11x08 - The Marten Chronicles

[bunniefuu]

[dramatic music]

♪

How's that?

No, no, no, no, no.

[bleep].

That was five days
of food I just lost.

Holy [bleep], that's a moose.

Oh, I just can't see.

It's really dark.

If he stays in the area, we
might be able to draw him out.

Got two spruce grouse.

I had doubt I would
be able to hunt

to be able to feed
myself out here.

See if I can get that beaver.

My confidence is
starting to build.

Kind of looks badass to me.

I am a fighter.

[dramatic music]

[water splashing]

Ooh, getting up there on shore.

Yeah!

Securing him for
another couple days.

My cache is working good.

Everything moves here is
trying to steal your food.

So you've got to
protect it very well.

♪

Coming up to the k*ll site.

The moose rib cage is gone.

That's all that's left.

Bear has been on the k*ll.

How long is it before
he says, I'm going to go

get whatever that is in camp?"

It's my territory.

My territory.

[dramatic music]

♪

I'm not tapping out.

I'd rather die.

♪

[breathing shakily]

Here goes nothing.

Whoa!

Deuce!

Holy [bleep].

♪

This is the harshest
location possible.

We're 125 miles in
the Arctic Circle.

Ahh!

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.

It 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.

[bear grunts]
- Hey, bear.

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

Really makes you wonder
if it's worth it.

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.
- Hoo, hoo, hoo.

$500,000, that's completely
life-changing money.

It's beautiful.

Whoever can thrive
the longest...

Anything out here ought
to be afraid of me.

Whoever can push through...

[groans]

wins.

I hope I made the right
choice coming out here.

♪

[dramatic music]

♪

It's cold.

It's just a degree
or two above freezing

because there's little
pieces of ice in the grass

that just won't quite melt.

It's right about at
the freezing point.

Winter's closing in.

Got to embrace it.

Let's go check fish lines.

♪

We're going to really
work the fish lines.

I need to catch a bunch of
fish before the ice happens

on the river because then
I won't be able to fish

till I can get out on the ice.

Oh, my goodness.

Check this line first.

There's something on there.

Fish, fish, fish, fish, fish.

Fish.

Yes, fish.

Fish.

Whoo-hoo. Whoo-hoo.

[laughs]

Check that out.

Look at this fish.

That's about a 24...



All right.

It's... the hook
is down its throat,

so I'm going to have to...

no, the hook is right
here at his lip.

Yeah, I could potentially
keep this one fresh.

I might do that, put
it on a stringer.

Let me see.

Get my pliers out and
try to remove the hook.

Yes, he's unhooked.

So what I do, I put
this piece of wire

just through the bottom jaw

right where the
hook was, basically.

There. There.

Now, I'll tie it closed
and just let him shove off.

I want to get him way out there.

So I've got it on a pole
to make sure he's OK.

Sometimes when you pinch them
behind the head like that,

they go to sleep for a while.

And you've got to wake them up.

Oh, yeah, he's good.

He's all good.

All right, you can
go out in the river.

These stringers
have been awesome

for me to keep fish fresh.

I put it on poles because then
the fish can get out there

in deeper water
and go down deep,

because if not, the eagles
will see them and get them.

I am going to eat some lunch.

Thank you, God.

You keep putting fish on my
lines, I'll keep eating them.

I'm living almost entirely
on fish right now.

I have my moose meat smoked.

Really not sure all
the nutritional value

of smoked moose meat,
especially stuff

that's over smoked,
like a lot of mine.

This is my day-30 celebration,
fish fried in moose lard.

Oh, am I looking
forward to this meal.

I'm living on fish because I'm
catching them at the moment.

[twig snaps]

I heard a noise.

But I think it's just a
bird in the tree there.

♪

[whispering] I
did hear a noise.

I think there's a fish
on this other line.

♪

I don't know why I didn't just
take the camera down with me

when I heard the noise.

That's so stupid of me.

You gotta come see this.

I've put it on this stringer.

