03x04 - Temagami Hunting (Deep Woods)

[bunniefuu]

This time on "Survivorman,"

I've decided to bring
my longtime friend Bob Wilson.

Bob's not experienced
in survival,

but he's been hunting
and fishing for years,

and the reality is
that it's much safer

to head out for hunting with
a partner than it is alone.

There will no doubt be
as many pros as there are cons

when it comes to surviving
as two.

Man: Bob!

When summer fades

and the cooler temperatures
take over,

one activity
over all the others

heats up in a fever
of intensity -- hunting.

Bear and moose, deer, duck,
even caribou hunting

puts millions of people

smack-dab in the middle of
remote wilderness every year.

And every year,
hunters occupy

the highest statistic
of lost victims.

My hunting partner, Bob,
and I

are heading into a hunting area

in a remote region in
the Great Lakes boreal forest

known as temagami.

Whew! Okay, Bob?

[ Grunts ]

And this is where we'll stay

without food, no camera crew,
and very few supplies --

just the two of us

surviving for a week
in northern Ontario.

Northern Ontario

attracts thousands of hunters
every year,

and temagami is classic boreal
and Great Lakes forest

with unmatched beauty.

But it's vast and would be
a tough place to be lost in.

I'm giving Bob
a few quick tips

on how he can film himself
while in the wild.

And -- yeah, you can
see it now, right? Yeah.

Three shots. All right.
Okay.

The camera crew's
actually already left,

and now Bob
is also leaving.

He's heading in deep,

see if he can find himself

a good spot
to set up a tree stand.

As for me, I'm gonna hop
on the bike

and go in a lot farther down
on an established trail

and then hike in from there
so I can find a spot

where I can set up
my own blind.

[ Chuckles ]

Oh, look at that.

That's gonna be my tree stand.

A frequent method for hunting
is to split up.

You stand a better chance
of spotting game

or maneuvering game into the
sights of your partner's r*fle.

Yet this is also how hunters
often get lost.

The split-up leaves
survival gear and food

with only one person.

This is it.
This is where I'm gonna head in.

I realized after I got going

that I forgot to keep
my hunter's orange on,

so I've put the vest
on the back

so that
I'm playing this safely.

Really, I'm just hiking
through the bush

looking for possible
animal runs, trails,

giveaways that
they frequent the area.

This doesn't look good,
actually.

I'm gonna put the camera down
and just keep hiking.

I got cameras to carry, anyway.

Make my way in
so I can find a nice spot

where I can set down
and find a runway.

This is a good spot.

We split our hunting methods

between a tree stand
and my hunting blind.

Both techniques have their
advantages and disadvantages,

but either way, the idea is
to be as concealed as possible

so you don't scare off
potential game.

Of course, concealment,

when it comes to being lost

and trying to survive
and be seen,

works against
what you're trying to do.

This is gonna be great.

This is classic hunting --

Bob on his tree stand,
me in my blind,

much farther away after
a long atv drive and a hike.

At first, we hunt separately,

with the intention of having me
leave my blind the next day

and come back on the atv to Bob
to drive game to him.

Now we wait.

Gonna be a little bit
of work here,

'cause the night has fallen,

and I still don't really have
a place to sleep.

I feel sorry for Bob.

I don't even know what he has
for rain gear at this point.

[ Rain falling ]
I never even asked him.

My little blind here --

it's got me
out of the rain easily.

I mean, it leaks all over 'cause
it's not meant to be a tent,

but at least I'm protected
from most of the rain.

But Bob -- I don't know, man.

He's gonna have to sit
underneath something

and make it through the night.

Yeah, well, if he gets hit
really hard with the rain

and he hasn't got
himself protected,

he could end up hypothermic.

It's getting to be that time.

I'm supposed to go and meet Bob.

I think I'll head off,

get on the bike,
and make my way back to him.

So, the idea here

was that I am supposed to make
my way back to the bike.

Problem --

I set way points with my GPS
for where the bike is.

Batteries are dead.

Now, this is a fantastic GPS,
and I love using it.

But technology will fail you
if you don't look after it.

And I let this thing
stay on all night,

so I got no batteries left.

