Life Below Zero (2013) s01e04 Episode Script

1
SUE AIKENS: We know
there's large predators
roaming around right now.
(SIGHS)
People will say
there's never been
a recorded instance
of a wolf attacking
a human being,
they just don't do it.
But my experience out here
is far different.
You know, for example,
I had my granddaughter, Drew,
visit, uh, this last year.
She is very petite.
She tends to wander off,
and every time
my granddaughter
would get about 10, 12 foot
from me, you know, here,
slipping right over
the river bank,
is this big grey wolf,
and they belly crawl.
They get down on their bellies
and they very slowly
will crawl up.
And he's trying
to get into position
to take her out.
The wolf is here, I'm here.
I'm coming at him
and he starts taking off.
Well, they can go fast.
My experience is
if you act like a pork chop,
you'll be a pork chop.
I get along
with all the animals,
even with the ones
that want to eat me.
It's It's a very honest,
very natural relationship.
They want to eat me,
I don't want them to.
(CLATTERING)
Hold on a second.
There's a wolf.
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
I need to see who's been
coming around my house.
Since I don't know
what I'm walking into,
Old Betsy's coming with.
You know,
so I can protect myself.
Even looking for tracks,
as hard as it is for me
to try and find a track,
I know whatever I find is
going to be fairly fresh.
You are never alone.
You've gotta try
and track them down.
Source 'em,
see where they're coming at,
where they're going to.
What vantage point
is he taking
to find out how to get me
is gonna to tell me
what vantage line I need
to take, to take care of him.
Here's a wolf print.
This is pretty goddamn big.
I mean, he's just sticking
to the south side of the bank
for safety's sake.
And, uh, wanting to see
what I do, where I do it,
how I do it,
and, uh, laying in wait.
And that's what it is,
it's a waiting game.
Who's going to fuck up first,
me or him?
Oh, God!
Thirty yards from
the front door.
Who's gonna show
a sign of weakness,
who's gonna leave themselves
a little too far out,
who's gonna circle
a little too close?
So, every chance I get,
I'll be looking for 'em.
Every chance he gets,
he's gonna be looking
and smelling for me.
CHIP HAILSTONE:
We don't complain.
We just work harder.
Everything we do,
we have to do for ourself.
You know,
that's how we lump it.
I'm not complaining.
AGNES HAILSTONE:
My sister needs fish
and we need seal oil,
so we've arranged a trade.
Trade is a big part
of our life up here,
and her village
is 30 miles away,
and the only way
we could get there
is by snow machine.
Eight months a year
we're using our snow machines.
Anything that requires
a heavy load
or long distance travel,
probably requires
my snow machine.
(ENGINE SPUTTERS)
(SIGHS)
I blew my belt
on my snow machine,
so it's not really gonna
take me anywhere.
When my snow machine's
not working,
it's a lot harder to hunt,
it's a lot harder to, uh,
bring home large things,
like if I got a good
net check or if I got logs.
I have to rely on other people
or I have to do stuff on foot.
(ENGINE SPUTTERS)
-Damn it!
-(THUDS)
(BEEPING)
CHIP: We tried the store.
The store here
is very limited.
Doesn't have much of anything.
So I'm gonna ask on VHF,
'cause I have a VHF.
This is the telephone
of the village.
Good afternoon, Noorvik.
Um, anybody out there
got an 11080 belt for sale?
Uh, it can be used,
in good shape.
Uh, if you've got one,
call me at home, 2524
or just come over
to the Hailstone's.
Thank you.
Well, folks look out
for each other up here,
and we have a great
communication system
in the village with the VHFs.
People often buy
and sell things
over the VHFs.
It's a pretty good way to go.
Snow machines are
so important that when they
don't have pieces and parts
around here, there's always
a big trade going on.
If you can't get it
in the stores, you gotta
get it from somewhere.
MAN: (ON VHF) Chip Hailstone,
Chip Hailstone.
You gotta copy.
This is Hailstone's, go ahead.
MAN: Yeah, I hear
you're looking for a belt.
My brother say he got one,
but, uh, Mom says
he needs meat
better than cash.
Caribou meat
is better than cash.
How much you guys want?
Half caribou, full caribou?
Hindquarter and briskets.
Sure.
Hindquarters and briskets
sound good to me.
I'll even bring back straps.