I'm going to pull
it in just to show

you what I caught when I got up
and said, I heard that noise.

[water splashing]

Look at this.

Whoa, dude.

Look at this fish
right here, man.

Look at this fish.

That's awesome.
That's awesome.

All right, buddy.

Get out there and live.

Let me put the
stringer out there.

♪

Wow, thank you, God, for
all this fish I'm getting.

That's enough for days.

He's on a stringer.

If I butcher it and
stick it in my box,

everything, mice, weasels,
everything is after it.

It's not the big predators that
have given me any problems.

It's the small ones.

And there's so many of them.

[bird wings fluttering]

♪

Dang.

Oh, sh**t.

You guys, just while
I was doing that,

a gray jay swooped down...

I forgot about this.

You can't turn your
back for a second...

grabbed a piece of my fish.

Thankfully, I got
here just as he was

trying to make off with it.

I'm going to go wash this piece
off and throw it in real quick.

That gray jay, gray
jay, you are...

you are making
yourself an enemy.

♪

♪

Yeah, it looks pretty
bright out there.

[yawns]

It's too cozy here.

I'm going to lie back
a little bit longer.

It looks kind of bright out.

Just trying to reduce
calorie expenditures now.

[yawns]

So a bit too much.

Can't continue on
that trend, for sure.

Anyhow, taking
one day at a time.

♪

Well, I must say,
that was a cozy sleep.

We got a fine day
in the making here.

Look at this.

Look at all the
frost on the ground.

Winter's coming.

I'm going to start off
with a real good breakfast.

We got fish in the cache.

Let's go see.

Yes, sir.

Well, I got stuff to
do, and let's eat.

The sun is nice, real nice.

♪

This is going to be a good
breakfast, I tell you that.

Oh, God, this is good.

Bit of sunshine.

Look at that deer.

Hey.

Pine marten going for my food.

He's clung on there.

You have gotta be
freaking kidding me.

Relentless.

Little Sassy is making
my life difficult.

Oh, that was the
safest place I had.

Sassy.

My God.

Sassy!

Oh, my God.

[dramatic music]

God.

Sassy!

Chewing me out.

Oh, my God.

That was close.

This food is too important.

I'll take it over to my kitchen.

Man, oh, man, oh
man, unbelievable.

♪

As soon as you let
your guard down,

something takes
advantage of it here.

I'm telling you, man,
critters, unreal.

Whew.

Oh, wake-up call again.

Oh, boy.

Bloody m*rder.

Sassy had it all
softened up for me.

Body is going to work to
keep warm, burn off calories.

So as food gets scarcer,
that kind of stuff

plays an even bigger role.

♪

[tense music]

Sucking all this fat
off, skin, there's some.

♪

You gotta be kidding me.

Something is in my food cache.

Look how chewed away
this half of fish is.

It's all chewed away.

Something's in there.

It's got to be mice.

I can't keep food from stuff
for even one night out here.

Crazy.

I have to build a second food
cache because the cold storage

one that I made is
not good for keeping

stuff in through the winter.

Now, I'm going to saw up
pieces from my old cooler box

for my new cache.

I've decided to build
a Roland-style food

cache on the ground rather
than up in the trees.

[grunts]

It is wet and heavy.

I've concluded that
it'll take less work,

possibly offer just
as good of protection.

So the less-work option
is very good right now.

I've decided to build
my ground cache here

underneath a big overhang
tree in a spot that's

dry in spite of all the rain.

I'm not sure how far
I'll get on it today.

I'm sure I won't get finished.

But here goes.

It has to be totally
moisture-proof,

be bear-proof, mouse,
weasel, and mink-proof,

everything-proof out here.

Now I'm going to use
my fish weir panels

for the floor.

Ice up's not far away.

So food cache just in
time to throw food in it

and have it be frozen.

The weather is
going to get cold,

and the meat is going to keep.

I'm sure of that.

But I'm trying to
figure out, how can I

keep it from these animals?

Now, it's my hope

that I can put this
moose hide in my box

like a liner with
this flesh side out.

