All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.S14E05.Into.the.Night.720p.WEB-HD.x264-Pahe.ph

-[ominous music]
-[Sue panting]

[Sue panting]

[deer honking]

[gun blasting]

[dramatic music]

[gun blasting]

[suspenseful music]

I nailed it.

I heard the thump, followed
it up, and he went down,

and there he sits.

So, I've got some meat.

But I'm chasing the light too.

I am losing light now for
the next several months.

The sun set on
that caribou's life

and I'm ever grateful and
my little heart to his.

But the sun's going
down on winter here.

And that's some serious stuff.

Had I not gotten
this bad boy today,

I'd be hunting with a
flashlight strapped to my gun.

It's no fun being out here
not having any good meat.

So I'm gonna start skinning
and gathering the meat,

and setting it aside,
toss it in Little Red,

and getting out of here.

[ominous music]

[Narrator] The Arctic
will soon be overtaken

by a cruel darkness that
will last for several weeks.

After harvesting a caribou,

Sue Aikens must
butcher the animal

and take the meat back
to the safety of Kavik

before the sun disappears
and dark winter begins.

You know, I've got
to get this job done.

The predators are out there
and they're gonna smell it,

they're gonna notice it.

If I take too long, they're
gonna circle my waggon.

And I'll be on the menu.

Rules of the game,

when you take something
like this to preserve life,

you do not keep anything
for trophy value.

You're gathering meat.

Hide has to stay,
rack has to stay.

But this wind is gonna blow
all this blood scent this way

and the wolves are
gonna smell it.

The bears that haven't denned
up yet are gonna smell it.

I'm close to camp.

Probably, I'm gonna
start putting up

some of my game cams now.

I wanna see what's in my area.

Darkness is upon me now,

and it's like the
underworld takes over.

The predators take
the upper paw.

They have control of the Arctic.

The brutal side of
nature takes charge.

[tense music]

[vehicle whirring]

The hell is that?

[dramatic music]

What I see up ahead
of me is a wolverine.

And a wolverine
can take on a bear.

They are apex predators.

I definitely see one
wolverine out that way.

The darker it gets,
the nastier it gets.

That's when they shine.

They are designed
to be at their best

when the weather's at its worst.

And this is just the
beginning of the worst.

Let's see.

This is his paw print.

He is a big male.

[snow crunching]

Man, they're just destroying
it as quick as they can.

And I know that male is...

He didn't run off.
He's just hunkering.

They've got no problems waiting
and waiting and waiting.

And that's what makes
'em top predators.

I'll make him a bargain.

You stay out here,
I'll let you have it.

You step onto my premises,
all bets are off,

I'll lock and load,
and we'll dance.

They have the
patience of a saint

and the constitution
of the devil himself.

[suspenseful music]

I like just the
different seasons.

Nothing's ever the same.
It's always changing.

There's always a
challenge to it all.

There's always a
comfort to it all.

[ominous music]

[vehicle whirring]

This is a time of year

where the Tiktaalik
are kind of going by,

so we have a chance of
catching one or two.

They're usually a pretty big
fish, so. It's worth doing.

We get a couple hours of sun

about an inch above the horizon.

Then we've got
another hour of dusk.

Then we're back to black.

But that's all right. We
just do stuff in the dark.

This time of the year,
the sun barely comes up.

It's always dark. I
was raised up here.

I'm used to the dark,
and we just carry on.

There's a spot across the
river where there's a lake

and it has a slough that
comes out into our main river.

That's usually the target
place where we go put our traps

or we go jig for any kinds
of fish under the ice.

[Chip] Yank out the
auger and drill holes.

[dramatic music]

It's a time of year where
it's cold right now,

which is really good, it's
making our ice thick and safe.

[drill whirring]

I've seen people for
the last 30 years

having success right over here
at the mouth of this creek,

so I fish here too.

That's when you let traps
do your hunting for you

'cause you can't see anything.

The day is pitch-dark.

My idea of fishing
is to catch lots,

so I'll put lots of
holes in the ice.

[Agnes] That was quick.

[Chip] It's an auger for you.

[Agnes] How many holes?

-Eight.
-Eight.

I got eight to leave behind
and two jiggers to take home.

We can just bait 'em up
with whitefish right now.

Now that the river's frozen,

we're all able to go
across it and travel.

First thing I like
to do is go fishing.

I am making bait
out of a whitefish.