So without a blazed trail
into here,

finding my way to Bob
could end up being brutal,

and it could be dicey
whether or not

I even make it to him
today or not.

So, I think he's in
a general easterly direction.

I think that's pretty much
where I can find him,

and that's
where I'm gonna head.

But foolish mistake --

trust on technology too much,
it'll let you down.

Better to get
your own knowledge

on how to navigate
through thick bush.

Here comes the rain.

Ugh.

People rely
far too much on technology.

I'll adopt the role
of a classic hunter

who doesn't feel the need
to look around

or Blaze a proper trail,

putting all my trust
into technology

when all along,
it can easily fail.

I've walked many miles
from where I left the quad bike

without blazing a single tree,
so my assumption

is that it will be easier
for me to find Bob

through this thick northern
bush than to find the bike.

I know better, of course.

But allowing my GPS batteries
to die and finding Bob

will force the issue
of surviving out here.

Something's amiss.

The day's wearing on here,
and I've still got no lunch.

I don't hear that quad running.

Something's not right.

He shouldn't have been this long
past our rendezvous time.

Bob and I already had
a system in line.

Three shots --

that's actually a pretty
well-recognized symbol

of you need help,
is three shots.

So I'm gonna fire three shots,
and with any luck at all,

I'm close enough,
I'll hear his answer.

[ g*nshots ]

What the hell?

We're gonna respond.
I'm gonna respond here.

Here it goes.

[ g*nsh*t ]

Ha ha. All right.

Hopefully you heard that.
Awesome.

I'm just over a hill here,

so he's got to be --
he's got to be just that way.

All right.

[ Laughs ]
Now, that's surviving.

That is good communication.

That's good news.

[ Groans ]

[ Whistle blowing ]

You hear that whistle?

Over here.

All right,
coming, coming.

Where the heck?

Okay, some clearing here.

That's when a plan works out,
just like that.

I can't see you.
Keep calling.

Keep talking to me
so I can follow you.

One. Two. Three. Four.

That's the best thing
to do --

get them to call out
and follow their voice.

One. Two.

Hey!
Three.

I see you, bro.
How you doing?

Well, that sure worked
like a charm,

as far
as locating you goes.

All right, so,
bottom line now is

Bob is gonna come down
from the tree stand,

and -- and this is it.

We either make our stand
and survive here,

or we move on to what we might
think is more fertile grounds.

But instead of going home,
we're here to survive.

After all,
this is "Survivorman" --

or, I guess, now in this case,
"survivormen."

The rain has obliterated
any signs of a trail we made

on our long hikes
into the hunting areas.

Our job now is to push our way
through the bush

and try to survive in it.

I'm sure
there will be advantages

to having two people
in a survival situation,

but there will be
disadvantages, too.

The best part, however,
will likely be

that our energy will be higher

due to the camaraderie
and the psychological support

we can offer each other.

The danger will be pushing
ourselves too hard

due to pride or simple lack
of respect for our situation.

All right, Bob is getting
a good drink of water here.

We've got little pockets
of water in this sphagnum moss.

And there's two ways
of doing this.

Either you can take the moss
itself, squeeze, and drink.

Ugh. [ Spits ]

I get
beautiful freshwater.

Or, like Bob,
just bend right down and --

now, you'd think
that this water

might be stagnant or even bad,
but it's not.

It's all fresh rainwater
that's just been collecting

here in this sphagnum moss --
nice and clean.

That taste good? Oh,
it's fresh and beautiful.

Ah.
That's good stuff.

So we got plenty of water
for tonight, then.

When it's raining like this,

all of the moss
and all the punky wood

soak up
all that fresh rainwater...

And works like a charm.

Ah. Freshwater.

Poncho.

Perfect.

Good plan --
somebody's prepared.

Not me --
I got nothing.

All I got
is this raincoat.

[ Laughs ]

Good thing Bob brought
this tarp along,

'cause this is all we really got
for the night.

If a moose did go through,

I don't know
if we'd even hear it

because there's been trees
falling down all night,

and the rain hasn't stopped
too much at all.

So, have you slept
at all?

Not a wink.

Tree fell down
maybe 20 yards away.

You could just hear it
tumbling down.