Little critters, mice
that have been plaguing me

will come up and chew on this.

But I hope they won't
chew holes through it.

But I've got one
hole right here.

A mouse could run through
there with a truck.

It's the hole the
arrow went through.

So I'm going to sew
it up with some wire

before I put this over there.

So I'm going to be using this.

You can see that it's a
very thin, delicate awl.

And that's what I'm
going to use to sew this.

[tense music]

♪

There we go.

That'll be good.

Now I'm going to bind
the wire in there.

Mice are doing... little stuff
like that is doing more damage

to my food supply
than bears and stuff

you'd typically think about.

You're watching the
TV show, you're like,

oh, a bear's going
to get his food.

Uh-uh.

Fricking mice are
going to get it.

But I've made my cache
strong out of logs

so that a bear, if
he does happen along,

will also be disappointed.

[grunts]

♪

Now, that's the main
box of my food cache.

Now, look down in here.

I'm going to put my food in
here, my jerky, on that hair.

The hair should keep
the dry jerky nice

and help absorb any moisture.

Now I intend to make the lid.

Back to cutting up trees.

♪

I see it coming together.

I think I'll have a good
place to put my food.

[wood cracking]

♪

That, ladies and
gentlemen, is a food cache.

Almost ready.

One locking bar across the top
into two notches on the trees.

That's what she lacks.

Tired and done for the day.

♪

Look at that owl right there.

It's so in hunting
mode right now.

It's seeing my feet as targets.

[hoots]

That was awesome.

♪

Damn, dude.

How about that?

We're going to
check the gill net.

I need to go get some
more clothes on, though,

because it's cold.

♪

♪ I'm going to
cross my fingers ♪

♪ For a bigger fish
in the gill net ♪

'Cause that means, hmm...

We have a lot more food.

And we can just smoke
fish without any

of the stress of worrying
whether we're going to have it

or not, eh?

If I would have seen that moose
an hour earlier in the day,

we would be eating
moose backstrap.

Also, had I not lost
that fish, I'd probably

be eating pike right now.

That would have made
things so freaking easy.

Can't be making mistakes.

This is not the place for that.

[bleep].

The river's looking low.

It's certainly not ideal depth.

There's nothing
in that gill net.

All right, we got to
start fishing immediately.

♪

There's clearly something
up with the water levels.

They're just dropping
fast, inches per day.

Hope we get a big one.

Our pike scraps are getting
really, really rank, man.

♪

If these pike are gone, we have
to adapt to a new strategy.

And I don't know
what that is yet.

Please, pike, we need you today.

I don't really want to adapt.

I want pike to keep coming.

Good spot right there.

I want to keep grinding.

And hopefully, I can avoid my
food supply dwindling down.

Here we go.

Can't quit today, man.

Everything is on the line here.

No pun intended.

[whispering] I thought I
heard something over here.

♪

Oh, it's right there, dude.

♪

There's a [bleep] moose
crossing the river

right in front of me.

Look at that moose right there.

♪

Oh, my freaking God.

♪

[dramatic music]

Oh, my freaking God.

♪

Get another chance, huh?

That is straight across
the river from me, too.

I just got to sit still.

As soon as it gets past me, I'm
going to try to run up the hill

and then call it across.

♪

I could probably
hit it from here,

but let's try to call
it across in a second.

♪

Please cross. Please cross.

♪

[bleep].

♪

There we go.

I gotta try to stay
with this moose,

to see if he crosses this river.

And when it does,
I'm going to haul a*s

and try to get into position.

♪

I'm going to call this
moose across this river.

♪

[moose call]

♪

[bleep].

That thing does not care, man.

♪

It's going up in.

That's probably it...

for the moose.

♪

That thing is gone, long gone.

Big moose rolls out right
across the river from me.

I know I could hit
it, but it would not

be the most ethical shot
because I don't know how much

penetration I'd get on it.

And to recover
that, I would have

to build a raft or a boat or
something to cross the river.