Right now, I just wanna
be able to leave those

down in the water
and be able to leave

and maybe come back
in a couple hours

and check out what I
leave behind, you know.

See if there's anything on 'em.

[Agnes] There should be all
kinds of fish under there.

Hopefully there will be
a lot enough for dinner.

Even just a little
taste is good.

[dramatic music]

What doesn't kill you
just makes you stronger.

Good practise, get knocked down,

get right back up again
and get back to work.

[tense music]

Chee, chee, chee. Chee, chee.

[dogs barking]

Just got the dogs
out for a good run.

We're about to start
working on my cabin.

It's kind of been getting
put off a long time.

Had a lot of other
stuff on the plate

but the tent's kind of
becoming undesirable to live in

and winter has
extremely set in here.

Winter's long but
the daylight's short.

And it's been some 20,
25 below temperatures

and now the temperatures
are really starting to drop.

Nothing like some deep
cold to get some urgency.

Started this cabin before
the snow started flying.

I've got everything sealed in.

I got a solid roof on it,
solid foundation, solid walls.

But what I need to do right
now is get the roof insulated.

The daylight's about to be gone.

Limited daylight is
about four hours.

If I work four hours a day,
nothing's gonna get done.

So, I mean, I could be cutting
wood at 3:00 in the morning.

Running dogs 3:00
in the morning.

Building the cabin at
3:00 in the morning.

Whatever it takes.

[saw whirring]

You're getting this
cabin built just in time.

The cold's really
starting to move in here.

[saw whirring]

Got the first sheet cut here.

This is one of those things
it would be real nice

to have a second hand with

but this is where years
of handling plywood

comes into play.

This is gonna be the
part that's not very fun.

[tense music continues]

[nail gun clunks]

Whew. Thank God I got
some purchase on that one.

-[nail gun clunks]
-[gentle music]

Whenever I was 20 years
old, living in a tent,

all winter was nothing.

But I'm not 20
years old anymore.

I don't recover, I don't
bounce back as quick.

A person needs to feel human.

They need a place to have
their own. Be dry, be warm.

Keep all their most important
things out of the weather.

[nail gun clunking]

Feels good to get some momentum
back into this project.

The hardest thing is
to get going sometimes.

If you're gonna be efficient
and effective out here,

you had to figure out ways

of killing two birds
with one stone.

You gotta think
multidimensional.

Okay. I got most of my
plywood up on the ceiling.

This area I need to leave open

'cause I'm gonna start
setting my stove up here.

This is kind of
the exciting part.

[hammer thudding]

I'm really looking forward

to getting this
wood stove in here

'cause then I can get
myself a source of heat.

I mean, I've been living
in a tent all winter.

I'm out here working
in the cold all night

because I wanna get this done.

Get this cabin good enough

that I can start moving
my stuff in it tonight.

[suspenseful music]

[gentle music]

[Ricko] A lot of people
think of dark as nighttime,

but out here in Alaska, it's
dark like 21 hours a day, so.

As long as I'm ready,
I can capitalise on it.

[ominous music]

I want these gas lamps

to set up a nice,
safe work environment.

Got a bunch of rope here.

The rope is key to getting
that first pull under the ice.

[Narrator] For Ricko Dewilde,

harvesting food this time
of the year is crucial.

He will travel to a nearby river

to try his hand at ice fishing.

If he's to survive dark winter,

he must rely on the
knowledge he's gained

from a lifetime in
the Huslia wild.

Out here, we have about three
to 3 1/2 hours of daylight,

and that's it.

It's the middle of
the day right now,

4:00 in the afternoon
but it's pitch-black.

If you can't work in the dark,

you can't survive out here, so.

I'm gonna get out here
and look for a nice spot

to put a fishnet in near
the ice, get in some work,

and hopefully bring
home some fish.

I got all my supplies in
the toboggan, tied down.

So I'm ready to go
get this net in.

[suspenseful music]

When I dream, I dream
about my childhood a lot.

When I'm driving
through the area,

all those dreams just
come flooding back to me.

I'm going through trails
where I used to run through

and play in and hang out
with my late brothers

and late sisters that passed on,

it's like all that
just comes back to me.

It's really emotional for me
when I go through this area.

I just have tremendous respect
for the siblings I lost,

very surreal feeling.

It's like I'm driving
through a dream.

What I'm looking at
as I'm driving up,

I'm seeing these mink trails

and that always
means open water.

