Original subtitles

CHIP: Ah, I'll go look around for some ptarmigan today.

We've had a storm for the last couple days, so today they'll be feeding.

They've had to lay low.

My daughter's homeschooling,

so part of her homeschooling of course is winter traveling, winter survival.

Stuff like that.

My daughter's going to follow.

Carol wants to go ptarmigan hunting too.

And just, uh, learning by experience is half of the way that we teach the kids.

You know we live out here, we're real comfortable.

We don't have a problem with any of this stuff.

But sometimes, bad things happen, and you can crash your snow machine and break a leg,

or you can get lost.

You can run out of gas.

You can make mistakes.

And you don't want to do that.

If we get a chance, I want to stop and talk to her about some survival lessons.

About some things that she can do, especially if I'm not with her.

It would help her out, it would keep her occupied.

And it would keep her safe and healthy out there.

What I want my daughter to do is know how to fall back on the materials around

her to keep her life, what I consider, above survival.

Survival is what we're making this because we have to eat tonight.

I want my daughter to live.

It's an education for her that she's not going to find anywhere else.

Without it, you won't survive out here.

(theme music plays)

CAROL: Yeah, it's a good day to go ptarmigan hunting, huh?

CHIP: Yeah, they're a little hard to see.

Whoever spots them first, gets a first crack at them.

How's that sound?

CAROL: Yeah. CHIP: All right.

CAROL: Even though we go ptarmigan hunting a lot,

we still learn a lot of different things every day.

I'm really looking forward to it 'cause we can go out there, catch a couple,

and go home with some.

My family will be happy, I'll know how to hunt.

Could tell good stories.

And most of all, I'll know how.

CHIP: Carol's out here hunting with me out of pure fun.

Pure joy, because she loves to do it.

She wants a good work ethic.

She wants to succeed in life.

She wants to be a successful hunter and there's nothing wrong with that.

The thing is that if you're going to make a living off this land up here,

you have to know small game.

Because the time between the caribou when they migrate through in the spring and they

migrate through in the fall.

And the time when moose season is over.

Well, you've got to fill in with something else, and it can't always be fish.

So part of her education,

isn't only in the ocean or going after and getting caribou.

It's also sticking around home in the willows, where a lot of things live.

And the fact is the girl is really proficient.

They're over there.

You see them running.

We got to let them calm a little bit.

We'll go after them again.

This time, you're going to do the shooting, okay?

I'm going to walk over and make sure there's not something laying there.

Lots of ptarmigan tracks.

You can see where they're eating on the willows.

And the willows have gained about two feet of snow.

CAROL: You see anything, Dad?

CHIP: I, I don't see any blood.

I don't see any dead ptarmigan.

I shot at him right over here and right over here.

CAROL: Maybe it's my turn to shoot.

CHIP: We didn't really spook the ptarmigan too badly.

They're sitting right over there.

So, maybe we can get up and get a couple of them.

Give it a try?

CAROL: My dad shot at a couple ptarmigan.

But they flew away.

They don't fly really far so you can kind of follow them if you're quiet.

You could spot them.

CHIP: Oh, they're flying.

And more joined them.

I'll go get the snow go.

Okay?

CAROL: Oh, it's a good feeling to know that you know how to hunt.

You'll have fun if you get stuck or something, you could shoot a ptarmigan.

Make a fire and eat it.

There's a lot of uses for ptarmigan hunting.

CHIP: What we need to do is just keep on hunting.

CAROL: Just got to keep looking.

JESSIE: I've never had a choice, but to work hard.

Starting out an underdog.

That's how you find out if you want it bad enough.

Just firing up my dog food cooker here.

Getting my dog food cooking.

Once I got that all taken care of, it's a beautiful day out here with the fresh snow.

I'm going to go out, see what's going on around the perimeter of

my area for some wildlife.

Go on a nice stroll around, up river here and cross over some of the sloughs.

Check out some of the island.

See how much rabbits are out moving around.

All right, dog food's done cooking.

Just need to finish simmering.

I'm going to head out and make some tracks and get over to the island and

see if I can find some rabbits for dinner.

NARRATOR: Along the Nenana River,

Jessie Holmes and his team of sled dogs rely on the

surrounding wildlife for their survival.

Today, a lull in his dog training will allow Jessie the opportunity to hunt

rabbits to provide himself with a needed meal.

JESSIE: So, I've left my camp and went up the slough behind my house.