I don't have energy
to build a boat.

I don't have a free tarp.

I don't have the
resources to do that.

So I could never get it.

It's frustrating, watching the
meat truck roll in front of me

while I'm here struggling.

♪

Man, that moose was just
rubbing it in my face, dude.

It's like, nah, nah, nah.

You can't get fish.

Nah, nah, nah.

Can't get me because I'm on
the other side of the river.

Still possible I could have
something like that happen

on this side of the river.

Snowing.

Would you look at that?

♪

Would you just look at that?

Day 31, moose crossing,

fish no biting, snow flying,

winter beginning.

♪

[wind howling]

♪

So winter arrived, obviously,

and it's snowing
pretty good still.

And it looks like it
could continue all day.

The sky just looks absolutely
socked in with snow clouds.

[snow crunching]

Oh, my goodness.

[whispering]
Moose right there.

How cool is that?

[laughs] Yes.

Yes, I got it

for Levi and Elliot, some
really good moose footage.

♪

Woke up with the
surprise of snow.

And it was a feeling of joy

because there's
contestants in this game

who don't live around snow.

Moving to remote Alaska,
I'm used to working

in a winter environment.

I know how to handle myself
in the cold weather extremes,

so excited about the snow.

Look at that, first drink
of snow for the year.

Good morning, everybody.

Welcome to winter.

♪

[dramatic music]

♪

Oh, man, it makes me miss home.

[laughs]

Oh, freeze up in the snow

and wood stove and hot beverages

and donuts and cookies,
stew and bread and butter.

Oh, God, this snow
makes me miss home.

I hope it makes
everybody else miss home

in a different sort of way.

There's snow on the ground.

This is going to complicate,
and this is going to help.

So let's go with the positive.

I can now go out, and
I can find animal sign.

I've got a bow.

See if we got any
new tracks around.

I think I do have an advantage
when it comes to weather.

Alaska is the last frontier.

And that's my happy place.

It could be slick.

So slow, steady.

It looks like we got a
little ice on the edge of

the lake here.

Oh, what are you doing
out, little muskrat?

It's past your bedtime, cutie.

Is that because your beaver's
all snared up somewhere,

and you don't know what to do?

That'd be pretty awesome.

The outdoor lifestyle
in remote Alaska

is exactly who I
was meant to be.

The longer I'm out
there, the more

I've been able to become
confident in myself.

Well, she's not snared up here.

I credit Alaska for
my healing process.

It's a lot easier to
be focused on someone

when you take the
walls away and you

go sit around a campfire.

It's a lot easier to
interact with your kids

when you put a fishing
rod in their hand

and you teach them to fly fish.

It gave me an inner peace
I'd never found in the city.

I've not seen a sign
of any other animal

through these little
woods I've walked through.

All righty, let's go
check the long line.

♪

Oh, come on.

Please, please, please.

No fish.

[bleep].

But I'm not giving up.

Please, God, guide me
on a successful hunt.

My body and my soul
needs the nourishment.

♪

[bleep].

I'm going to turn around.

Just don't have the
strength like before.

My body's starting to degrade.

You know, I'm not
feeding it right.

I may go to bed every night
with food in my stomach,

but it's not protein.

A lot of fear of where
the next real meal

is going to come from.

So this positive of the snow,

not feeling real positive
about it right now.

♪

Oh.

You know, one part of the
plan I did follow through on

was forage, forage, forage.

I have a limited time to forage.

Don't waste that time.

So...

I'm glad I... I'm
glad I did that.

I have a food cache for
the winter, mushrooms,

berries, root vegetables.

And hopefully, I can
just store up the carbs

and keep hunting the protein.

It's going to be OK.

I am going to be OK.

I have faith.

It may not be on my
timetable, but I'll be OK.

I know that.

God will watch over me.

God will get me this...
this food source I need.

It'll be OK.

♪

That was mink.

Guess where he was headed.

To my food cache.

Guess what.

He cannot get in.

[laughs]

Makes me want to laugh.

