All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.S04E01.On.The.Edge.720p.NF.WEB-DL.x264-KangMus_track3_eng

SUSAN AIKENS: You know, it's
a beautiful time of year.

And any excuse to get
Little Red out for a little...

A buzz-buzz is kind of nice.

I must stay profitable
to keep my lease,

and I'm gonna have to open up
this winter to inundate myself

with people to make up the
difference and be profitable.

My name is Susan Aikens,

and I am the sole resident
of Kavik River Camp,

which is located 197 miles
north of the Arctic Circle.

I am the only
refuelling station

on the eastern side
of the North Slope.

That's the size of a third
of the state of California.

I bought the camp because
what I see is not an oil camp.

What I see
is not a hunting camp.

What I see is an ecotourism
camp and a place to visit

this incredible place
we call the Arctic.

You know,
when I was very little,

people always ask you what you
wanna be when you grow up.

And in the mid-'60s
for a girl,
it's supposed to be wife,

mother, stewardess,
maybe even nurse.

But I always had the same
answer, lighthouse keeper.

I crave extreme isolation
and my personality thrives

so that's how I'm living.

I don't live by anybody
else's rules but my own.

I've been hearing
the clients talk about

a tonne of new bear scat
close in to camp.

This is around where they say,

I should start seeing where
they're digging things up

and pooping all over.

I've got one bear
out here that,

for years I've called
a Monster Bear.

He is 12 to 14 foot.

Straight-up anomaly bear
for the inland grizzly.

He's more like
a Kodiak bear size.

The goal is to, er,

maintain a secure perimeter
around camp.

There's some.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, this is like,
totally really fresh.

(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)

Well, this is definitely
a nice little

spring of dookie.

Some of the things
you can tell,

it's fresh

and he's been eating
the berries.

It's a juvenile bear.

If you look at the size
of what's coming out,

it's not that big
of, er, aperture.

That bear has every right to
go be as happy

as he wants to be
five miles out.

One or two miles
close to camp,

I'm gonna try
to persuade him to leave.

You don't go
pushing the issue.

You don't push
a confrontation.

I think that's some ptarmigan.

My food supply is getting a
little bit lower than I like.

Ptarmigans are tasty
little meals.

Maybe she doesn't see me.
Shit!

She's getting ready to fly.

I got a little ptarmy.

Damn, there's a ton of them.

(GUNSHOT)

(GUNSHOT)

(GUNSHOT)

I got two here.

The original mission

was to check for predators.

That was worth it though.

I got some birdies.

Just a nice little addition
for my food supply.

And I've got a tasty
little meal for dinner.

Today I found out about
the animals in my area.

Right now I'm seeing
bear activity.

I need to take notice.
I need to pay attention.

Until it gets within a mile,
half-mile of camp,

I don't need to worry.

But I need to be aware.

JESSIE HOLMES:
I'm a man building a lifestyle

and a life out here
for myself.

Bailing the old wood boat
out here.

It's been raining for a week,
and this thing

has taken on a lot of water

in the last few days
of heavy rain.

I've got so much to do I can
hardly keep up

on everything, you know?

My name is Jessie Holmes,
I live in Nenana, Alaska

with my team of 55 sled dogs.

I love dogs,
I love the loyalty

and the work ethic
of the Alaskan husky.

I appreciate their tough
feats, their big hearts,

and their athleticism.

I build my own structures,
I hunt, I fish,

I live
a subsistence lifestyle.

I made a lot of mistakes
in my life

and I fucked up a lot, and I'm
trying to like make up for it.

That's what I would
tell you about me.

It's gonna continue to rain
and it's gonna get cold.

Perfect for moose hunting.

If I get a moose,
it saves me a lot of time,

because one shot at getting
hundreds of pounds of meat

as opposed to killing
a hundred critters

to get by during the winter,
you know?

(ENGINE ROARING)

Well, I'm here in the main
channel of the big river,

and I'm about to dip
into a slough back here.

Head a few miles up,

and try to find a meadow
to hunt tonight.

My plan's to get out there and
set up a little camp,

and then head down to a meadow
and call moose in.

See if I get any response.

You always gotta keep
your eyes open

when you're out here,
because you never know

when a moose is gonna come.

I'm gonna set up camp now.

