All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.S03E19.The.Thaw.Under.The.Gun.720p.NF.WEB-DL.x264-KangMus_track3_eng

You know, this last winter,
I hurt the body.

One of the largest owies,

was to the, you know,
this whole area here.

One of the problems
that I have,

I'm not gonna be shooting
on this side, ever again.

All of my hardware
is for somebody

that has a whole different
body than I have.

Put on your gun belt.
Where does it hang?

On the right.

This is the one that's hurt.

My guns, every single
stinking one of them,

is made to go here,
on the right.

So, I'm gonna fly to town,
see my buddy Gary,

get a gun made and get back
here, so I can protect myself.

I can't maintain
my style of life here

if I can't protect myself and
hunt for the food that I eat.

If I can't do
that simple task, I'm done.

I know you're saying
it's all good, it's all okay.

But I know I'm putting

the weight of the world
on your shoulders.

I love you
and I absolutely respect you

for stepping up to the plate.
That's pretty cool beans.

I love you too, Auntie.
And I got this.

It's a blessing
to have Jesse here,

and being so capable.

This time of year, if I didn't
have Jesse up here with me,

I would not be able to leave.

-I love you.
-Love you too, Auntie.

Thank you so much
for being you.

No problem, Auntie.

-Family's for... (LAUGHS)
-Family sticks together.

SUE: You know, the gun,
I'm excited about it.

I've got an idea.

But I need to see how it is,
and then find my weaknesses.

Winter's coming,
the bears are out there,

the wolverines are out there,
the wolves are out there.

This is my life on the line.

CHIP: All this nature
is the same as it was
10,000 years ago.

We're the things that change.

You ready, bun?

I got to flip over my shoes,
so they don't get rained on.

NARRATOR: The Hailstones
spend their summer

along the Kiwalik River,

where they only have
a brief window

to gather resources
before the freeze returns.

For Chip and Agnes,

teaching their daughters
how to survive in the Arctic

is a priority
and a valued native tradition.

Okay, girls,
let's go to the greens!

We can start with sour docks

since the sour docks
are ready.

CHIP: What we call
sour docks in English,

they call quagaqs in Inupiat.

And they're a local green
that we like to eat with,

they're a little,
slightly on the sour side.

So, they're good
with vinegar and oil,

a little bit
of salt and pepper.

And they're
a really good green,

and they're really fresh,
and the time to pick 'em
is now.

Well, you can spot these
red stalks that are up.

And around 'em, there'll be,
er, nice succulent greens.

And they're pretty
tasty, actually.

I like 'em.

I grew up eating
this kind of stuff.

But we used to go gather them,
you know, on riverbeds.

Not much different than this.

AGNES: You girls got
to make sure you pick

the right correct greens,
so we don't get sick.

One year, we thought
we picked all greens,

and then, there happened to be

a few poisonous flowers
mixed in with those.

And I happened to eat them,
and I got really sick.

And after that,

me and the girls started
watching every plant we pick.

And they have it
in their head,

if they don't pick
the correct plant

somebody's gonna get sick.

So, it's very important
for the girls

to know what they need
to look for,

it's important
for them to know

where to go
to pick these things

and how to preserve them.

If they don't
have this experience

and if they don't know
what flowers to eat,

they might go hungry.

Being out here, there's
no reason to go hungry

if you know what you're doing.

We're really not scoring
too high here, are we?

Yeah, we've picked most
of the big ones already

and there's just
quite a few smaller ones.

CHIP:
We should just go down river.

-You guys want to go
a couple miles?
-MARY: Yes.

AGNES: Yeah, we could.

Probably there'll
be bigger leaves.

CHIP: We're heading down
to the coast.

We've pretty much picked out
this whole little valley here.

Don't ever wanna impact
an area too heavy

that it wouldn't grow back.

We go for quality,
not quantity.

So, we're gonna go
wherever it's wet.

Wherever you see lakes,
wherever you see rivers,

creeks, things like that,
that's where we'll be,

and that's where
the quagaq will be.

MARTHA: There's lots
of opportunities,

depends on what you wake up to
in the morning.

We always keep ourselves busy.

