11x07 - One Pike at a Time

[bunniefuu]

[unsettling music]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Holy crap, that's big.

How's that?

No, no, no, no, no. [bleep].

Losing a fish from
a bad decision

is taking away my time
of being here for longer.

Oh, there's that pine marten.

I hope he never got in my smoker

and dragged that fish out.

[bleep]. Oh, boy.

"Alone's" worst hunter
got two spruce grouse.

So here I am,

at least two more weeks
that I get to hang out.

I'm still in the game.

♪

Hot, cold, chills, sweat.

Not a great day.

The moose could ironically be

the thing that
would take me down.

We need to officially extract
you for medical reasons.

I think that it's
probably the right call.

I just don't want it to be.

I am losing my breath. My
chest hurts like crazy.

Oh, God, it's not
getting better.

[groans]

♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

I'm not tapping out.

I'd rather die.

♪ ♪

[exhales] Here goes nothing.

Whoa!

Yes!

Holy [bleep].

♪ ♪

This is the harshest
location possible.

We're 125 miles in
the Arctic Circle.

[shouts]

Never had an environment

make me feel like a
complete amateur before.

Everything is
against us out here.

Mother Nature went
and b*tch-slapped me.

Looks like I got grizzlies
and wolves as my neighbors.

Holy crap.

They're just hunting
the shoreline.

Mother Nature is about
to dim the lights on us.

We're heading into
total darkness.

[animal huffs, branch snaps]
- Hey, bear.

The cold and the dark is
going to sap people's souls.

Really makes you wonder
if it's worth it.

[splurting]

There is no camera crew.

There's no support system.

I'm completely alone.

Yes!

People go in one way...

Stop bleeding.

And they come out
entirely different.

[yells]

This is the most difficult

survival challenge in the world.

[hooting]

$500,000.

That's completely
life-changing money.

It's beautiful.

Whoever can thrive the longest.

They out here ought
to be afraid of me.

- Whoever can push through...
- [groans]

Wins.

I hope I made the right
choice coming out here.

♪ ♪

[wind whooshing]

[soft tense music]

♪

My chest hurts like crazy.

Something is not right.

[exhales]

Oh, stop being a little sissy.

Oh, come on.

Just get back to work.

[groans]

That's all you got to do.

I could stick this
out. I can win this.

If I do something permanent,
it's not fair to my family.

But then also, if I leave,

we can't afford to do IVF again.

Worry about my personal health.

Get a chance of
having more kids.

I can push through all
kinds of physical pain,

but I have high blood pressure

and high cholesterol.

Oh, man, my chest hurts.

I feel like my heart's
working overtime.

I want to be here
more than anything.

I don't want to leave.

Ow. [sighs]

But there's plenty of people
in their 30s and early 40s

who are having heart attacks.

[exhales]

♪ ♪

All right. Let's just breathe.

Sit and breathe,

and pray.

What do I do, Josh?

Come on, talk to me, buddy.

What would you tell me to do?

[geese honking]

♪ ♪

Birds flying south

right when I asked
Josh to talk to me.

[soft pensive music]

♪

Gosh. Yeah.

That's ol' big brother,
looking out for me.

I'm gonna hurt myself.

[satellite phone beeping]

This is Isaiah.

I'm officially tapping out.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

Something's not
right, cardiac-wise.

But what I'm worried
about more...

[sniffles] Is...

not appreciating
what I have already

and letting more
damage happen...

excuse me... letting... letting
permanent damage happen.

That's, uh...

that's not being appreciative
of what I already have.

And I have so much.

I got my bride and...

my miracle baby.

I have everything
I need at home.

[reflective music]

♪ ♪

The hard thing for
me about leaving is

there was this overwhelming joy,

like I was a kid
in the woods again.

And saying goodbye to this,

it is saying goodbye to a
magical time in my life.

I loved it.

I genuinely had fun

and just felt so at peace.

I was able to talk
to my brother, Josh,

and to just hear his voice

and just enjoy this time
with him and no one else.

This place was magical.

But I have to
think of my family,

and it isn't fair to them
for me to put my life at risk

and risk them
possibly being alone.

That's not fair.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[birds calling]

♪

OK, guys, this is really cool.

Check this out.

There's a moose cow
with two calves.

♪ ♪

And they were bedded
down, sleeping,

right out here in Moose Meadow.

Twin moose calves.
That's pretty cool.

♪ ♪

But I hope that you got
to see them for a second,

Levi and Elliot.

