Original subtitles

The arctic refuge is roughly the size

of the state of south Carolina.

You go for hundreds, thousands of miles

without roads -- nothing.

Our permits only go up

until the death of our last child.

Within 100 years, there's gonna be nobody.

We are the last.

This country was made for winter.

It just opens up the door to everything that's out there.

This area that we can hunt,

there's like millions of acres,

but you got to go a long way to find one animal.

You have to have a crazy will and tenacity.

'Cause mother nature doesn't give up the treasure

as easily up here.

This is our freezer, you know.

This is the arctic freezer.

You've got the cabbage underneath the snow

from a long time ago.

It's been frozen, but it's good.

Potato. yeah.

Some on- I mean, some onions and carrots.

Damn door. Got to work on that door.

Oh, soup.

Soup.

Here, look at this lid.

See all that dust on there from the floor,

from a dirt floor.

-So dusty. -See that?

Look at that.

This new cabin that I built here,

I still got to put the floor in.

And so once the floor is in, I'm done.

I'm done working on the cabin.

A lot has changed since this last summer.

The girls came here for, uh, you know, uh,

to help build the cabin.

And so we just said to heck with it,

we'll kill a moose in the winter season

and we'll just get the cabin done.

You better kill the moose

because we're running out of food here.

I know. Well, you know,

I saw that moose upriver.

It'll be good if we get some moose.

Then we'll have meat

and we'll be all set for the winter.

Be careful.

We'll see you later.

Heim...

Okay. love you too.

A couple days ago, I saw a little bull just upriver.

I'm gonna go after that today.

That's my plan. Hopefully I can get him.

We do have matches over at the lake.

Yeah, but we need toothpaste.

Oh, yeah, toothpaste.

And some extra socks

in case we get our feet wet, you know.

Mm-hmm.

I mean, it should be pretty simple.

Already pretty well stocked up at the cabins.

All right. Let's get started.

We're getting ready to go on our trip

to do our loop,

and so I'm packing a few essential things.

So, in go our snacks

and Tyler's packing dog food.

We're leaving for a --

for a big trip around our trap-line circuit

and, uh, just getting ready.

A trap line is a trail that goes through, hopefully,

good trapping grounds where a lot of animals live.

We are, you know, trying to make a living off of fur.

Trappers go after fur animals --

marten, lynx, Wolverine.

This is -- this'll be for a couple different purposes,

just for snacks on the trail for the dogs,

and then also it's, uh,

I use it for my marten baits.

The first leg of the trip

is going up to the upper cabin

and then, uh, along the way, we're gonna check my traps.

Is that for the trip? -Mm-hmm.

Mmm.

Are you ready to take right off?

Mm-hmm.

I think everything's kind of in order.

-You think? -We're ready to go.

Load up the sleds and hit the trail.

Want to go for a ride, huh?

Time for our trip.

This winter, we have two new puppies,

smokey and goose.

With pups, they just run free behind the sled.

We just let them chase all the time.

They're just learning what it means

to be part of the dog team.

Jaffe's, you know, been leading for five years now.

He's the one that steers the team around the country.

He just turned 7, so...

We raised him from a pup.

You were born in a chicken Coop.

And we ran him at wheel for the first couple of years,

which is the position right in front of the sled,

but he would just like put his head down

and lean into the harness

and work the whole time, you know.

You could tell he was listening,

you know, and you could see, like,

I would give a command to that leader

and he would start picking up on it, you know.

You could see him actually turning in that position

and your dog team

is only as good as your leader,

so I mean, i can totally trust him.

I mean, we get into situations where we'd be put in jeopardy

if we didn't have a competent lead dog.

And so he's --

it's really important to have -- to have a dog like this.

Jaffe will make sure you stay right on the good ice,

you know, and you get across

and you can't just trust any dog to do that, you know.

It'd be pretty scary.

We're ready to roll. -Okay.

-Yeah. -let's go. Let's go.

Ready, jaffe, hike.