So when I see
something like this,

I've gotta be real careful.

I'm gonna get my ice pick
out and I'm gonna walk

and just poke everywhere I
go so I don't pull up on it

because basically, if
I go in the river here,

I'll lose my snow machine,
I'll lose my life.

The current is
flowing on this river.

There's a slough here
that's keeping it open.

And this is what can kill you

out here in Alaska
is the environment.

No matter how strong
I feel like I am,

no matter how
powerful my machine,

this river is 1,000
times stronger than me

and it'll take me in an instant.

[tense music]

Just gonna take my
time. Poke away at this.

[ice crunching]

Gotta be real careful, make
sure there's no soft spots

because I'm here to fish, not
get fished out of this river.

I'll try right
here for a fishnet.

Okay. I know it's safe.

I go walk back over where I
went, get my snow machine,

and pull up with
all my equipment.

The last time I put a
fishnet under the ice,

I had my kids helping me

and today, I'm gonna be doing
it by myself in the dark

so it's gonna be a lot harder.

I got to first shovel
off all the spots

that I wanna cut
holes in the ice at.

Then I gotta cut the
holes in the ice,

get the ice chunks
out of the holes,

thread a string underneath
this ice by going hole-to-hole.

It's a lot of work to put
this fishnet under the ice

this time of the year.

There's about two
feet of ice, so.

Once the job is complete,

that's gonna be a big
satisfaction for me.

What I wanna do is put
up like three tripods,

hang some gas lamps so
I'm not totally dependent

on my headlight.

They say duct tape is
something everybody use,

but I think baling wire takes
the cake out here in Alaska.

Can use it for so
many different things.

I'd say right here looks good.

Come on, baby.

Oh, yeah. There we go.

[majestic music]

The reason I choose
this location to fish

is it's the same place
my late mom brought me

when I was a kid to fish.

And we got a lot of fish
out here growing up.

As a kid growing up out here,
we didn't have a money system.

So putting money in our hand
wasn't like a form of maturity

or what you're striving for.

Being able to bring
fish home was a big deal

when I was a kid.

If we're able to harvest
something on the land,

that was kind of
a rite of passage

to maturing in a good
way out here, so.

Hopefully I'm gonna get
this net under this ice

and bring some fish home.

Okay. Now that I got some
light, it's time to go to work.

[suspenseful music]

[Jessie] My dogs come first.

Everything I do
is about my dogs.

Living in a harsher environment

is just gonna bring out the
best in me and the dogs.

[ominous music]

[metal clangs]

All right. That's approximately
where the stove's gonna go.

I'm gonna gather
up my stovepipe,

put my insulated
stove jack in here.

Get some stovepipe in,

get a fire in this
stove and get warm.

[Narrator] Jessie is finishing
the interior of his cabin

so he can have shelter from the
extreme cold of dark winter.

To provide his cabin with heat,

Jessie must get
the stove working.

But installing the pipe
through the cabin's roof

will be a daunting
task in total darkness

and freezing conditions.

Time to get my
insulated piece of pipe

to go through the roof, so I
don't catch the roof on fire.

The main thing you gotta do

when you're putting
your stovepipe through

is not screw up your roof.

You know, I went
through a lot of trouble

to make sure this
roof looks nice

around the top
and on the bottom,

so all that has to be,
you know, accurately done.

And there's a lot
of safety issues.

You gotta have an
insulated piece

to keep your roof
from lighting on fire.

On top of that, I got to go
get up on an icy snowy roof

at 30 below zero to
put it all together.

All right. I got that in.

Head down, start putting
the stovepipe together.

Happy to get off this
damn roof in the dark.

It's slippery and icy.

[suspenseful music]

All right. That looks
like that'll work.

It ain't the prettiest thing.

I got to do a little bit
of trimming around there,

but that doesn't
mean nothing to me.

I'm ready right now to
put my stovepipe together,

put it through the roof,
get a fire going in here.

Get this door closed in,
I'll be holding heat.

I built this cabin from the
ground up by myself, you know.

I've done every single
aspect of it by myself

and that's just how it
is out here, you know.

It's, I got to get it done.

You just can't think about,
"Oh, today. Nine to five.

"Sun up to sundown."

You gotta say, "There's
24 hours in a day.

"How can I best use those?"

All right. Yeah.

Put one more piece together.

One last trip up on the roof.

