it's not a very pleasant day
to be cutting fish.

It's not a very good day
for drying fish,

but it's a day
that has to be done.

I've got a lot of fish
to hang in the next five
or 10 days

and no matter what
Mother Nature throws at you,
you've got to get out there

and do it when it's time
to do it.

Well, it looks like the boxes
are overflowing.
Fish are flopping out.

(LAUGHS)

Welcome to my world.

The fish wheels
are really wet all the time
because of the splashing.

The snow is very wet
and very slippery,

so I've got to be
extra careful today

walking around on the wheel.
When you're by yourself
you can't take chances.

And there's nobody out there
to help me if I fall in
or smack my head.

There's no 911 out here.

Fish wheels are not
incredibly efficient,

but they're
absolutely relentless.

They run 24/7, they catch
everything that swims
underneath of them.

And my life here would be
a lot harder if I had to catch
all these fish with a net.

So how's this for putting
fish on ice
right out of the water, huh?

(LAUGHS)

The Seattle fish market's got
nothing on me.

I'm totally self-taught.
I've never gone to school
for anything.

I've never really had
any close mentors
to teach me things.

I just kind of figure it out
as I go.

You kind of become
a Jack of all trades
living this lifestyle.

But I enjoy that.
I love inventing things.

This lifestyle allows me
to do that,

pretty much unencumbered by
anybody or any other thing.

It's a very satisfying way of
living for me.

So there's 360 fish
in the boat, probably another
80 in the box here.

I'll go cut these and
hang them,

come back, finish out
this evening.

Probably about 400, 450 fish
by the end of the day.

That'll be a good start.
It's time to go cut fish.

SUE: Bear hunting is intense.

You can't go with half
your head, you've got to go
fully in the game.

Bears hibernate.
That's what they do
during the winter.

However, right now,
we have this unusual,

really high temperature
warm-up.

Well, they're still awake.
It's too warm for them
to go to bed.

But their food source is gone.

If a bear decides that
I look like a Scooby Snack,
I need to protect myself.

As long as it is within
the season, I will actively
pursue that bear.

I know there's one somewhere
real close to camp,

I need to be
a little proactive.

(STARTS ENGINE)

So...

Bear, zero. Sue, zero.
We'll see where we stand
at the end of the day.

Little bit worried.
I haven't gone out

and actively gone after a bear
in a lot of years.
Not since I got munched.

If I'm gonna be effective
at doing this,

I need to get over my
thought process on the attack,

and get back
on the attack myself.

It'll be good therapy.
Sue's tundra therapy.

How to survive a bear attack
and then go back on
the attack.

Cool, cool.

Well, this is,
this is a good sign.
I mean, good and bad.

This is definitely bear poopy.
This might be the one
that's been hassling camp.

Cool. Well, got something
to keep our eyes out for,
that's for darn sure.

We'll go see
if I can find him.

Oh, look at that.

It's not huge, but I...
And it's not defined.

But you've got, toes...
One, two, claws.
A 6 to 8" paw.

It's definitely a bear track.
Definitely going that way.

I've had that bear, caught her
running through camp.

You can't be staying
too far away.

When you're actively
hunting a predator,
this is one of the things,

if I can't see them
walking around,

I've been here long enough,
I know they are around.

So I can go from stalking to
being stalked in a heartbeat.

It lets you know
there are animals

that by for no other reason,
just, it's their nature,

can take you out.

You gotta keep on your toes.

I think I see something.

The bear is somewhere
over here.

He's going away from us.

I need to get closer.

(BREATHES DEEPLY)

When you see a bear, you run.
You don't walk.

You gain ground
as fast as you can.

(BREATHING HEAVILY)

He's behind that knoll.
726 yards.

I'd like to try and close
the distance.

See that dark lump
on the next dry patch?

I'd like to get there.

It's a little spooky,
you know,

because you're really
pushing a situation where

you are trying to sneak up
on the apex predator.

You don't have anywhere
to hide.

The minute you're seen,
it's game on.

(WHISPERING)

ANDY: It's nothing
for the faint of heart.

It's a dirty job,
it's a slimy job,
it's a bloody job.

KATE: We're gonna be up to
our eyeballs in blood, guts
and gore.

ANDY: But we love it.

KATE: Oh, yeah. It's a real
blast of a way to spend a day.

I can't feel
my fingers any more.

ANDY: I'm doing what we call
whole fish.

I'm basically just sticking
the knife in

right at the lateral line
on the fish.

There's a line right here
on them.