My name is Martha Mae Salitan,
I'm married to Erik Salitan.

I'm from Iliamna, Alaska.
Was born and raised here.

I enjoy hunting,
fishing, camping,

anything that has to do
with the outdoors.

Beautiful day to go
play on the lake.

See if I can't find
some birds.

Erik left early this morning
with a fishing client,

so I got the rest of the day
to go out

and motor around on the lake.

I'm gonna first
check out this little pond

that's not too far away
from here.

Erik and I have hunted
over there

and been successful before,

so I figured
that's a good place to go.

Hopefully, I can prove to Erik

that I'm just as good
a hunter as he is.

NARRATOR: Martha
and Erik Salitan

live on the Iliamna peninsula
during the summer months,

where they hunt and fish
to maintain

their subsistence lifestyle.

MARTHA: I grew up out here.

You really learn to love
and hate the lake.

It's a renewable resource
that you can always depend on,

but you also learn
it's very dangerous.

It's the largest freshwater
lake here, in Alaska.

Eighty miles long
by 20 miles wide.

And if you get caught up here
on an ugly day,

winter or summer,

it could potentially
be really dangerous.

This is the first spot.

This little lake
that's right over here.

So, we're gonna
head over there.

Hopefully, there's a bird.

(WHISPERS)
The lake's right there.

We'll see what we got here.

(WHISPERS)

I'm gonna go down
a little bit further

and see if I can't get
right across from 'em.

They're right in front of us.

(SIGHS)

On to the next.

There are certain kinds
of ducks that taste good,

and certain kinds of ducks
that don't.

Mergansers are one
of the ones that don't,

so we're gonna keep moving,

see if we can't find
something else.

Came to this lake here.

Had two birds in it.

But they're just not
the kind that we want.

I'm gonna load up here,

go over to this island right
over here called
Rabbit Island.

It's a good spot.

Couple of small
little ponds on it.

Hopefully, there's birds
over there.

JESSIE: I define wealth
as in I'm already rich.

I have a life that can live
self-sufficiently.

(WHINING)

Gonna help me? Yeah.

You know all about
sharpening chainsaws?

(DOGS BARKING)

Starting to cool down,
the rainy season is coming.

It's been dry and,

you know, I'm starting
to focus on training.

NARRATOR: Jessie Holmes
devotes the winter season

competing in sled races
with his dog team.

Having proper doghouses
will ensure

that the dogs stay
healthy and strong

in the harsh conditions
of racing season.

The theory of a doghouse
for a dog,

is not to keep it warm.
It's to keep it dry.

In the winter, you know,
if the dog's all wet

and its fur, under-fur
is matted down,

it can't stay warm.

All the investment I put
in these young dogs

is investing
in my future career.

Time's overdue for me to get
ahead on some new houses.

Then I don't
have to worry about it

for, you know,
the years to come.

One thing I gotta do is get
all this fireweed out of here.

As much as I love it
and as beautiful as it is,

I can't see the ground.

This is all gonna be places

where dogs are gonna end up
going if I can clear it out.

So this is like gonna be
like, the beginning

of my new dog yard.

Right now, all I see
is a lot of work.

Already I got enough sod
opened up for a couple dogs.

Look at it that way,

so you don't feel
like it's so much work.

One step at a time.

For me, I had
to like, just work hard.

Deal with what I got.

A lot of people would have
a big piece of machinery

and have a perfectly
groomed dog yard.

Me, I have to deal
with what I got.

You know, I got
what I can afford.

It won't be perfect
but it'll be better.

(GRUNTS) Fuck.

Just got stung by a bee.

Out of there.

I guess this
is the disadvantages

of doing this kind
of thing by hand.

One venomous bee.

Didn't want to get stung
by a bunch of 'em. Fuck!

They must have a nest in here,
I can see 'em all over.

Summer's a narrow
window of opportunity

to, like, get a lot done.

I got to do
what's best for my dogs.

(BEES BUZZING)

They're living
under this tree.

They keep going in and out,

so I'm gonna try to douse
their nest with gas.

Light it on fire.

Okay, I can see right
where they're going

in the hole there.

Just got to go for it.