Maybe even a tongue and heart.
Okay. That will do.
Okay, um,
you'll drop it by and pick up
the meat out here, huh?
Uh, Hailstone out.
Signing out.
Sokat, come in!
Oh, sweet.
Check it out.
Here in the Arctic,
trade is really important.
And this is part of it.
These are the things that
I can't go living without.
Basically, right now,
with my snow machine,
it would take years for me
to have a dog team again.
And, um, these are necessary,
and the necessary things
take money,
and, luckily,
sometimes they take trade.
We got back leg, front legs,
can even give you ribs.
And I'll give you a chest,
and right here I've got a bag
-full of, um, heart,
tongue and liver.
-Yeah.
-It's pretty heavy.
I think you
-I can help you.
All right.
Well, we'll just drag it
over to your house.
-Yeah.
-Okay, that'll be good.
All right.
ERIK SALITAN:
The real value
of wilderness is aesthetic,
and it's a non-tangible asset.
I'm just looking for a, uh
Looking for a cat trap.
Some real decent lynx signs
in this area here.
I'm gonna make a few
cubby sets and hopefully
catch a cat or two.
And there's a real decent
price being paid right now
for, uh, lynx pelts.
-Make sure its springs are
working good and everything.
-(SPRINGS CREAKING)
So we're gonna go
put a couple of traps out
and on foot
and see if
we can't get a head start
on the trapping season
despite the weather obstacles.
I'm looking for a spot here
that funnels the animals
through a narrow opening.
There's millions of miles
of wilderness here.
The pan of the trap
is only about an inch big.
You need that foot
to step right on it, so
Come winter,
there's zero daylight.
This really affects
a lot of people,
and the mental preparation
that's involved is what really
takes most people down.
I'm crazy as a loon
to begin with,
so it doesn't faze me at all.
I just go with it.
Trapping is a great way
for me to get out,
do a little alone time,
and make a little money
while I'm at it.
This tree here is
one of my favourite
cubby sets.
You can see, uh, in past years
where I've had success,
and all the brush
was all mowed down
and chewed up here.
Here's my old tassel string.
Still have a trap wired
to the tree here.
I'm gonna start off by just
tying a new tassel on there,
a little visual attractant.
We have a termagant wing.
And this here, it kinda blows
around in the wind,
and lynx are curious animals
and he'll bat at it
and hopefully get himself
caught in a trap.
Let's make
a little bit of a cubby.
We're gonna take sticks,
make an enclosure
that's going to funnel
the animal in
to step into the trap.
Goin' to just to take
snow in our hands,
cover up the chain.
We're gonna take
our trapping axe
and we're gonna just dip it
into this untouched powder.
The purpose in this
is that the snow doesn't
become compact
and prevent the trap
from springing.
So it's just
a fine layer of thin snow
that's obscuring that trap.
And we don't want him
to just step over it,
so we're gonna put that there.
These are called guide sticks.
And we're gonna
sink it right there,
so kitty steps over.
And the trap is essentially
ready to go.
There you have a visual,
scent, and food item bait,
which is a moose femur.
Here you have a tassel,
which is a termagant wing,
which is a visual draw.
A little wind
spins that around,
attracts the cat.
So I just finished
setting one cubby
and I got a bunch more to
set up before I'm done here,
so I'm gonna get with it.
Hopefully, when we come back,
we'll have a cat.
ANDY BASSICH: I believe
in embracing technology,
but I think any time
you embrace technology,
the most important thing is
how you embrace it.
(DOGS BARKING)
Having some kind of problem
with the solar array today.
So goin' to reset
the charge controller
and see what happens.
Another day of fixing shit.
Some kind of a hiccup
in the charge control here.
I was getting all kinds
of erroneous readings
this morning,
so, basically,
I just rebooted it.
Oh, that looks a lot better.
I love the technology,
but I tend to try and keep it
at arm's length.
We use wood heat
for all of our buildings.
We don't use any oil heat.
We're trying
to remove ourselves
from any dependency
on fossil fuels
as much as possible.
I got about two or three loads
of wood I need to get
back to where I'm happy.
That usually last us
a couple of weeks
if it's not super cold.
If it's real cold, we burn
through the wood pretty quick.
(REVVING)
It's pretty critical
for me to get over
to my wood lot,
cut some trees,
stockpile wood there,
so that
I'm well supplied for when
the cold weather hits.
