Life Below Zero (2013–…): Season 1, Episode 1 - End of the Road - full transcript
AGNES: Quite a few
bunches of caribou.
There's caribou
moving down here.
And when you got
caribou sprinting, running,
being chased by something,
it's usually fur.
It's something
they're scared of.
Furbearers.
Foxes, wolverines, wolves.
My wife will take the fur
and she makes customary
traditional clothing for sales
and we'll take that money
and we buy things
that we can't trade
or make ourselves
like gasoline, ammunition,
pay our bills,
stuff like that.
It makes the circle that
brings us back here again,
so we can keep on
making this living.
There isn't much
that scares a caribou
when they're running
like that other than wolves.
I just don't see
what's spooking them.
There it is!
CHIP: Wolf, wolf.
Wolf running like hell.
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
There it is!
CHIP: It's a young grey.
Look, it's just trotting.
No, he's not trotting.
He's leaving the country.
He's... He's halfway up
the little monument already.
(AGNES SPEAKING)
Yep.
He's going to go
right over the top
of the little monument.
We gotta get back up
and around.
I'm going up this ridge
and around him,
I'm gonna outflank him.
CHIP: See, the important thing
is time right now
'cause he's going
over that hill at trot
and we need to go around
at a neck-breaking
kind of deal.
It's called the chase.
The chase is the hunt.
And this is all
just a big chase.
If I go burning up gas
and bringing home nothing,
then I'm wasting my time
and my trip and my effort.
Wolves are much harder
to hunt than caribou
'cause they're wily.
They'll hear your machine
and they'll start running.
They won't even wait
till they see you
before they're trying to put
country between you.
They'll also put obstacles
between you.
They go to rocky spots.
They go to deep ravines
where they know that they can
basically lose something.
AGNES: I'm so shaken up.
I can't keep my goggles,
binoculars still.
It's right there standing.
He's not even very far.
-And he's probably gonna go...
I know.
-(CHIP SPEAKING)
CHIP: This is a tough one,
though, man.
AGNES: I know.
CHIP: If we go down
in that creek, we're stuck.
(SIGHS)
CHIP: I don't really see
getting this wolf.
AGNES: I don't either.
(CHIP SPEAKING)
CHIP: We weren't able
to intercept him.
That's just the way it goes.
At this time of year
there's going to be fur,
so it's kind of
a patient wait,
keep-on-looking thing.
As long as we're persistent,
we're going to see something.
SUE: I'm fighting for
my way of life.
I've been given
the rules of the game.
Now, it's up to me
to figure out how to play it.
This is my, uh, freezer room.
Most of my meat lockers
are empty.
And all's I've got
are a couple of packages
of caribou.
That's it. I eat a pile
of caribou meat in the morning
and a pile whenever I want to.
I eat a lot of protein,
but I like my meat.
I'm anaemic and... (STUTTERS)
The red meat
helps keep my iron up.
That's the importance for me.
Now, well, I'm down to
three little packages of meat
and, uh,
I need to fill my belly.
My intention is to go out
and, hopefully, get a moose.
If I get it, it's gonna
cost me a couple of bullets,
100 bucks, maybe 200,
depends on how much gas I use.
But, $200 for
800 pounds of meat
is a pretty goddamn
good price if you ask me.
As opposed to, you know,
almost $100 or $200 a pound
for something I have
to have flown in.
When I go, I'm by myself,
so, I need to,
even though I'm not planning
on doing an overnight,
I need to make sure
that I have enough supplies
if the machine breaks down,
if a wind storm
or a ground blizzard starts,
if the temps drop radically,
or if I get injured,
I need a way to keep
myself warm and safe.
Okay, so I'm not gonna talk
them out of the tundra,
the last thing I need to have
is the weapon.
What I'm going to be carrying
on my back is the .30-06.
It's a nice
high-powered bullet.
It's got the scope.
Because I don't want frost,
water, anything getting
down the barrel,
I just take a little piece
of electrical tape,
put it over the top.
It's not going
to stop the bullet,
but it's going to keep
the snow and the moisture
from getting down in it.
Time to do a moosey hunt.
A full-grown bull moose
can weigh up to 1,500 pounds.
The only way
I'm getting that home
is to put him on this sled.
But there are no guarantees
implied, nor given, in a hunt.
All's I'm guaranteed
is the opportunity to try.
The unit that I'm hunting in
is roughly 50 miles
by 50 miles.
I mean, it's a huge amount
of acreage
to find a bull moose.
Some people have to go
to the corner grocery store.
I mean, I'm going to go 30,
40 miles by snow machine
to have a chance
to go to the grocery store.
I don't give away
the exact location
of the valley of the moose,
but, uh, I'm a good
three hours or so
away from getting home.
As I get closer and closer,
you're going to see more
dense populations of willow.
It's the stuff
they like to eat.
That's why I call it
the Valley of the Moose.
Holy cow!
Holy bull!
There's a bear den.
Oh!
Okay. I, uh...
Saw an opening over here.
This time of year, I got bears
walking around and everything.
I mean, this is exactly how
a bear's den is gonna look.
From a distance there,
uh, when they get up
and out of bed,
they knock the snow out
and they go in and out,
but what this is
is an open spring.
This is just another sign
that winter is on the way out.
I mean, that's quite a bit
of running water,
it's not deep,
but it is moving.
It's not maybe the most stable
spot for me to be standing in,
I better get my snow machine
and, uh, get going.
I got a little bit more time.
I wanna at least cycle
through this little
beginning part.
I'm in the right place.
Hopefully,
I'm in the right time.
I'll go through
this little patch of willow.
I want to see,
are there any droppings,
is the willow intact,
have they been
eating anywhere?
Is there any sign?
There's a bunch
of predator tracks.
Predators are doing
the same thing,
they know that their prey
is going to be found
near the willows.
This shows me
that they're looking for food,
they're finding food,
so I'm on the right track.
I have not seen moose sign,
but I'm very pleased
with what I'm seeing,
it's all good signs.
KATE: We'll die on the river.
The river almost
took us in 2009.
She didn't win,
but I think it was a warning.
I got a new update
for this spring break-up.
ANDY: Let's hear it.
What's going to happen
this spring that we
don't know? (LAUGHS)
As the spring thaw comes,
all this snow on the ground,
up in the high country
around here,
that begins to melt.
That goes into the Yukon.
As water continues to build,
eventually, the river ice
actually begins to move.
And that's what
we call break-up.
"Based on the current
snow conditions
"and expected
cooler-than-normal
temperatures,
"the likelihood of break-up
flooding is increased."
(SIGHS)
(WHISPERS) Fuck it.
This spring is giving us
a lot of, uh, anxiety.
The water's going to
come over land.
We witnessed what
that force is like in 2009,
when we lost almost
everything we owned.
ANDY: My God. I've never seen
anything like this.
The ice crushed everything.
Big pieces of ice
the size of city blocks.
It decimated
the native village of Eagle.
We had a tsunami of water
and ice come down on us.
Trees were getting ripped out,
the log cabins
went floating by,
it was like flushing a toilet.
We were really afraid
we were just going to get
swept out into the ice.
The ice wiped out
our entire homestead here.
All that's doing is confirming
what we already know,
you know.
We just have to spend
some time and get prepped
for what potentially
is going to happen here.
We've been through a flood
like nobody's ever seen
before on the Yukon.
And we learned a lot from it
and we're going to, uh,
do the best we can
to minimise the impacts to us,
if and when we do
flood this spring.
I've got two goals today
and they're both crucial
for protecting
our property here
during this year's break-up.
It's a pretty ambitious plan.
I need to drag my fish rack
up to higher ground
so that it won't flood.