It was just ridiculous.

So, just gonna
finish this out,

get through this night,

and make our way
in the morning.

If you listen carefully,

you'll hear
the geese flying.

Okay.

That last line...
Wasn't called for.

I will finish the scene.

When I finish the scene,
the scene is over.

I liked that line.
You can hear the geese fly.

When I finish the scene,
the scene is over.

With the day starting off
just as the night ended --

in a torrential downpour --

Bob and I
have just kept hiking,

pushing ourselves harder
to get somewhere ideal.

This is a problem,
one that can be serious.

If we push ourselves too hard,
we'll both be drained

and unable to properly hunt
or make the shelter we need

to keep ourselves
from becoming hypothermic.

The downside
of surviving as two

is that you can inadvertently
keep each other going

too far, too fast,

due to the adrenaline-boosting
camaraderie.

Les, you all right?

Yeah, I just got whipped
in the face.

It's that thing where you walk
through the bush --



you're holding the branch
for the person.


you forget.

They aren't watching.
Whack, right in the eyes.

Not a big deal --
well, it's always a big deal.

Little different when you're
at your cottage,

but when you're out trying
to survive, it's everything.

Through here, Bob.
Come on through.

All right, well, Bob and I have
pretty much been going all day.

We put the cameras away
and just hiked, hiked, hiked.

Now, you can tell
from the sunlight above me here

that finally, the rain stopped.

But it poured all night.
The wind blew like crazy.

The wind was blowing
actually pretty well

through most of the day.

And -- hey.

Set your stuff down here,

and we'll get
ourselves organized.

We're out here without a way
of making fire.

At least
we have no matches,

no water, no food --

well, we've got water now.

You can see behind me,

we've actually
finally made it to a lake.

I think if we go up here,
we can build up a shelter.

Maybe I'll get you
on fire.

You mind doing that?
I'll head in there.

So, the bottom line
is we're not here to hunt.

We're here to survive.

Use it for making a shelter.

We've got with us our hunting
knives and a small hatchet

meant for cutting bones while
dressing game in the field.

Any tools at all
in a survival situation

can offer up an advantage.

Surviving with your bare hands
is a painful, tedious ordeal.

Bob's pretty good in the bush,

but surviving's a lot different
than recreational hunting.

You gonna get
on that fire, man?

I don't have enough energy
to bust a bunch more than that.

Bottom line is
Bob and I both blew it.

See, you get out in a situation
like this with someone else,

your confidence level's
a little higher.

You're not watching
as carefully,

and so we just waited
way too long

to start doing what we're doing
right now.

Yeah, we're
totally caught, yeah.

So, what do I end up doing?

Same thing as Bob -- we end up
rushing around way too much,

opening ourselves up to injury

and also wasting
a lot of energy

'cause we're working too fast.

What the heck
are you doing?

I'm building a fire.

Yeah, it's slow and tedious.
Get the fire going.

You're gonna thank me
for this.

No, I'm gonna thank you
when the fire's burning,

not when you're making
a pretty little log home.

A little shell there --
shotgun shell --

basic striker here.

Beautiful,
strong spark.

Got gunpowder
from the shell.

Let's give it
a shot here.

[ Chuckles ]

There we go, there we go,
there we go!

Hey! Bingo!

I've never seen him
do this before,

so I didn't know
if he could or not.

That always feels good when you
feel flame. That's great.

Yeah, there's something
comforting about fire.

The warmth of a flame --
but tomorrow, I mean,

we can drink water all we want
here, but we need some food.

So tomorrow is our chance
to really go at it

and try and find some food
around here.

Stroud:
That was a heck of a lot easier

getting through the night

with two people in a survival
situation than it is with one.

Normally, I'd feed the fire,
and then I'd fall asleep.

Bob was able to keep the fire
going nice and warm,

so I was just out, snoring.

And then he'd wake me up
a couple hours later,

and I'd keep the fire going,

and he'd fall asleep
and be snoring.

So what a phenomenal advantage
it is

to not be alone
in a survival situation.

We're not gonna move today.

We're gonna stay put, work on
seeing if we can catch anything,

get some food in our systems
before we move on.