I wanna go get
a quick load of firewood.
It's a little quicker
with the snow machine to just
banzai across the river
to my wood lot,
cut some wood,
throw it in,
then I'm back here
in maybe 45 minutes.
The snow machines,
they're a pain in the ass.
But they're kind of
a necessary pain in the ass.
(ENGINE STARTING)
So I'm gonna go get my coat on
and we'll go get some wood.
(ENGINE SPUTTERING)
Aw, come on, man.
-(ENGINE STOPS)
-Son of a bitch!
Goddamn it!
Why you gotta
do this crap today on me?
All I wanted to do is go
get some stupid wood.
See maybe that floats.
Maybe that floats.
It's stickin'.
So sick and tired
of screwing with all
this stupid machinery.
Son of a bitch.
These damn machines.
I just spent a bunch of time
working on it.
It's something wrong
with the fuel.
The recoil's not working.
It's just the same old crap
all the time with machinery
in the wintertime up here.
If I can just get it
into this sled,
I can just go home
and get some dogs,
have them tow it back.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(EXHALES)
(SIGHS)
Yeah, baby, that's gonna work.
Yeah, dogs are gonna
love me for this.
I was about
a mile away from home
when this happened.
I'm gonna go hook up
about 10 dogs
and we'll just drag it back
to the shop with the 10 dogs.
And then go back
with the dogs and get a load
of wood with them,
I probably should have
done that in the first place.
CHIP: It's pretty much
a do-it-yourself kind of deal.
You gotta get yourself
from one place to another.
There's no tow trucks
and there's no gas stations.
I blew my belt
on my snow machine.
Got myself a belt.
It took some trade.
This will get me back
out to the caribou
and I'll replace the caribou
that I got
the belt with with these.
Fucking total bullshit.
This machine is 10 years old.
It's probably got
50,000 miles on it.
Machines are
very personal things.
You, um You don't let
other people go riding
around in your machine,
you don't let other people
work on your machines.
(ENGINE STARTS)
Anything that requires
a heavy load
or long distance travel
probably requires
my snow machine.
And if you
can't maintain your own,
you're gonna walk a lot.
ERIK: You take
a hot steam in the sauna,
relax your muscles,
eat a good meal,
hit the rack, wake up
the next day and do it again.
(COUGHS)
Kind of draggin' here.
Been sick for a few days,
but I gotta get out
and check some traps.
Alaska is a harsh place.
It's, uh
The climate's harsh.
The culture can be
harsh in ways.
If you don't like it,
don't live here!
It's that easy.
(COUGHS)
The last time I came
down to the set here,
there was a fresh cat track
coming right down this trail.
I don't see any sign
right now, but maybe, uh
Maybe we'll get lucky, eh?
The last time
I checked this pole,
a lynx had come along,
torn this bait down,
sprung my trap, and then
he walked off that way.
Here I am
coming back from my trip,
checking traps again,
fresh snow, a lynx again
came by, sprung the trap.
Okay, so we're gonna
reset this pole.
There's a lot
of self-reliance associated
with, uh, living out this far.
(COUGHS)
I love being out here
and doing this,
but when you're sick,
this really'll run you down.
We got ripped off by
a big ol' tomcat here. Lynx.
But, you know, you can't
win here every time.
So we're gonna go
and check this cubby
down the way,
and you never know,
maybe we'll get lucky
and even that tomcat'll be
stuck there, so we'll see.
(COUGHS)
So here's the cubby trap.
Okay, the trap is sprung.
Son of a gun.
We got a little bit
of fur here.
We pinched a kitty.
Must've It just barely
got him, you know?
(COUGHS) He may have
actually even sat on it.
This cat's run
devastation on me here.
He's teasing me.
Beat me out on the cubby.
He's not gonna win
the next go around.
Let's check some more traps.
Being sick sucks.
Got a couple of miles
of trap line here.
I'm just gonna walk
some short foot lines I have
that are pretty close
to the house here
and, hopefully,
we catch a cat
or martin or something.
I'm looking forward to maybe
skinning some fur tonight.
We have a lynx here.
Just an unbelievable animal,
a keen predator.
Beautiful and valuable pelt,
and he's a true adapted
predator of the Arctic.
And also one
of the few fur bearers
that we can also eat.