But the first thing
I need to do
is go out in the woods,
knock down
some large dead trees...
And build a large raft
that'll be able to take a lot
of our belongings
and put that on the raft.
And then if the water
does come up to the level
of our home here,
hopefully,
all of that will stay dry.
Here we go. (GRUNTS)
The reason why I'm
not going to go to Eagle
is I want to see the worst
of what Mother Nature
is going to throw at us here.
Because I need to know,
is it something
I'm willing to put up with
in future years?
Or is it something
that is an end for us
at this place?
I've invested 25 years
of my life here,
and this is a place
that I have a really strong
spiritual connection to,
and it's not going to be easy
to get me to leave here.
Right now,
I'm feeling pretty good,
the doomsday raft got done.
On the raft will go tools,
equipment, generators,
and it will be safe
if the water comes up here.
We're planning
for the worst right now.
ERIK: I got a lot of respect
for these animals.
But I absolutely
will kill them
when I get the opportunity at
the appropriate time of year.
Everything in Alaska
is dictated by the weather,
and when the conditions
are right
and the season is open,
I head out to get my meat.
Sort of a in-between
time of year,
trapping season
is almost done.
Spring bear season
isn't gone yet.
I'm gearing up for guiding,
and being as frozen up
as everything still is,
I'm gonna do
a little ice fishing.
Well, we're down
to the ice here.
I have no idea
how thick it is.
Probably pretty thick,
but I'll try with a
mechanical advantage to start.
(WHIRRING)
This could be
three feet thick or
it could be five feet thick.
It's gonna be a
sort of a challenge here
to get through this ice.
I hope I catch a fish,
or this is kind of
a big waste of time.
I've been digging away
at this hole here for...
I'm not sure how long now.
(CHUCKLES)
(GRUNTS)
Look at that piece.
About three feet down
to the ice.
I'm hoping it's, uh,
close to the end.
So, I'm going to keep
at it here and, hopefully,
catch a couple of pike.
What the fuck!
Look, there's a muskrat
right there.
Muskrat is a fur animal.
Muskrat hide, this year,
is worth $5 to $15.
I was working on digging
a hole in the ice here
and doing a little bit
of pike fishing,
and I looked over
and noticed a muskrat here
on the ice that came up
out of a push-up.
So, I tried to sneak over.
I got fairly close to the rat
but, uh, if you do
a body shot on the rat,
they don't pay you a full
market value for the fur,
so you need to shoot them
in the head.
All I had was my .22 pistol,
so I needed to get
pretty close,
and I didn't get
quite close enough.
Jesus. (SIGHS)
I'm gonna keep working
on my hole here
trying to catch a pike,
and, uh, keep my eyes out.
If he comes back out,
I'll try to sneak over
and shoot him.
Otherwise, I'll come over
and set a trap here
this evening or tomorrow.
(WHIRRING)
What the fuck!
I'm fucked now.
Why is that water so muddy?
I was trying to dig a hole
here in the ice
to do a little bit of fishing,
and I guess I got down about
five, six feet in the hole
and I finally broke through,
but it was right
at the bottom, the muck.
Whole bunch of muck water
came up in my hole here.
Not very encouraging.
The only good thing
that happened out here
was we saw a muskrat
come up on the ice.
At least I know
where a couple of
active push-ups are,
and we'll have to, uh,
work our way back for those.
This was a waste
of time and energy.
I guess the ice fishing
is out.
It's getting kind of
late in the day.
I'm going to go set up a camp
here somewhere in the trees
and see if we can have
any luck with those muskrats
tomorrow, eh?
Oh, well, that sucks. (SCOFFS)
CHIP: I don't feel bad
when I'm killing a wolf.
It's part of
the circle of life.
Because I'm the apex predator.
Nature says I'm gonna kill it.
We're on the lookout
for fur today.
Definitely a...
(CHUCKLES) A wolf kill.
Boy, those guys can eat, huh?
There's some
real big tracks here.
That's a wolf, right there.
He might keep going
that way and come down
to Theresa Creek,
so if we head down and around,
we might meet her
on the next mountain over.
You have to think like a wolf
when you're pursuing wolves.
Figure out which way
they're going to go
so you can position yourself.
(CHIP SPEAKING)
AGNES: They're real
fast animals and so,
when you get an opportunity,
you have to
just take the shot and
try to make my shots count.
(GUNSHOT)
Oh, what the heck.
(GUNSHOT)
I think I got it.
Just went over the ridge.
The wolf turned towards me,
so I took a couple of shots
right as it was going
over the hill.
I think those couple
of shots touched him.
CHIP: (LAUGHS) Whoa!
CHIP: Well, I must
compliment you.
AGNES: Yeah.
CHIP: You've chosen
a fine wolf. Poke its eyeball.
It's dead.
Oh, look at the hackles
on that one.
CHIP: Man,
look at the hackles!
AGNES: Wow,
I'm glad for a grey one.
CHIP: Yep,
this is a beautiful animal.
There's no mange,
there's no lice.
This is a good one.
Yeah, I'm happy for you.
This made the day.
It's actually just, uh...
If you had to think
of expenses,
this just made us break even.
We thank the animal very much,
we'll use him to his fullest.
But, he'll be sure that, uh,
we get gasoline
to be able to do this again.
This guy's already stiffening
up, quite a little bit.
We gotta get out of here
before the sun goes down
too much.
What we're going to do
is go take him back to where
we dropped the sleds
and we'll skin the wolf out.
AGNES: I feel pretty good.
I feel like we've, uh,
actually gotten
somewhere today,
and not as much stress on us.
Um, you know, with trying to
get even with this hunt,
and I know I'm not
going home empty-handed.
CHIP: I thank you
very much, Mr Wolf.
I thank you very, very much.
KATE: We'll push every day,
until we can't push
any further.
Until the time runs out
and that's all we can do.
This is the beginning
of getting ready
for the Yukon River
to break free of its icy hood.
I've got to dig out
this bulldozer
so that it can get ready
for Andy to start moving
things to higher ground,
so that they will not
get just washed away.
We don't have time to
sit around and procrastinate.
We've gotta get
this stuff done.
We're not going to be caught
with our pants down,
so to speak.
We're going to be ready
this year.
Ice is still about
five feet thick
and way too much snow.
High country should be bare
right now
and it is just feet of snow.
Now, I don't know
what's going to happen,
but it's making
my spring miserable.
Making my hopes and dreams
fade a little too.
My worst fear of when
the Yukon River breaks,
is that we get a lot of ice
and water again
on our property.
In 2009, we were wiped out.
I'm telling you,
it's breaking my heart
to see the ice similar
in condition this year.
'Cause if this goes
this year, I don't know
if I can do it again.
Don't know if I can
rebuild again.
The mind frame
I'm in right now
is if that river
takes everything,
it might as well take me
with it 'cause I think
it will just break my heart,
I'll die anyway.
It's weighing heavy
on our minds.
I sometimes
find it hard not to cry
but, um, you know, I'm scared,
and I'm hopeful
that this won't happen to us.
ANDY: I'm praying
that I'm so wrong right now
on what's gonna happen
at break-up.
But, one thing
I've lived my life by,
and I know Kate has too,
and that's living by
your gut instincts.
And our gut instincts
are telling us
this is not going to be good.
What I'm gonna try and do here
is distribute the fish
a little bit more evenly
so it's balanced
a little better.
And then I'm going to bring
the bulldozer down here
and then pull it up the hill
to where our house
and dogs are at.
Kinda thinking we're gonna
get water up there,
but if the ice
doesn't come in there,
the fish rack will survive.
You know,
people in the lower 48
think of insurance
as a safety net for them.
Out here, it has nothing to do
with monetary insurance.
It's all about the resource.