[gentle music]

This is a big moment.

Three months of living
in the tent out here.

Making every sacrifice I
could to make this happen.

This got put on the
backburner for a long time

but, man, I am excited
to get this done.

All right. I got this piece in.

Go get a fire started.

[fire whooshing]

Got a real nice
fire going in here.

Gonna kick me out some heat.

At least I'm not
gonna have to work

with frozen hands
so much anymore.

I can warm up here.

Oh, that feels so good.

All this plywood up is starting
to look like a home in here.

I just need a door

and I'll be able to hold this
heat and start moving in.

I can see the light at
the end of the tunnel now.

[tense music]

[Chip] We take our kids along
with us out in the country.

They don't just get stuck
in the school frame of mind

and told what we do,
they participate.

[ominous music]

These holes are freezing fast

between the time that we've
left and got back here.

[Agnes] Uh-huh.

[Chip] They probably froze
a good couple inches.

[Agnes] Yup.

That one has no fish.

[Narrator] The
Hailstones have travelled

to a nearby frozen river
to fish under the ice.

They're hoping to
catch Tiktaalik ,

a vital food source
that's available

while they are unable
to pursue other game

in the deadly night
of dark winter.

[Chip] Yup. Hasn't touched it.

[Agnes] No fish. One more hole.

-Where?
-Behind you.

My lucky fishing hole.

[suspenseful music]

This time of the year, when
you can't catch caribou,

or ptarmigan, or rabbits,
or stuff like that,

you can always turn to fishing.

-What is it?
-Woo!

There's a fish under here!

Oh, it's a Tiktaalik .

-Tiktaalik .
-Wow. Right on.

[vehicle engine revving]

[Chip] That's Idi-bitty.

[Agnes] I hear Wade Kelly.

Hi, grandson!

[Iriqtaq] We're
just out for a ride.

They said you guys
were down here

so we thought we'd go say hi.

[Wade] You got a big fish?

[Chip] I got a big fish.

-Ah!
-Don't fall in the hole.

[Wade] Oh.

He's pretty much
into everything.

Typical three-year-old
boy, likes to help a lot.

As long as you explain
something to him

and show him how to do it, he
really gets the hang of it.

-That was-
-I got it.

Where are you going?

You can't just run,
there's holes all over.

[Wade] I'm going to my mom.

[Agnes] Watch your step.

[Iriqtaq] Yes. Be careful
when you walk with that.

-Be careful.
-Yeah. It's sharp.

It's got a hook.

[Wade] That fish
never swim away.

[Chip] No, it's just
a baitfish. Come on.

Let's put it back in the water.

[Wade] Yeah. I'll do it myself.

[Chip] I got it.

[Wade] That will be better.

[Chip] I've got it.

[Wade] Want to, I
want to, please.

Oh.

Damn, Wade.

-[suspenseful music]
-[Wade groans]

Well, I guess you're
going home, Wade.

Well, the little guy
stuck his foot in a hole.

I mean, it's only like
six inches around,

so the whole boy wasn't going
down that hole for damn sure.

You go warm-up, now.

-Yeah.
-Go dry your stuff off, bud.

[Iriqtaq] You're cold already?

[Wade] Yeah.

It's a good thing
that was a small hole

because if it weren't, he
could have fall through

and never know where
he could have gone.

He could have been
fish bait himself.

[vehicle engine revving]

[Chip] Poor little guy,

first time I ever
see somebody do that.

Boom, slide his foot right in

just like he did
the splits almost.

[Agnes] [chuckles]
Yeah. Scare you?

Ah, yeah, a little bit.

But I grabbed him fast,
so it was all right.

I'm glad he had another
little fishing experience.

-It's good.
-[laughs] Yeah.

Yeah. He won't forget that.

I was happy he got to see
the Tiktaalik I pulled out.

You can see that's gonna be

another generation
of fishing there.

I'm still gonna make him
hunt though. [laughs]

Yup.

[suspenseful music]

[Sue] Learn your enemy.

Learn what they do, and then
not use it against them,

but use it with them.

-[tense music]
-[snow crunching]

Green eyes good,
yellow eyes bad, so.

I'm looking right down
here on predator row.

[Narrator] After seeing
a wolverine in Kavik,

Sue is braving the tundra
to set game cameras

that will monitor
threats to her camp.

But shrouded by darkness,

she must be ready to protect
herself from predators

at any moment, and at all costs.