Right now, you know,

in the middle of winter, i do not want to be hunting

when I should be trapping and,

but yet I'm spending time trying to get food,

you know what I mean?

And then you have to work like hell trapping

to make up for that and also to make a profit,

so that's a lot of pressure to kill a moose then.

A lot of pressure.

We got wolves here.

You can tell that they're go--

going upriver right there in the track.

You see the claw marks, you know,

the claws they're pointed that way.

One is right there, one wolf track is there,

one wolf track is here, so that's two.

Another one here, so that's three;

another one here, so that's four;

and there's two of them there,

two wolves there, five and six,

so that's a pack of six

and they all, they're going upriver.

That's a big pack.

Well, the wolf is, I mean, he's the top predator.

He's got the biggest brain, he's the smartest,

and he will keep killing and keep killing

until there's nothing.

Moose aren't dumb. They don't want to stay here

when there are wolves here 'cause wolves will kill 'em.

Now is when I really, really have to hunt moose.

I'm worried about that.

Uh, dig out some willows

for filling the cracks in the logs of the cabin.

There we go.

Sarah cut these earlier.

We don't see many ravens in the winter,

but there's a few hanging around.

This fall, the weather was horrible.

It's been real warm.

It rained continuously for --

for the past three months.

I mean, that's just extremely unusual.

It's normally sunny most of the time,

so it took us longer getting the cabin up

and getting moved in and everything,

but, uh, it went well with all five of us working.

You know, that was six weeks of work.

We raised the walls three rounds

and then put a new roof on, put an addition on.

We decided to build an addition

going out for the girls.

That gives them privacy and gives us privacy.

And we were able to use shorter,

smaller lo-- shorter logs

and, uh, you can use a lot more crooked material 'cause

you're cutting 'em shorter

so that's what we ended up doing, but,

uh, the moss dries out.

It gets real brittle and dries out and,

uh, it falls out and stuff, so,

uh, you slap willows over it

and it just kind of helps seal it in.

This is kind of like winterization, you know,

kind of like weather stripping

that you would do in a, a conventional house.

Nice to stay warm.

We're good and comfortable now.

Hey, do you want to take your pack

or do you want to use mine?

Yeah, we can just use mine.

-Are those new traps? -What?

-Are those new ones? -No.

-Oh, they're not? -No.

Yeah, um, we're just going out to set a couple,

uh, beaver traps.

It's kind of interesting and exciting to trap, uh,

new animals 'cause, uh, at the other place, um,

on little black,

we just had, um, pretty much lynx.

That was the main animal that we trapped out there.

Beaver are a little bit harder to trap

than other land animals

just because they live under the ice.

Um, so with beaver, you don't really see any tracks

and they don't leave behind clues

that you can follow.

-Are we ready? -I think so.

Be careful.

Go ahead.

Come on.

Up, up, up.

Here we go.

Up, up, come on.

Up, up, up.

Up. good boy, jaff.

Good boy. -Man, it's just like fire

behind the trees on the cut bank there.

Yeah. all right, jaff.

We've been working on getting this trail up for years.

Our trapping loop is a trail, basically.

It's 80 miles worth of circuit right now

and it's all in the wilderness

that we've cut ourselves,

but now the country is really open to us.

We have a lot of possibilities

at this point as far as trapping goes.

Go on.

Ho. we probably should check that ice.

Up. -dang it.

So I'm going up to check the crossing

and I don't like what I see from here.

Bank side is pretty bad.

The black ice there.

This is probably 50-60 feet wide.

Normally, you would walk out and check it,

but that ice is so thin

that if I were to walk out there,

I might break it.

There's nowhere else to go.

See how these woods are along this bank,

we'd have to cut a trail all the way through those woods

to get around it because that channel runs all the way

down to that bend.

So, it's totally unrealistic.

We don't have time to do something like that.

The weather turned warm, uh,

on us a couple weeks ago

and it stayed that way

and started to undermine the ice and --

and that's how you get around.