So, when I put this fish up,
this is total insurance for me
for the whole year
for my dogs.
As long as I got that,
my dogs are in good shape
for the year.
We're not governed
by other people
very much in our life.
We're not governed much
by the government
or society in general.
We're pretty much governed
by what Mother Nature
does for us
or doesn't do for us.
That's what our world
revolves around.
I'm feeling right now
like we have
all the conditions
for a perfect storm here.
And, uh, we better use
our previous knowledge
of what can happen here
to mitigate the damage.
'Cause I don't want
to leave here.
SUE: You don't choose this
lifestyle by accident.
You're either born into it
or you make it.
If you're not made of steel,
then you probably
don't belong out here.
Still looking for the moosey.
It's a lot colder today.
30 below, maybe even dropping.
Yeah, it's a damn cold day,
but, uh, they're not gonna
jump into my freezer.
I've got to go get them.
(ENGINE REVVING)
I need to ramp it up some.
You know, going 60 mile
round trip or so.
I mean, anybody can do that.
I'm gonna go maybe
50, 70 miles out.
I'm going to push this
as hard as I can.
It's time to take off the pink
and get this job done.
Mr Moose is waiting
out there somewhere.
And, uh, he must have
forgot we had a date.
-All right, hot damn!
-(ENGINE STOPS)
This is exciting.
I've got, uh, moose tracks.
This is what
a moose track looks like.
Your toe and your heel.
Toes and your heel.
And he's quartering this way.
Looks like a decent bull
and not the biggest
guy on the planet
but, you know,
probably around 800 pounds.
It's a nice, sharp track,
but there's fresh snow
built up.
Now, we did have
some wind this morning,
but, uh, I'm not saying
that's this morning's track.
I think it's, maybe,
yesterday's but, uh,
it's a good sign,
busting out further
than I have been.
Um, getting out of the box,
getting out
of the comfort zone
and finally seeing some track.
What this is, here,
is a moose coming and chewing.
That tells me that
they're coming here to eat.
It's a little comfy zone
for them.
I can see more
chewed spots inside.
I mean, it just shows me
I'm on the right track.
And, uh, it's just the matter
of being in the right place
at the right time.
This moose hunt's
real important.
If I am able to get
that moose, by the time
I bone him out
and package him down,
that's a year's worth
of food for me.
I've come down
another several miles
in the little valley.
Found some fresh track.
He's headed that way
towards that pass.
So I'm going to see
if I can't cut him off.
I'm hoping to see his body.
See a tell-tale sign
that I can lock in on.
You know, how the hell
a eight-foot-tall
at-the-shoulders moose
hides in a field of white,
I'm not sure.
I know he's here somewhere.
Oh, shit.
Yeah. Fuck.
Way out by the ridge,
I can see something,
it's pretty big.
See if it's moving.
Is it a rock? Fuck!
(SIGHS)
Oh, it's moving,
It's moving. I gotta go.
There's something big
over there.
This could be the guy
I've been waiting for.
Hang on to your seats,
ladies and gents,
we're going to go
get us some moose.
I gotta get this show
on the road
and get myself a moose.
Need to fill that freezer.
I've got very
little meat left.
I need to eat meat.
I need to eat food to survive.
So, what does this
moose mean to me?
It's a year's worth of meat.
One solid year's
worth of meat.
There it is.
He's going up and over.
I've gotta go down, around
and try and figure out
how to cut him off.
I'm not sure how to do that.
That's a steep, steep hill.
I don't know that I can
climb with this thing.
Fuck!
I'm trying to figure out
how I can get to him
but I don't know that I can.
He's a mile or so out.
And headed over that pass.
I think I'm going to watch
my dinner walk away.
That's the way it goes,
that's a fucking bummer.
Part of me wants to, uh,
push it, push it, push it,
but I got a long ways
to go home.
You know, I got three,
four hours of riding to do
to get home.
The fog's coming in.
Ice, fog and storm.
Dropping temperatures.
It's gonna get dark.
Gonna have to turn it around
and hard to do
when you see what you're after
and you work so hard
to try and at least
get a glimpse and get a shot.
I mean, I was right on it,
but, uh, I gotta think safety
and it's calling it
a little too close.
If I could, uh, plan it out,
you know,
the guy'd just jump
in the freezer
of his own free will.
But, uh, that's not what
hunting is about.
Unfortunately, it is the one
that will get away.
ERIK: I'm a killer.
I'm a trapper.
I'm a subsistence hunter.
This is the Arctic and
you need to kill or be killed.
Doing a little bit of scouting
for spring water
trapping season.
It's a bit early,
the ice is real thick.
Scouting for beaver,
muskrat, and otter.
So, we're out here on a pond
where there's a lot
of muskrat push-ups.
The muskrat push-up is
sort of like a beaver lodge,
except it's where
muskrats live.
And I noticed
this disturbance here,
and I see where a fox
came off the hill here
and then dug around
in the push-up.
And I'm not sure
if he got the muskrat or not.
But, just kind of
checking it out here.
There we go,
now we're getting down
into his little house.
This was a tough year
on muskrats, uh,
not a lot of snow
and it was a cold winter.
A lot of them froze out.
It might have been dead
in there and the fox actually
came and got him,
so, there might be
a muskrat in here.
There may not be.
Got him.
Another muskrat ate it.
This one obviously
was cannibalised
by another muskrat.
It's, uh,
absolutely worthless.
Muskrat is not at the top
of the list of animals
I would want to be
reincarnated as. (LAUGHS)
Sit in a hole in the darkness,
eating your house...
(CHUCKLES)
And then the ice freezes
and you can't get back
in the water
and you freeze to death
and then your buddy eats you.
(SNIGGERS)
ANDY: Our lives are dictated
by Mother Nature
and what she throws at us.
And this year
she is threatening to take
our home and our property.
That's life
in the Alaska bush.
KATE: We need to move
the fish rack because
once this river breaks,
we're expecting really high
water and possibly ice.
And we don't want
to lose about 1,500 fish
that are on the rack
that's imperative to
feeding our dogs.
Andy figures if the dogs go
I have to go,
to look after them.
They're my kids,
they're my children,
they're my...
I adore every one of them.
We lost a dog last time
and that's not going
to happen in my watch.
The big boat
that the dogs were in,
that flipped on its side and
the dogs were all drowning.
And the ones on the top
when the boat was on its side,
they were holding onto
the metal gunnels
with their teeth...
And screaming.
That's when we lost Skipper.
We didn't know it until after.
It was so fast.
It's just been
a big shock for me.
The last three or four days
knowing that
this is going to be
the way it's going to be.
Everything we love
is at risk, once more.
I thought once was enough,
but I don't know.
If this break-up happens
the way I think
it might happen,
where I'm standing
might be covered
with 10 or 15 feet of ice,
which will totally
destroy this fish rack.
Is it underneath the skid
right now?
Yeah.
I want to slide this fish rack
off my lower terrace here
up to the high ground,
which means
that it's gonna have
a better chance of surviving.
Moving this fish rack
is a bit precarious.
It's not designed
to really move very far,
and certainly not with
fish on it.
I've got, uh, probably
close to 1,600 fish
on the rack right now,
and that's our
summer's dog food.
And that's worth
a couple of thousand
dollars to us.
Without the fish, I couldn't
afford to have these dogs.
ANDY: We're gonna come in
kind of tight, Kate.
KATE: Put them on tight?
No, I'm going to
come in kind of tight
so that I can get out.
The bulldozer is so powerful,
I can't feel when things
are starting to break.
Usually what happens is,
it just breaks,
and before I can feel
that something
is beginning to bite.
So it's going to be critical
for her to really listen well.
KATE: Your tooth is on it.