So we're gonna try
to angle around
and see if we can't
just put one shot
with this .22 pistol in it.
(GUNSHOT)
Beautiful, mature animal.
Spend a lot of time
checking empty traps,
having snowed in traps,
and then finally you go
And when you get
a target animal like the lynx,
you know,
it's always exciting.
SUE: To make the decision
to live here,
you know, you're deciding
that you're gonna
pit yourself against
some of the worst shit that
mother nature has to give.
I know I've got
some predator circling me.
I don't know where he is.
I need to widen out my search
just to make sure
that my immediate
work area is safe.
A daytime attack
would be unusual,
but it is the Arctic
and people are food groups.
You got some tracks here.
Fox and a wolf travel
fairly similarly.
This is pretty goddamn big.
Although the stride
isn't great.
Possibility,
this could be wolf.
If so, it's a smaller one.
But, uh,
he definitely out here,
and that would have definitely
been from this morning.
Right here, this would
have been, uh, where
I mean it's blown over now,
but at some point it was
the entrance and exit.
These little prints here,
those are fox prints.
Over the years
that I've been here,
I've got, uh,
now 12 to 15 foxes.
They've become my buddies,
they follow me
everywhere I go.
Um, I've got one, Foxy,
he just, he walks
all the way inside.
He'll sit on the couch
and watch TV with me.
Uh, it's gotten to the point
now, I mean, I just put up
his barrel by the window
and he sits there,
turn the TV to face him.
If I turn it away, he cries.
It's, uh, you know,
I can pet them.
They are my little buddies.
When one of my
female fox, Loxy,
when she was a little kit
it was her first year,
and I heard his horrific noise
and instantly knew
there was a bear getting
into the fox den.
I ran outside
and here's little Loxy,
and she's pulling
on my little pant legs
trying to get me to come
over to the den
and I could hear
that the bear was
getting into the den
and eating all the foxes.
She's crying and crying.
She tried and tried to pull me
over to save her family,
and once she realised
I couldn't do it,
she just sat down
right on the tundra
and cried and cried.
Next thing she did,
she just ran under the trailer
and just hid.
She is the only one that
survived that bear attack.
Loxy!
Loxy!
In order to complete
the circuit, I'm gonna
get up on my perch
and see where
my predator threat
If there is a threat.
We know there's large
predators roaming around
right now,
but the nature
of a predator is
they don't
walk out into the open
and shake your hand.
They sneak up on you.
There's a wolf out there!
Typical predator activity.
They're gonna circle you,
lookin' for
all your weaknesses,
lookin' for your pattern,
when they have
the advantage at night,
they come in.
You let your guard down once
and you end up going home
in a body bag.
Typically, what they're
going to do is circle,
circle, wait for you
to get comfortable, wait,
and then pounce.
Because he's 100
or 200 yards out
doesn't mean
he needs to go down.
When I feel my
comfort zone for safety
has been comprised,
that's when I need
to take care of it.
My job then to protect myself,
get all of my f-ing work done
and be inside.
They have the advantage
if I go outside at night.
I need to change that around.
They want me bad enough,
they're hungry enough,
you come inside, motherfucker.
'Cause then
I have the advantage.
People want to know
why I do this, this is it.
You know
you're fucking alive
when you got something
wanting to eat ya.
You gotta beat feet
to get your shit done,
and hopefully,
you outsmart 'em
or outwait 'em.
Dangerous? Yeah.
Scary? No.
It's a challenge, I like it.
CHIP: We're not stoppable.
We're the irresistible object.
It's our will.
CHIP: The object today is
to go get some seal oil.
We missed a couple of really
good hunts this last fall,
so we've taken to trading
and purchasing it.
Here in the Arctic,
because we are beyond,
way beyond
the end of the road,
this is just kind of
the way things go.
Um, trade is really important.
My wife wants more seal oil,
which is a favourite
condiment of ours.
Seal oil goes
all over everything.
Makes eating
frozen food calorically
viable for our bodies.
Her sister wants
some white fish,
so it all came together
to make a great reason
to go on a trip
to the next village,
which is Kiana.
AGNES: These down here
are all the special fish.
These fish in here
are, uh, from Melevik.
They are fatter and got more,
uh, white fish eggs in them.
I wanna bring these
to my sister Nita in Kiana,
the next village up.
They didn't get much
fish up there this year
and I told her
I'd save her a bag.