I think I'll -- what I'll do is just drive the dogs up here

and, uh, stop 'em right before the crossing.

Jaffe.

And they kind of pick up on the tension a little bit

and they get all hyped up themselves

and then they just want to blast across it,

which is what you want.

You don't want 'em dilly-dallying.

So that's the plan.

How is it?

Really?

You do worry about the dogs, of course,

because they will be the first ones to go in

if there's a bad spot

and chances are you could fall in

and get under the ice

where you couldn't touch the bottom.

Ahh! nobody wants to think about that.

Should we -- so, yeah, they're ready to go.

Yeah, they've been ready to go for 10 minutes.

Uh-huh. they'll be plenty fast going across it.

Let's go. Let's go.

Jaffe, are you ready? Jaff, let's go.

The black ice there, it's pretty bad.

How is it?

Really?

There's nowhere else to go.

They'll be plenty fast going across it.

Let's go. Let's go.

Jaffe, are you ready? Jaff, let's go!

Let's go! Jaffe, hike!

-Let's go! -Get across there.

Go on! Hike!

That was awesome, i skidded on one side.

We made it.

Each time we make it across...Satisfied.

We ought to make it before dark to the upper cabin.

Okay.

I grew up, you know, in rural Michigan.

My earliest memories are just, you know,

dreaming about the woods

and seeing nature.

There's a lot of, you know, country around

that I haven't really seen,

so I built a boat.

The whole idea was just to explore a new country

with it.

The girls were up here earlier.

They came and scraped the snow off the deck.

And, uh, I wanted to get down here

and get it cleaned off

before we get another bunch of snow.

That's one thing about a big boat.

It's quite a commitment

because the amount of maintenance it takes.

So much for that.

Nice while it lasted.

The girls kind of had mixed emotions

about coming out here.

They're glad they came and saw it,

but I think they still prefer our other place.

I think that's their favorite.

They're just fond of it just for that fact

and that's where all their memories are,

I guess.

Our other place is in the woods on the little black.

The girls were raised there.

It's home for them

because that's what they are familiar with.

It's the only place they spend any time.

Occasionally, I'm reminded of the fact that they're --

they're kind of attached to,

you know, their life and their lifestyle

and it kind of always surprises me.

I wasn't brought up that way.

We moved around a lot,

so they're kind of sentimental about their home and --

and I never was, so I don't know.

It's hard for me to relate to that.

We'll get through it.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

We're all settled in now, comfortable,

so now it's the time to, you know, poke around, you know,

just explore a little bit;

get out their traps, get their line out, so...

You know, once they get out and see it, you know,

they'll appreciate it for what it is.

I came to the woods, you know,

to tune out distractions,

get that peace of mind and be comfortable.

Once the girls discover this area,

they'll grow attached to it.

This is a nice trail.

I've been hearing about this place

for, like, ever since I can remember.

I've looked forward to exploring because it's new country.

Everything's new and it would just --

we're kind of piecing what we're seeing with the stories

that we've heard,

what the river looked like, what the country was like.

Where do you want me to set?

Uh, probably up here.

It's a little frustrating catching beavers

because I guess they're a little harder to trap than, um,

like a land animal

because they don't leave tracks either,

so you can't really like,

um, tell, like, which way they're going

or where exactly to put the trap.

-You're getting poles. -Yeah.

We put beaver snares and underwater traps.

You want to, um, put it right up from the house.

You want it close to the house

because as he's going down to his cache,

he'll see the, um, our bait,

which we'll use Willow bait, he'll see it right here,

um, coming to or from his cache, so...

I'm just getting some bait for the, uh, beaver set.

You've got to get some kind of Willow

or some kind of, um, vegetation that they will --

that they'll be attracted to.

I'm trying to find the live ones

'cause they won't eat like dead -- dead Willow bark.

I'm just gonna get a little bundle here, so...