ANDY: It's not gonna
slide under there
and I'm not gonna hit
this upper post, am I?
KATE: I don't know.
ANDY: If that goes into
my bucket, I'm going to
hit the top post
and it's going to crack
the fuck out of that!
So, it has to be set up
so that it's not gonna
slip out of there!
KATE: You be good.
-(KATE GASPS)
-Jesus Christ, man!
Fuck. You gotta tell me
when I'm too close, babe!
-Do you understand
what I'm saying?
-I do.
-Okay.
-But I'm just trying
to tell you what it is.
-All right.
-It's only under
one half of one tooth.
All right, so if that
slipped in there,
I'm going to hit this,
and that's what I can't
have happen. Okay?
KATE: Poor Andy
gets so frustrated.
He likes to
just get things done.
And he works alone very well
and then when he needs
a hand, I'm there.
He'll blow up.
He can't help it.
It's just a scraper.
ANDY: There's a lot
on my mind right now.
When I look around, I know
how much work is ahead of me.
Sometimes I get
pretty frustrated when
things aren't going real well.
But I'm not good
at holding my emotions back.
Get out of there!
I know it's kind of hard
on Kate to have to
put up with that.
Yay!
All right, I think
that's good enough.
I think that will work.
We accomplished a lot
today, but we're not
out of the woods yet.
The fish rack is in
as safe a place
as I can put it right now.
Just because everything
is up on this upper terrace
doesn't mean
that it's damage-free.
It just means that it's going
to have a better chance
of surviving,
and that's the best I can do.
And then after that, it's just
a matter of what Mother Nature
decides to do to us.
And that's what
we have to live with.
ERIK: The reality of
subsistence living
in rural Alaska
is that I kill
a lot of animals.
But I try to do so
as humanely as possible
and with the utmost respect.
Notice this muskrat
out on the ice here.
I got a .22 pistol,
I could shoot it,
but the fur is more valuable
if I can trap it.
So, uh, I'm going to slip
over there and see if I can
put this over his hole.
I have a one-ten count
up there.
He'll probably go back
down underwater
and when he comes up, snap.
Hopefully, we'll, uh,
catch the first rat
of the spring water season.
Got him.
I looked down this rat hole,
I saw his tail there.
If they bite real hard,
they'll rip your hand
right open.
I just grabbed him,
I threw him away
from the hole.
Now I just stepped on him
to asphyxiate him
here quickly.
First rat of the spring.
Nice muskrat.
Beautiful, real full fur here.
That's a good one.
There's another one!
There he is.
Perfect fur, no bullet holes.
Nice rat.
Rats command a good price
this year, $5 to $15.
These are my first
two rats of the season,
so, you know,
if I come in, uh...
In the late spring,
early summer,
go into town
and sell some fur,
you know, I might make
a couple of hundred
bucks in rats,
but, uh, I just like
being out here
and catching rats.
That's kind of the neat thing
about living out here.
I get to just kind of be
like a grown-up boy that
plays in the woods all day.
SUE: I'm the only one
that I can guarantee
who's going to be there
the day I pass away.
So, I better be
goddamn comfortable
in my own skin.
It's okay if you think
I'm psycho, cause I don't.
I've been out
hunting all day long
and I got a moose
in my sights, but he got away.
Now, it's getting dark
and I have to get home
before my fuel runs out.
Oh, that's a little bit
of an overflow.
This is a major problem.
I crossed over this section
of the river coming in.
But as you can see,
that ain't ice and that
ain't snow, that's water.
My weather's coming in,
the wind's picking up,
but I gotta go across that.
And, uh, you know...
This is just at the shore,
it gets deeper out there,
even though it's about...
I don't know, it's gotta be
at least 30 below zero.
The river has other ideas.
The water thinks spring is
coming and, uh, that's that.
I'm gonna do my best
to try and get across it
and get home
without plunging
through the river.
-(CRACKING)
-And who knows...
It's starting to crack.
Oh, my God.
It's a very
uncomfortable feeling.
I mean, I have my thumb
all the way on the throttle,
and I'm slowing down
and sinking a little bit.
It's real possible I may drop
into a 20-foot puddle.
Whoo!
Goddamn!
Thank you, little baby Jesus.
Oh, holy shit!
I can't believe I made that.
Well, that's one trip
I'm not going to make again.
That was uncomfortable for me,
and I don't think, safe.
I gotta get home,
get myself warmed up
and calmed down.
Yeah, I don't wanna...
I definitely don't wanna be
running over that stuff
on the river.
Do I need some food
in my freezer? Absolutely.
But, uh, it's not a problem.
It's just a solution
I haven't found yet.
CHIP: We don't actually target
any one animal
or any one thing.
We have an idea
what we want to go do
and what we want to get.
But we're opportunists,
and when an animal pops up
out of the nowhere,
bam, we got it!
(AGNES SPEAKING)
Yeah. (SIGHS)
This guy, he's been dead
for over an hour or so now
and, um, that's what happens
with dead meat.
It freezes. (LAUGHS)
AGNES: I'm just gonna end up
cutting the, um, joints.
CHIP: Oh,
doing the feets later.
AGNES: Yeah.
CHIP: Good idea.
Do the tail later too.
I wouldn't want to ruin
the tail just 'cause
it's starting to freeze.
I'm taking the paws,
the legs off, seeing how
the paws are frozen,
freezing up here.
That way, I can just take care
of this and do it real nice
and the way I want it.
Now, I'm gonna cut it
the way I want it
for mukluks and ruffs,
the traditional style.
So that's like a
$600 pair of mukluks.
A couple $100 pair of mittens.
The teeth and stuff,
they make pretty charms.
CHIP: The Inupiaq figured out
10,000 years ago
just what materials are best
for what particular use
at what particular time
of year, and we just
follow that pattern.
My mom taught me how to free
the souls of hunters,
animals that hunt.
You have to free their soul
and just pretty much
cut their throat,
so their spirit can be lifted
and go try again.
Pretty much respect
for the animal.
Me and the wolf.
We know what's up.
He's a hunter. I'm a hunter.
I don't have
a bad feeling about it.
We thanked the wolf
for the kindness
of taking his skin.
We live in nature
and this is part of nature.
Everything dies. Everything.
And the fact is, is that, um,
I'm going to make use
of what this guy is.
The fur is a necessary
survival item and that's
really important up here.
Especially like 40, 50 below.
AGNES: I feel real good today.
It's been a good trip.
Excited to get back home.
ERIK: There's a lot of freedom
associated with living here.
A lot of people come
to Alaska, you know.
It attracts a lot of people
that are running
from something.
I'm 29 years old.
I came to Alaska 10 years ago,
soon as I got out of school.
I guess people back there
would say that I was
a crazy fuck. (LAUGHS)
People ask me if I'm lonely.
And there are certain
disadvantages of living
in bush Alaska,
I mean, I go quite a while
sometimes without
having anybody around.
But I miss out
on a lot of social things
that other people
my age are doing, you know.
But I can follow my passion
for a living and hunt
and trap and fish.
Life is good.
We'll use this handy tree here
as a skinning surface.
(SNIFFLING)
These rats have been dead
a couple of hours now
and they were
just about to freeze.
I'm expecting it to be
about zero tonight.
And, uh...
They'd be frozen solid
in the morning
and then they'd be
real hard to skin.
So, best take care of these
before I go to bed.
You know, a lot of people
ask me why I live out here,
and I just, still...
Every time I walk out
of the cabin sometimes,
I just look around
at these mountains here
and I'm just like, "Wow!"
It's beautiful.
For the most part,
I think a lot
of the opportunities
that I've had here,
my guiding business...
I've been very fortunate.
Alaska has treated me
really well.
Well, I do appreciate it.