NARRATOR:
After clearing the area

and creating a fire break
to contain the flames,

Jessie can now
eradicate the bees

and ensure the safety
of himself and his dog team.

(BEES BUZZING)

JESSIE: I decided to go
with starting this fire and,

you know, the gasoline
to try to kill 'em

'cause I thought it might be
a healthier alternative

than having to use
some chemical.

I think it's working, I don't
see no bees hardly any more.

Got a lot left to do.

Hopefully, I don't get stung
by no more bees.

SUE: You get out of life,
here in Alaska,

what you put into it.

(BEEPING)

Hey, buddy.

-Hey, Sue.
-SUE: Oh, hey, Eddie!

NARRATOR: After an injury
left her unable

to use a firearm
with her dominant side,

Sue has flown 500 miles
to Fairbanks

to pick up custom weaponry.

-We'll start with this one.
-Okay.

-This is the left-handed.
-All right.

NARRATOR: The new guns
will be crucial

for hunting and protection
from the tundra's predators

when she returns to Kavik.

SUE: My life is on the line
with my ability to hunt.

What I harvest, what I get,
is what I eat.

Predators are always
something that are around.

There's a lot of bears,
a lot of wolves.

If I can't protect myself
and other people,

I can't be
the warden of Kavik.

Simple as that.

NARRATOR: Sue will be alone
in the Kavik tundra

for dark winter.

With the freeze approaching,

teaching herself to shoot
from her left side

is critical for her survival.

This little place, right here,

it's darn near right on top
of where I grew up,

in Fairbanks, and it's been
a shooting area for me before.

This is a .30-06.
But it's a lefty.

And I don't even really know
how to hold it.

Gary showed me a little bit,
but I don't get it yet.

You know, for me,
even holding it, it's...

I mean, I'm getting my beak
awful damn close
to that thing

and I've got no strength.

The right side
can't hold it up yet.

That's the idea
for using this.

This helps me steady the gun.

I'm gonna sit in the chair,
at the table,

raise it to the right height,
get it in there,

and, hopefully,
shoot the target.

What I'm gonna do is go
for that lower, left target.

It is awkward as heck.

I'm gonna get ready to fire.

I'm scared.

-(GUNSHOT FIRED)
-All right.

I can see
that I've hit the paper.

And there's your mark.

It's not a bull's eye,
but it's in there.

I definitely felt it.

I'm a little scared.
Feeling tiny.

But it's pretty fun.
It's always fun.

-(GUNSHOT FIRED)
-Huh.

I'm low and to the right.

Try to line it up,

trying to keep it tight,
trying not to flinch.

-And I'm gonna take a shot.
-(GUNSHOT FIRED)

Upper target. Left hand side.

(GUNSHOT FIRED)

Nailed it.
Right in the bull's-eye.

They say you can't
teach an old dog new tricks.

Well... (BARKING)
Yeah, you can.

This is a 460, 500
Smith & Wesson pistol.

This is predator
protection only.

Not legal to hunt food
using a laser.

What I wanna see... I'm gonna
put out some other targets

and I want to see some splat.
I want to see some boom.

I wanna know that
that's a predator going pow.

(GUNSHOT FIRED)

My thoughts are,

I just want to get a feel
for what it's gonna feel like.

Address the issue
that I've never done
anything leftie before.

(GUNSHOT FIRED)

Erm, I have some fears,
some trepidation,

and, er, I don't want
to stress out the areas.

I just wanna get a feel for
where are my comfort levels?

(GUNSHOT FIRED)

I don't want to do it
to the point...

I can shoot all day long
but that's gonna damage
what's trying to heal.

You know, it's kind of like
having a bite of dessert

instead of the whole
freaking cake.

Bear down.

I think I did really well.

It was a good day.
It's a great day.

I'm not, you know...

I wasn't worried
about anything eating me.

I was blowing it all away,
and, erm,

nothing wrong with having
a little boom factor

for your evening
entertainment.

CHIP: It's just a big cycle.

And we're always getting ready
for the next cycle.

Yee. My heavy bag over.

We're out looking
for greens, today,

and we pretty much
picked all the greens

around the camp
in every place,

so we're going
someplace different.