It's kind of interesting, though, seeing new country,

seeing new stuff, places that you haven't explored yet.

I mean, in other ways, it's kind of,

it's strange because like, it doesn't quite feel like home.

My old sister Molly, I mean, she kind of remembers out here

and Sarah has never been out here.

With em and Sarah not really having,

um, memories connected to this place,

I guess it really doesn't feel like, uh, home to them,

but they're making memories now.

So you just want to like, across it like that.

Basically, like, the "x" just stays above the ice

and holds the rest of the bait above the ice.

Um, and you, you attach your snares

to the cross poles

so from here down is in the water,

from here up is above, above the ice

and you have four snares around the bait,

so I mean, you have four chances of getting a beaver.

Don't die.

Then we adjust it.

Are you done?

Yeah, it's covered from the top, so it should be good.

Wait. is that a --

is that the moose or a wolf?

Just hang on.

What the heck is that?

Wait. is that a --

is that the moose or a wolf?

Just hang on.

What the heck is that?

Yeah, I'm gonna go over there and look.

Yeah, there's blood all over.

The wolves killed a moose there.

I've never seen them do that

where they pull the skin like that.

That's pretty weird.

It's usually they eat the skin right off the bat,

but I'll look over here by the --

you can see the big fight area here where they, uh,

where they fought the moose.

It's a big wiped-out area.

And there's a few bones here and there,

little bits and pieces of bone.

Must have been a hell of a fight.

This is the stomach from the moose here

and, of course, all this hair.

They must have chased it from in the trees out to here

and killed it out here.

They like to get them along a bank like this

'cause then they can jump on its back and, uh,

yeah, there's blood all over.

All over. Just way over there, just, they got the jugular vein.

Wow.

It looks like there's two packs in this area

and they're just taking moose.

This makes it harder now

to provide meat for me and Edna, you see?

One wolf consumes a lot more moose

than me and Edna would take in one year.

I guarantee you that.

And then when you get a pack of them,

let's say 10 of them in there,

that's a lot of moose.

Oh, here's the skull right here.

Oh, just look at that.

Little bull moose.

Tiny bull, just the perfect size what I want right there.

Look at that.

Yeah, well, what can you do?

It's done, it's over, you know.

I got to find one before the wolves find one.

Get across there.

Get across. Go on.

Hike, hike. Go on.

Up, up, up.

Ho, ho.

Jaff.

Uh

there's something in the trap.

Jaffe is right next to a lynx cat right now.

The bomb's about to go off.

It's gonna be crazy.

They don't know it yet. They haven't seen it.

But I know where the trap is, so I saw it.

So, they're just gonna go crazy.

But, uh, now they know.

Well, they figured it out.

For the dogs, a big part

of what they eat in the winter here is lynx, so to them

when we catch one, it's -- it's food.

Quiet. it's dead, guys.

Don't bite, koss. No, no.

I'll make -- remake the set.

Okay. yeah, that's a good set.

-And we can just keep going. --Okay.

That's wax paper.

I always put a piece of that underneath my traps.

It keeps them from freezing down.

Yeah, I mean, nothing on a lynx goes to waste out here for us.

I mean, we use it all, so,

it is pretty much the most useful animal

that we catch on the trap line

'cause if we don't eat it,

the dogs will eat it.

Furs are always valuable.

Pretty important for us, you know.

Well, that was good. Yeah.

-Still catching stuff. -Yeah.

But we got a ways to go, so...

Go ahead.

Oh, the sky is pretty.

Ay yi yi yi. Heimo's out hunting.

Hopefully he came home with a moose.

Hope so.

I'm trying to find a good packed-down trail

to, um, set bunny snares on.

Whenever there's no moose meat,

we go after bunnies, grouse -- smaller animals.

There's one.

See where the back and forth?

That's where they've been eating,

where it's circled

and then they go back to the brush to hide out,

so what I'm gonna do

is take one of the snares

that is longer like this.

You pull other snare through and tighten this one.