It was really cool.
[chuckles softly]

Another day in paradise.

Well, they've run off. Um...

sad about that, but I
slept OK last night.

I, uh, feel OK today.

Anyhow, seeing the moose
is a special treat.

That was cool. I enjoyed that.

Thank you, God.
That cheered me up.

That was my cup of
coffee, I reckon.

So I'll go get
started on the fire.

♪

There's a couple more
things I have to do today

on the shelter to make it home.

I'm feeling so much
better than yesterday.

I don't think I'm sick anymore.

I need to maintain my resolve

not to move fast and push hard.

But I think if I just move
steadily and slowly all day,

I can do what I want to do.

It's move-in day today for sure.

I got to finish this bed.

I'm probably the last
contestant out here

to move into his
permanent shelter.

But I wouldn't change
using it for a smoker.

I had to do what I had to do.

Oh, yeah, my bough bed.

Cozy.

♪ ♪

I'm happy just keeping working
to work out my vision of

how to make this survival
experience play out.

And I believe in the
proactive approach,

and I want to be out
here a long time.

I want to win.

But I see myself working
too hard out here.

[saw rasping]

[soft ominous music]

♪ ♪

That's not gonna be good.

♪

Tore off a good piece
of my thumbnail.

Ripped right through the glove.

I gotta be much more careful.

That could get
infected so, so easy.

♪ ♪

That's not cool.

[sighs]

I will try to seal this cut on
my thumb with some spruce sap.

So what I'm gonna try to
do is make a good barrier

between the injury

and whatever fish and work I do.

I'm gonna start here.

This sap is kind of fresh,

and it'll smear on pretty good.

Now there's a good
barrier between the injury

under my nail, which
is pretty deep.

I've got that pretty sealed.

So bottom line is
don't be stupid.

♪

Don't be stupid.

I'm gonna sit by the fire a bit,

kind of hold this in the smoke,

and hopefully,
that'll harden a bit.

♪

I'm not on my A-game.

My mind has been
feeling so faint.

My biggest fear is brain fog.

I've had brain fog before
in stressful situations.

It really takes away
your ability to be smart.

I'm still struggling
with the mindset

that I have to
accomplish some things.

'Cause I really don't need to...

I need to not accomplish
things right now.

That's my strategy.
It's my game plan.

But I'm having such a hard time
getting into that mentality.

I have food, and
I'm getting food,

and I have shelter,
mostly complete.

I gotta kick back and
just take it slow.

I know my main work is done.

I can afford to just
hibernate and hunker.

[birds calling]

♪ ♪

[bear huffing]

[dramatic music]

[soft dramatic music]

♪

Look at that.

Seen their last days, though.

Ooh.

Look at that.

One classy 2-liter bottle.

I got a good use for
it, a real good use.

Oh, I found a piss pot.

Getting up in the night
time, peeing? Not fun.

That's lucky.

That's something I
was hoping to find.

Ooh-wee!

Ol' Willy got a piss pot.

[adventurous music]

First things first, we
go check out the net.

♪ ♪

Who knows? We
could get surprised

with a fish in that net.

♪ ♪

There's nothing in the net.

Nothing at all.

♪

It's good enough.

♪ ♪

It is what it is, hey?

Living on the edge here now,

Living on the edge,
day by day meals, yeah.

♪

Gonna go to the food cache.

I'm gonna eat the
last of the whitefish.

Get that pack sack down.

♪

[crows calling]

Just when the predators
couldn't get any worse.

Look at all the crows.
That's a m*rder of crows.

[chuckles]

Two, four, six, eight, ten...



I better hide the stuff
away now. [chuckles]

♪ ♪

Food is getting scarce.

Before I eat, I gotta set
a couple more rabbit snares

over this way now.

The land will tell
you what's available,

what it's willing to offer.

I can hear animals
moving in the nighttime,

howling in the distance.

I can see their tracks.

Every day, information's
coming back into me

and I'm building a picture

of all the movements of
the different animals.

And so I become part
of the environment.

I'm a predator, just like
the marten or anything else.

Let's hope it pans out,

'cause I need food.

♪ ♪

[slurping]

I'm officially out of food.

Cutting it close again, boy.

Ah.

[dramatic music]

♪

[rain pattering]

♪ ♪

Another beautiful day up here.

By beautiful, I mean...

cold as hell and rainy.

I'm about to look quickly

to see if I got
anything in my gillnet.

♪

Real quick snare, gillnet check.

It's actually not raining
as bad as it sounded like

in the shelter.