Never know what
we're gonna see out there.

We might need
little bit firearm

to protect ourselves
from the animals,

but girls used to shooting
shotgun and stuff like that.

But, erm, we have a .410,

so they don't have
to actually shoot

a real big high-powered gun
and it's so heavy

that we're running around
the tundra with it.

Usually, we go out
and go get some fresh meat

every other day, or go
for fishing or something,

but, erm, we don't have any
fresh meat here at camp.

So we're pretty much
gonna come back with meat

one way or the other.

It be fish, geese,
maybe just greens.

I don't know there's
all kinds of different things
we can run into,

seeing how we're the only
people that run this river.

We sure wouldn't mind picking
a whole bunch

to store for the winter
and put some away, and, erm,

it's a little too hot
and no breeze up here,

so we're heading to the coast
where the breeze is

and where there's
less mosquitoes

and hopefully bigger greens.

We'll go where there's
not very tall grasses

and then the leaves
should be bigger.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)

(AGNES SPEAKING)

CHIP: Okay, now turn it.
Whip the nose over forward.

AGNES: Turn, turn, turn. Push.

CHIP: (GRUNTS) Just put us
over here in the channel.

-Over here, it's good.
-AGNES: Yep,
we are in the channel.

-(ENGINE STARTING)
-CHIP: Sit down.

So we're gonna go over
to the base of these hills
over here.

And we're gonna, erm,
look around for greens.

We're also looking for greens,
so we can eat salads

and you know get
the Vitamin C also.

CHIP: And I like
taking my kids along,

so they're not only seeing it,
they're gonna get to pick it,

then they're gonna get
to cook it and eat it.

And that's the whole process
from beginning to end.

But I want 'em to know
where to find 'em.

You find 'em
in these drained areas

right next to the lakes and
creeks and rivers and stuff.

This a good place to do it.

Plus, I hear
lots of geese over here

and I've seen lots of geese
over there so,

I think we might throw
a goose or two

into this meal after a while.

But, erm,
we don't do anything else

until we got enough greens and
the tide comes up a bit more.

There's all different
kinds of, um,

leaves and grasses, and, erm,

other kinds of leaves
that look exactly like these.

But they're not edible,

so we have to really kind
of watch what you pick.

CHIP: Oh, these are minerals
and vitamins

all winter long for us.

It's a lot of roughage
for your guts.

And it tastes good. You know?
Everybody likes a salad.

And we have ways
of storing this.

We boil some of these down
and save 'em in a bucket,

we'll eat a lot of 'em fresh,
and then, erm,

we take the leaves, too,
and we put 'em across the top.

And when the bucket moulds,
the top will mould,

but what's underneath won't,
and we'll peel that off,

throw it away
and start eating.

Let's go back
towards the boat, ladies.

We'll see what we can do
from there, okay?

-AGNES: Yeah.
-It depends on the tide.

Everything depends
on the tide, so...

Yeah, let's go check
on how high

the river's gotten
since we came here.

We might be able
to go further up.

CHIP: Yep. I think we've
pretty well ravaged this area.

MARTHA: We try to hunt
all the food that we eat.
We prefer it.

You know, to get out,
be active

and be able to harvest
your own meat.

This is the second spot
I wanted to come to.

There's a couple of good coves
or bays in here.

Hopefully, they're holding
some ducks.

Keep our fingers crossed.

NARRATOR: While Erik is away
guiding fishing clients,

Martha is surveying
Lake Iliamna

for an opportunity
to hunt ducks,

a key food source
during the season.

We're gonna go to this little
bluff right here.

It's a good lookout spot.
See if we can see any birds.

There's nothing out there.

Bummer.

I'm wondering if there's
any in this little... Oh.

There's a swan
sitting over there.

Oh, there's two, three, ducks.

Oh, they look like mallards.

Nice.

Whenever you go out hunting,

you always are optimistic
about bringing an animal back.

I'm gonna see
if I can get a closer look

at these ducks over here.

There's a good little spot
here to look.

All kinds of ducks.

The good thing is,
I don't think they're
fish-eating ducks.

This is a good spot.

Lots of birds. Oh, shoot!