CHIP: When we go visit folks
in the next village or such,
we don't have roads.
And, um, we have
a trail system,
but quite often
it's just
a cross-country deal.
Not too many people
around here have
a taxi cab to jump into.
Actually, nobody does so.
So we use basket sleds,
and we line 'em with
caribou skins and a tarp
to keep the snow
off the people riding behind.
And, uh, it's actually
a very comfortable way to go.
It's the place where
grandmas and newborns
and, um, delicate things
are put into a nice
flexible basket sled.
If it's a good year
and a fella's got a nice ride,
it can be 20 minutes.
Because it's probably
30, 40 miles.
This year it's kind of rough,
we've got passengers,
so we slow down considerably.
(DOG BARKS)
-AGNES: How's Jack?
-Okay.
AGNES: We brought fish.
CHIP: Still like white fish?
Right there,
your, um, white fish.
CHIP: Trade is really
important, and money is
really hard to come by.
And if you can't make money,
you can always trade.
It's all a big circle,
we all watch out for
each other around here.
-Right on, thank you.
-Thank you.
It's really fresh.
There's no taste.
-AGNES: It's good.
-Nice, light, light oil.
No, pink's right.
We dip all our fish
and frozen meats
and stuff inside of it.
And that way we don't
make our bodies cold.
-CHIP: It's rendered down
from seal blubber.
-Yeah, seal blubber.
-Real good one.
-JACK: Yeah.
CHIP: These Inupiaq,
their culture is
all about food.
It's a medium of exchange,
it's a medium of gift,
and, if anything,
a really good reason
to go on a little trip,
to go visiting,
that's the way to go.
Since it's all about food,
now I'm gonna go inside
and go eat
with my-brother-in-law.
ANDY: For me,
I love the technology.
If it's not improving my life,
if it's creating more
frustration for me,
then I know I'm depending
on the technology too much.
Hey, Berg.
You guys ready to go
perform AAA services?
This morning I woke up
and planned to just do
a quick trip across the river
to get some firewood
with the snow machine.
Plans didn't work out the way
I had envisioned them.
I got right to my wood lot,
my machine died.
Then I had to walk home,
about mile, mile-and-a-half.
How about you
and Tea help me?
Let's go get that
snow machine.
Hell with those damn
snow machines today.
KATE RORKE-BASSICH:
What's going on?
Ah, snow machine
broke down again.
KATE: No!
So, um, why don't
you go get dressed up
and help me.
Let's hook up about
10 dogs and I'll go over there
and drag it back over here.
Then I can use the dogs
to go back and get
some wood and stuff.
Sick and tired of working
on damn snow machines
all the time.
Hey, Kate, you gonna be
able to come help me, uh,
hook up some dogs?
-How many you gonna take?
-Ten.
Living out here,
we depend on each other.
We're a partnership
and she's
really good at dropping
whatever she's doing
to help me
when I need help out here.
You got a neckline
on one of those?
Yeah.
-(DOGS YELPS)
-Gonna need your power today.
Gonna need your power today.
Come on.
(DOGS BARKING)
Give me your right foot.
Up. Good.
(BARKING)
All right, let's go!
I got better things
to do with my time today then
screw around with this.
So I'm just gonna drag
that machine back
and then go with the dogs
and get a load
of wood with them.
I probably should've done that
in the first place.
Up, up! On by.
That a boys.
Straight ahead,
straight ahead.
On by, let's go!
Everybody, whoa.
Up easy, up easy.
Up easy, whoa.
Up a little, whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
Whoa! Whoa! Everybody stay.
-Everybody stay.
-(DOGS WHINE)
Everybody stay.
Stay!
If these dogs wanna
take off on me, I'm screwed.
(WHINING)
Everybody stay.
Everybody stay.
Everybody, whoa. Whoa, whoa!
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
Everybody stay.
The snow machine
crapped out on me.
I loaded it into the sled,
I went home, I got my dogs,
I bought them back,
I hooked on.
And up. Up, up! Let's go!
Those 10 dogs ran
with that snow machine home,
and it was a good feeling
to see my dogs in shape,
pulling the snow machine home
with no problems at all.
That a boys!
Straight ahead.
-That a boys! That a boys!
-(DOGS BARKING)
That a boys, let's go.
That a boys.