Nice rat hide.
Beautiful spring rat.
bunches of caribou.
There's caribou
moving down here.
And when you got
caribou sprinting, running,
being chased by something,
it's usually fur.
It's something
they're scared of.
Furbearers.
Foxes, wolverines, wolves.
My wife will take the fur
and she makes customary
traditional clothing for sales
and we'll take that money
and we buy things
that we can't trade
or make ourselves
like gasoline, ammunition,
pay our bills,
stuff like that.
It makes the circle that
brings us back here again,
so we can keep on
making this living.
There isn't much
that scares a caribou
when they're running
like that other than wolves.
I just don't see
what's spooking them.
There it is!
CHIP: Wolf, wolf.
Wolf running like hell.
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
There it is!
CHIP: It's a young grey.
Look, it's just trotting.
No, he's not trotting.
He's leaving the country.
He's... He's halfway up
the little monument already.
(AGNES SPEAKING)
Yep.
He's going to go
right over the top
of the little monument.
We gotta get back up
and around.
I'm going up this ridge
and around him,
I'm gonna outflank him.
CHIP: See, the important thing
is time right now
'cause he's going
over that hill at trot
and we need to go around
at a neck-breaking
kind of deal.
It's called the chase.
The chase is the hunt.
And this is all
just a big chase.
If I go burning up gas
and bringing home nothing,
then I'm wasting my time
and my trip and my effort.
Wolves are much harder
to hunt than caribou
'cause they're wily.
They'll hear your machine
and they'll start running.
They won't even wait
till they see you
before they're trying to put
country between you.
They'll also put obstacles
between you.
They go to rocky spots.
They go to deep ravines
where they know that they can
basically lose something.
AGNES: I'm so shaken up.
I can't keep my goggles,
binoculars still.
It's right there standing.
He's not even very far.
-And he's probably gonna go...
I know.
-(CHIP SPEAKING)
CHIP: This is a tough one,
though, man.
AGNES: I know.
CHIP: If we go down
in that creek, we're stuck.
(SIGHS)
CHIP: I don't really see
getting this wolf.
AGNES: I don't either.
(CHIP SPEAKING)
CHIP: We weren't able
to intercept him.
That's just the way it goes.
At this time of year
there's going to be fur,
so it's kind of
a patient wait,
keep-on-looking thing.
As long as we're persistent,
we're going to see something.
SUE: I'm fighting for
my way of life.
I've been given
the rules of the game.
Now, it's up to me
to figure out how to play it.
This is my, uh, freezer room.
Most of my meat lockers
are empty.
And all's I've got
are a couple of packages
of caribou.
That's it. I eat a pile
of caribou meat in the morning
and a pile whenever I want to.
I eat a lot of protein,
but I like my meat.
I'm anaemic and... (STUTTERS)
The red meat
helps keep my iron up.
That's the importance for me.
Now, well, I'm down to
three little packages of meat
and, uh,
I need to fill my belly.
My intention is to go out
and, hopefully, get a moose.
If I get it, it's gonna
cost me a couple of bullets,
100 bucks, maybe 200,
depends on how much gas I use.
But, $200 for
800 pounds of meat
is a pretty goddamn
good price if you ask me.
As opposed to, you know,
almost $100 or $200 a pound
for something I have
to have flown in.
When I go, I'm by myself,
so, I need to,
even though I'm not planning
on doing an overnight,
I need to make sure
that I have enough supplies
if the machine breaks down,
if a wind storm
or a ground blizzard starts,
if the temps drop radically,
or if I get injured,
I need a way to keep
myself warm and safe.
Okay, so I'm not gonna talk
them out of the tundra,
the last thing I need to have
is the weapon.
What I'm going to be carrying
on my back is the .30-06.
It's a nice
high-powered bullet.
It's got the scope.
Because I don't want frost,
water, anything getting
down the barrel,
I just take a little piece
of electrical tape,
put it over the top.
It's not going
to stop the bullet,
but it's going to keep
the snow and the moisture
from getting down in it.
Time to do a moosey hunt.
A full-grown bull moose
can weigh up to 1,500 pounds.
The only way
I'm getting that home
is to put him on this sled.
But there are no guarantees
implied, nor given, in a hunt.
All's I'm guaranteed
is the opportunity to try.
The unit that I'm hunting in
is roughly 50 miles
by 50 miles.
I mean, it's a huge amount
of acreage
to find a bull moose.
Some people have to go
to the corner grocery store.
I mean, I'm going to go 30,
40 miles by snow machine
to have a chance
to go to the grocery store.
I don't give away
the exact location
of the valley of the moose,
but, uh, I'm a good
three hours or so
away from getting home.
As I get closer and closer,
you're going to see more
dense populations of willow.
It's the stuff
they like to eat.
That's why I call it
the Valley of the Moose.
Holy cow!
Holy bull!
There's a bear den.
Oh!
Okay. I, uh...
Saw an opening over here.
This time of year, I got bears
walking around and everything.
I mean, this is exactly how
a bear's den is gonna look.
From a distance there,
uh, when they get up
and out of bed,
they knock the snow out
and they go in and out,
but what this is
is an open spring.
This is just another sign
that winter is on the way out.
I mean, that's quite a bit
of running water,
it's not deep,
but it is moving.
It's not maybe the most stable
spot for me to be standing in,
I better get my snow machine
and, uh, get going.
I got a little bit more time.
I wanna at least cycle
through this little
beginning part.
I'm in the right place.
Hopefully,
I'm in the right time.
I'll go through
this little patch of willow.
I want to see,
are there any droppings,
is the willow intact,
have they been
eating anywhere?
Is there any sign?
There's a bunch
of predator tracks.
Predators are doing
the same thing,
they know that their prey
is going to be found
near the willows.
This shows me
that they're looking for food,
they're finding food,
so I'm on the right track.
I have not seen moose sign,
but I'm very pleased
with what I'm seeing,
it's all good signs.
KATE: We'll die on the river.
The river almost
took us in 2009.
She didn't win,
but I think it was a warning.
I got a new update
for this spring break-up.
ANDY: Let's hear it.
What's going to happen
this spring that we
don't know? (LAUGHS)
As the spring thaw comes,
all this snow on the ground,
up in the high country
around here,
that begins to melt.
That goes into the Yukon.
As water continues to build,
eventually, the river ice
actually begins to move.
And that's what
we call break-up.
"Based on the current
snow conditions
"and expected
cooler-than-normal
temperatures,
"the likelihood of break-up
flooding is increased."
(SIGHS)
(WHISPERS) Fuck it.
This spring is giving us
a lot of, uh, anxiety.
The water's going to
come over land.
We witnessed what
that force is like in 2009,
when we lost almost
everything we owned.
ANDY: My God. I've never seen
anything like this.
The ice crushed everything.
Big pieces of ice
the size of city blocks.
It decimated
the native village of Eagle.
We had a tsunami of water
and ice come down on us.
Trees were getting ripped out,
the log cabins
went floating by,
it was like flushing a toilet.
We were really afraid
we were just going to get
swept out into the ice.
The ice wiped out
our entire homestead here.
All that's doing is confirming
what we already know,
you know.
We just have to spend
some time and get prepped
for what potentially
is going to happen here.
We've been through a flood
like nobody's ever seen
before on the Yukon.
And we learned a lot from it
and we're going to, uh,
do the best we can
to minimise the impacts to us,
if and when we do
flood this spring.
I've got two goals today
and they're both crucial
for protecting
our property here
during this year's break-up.
It's a pretty ambitious plan.
I need to drag my fish rack
up to higher ground
so that it won't flood.
But the first thing
I need to do
is go out in the woods,
knock down
some large dead trees...