Fuck.
What just scared 'em all away?

The eagle? Mother...

Something spooked them,
I think it was the eagle.

Oh, motherfucker...

While I was looking
at those ducks,

something spooked 'em
which is a bummer.

They all took off
and flew right past me,

but I didn't have my gun.
I left it back there,

so I didn't have to go
through the trees with it.

There's two swans over there.
One disappeared somewhere,

the other one's over there
milling around in the grass.

I'm not looking
for a bird that big,

but I'm also curious
on whether or not

there's a couple more birds

tucked in that little
swampy area over there.

So, go check it out.

Came up on the swans,
they saw us and flew off.

(WHISPERS)

Oh, shoot.

Oh, motherfucker!

We came up on this mallard.
Couldn't tell where he was

'cause there was kind
of a blind spot here,

he was hidden
behind all this grass.

Fuck!

I should have done
that way back there.

I put one in the chamber
and spooked him.

Should have done it
back there.

But, that's hunting.

You can't always get lucky.

There was a bunch
of ducks here.

It was a good spot,

I was just never able
to connect with one.

We're gonna head
to a new place.

I'm still optimistic.

I definitely miss Erik.

We get along really well
and have a lot of fun,

but, er...

It's nice to be able to go out
and do things on your own,

especially on a beautiful day
like this.

So I just came out to these
little islands here
surrounding Rabbit Island.

They're swarming
with seagulls.

I figure
the last ditch effort,

I'm gonna try to get
a couple of seagull eggs

before I go back home,
since I didn't get any ducks.

Weather's getting
pretty nasty,

so I'm not gonna take my time.

See if I can't find some eggs
and motor home.

A seagull nest is usually
in the grass or in the rocks.

Here's a nest,
but there's nothing in it.

Keep looking.

Nice. Two seagull eggs.

Since I didn't bring a basket
or a pail or anything with me,

I'm gonna have
to use my jacket.

Put a little bit
of grass in there.

Growing up, it was always
exciting when summer came.

You knew
that seagull egg-picking

was gonna be
right around the corner.

Found another egg.

There's all different shapes,
sizes, colours.

Pretty exciting, I haven't
gone seagull egg-picking

in a couple of years.

Kind of makes you feel
like a kid again.

Nice. I haven't found one
with three in 'em yet.

I was a little bit
broken-hearted

by not getting any ducks
and bringing them home.

This makes up for it.

So these three make
exactly one dozen eggs.

It's about time
to get out of here

because the wind's
starting to pick up.

I'm happy with what I got.

I'm gonna pull out of here

and go cook
these eggs up at home.

CHIP: We're hunters.
It's a very satisfying
way to live.

It's, er,
instant gratification.

NARRATOR: After gathering
greens known as sour docks,

the Hailstones
turn their attention

to harvesting flightless birds
for protein,

using a native hunting method.

This isha hunt,
the moulting birds hunt,

we just try to get
as much as we can

and carry 'em
all back to the boat

in however much
the girls can chase down,

and we're usually satisfied
with whatever they catch,

and they know how to hunt
without using firearms.

So we don't damage
so much meat,

you know, it's a good hunt.

CHIP: That's all right,
keep your eyes open.

We'll come up across 'em.

We want adult geese,
we don't want baby ducks.

No birds.

(CHIP SPEAKING)

There's lots.

(AGNES SPEAKING)

-Right here, girls.
-One, two, three, go!

-Go ahead, girls, go!
-Jump and run! Run!

CHIP: Run, run, run, he's
goin' back to the creek!

-There's one going back!
-(GRUNTS)

You know, people
may not like clubbing,

but we find
it's better than shooting.

When you're hunting 'em and
they're going by overhead

and you hit 'em,
and they're wounded,

they have the potential
to fly for miles,

die somewhere else
and never be used.

When we're clubbin' 'em,
we're right there.

We get 'em or we don't.
We don't wound 'em.

You kill them immediately.

When they're flying overhead
and you shoot 'em,

you hit 'em
right where the meat is.

In the breast, in the chest.
We don't wanna do that either.

We want the meat,
so we hit them in the head.

We waste no meat.