No action.

My snare's a little...

no, that's good.

Gillnet, what do we have?

♪

Ooh.

We are back on the
gillnet train, baby.

Look at that lunker pike, man.

Hell, yeah, dude.

That's three days
of food right there.

Let me get a club
ready in case he moves.

♪ ♪

That pike is a
freaking monster, man.

Look at that freakin'
alligator, dude!

[laughs]

Wow, pike.

I'm sorry, pike, but
your time has come.

[club impacts]

There it is:

days and days and days of food.

Dude, if you catch ten of these,

that's like literally
k*lling a big game animal.

Holy smokes, dude.

All right, I'm gonna get
him over here to the beach

because I got about


deal with right here.

Get the freaking
smoker warmed up, baby,

'cause we're cookin'.

It's nice having the
security of knowing

that you have food as a backup.

Look at this.

♪

That is so much food.

There's nothing worse
than the feeling of,

"oh, crap, I ate all my food.

I have to get up tomorrow
and grind and get more food."

There's something mental that
feels really, really good

about having food stored...

That's money.

And ready for you
when you need it

and I like that a lot.

♪ ♪

Well, we got it all on there.

Once that's done,

everything around here
has got to get cleaned up;

try to minimize the
risk of grizzlies.

This is how you win this, man,

easy food and low calorie burn.

I need to replicate today
about 50 more times,

and we got this.

Yeah, man.

We did it.

She's smoking.

I don't know who all
got moose out here.

But even if I don't get a moose,

I can win this thing,
one pike at a time, dude.

♪

Job now is gonna be
to sit in the shelter

and put wood in
the frickin' fire.

How freaking awesome is that?

While we're sitting inside,
our freaking fish is smoking.

♪

It seems obvious
that I'm gonna eat

a hell of a lot
of fish out here.

These pike are big.

They don't have a
ton of fat on them,

but they're gonna
make ends meet for me

until I can sort
something else out.

Dang, man.

We're going to get water.

I just don't have quite enough.

[whispers] Dude,
it's so calm out.

There's [bleep]
something big over here

on the other side of
this lake right now.

[soft tense music]

♪ ♪

Oh, [bleep].

♪

Holy [bleep], that's a moose.

We're going moose hunting, baby.

[dramatic music]

Holy [bleep].
That's a big bull.

[imitates moose call]

♪ ♪

It's deciding what
he wants to do.

[imitates moose call]

♪ ♪

He's freaking thinking
about coming this way, man.

♪ ♪

And whichever way he
chooses, I'm gonna meet him.

♪

If that thing turns and
starts walking along

this edge of the lake, we
will probably have a moose.

♪

♪

I bet he's coming this way.

And I'm gonna start
heading that way

on this side of the lake.

We're going moose hunting, baby.

Just stay down low.

♪

Not gonna be able to
bring this camera with me.

♪ ♪

I'm gonna set this camera here.

I can't do anything
with it right now.

I'm going along this
edge of the lake

with a... with a
GoPro on my head

to try to get that
moose to come in to me.

This is crazy, man.

That was a big old bull.

[quickening music]

♪

[imitates moose call]

Oh, dude.

Maybe it'll come back.

I just can't see.
It's... it's really dark.

We might be able
to get this moose

when it's a lot easier,

because right now it's
freaking impossible, almost.

♪ ♪

That moose is gonna be
up running all night.

♪ ♪

It's really dark out right now.

It's a lot darker than it looks
like through that camera lens,

I'll tell you that.

♪

So that was probably about
the worst possible time

to see that moose.

And I saw that moose
five minutes before dark.

By the time that thing
walked over to the right

and went into those trees,

I couldn't even
see the dark spot

with my bare eyes.

But if he stays in the
area, and I get over

on the other side of the
lake and do some calling,

I might be able to draw him
out and get a shot on him.

That'd be better than
sh**ting one right now.

I would have to literally wait
until morning to track it,

which would make for a
pretty grueling night

because you never know
what's gonna get on it

with all the damn wolves
and the grizzly bears.

But we're going
after that thing.

[exhales] Holy cow.

That got me pumped up, man.

With this moose and our fish,

I don't know how
anybody could beat us.

Oh, my goodness.

[soft unsettling music]

♪ ♪

[wolf howls]

[wolf pack howling in distance]

I don't know what time it is,

but these wolves
have been howling

literally all night long.

I just wake up, they're howling.

Go back to sleep, wake up
again, they're howling.

They keep waking me up.