I'm going to be looking and seeing what kind of rabbit sign I see.

Being real quiet.

Seeing if I can ambush a rabbit.

Whole goal tonight is to come home with something to cook.

That's some fresh rabbit sign right there.

Gnawing on this branch here.

They've been coming right through here before it snowed.

This isn't super fresh, but this is what they're eating right here.

They're eating that bark right off of that tree.

Definitely a good rabbit trail coming through right here.

Nothing that fresh since it snowed but they're definitely out here and

they got some worn down pathways, so.

If I just keep moving across this island, I might ambush one.

I'm just happy to be out here and moving around, getting some good exercise myself.

I spend a lot of time in the summer running.

So just to get out here and moving around in this deep snow with my legs

just feels really good.

For me, down time and relaxation is going out and getting some good exercise,

trudging through thigh deep snow.

It's super nice to have a little bit of time just to go do something that

I want to do.

Just helps me come into my race fresh, rejuvenated.

Putting a little bit back into myself.

Been walking for a couple hours now, I'm getting into some spruce here.

Midday, I haven't seen any rabbits yet.

Just kind of wait out until the evening comes.

And then the rabbits will start moving.

Midday is just kind of like when animals bed down and enjoy the warmth

of the day for a good nap.

So, they're really just got going to be moving now in the middle of the day.

It's a good time to bed down and take a nap myself.

Going to go in here and knock some of this down and make myself a little couch.

And take a little nap and then work my way back in the evening,

see if I can catch a rabbit.

RICKO: When you're out here, the outside world is moving by without you.

And you're moving in your own world without them.

Ground wire connect to that.

This one's my late mom's radio.

My dad liked the radio too.

But I think my mom was the one that really liked the radio.

Yeah, I'm not getting nothing.

So, the aerial wire is definitely not working.

An aerial wire is just, it's a bare piece of wire.

It's suspended in the air because it's tied to rope on each end and the rope is

connected to a tree on each side, so the wire's hanging.

It's worked in the past, there's no reason it shouldn't work now.

NARRATOR: Ricko DeWilde has set up at his family's isolated cabin,

deep in Alaska's interior.

He will spend much of winter here alone.

Harvesting resources for his family's survival.

While at the grounds, it is crucial that Ricko get his radio working

to receive messages from the outside world.

RICKO: I'm going to go check out the aerial line, see if any glitches are in there.

And if something's wrong, I got to climb that tree and do it right.

You can see where my late mom had hers set up.

I want to tighten it up.

The metal part is touching right there.

So, you're going to lose your signal.

There's no reason to have an aerial wire if it's if the bare wire is touching

the bare aerial wire.

This is how she had it so I'm just following my late mom's path.

She was usually right about most things.

All this snow on the tree, that's going to turn into a very cold wet job with that

snow falling down on me.

A radio is a necessity out here.

It's the only way for communication between me and my family in the village.

Also, if I was to go hunting or trapping,

can't afford to get stuck in no storm with the closest help

50 miles away.

A lot of snow up here.

Woo.

I really should've brought some cutters.

Yeah, it's tighter now.

Feels a lot tighter.

Not sure where this goes.

This should go into the cabin I believe.

Basically, carries the signal inside.

But I got to get to it.

I need a shovel.

I'm just going to shovel for a while.

I'm starting to get real good at shoveling.

I wish I can get paid for shoveling, I would probably be rich by now.

That one little thing is what made all this work for me.

I'm going to try and get this AM radio going.

I got to get this snow off for sure.

SUE: I'm a risk taker.

And if I see it as a challenge or it's presented as a challenge,

I'm all over it.

Sometimes to my own demise.

All righty, coffee pot, bam.

Big axe, little axe.

For my stay here, I need to find out where am I going to get my water?

Where am I going to get my food?

Where am I going to get excess heat?

So that's the day to day.

NARRATOR: Sue Aikens has purchased land along the Chena River,

500 miles from Kavik.

She will stay at the property indefinitely to assess it's potential

as a future home.

But before she can get comfortable, she must first gain knowledge of the area.

And scouting for resources is critical.

SUE: I'm not here permanently yet.

I will be going back to Kavik.

So it's kind of an exciting change of pace.

It's a great deal.

I feel really good about what I got and I'm a home owner.

Carry the big axe because I don't want to lose them.

There's no running water just like in Kavik during the winter.

So, my goal is, get my water done.

Then I can turn around and focus on food.