That's right about
where their backbone is.

I go right below the backbone,
and then we just hang them
on a pole like that.

So they'll just hang on
a pole like this.
It opens them up,

they dehydrate a little bit in
the winter, but not a lot.

The advantage to that
is that this fish won't
dry out a lot,

so it'll have a lot of
moisture in it, lot of water.

One of the biggest challenges
with the dogs is

keeping them hydrated
when it's real cold out.

So feeding them this
does two things.

It gives them something like
a giant popsicle to chew on,

and two, it puts a lot of
water into them.

When we're cutting fish,
all this is costing me
is 10 gallons of fuel,

and a bunch of labour
and a bunch of calories.

Right now we're gonna be
doing about 360 fish.

I have to handle them once
from the fish wheel into
the boat,

and once from the boat into
the tractor, and one more time
onto the rack.

So for every fish I pick up
or catch out of the wheel,

I've got to handle it a
minimum of three times.

You start doing the math,
it's a lot of work.

It's a lot of handling.

And I will say one thing about
fishing season, it definitely
gets you into shape.

I don't have to pay anything
to go to a gym and work out.

My workout's every day here
with these fish.

I don't mind doing this.
It's kind of meditative.

A lot of times,
you can just kinda... I just
tend to go into daydreams,

or I start creating
blueprints of my next project
in my head while I'm working.

It's the best job of
the whole year for me.

I love cutting fish.
I love utilising the resource.

I love providing for myself
and for Kate and my dogs.

And that's a really
satisfying thing for me.

ERIK: What sends people
packing out of Alaska
is their mind.

There's isolation,
there's darkness,

there's inclement weather,
extreme temperatures.

That's what eliminates people.

I'm down here on
Kodiak Island,

hunting
Sitka black-tailed deer.

Live here in this maritime
environment on the ocean,
great eating animal,

lot of fun to hunt.

We don't have much snow yet
here in Kodiak, so most of
the deer are up high, but,

I'm hoping I'm gonna be
able to glass one up

and put a stalk on here
before evening.

The tide's gone out,
and feeling good.

The weather's a little bit
better than it's been
in the last couple days,

and hopefully we'll have some
success to avenge
yesterday's failure.

(WHISPERS)
I just spotted a deer.

It's really far away though.

It's gonna be a real push
if I can get him
before dark, but,

I've never been afraid of
a challenge,
so let's let her rip, huh?

I'm trying to run a little bit
over a mile here up this hill
to intercept him.

I just see one deer up there.

(EXHALES DEEPLY)

It's the only deer
I saw today.

I'm taking a lot of chances
crossing the open, but,

if I'm not aggressive,
I don't have a chance.

Hopefully he's still there.

If he's still there,
we'll be able to see him

right over the top here.

Sounded like a hit.

Yeah, I got him.

I do have visual confirmation.
I can see the white belly
of the deer.

The deer is down.
The deer is dead.

I'm gonna need to rush
over here.

I'm fighting darkness,
I'm fighting tide,

and I've already seen
a couple bears
on this hillside tonight.

So I'm not gonna
slap myself on the back
too much.

I'm gonna get over there,
cut this deer up,
and get home.

I was able to take this nice
young Sitka black-tailed buck.

He's got a spike there.
Young buck.

We got a hole right where
it counts.

A lot of people ask me
why I hunt, why I do this

and why I'm running up
the side of the hill
in the dark here,

tides screwing around,
and bears screwing around
and the weather.

How could you not love
this place? I mean, look out
on the ocean here,

look up in the mountains.

What's better than this?

I'm just gonna go ahead
and leave the skin on here.

It's a natural game bag and
I can skin this out later.

But for right now, I'm just
gonna get off this mountain
in a hurry,

'cause I got to beat any
bears that are gonna
come around.

They're not that fun to
play with in the dark

when you're out on the
hillside by yourself using
a headlamp,

trying to butcher a deer.

I grew up hunting deer,
and just being out here

and smelling this deer
as I butcher it, it takes me
right back to my childhood.

I've butchered a lot of
white tails

in a lot darker conditions
than this. (CHUCKLES)

Well...

That's one
Sitka black-tailed buck

in a backpack,

on the side of a mountain,

above a beach,

a long ways from camp.

There we go.
(CHEERS EXCITEDLY)

We got to... (WHOOSHES)
Go down through all
this brush,

down the side of the hill

and then about 5, 6 miles
down the beach.

So there's only one way
to get there,

that's one foot in front of
the other.