Keep turning over, might come
up with some bait, you know?

If I could come up with some
bait, I could try some fishing.

That's a -- isn't that

a beautiful little bit of bait
right there?

Right? Salamander.

I got lucky with that.

I'm gonna see if I can find
anything else.

Look at this.
There we go.

Let's go fishing.

I'll show you
where I keep my hook.

And you wouldn't believe
how many times

I've pulled a hook
out of my hat.

All right,
this is a good deal here.

I've been walking along
through the bush,

just looking for places
that I can set some snares.

And I found a plant that I was
not expecting to find at all --

wild cucumber.

Sweet.

And there's a small patch
of it here.

Actually, I didn't even think
it grew this far north,

but now that I know
that it's here,

I'll keep my eyes
wide open for it.

Oh!
That's the real deal.

Oh, man, is that good.

Well, I got a choice now.

I now have to decide whether or
not I want to eat it all myself

or take some back to Bob.

Now, of course, I'm gonna
take some back to Bob,

but that means that for me,
there's only half as much

as what I actually see here
because I've got to share.

And...
[ Clicks tongue ]

Makes you think
about things.

I got a couple more plants
I can gather here.

That'll help --
this little guy here.

Got wintergreen.

Chew on it,
freshens up the breath,

and it actually
has components in it

that will help to get rid
of headaches.

So, I'm gonna gather
some of this,

and we can take it back
and make some tea.

Gather some of this
sarsaparilla.

The roots -- I can peel
this Woody part off

and...eat it like pasta.

When Bob and I were
talking about,

you know, what to do here,
who should do what,

and he said he wanted to go out
and do the hunt

and that I would do the snares,

I said, "well, why don't you
do the snares?

You've never done
a snare before."

And the fact is he's been
hunting for years and years,

but most classic hunters,
even if they carry snare wire,

have never actually set
a snare.

And why?

And he gave me, you know,
the classic answer --

"well, I've always had a r*fle
with a b*llet in it."

And so it's very true.

You rely on your r*fle
or your shotgun,

and you don't end up learning
the survival techniques that --

what if you run out of b*ll*ts,

or what if you lose that g*n,
or what if it malfunctions?

And so that's why I'm here
setting the snares

and Bob is out
fishing and hunting.

Mmm.

That's good.

[ Laughs ]
What have we here?

Either bait for fishing
or a bit of a meal --

take your pick.

I'm gonna have to put him
in a pocket, I guess.

Animals are no different
than humans.

They don't like
to get wet, either.

Logs over streams

can make great places
to set your snares,

as more than one species
of game animal

will cross the log
just to stay dry.

One big snare
and one small snare.

What I love about snaring is
that it works when you're not.

Okay.

I had to turn this on quickly

because I just got myself...

...a little snake.

It's not much.

It's not a big one,
but still, it's a meal.

Best way to k*ll them --
just whack the head.

Okay, it's pretty much done.

There we are.

Now, one way to do this

works especially well
with bigger snakes --

look him all curled up there,

tying himself up in a knot --

is to actually kind of
pull the skin back,

utilizing the head.

There we go.

So, now just a matter
of take the skin

and just peel it
right off like this.

It's easy enough
to clear out the guts.

And the guts we can use
as excellent fish bait.

I'll get the guts out and give
those to Bob right away.

Fresh snake meat.

The energy within the muscles
of the snake

keep it moving
long after it's dead.

That you, Bob?
[ Whistles ]

Come on in.
Yeah, over here.

It's actually
good practice

to call to somebody
before you approach them.

When you approach somebody
in the wilderness --

survival situation -- you don't
know if they're freaked out.

You don't know
if they're panicking.

And a lot of people
have been known

to actually sh**t
at their rescuers

'cause they're
just too scared.

Well, here, have a seat,
and we'll eat up some lunch.

Down for some snake?
Yeah.

What do you think?
Fabulous.

Make sure the camera
can see you.

Oh, that's a good angle,
actually.

All right, first bit of food
in four days.

Uh, cheers.

Bon appã©tit.
Yeah.

Mmm.

It's a bit of nutrients,
anyway.

This, my friend, is very rare,
hard to find --

wild cucumber.