I think it's getting
closer to morning.

But...

They've kept me up a lot,

just because they're so
close and it's so noisy.

I guess they're done
howling for now.

I'll try to switch it
back on in a minute

when they start again.

♪

I got very little
sleep last night

'cause the wolves were
howling all night,

and it was just so noisy.

They would wake me
up every half hour

or hour, at least, I would say.

So right out here, just
in front of my shelter,

there's fresh wolf
tracks this morning.

One, two, three,

and you can see his
stride going over there.

It's a wild place out here.

There's big predators
all around me.

My concern's not so much for

my personal encounters
with these critters.

My concern is that they'll
be stealing my food.

So I'm thinking about going over

and checking the k*ll site

just to see if they've
gnawed the bones and stuff.

♪ ♪

This may be all I do
today, the rest of the day.

It needs to be all I do.

I need to conserve energy
and take things slowly.

I've grabbed my bow.

And I'm gonna head
out into Moose Meadow

near the moose k*ll.

I'm going around
the river route...

same route I took when
I ambushed the moose.

♪

It's really quiet out, really
quiet, really overcast.

It's like there's
an unnatural hush.

Yeah.

♪

Guys, I see fresh
grizzly tracks.

And it's a big one.

Fresh claw marks.

You can see it just
chipped up the sod.

♪ ♪

I think that was today.

I might be, like,
literally right behind it.

Yeah, I'm following his tracks.

This grizzly just went
down through here,

right on my tracks, and
he's not afraid of 'em.

♪

Wouldn't be surprised to
come around the corner

and there he is.
They're that fresh.

I have become sure

that someone else k*lled
big game out here.

I mean, I'm not the
only one seeing moose.

And that works on my mind.

Because if someone
has k*lled big game,

the two of us could just
be out here forever.

How long could this go?

Someone might be
out there right now

beating me with fish.

It simply means that this
is gonna be a long process.

I have to make sure that
I'm up for that process.

I have to beat that man.

I can see right away
coming up to the k*ll site

that something's been on it.

♪

Its rib cage is gone.

This is where the
rib cage was sitting.

♪ ♪

This is crazy.

[suspenseful music]

♪

The rib cage is gone.

♪ ♪

What could carry off its
whole rib cage besides a bear?

♪ ♪

That's all that's left.

That's the only
scrap of moose left

is those three leg bits.

So my guess would be that a
bear carried it back in there

and stashed it,

in which case, he's
probably nearby.

It's probably dragged it
back into those willows

and stashed it, eating on it.

I'm just gonna keep
up some talking

so that I don't
surprise anything.

If a grizzly is
laying up near a k*ll,

that makes him more dangerous.

So my risk level out here
escalated a little bit,

but I'm gonna try
to just maintain

a heightened level of awareness

and try to deal with
things as they happen.

♪ ♪

Something might be over
there, in the bushes.

Guys, I'm gonna keep talking.

I'm gonna make my
way out of here

because I know a bear
has been on the k*ll.

I think it's a good
idea to back out,

get back towards camp,

make sure everything's
good there.

[tense music]

I'm gonna leave, leave, leave.

♪

A grizzly has been
on the moose k*ll.

Don't know what to make of that.

So right now,

I'm gonna show you guys
what I've been doing

every single day, constantly,

that keeps the bears at bay.

See this little dead
stick right here?

This dead stick here will
hold scent for a long time

because it's dead, it's porous,

and it'll hold scent
for a long time.

So what you do is
real technical.

Um...

♪ ♪

[urine trickling]

♪ ♪

Now, that dead stick will hold
that scent for a long time.

And what that does,

that tells the bears that
this territory is mine.

♪ ♪

What the bear does
is, he's walking along

and he thinks he smells
food coming from my camp.

He's like, [sniffs],
"I smell a camp."

And he comes up here and he
thinks, "maybe I'll go in there

and explore, try
to get something."

And he comes up to
this stick... [sniffs]

And he sniffs it,
and he's like, "oh!

A dangerous male lives here."

And it starts a seed
of fear in his heart.

Then he thinks to himself,
"But how big? Can I take him?"

And he looks
basically at how high

you've peed on the stick.

Now me, I can pee pretty high.

So he looks at how high
you've peed on the stick,

and he's like, "there's
no way I can take him."

And he wanders off
the other direction.

That, ladies and
gentlemen, is a scent post.

There's decent-sized bear tracks

that I've seen three times
now close to my camp,

and I've never seen him
out here in daylight,

but he is hungry.