I'm gonna rig up
a tarp here so,

got a place to get out
of the rain,

stay dry tonight.

Keep it simple, man, it just
keeps it more peaceful to me.

Five-star accommodations.

Get this done, now I can head
on out and hunt.

It's getting late.

I'm hoping that this
will be productive,

but the only way to find out
is to go get quiet

and start calling moose.

My moose-call here is the
moose shoulder blade

I scrape and use
to call the moose in.

I'm looking for like,
some sign of moose activity.

(WHISPERING)
I see a lot of spots
where a moose bed down,

so this is a meadow
that moose come to.

(JESSIE SPEAKING)

(INHALING AND EXHALING)

It's getting pretty dark.

I can't reliably

even see for a good shot, so,

gonna head on,
come back in the morning.

But good start.

Good spot.

EDWARD HAILSTONE:
Boating. Hunting.

Fishing, camping.

I wouldn't trade this life
for anything.

-The girls got mail.
-Wonder what we got.

Dad, catch!

Ah.

I'm Edward Hailstone,
my nickname's Chip.

I'm married, I've got five
daughters, couple sons.

We live here
in Noorvik, Alaska

for a good chunk of the year,
then I live in camps

for probably good seven,
eight months of the year.

And, er, we all work together

and we like to show our kids
what to do.

And if our kids
choose to live this way,

they've got
good knowledge in it,

and if they don't choose
to live this way,

they're well-versed
in other stuff.

My name is Agnes Hailstone,

and I live
with my husband Chip.

I'm 100% Inupiat.

Born here, raised here
and we hunt, fish,

and gather pretty much
year-round.

And we live
a subsistence lifestyle.

What is that?

CHIP: It's deeds to property
from your mom and your dad.

AGNES HAILSTONE:
I've acquired some property.

It was passed down to me
from my mother,

and it was passed down
from her mother.

This is some real good areas
here so,

-we're gonna...
-Go check it out.

-Boat ride.
-Yeah.

CHIP: My wife got a title
to some lands

that she knew
she had inherited,

and it's taken quite a few
years for the courts

and the system and all these
other things to come through.

You'll enjoy this place.

Me and your mom
know it well enough.

My son Jon came over
from Selawick,

and we'll take him down
to Emonakrov,

that's the name
of the camp down there,

have him pick out a place and
he can give me a hand

and maybe start developing
a taste for the area.

CHIP: It's over here.

AGNES: So, on both sides
of the river.

We own both sides.

NARRATOR:
The Hailstones' new land
allows greater access

to resources for survival,

but with the onslaught
of winter storms

and freezing temperatures
rapidly approaching,

building a permanent
structure is a priority.

My legs are too short
for this!

(LAUGHING)

This is my train of thought.

Everybody that was here didn't
come here to play

in the willows,
they came here to fish.

So, they're definitely gonna
put a place where,

they could park their boat or
find it easy

with a dog team
or snow machine.

So my thought is they
can't get in with a boat,

I'm gonna stick with the creek
and go find

a camping spot along it.

Look at that, tent pegs.

Somebody tented here, until
the bush grew through it.

-Yeah, this is the place...
-Yup, look.

-Tent's peg, look at that.
-...we were talking about.

Whoopa-whoopa-whoopa, hot dog.

This'll be the place, and now
we can knock that off

with a chainsaw real easy,
open this up a little bit.

Look how flat and level
this ground is.

This is just wonderful.

We're gonna take the cue of
my wife's grandparents,

and we're gonna use this spot

to develop, instead of having
just a tent on the ground

like those folks used to do,

we're gonna put something
a little more permanent.

We're gonna put
some posts down

and we're gonna put
some crossbeams.

We gotta start with something,
I can't start with a house.

Can't just land a house here
or have it parachuted in.

We gotta start with
a little bit of shelter,

and then we can build
from there.

GLENN VILLENEUVE:
When I first got to Alaska,
I had to figure things out.

I had to learn things,
it takes time.

In my case, it took years.

Man, I've been sitting down
here for a week

just waiting to get out
of town. It's crummy weather.

It was snowing,
then it started raining.

It's just been
totally overcast.

NARRATOR: After a brief stay
at his Fairbanks cabin,

Glenn Villeneuve is returning
to the Brooks Range

for dark winter.