And build a large raft
that'll be able to take a lot
of our belongings
and put that on the raft.
And then if the water
does come up to the level
of our home here,
hopefully,
all of that will stay dry.
Here we go. (GRUNTS)
The reason why I'm
not going to go to Eagle
is I want to see the worst
of what Mother Nature
is going to throw at us here.
Because I need to know,
is it something
I'm willing to put up with
in future years?
Or is it something
that is an end for us
at this place?
I've invested 25 years
of my life here,
and this is a place
that I have a really strong
spiritual connection to,
and it's not going to be easy
to get me to leave here.
Right now,
I'm feeling pretty good,
the doomsday raft got done.
On the raft will go tools,
equipment, generators,
and it will be safe
if the water comes up here.
We're planning
for the worst right now.
ERIK: I got a lot of respect
for these animals.
But I absolutely
will kill them
when I get the opportunity at
the appropriate time of year.
Everything in Alaska
is dictated by the weather,
and when the conditions
are right
and the season is open,
I head out to get my meat.
Sort of a in-between
time of year,
trapping season
is almost done.
Spring bear season
isn't gone yet.
I'm gearing up for guiding,
and being as frozen up
as everything still is,
I'm gonna do
a little ice fishing.
Well, we're down
to the ice here.
I have no idea
how thick it is.
Probably pretty thick,
but I'll try with a
mechanical advantage to start.
(WHIRRING)
This could be
three feet thick or
it could be five feet thick.
It's gonna be a
sort of a challenge here
to get through this ice.
I hope I catch a fish,
or this is kind of
a big waste of time.
I've been digging away
at this hole here for...
I'm not sure how long now.
(CHUCKLES)
(GRUNTS)
Look at that piece.
About three feet down
to the ice.
I'm hoping it's, uh,
close to the end.
So, I'm going to keep
at it here and, hopefully,
catch a couple of pike.
What the fuck!
Look, there's a muskrat
right there.
Muskrat is a fur animal.
Muskrat hide, this year,
is worth $5 to $15.
I was working on digging
a hole in the ice here
and doing a little bit
of pike fishing,
and I looked over
and noticed a muskrat here
on the ice that came up
out of a push-up.
So, I tried to sneak over.
I got fairly close to the rat
but, uh, if you do
a body shot on the rat,
they don't pay you a full
market value for the fur,
so you need to shoot them
in the head.
All I had was my .22 pistol,
so I needed to get
pretty close,
and I didn't get
quite close enough.
Jesus. (SIGHS)
I'm gonna keep working
on my hole here
trying to catch a pike,
and, uh, keep my eyes out.
If he comes back out,
I'll try to sneak over
and shoot him.
Otherwise, I'll come over
and set a trap here
this evening or tomorrow.
(WHIRRING)
What the fuck!
I'm fucked now.
Why is that water so muddy?
I was trying to dig a hole
here in the ice
to do a little bit of fishing,
and I guess I got down about
five, six feet in the hole
and I finally broke through,
but it was right
at the bottom, the muck.
Whole bunch of muck water
came up in my hole here.
Not very encouraging.
The only good thing
that happened out here
was we saw a muskrat
come up on the ice.
At least I know
where a couple of
active push-ups are,
and we'll have to, uh,
work our way back for those.
This was a waste
of time and energy.
I guess the ice fishing
is out.
It's getting kind of
late in the day.
I'm going to go set up a camp
here somewhere in the trees
and see if we can have
any luck with those muskrats
tomorrow, eh?
Oh, well, that sucks. (SCOFFS)
CHIP: I don't feel bad
when I'm killing a wolf.
It's part of
the circle of life.
Because I'm the apex predator.
Nature says I'm gonna kill it.
We're on the lookout
for fur today.
Definitely a...
(CHUCKLES) A wolf kill.
Boy, those guys can eat, huh?
There's some
real big tracks here.
That's a wolf, right there.
He might keep going
that way and come down
to Theresa Creek,
so if we head down and around,
we might meet her
on the next mountain over.
You have to think like a wolf
when you're pursuing wolves.
Figure out which way
they're going to go
so you can position yourself.
(CHIP SPEAKING)
AGNES: They're real
fast animals and so,
when you get an opportunity,
you have to
just take the shot and
try to make my shots count.
(GUNSHOT)
Oh, what the heck.
(GUNSHOT)
I think I got it.
Just went over the ridge.
The wolf turned towards me,
so I took a couple of shots
right as it was going
over the hill.
I think those couple
of shots touched him.
CHIP: (LAUGHS) Whoa!
CHIP: Well, I must
compliment you.
AGNES: Yeah.
CHIP: You've chosen
a fine wolf. Poke its eyeball.
It's dead.
Oh, look at the hackles
on that one.
CHIP: Man,
look at the hackles!
AGNES: Wow,
I'm glad for a grey one.
CHIP: Yep,
this is a beautiful animal.
There's no mange,
there's no lice.
This is a good one.
Yeah, I'm happy for you.
This made the day.
It's actually just, uh...
If you had to think
of expenses,
this just made us break even.
We thank the animal very much,
we'll use him to his fullest.
But, he'll be sure that, uh,
we get gasoline
to be able to do this again.
This guy's already stiffening
up, quite a little bit.
We gotta get out of here
before the sun goes down
too much.
What we're going to do
is go take him back to where
we dropped the sleds
and we'll skin the wolf out.
AGNES: I feel pretty good.
I feel like we've, uh,
actually gotten
somewhere today,
and not as much stress on us.
Um, you know, with trying to
get even with this hunt,
and I know I'm not
going home empty-handed.
CHIP: I thank you
very much, Mr Wolf.
I thank you very, very much.
KATE: We'll push every day,
until we can't push
any further.
Until the time runs out
and that's all we can do.
This is the beginning
of getting ready
for the Yukon River
to break free of its icy hood.
I've got to dig out
this bulldozer
so that it can get ready
for Andy to start moving
things to higher ground,
so that they will not
get just washed away.
We don't have time to
sit around and procrastinate.
We've gotta get
this stuff done.
We're not going to be caught
with our pants down,
so to speak.
We're going to be ready
this year.
Ice is still about
five feet thick
and way too much snow.
High country should be bare
right now
and it is just feet of snow.
Now, I don't know
what's going to happen,
but it's making
my spring miserable.
Making my hopes and dreams
fade a little too.
My worst fear of when
the Yukon River breaks,
is that we get a lot of ice
and water again
on our property.
In 2009, we were wiped out.
I'm telling you,
it's breaking my heart
to see the ice similar
in condition this year.
'Cause if this goes
this year, I don't know
if I can do it again.
Don't know if I can
rebuild again.
The mind frame
I'm in right now
is if that river
takes everything,
it might as well take me
with it 'cause I think
it will just break my heart,
I'll die anyway.
It's weighing heavy
on our minds.
I sometimes
find it hard not to cry
but, um, you know, I'm scared,
and I'm hopeful
that this won't happen to us.
ANDY: I'm praying
that I'm so wrong right now
on what's gonna happen
at break-up.
But, one thing
I've lived my life by,
and I know Kate has too,
and that's living by
your gut instincts.
And our gut instincts
are telling us
this is not going to be good.
What I'm gonna try and do here
is distribute the fish
a little bit more evenly
so it's balanced
a little better.
And then I'm going to bring
the bulldozer down here
and then pull it up the hill
to where our house
and dogs are at.
Kinda thinking we're gonna
get water up there,
but if the ice
doesn't come in there,
the fish rack will survive.
You know,
people in the lower 48
think of insurance
as a safety net for them.
Out here, it has nothing to do
with monetary insurance.
It's all about the resource.
So, when I put this fish up,
this is total insurance for me
for the whole year
for my dogs.