He's in his hyperphagia
feeding mode

before hibernation.

How long is it before he says,

"screw it, I'm gonna go get
whatever that is in camp"?

It's my territory.

My territory.

[unsettling music]

♪ ♪

Let the moose hunting begin.

♪

The sun's just popping
up over these...

look at that.

Beautiful Arctic morning.

♪ ♪

Dude, it's so frickin'
quiet right now out here.

It's insane.

♪ ♪

This is exactly the
kind of territory

you'd want to find a moose.

They like the marshy stuff.

They love these lakes, eating
the aquatic vegetation.

[imitates moose call]

And if that happens,

that's the golden
ticket on "Alone," man.

Just can't hear
anything moving at all.

♪ ♪

You pull off a big game animal,

you got a damn good shot.

I'm gonna head back.

I'm just gonna keep my
eyes peeled for that moose.

And next time I see him,

hopefully I can
get a shot at him,

because there's still a
lot of sign back here.

We have a long time
to get this moose.

I just want to get back and get
some more wood on the smoker.

To outlast these
nine other people,

that's a feat, man.

For the most part,

my energy level's
holding up pretty good.

It's a learning curve.

Everything is a
little bit harder here

than you would
think it would be.

But I think I'm starting
to get a system down.

Right now I'm just gonna
keep focusing on fish

because that's what I got,

and we'll see what other
opportunities arise

in the near future.

Once I get all my
ducks in a row,

I think I'm gonna
be in good shape.

[bird calling]

[whispering] There's a
freaking grouse somewhere.

We're gonna grouse
hunt in our camp, dude.

[wings beating]

It just flew off but
I saw where it went.

Hunting has always
really excited me.

To go one-on-one with an animal,

there's an adrenaline
rush I get.

They live in a
specific environment,

and they're damn good
at navigating it safely.

♪ ♪

It's in this first leaning tree.

♪

[bowstring snaps]

[grouse thuds]

Got 'em.

And I lost my arrow
way out in the lake.

[wings flapping frantically]

Oh.

Sorry. Sorry, bro.

Come here.

Oh. [neck snaps]

Oh, thank you.

Thank you, grouse. Oh, wow.

♪ ♪

I'm so sorry.

♪ ♪

We just got our first
grouse. Look at that thing.

I'm gonna get this cleaned
up, add it to my food stash,

and we can eat it tomorrow.

I'm really excited.

Amazing.

♪

[dramatic music]

♪

Mm, yeah.

Want to take a look at
that yummy goodness?

Grouse broth. Mm-hmm.

All fatty and full of protein.

Yeah.

Just gonna warm up my belly,

feed my mind, my
soul, and my body.

I'm plowing through
these two grouse

almost as fast as I
did that one grouse.

My body is demanding
more for sure.

Oh, well.

All I can do is keep
trying to feed it.

All right, how we doing, broth?

Oh, that is good.

Mm-hmm.

[soft twangy music]

All right. Back to work I go.

Let's go get some grass.

I'm gonna pick some
of those seeds.

I had doubt I would
be able to hunt

to be able to feed
myself out here.

sh**ting these two birds,

those doubts are
starting to go away.

I don't feel a big drag,

and my confidence is
starting to build.

I'm gonna pick grass

and see if I can make
flour from the grass seeds.

♪ ♪

I got my Arctic
entry done today.

It's important to have
all this stuff buttoned up

before the snow falls on it.

And this is about to get brutal.

♪ ♪

Let's head back.

I hope this works.

This would just be a
really cool option.

♪ ♪

With the grass seed, gonna
pull it off the stalk,

grind it down to a fine
powder, and cook it up.

♪ ♪

If this works, I'm
just gonna spend

the rest of my "Alone" days

grinding flour and making bread.

You can live forever on flour.

Well, not really.

Protein's pretty important.

But it'd definitely
make me smile.

Have the taste of
home? Hell, yeah.

I miss my home and my man.

I got a damn fine husband.

The hardest thing I
ever have been through

is my husband's stroke.

He was a completely healthy man.

All of a sudden,
he grabs his head,

and he's screaming in agony.

I finally call a life flight,

and it's four hours before
they could get to us.

By the time he got to the
hospital in Anchorage,

the pressure was so severe
they had to drill holes

into his skull to relieve it.

♪ ♪

Well, it's feeling
floury, that's for sure.

You need a little
bit of moisture.

And then, after that,

he spends an entire
winter in the hospital

and I spend an entire
winter alone at the lodge.