Tighten it up

and there you got your snare.

Now I got to get sticks that are --

stuff to block off the trail

that I want to have them go in.

I'm trying to guide it into that snare,

so when they come by,

they'll stick their head in there.

Okay, that's about it.

Hey, moose.

Right there's some moose.

Out in that open out there.

They're running there.

Right there.

We're having fun.

Good training for you.

Can't you howl?

You shy?

Come on, goosie.

Right there's some moose.

So just got to leave her go.

She doesn't like that ice there.

She doesn't want to cross that ice.

She's not sure.

In my mind when I see cows,

you know, especially a -- a calf cow,

you know, she might be pregnant,

so you're not just taking one, uh,

one moose, you're taking two,

maybe three 'cause sometimes they have twins, you see?

Out here, you are part of nature's food chain

and you are at the top.

And I think being at the top,

you have the ability to either destroy it all,

or else use it wisely.

That's a good sign that there's some moose around.

That's a real good sign, you know,

even though they're cows and a calf, you know.

But now i just got to keep going,

just keep looking and see what shows up.

Well, did you -- did you get it?

-No. -no? no luck.

Yeah, okay.

No, no sign or anything?

Not today.

How thick's the ice?

A few inches.

Really? wow.

Yeah, well, it's starting to get cold now

so we'll get more ice.

I've got to work on this sled here eventually.

These ropes are all good, i can reuse these,

but these uprights all got to come off.

We got a bunch of wood to haul and this will do it

if I can rebuild it or salvage it.

Still looks like

it's in fairly usable condition.

If I can get this curve in this front,

maybe if I, uh, put some weight on here.

Where's that ammo can, the .22?

Good as new.

Dang.

Dang, I'm one impressive individual.

Back to the original.

Now it's transformed.

I mean, it was a sled that carried two children

at one time,

now they're gonna be pulling it hauling firewood.

It'd be kind of cool to be able to pull my grandkids in it

if I'm fortunate.

We'll see.

Living up here is hard, especially in the wintertime.

You can be humbled real quick, real quick.

And this land will do it to you.

Come on, goosie, you're home.

The home away from home.

Ho.

During the winter, this place is a good teacher.

Here you go, jaff.

Let you off first, huh?

Ol' faithful.

We live in sort of tough, extreme conditions, you know,

it exposes who you really are.

You're doing good.

Oh, yeah.

Are you ready to come out of your harness?

Huh? you little goof.

-I think so, it's like... -Okay.

The woods was always gonna be my lifestyle.

Being able to live with my family,

you know, on the land,

a more simple life without distractions.

That's -- that's all i ever wanted to do,

but the girls, you know, they're adults now.

They won't be spending as much time here.

All three of them got pretty big dreams

that they're excited about.

I'm looking forward to watching them pursue them

and, uh,

that's all I want to do is for them to be happy.

That's all I want to -- that's all I care about.

-Oh, my goodness. -Oh, in 10 days.

-Yeah. -serious?

I always want them to feel that the door's open,

that they'll come back and forth

and they'll share their adventures

and, you know, with us.

That's -- that's all I ask for.

I want them to share their life with us.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, let's eat, huh?

-Okay. -I'm hungry.

Mmm. oh, yeah. Look at that.

Holy smokes. Nothing come easy.

I mean, if I don't have food,

I mean, uh, that's kind of scary, but I mean,

there's dangers in everything you do in life, you know,

so if a person was scared of them all the time,

you wouldn't do anything.

Nobody'd do -- nobody would do nothing.

You know, you just got to keep going.

Just go.

There's something missing in here.

Charlie's one of the few people in this world

that can live out here.

All right. I'm out of here.

This is his first year to be out there on his own.

This is a place that you build your own life.

It's not handed to you, it's not molded for you.

You kind of got to bust your own trail out.

My leader, jaffe, is getting older.

I'm really hoping one of these pups

that we raise will take to leading.

I can already tell that there's a problem.

Look, there's the moose.