Bad weather has him stranded,

and a break in the storm is
his only chance

to return home.

I gotta get a float plane here
and get up to the lake.

It's 200 miles north
of Fairbanks,

and between here and there,
there's a bunch of mountains.

Here's the airport right here,
oh, my gosh!

Look at the clouds.

Right down to those hills.

That's not good.

But the pilot thought that
we might be able to make it.

We're gonna give it
a try anyway.

It doesn't look very good.

-Morning, Myles.
-Morning.

Any chance of getting
up there today?

I think there's a chance.

We'll give it a try.

GLENN: I used
to live in Vermont.

And I used to like being out
in the woods a lot,

ever since I was little, so
when I got to thinking about

where I wanted to live
the rest of my life,

I was looking at a map
and I thought, "Hey,

"Alaska, that looks like
a good place to go."

Even if there's only a small
chance of getting up there,

I wanna get up there so bad
I'd like to try it.

To fly a small plane,
you gotta be able to see
where you're going.

We can't fly
on instruments, so,

if we can't see where we're
going, we can't get there.

On a clear day,
you can see mountains

all across the horizon down
there, big mountains.

Can't see anything
down there now.

What about just getting over
to the flats though?

That might be
a little tricky too.

Yeah.

GLENN: It's time
for me to get headed
back to the Brooks Range.

It's about a 60-mile walk
from the nearest road,

200 miles from town.

I live out here 'cause I just
feel really well living out
in the mountains like this.

This is my favourite place
in the world.

There's this veneer
of civilisation

that's weighing people down,

and there's something inside
waiting to get out

and you get out here in the
woods and you can live it.

You can get as primal
as you wanna get.

It's different out here.

GLENN: Touchdown, we made it.
MYLES: We're here.

GLENN: Look at this.

Looks like I went straight
from fall to winter.

-There you are.
-Okay, Myles.

-Thanks a lot for the lift.
-Okay, Glenn, sure.

-Have a good flight back.
-Thanks.

(PLANE WHIRRING)

I love it when that plane
takes off,

and I just hear it
disappearing
into the distance.

And I'm all alone out here.

(PLANE ENGINE ROARING)

JESSIE: I totally am nomadic

because you have to be nomadic
to survive in Alaska.

(BOAT ENGINE STARTS)

I went hunting up
this slough last night.

Found a meadow, but I didn't
see a lot of sign there

so now I'm gonna try
to find another meadow.

Time's wasting.

So I have one day left of
hunting season out here,

and starting to feel
under pressure.

NARRATOR:
To help feed himself and his
team of sled dogs

for the long winter,

Jessie relies on the bounty
of the Nenana River.

But with the clock ticking,

and competition
from nearby predators,

finding a moose won't be easy.

Wow, that's a bear den
right there.

Doesn't look like
it's habituated now,

but come time winter comes
a bear's gonna come

and crawl in here
and den up here.

This is definitely
bear country out here.

If I found a bear,

I would definitely go for it,

because they're covered
in fat too,

and at this point
in the season meat's
meat, you know?

I see a lot of moose scat
right here

on this stretch of the trail.

Definitely found a place where
the moose

are active, you know.

You can get a moose by luck,

and I've gotten a moose
before by luck.

That's pretty easy.

But to like, really develop
like moose-hunting skills,

and techniques you know,
is what I'm looking to do.

Yep, well, my best odds are
gonna be to just wait it out.

Be real quiet.

(IMITATES MOOSE CALL)

(BIRDS CHIRPING)

Cow come in.

Then, a bull came in.

Too dark to get a shot.

(JESSIE SPEAKING)

I'm in the right country.

CHIP: I like doing the
behind-the-scenes stuff.

I like taking care
of the little things.

Here, let's just grab
this one right here.

We don't need to knock
the branches off of it,
they're already gone.

NARRATOR:
The Hailstones plan to develop
on their newly inherited land.

Their first step is to gather
wood and build a foundation

for a permanent structure.

But with the full force of
winter on the horizon,

they only have a limited time
to complete the build.

What I'm looking for
is basically,

what we call "river logs".

And there's logs
aside the river

that have been stripped
of their bark.

They've been stripped
of their branches.

They've been tumbled.

Maybe they've gone through
a couple breakups

and the ice has really
had at them.

