(birds chirping)
(growl)
CHRIS: Holy (bleep).
CHRIS: Sign or anything.
CHRIS: Wow, alright. Okay.
(shotgun blast)
CHRIS: (bleep)!
(shotgun blast)
I didn't expect that.
Holy (bleep). I'm sorry, buddy.
JESSI: I thought it was the wind opening the bath house.
But it wasn't, I looked outside that window and I just
saw this bear like,
standing up at our front door.
CHRIS: It's hard to see but right here is a bear paw print
where he actually placed his hand up here and was pulling
with his other hand on the door and was opening and
closing the door to our house.
We thought it was the dog, but then we looked over and
saw the dog.
JESSI: And saw the bear opening our door.
You could see him right through the window.
(Chris sighs)
CHRIS: Well, now that the bear's down,
work's just starting.
It's starting to get warm,
we gotta take care of this animal,
we don't want flies to cover it.
This bear didn't come here and give his life to me
so I would be wasteful.
We're gonna do everything in our power to
preserve this meat.
All of the fur and all of the claws and probably even
the teeth; every bit of this bear is gonna be used.
I feel like if you're out here and you're given a gift like
this and you let it go to waste, The Cosna will know,
and it will punish you.
What a day.
BRITTANY: Living in Alaska,
regardless of what the weather is doing,
we have to prepare.
We have to build,
we have to get these things done.
Especially when our seasons are so short.
BRITTANY: It's just another weird year in Alaska.
Okay, okay. So, we wanna be calm.
Oh man, we need our coop.
Seriously.
Daddy's outside with the excavator making space
for our new coop.
And I think it is none too early.
These girls are about ready to outgrow this pen here.
Kaleb and I have decided to raise chickens for
both meat and for eggs.
The chickens inside the house are starting to stink;
they are definitely ready to go into their big coop.
They are just making a mess, we have to change out their
pens so often because they just poop all over the place.
They need more space.
GILBERT: Mom, look at this little one.
BRITTANY: Yeah.
Is it taking a nice little rest with you?
GILBERT: No. It just laying down.
BRITTANY: Alright, Gilbert. Let's go and help daddy.
KALEB: Today Brittany and I are planning on building
a chicken coop.
She has plans to grow quite a few meat birds this year.
And we also want fresh eggs.
BRITTANY: Hey. KALEB: Hey.
BRITTANY: Looks great.
KALEB: Yeah, so where do you want this chicken coop to go?
BRITTANY: We need a 30 by 10 space, essentially.
KALEB: Okay, our chicken coop will start right here,
just like that.
Okay, now we gotta mark our center because we're gonna,
we're gonna have a center support on our floor.
BRITTANY: Okay.
KALEB: So, we're just getting rough measurements here now,
so I have somewhere to dig.
BRITTANY: Okay.
Alright what do we need to do next?
KALEB: I need to start moving rocks.
I'm using rocks for my foundation for this building
because concrete is really expensive out here.
It's $400 a yard and a week of cure time before you
can put any weight on it.
BRITTANY: Springtime out here varies every year.
Sometimes we don't have snow at this point and other years
we're still getting snow.
We have a small window in Alaska to get s these building
projects done, so we have to get this done now.
Most of what we do today impacts us more in two or
three months then it does right now.
Oh, here comes the jackhammer.
(jackhammer motor)
GILBERT: That is super loud.
BRITTANY: See how this looks.
KALEB: Alright, this thing just goes on here like this,
screw it on.
BRITTANY: Nice.
KALEB: And then we hang our, we hang our floor right here,
so we'll have one at all six of these, uh,
foundation posts.
BRITTANY: Cool.
KALEB: I think it's gonna work.
BRITTANY: Cool, well let's get started on the rest.
One down, five to go.
KALEB: Five to go.
JOHNNY: I enjoy labor, I enjoy hard work.
Living in Alaska,
living this lifestyle I'm able to just come out
onto my land.
Build whatever I want and see the fruits of my labor.
JOHNNY: Alright.
Got all the timber here to make the garden boxes.
And this is where they're all gonna live,
I'm gonna have 'em all set up.
But before I can set them up,
I'm going to clear out all this brush and have like a nice,
level area to work with.
Get all these weeds out of here,
should be able to shape up this land.
The Brooks Range is where I spend the winter,
then come back down to Fritz Creek in the spring
and in the summer.
In Alaska, I have a short but sweet growing period.
It's a small window of time,
but during that window of time I get a lot of sun.
So, I'm gonna capitalize on this opportunity to get a
garden in the ground, start raising some produce.
Which is gonna kinda carry me through the summer.
Looking pretty good.
Think I could fit four of those garden boxes in here.
I'm gonna try to level it out with this pickaxe.
(chopping)
Just kinda get some of these lumps and clumps out
so the logs can lay flat,
and the beds can be nice and even.
Think that'll do, so I'm gonna grab the longer ones,
put 'em on this side 'cause I kinda have a little bit
more room and my space kinda narrows as it goes back so.