We actually end up killing
fewer geese that way

to get the same amount of meat
that we're lookin' for

'cause the amount of food
you need doesn't change.

There's one, two,
three, four, five,

six, seven, eight, nine, 10.

Ten flightless ducks.

Well, this is good enough,
let's put these in the boat

and jump in and catch
the tide out of here.

AGNES: Duck soup. Big duck.

CHIP: All right, ladies.

We got ducks and we got
lots of sour docks

to chop and cook.

We'll have ducks for dinner
and we'll, er,

-go put our sour docks away.
-AGNES: Yep.

JESSIE: All the hard work
that I do for the dogs

ties into me being strong.

They work for me
but I work for them.

What I got here
is I got some plywood,

some rough-cut 2x4s

and I'm gonna start
laying this out.

My goal here
is to be efficient
with my materials, you know,

and try to make my doghouses

out of one sheet of plywood,
per doghouse.

(SAW WHIRRING)

When winter comes,
you gotta constantly

maintain your dogs' houses.
Clean 'em out once a week.

Trying to set the house up
to where it's easy to do that,

very functionable,
I need the door up high,

so the straw stays in there

and they're not
draggin' the straw out.

So to finish that up,
I'll use a hand saw,

that way I can keep a nice,
clean cut.

I got a feelin' that the dogs

are gonna be pretty
excited about this.

This is the time of year

you gotta get everything
done in Alaska,

'cause winter's comin',
you can smell it in the air,

the fireweed's starting
to lose all its flowers
and bloom,

so time's comin',
the dogs gotta have houses,

they gotta be dry.

Okay, what I'm gonna do next

is get my 2x4s
measured out and cut,

and I'm gonna
slap one together

and make sure
my design's sound.

I don't ever really go off
a plan or a blueprint.

I just got it in my mind
what I wanna do,

and it's just playin'
with numbers

and layin' things out.

This has kind of worked.
It's a real good investment,

you know, in my dogs.

In the end, you know,

these doghouses
are gonna cost me money,

but to buy the same kind
of doghouses built,

it's $100, you know?

Big part of being
a dog musher is, you know,

you got all these dogs

and they're very
dependent on you, so...

To be willing to put them
before your needs
a lot of times,

so, like, while there's
my house,

it's pretty rough and needs
a lot of maintenance,

in my free time,
I'm doin' things like this

to maintain my kennel.

You just gotta really...
You gotta love the dogs,

you gotta love mushing,
you gotta love the lifestyle

'cause you're gonna sacrifice
a lot in your life.

I wouldn't do this stuff if
I didn't love it, you know,

I'd find something else to do.

(SAW WHIRRING)

These are the pieces
that I will fuse

to line the roof
and the floor with,

so everything'll
firmly attach.

This ties it in, structurally.

Oh, fuck!

I did that upside down.

I was just kind of
gettin' in a hurry

and I did this upside down.

I'm gonna have
to turn that around.

This is the part that's
supposed to hold the straw in,

all the straw would
just come right out.

(POWER SCREWDRIVER WHIRRING)

Well, at least I caught it
when I did,

so I can flip it around,
won't be a big deal.

Now, that looks
like a proper doghouse.

(SAW WHIRRING)

With my plywood that I have,

I have to, like, think
to be, like, efficiently

and plan out
my usage of my wood.

I got the stack of wood,
that's what I got.

I don't wanna have
a lot of waste.

For building doghouses,
you know,

I view it as just
a simple thing,

like building a smokehouse.

It's, you know,
built to shelter the dog.

It's not a piece of artwork.

Like, you build a doghouse,

it's not necessarily
permanent,

but you know,
if you take good care of 'em,

they could last
five, six years.

Doghouse number one.

-(BARKING)
-Ginger.

What you doin'? Hello, Ginger.

(BARKS)

Is that your house?
You're a good girl.

Give the doghouse to the dog,
she's in it right away.

She must like it. Back to it.

Just gettin' started.

MARTHA: One of the cool things
about living in Alaska

is that the land
is always there

to give you opportunity.

How was it, baby?

It was pretty rough
out there, actually.

It looks pretty rough,

I was almost a little bit
worried about ya.