I am by myself.

Darkness has fallen.

When darkness hits, the
predators have the upper hand

and the tables are turned.

In a city, you're
gonna throw up a fence

and put up a keep out sign.

I can't do that but I
can go walk the boundary

and set up a camera, see
who's running around.

You know, it's not all about,

"Oh, no. I'm gonna die,
it's a predator." [sniffs]

It's also about, "Oh, no.
Something else needs to die

"'cause I need to survive."

Whew!

We have a wolverine somewhere.

[suspenseful music]

Wolverine is part
of the Mustelidae
family, weasel family.

And they have a
very strong odour

and I just got a big-ass
woof of wolverine scent.

I'm seeing a lot of track.

So, I think somewhere up in
here, get a camera set up.

A wolverine kind of drags
their back legs a little bit.

A little bit longer track,

they have a heel
and they undulate.

All right.

So it is set.

And then I don't need to be here

to get caught by the animal.

I need the camera
to catch the animal.

If the animal's here,
he's on his home turf.

If he's at the
Twinkie, he's at mine.

You know, I have every
right to defend my own turf.

But knowledge is power, man.

[gentle pensive music]

When I lose the
light of the sun,

I get the light of the night.

The Northern Lights.

Anytime there's darkness,

this is what I have
the potential to see.

As a child, one of the
things I was very afraid of

and it's leaked into my
adulthood is the dark.

But I always try to
work on my fears,

and as a parent, if your
child's afraid of the dark,

you get 'em a nightlight.

When I got to Alaska,
Mother Nature gave it to me.

When it got dark and I got
scared, the sky itself lit up.

You can't be afraid of the dark

when nature's lighting the way.

It's magic.

That not everybody gets to see.

And I feel incredibly
grateful for it.

And it keeps me
coming back for more.

[suspenseful music]

This Earth right here
is a powerful planet.

If you don't respect
it, it'll consume you.

There's no mercy for you.

[chainsaw whirring]

[tense music]

We live by the rivers out here
and that's because of fish.

Fish is a huge staple
of our diet out here,

and I'm gonna put a net in.

I'm hoping to get some
whitefish and some pike.

There's a lot of tricks to this,

and if you do it wrong
you could lose your net.

You could lose your life too
if you get into a waterhole.

But it's really important
that I'm able to do it

because that's number one
staple out here is fish.

Woo!

Done with the chainsaw work.

[gentle pensive music]

[Narrator] Ricko is
determined to harvest

a meal for himself
by ice fishing.

After cutting through the ice,
he will now set his fishnet,

a skill his family has used
to survive in dark winter

for generations.

The hard work's done, but
I'm got one more job to do

and that's basically get this
pole, put it in this hole,

and string it across, and pull
the pole out the other side.

Once I do that, I
take the rope off

and I got a rope that strings
from one end to the other.

Then I tie a net on
one end of the rope,

and I pull that net
under, tie it off,

and then my net's
hanging under the ice.

Okay. I gotta tie this rope on.

Hopefully it don't come undone.

Okay. It's in the hole.

And what I want is for this
pole to be in view down here.

I don't feel that pole,
which is not a good thing.

[suspenseful music]

Could be hooked on some brush
down there or something.

This water's kind of murky.

Oh, right there. I got it.

Now, what I'm gonna do is just
feed it all the way across

to the next water hole.

I'm hoping to go straight across

but it's so hard to
see where I'm going.

It's just easy for this pole

to be angled in a direction
I don't understand.

Okay. Past that one.

[puffing] This is not as
wide as the other one,

so this might be a tougher one.

It's hard to see at night too.

Fuck.

Nothing there.

[tense music]

So murky in there.

Okay. I got the
string on this side.

There we go.

Just like that.

Okay. I got it.

Woo-hoo!

I'm so happy right now
because there's a lot of work.

I was able to string this
rope all the way across,

so the hard part is done.

Now I gotta string the
net in, tie it off,

let it set overnight,
and check it tomorrow.

[ominous music]

So tie it on, make
sure it doesn't untie.

Paranoia gets the
best of me sometimes.

Okay.

Let's get this
net under the ice.

It's dark all the time out here,

so having that net
sitting under the ice

while I'm doing other
things is really important.

That's how we fish out here.

We're not big on fishing rods.

A lot of us don't even know

how to use a fishing
rod properly out here.

We use fishnets.