Pop one in your mouth.

Oh, my goodness.
That's fabulous.

Is that good?
Oh, yeah.

Put some wintergreen
and blueberry leaves

into this cup right now.

Might as well
get some tea brewing

while Bob hunts and I try
to bolster up the shelter a bit.

I've fished my whole life.

I have given them
every opportunity --

salamanders, slug,
frog, snake guts --

and I can't catch one fish.

What's up?

All day, Bob has tried to catch
a fish with no luck at all.

Finally, someone else
shares in my frustration

of trying to catch fish
without full fishing tackle.

What was once bait...

Is now dinner.

...is now dinner.
[ Laughs ]

Look at that.

Sarsaparilla
that I picked earlier --

cook it up
just like spaghetti,

give you some starches
and nutrients.

It's actually got
a good flavor to it.

Yeah, it is good.

Well, it might be just
wild frog, but it's cooked.

Isn't that good...
Oh, my goodness.

To have
some actual meat?

Oh, my goodness,
that's so nice.

Even a little frog just makes
a big difference.

Okay, so,
both Bob and I are kind of --

if you can feel it --
kind of going low-energy here.

And there's no question about it
-- it's just the lack of food.

A lot of hiking to get here,

set the snares,
fishing, hunting,

and it wears you right down.

I think the biggest danger
at this point, though,

is gonna be the possibility
of hypothermia.

It's cooling down.

If we get a night of cold rain,
that's gonna be tough.

Tomorrow,
the local search and rescue

will be notified
of our situation

and will be mobilized
into action

to see if they can find us

in these miles and miles
of thick northern bush.

So they'll have their jobs
cut out for them.

This is the other advantage
of being two people.

One of the things we can do
is I can take -- hey, Bob.

Come here.

Why don't --

why don't I flank left,
you flank right?

Yeah.

See, this way, if Bob flanks on
one side, I flank on another --

well, essentially, at this point
we are just hunting,

but the fact is
even when you're lost,

even when you have to survive,
we've got to get something.

And we increase our chances
if we maybe spread out.

But the reality is, I mean,

we always got to be able
to see each other, right?

Always keep them
in sight.

Yeah. So we got to be able
to see each other.

It's a little bit dangerous
when you start

splitting up a group
in a survival situation.

But on the other hand,
it can be advantageous

if we scare something up

and one of us is closer to it
than the other.

You got to remember
what's at stake here.

The fact is we've got
lots of ammunition.

We've got three forms
of hunting weapons.

And yet, all we've eaten

is a snake and a frog
and some Greens,

and it's been five days.

Our snares yielded
nothing for us overnight,

but it's not too often you get
lucky with a snare in one night.

I've done that with snowshoe
hare in the wintertime.

It's a little easier.

They concentrate
all of their traffic, but...

...it's kind of crazy thinking

about just trying
to get a squirrel,

but we haven't had
anything to eat.

We haven't had much of anything
to eat in five days.

We got dinner.

[ Laughter ]

All right.
Finally, we got some food.

Once again,
our camaraderie has served

to distract
our survival focus,

and we're being chased
by a dropping sun.

Same as always --
it's one of those cases

where I'm sweating from walking
around in the bush.

I'm sweating now, man.

Yeah. And that's not gonna
serve us well.

In the middle of the night,
we're gonna get cold.

You sweat, you die.

Little break.
Rain's holding off a bit now.

Good fire going.

Here we go.
Let's give him a rinse.

Sweet fern,
little bit of spruce needles,

and I'll throw in
some wintergreen, as well,

so we get another good,
nutritional, warming tea here

before this rain
really comes down on us.

Like a bushman stew...

And squirrel
a la carte.

Well, this squirrel should be just
about done, my friend. Excellent.

There we go --

some squirrel leg,
eh, Robert?

[ Laughs ]
Cheers, buddy.

This is a lot better than
a snake, let me tell you.

And a little bigger than a frog.
Yeah.

[ Laughs ]

Oh.

Isn't that something?

Mmm.

It's not much,
but that's the advantage

of having, you know,
ammunition,

the fact
that you're out hunting.

At least you can very quickly
get game that otherwise --

if all you have is snares
or just your bare hands,

trying to make deadfalls
is really tough.