In Kavik, I've got it down.

I've got it figured out to where I don't have to hunt for water often.

Here, I'm starting out a little behind the gun.

This is new to me, I've got to learn it.

But if I can get a tote full of water for cooking, bathing, washing dishes.

That's all I need for my stay here.

I can hear water running in the river.

I've no clue, not a scooby, how deep it is anywhere around here.

There's a fair amount of water gurgling.

I don't like being on the rivers unless I know they're solid.

And there's never any guarantees there.

So this is always going to be a little outside my comfort zone.

But I need to get water.

Let's see what I'm looking at.

There she is.

That's a whole lot of water.

Chipping away awful

Kind of leery.

I don't want to fall in.

That's deep.

You know, if I slipped on that,

I'd hit my head there and it'd suck me right under.

That's a lot of water to be flowing.

Looking in here too, ice can be a very beautiful thing.

It's deadly, but beautiful.

Got to bear in mind that I can't take this up with the sled,

so I can't make it so heavy that I can't get it up there.

All right sink that dude.

That's awful heavy.

Really heavy water.

No, (bleep)!

SUE: No, (bleep)!

Well, that's not how I thought that was going to go.

Damnit, all right, (bleep).

Back at it again.

I have to get more water.

But when this time, when I'm coming back up,

I'm going to carry this and then bring the sled back.

Daylight's a short supply so I got to get on it.

Dang it.

I'm just going to have to get down and dirty and get my water.

You know how easy it would be to go back to a lifestyle,

just turn on a faucet and it's somebody else's problem?

For me, that's not very satisfying.

I mean, huffing and puffing like a steam engine isn't satisfying either.

But I can work on that.

I can get in better shape.

But I don't want to be taken care of by society.

I want to be a shepherd, not a sheep.

My fingers are definitely getting kind of cold.

Okay, try it again.

I'll carry it over this area.

So close and yet so far.

All the water in the world don't mean (bleep) if I can't get it in the door.

Come on.

You are a whole pot of tea just waiting to be made, little buddy.

You don't really get used to the cold, the pain of the cold hands.

It's shocking no matter when it happens.

But it's like here you can see the color.

It's, it's time to get this noise finished and get in.

I feel like Rocky.

Come on in, you beautiful pot of tea.

RICKO: You got to make sure you're ten steps ahead out here to survive.

It's only way to hear the outside world is with that AM radio.

Kind of get to know what's going on out there.

It's kind of like having a friend, having that radio.

NARRATOR: In Huslia,

Ricko's attempting to free a wire that will carry signal to the radio

inside his cabin.

He must get the radio working during his stay at the grounds,

as it provides key weather information and other messages

from the nearby village.

RICKO: Grass is holding it.

That's what's holding it down.

You can see where I think a bear grabbed it right here and just bit down and

probably ripped it loose and yanked it over this way and drug it around.

Yeah, this wire just keeps going and going and going.

Like, I think of my mom and dad a lot but doing this here and being out here really

kind of reaffirms like their presence in my life.

It makes me feel, like, a connection to them.

If they could look down on me, I know they're smiling and it's a good feeling.

I feel like my mom is happy wherever she's at and she's probably happy to be able to

guide me a little bit even though she's not here today.

Good enough.

Oh. Got her.

I've never seen an aerial that look like this.

Not sure how it'll work.

Almost feel like it screws into something on the wall.

I'll find out.

Okay, try and go around.

Okay, it's on there.

Time to see if the radio works.

Yeah, this is basically the only communication you'll have with the outside world

when you're out here.

If you don't have this, you're kind of left in the dark.

To be able to hear from my family in the city.

If anything's to happen, they have to get ahold of me, I have to hear it on the radio.

That's the only way I'm going to hear it.

This is my late mom's writing right here.

She had a bunch of radio stations like KOTZ is 800.

It's kind of nice seeing her handwriting out here still.

Okay, I hope this works.

No, I'm not getting anything.

Yeah, I did something wrong hooking it up.

So, I'm going to have to try again.

So, I got to climb back up the tree and try something else.

And if it doesn't work.

I'm going to be caveman status, no communication.

CAROL: We're always hunting for different things and my mom and dad usually

are the ones teaching me a lot of these skills.

But I have a lot of sisters and brothers to learn from too.

CHIP: Oh, you know, we're out looking around for ptarmigan.

Took the daughter out today.

You know, I homeschool her.