I brought you back
somethin' special.

Besides yourself?

MARTHA: A little nest.

-ERIK: Grass? Oh.
-Eggs!

Nice. Seagull eggs, huh?

Yeah.

Well, let's go up to the lodge
and have some supper.

Sounds good.

Time to get the eggs boilin'.

Between running two lodges,
one hunting and one fishing,

we very seldomly
have time for ourselves.

Today, when Erik was out
fishing with the client,

I decided to go out
and play on the lake

and I was able
to harvest some seagull eggs,

so it was just a great day.

These are true
organic seagull eggs.

I don't think you could
go to your local

supermarket today
and buy them.

You gotta go out,
and pick 'em.

Every opportunity
Erik and I get,

we try to harvest
our own meat, eggs, berries,

anything we can get,
we harvest it.

I try to eat as much
of the native food as I can.

That was how
my palate developed,

I ate a lot of seal oil
and frozen fish,

seagull eggs, caribou, moose,
all of that growing up.

That's just what
my body was used to.

So, how was your day
gettin' these eggs?

MARTHA: Good. I had a blast.

Was there as many seagull eggs
as there usually are?

There was quite a bit,
I didn't really go
too far for 'em.

I kind of stayed on this
little patch of islands

that I just kind of hopped
from island to island on.

-ERIK: These are really good.
-Yeah.

ERIK: I really
like seagull eggs.

Today, we made money
from guiding fishermen,

and then we made food from you
collecting these eggs.

Yeah, we're lucky to do
what we do out here.

-We live a very blessed life.
-Mmm-hmm.

ERIK: Alaska will provide.

All you gotta do
is work for it.

SUE: All the good intentions
fly out the window

when old Mother Nature decides
to rule with an iron fist.

NARRATOR: In order to pick up
her weaponry in Fairbanks,

Sue left Kavik in the care
of her nephew, Jesse,

and needs to return home.

SUE: Weather's not good,
but we're gonna try to get in.

We're into a winter weather
pattern up on the north slope.

Caribou have all migrated out
about a month ago,

geese are headin' south,
it's way early.

But the fog bank comes in,

so that's what we're fighting
is the fog.

NARRATOR: The fog
that may prevent her
from landing in Kavik

could also spell danger
for the inexperienced Jesse

on the ground at camp.

This is one
of my pride and joys.

Extremely hard to replace.

Custom thing. Baby it.

I've got 500 miles
to go in land.

If it's not good there,
I can't get in.

PILOT: Clear.

(ENGINE STARTING)

SUE: Just because
you want to go to Kavik,

doesn't mean Mother Nature's
gonna let you.

(PILOT SPEAKS)

(WOMAN ON RADIO SPEAKS)

(PILOT SPEAKS)

Yeah.

So, this is basically
just the fog occlusion

that we were talking about is.

It can be beautiful
everywhere else,

but you get close
to the Arctic Ocean

and that fog bank sets in.

So what's happening,
you got your ground here,

1000 foot higher,
you start your fog bank.

Well, you got
1000 foot of that,

we have to find a place
to come under safely.

It's thick enough
you can't just pop through it,

you can't see through it.

If we can't do that,
bye-bye Kavik,

hello trying to get
into Deadhorse.

I'm 10 miles from Kavik
and I may have to end up

goin' 100 miles that way
and wait it out.

PILOT: Those spots
are definitely getting thinner

as we get closer and closer.

Uh, looks pretty good
over there.

Got a nice clear area.

Come down in elevation,
get underneath the cloud,

so we can go, you know,
twirl down and get in there.

So now we're down into that.

Just put me down here,
I'll walk.

(LAUGHS)

PILOT: Yeah, that was one
of the roughest trips

I've been on this year.

Home sweet home.

Yay, I'm home.

Where's Jesse?

There you are! Come on over.

Cool, man. Finally, got here.

Careful with the wing.
I love ya.

I'm back home.

Yup, yup, yup.
Time to get to work.

Oh, wow. Right over there,

I've got a white wolf
50 yards out.

I got a wolf.

It's time to put
this baby in action.

Right over there.

Yo! Whoa!

Yeah, I'm lookin' at you!