I have meat stored in there.

So I've been taking the risk
for the last couple of days

that a wolverine or
a bear won't come.

I'm not taking the risk anymore.

Right now, I'm going
to secure this.

So what I have to have

is a log across the top

that goes into a notch in this
tree and a notch in this tree.

With the log over it
and a wedge down there,

I don't think anything will
be able to tear it out.

[footsteps crunching]

♪

The awesome thing about
these temperatures dropping

like they are is that I can
now start to haul in my fish,

and they'll keep for me.

And that's going to just
boost my food cache.

It's going to
boost my longevity.

I've got the log I want.

Now we lay it across here and
put some marks on the tree.

But at the same time,
there's a little anxiety.

The snow is starting to stick.

It feels like I'm on a
set of railroad tracks.

And I start to feel a rumble.

And I don't know what's
coming around the bend

because I don't know how
bad winter is going to be.

But I know I'm staying for it.

It's hard to get it
square up in there

without damaging the top lip.

I know my wife is at home
praying every day for me

here being well and safe.

All right, let's see
if that'll go in.

Probably have to do a
little trimming somewhere.

My wife, Kara, is incredible.

She's also a passionate
humanitarian worker,

a linguist.

And we work well together.

All right, now, watch this.

I'm going to drive
this wedge in.

She's tamed me because I
was a feral animal creature.

She's made me much less weird.

[laughs]

She's my interface
with what people mean

and what they say with
the human species.

She's taught me so much.

Now I've got to wedge
this side, over here.

We've had a long-distance
relationship

at various times, when I've been

gone to a different
country for a long time.

And the most amazing
thing about her

is that instead of
making her hate me,

we've been drawn
closer together.

And I find that when we
come back and compare notes

that we went on the
same mental journey

across all those miles.

And it's just amazing how
cosmically two souls like that

could find each other.

Yeah.

Food cache, done, totally done.

Food can be safe.

We don't have to worry,
sleep there at night,

thinking, the world
might blow down,

bears might come,

food's unmovable, steadfast.

♪

I need to get my fish
cut up and put in there.

♪

Oh, no, it's icing
up at the river.

If I catch fish on there,
they'll cut my lines

on the edges of the ice.

So I need to clean those fish.

Fat from the moose,
that's limited.

So all the fish that I'm
catching, that's essential.

♪

Is this string busted?

♪

[bleep].

♪

[dramatic music]

There's an issue here.

My stringer with my
biggest fish is gone.

That fish had seven meals on it.

I have no idea what happened.

It's like the whole
stick is gone.

Man!

That's a blow.

That was a lot of food.

Oh, man.

The ground is frozen, so
there's no tracks of any type.

I don't know if
something chewed it off.

I had it fastened on
with full paracord.

Maybe an otter came and
ripped it loose or something.

♪

That's a real disappointment.

This stringer
appears still there.

I'm going to make sure
that fish is there.

♪

Wait, I think this one's...

this one's gone too.

No!

♪

No, it's not.

It's still there.

Good, good, good, good.

♪

Well, I've lost one
huge fish here, guys.

I've lost one huge fish.

And that's a blow to
the food budget there.

Oh, my goodness.

I'm not going to leave that fish

out there on that stringer.

I can guarantee you that.

♪

I'm assuming the
other contestants are

catching just as many
fish because they've

all got hooks and nets.

Maybe some of them have
the whole winter supply.

This competition
could last forever.

So I can't afford to get
fish and then lose it.

All right, now I'm going to
go get this in my food cache

quick before the
gray jays get it.

Guys, this is how cold it is.

This fish is frozen,

frozen already.

So grateful for this food cache.

♪

We're going to go all
over the place today.

And if we hunt something,
we hunt something.

If we set snares, we set
snares, whatever happens.

Let's get moving.

I bet that's really
bright for you.

How about that?

Oh, boy, it is cold out.

I've been thinking
about Christmas so much.

Maybe it's because that's
the time when I hang out

with the most people, usually.