And those are the logs
I want to get

because they're number one,
easy to get, they're right
on the riverbank.

But they're stripped of bark.
They're stripped of branches.

And all the other things
we'd have to trim off, so,

basically the river's done
a really good job

of making these things
into the posts that we want.

CHIP: I'm sinking.
AGNES: Okay.

-You gonna grab?
-That was a pretty
easy one, eh?

If we just find a few easy
ones like that

it'll... We'll be done.

One over here is nice.

I'm gonna get the chainsaw,
let's make into,

some four-footers.

Wow, that's a good one, eh?

(CHAINSAW ROARING)

Yee!

CHIP: We spotted
what we needed.

And then we're just gonna take
all this wood that we can,

and see what
we can do with it.

There it is.

I hope we got here on a tide.

There's mud, this is all mud.

NARRATOR:
The Hailstones return
to their new land

to begin building
a permanent structure.

But the heavy load causes them

to get stuck
in shallow waters.

AGNES:
We got to figure this out
with our load, so heavy.

(ENGINE ROARING)

All right, I'm good.

Tell me
if we're getting shallow.

JON HAILSTONE: Still
pretty deep.

CHIP: Still deep enough?
AGNES: Yep.

Yee!

Wow, I can't believe I didn't
even touch

bottom with the motor.

All right, I think
we can deal with this.

Let's, erm,
gas up the chainsaw.
It's already sharp. Should be.

If you want to start winging
that around,

I'll help you and we'll take
turns with it.

(CHAINSAW ROARING)

(SIGHS)

One, two, three.

It's just a beautiful spot and
I'm glad my parents

picked a beautiful spot and
they were probably here

doing the same thing,
you know?

I feel happy that I'm able to
share some of that with them

and then I'll be able to tell
the girls the stories

of what I know
my grandparents did

and I'll be able to share
with my daughters.

Okay.

You got a little clearing
made here.

We're all working
together and, er,

we're gonna make
a raised platform here.

Raised platform may end up
being a cache,

it may end up
being a tent floor,

it may end up being a lot
of things over the years.

GLENN:
Things are changing fast.

It's the change
of the seasons.

Winter's coming on.

Wow, it's a good thing
I got here when I did.

Look at the weather
that's coming in.

Snowing pretty hard already.

NARRATOR:
After returning to his cabin
in the Brooks Range,

Glenn must secure
vital resources

to survive during dark winter.

One of the first things
I gotta do is get
some more wood.

I got a little woodpile there,
but as cold as it is,

I definitely want more
than that.

I usually use a saw
if I'm anticipating

cutting large-diameter trees.

Saw allows me
to cut larger timber,

and I'm anticipating
finding some today.

Wow, look at how much snow
there is already.

I can't believe it,
this is amazing.

Look at the forest.

It's so beautiful!

Here's one.

Right over there.

Let me go take a look at it,
see if it's suitable.

I only cut deadwood
for firewood.

And I don't like to go further
from my camp than I have to.

In the wintertime when
the snow gets deep,

all the trees that have
naturally fallen down

on the ground
that are dead and dry,

they get buried in the snow
and I can't utilise them,

so I have to look
for standing dead timber.

But since deadwood is limited,

I'd like to use those trees
on the ground right now

before they get buried.

Remember when
you were a little kid,

and like the first time
the snow came,

how exciting it was?
I still feel that way.

I get up in the morning,
I look out.

"Holy cow! Look at that.

"The snow's
all over the trees,

"it's like winter
wonderland out here."

I don't want to get up
and get in my car

and commute
to some office cubicle.

I like it out here.

It's perfect.

It's beautiful.

Got a sled load
of wood right here.

All from a tree that would
have been buried in the snow.

When I come back
later in the winter,

I left these standing trees
for then.

I can still get to them
all winter long.

It's time for a transition.

That tree's not gonna be
a tree any more.

I'm gonna turn it into heat.

It's gonna become
something else.

It's gonna cook my food,
it's gonna heat my cabin,

it's gonna heat my hot water.

Got my wood.

Mission accomplished.

SUE: Just feeling
happy that I'm
in the middle of nature.

I gotta get the Argo, bring it
around to the other shed,

and then I'll get the, er,

sled out.

NARRATOR:
With hunting clients
staying at Kavik,

Sue must remove
the carcasses of their kill.