As long as I got that,
my dogs are in good shape
for the year.
We're not governed
by other people
very much in our life.
We're not governed much
by the government
or society in general.
We're pretty much governed
by what Mother Nature
does for us
or doesn't do for us.
That's what our world
revolves around.
I'm feeling right now
like we have
all the conditions
for a perfect storm here.
And, uh, we better use
our previous knowledge
of what can happen here
to mitigate the damage.
'Cause I don't want
to leave here.
SUE: You don't choose this
lifestyle by accident.
You're either born into it
or you make it.
If you're not made of steel,
then you probably
don't belong out here.
Still looking for the moosey.
It's a lot colder today.
30 below, maybe even dropping.
Yeah, it's a damn cold day,
but, uh, they're not gonna
jump into my freezer.
I've got to go get them.
(ENGINE REVVING)
I need to ramp it up some.
You know, going 60 mile
round trip or so.
I mean, anybody can do that.
I'm gonna go maybe
50, 70 miles out.
I'm going to push this
as hard as I can.
It's time to take off the pink
and get this job done.
Mr Moose is waiting
out there somewhere.
And, uh, he must have
forgot we had a date.
-All right, hot damn!
-(ENGINE STOPS)
This is exciting.
I've got, uh, moose tracks.
This is what
a moose track looks like.
Your toe and your heel.
Toes and your heel.
And he's quartering this way.
Looks like a decent bull
and not the biggest
guy on the planet
but, you know,
probably around 800 pounds.
It's a nice, sharp track,
but there's fresh snow
built up.
Now, we did have
some wind this morning,
but, uh, I'm not saying
that's this morning's track.
I think it's, maybe,
yesterday's but, uh,
it's a good sign,
busting out further
than I have been.
Um, getting out of the box,
getting out
of the comfort zone
and finally seeing some track.
What this is, here,
is a moose coming and chewing.
That tells me that
they're coming here to eat.
It's a little comfy zone
for them.
I can see more
chewed spots inside.
I mean, it just shows me
I'm on the right track.
And, uh, it's just the matter
of being in the right place
at the right time.
This moose hunt's
real important.
If I am able to get
that moose, by the time
I bone him out
and package him down,
that's a year's worth
of food for me.
I've come down
another several miles
in the little valley.
Found some fresh track.
He's headed that way
towards that pass.
So I'm going to see
if I can't cut him off.
I'm hoping to see his body.
See a tell-tale sign
that I can lock in on.
You know, how the hell
a eight-foot-tall
at-the-shoulders moose
hides in a field of white,
I'm not sure.
I know he's here somewhere.
Oh, shit.
Yeah. Fuck.
Way out by the ridge,
I can see something,
it's pretty big.
See if it's moving.
Is it a rock? Fuck!
(SIGHS)
Oh, it's moving,
It's moving. I gotta go.
There's something big
over there.
This could be the guy
I've been waiting for.
Hang on to your seats,
ladies and gents,
we're going to go
get us some moose.
I gotta get this show
on the road
and get myself a moose.
Need to fill that freezer.
I've got very
little meat left.
I need to eat meat.
I need to eat food to survive.
So, what does this
moose mean to me?
It's a year's worth of meat.
One solid year's
worth of meat.
There it is.
He's going up and over.
I've gotta go down, around
and try and figure out
how to cut him off.
I'm not sure how to do that.
That's a steep, steep hill.
I don't know that I can
climb with this thing.
Fuck!
I'm trying to figure out
how I can get to him
but I don't know that I can.
He's a mile or so out.
And headed over that pass.
I think I'm going to watch
my dinner walk away.
That's the way it goes,
that's a fucking bummer.
Part of me wants to, uh,
push it, push it, push it,
but I got a long ways
to go home.
You know, I got three,
four hours of riding to do
to get home.
The fog's coming in.
Ice, fog and storm.
Dropping temperatures.
It's gonna get dark.
Gonna have to turn it around
and hard to do
when you see what you're after
and you work so hard
to try and at least
get a glimpse and get a shot.
I mean, I was right on it,
but, uh, I gotta think safety
and it's calling it
a little too close.
If I could, uh, plan it out,
you know,
the guy'd just jump
in the freezer
of his own free will.
But, uh, that's not what
hunting is about.
Unfortunately, it is the one
that will get away.
ERIK: I'm a killer.
I'm a trapper.
I'm a subsistence hunter.
This is the Arctic and
you need to kill or be killed.
Doing a little bit of scouting
for spring water
trapping season.
It's a bit early,
the ice is real thick.
Scouting for beaver,
muskrat, and otter.
So, we're out here on a pond
where there's a lot
of muskrat push-ups.
The muskrat push-up is
sort of like a beaver lodge,
except it's where
muskrats live.
And I noticed
this disturbance here,
and I see where a fox
came off the hill here
and then dug around
in the push-up.
And I'm not sure
if he got the muskrat or not.
But, just kind of
checking it out here.
There we go,
now we're getting down
into his little house.
This was a tough year
on muskrats, uh,
not a lot of snow
and it was a cold winter.
A lot of them froze out.
It might have been dead
in there and the fox actually
came and got him,
so, there might be
a muskrat in here.
There may not be.
Got him.
Another muskrat ate it.
This one obviously
was cannibalised
by another muskrat.
It's, uh,
absolutely worthless.
Muskrat is not at the top
of the list of animals
I would want to be
reincarnated as. (LAUGHS)
Sit in a hole in the darkness,
eating your house...
(CHUCKLES)
And then the ice freezes
and you can't get back
in the water
and you freeze to death
and then your buddy eats you.
(SNIGGERS)
ANDY: Our lives are dictated
by Mother Nature
and what she throws at us.
And this year
she is threatening to take
our home and our property.
That's life
in the Alaska bush.
KATE: We need to move
the fish rack because
once this river breaks,
we're expecting really high
water and possibly ice.
And we don't want
to lose about 1,500 fish
that are on the rack
that's imperative to
feeding our dogs.
Andy figures if the dogs go
I have to go,
to look after them.
They're my kids,
they're my children,
they're my...
I adore every one of them.
We lost a dog last time
and that's not going
to happen in my watch.
The big boat
that the dogs were in,
that flipped on its side and
the dogs were all drowning.
And the ones on the top
when the boat was on its side,
they were holding onto
the metal gunnels
with their teeth...
And screaming.
That's when we lost Skipper.
We didn't know it until after.
It was so fast.
It's just been
a big shock for me.
The last three or four days
knowing that
this is going to be
the way it's going to be.
Everything we love
is at risk, once more.
I thought once was enough,
but I don't know.
If this break-up happens
the way I think
it might happen,
where I'm standing
might be covered
with 10 or 15 feet of ice,
which will totally
destroy this fish rack.
Is it underneath the skid
right now?
Yeah.
I want to slide this fish rack
off my lower terrace here
up to the high ground,
which means
that it's gonna have
a better chance of surviving.
Moving this fish rack
is a bit precarious.
It's not designed
to really move very far,
and certainly not with
fish on it.
I've got, uh, probably
close to 1,600 fish
on the rack right now,
and that's our
summer's dog food.
And that's worth
a couple of thousand
dollars to us.
Without the fish, I couldn't
afford to have these dogs.
ANDY: We're gonna come in
kind of tight, Kate.
KATE: Put them on tight?
No, I'm going to
come in kind of tight
so that I can get out.
The bulldozer is so powerful,
I can't feel when things
are starting to break.
Usually what happens is,
it just breaks,
and before I can feel
that something
is beginning to bite.
So it's going to be critical
for her to really listen well.
KATE: Your tooth is on it.
ANDY: It's not gonna
slide under there
and I'm not gonna hit
this upper post, am I?