And I kind of want to
hang out with people.

♪

All right, let's check
our rabbit snares.

I got bullied a lot.

A lot of people can't
really understand what it

feels like to go through that.

I've become quite calloused.

And I don't rely
on too many people.

Sure would be a good day to have

a moose swim across the
river in front of me.

It's just safer for me to
be a hermit and to just say,

[bleep] off, society,
I'll do it by myself.

But there's definitely
times I do crave

to be around people.

[whispering] Cold
as hell out here.

I look at all of my
friends and sisters

and stuff, that have kids,
and I was like, damn, dude,

when I die, what
am I going to have?

Nothing.

Empty.

Empty.

Empty.

It's not very easy for people
to make it in through my walls

at this point.

Mentally, I trust myself
to keep myself happy,

and I know there's no
sudden pain coming.

Now, this is some
fresh beaver sign.

Look at that beaver
slide right there.

So they walk up here

to chew on stuff.

This looks like
a damn den to me.

♪

That... that's enough
activity for me to set a trap.

I'm going to use
all the wire I have.

I don't have a ton,

but I think I have 15 feet
of strong beaver wire.

So I'm going to use
every bit of it.

♪

Beavers are big freaking
animals full of fat.

Oh, right about there, I'd say.

Having a beaver would
be equivalent to having

a huge pot roast in my shelter.

I would love that.

That's going to be
a damn strong stake.

I'll tell you what.

That's hard wood right there.

And I'm going to try to
take advantage of it.

This is what we needed
today to get a little wind

beneath our wings, man.

Holy [bleep].

[dramatic music]

[water splashing]

[grunts]

Well, that's [bleep] stupid.

♪

Oh, dude.

All right, I just [bleep]
fell in the water.

I'm really [bleep] close
to hypothermia already.

Oh, [bleep].

That's so stupid.

I got to get this thing set.

Swimming in an ice-cold
lake in the Arctic

is about the worst thing
you could have happen.

All right, that should do it.

I got to [bleep] go.

My boots are full...

[sighs]

completely full.

My pants are soaked.

Everything is soaked.

I gotta go pretty
close to a mile.

And I need to get there
really, really fast.

This is so bad.

This is so [bleep] bad.

[breathing heavily]

♪

Try to get my shoes
light as I can...

♪

Before I [bleep]
haul a*s out of here.

I am pretty screwed, dude.

And there's no good
way out of here, man.

♪

Damn, I don't have
my firesteel on me.

So I can't even start a fire.

♪

[footsteps crunching]

[grunts]

That's what... that's
what the beginning stages

of hypothermia look like.

And after that, you're
looking at [bleep] death.

So watch close.

♪

Just [bleep] let me
walk through here, man.

♪

Dude, drained.

Now I'm literally lost
in an alder thicket.

And I've not made it
any place because, like,

right there looks like where
I started walking from.

Holy [bleep].

That's the edge of the
lake right there, dude.

Frick.

Dude.

♪

Just gotta ease our way out...

♪

This direction.

♪

How did this happen?

♪

A little bit more this way.

[footsteps crunching]

Damn close to home.

♪

[grunts]

[exhales sharply]

Oh, my God.

Every step is,
like, excruciating.

♪

I'm just going to
go really slow.

♪

We made it back.

So I'm going to get some...

get indecent in my shelter
and get this fire going.

I'll talk to you guys when
I get my clothes changed.

♪

We're home.

Home, sweet home.

♪

Get a load of that,

steam coming off my silkness.

You spend your entire
life being alone

and being a hermit,
and when it's all said

and done and you're
on your deathbed,

how are you going to feel
if you're all by yourself?

The thought of dying alone is
a pretty miserable thought.

[grunts]

Holy crap.

Holy crap, dude.

I love the thought of
being home and hanging

out with my family and stuff.

But I probably also
love the thought

of a half a million dollars.

So I'm just gonna hang in there.

And then I can have both.

Can't wait till all
this clothes is...

dried out.