If not done immediately,

hungry predators may breach
the camp's perimeter

and threaten the safety
of herself and her guests.

People come,
they'll hang their meat.

Age it, whatever,
wait till they can work on it.

But as soon as you can,
you get it out,

and the state tells me how far
I need to go and dump it.

And, er, that's what
I'm doing now.

This is what bears and
predators eat

to get their fat for winter.

I don't want them to come
through my building to get it.

The goal is to get
this out of camp,

so the predators don't see
Sue's Diner

written on the side
of my tents.

The grizzlies are the ones

that I'm most concerned
about here.

One's called Monster Bear.

The first time I saw him,
he dwarfed the trailer.

All's I did was get up
and out of his way.

Whatever he wanted
he could take.

So I just want to see what
the river looks...

There's bear prints there.

We'll get out and take a
look-see at what kind

of prints we have
going on here.

You really want to see what's
running around your turf.

Start checking out the mud.

Yeah, pad

and claws.

Pad, claws.

Not Monster Bear.

Sometimes,

it's the smaller bears

that are more of a threat
than the bigger bears.

What is that?

About a mile, mile and a half
out that way,

I can't tell you what I see.

There's a moose.

I cannot shoot a moose.

Go back a couple of years,
they shut down the hunting.

Probably never to reopen it.

But damn is that
a happy fucking sight.

Here's a bull moose,

in his prime, looking awesome.

Probably made out
with the girl down the road.

Procreating.

And here he is just strutting
his stuff looking awesome.

All right, time to go.

I got a little marshy
area here.

I got to be able to dump off
the bones

far enough away from camp.

(ENGINE STOPS)

Okay, make sure that's secure.

You want that close by.

And then I'm just gonna take
this and,

get rid of it. (GRUNTS)

(THUDS)

All right. (GRUNTS)

I'm just gonna take
your little hoof.

You use what's around ya.

This is antibacterial,

and, er, antimicrobial.

And I'm just trying to get
some of the skunky blood off.

We'll just clean it up.

Here we go.

The predators have
what they need.

I have what I need. (SNIFFS)

Time to get back home.

CHIP: I don't want to sit at
the house and do nothing.

I don't want to be stuck in
some camp doing nothing.

There's so much to do
out here, it's crazy.

All we gotta do
is dig holes and,

put those posts in and put the
three top pieces, huh?

NARRATOR:
The Hailstones have returned

to their recently
inherited property.

Chip, Agnes, and Jon will
begin building a foundation

for a structure that will
allow the family to maximise

the resources
at their new grounds.

CHIP: I'm gonna eventually
have a camp here.

Just have to start
with something and, er,

this is gonna be the
foundation of our something.

AGNES: Emonakrov is a pretty
good place to go fishing.

It's a pretty good place
to go birding.

Even if it didn't really have
anything, just you know,

having it from my mother

and grandmother
is pretty good with me.

CHIP: That post is all the
way down.

It's about two and a half feet
in the ground.

Couple of them are irregular,

and I don't know how deep
each hole is gonna be,

so the best thing to do is put
the posts in first

and then we'll trim them to
the size we want them,

which is gonna be
about two feet up.

We're gonna put
the crosspieces, gables,

and the flooring later.

We're just doing a foundation
today, nothing more.

And this is an excellent one.

-Cool, huh?
-Yeah.

Water will flow under here,
snow can blow under here.

We'll be good up top here.

We better just call it
a day now.

I think there's not much more
we can do here anyway.

AGNES: Ready?
CHIP: Yep, ready.

We'll bring the girls back
and let them see
what we've done, huh.

This is awesome.
Something we can come down
here and stay here

when we work instead
of driving back home.

JESSIE: Nature pretty
much provides
everything you need,

you just have to learn
the skills, and adapt to it.

NARRATOR:
Jessie Holmes is hunting moose
along the Nenana River.

But this time of year,

he can only legally hunt
bull moose.

With hunting season
coming to an end,

Jessie must wait patiently
for a chance at the animal.

JESSIE: Moose-hunting
season ends
at midnight tonight.

I need to get one
before it gets dark.

You gotta be patient,

for moose hunting, but you
also gotta be persistent.

(GRASS RUSTLING)

There's a cow.

Cow and a calf, so,

where there's a cow,
usually there's a bull.