Let's go. Let's go. Up, up.
Up! That a boys.
Easy, easy.
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Easy.
I need you to grab
the middle of the line
and drag the dogs in the
middle of the team this way
so I can clear this damn tree.
Up easy, let's go! Up, up!
-Kate! I need the middle
of the fucking team!
-Okay.
That way!
Stop yelling
or you're on your own.
Okay, let's go! Up, up!
Up, up!
KATE: Whoa, whoa!
ANDY: Up, up.
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
-Whoa! Easy. Whoa.
-Whoa!
Go. Whoa! Everybody stay.
Good job, you guys!
Every day is not a rosy day.
But, you know,
you have to remember
we're together 24/7.
Just a little pissed off.
I'm not meant Trying to get
on your case, Kate.
I'm just pissed off 'cause
this damn snow machine
is doing this.
I don't want to rely
on that equipment any more
to do a quick job.
I'm gonna use my dogs
'cause they're reliable.
(PANTING)
Remind me on my next shop
to have an automatic winch
at the back door. (CHUCKLES)
So my quick day of going out
and getting one quick load
of firewood
with the snow machine,
because of
mechanical problem's
turned into an all-day event
which pretty much
shot my plans for
the rest of the day.
That's the way it is
out here sometimes.
Goddamn thing.
I could've gotten
five loads of wood
for what I just
put into that crap
with the dogs.
I'm just trying to debate
whether I want to go get
a load of wood with this
or just use
the dog sled, you know?
Right. Just use the dog sled.
Hook them up and go again.
(YELPING)
Stay. Okay, let's go!
Up, up. Chi, chi.
That a boy!
Chi, chi. Chi, chi.
Yeah, baby!
One more. Chi, chi.
CHIP:
It's always been about food.
It's a medium of exchange,
it's a medium of gift.
It's, um,
what hunting produces,
it's what fishing produces,
it's what gathering produces.
CHIP: Currently,
there's 18 people
living in our house.
There's me, my wife,
our five daughters.
Our son and his woman have
come to visited us and brought
a couple of their children.
And then my wife's sister
just moved up from Iowa.
She's occupying one room
with her five children.
People flow in and flow out.
It's, uh, never the same.
There's no hotels.
What can you say?
Everybody's welcome.
This is a pretty
standard meal for us.
Fish, meat,
something from the ocean,
some oil, some blubber.
Right here is a little bit
of dried seal meat.
Rose is cutting up, um,
beluga.
This is, um,
Inupiaq real food.
We have crackers
or fresh bread.
We'll have apples,
carrots, celery,
whatever fresh vegetables
we can find at the store
we're always glad to include
in a good meal like this.
Our stores try hard,
but a lot of times,
there's no fruits
or vegetables at all to be had
for quite a while.
But this right here
reduces our overall
grocery amount vastly.
If we were to live
out of the store,
we'd probably be
spending maybe
$3,000 a month to feed us.
We've got some
smoked salmon here,
we have some carrots
and some celery
and some apples.
There's bowhead muktuk,
which is the pink stuff with
the black tops, the skin tips.
Then we have beluga,
which is a white whale.
There's, um, frozen caribou,
there's some dried
smoked caribou,
and there's some
frozen white fish
and frozen white fish eggs.
And it's all been smeared
over with seal oil.
If you eat frozen fish
or frozen caribou
and you're outside,
even inside,
you'll chill your body.
But if you dip 'em
in seal oil calorically,
you gain,
you get heat out of the deal.
Makes our bodies
come up to temperature.
It's what makes people live
in the Arctic so well
and, uh, we made some good
trades this year for seal oil.
What can I say?
It all comes back to food,
it's all about food.
The hunting is about food.
The fishing is about food.
The interactions
with folks around here
we have is about food.
Seems my life is
kind of centred on food.
And, uh, it's best
when we go get our own.
I think it tastes better.
SUE: I'm my own master.
I tell the ship
which way to sail.
You can live life
on the sidelines or, you know,
be on the front charge.
I know I've got
some predator circling me.
I don't know where he is.
I have to not just believe
that I am safe in here,
I've gotta know
that I'm safe in here.
And that means checking it.
I gotta find 'em.
The top predators,
they tend to be sneaky.
They'll draw you out
to bring you in
so they can get you.
The way a wolf hunts,
they send out scouts first,
to draw you out.