We wanna set that net and forget
it, and go do other chores.

It's cold. It's dark.

We got a lot of
things to do out here.

Okay. The net's in.

I wanna tie it down below
the surface of the ice,

so I'm just gonna
tie it off here.

Wrap it around, right there.

I got the net strung out
underneath the ice now.

I'm gonna turn these
lamps off and head home.

Been a long day, hard
work but it's worth it.

[dramatic music]

I'm obviously not in
it for the comfort.

I'm in it for the experience.

And being out here,

this is the truest thing
I've ever done for myself.

[tense music]

[tool scraping]

Getting my chain
nice and sharpened up

before I cut out my door here,

that way I can have
a nice clean cut.

I got a nice fire going now.

Get this door in and then I'll
be able to keep this heat in

and I'll be able to move in.

It's been a battle
living in the tent

for the last few
months here, you know,

the last month, especially
with the colder temperatures.

I mean, it's just difficult
to live in a thin-walled tent.

Okay. I got my
chainsaw sharpened.

Time to get my measurements,
get this door in,

and then I'll be ready
to move all my stuff in

and finally have a home
out here in Brushkana.

[Narrator] To shield himself
from dark winter's wrath,

Jessie is working to finish
the interior of his new cabin.

He must now insert the front
door to seal in the heat.

If he fails,

he'll be forced to spend
another night in his tent,

unprotected from the
freezing temperatures

of the long night.

Measure twice, cut
once, you know?

This is the kind of thing

you want to go nice
and smooth here.

37 1/2. 1/4 inch of play.

38 inches.

Okay. Take a look
at this bottom.

[measure tape rattling]

82 1/4 and 38.

-[suspenseful music]
-[generator whirring]

Beauty of building your own home

is that you get to custom
design it the way you want to

and you think it out and
picture it out, measure it out,

write it out, lay it out,
and adjust it to your liking.

You don't just slap
this door in there

and call it good, you know.

You have to build
it a certain way.

You had to have a strong frame.

This cabin's gonna shrink.

The logs are gonna
shrink and expand

as they settle in over
the next couple years

and that can pinch your door.

You know, and this door
needs to be in there perfect,

perfectly square.

Some gaps on each end of
it that I'm gonna foam in

that are gonna allow
it to have some cushion

whenever these logs
start shifting.

-[dramatic music]
-[chainsaw chugging]

[chainsaw whirring]

Ah, fuck!

Ah, there's a spike right there.

[tense music]

[chainsaw whirring]

I'm getting close
to having my door in

but I miscalculated where
some of the spikes were,

hitting them with a chainsaw,

so now I gotta cut
them with a Sawzall.

There are certain
challenges but you just keep

coming up with solutions
for those challenges.

My fingers are burning.

But that's just what I gotta
do to get this job done.

I'm beat. Been
working all night.

It's getting close to
6:00 in the morning.

I'm gonna get this door in
here, load this stove up,

go get my bed in here,
and hang out with my dogs.

[gentle music]

This tent has done
me really well,

but it's also a struggle
to live in there

and it's been hard, you know.

And so, I'm really excited
to make my life easier

so I can accomplish more.

[vehicle engine revving]

This tent has toughened me up

and moulded me more to this
landscape, that's for sure.

I didn't come out here
to live in a tent.

I come out here to
make this my home

and for me to be
successful out here,

I need a place to able
to recuperate and rest

and keep all my most important
things out of the weather.

You ready? Ready?

All right.

Moving out here at
first, I ain't gonna lie,

it has kind of freaked
me out, you know.

It freaked the dogs out.

It was all new and
it's wild out here

and we didn't
really have anything

but a hard road ahead of us.

It was always my dream
to have my own cabin

and stop living in
shacks and tents

and being transient and moving
all over the place, you know?

Now I found my place.

This is it.

The nicest thing I've
ever had in my life.

[Chip] Darkness
never gets to me.

Neither does 24-hour sunlight.

Just part of being here.

[suspenseful music]

[stick pounding]

When fishing time comes,

we try all kinds of technique.

Chip has all those hooks,
fishing bait he's setting under

and I'm at the very bottom
where the current is.

I was hoping I'd catch a fish.

Oh, I got one!

I got one, I got one, I got one!

Woo!

[laughs] Oh, wow.

We caught a sheefish.
It's real exciting.

It's nice to see there's
more than one type of fish

this time of the year also.