Anything we're finished with,
we can either keep cooking it up

and actually chew
on the bones

and just get everything out
of the bones -- the calcium --

or put the bones
in the hot water,

make ourselves a little bit
of a stew.

Smell the wintergreen.

Oh, you can, too.
Isn't that something?

It's just amazing.

Actually wintergreen
stuffed in the squirrel.

Yeah. And the aroma
coming out of that is beautiful.

Might be surviving --

doesn't mean you can't be
enjoying your food.

This is
our celebration --

squirrel-hunt-celebration
song.

[ Harmonica playing ]

Join in.

Man, she turned cold
last night.

The sky cleared out,

and we're left with
a beautiful, blue-sky day.

But soon as you see those stars
come out at night,

and you're wondering whether or
not it's gonna be warm or cold --

it's gonna be cold.

See that? Ice.

So it got frosty
no matter what,

and it's gonna get
frosty again tonight.

We'd better take
a little better care

when we stop
for the night,

unless search and rescue
finds us.

I'll run one camera here.

Bob will stay up front,

keep his g*n handy.

Got my g*n strapped on here,

but loaded and ready
in case we spot something.

And...as it would be

with anybody
in this kind of situation,

keep moving.

Keep going.

And you think, "oh, there's got
to be a way out of here.

"Got to be able
to find that highway.

Got to be able
to make it to the lake."

Very dangerous situation,
'cause the more you move,

the deeper you get yourself
into trouble.

It's getting pretty wet here.

There's rock and everything
over there.

See all the rock
and everything?

Yeah, I guess
we could cut in there,

see if we can cross over.

How about back
and just go around?

Since we want to keep heading
in this direction behind us here

to get away from the water
down there,

if, while you're walking,

just keep -- you know
where the sun is now?

Face the direction
you want to go,

think about where the sun
hits your head,

and keep the sun
on that spot of your head

to keep going straight,
at least for an hour or so,

and then you know
the sun's moved a bit,

and you allow for that.

But for now,
turn in the right direction,

keep that sun on that spot,
and just keep walking,

and you'll stay straight.

How it is here --

we keep hitting
nice little rock ridges,

but at the same time,
this sphagnum moss --

little depressions
in between them --

pretty wet
and pretty hard walking.

Marsh after marsh.

While Bob and I look for a lake

with a clear opening
to set off a signal,

the search and rescue
has begun.

We have two missing hunters,
been gone for a week.

The initial task will be
to try to locate the atv,

and for that,
we'll use helicopter.

We just start from here
and work the trails out,

launch the boat
at the landing over here,

and just patrol the shorelines
of the lake.

And once we find the atv,
we'll get you on ground.

Bob and I finally made it
across the swamp.

What's gonna slow down
search and rescue

in trying to find us --
if, indeed, we're walking

in the wrong direction
away from them --

number one,
well, this is "Survivorman."

They got a camera crew
following them.

That's gonna
slow them down.

Number two --
this bush is thick,

and a search-and-rescue
crew

must think
of their own safety first.

The last thing
they want to have happen

is to have
a couple rescuers out there

with a snapped ankle
or slashed-open eye

or something like that.

So they've got to take it
steady, but safely.

[ Helicopter blades whirring ]

You hear that?

Chopper.

We got a chopper
in the air.

Bob and I are both
in the thick of it here.

You look up --
there's just no way

that Bob and I can be seen
down in this thick bush.

I mean, we've been
walking and pushing

through tiny, little
rock outcrops mostly.

For the most part,
it's just thick --

thick as thieves down here.

We can hear the chopper.

The best thing would be
to get a smoke signal going.

But we're not prepared
for that at all,

so we'll just keep moving.

Besides,
chopper's been all around,

but it has not
come close to us yet.

No, they're way --
I'm suggesting --

yeah, it hasn't come within
probably 5 kilometers of us yet.

He's way,
way over there.

That's the trick.

In a survival situation
like Bob and I are in,

you see tinder, good tinder,
you grab it while you go.

You don't wait

till you get to the spot
where you're gonna survive,

because you could get there and
not see a birch tree for miles.