All right, well,
that's what I have

is that little
patty right there.

Gonna put it on some
coals. See what happens.

[reflective music]

I had to take care of things
around our remote homestead

that, physically, I
was not prepared for.

And if I didn't do them,

we would have lost
our livelihood.

It was the biggest
strength-building exercise

I've ever done in my life.

Well, I'd say it's done.

It was definitely
a self-discovery

that, yes, I can do this.

When the need arises,
I am a fighter.

♪ ♪

Hmm.

It has potential to
be very bread-like,

but the consistency is weird.

There's this ball of
stuff that doesn't chew.

I think I'd like to do it

but eliminate that
roughage that was in there,

go down to the fine powder.

Not giving up on it, but
it's not quite there.

That's where we stand.

[soft dramatic music]

♪

[geese honking]

More geese coming by.

Ooh, big old V in the sky.

Awesome.

They're saying "get your
shelter done. Winter's coming."

[geese calls continue]

♪ ♪

Every day, blessed with
beautiful wildlife scenes...

every day, multiple times.

Just incredible.

Truly incredible.

[tense music]

Top priority today is trying
to find something to eat.

Gonna make up
another lure here now

and go try for a pike.

I think this should do it.

If you was actually in
a plane crash, whatever,

you're gonna only do the things

that you really need to
do to guarantee survival.

For me, it's all
strategic, essential needs.

I'm not gonna waste no
time carving out forks

and different things like that.

Whatever I need to
craft, either to, like,

protect me from the elements
or help me secure more food,

that's all I'm gonna focus on.

But that's where the fish are.

That's where we gotta go.

All right, here should
be a good place.

♪

On this journey,

I want to test myself
right to the full limit.

I want to go as far
as I can every day,

and there's nothing
to stop me yet.

Let's check out the short cast.

I think about the family
and all that back home.

But, like, there's not nothing
to stop me from continuing.

♪

As a fisherman, I'm used to
being away from my family.

And it's not easy,
but I'm used to it.

Oh, that's a good cast.

If I win this money,

this will allow me to get
out of the fishery earlier.

I'll be able to spend
more time with my family.

This is our nest egg.

So I'm getting really
excited about it.

Pike. Oh, pike there.

Oh, there's a pike.

Oh, I lost him! [bleep].

That's a good cast.
That's a good cast.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

Ooh.

♪

Ooh, get him up there
on the shoreline.

Get him on the shoreline.

Don't lose this one.

Got to be careful of this.

Oh, sh**t.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah!

We got breakfast.

Woo.

When we needed it, we got it.

How great is that?

Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

♪ ♪

I still got a couple rabbit
snares and squirrel snares

to check yet,

but I can breathe a little
sigh of relief here now.

[knife rasping against scales]

Taking time to clean this up.

♪ ♪

We're good for two more days.

So it gives me a chance,
you know, in two days now

to catch something for
the third day, right?

So... so that's real good.

♪ ♪

My cache is working good
with them marten around.

So you've got to
protect it very well.

♪

Everything looks safe
and sound. God bless.

[soft dramatic music]

♪ ♪

Had some weird dreams.

Had a lot of thoughts
of Chinese food.

Oh, God, I love Chinese food.

So salty. [chuckles]

So full of carbs, protein,

salt, oh, flavor.

Oh, but the funny
thing about that is,

my last Chinese,

the fortune cookie said
something along the lines of,

you're soon going
to be traveling

and gaining new
cultural insight.

The cookie knows, man.

Don't ever argue with
a fortune cookie.

OK, argue with them,

'cause a lot of the times,
they're really dumb.

But this cookie knew for sure.

[soft determined music]

♪

OK!

I want to braid up
a couple snares,

see if I can get that beaver.

OK, let's try this
braiding thing.

I haven't caught a fish yet.

I've virtually given up on
trying to fish this lake.

It's just trying to eat my gear.

I haven't gotten any
other source of protein

beyond these birds,

but there's these beaver
slides everywhere.

All righty. There's one.

Snares are gonna be my best
bet to get this beaver.

I need to catch him on land.

I can't sh**t a beaver
that's in the water.

I've tried that one already.

I am braiding snare wire
because you get more strength.

If I were just to
use a single strand,

he would snap it
like it was a hair.

Beaver would carry
me a long ways.

When you think of how far

one of the game
birds has carried me,

I get five to seven
days out of it.

A beaver? I can make it
another 30 days, no problem.

There's another one.