It's always nice to have
fresh fish once in a while.

[Chip] Oh, the
kids will love it.

Yeah.

Here comes a snow machine.

[Chip] It's a very
close fishing hole.

We have the river right there,

so what usually happens
is the kids coming down.

[Agnes] Well, hello there.

-Hello.
-You're just in time

for our new friend,
the sheefish.

-Sheefish, awesome.
-Yeah.

[Chip] If you guys want,

I opened up all the
traps I've got over here.

And you can jig with them,
if you want. It's up to you.

-Yeah.
-Yeah.

[dramatic majestic music]

[Agnes] It's real good to
be able to rely on a river

for fresh food this
time of the year.

And it's always just good
to have your family around

so you can have a
really good bonding.

We've been fishing so long.

The ones we aren't hooking
at are freezing already.

It's like five
o'clock right now.

It feels like dinner time.

We should just eat
that while it's fresh.

[Agnes] Yup

So we ended up with one
Tiktaalik and one sheefish.

[Chip] You guys are ready?

[Agnes] It's always nice to
have fresh fish for dinner.

[tense music]

As the elders would say,
everything has a spirit.

Everything took care of our
people over thousands of years.

-[suspenseful music]
-[wind whistling]

It's about 10 below
out right now.

My net's been
soaking for a while.

I wanna get these lamps lit.

Chop open the two
holes, pull the net out,

and hopefully have some fish.

As long as the net
hasn't frozen to the ice,

checking the net should be a
lot easier than putting it in.

[gentle suspenseful music]

I got to pull this pole up.

[groaning] There's
where it's tied off.

Just to free the net,

then I could pull it
out the other side.

I gotta do it right away

before that net sinks
down too much. [exhaling]

It's cold though.

Feels a little heavy, but I
think my hopes are just heavy.

Yeah. I ain't seen nothing yet.

That don't look too promising.

Nothing.

No fish.

Kind of disappointing for
all the work I did. [puffing]

[gentle music]

Just how it goes out here.

Nothing is promised.

It's not the first time I
failed at putting the net in

and had to try again.

[fire crackling]

The hard work was getting
my fishnet under the ice.

And now that I have the fishnet
under the ice, can relax,

enjoy a little meal, warm up.

Muktuk is the fat and
skin of the whale.

Whenever I eat muktuk,
I don't get cold.

Natural body heat right here.

It might be what
people call modern-day

but out here in rural
Alaska, we still need stuff

that we depended on
for thousands of years.

To me, it feels like a victory

just to be able to
accomplish what I did today.

It's frozen dark cold Alaska,

but there's good
food under the ice.

You try and you fail, you
must try and try again.

Don't give up.

[ominous music]

Sometimes I'm the predator

and you betcha
sometimes I'm the prey.

[gentle tense music]

I've got my game cams.

Brought them in
a little bit ago.

I'm really interested
to see this

'cause I saw the wolverine.

What have I got here?

I have got mister wolverine.

He's digging out
at that carcass.

Oh, wow.

There's two of them.

The game cams paid off today.

It's exactly what
I wanted to see.

These winter predators,
boy, they wait for the dark.

They wait for the shadows
'cause that's when they shine.

And I'm just gonna extend
my light a little bit

and say, "Mm-mm-mm. Not
in Susie's zone here."

[suspenseful music]

I wanna set up my barrels and
light up my property line.

I wanna light up camp
and say, "Hey, Uh-uh.

"No trespassing."

I don't want them in camp.

[digger engine whirring]

This is a back portion of camp.

In the dead of
winter, dark time,

it doesn't get checked as often.

I don't come back here
for much as often.

So it's a popular area
to kind of cut corners.

So I want this
heavily-protected.

Come on.

There you go.

Stay lit.

And off to the next one.

Predators are a thing and
they're on the upswing.

They're cyclical.

You'll have times where you
have less predators, more game.

You get so much game,

then guess what, the
predators have more to eat

and they're on the rise.

Right now, I got a
lot of predators.

I got my barrels going.

I mean, it all
really started out

with getting a late
winter caribou.

Having to leave the
carcass out there.

Sun went down into
the dark time.

Wanting to protect
myself, protect camp.

And this different.

This is saying, "Don't
cross this line.

"I'll give you that mile,
but I'm taking this inch.

"But you disrespect my inch
and I'll take back my mile.

"I'm lighting up the
night to save my inch.

"Come get it."