The search-and-rescue squad

is certainly
taking this seriously.

For them, not finding us
by nightfall

would be considered
a failure,

and these guys don't fail.

Man: And there's no sighting
of either missing person.

They're still outstanding.

All right, so, Bob and I have
actually come upon a trail.

This trail could take us
right out of here,

or it could go a long way.

It could be
a simple hunting trail,

a miner's claim --
who knows?

And we're hit
right on the middle.

We've hit it right in the
middle, so which way do we go?

You want to try north?
I think we try north.

We're gonna try north
at first.

Without even realizing it,

we're putting
even more distance

between us and the rescuers.

I see
more flagging up there.

[ Radio chatter ]

These search-and-rescue
men and women

are among
the best in the world.

They have to be to work

in some of the thickest forest
on the planet.

They're highly trained
specialists.

And whether trying to find
a lost hunter, a lost child,

or an escaped convict,

they take pride
in their efforts.

Bobby just took a shot.
What'd you get?

Yeah!

No way.

Let's see it, Bobby.

Look at that.
Whew.

That's a male, eh?

Isn't that something?
Have we got a dinner now?

Okay, herein lies
the difference.

Bob was up front,
and he was ready.

He had the g*n ready
the whole time.

The only reason I don't --

for one is he's in front of me,
which is dangerous.

You want to be careful.

And the other one is
I'm running the camera.

And grabbed ourselves --

hey, Bob,
you bagged another one.

Oh, baby.
Another dinner.

This is gonna be so good
on a spit.

This is gonna make
a whole deal right there.

Now, let me
tell you something.

I've always said
the fact --

when you go out hunting,
you go out fishing,

reality is
it's not a big deal

if you get skunked
or whatever.

But if
you've been surviving --

we're on six days now
without food --

or at least we've had
a snake and a frog

and that
little squirrel --

they don't cut it.
This is where it's at.

That's just amazing.

Bob's doing
a quick feathering.

Why don't we keep moving,
keep following this trail?

Take -- gut her, and we got
our meal for tonight.

Figure, or you want
to eat it up quick?

You know, I've got
some pretty good energy here.

I'm all right.
So we're good.

So let's keep going
while I'm not starving.

Keep going, and we'll have it
tonight when we stop.

All right.
Yeah.

Unless search and rescue
finds us first.

Yeah, o.P.S.,
it's Alexander in team 4.

We've located the atv.

Man: The atv becomes
a point last seen.

I'm gonna
just grid 360 degrees,

do a couple boxes around it.

[ Radio chatter ]

For the search-and-rescue team,

the first piece of the puzzle
has fallen into place

now that they've found
our atv.

Stroud:
That's a needle in a haystack

trying to find us down here.

That chopper's up in the air
looking for us.

I feel sorry for them

because there's no way
you can spot us

down here in this thick,
and we cannot find a clearing.

It's just thick bush
all the way.

And as it is, we found
a nice little trail here

that we're taking.

Wilson:
We got shelter birch.

Yeah.
Isn't that sweet?

And a big
shelter rock, too.

We'll make
a shelter here.

One of the things
about making a shelter --

you do it in the thick
of the bush,

you're making a shelter
out of bush,

you're the most camouflaged
you could possibly be

and never be spotted.

So if we can get ourselves
out in the open,

hang up
our orange hunter vests

or even wave them
if somebody goes by,

get a fire going -- the smoke --
we're much better off.

And that's what Bob and I are
attempting to do right now

is to get to the open
and get to the big lake,

do that while the chopper's
still in the air.

Not too many hours into
the search-and-rescue efforts,

the squad continues to find
evidence of our trail,

and their confidence
and efforts

are cranked up a notch.

Man: Go ahead.

Man #2: Billy, I found
a piece of crumpled-up paper,

not too weathered, on the edge
of this dry swamp where we're at.

This whole search is just like
a big crime investigation

or a big puzzle.

Bob!

Helicopter's gone,
so they're gonna call them off,

or it's just
circling elsewhere.

But...it's tough going.
We've lost our trail now.

We had a trail,
and we've lost it.

Something we didn't realize was

that there was a team behind us
on foot the entire time.