Go to the river.
Set up some snares.

[inspiring music]

There was a time I
wasn't even a hunter,

when my husband and I first met.

Got that trail there,

and then another one over here.

I think we'll start
with this one.

When we first met,
I was a vegetarian,

I was anti-g*n, I
was anti-hunting.

I actually was a
card-carrying member of PETA.

And he helped me discover
the love of the outdoors,

and I took it to
the very next level.

♪ ♪

That looks badass to me.

Give it a go.

After the stroke, physically,
there was no paralysis.

He was so blessed on that front.

But running a fishing lodge is
a very demanding job for us.

We have a mortgage
payment holding us down.

That's a good spot right there.

And to win this money would

allow my husband
and I to retire.

♪ ♪

There's number two.

I miss my husband.

But to better our world,
this is where I need to be.

♪ ♪

Oh, man, I hope that
catches that beaver.

[sighs] Fingers crossed.

[dramatic music]

♪

Gonna get this thing plucked.

We are not wasting
one bit of this baby.

♪ ♪

There we go.

How about this?

One Cornish game hen.

That's looking just like it
came out of a package, dude.

♪ ♪

This will be different.

We've not had birds yet
since I've been out here.

A lot of sodium in
the blood of birds.

We need this thing.

♪

[blows on flames]

I was beginning to wonder
if there were actually

any grouse at all in my zone.

It's good to see that
as the weather turns.

That's a big-time
winter food source, man.

♪

Grouse is on the fire.

What do we do now to wait?

I think I'm gonna go try to
get that arrow out of the lake.

[determined music]

This morning, I'm just out

walking along the
edge of this lake.

And what do I see?

My arrow right there,
just out past the ice.

There it is.

♪

I'm just gonna tie a
paracord up to a stick,

throw it out there, and see
if I can somehow lasso it.

I need that damn arrow.

Coming in hot.

Busting up that iceberg.

[dramatic low tone]

All right, so we're
just past the arrow.

Today, here it is,
ice on the lake.

That's nuts.

We're against the
arrow. It's coming.

That just tells you how fast
everything can freeze up.

Ooh, I just lost it at that ice.

Winter is here.

We got to turn our
food production up

if we're gonna make this happen.

Stay right there.

Hopefully, that
moose comes back.

But I'm not going moose hunting

with one broadhead.

Yeah, man.

Ooh.

To have that back
means a lot to me.

And to have that back,
too, is very valuable.

That moose could come
back at any moment.

Go hang this paracord up,

eat some grouse soup.

♪ ♪

Maybe I'll get
another shot at him.

♪

Let it cool off, and then
I'll pick through it.

But I'm excited to get
on the bird program.

[wolf howling]

What the hell was that?

Oh, dude.

There's a freaking wolf
right on the other side

of the river right here.

♪

I heard the howl.

There's... there
he is right there.

[tense music]

He's right there,
a big black one.

♪ ♪

Look at that, dude.

♪ ♪

There's another one.

A big white wolf, man.

♪ ♪

Whoa.

Ooh, there's another one.

This is crazy.

♪

Wolves all over the damn place.

They're, like, straight
downwind of me right now.

They know I'm here, man.

Dang, man.

I gotta get under some cover.

I think I am food right now.

♪ ♪

[wolves howl]

Holy crap.

[tense music]

I don't know if I
should be scared or not.

Wolves all over the damn place.

I'll sit here and wait.

♪ ♪

[wolf howling]

Holy crap.

That's freaking fantastic!

Dang, man!

[exhales]

[soft music]

I loved that.

♪

This is freaking awesome, dude.

Wolves freaking howling


that's like a dream come true.

♪

Holy cow.

They shot up into the trees.

Let's hope they
stay on that side.

That was freaking awesome, dude.

That's gonna be hard to top.

All right, let's go
back to the shelter.

Man, we're in the Arctic

with wolves howling
at close range,

hunting the...

they're just hunting
the shoreline, dude.

This is freaking awesome.

♪ ♪

I have so much more in my tank.

I'm mentally prepared
for 100 days.

Slow-cooked grouse,
here we come.

♪ ♪

Wow.

All I got to do is keep warm,

keep the firewood stash up,

and keep occasionally
getting food.

Mm.

Dude, we're rocking, man.

That was a damn good
leg right there.

[dramatic music]

♪

Just look where I'm to.

Isn't this freaking amazing?

This is awesome.

Hope you're enjoying
it as much as I am.

Man, what a view.

It's so cool.