And some of the important things that we do is like showing them how we live off

the land and stuff.

Well, if I'm going to go hunting today, Carol's caught up on her schoolwork,

she going hunting today with me.

And small game hunting is very important.

Because when there is no big game, people rely on small game.

They rely on the rabbits, the ptarmigan.

They rely on the little things they can catch around here to keep on the eating.

How you like that, huh?

See that's real soft snow?

You see the hard pack right there?

My ski dipped right into the soft snow.

Look you can't even see where my tunnel wiped into it.

That's called a ditch witch.

It catches your ski and it just pulls you to the side.

So, what we got to do is dig this out on the side.

We'll move this over and we'll start working the skis off the willows here, huh?

The problem is this thing is like three feet of fresh snow.

That's why I tie it separately, yup.

It's a handy tool.

Nothing like a sharp shovel.

So, if you were here alone.

And you were stuck this badly,

you'd probably take these willows and build yourself a fire.

That'd be the first thing to do.

That would attract any help if somebody was driving by or whatever.

You know what I mean? Let people know you're there.

But let's say you were 50 miles from anywhere.

What would be the best thing you could do?

CAROL: Get it unstuck.

CHIP: Yeah, which means keep working at it.

It's like a snow machine in any place.

If you're going to drive it, you have to start it.

If you're going to ride it, you have to know how to get it unstuck.

It's just part of the process.

I'll lift, you pull it over that way.

One, two, three.

Ready, one, two, three.

One more time. One, two, three, up.

That's really good.

See what the hard pack does?

Look at this (bleep).

And I'm not even touching bottom.

It's unstuck, but every time you get stuck, it's different.

You just have to know the fundamentals.

You've got to rely on you.

CAROL: I like being outside a lot,

so having all these skills are kind of really helpful

and make me happy to know.

And when I go out hunting I don't even have to be scared.

I just know.

CHIP: We're going to keep ptarmigan hunting.

I know a pretty good place I want to go stop where there's a little bit

of firewood and other things to do.

CAROL: Dad, look.

CHIP: All right, get em, Bun.

CAROL: Dad, look.

CHIP: Yup, yup, yup, yup, yup.

All right, get 'em, Bun.

CAROL: Oh, I got it on my first shot.

I got you a wounded one.

CHIP: Oh, thanks.

Oh, I got one flying there, Bun.

CAROL: Oh, there you go.

CHIP: Put your safety on, let's go up and get them.

Get that one you hit first.

CAROL: Mine is right here, he's dead.

CHIP: He's down, awesome.

CAROL: Yup, first shot.

First shot was good.

CHIP: One ptarmigan.

The other one's right over there.

Can't miss this one.

CHIP: Okay, I got both the one's I shot at, baby.

How about you?

CAROL: Yea I got the one I shot at.

CHIP: Awesome.

CHIP: Oh, I'm glad you spotted those, and you took the first shot.

CAROL: I thought yours was gonna get away, that's why I tried to shoot it.

CHIP: You did really good, Bun.

There you go.

Those were the two I was after.

CAROL: I got mine right in the head on my first shot.

CHIP: So, that's good. That's three.

Well, we've got enough for lunch.

CAROL: Yup.

CHIP: If you want to we could go get, get into a nice little place out of the wind

and we could, uh, build a fire and chow down on some, uh, ptarmigan.

Sound good?

CAROL: Yup, sounds good.

CHIP: Carol's come on to be a good hunting partner.

I feel safe hunting with her.

She's productive.

She hits what she's shooting at.

She can spot the game out.

You know what's a lot of fun?

Is when you're teaching your kids and they're growing up and they're hunting?

Is that you let them step up and take the shot.

'Cause then you know, uh, that, uh, you've accomplished what you

were trying to teach them.

I think she's come full circle.

SUE: It's only a disadvantage until I figure out how to use it to my advantage.

I have all the clean drinking water I foresee I'll need.

Now, I wanna get a little meat.

What I'm gonna look for today is, uh, I would really like to get a hare, rabbit.

Kind of have my little taste buds set on it.

I haven't had rabbit in, in a long, long time.

Rabbits do not exist up in Kavik.

So, I need to reacquaint myself with them.

I've not been able to hunt them.

It's never been part of my repertoire.

Lots of rabbit.

Lots of rabbit tracks there.

Oh, this is pretty fresh.

These are all rabbit tracks and they are all going up that direction.

But this is definitely a rabbit central.