Tally Ho!
Waidmannsheil.

CHIP: There's killers
and there's accomplices.

That's really what this world
boils down to.

It all leads to death.
We have to kill to eat.
That's how it goes.

AGNES: It's real important
for me to teach my girls
all the stuff that I know,

or what I've learned from
my parents, or my aunts,

or my brothers and sisters.

I really like
this cutting board for fish
'cause I can cut

anywhere on the board, and all
the gunk flows that way.

We eat all different kinds of
fish all year,

and there's all different
types of ways we cut them
and prepare them.

After I scale them,
Idi, I try to clean them up
a little bit

because I'm not going to
wash them.

Ooh, this one's fat.
Let me just get the
stomach out.

These are the eggs,
they're the best parts
of the fish.

I still have a lot
to learn, but,

someday, I think I will be
able to manage my own camp,

be able to live the way
my parents, and their parents,

and everybody else
before them did.

My girls have the real
good opportunity to learn
a real lot.

If they don't get it from
someplace like me
or my husband,

they could lose it,
but we're not going to let
that happen.

SUE: They're top predators,
I'm not.

As a human being,
I am bred to be
at total disadvantage

for survival here.

NARRATOR: Six years after
being attacked by a grizzly,

Sue is going head-to-head
with her tundra nemesis.

(WHISPERS) 386.

I'd like to close
the distance more,

but I'm fucking afraid
he's gonna see us.

(COUGHS)

Shit. He heard me cough.
He just turned.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. Shit.

I gave it away.
He's looking right at us.

I'm getting ready in case
he charges.

First shot's critical.

You're gonna make him mad.
A bear can charge
40 miles an hour.

They are top, top predators.

I can't see him. I lost sight.
I have no fucking clue where
he is.

Oh, shit.

(RIFLE SHOTS)

(RIFLE SHOTS)

I'm shaking.

(EXHALES DEEPLY)

Thank you.
Thank you, brother bear.

That is a big thing for me
to actively pursue a bear.

Proud of myself for doing it
and overcoming some fears,

especially as he was
getting closer.

But I also protected camp.
I did this to protect me,

so my little grandkids could
still visit and see me.

And I really appreciate...

Appreciate the moment.

I'm going fire, just in case.
He could just be
too injured to walk.

Well, here's your kill shot.

This is not a case of let's go
out and get the biggest,
baddest bear on the planet.

This was a case of,
I knew I had a bear that was
coming around through camp,

harassing,
getting into things.

This could very well...
I mean, it's within 5, 6 miles
of my home.

He was headed back there.

This...

...brings back a lot of
memories, man.

This is a mature boar, but...

That can kill you.

I don't take
the taking of life lightly.

I absolutely respect every
single thing about this guy,

and I accepted
a long time ago
that something like this...

I might be the one
laying there. Not him.

Thank you, bear.

Your spirit will not
go to waste.

You'll bring
warmth, nutrition.

I'm grateful for it,
but for perspective,

this is definitely not
the end of the war.

This is one skirmish
in the battle on the Arctic.

It's not over.

ANDY: Life is very physical
when you live out in the bush.

If you're not willing to put
in the physical activity
out here,

you're not gonna do
very well.

(DOGS HOWLING)

What do you think, Prance?

This looks pretty good.

Everybody's gonna get fish
tonight. Ohh, boy.

This is the first fish
of the year for the dogs.

Fish wheel's fishing good,
catching 500, 600
fish a day.

As soon as this fish
starts coming in, we pour
the fish to them.

It's got a lot of good oils,
lot of protein,
lot of fats in it.

It really makes for
healthy animals.

We've got a dog right now.
He's 16 years old
and he's still doing great.

You know, I think living on
this fish their whole life
really extends their life.

Mmm, look at that.
That's going to make you
nice and fat.

ANDY: These fish are
critically important to us.

This is the most important job
of the year for me.

Taking care of our dogs and
making sure they have
high quality food.

It's my job to keep them
in shape, to train them,
and to feed them,

and make sure
that their health is good.

Their job is to do the work
that I ask them to do.

It's about 700 on the rack
right now.

Probably be putting
another 700 on tomorrow.

And, uh...

Now it's just a matter of time
and calories to cut fish,
put fish on the rack.

And get a year's worth
of fish.

And guys like this fat boy
will have food the rest
of the year.

Won't you big guy? Huh?

Gilligan, can you sit?

You're a good sitter.
There you go, fat boy.

It's like a symphony
of slurping up
when it's like this.

(DOG WHINING)