I think we're ready to go
check our snares and net.

[determined music]

We got fish for
breakfast in the cache,

but we're gonna check
the rabbit snares.

There's a lot of
competition for food

out here on this land.

And we got a snare up here.

Everything is trying
to k*ll something else

so they can survive.

I think I got a rabbit.

♪

Look what we got.

Oh, boy.

This is a real blessing.

Two good meals.

Two fantastic meals! [laughs]

"Fantastic" is the
word, not "good."

God, that'll lift your
spirits to the moon.

♪ ♪

That's the way I operate,
just enough to keep me going.

♪ ♪

Meat back on the menu, boy.

♪ ♪

Thank you for sacrificing
your life for me.

God bless. That's
the way nature works.

That's fantastic.
What a blessing.

♪

Being on the land
is spiritual because

you're co-existing with nature.

When you're on land alone
for a long period of time,

you kind of get in
the rhythm of nature.

A pot full of rabbit, boy.

I'll enjoy this
meal, I tell you.

We're gonna try this right now.

And that's kind of
spiritual in a way.

Look at that.

Mm.

It's so good.

It's so delicious.

When you're in a area and
there's only so much game,

you've got to try to get every
calorie you can from that game

because you've got a
limited supply there.

So you can't waste nothing.

Ultimate right there. Look.

Oh, my God!

Savor the... savor
the moment here.

[soft music]

♪ ♪

Ooh-wee.

Oh, my goodness.

I am full.

Ooh.

And rabbit again
the next day, so...

Two more days!

♪

[unsettling music]

♪

[pine marten snarling]

♪

[soft dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[geese honking]

There they go.

That may be the last of
the geese. I don't know.

Whew.

Cold, frosty day,

but a beautiful morning
in the north country.

This is what I dreamed about.

This is exactly what I
dreamed about right here.

This is awesome.

That pink sky is beautiful.

[laughter]

[throaty growl]

[determined music]

I've decided to thatch
the shelter today

as the top priority

because it's gonna rain,
snow, or something.

And this stuff is
still kind of wet

but, hopefully, just dry enough

for me to make this happen.

♪ ♪

For those of you who think

"Alone" is contrived or fake,

I want to tell you
just how alone this is.

It's my world, my domain.

♪ ♪

And there's no nothing.

It's just me and my wits and God

and whatever we can do together.

It's just us.

I like it. I like it that way.

♪ ♪

I'm really happy with how
it's gonna look afterwards.

We're gonna have to
lay some poles on it

so the thatch doesn't
all slide down, though.

The tarp will
definitely go over it,

and then at least spruce boughs.

Altogether, it ought to make
a fairly good insulation.

The word "shelter" implies
hiding and shivering.

But I'm not here
to hide and shiver.

I'm here to live.

And I have a home to live in.

♪ ♪

This is an actual home.

I want my wife to look at it

and say, "I'd stay
there with you."

'Cause that's, to me, the
definition of success.

Yeah.

Bet you've never seen a
bushcraft shelter like that.

That's the shelter I wanted.

Not "shelter," home.
That's my home.

♪ ♪

Out here, my experience has
been a reflection of my life

the past few years.

This is how hard I
work. This is what I do.

I just work this
hard all the time.

And what I really hope is that

I'll be able to stay long enough

to where I can kick back
and enjoy the rest period.

And I think in the quietness,

maybe some good things
could happen for me.

[in dramatic voice] Brothers!

The time has come,
this new village,

which shall be called
Fort Moosehead!

[rhythmic grunting
and ululating]

Place the moose head.

It's very heavy.

Place it anyways.

[grunts]

[rhythmic grunting]

A little to the left.

♪ ♪

The other left!

[straining]

That looks pretty good.

[rhythmic grunting]

Now, when the torch of
fire cross the threshold

of Fort Moosehead,

our spirit has entered.

[rhythmic grunting]

♪ ♪

We have lit the first fire

in the hearth of Fort Moosehead.

It's a time for great rejoicing.

[rhythmic grunting]

♪ ♪

Great rejoicing!

[dramatic music]

Welcome to winter.

Winter arrived.

It's snowing pretty good, still.

This is gonna complicate,

and this is going to help.

Oh, my God.

Hey! Hey!

I better go check
the fish lines.

Is this string busted?

Oh, you gotta be kidding me.

What happened? [bleep].

This is some fresh beaver sign.

I'm gonna set a trap.

♪ ♪

Holy [bleep]!
[water splashing]

♪ ♪