It's going to be a while.

♪

Oh, good morning.
Good morning.

Good morning.

I said I'm not going
to be in no rush today.

I got my... most of my,
like, big work done on beaver

sets yesterday.

So I didn't want to
go over and spook

the beavers away from them.

So I said, I'm just going
to sleep in a bit longer.

But now I'm going to get
up and get on the go.

First order of business,
check our rabbit snares.

♪

Beaver is the fattiest,
greasiest animal

that I could catch.

Eating fatty food
keeps you warm.

And so that fat is what I
need as the temperatures drop.

Yeah, half the lake
freezing up over there.

Look at this.

The ice is froze.

Oh, my God.

Oh.

Hey! Hey!

♪

[dramatic music]

Oh, my.

Oh, jeez.

Oh, my.

My worst fear come
true, a small beaver.

My strategy was to
get a big beaver.

And that's what I was
going to use to propel me

forward to these later games.

Ah, jeez.

The beaver, and
being a small one,

is a major setback
in that strategy.

♪

And here he is, Mr. Beaver.

[laughs]

Yeah, I got some other stuff
I'd like to get done today,

super-stoked now, you know.

You know, this is a
papoose, 15 pounds or so.

And so this beaver is not
going to have the fat on it

like I really need.

But right now, with my
food supply running low,

I need, like, a 30-,


All right.

I'm going to start just
cutting off his feet.

♪

It's a lovely piece
of meat there.

My family is everything to me.

Like, whatever I
do now is for them.

That's why I would never
quit, because I know,

at the end of the day,
if I was successful,

their future is
going to be brighter.

[crow cawing]

[imitates crow cawing]

[crow caws]

See look, fatty meat, right?

Let's do it.

Let's make the move.

♪

When it gets low on food,
and it gets critical

to look after it.

♪

Otherwise, old
Sassy gonna get it.

[chuckles]

I probably should...

help take some of the weight.

♪

I think that's safe for now.

♪

What a fantastic day, boy.

Whoo, whoo.

And I'm not chancing
that no more, man.

But as food security goes,
it went up a lot today.

There we have one beaver
head, Mr. Chiseltoothed.

Oh, looking forward to it.

Huh?

Mmm.

♪

Check out this pine marten
right up here, guys.

It's very curious about me.

Let me see if I can get
him... yeah, right behind me.

See that... in that
tree, right there?

Right behind me.

Thinks he can scare
me away by growling.

[pine martin grunting]

There he goes.

Now he's headed over
towards my food cache.

♪

See, that's my food cache.

See what he does.

♪

You're not allowed to
k*ll these little guys.

But I'm not going to let them
just have a happy time there.

[loud boom]

♪

There he is again.

♪

[bear banger popping]

♪

Everything's secure.

I don't want animals hanging
out around if I can help it.

Now, I better go
check the fish lines.

But it's not just below
freezing or anything like that.

It's just cold.

Wait.

No.

Guys, guys, guys,
guys, guys, guys,

guys, I see my stringer pole
that I lost during the night.

And I have no idea
if the fish is on it.

But if I can just get
it out of the river...

I'll check.

I hope the fish is on it.

I don't know how to get it.

But I'm going to use
this long pole and try.

♪

Maybe that stick can hook over.

[ice crunching]

♪

Man.

[water splashing]

♪

Please, be on there, fish.

Please, be on there.

♪

Yes. Yes!

Yes.

My fish is on there.

Yes. Yes.

Yes. Wow.

All right, look at my hand.

That's the size of that fish.

I cannot believe that.

I got the fish that got
away on the stringer.

Let me see what
happened on the end.

The knot came untied.

How'd I do that?

My knot came untied.

And I lost the fish.

But I just got it.

I just got it.

Wow, guys, this is a
huge moment for me.

Huge.

Thank you, God.

That was like seven
or eight meals

right there that I
thought was gone.

Oh!

♪

All right, guys, got to carry
this up to my food cache

and get it stashed.

There's mink everywhere.