While we were walking fast
and pushing hard

to find a clearing by a lake,

they were trying
to catch up to us,

so we were effectively
putting distance between us,

which made
the search and rescue

turn into something that looked
more like a manhunt.

Man: The first team was
two searchers on atvs

that located the atv.

And from there,
we pulled them back,

sent the k9 unit in,
had the chopper overhead.

And between the two of them,

they're kind of leapfrogging
from one clue to the next.

The chopper's been able
to pick out some footprints

in the swampy areas

and then direct the k9
into there.

At this point right now,
it seems like our k9 unit

has a fairly decent track
on them.

Man: Roy, we got two
brand-new arrows.

Bob had dropped a couple
of his arrows,

and the s.A.R. Team
had amazingly found them

in the middle
of the thick bush.

He's right over top of us,

and we're still
in the thick of it here.

We can't get to a clearing
to flash him

or wave an orange flag
'cause this bush is so thick.

We got two spent
.410 cartridges.

Partridge here looks to be
completely plucked.

There's all the feathers
on the ground.

Carcass is missing.

All right, Bob and I have
finally come to an opening.

Les!
Got a lake here.

Bob!

Lake of some sorts.

And -- oh, man.
The chopper.

Hopefully
they'll come back.

He was following us over top.
He's right over top of us.

Waved, but he can't see us
in this thick.

So, Bob, let's set up a spot
in the open here.

We'll get a fire going.

We can cook up the bird,

and that will be a signal
hopefully at the same time.

O.p.s. To k9 one.

Man: Go ahead.

Possibly a footprint right there
in the moss, a fresh one --

right there,
one beside it.

We're hurrying.
Okay.

Make sure we don't burn
those other trees.

We got the smoke going,
chopper in the air.

I got my orange vest.
I'm out in the open finally.

I can't believe
we found this spot.

We can keep the fire going,

just with sticks,
regular sticks underneath,

some evergreen boughs,

but when we throw
that sphagnum moss,

it really makes
a lot of smoke.

Wilson:
Here he comes.

Stroud:
Here he comes.

He's looking
the wrong way.

Go over there.

See, you can tell
where the chopper's looking

because he's angled down towards
the area he's trying to spot,

and we're here.

That smoke's got
to go up in the air.

Sooner or later,
they got to see that smoke.

Many lost individuals
have helplessly watched

as rescue planes have flown
away without spotting them.

So making ourselves
as visible as possible

is the only thing
that we can do.

There he is
right over top of us.

[ Laughs ]
Whoo-hoo-hoo!

All right.

[ Laughs ]

Now, that is some great
search and rescue.

Unbelievable.

How they could find us
in this thick --

I don't know if they're
using heat sensors.

I don't know what, but those
guys were dogging, man.

They just did not stop.

And this is about
as thick as it gets

for forest to be lost in.

And all we were trying to do
is to get to a clearing.

And our timing was right.

They could have done
this quadrant

and gone off and left it
for another day.

Just imagine how hard it is

to search for someone
in a situation like this.

They don't know if we're not
down in the middle of the forest

with a broken leg, immobile,
can't get out on our own speed.

They circled around.
We got people on the ground.

And, man, that is one tough job

to find someone
in bush like this.


search-and-rescue members

were able to find two men

hidden amongst the thousands
of hectares of trees

in the northern forest

in only three-quarters
of a day.

It's a story that repeats
itself every hunting season.

Holy mackerel.

Where the heck
were you guys,

right on our butts here?

Often, the greatest issue
facing people

who love to hunt, fish,
and adventure in the wilderness

is overconfidence.

Many times, hunters are found

after three days
of being lost in the woods,

and the first thing they'll say
to the rescuers is,

"I'm not lost."

The same pride that might
have caused them

to believe
that their compass was wrong

or that they can keep walking
through the night to get out

lasts right until the end,

and there's no admission
that they were indeed lost,

as one pushes the other
to keep on moving

when, in fact,
the best thing to do may be

to stop, build a shelter,
and spend the night.

All that said,

the pros of having
someone with you

to survive a lost ordeal
in the wilderness

can greatly outweigh
the cons.

Survival alone
is still by far

the toughest
survival experience to endure.