I think it's the same one
I saw last night.

There was a bull travelling
with her, so...

Hopefully he's around
here somewhere.

I haven't heard him
anywhere though.

She might not be in heat.

There's a slough up
around this bend

that goes and cuts in here.

I'm gonna go check it out,

see if there's another
entrance to this meadow

and check it out over there.

This is the whole thicket
in between

the moose and the slough,

so they're travelling
through this area.

I just gotta keep trying.

I gotta get some meat,
you know?

This is my opportunity.

I'm gonna go and check
this side of the scene out.

When I've gotten a moose
in the past,

I feel like it's more out
of luck than skill,

so coming out here,

moose hunting is a real
opportunity for me to build

a skill that's gonna be a

very good life skill
to have in Alaska.

(WHISPERS) There's
more fresh shit.

Just can't see nothing.

Damn it.

It's kind of a bummer
to not get a moose,

but, you know, I'm not angry
or I'm not like discouraged.

Like, I'm not gonna like,
stop trying.

I'm gonna continue to come
out here in this land,

and develop an intimate
relationship with it.

That doesn't all
happen overnight.

Some grouse.

There's some grouse!

(GUNSHOT)

Got him, right in the neck.

Man, nice breast there,
not damaged.

I'm just, er, filleting out
the breast meat here,

the prime part of the grouse.

I realised there was no moose
where I was at,

so figured I may as well not
come home empty-handed.

Look at that good
fat on there.

I'm, er, really into hunting
small game, you know?

Like I've always
really enjoyed it,

and always considered myself
to be pretty good at

hunting the small game,
you know?

This is where they process
their stomach,

and they have to eat rocks
and gravel.

This is one of my favourite
parts right here.

It's like, I think last year,

I probably killed
about 30 grouse.

Because, bam!
One grouse, one meal.

Simple guy like me who only
needs one meal a day,

you know?
Like, goes a long way.

Well, no moose yet,
but at least

I got something to eat here.

Now I can go back and have
myself a delicious breakfast.

Still got some embers going
to this fire and I

have a fresh grouse
to cook up.

Just got back
from hunting this morning.

Little bit of action,
saw a cow and a calf.

No bull came out.

Saw a grouse,

I figured may as well take
this opportunity.

Best to always be ready
for something like that,

because it just pops up
really quick.

(INHALES DEEPLY)

Nothing more pleasurable than
being out here camping,

and like eating food
that's like,

actually come from the land,
you know,

I don't wanna come out here
with MREs

like a lot of guys do.
That's disgusting to me.

Go.

Whole reason I'm out here
trying to get a moose

is because I enjoy
eating like

natural food that comes
from the land.

That's part of my lifestyle.

I'm just gonna let this
cook here

in this water.

That way I'll have myself
a nice broth

for my boat trip home.

I didn't get a moose,
but what I did

is invested in my knowledge
of the country

and knowledge of the
moose's characteristics,

and how to better hunt them
in the future,

and I feel like I learned
a lot, you know?

It's hard not to learn
a lot, I mean,

your eyes are closed
if you're not learning.

Not getting a moose
just means like,

I'm gonna have to snare
a lot of rabbits,

shoot a lot of grouse,

and eat a lot
of fish this winter.

That's all right
with me though.

I appreciate any food that
comes from the land.

You can't lose out here.

This is a lifestyle
that's like a blessing

to be able to live.

CHIP: I work for myself
and I work for my family.

I work for my wife,
I work for my kids.

CHIP: This is pretty
cool, huh? All this snow.

(LAUGHING)

AGNES: Careful with that
chainsaw, son.

CHIP: Oh, what a day.
Look, it's snowing like
crazy across the river.

You girls are gonna like what
we've cleared out down there.

You'll like the different
little places that we made.

AGNES: Today is the first day
of winter, so, erm,

we have a couple inches
of snow overnight, and, er,

it's kind of put a thin layer
of ice all over everything.

Crazy how the weather
changes, eh?

-AGNES: Yeah!
-(LAUGHING)

I love it! Winter's arriving,
it's knocking on the door.

It's saying, "Get
your shit together."

(LAUGHING)

We're heading downriver,
all right.

We're gonna go down
to Emonakrov and, erm,

we're going to show the girls
the progress we've made,

me and Jon and Agnes.