KATE: I don't know.
ANDY: If that goes into
my bucket, I'm going to
hit the top post
and it's going to crack
the fuck out of that!
So, it has to be set up
so that it's not gonna
slip out of there!
KATE: You be good.
-(KATE GASPS)
-Jesus Christ, man!
Fuck. You gotta tell me
when I'm too close, babe!
-Do you understand
what I'm saying?
-I do.
-Okay.
-But I'm just trying
to tell you what it is.
-All right.
-It's only under
one half of one tooth.
All right, so if that
slipped in there,
I'm going to hit this,
and that's what I can't
have happen. Okay?
KATE: Poor Andy
gets so frustrated.
He likes to
just get things done.
And he works alone very well
and then when he needs
a hand, I'm there.
He'll blow up.
He can't help it.
It's just a scraper.
ANDY: There's a lot
on my mind right now.
When I look around, I know
how much work is ahead of me.
Sometimes I get
pretty frustrated when
things aren't going real well.
But I'm not good
at holding my emotions back.
Get out of there!
I know it's kind of hard
on Kate to have to
put up with that.
Yay!
All right, I think
that's good enough.
I think that will work.
We accomplished a lot
today, but we're not
out of the woods yet.
The fish rack is in
as safe a place
as I can put it right now.
Just because everything
is up on this upper terrace
doesn't mean
that it's damage-free.
It just means that it's going
to have a better chance
of surviving,
and that's the best I can do.
And then after that, it's just
a matter of what Mother Nature
decides to do to us.
And that's what
we have to live with.
ERIK: The reality of
subsistence living
in rural Alaska
is that I kill
a lot of animals.
But I try to do so
as humanely as possible
and with the utmost respect.
Notice this muskrat
out on the ice here.
I got a .22 pistol,
I could shoot it,
but the fur is more valuable
if I can trap it.
So, uh, I'm going to slip
over there and see if I can
put this over his hole.
I have a one-ten count
up there.
He'll probably go back
down underwater
and when he comes up, snap.
Hopefully, we'll, uh,
catch the first rat
of the spring water season.
Got him.
I looked down this rat hole,
I saw his tail there.
If they bite real hard,
they'll rip your hand
right open.
I just grabbed him,
I threw him away
from the hole.
Now I just stepped on him
to asphyxiate him
here quickly.
First rat of the spring.
Nice muskrat.
Beautiful, real full fur here.
That's a good one.
There's another one!
There he is.
Perfect fur, no bullet holes.
Nice rat.
Rats command a good price
this year, $5 to $15.
These are my first
two rats of the season,
so, you know,
if I come in, uh...
In the late spring,
early summer,
go into town
and sell some fur,
you know, I might make
a couple of hundred
bucks in rats,
but, uh, I just like
being out here
and catching rats.
That's kind of the neat thing
about living out here.
I get to just kind of be
like a grown-up boy that
plays in the woods all day.
SUE: I'm the only one
that I can guarantee
who's going to be there
the day I pass away.
So, I better be
goddamn comfortable
in my own skin.
It's okay if you think
I'm psycho, cause I don't.
I've been out
hunting all day long
and I got a moose
in my sights, but he got away.
Now, it's getting dark
and I have to get home
before my fuel runs out.
Oh, that's a little bit
of an overflow.
This is a major problem.
I crossed over this section
of the river coming in.
But as you can see,
that ain't ice and that
ain't snow, that's water.
My weather's coming in,
the wind's picking up,
but I gotta go across that.
And, uh, you know...
This is just at the shore,
it gets deeper out there,
even though it's about...
I don't know, it's gotta be
at least 30 below zero.
The river has other ideas.
The water thinks spring is
coming and, uh, that's that.
I'm gonna do my best
to try and get across it
and get home
without plunging
through the river.
-(CRACKING)
-And who knows...
It's starting to crack.
Oh, my God.
It's a very
uncomfortable feeling.
I mean, I have my thumb
all the way on the throttle,
and I'm slowing down
and sinking a little bit.
It's real possible I may drop
into a 20-foot puddle.
Whoo!
Goddamn!
Thank you, little baby Jesus.
Oh, holy shit!
I can't believe I made that.
Well, that's one trip
I'm not going to make again.
That was uncomfortable for me,
and I don't think, safe.
I gotta get home,
get myself warmed up
and calmed down.
Yeah, I don't wanna...
I definitely don't wanna be
running over that stuff
on the river.
Do I need some food
in my freezer? Absolutely.
But, uh, it's not a problem.
It's just a solution
I haven't found yet.
CHIP: We don't actually target
any one animal
or any one thing.
We have an idea
what we want to go do
and what we want to get.
But we're opportunists,
and when an animal pops up
out of the nowhere,
bam, we got it!
(AGNES SPEAKING)
Yeah. (SIGHS)
This guy, he's been dead
for over an hour or so now
and, um, that's what happens
with dead meat.
It freezes. (LAUGHS)
AGNES: I'm just gonna end up
cutting the, um, joints.
CHIP: Oh,
doing the feets later.
AGNES: Yeah.
CHIP: Good idea.
Do the tail later too.
I wouldn't want to ruin
the tail just 'cause
it's starting to freeze.
I'm taking the paws,
the legs off, seeing how
the paws are frozen,
freezing up here.
That way, I can just take care
of this and do it real nice
and the way I want it.
Now, I'm gonna cut it
the way I want it
for mukluks and ruffs,
the traditional style.
So that's like a
$600 pair of mukluks.
A couple $100 pair of mittens.
The teeth and stuff,
they make pretty charms.
CHIP: The Inupiaq figured out
10,000 years ago
just what materials are best
for what particular use
at what particular time
of year, and we just
follow that pattern.
My mom taught me how to free
the souls of hunters,
animals that hunt.
You have to free their soul
and just pretty much
cut their throat,
so their spirit can be lifted
and go try again.
Pretty much respect
for the animal.
Me and the wolf.
We know what's up.
He's a hunter. I'm a hunter.
I don't have
a bad feeling about it.
We thanked the wolf
for the kindness
of taking his skin.
We live in nature
and this is part of nature.
Everything dies. Everything.
And the fact is, is that, um,
I'm going to make use
of what this guy is.
The fur is a necessary
survival item and that's
really important up here.
Especially like 40, 50 below.
AGNES: I feel real good today.
It's been a good trip.
Excited to get back home.
ERIK: There's a lot of freedom
associated with living here.
A lot of people come
to Alaska, you know.
It attracts a lot of people
that are running
from something.
I'm 29 years old.
I came to Alaska 10 years ago,
soon as I got out of school.
I guess people back there
would say that I was
a crazy fuck. (LAUGHS)
People ask me if I'm lonely.
And there are certain
disadvantages of living
in bush Alaska,
I mean, I go quite a while
sometimes without
having anybody around.
But I miss out
on a lot of social things
that other people
my age are doing, you know.
But I can follow my passion
for a living and hunt
and trap and fish.
Life is good.
We'll use this handy tree here
as a skinning surface.
(SNIFFLING)
These rats have been dead
a couple of hours now
and they were
just about to freeze.
I'm expecting it to be
about zero tonight.
And, uh...
They'd be frozen solid
in the morning
and then they'd be
real hard to skin.
So, best take care of these
before I go to bed.
You know, a lot of people
ask me why I live out here,
and I just, still...
Every time I walk out
of the cabin sometimes,
I just look around
at these mountains here
and I'm just like, "Wow!"
It's beautiful.
For the most part,
I think a lot
of the opportunities
that I've had here,
my guiding business...
I've been very fortunate.
Alaska has treated me
really well.
Well, I do appreciate it.
Nice rat hide.
Beautiful spring rat.