They want to steal my stuff.

I'm going to get
this to the box.

All right, we've got
two fish in the box.

Let me go get my big
fire stoked up now.

♪

At this point, with the
snow, I've decided to move

my fire into my shelter.

Now I'm going to test it.

♪

[fire crackling]

So as you can tell, it's
pretty smoky in here.

Like, the smoke
is rushing out it,

but it's a little
hard to breathe.

Let me close the door here,
and see if that helps.

♪

Yeah, this is not
letting enough smoke out

to meet my needs.

Oh, oh, oh, my goodness.

♪

It's not safe.

It's definitely
enough smoke that

could k*ll you in your sleep.

I don't know if there's a
way to fix this problem.

I may have to have
a zero-fire shelter.

And that does not bode well
for when the temperature

really drops, you guys.

It's a big problem.

And I don't have any
answers at the moment.

None.

♪

[dramatic music]

♪

Holy cow!

Look at how much that looks
like a fricking fish head.

That looks just like
a damn burbot head.

That's an omen.

That's an omen.

Take me to your leader.

[laughs]

Freaking cold, man.

And my stuff's still not dry.

So about ready to
put my down parka on.

We're going to
check the gill net,

see what this river's doing.

♪

This is the debut
of my winter parka.

♪

Crap, the river's
half frozen out here,

fuh-reaking frozen, dude,

except for the middle.

If I fall in today,
man, I'm in big trouble.

But there is a pike
in the gill net.

Can you believe that?

Yeah, dude.

♪

That's not a pike.

That's a frickin' coney, dude.

No way, man.

♪

Yeah, we got a freaking
coney in the gill net.

♪

Whoo!

Look at that big
freaking coney...

coney, dude.

So this is what you call
an inconnu or a coney.

The locals call them
coneys or sheefish.

They come up here to
spawn this time of year.

I'm going to put the
gill net back in.

But we got another fricking two
days' worth of food, at least,

man, three, probably.

This is amazing.

I hope we can do that just one
more time before this thing

is a solid sheet of ice.

♪

Feel a little bit warmer.

I definitely don't
want to be sweating.

I'm going to go gut
it and scale it.

And then I'm going to hang
it up outside my shelter.

I absolutely trust nature
more than I trust people.

I relate to animals.

And I see the way animals think.

It's a skill that
I've always had.

And it's definitely
been a great asset

as far as my wilderness
living is concerned.

Let's go check
our fishing lines.

Come on, baby.

One more fish today,
and I'll be satisfied.

I don't rely on too many people.

What's the Simon
and Garfunkel song?

I am a rock.

I am an island.

I feel like that.

But I'm slowly, I
guess, realizing

that nothing means anything
when it's all by yourself.

It only means
anything worthwhile

when you're experiencing
it with another person.

Beautiful.

You got fish up the
freaking wazoo today, man.

But at this point, we
definitely don't have

to worry about meat going bad.

So I'm all for storing as many
fish as we can possibly get.

Because winter is here.

I would like to find somebody
to love and care about.

And you know what would feel
frickin' good right now?

Is to have a half million bucks

and to go home and have a
wife and start a family.

You guys aren't going
to believe this, dude.

So I was down there
cleaning my knife

off after scraping this...

that other fish.

And I got another pike.

We are swimming in
freaking fish right now.

That's freaking wild.

This is good, dude.

We're doing freaking awesome.

All we got to do now
is stay safe and...

and keep warm.

That's it.

And get a few more fish.

But other than that, man,

Mom and Dad and sisters,

Faith, Angel and Bridget,

I'm freaking doing it, dude.

Whoo-hoo!

♪

That is so cool.

Now, they look kind
of gruesome and bad.

But now I can mess
around on some projects.

Here we go.

I really wish I
hadn't just seen that.

Oh, [bleep] me.

I'm sick to the stomach.

This is the worst state I've
been in since I got here.

I'm [bleep] screwed.

My left kidney is
friggin' screaming at me.

Oh, my God. It's horrible.

♪