CHIP: You guys make
yourselves comfortable.

I want these girls to know
that this is gonna be there,

and where it is, and start
to familiarize themselves

with the territory
around there,

so that even in the winter,
they'll find it.

You girls will like it.
Keep watching these
channels so you'll learn

your way down here.

In the springtime when
we're sheefishing,

we'll come down here lots.

The snow's kind of getting
wet now, huh?

-It's almost turning to rain.
-Yeah.

We're gonna be doing pretty
good down here I think.

Oh! A seal ahead of us!

There he is.

Oh, he's a big one.

See him right there?

Coming at us?

I think we're not
gonna get any closer.

(CHIP SPEAKING)

We're almost there,
let's keep going in.

There you go, kiddos.

(LAUGHING)

So what you girls
think of this?

AGNES: Nice spot, eh?

This right here
is the start of,
what we're gonna do.

And I want to get
a tent in here,

and then once we got a tent,
we can start working on

bigger projects
like a log cabin,

tower, caches,
things like that.

AGNES: I've been fishing
down here lots with my mom.

I'm sure she was fishing
down here with her mom.

Now you girls get to come down
here and go fish with me.

-Pretty cool, huh?
-Yeah.

We'll eat a little something
before we head home.

We're way far away
from help. Whoo!

Even though it's snowing,
it's a beautiful day.

We're sitting here warming up
to this little smoky fire,

trying to have our, erm,
nice dinner.

Wow, that meat is soft, huh?

Well, we really scored,
look, we got it in

before winter's setting in.

But now we got
these foundations.

We can start with the tent
and go off something
to camp out of that.

Well, it's a good start.

GLENN: You have some
agency out here
that gets taken away

from you in society,
it's a powerful feeling.

One thing I really miss when
I'm down in Fairbanks

is just being able to jump in
the lake and go for a swim

any time I want to.

I tell you, when I'm feeling
tired, dirty,

after cutting that wood, ugh.

There's nothing
like jumping in that lake,

really wakes me up.

I'm gonna go for a swim.

I believe that the cold water
is very therapeutic.

Conditions the body.

Whoo!

Human body's capable of a lot.

People just don't realise it

because they don't come
anywhere near

pushing their limits.

That's ice-cold water!

That feels good!

To live this lifestyle,
you have to be strong.

You have to go out there
and make things happen.

Nobody else
is gonna do it for you.

But on the other hand,
you're also insignificant,

irrelevant,

and really puny compared to

the forces
that are around you.

Very invigorating!

You can't be arrogant,

but at the same time
you have to be strong.

Then you'll do okay,
you'll survive.

As long as you can.

I gotta go in and warm up.

Whoo!

It's great to be
up here again.

SUE: I'll always make it
no matter what I do.

Sometimes I come out
a little skinnier

and sometimes I come out
a little heavier.

Getting a little nicer out.

NARRATOR:
With hunting clients in camp,

and reports of bear scat on
the outskirts of Kavik,

Sue must remain vigilant
in protecting her territory.

When it snows, you're gonna
see who's walking around.

This is not a location you
wander into by accident

and check to see
if there's rentals.

This is an area
you plot, plan,

lease, spend a lifetime

dedicated to overcoming
the hurdles.

And then enjoy
the hell out of it.

This is one of my little high
points I like to come to.

I've got at least
10 miles that way.

You got about
three miles that way,

and maybe a mile that way.

That's a lot of, that's a lot
of real estate

for me to be looking at.

With my super eye sockets,
I can tell you that I do see

what I think is a bear.

I think this is that little
juvenile bear

that I was talking about.

These apex predators,

they do what
I'm doing right now.

They get up on high ground and
they kind of look around.

That little dude
is over there,

and he's on high ground
looking back at me.

That's the way it works to,
to be top dog.

You gain a little elevation,

you see what's out there,

and then you hang it out and
piss all over your territory.

Might be a good idea

to take my gun and just
pop off a couple of rounds.

(GUNSHOT)

That's the warning
to all the predators.

Might seem silly,

but the animals know, boom
means something's going down.

Now, there's not a predator
in this area

that doesn't know
I've got some firepower.

So... But it is time for me
to be get myself back home,

get things buttoned up
for the night.

Brand-new day tomorrow.