So, I'm gonna go in here, make a slip knot, tie it to

something that's laying across.

Oh, this might be good.

Bunny nibbles there.

Whole bunch of bunny nibbles here.

I don't know a lot about snares, but I can't do any worse than the animals

I'm not getting waiting for them to jump on a bullet.

It's got to be something that he can get his head into or body,

I don't care which, and get stuck by.

All right so, I've got one here, I think that's an excellent choice.

But over here, I see another little area where they're hopping around.

I'm here anyways.

My hands are wet and cold anyways.

I'd like to do a little double-pronged attack here.

I've got two different snares set now over here.

I'll come back and check it in the morning, and then I'll know.

Hopefully I get dinner.

What the world is this?

That's a moose.

How amazingly awesome is that.

And there's two moose.

I haven't been able to hunt moose in 30 years.

I'm hunting for rabbits, and I find a moose.

Aw, look at that a baby and a mama.

That right there made everything worthwhile for me here.

I've seen an amazing thing, moose in my backyard.

Booya.

That does not get any better than that.

JESSIE: Out here, I can do things my way.

I'm thankful to be able to live this way and do what I wanna do.

Oh, man.

Nothing like a nice nap by a fire.

Fire goes out a little bit, wakes you up.

Good natural alarm clock.

Put my boots on and get going, and head back towards the house and hopefully,

uh, it's real good time of evening.

Good chance I could catch a rabbit on the way home with all the sign that

I've been seeing on my way out here.

Time to go put that effort in and see if I can find myself something to

cook up for dinner.

It's not often this winter that I've gotten the opportunity to eat anything

other than salmon and stuff that I've had frozen.

I'm gonna go back the same way I came and keep my eyes wide open.

Really hoping to catch something to eat.

There's definitely rabbits out here.

It's just not the easiest animal to hunt because they're really hard to see

being white and it being nothing but snow.

I'm almost home and no rabbits.

That's all right.

It's been a really good day.

I got to get out and get some exercise and all you can do is try.

It's kind of a hard deal.

It's hard to see rabbits out here in the white.

I'm gonna head back, feed the dogs dinner.

Didn't get dinner myself, but still was a really great day.

I see a rabbit right there.

That it?

Yup, right there.

I think I got it.

Got it right in the head.

Now I got my dinner.

Reward me for a couple hours walking around looking for rabbits.

Take this thing home and, uh, cook up some rabbit stew for dinner tonight.

RICKO: You can't gamble with your life.

Out here, you could be wrong once and that's it.

You don't get another chance.

Okay, ready to go.

It's important for me to have a radio out here.

It's a lifeline to the outside world.

If I was to go hunting or trapping, I hit a storm,

I'm 50 miles from the nearest help.

I need to know what the weather is gonna be.

So maybe it might look good when I wake up and, in my mind,

I know there might be something coming.

Damn, this is a big ass tree.

(grunting).

Woo.

Because I was falling in this (bleep) tree.

Oh, I shouldn't cuss it.

This tree is the only thing keeping me safe right now.

Getting all heebie jeebie up here.

Now that my life's in danger.

(grunts)

Okay, I'm gonna let her down.

Go on down.

Okay, that should be it.

This is gonna go to the house.

It's taking the place of that black wire.

Okay, bring her down.

So, we basically go from here,

new wire hooked up, hoping this works.

Out of options if it doesn't work.

RICKOut of options ifd up, hopiit doesn't work.

There we go.

REPORTER (over radio): Donated to his cause (inaudible).

RICKO: Some news.

(inaudible radio).

Without the radio, it's really not the same, you know?

When I was growing up, we always had the radio.

So, sometimes, you know the small things like this is not so small to me.

Really makes me happy to be able to get this AM radio up and running.

(inaudible radio).

I don't know how to put it,

it's just a connection to the outside world that you don't have otherwise.

It's getting that weather forecast of what's gonna happen tomorrow.

That makes a big difference 'cause, you know, if it's, if it says real warm,

you might wanna bring rain gear.

You never know nowadays.

It could rain when you're traveling, so.

REPORTER (over radio): We'll have areas blowing snow with the giant snow.

Blows around five below.

RICKO: The same winds we're getting right here, west winds.

Big snow blowing off the mountain you could see.

REPORTER (over radio): (inaudible) blows near zero.

RICKO: I feel so much better.

Connected to the outside world and if, I feel complete.