Once you're out,
the rest come in from behind.
The one you can't see
is the one you need
to worry about.
I have the utmost respect
for my environment.
The utmost respect
for the predators in my area.
But not a hell of a lot
I fear out of life.
It's just a challenge
I haven't met yet.
That's all it is.
I got a wolf sitting
on the other side
of the bank, so I'm ready.
You know,
bring it on, boo-boo.
Bring it on, boo-boo.
(GUNSHOT)
Always, my first option
is deflection.
Can I scare him,
make him run away?
One of my predators
It's a good idea.
Rather than just hunker,
run inside like a weenie,
uh, let off a few blasts.
Let's them know
that I mean business.
They appreciate
what a bullet sounds like.
It's putting
the noise out there.
It's kinda like throwing down
the gauntlet.
I'm being proactive
with the wolf.
I'm saying, "Bam, bam!
This is my territory,
you son of a bitch. I dare ya.
"Cross that fucking line.
"Come on, you want me,
come get me, motherfucker.
I'm ready for ya."
ANDY: We're not hiding
from anything out here.
We're just living the way
our hearts tell us
is the best way
to live for us.
Gonna chi up here, guys.
Chi, chi! Chi, chi!
This morning,
planned to just do
a quick trip
across the river
to get some firewood
with the snow machine.
The plans didn't work out
the way I had envisioned 'em.
That's the way it is
out here sometimes.
You gotta pretty much adapt
to things as they happen.
Stay.
So I'm here right now
in my wood lot.
I'm going to go
get a couple of trees here.
There's a couple right there.
There's one dead tree there.
I gotta worry about that one
hitting the dogs, though,
so I think I'd rather
get stuff over here.
Hopefully,
this thing will run.
(WHIRRING)
(PANTING)
All right, there's three.
(SIGHS) I'm gonna try
and take that tree down.
If I can get it to fall
on this side of these
two trees, I'll be happy.
Jerry-riggin' stuff,
man, that's my middle name.
That's all I seem to do
around here, you know?
If you don't have
the resource,
you look around,
you figure out what you got
and then you make it work.
(WHIRRING)
(SNIFFLES)
All right, baby, go where
I want you to go now.
Come on. Come on!
Come on, baby,
come to Papa.
Yeah, baby, go.
Go, go, go, go. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah!
Oh, yeah!
Oh, yeah!
It's always the biggest ones
that's farthest to carry.
Never fails.
All day long
just sweat my ass off
I think that's going to be it
for the night after that.
That's a pretty full day.
Oh. (EXHALES)
Okay, let's go!
That a boys.
That a boys.
That a boys. Yeah, buddy!
Whoo-hoo!
Yeah! Let's go home.
ERIK: Tomorrow,
it'll be kill or be killed.
That's a serious reality.
So there's a lot of blood
in the snow around my house.
Saw the lynx
from across the slough,
jogged over there.
Looked at it.
It was a nice,
big, mature animal.
Made a clean shot.
Dispatched it.
I was happy packing
that lynx home.
It's always
good weight to have.
You're on your own
time zone here.
You can wake up at 4:00
in the afternoon
and accomplish just as much as
if you wake up at 6:00 a.m.
And you sleep
when you're tired, you eat
when you're hungry,
you work when
there's work to be done.
I tell you what, I'm happy
I got that done.
I'm gonna skin a lynx
and go to bed. I'm whipped.
You make your own,
your own time up here.
You know,
Alaska is a harsh place.
It's either you like it
or you don't.
It's the only place
that I could live.
You know, the satisfaction
of trapping, it's nice.
I spend a lot of the year
guiding clients.
Spent a lot of time
out in the woods
with other people.
It's one of the few times
of the year
that I get to be on my own.
I like that serenity
and to get out there and
get some alone time.
Yeah, the lynx
is a prized animal.
(COUGHS) It's a valuable hide.
They're not
a difficult hide to flesh.
They bring a good price.
If you're self-employed,
there's no sick days,
so you gotta just keep
plugging along. (SIGHS)
(COUGHS)
But even on days
where it's kind of bum,
I'm pretty sick
and I got a fever
(SNIFFLES) It's pretty
late at night, I'm hungry,
I don't really want to be
fooling around,
I wanna just get in bed
This is better than
any office job, you know?
I wouldn't make it very long
in an office job.