I don't have any desire
to kill it.

It's not attacking me,

I just need him
not to be on my turf.

You need to be gone! Hey!

This is not your camp.

The way the wolves hunt,

they throw the betas out here
to grab your attention,

and it's the alphas back here
that get your back side.

-He's right there.
-(GUNSHOT FIRED)

Fired a shot this way.

Just to make noise
and get that wolf moving.

That's a nice-sized
fuckin' wolf, man.

This just proved its worth.

The only thing you know
for certain out here

is you don't know
nothin' for certain.

But I can protect my turf.

CHIP: What it really
comes down to

is just making sure that our
kids can make a good living

if they choose
to stay up here.

Hey, puppy.
You stay home watchin' camp?

We even got one
for you, puppy.

We sure did.

Wow, we have enough greens
and enough ducks for dinner.

CHIP: You girls wanna
take care of those ducks,

and if your mom wants to clean
up a pot full of greens,

I'll get the alders
fired into here

and we can start up
some dinner, huh?

We like alders and cottonwood
for cooking fires.

They impart a really
nice taste and flavour.

And this fire
was started with stumps.

The stumps are full of pitch,

and if you want your food
to taste like pine pitch,

then cook on it.

I'm gonna let these alders
burn down to coals,

then we'll be able
to roast 'em.

AGNES: Right now,
we're plucking ducks.

What we do is just
take all the feathers off

and cut the wings off,
cut the heads off,

cut the feet off.

I am taking the tail,
the feet,

the wings, and the head off.

CHIP: While the ladies are
taking care of these ducks

and my kids
are hacking and whacking

and guttin' and pluckin',

I'm gonna make sure
that we got

some good, clean greens here.

AGNES: This is a pretty
good hunt.

I'm glad we got chance
to come across these ducks.

We get to eat today
and eat tomorrow.

This is an education
that will teach my kids

to live off the land here,

and happily, with success
and with wealth.

Well, for us,
this is what we work towards.

Instead of getting a paycheck

and then going and buying
food at the store,

we went out and got the ducks.

We went out
and got the greens.

And these, right now,
are the flavour of the season.

These are like having turkey
at Thanksgiving for us.

It's natural, it's healthy,
it's organic.

And we had a great adventure
getting it.

AGNES: A job well done, girls.

We get to eat
what we catch today

and sleep real good,
and start all over again,
tomorrow.

When you all get older
and you can take your kids

to go do the same thing,

and you don't even need
no firearms or nothing.

Need to know where to go

and what time of the year
to go there.

You'll notice
the bird stop flying.

Look in them creeks,
look along them lakes.

You guys did
really good, today.

It was fun to sit back,
watch the boat,

and watch you guys
go pick up the dead ones.

That was a lot of fun.

I'm so proud of you girls.

CHIP: We started out gathering

and we ended up hunting,
didn't we?

Mmm-hmm.

Even the dog's happy.

JESSIE: You can't just look
at the small picture
when you're out here.

Like I have
to like be thinking

four steps ahead,
all the time.

The last piece
for the last doghouse.

Lot of new houses goin',

got some leftover materials
I'm gonna keep

for whenever I do
the next side of the yard.

But this was a big job,
and great to get it done,

see my dogs all have houses.

Let me get your floor
in there for ya.

Yeah, you got yourself
a nice new house, huh?

Check it out, huh?
What you think?

See they're really happy
with the new houses,

jumpin' all over 'em.

Gettin' in 'em, they'll really
appreciate it come wintertime

-when it gets cold.
-(BARKING)

You know, to a lot of people,
this would seem
like hard work,

this is a labour of love
for me, you know.

It's what I do, you know,

I love these dogs
and they depend on me,

so when I work hard and
take care of things they need,

you know, that's
the main thing I'm about.

Feels great to see
all this go towards them.

For 20 bucks
worth of material,

I built a house that other
people sell for $100.

I mean, I can't afford
to do that out here.

That's not what I'm about.

It's a lot of work to do
for one guy,

but, you know,
I like being tired.

I like knowing that I worked
at the end of the day.

So, that's a rewarding
feeling to me, to be tired.

Means I gave everything.