That's the way I feel with this radio going because, um, if my late mom was here today

or if she can look down on me, I know she's smiling.

Happy to see me using the cabin and carrying on the tradition and

following her footsteps.

It's her writing telling me what to do and it's a beautiful feeling.

REPORTER (over radio): Five below, west winds 225 miles per hour.

The wind (inaudible).

(groans).

South winds to 15 miles per hour (inaudible).

CHIP: Being patient is the number one thing.

'Cause people that think they have to do something about something every time

something happens, get tired, they go crazy.

Sometimes you have to sit back and go, well that's the way it is.

This is a nice spot out of the wind, huh?

CAROL: Yeah.

CHIP: You wanna have some lunch?

CAROL: Yeah, sounds good. CHIP: Take the rifles off.

Take the shotgun off.

Grab that bag if you wanna take the ptarmigan out of there.

What you're gonna need to do is use my pocket knife and take the breasts off.

I'm gonna go get some firewood back over here, okay?

CAROL: Uh-hmm.

CHIP: And when I come back, we're start a little, uh, we'll start a little cooking.

CAROL: Okay.

CHIP: I'll be right back. I'll be right back, dear.

CAROL: Me and my dad went out ptarmigan hunting and caught a couple,

so while he's out getting firewood, I'm gonna cut out the breasts.

The rest we could use for trapping.

My mom and dad had teach me a lot.

While I'm out here I'm always learning.

My dad always teaches me stuff and plus when I follow my dad I could look around and

learn the country and where there's dry wood or where the birds are.

It's kind of cool to be doing this without my mom or dad around cause it lets me

know I know how.

CHIP: Oh, getting the breasts out?

CAROL: Yeah.

CHIP: Awesome, thank you, Bun.

CAROL: Yeah.

CHIP: Ugh, I went and got some willows. Nice dry ones.

CAROL: Yeah, I need to warm up my hands.

CHIP: Ugh, you take your time, sweetie pie.

CAROL: Yeah, I'm almost done.

CHIP: I'm gonna build a fire, Carol.

CAROL: All right.

CHIP: It's so cold, the lighter doesn't wanna work.

I'll show you a little trick.

If it's an engine, and it has a spark plug.

You should be able to get yourself a light.

It needs to touch this metal.

There we go.

Now start the snow machine on one cylinder.

See that?

This is the best way to get a fire going if you don't have a match but your engine runs.

CAROL: That's an awesome trick.

First time I've seen someone do that.

CHIP: If you lived where there wasn't no trees.

If the caribou didn't come around, if there weren't no moose or muskox.

Maybe you couldn't go seal hunting, there's always small game.

A lot of times people get by on rabbits and ptarmigan.

And they live in the willows.

So, I guess we just sit here and wait for the fire to burn to coals.

CAROL: Can I use your shovel and go build a snow cave?

CHIP: Oh, a snow cave, huh?

CAROL: Yeah, it's gonna be fun.

CHIP: How about I do that too and I'll stay warm that way also.

You know the games you kids play, running around out here when you guys go

out and build bonfires?

CAROL: Yeah.

CHIP: Dig snow caves, go sliding.

It's all part of your education for being outside.

These are perfect survival items.

If you can dig your own snow tunnel, you should have no problem.

It just takes time and work.

No, don't, don't pry it.

There you go.

That's what you do.

Can I get inside?

CAROL: Yeah.

CHIP: Oh, wow. I think I can fit in here.

Oh, yeah, look at that.

If I had to get out of the wind.

Woo.

You keep working on it and I'm gonna go check the cooking.

CAROL: All right, sounds good.

CHIP: All right.

SUE: I'm really good at being alone and me, that's my happy place.

But it's not all about me.

More rabbit tracks.

ven so much sign of rabbits, h,I an never.

NARRATOR: Sue is scouting her new land along the Chena River for needed resources.

Yesterday, she spotted sign of rabbits in the woods and set snares for the animals.

She must now check them in hopes of harvesting fresh meat for her

stay at the property.

SUE: Here we go, this is where I set two snares.

Ugh, bunny prints up to it.

Oh, bummer for Susie.

This one on this side, unscathed.

Rabbit tracks going in and they nailed my snare,

but it didn't keep ahold of him.

Man.

This showed me that I've got all the right idea.

It's a great little traffic area.

But it just wasn't set up with the material that tightened and held him.

He was able to get out of it.

Would've been nice to have the rabbit, but what did I learn?

The placement of this was really good.

I've got to get a different system.

One that if they get nailed,

they're not gonna be able to jump, hop, and get away.

I was unsuccessful getting the rabbits.

Very successful on getting information.

I leave two, two alone to dwell on what I didn't get.

To dwell on what I missed.

I have to look at it as an opportunity to learn because that way your brain

stays in a healthy frame of mind.

Squirrels.

Right over there.

I'm gonna go and try and get some squirrels.

(makes animal call)

I'm just not ready to give up on the hunting yet.

I heard that...

(makes animal call)

of the squirrels in the trees.

If I can get one, great.

If I can get two, full belly.

Where you at, is that you?

Yup.

(gunshot)

SUE: Let's go see.

Thought I heard another one scrambling.

Okay, I can hear you.

I'm getting close cause you got quiet.

Boom, all righty, well...

I got two.

I want to skin them, clean them, and, uh, maybe cook them over the fire.

I followed my hearing, I wanted to get a rabbit and didn't.

But a couple of squirrels and now I'm gonna have a good feast.

The last several days have been really special for me.

I never did get that hare, but I got to see moose.

That gives me a lot of hope for this fall.

I got water from the river, right out my front door.

The wood is from the property.

The heat coming off, that's from the property.

The squirrels are from the property.

Everything that I've experienced culminated into what I'm doing right now.

And it all came from the land.

I'm thankful for it all.

JESSIE: Things happen in stages here, it's very important that you work by the

season and when you have a window of opportunity, you have to seize it.

How I skin rabbit is, uh, it's nothing fancy.

I don't need a knife I just, uh, grab him by the leg.

The skin tears really easy.

Oh, this will make a great meal.

I'll cook it up with some, uh, carrots and some onions and potatoes and

a little bit of wild rice.

Make a nice stew out of this.

For me as one guy that's a lot of food.

Everything that I ever get myself and that I shoot and that I hunt

tastes better to me anyways,

but I mean, just to have something that's fresh, you know?

I've been eating jarred salmon, frozen salmon.

Dried salmon.

This is fresh red meat and it's gonna be delicious.

It's a great feeling just to be able to eat off the land,

right around my place here.

The thing about hunting is even if you don't get something you

still enjoy the hunt.

You still enjoy the process of being out in the woods.

Anytime you get something, it's just a bonus, 'cause you're already doing something

that you enjoy doing.

CHIP: I'm always teaching my kids.

I want them to know as much as possible.

And then what information they use or don't use is up to them later in life.

Carol come down here, these things are done.

CAROL: Oh, they're done?

CHIP: Yeah, the coals are just about out and, uh, cooking's over with.

CAROL: And my cave was just about done.

CHIP: Oh, cool.

That's a good aspect of survival, knowing how to do something like that.

Even if you had to do it with a sharp stick or your knife.

Nice and hot.

CAROL: Oh, thank you.

CHIP: Yeah, I like the way you breasted these out too.

It's good to see you know how to cut them up properly.

But you're my hunting partner now.

You know everything about ptarmigan.

Everything from finding them to shooting them, to getting them cooked.

CAROL: I've been doing this since I was a little kid, now.

Everything's like a natural reaction.

CHIP: That's the best way.

It also lets me let you walk out the door a lot easier when you say,

"Dad, I'm gonna go hunting," or "I'm gonna go fishing."

I can say, "Okay, see you later."

And it, and not have a heavy heart or a worry about you the whole time.

And I don't wanna worry about my kids.

I want you kids to all grow up working hard and I want you all to be able to

use the land around you and I'm sure you will.

CAROL: Yeah, I feel proud of myself.

CHIP: Yeah, well I'm proud of you too.

CAROL: If I'm out traveling and I end up doing something that I don't plan of doing,

I think I'll have a good night out here.

Probably, it will probably be fun.

I know how to go out and get my ptarmigan.

Start a fire with a spark plug, dig a tunnel to stay warm.

Having all these skills are really helpful and make me happy.

CHIP: Well I think we should get ready to go because this light is

getting really bad.

Every parent is pretty happy when they see their kids perform what

you've been trying to teach them.

Carol's always surprising me, I must say, with different things.

But today, what she did was confirm how good she really is at

CAROL: It's been a good day, huh?

CHIP: Yup, great day.

That girl right there is gonna be just another good Hailstone out in the country.

And that makes me real happy.

Captioned by Cotter Captioning Services.