It's a little late in the year and that's not
a laziness it's just a lack of time.
Start right here, first log.
There is just always a lot to do when I get to each camp
before I can actually settle down and move on
with new projects.
And Alaska has a very short growing season.
So, it's kind of a one-shot opportunity.
I needed to act now and move fast.
So, the boxes are complete,
I need to get out there toward the beach and
start bringing in some material...
Cool.
To fill these boxes.
CHEVIE: Being taught and raised in Alaska
by generations of Alaskans before me.
There's some responsibility and obligation to be able to
pass that down to my kids.
It's how I put my stamp on Alaska forever, I guess.
Alright, Sydney.
We're gonna try to get you a beaver, here.
We'll see if we can get lucky,
you never know what we'll get.
So, just kinda watch along the edges,
too 'cause they swim right on the edge.
Spring time's kind of an important time to me.
There's a lot of animals coming alive and moving and
it's kind of the last time before getting into summertime
where we don't hunt a whole bunch,
so it's a necessity to get out and capitalize in this
time of year.
Can you smell that?
That's sweet, that sweet kind of musty smell?
SYDNEY: Yeah. CHEVIE: That's beaver caster.
That's beaver.
SYDNEY: Where is it?
CHEVIE: It was just right here, I seen its wake,
I didn't, I smelled it,
I kinda smelled it first but then I just happened to
look over there and I think it was just sitting right here.
Let's just sit right here and watch just for a second, okay?
SYDNEY: Okay, I don't see anything.
CHEVIE: While the motors not on.
So, Sydney's ready for this because she's mature enough to follow directions,
she's old enough where she can withstand
a little bit of the cold and the long days.
She has the patience to be able to do it.
It's okay to stand up and look around too, honey.
Okay?
When we're stopped the boat's stopped and now,
you're hunting, okay?
So, what I like to do too is I grab my...
SYDNEY: Gun?
CHEVIE: My gun here, and I'll just look.
CHEVIE: Uh-hmm.
CHEVIE: That eagle is sure making a lot of noise, isn't it?
CHEVIE: Geez, it's nice to be out huh?
SYDNEY: Uh-huh.
CHEVIE: Just part of doing anything is patience, you know?
Just wait and wait and wait and they'll come back up.
And if they don't, we can move a little bit.
CHEVIE: Is that that beaver sitting right there?
Look at it right there sitting right there, eating that.
It's out of the water, right there.
You see it baby?
CHEVIE: So always wanna shoot 'em in the head, okay?
(gunshot)
That's how you do it, alright.
(gunshot)
SYDNEY: Let's go to it! Let's go to it!
CHEVIE: Be calm, okay?
CHEVIE: Never get excited, you gotta,
you gotta know what you're doing but,
you can only go so fast, okay?
CHEVIE: No, it's around here somewhere.
Just have to look here and see if it comes up.
SYDNEY: I think Thor smells it.
CHEVIE: Sometimes they'll die when you get 'em hit like that and then they'll,
once they fill up with a little bit of
air they'll come back up.
CHEVIE: Well, after they die their bodies will kinda fill
up with a little bit of air and then they'll float again
somewhere but you won't be able to see a whole bunch of him,
you'll be able to see just his head.
SYDNEY: I think it might be right there, right there.
CHEVIE: I won't.
SYDNEY: Ah, so we're gonna have to leave,
we're just gonna have to leave this beaver here?
CHEVIE: No, sometimes that happens and if that happens
it's part of it and you can't,
sometimes you miss some like that and it's okay.
You really don't want that to happen but sometimes
it does so we'll just keep an eye out.
CHEVIE: We still have a responsibility to look for that, okay?
SYDNEY: Uh huh.
CHEVIE: It's part of our responsibility as hunters to
make sure that we prioritize good ethics.
SYDNEY: Where's that beaver?
CHEVIE: Keep on looking over the edge of the boat.
SYDNEY: If it was dead, it should be floating by now.
CHEVIE: Tomorrow, we'll come down here with that dip net
and we'll try hard.
To pick it up off the bottom.
CHRIS: You know, it's The Cosna.
There's nobody else out here.
It's not like I can jump on the radio and call for help.
It's just Jessi and I.
We have to protect ourselves.
It's hunt or be hunted out here.
Kill or be killed.
Man, that fur is gorgeous.
JESSI: Look at that, I've never seen fur so thick and
long as this ever.
CHRIS: Put him right here.
Now we got the bear all skinned out and we got the
quarters out it is of the upmost importance to keep
taking care of this meat.
Shooting a bear going into winter is great.
It's like having a refrigerator just outside the door.
But we shot a bear when the weather's turning,
and it's getting warmer every day.
We've only got a couple days to get this bear canned up
before the meat starts to sour.
Nothing ruins meat faster than hot weather and flies.
We're not gonna waste any bit of this bear.
Get it outta here.
So right now, the best thing for us to do with
only two people working this bear is just can it up.
There's a nice big steak.
JESSI: Wow, all right. This is a great piece of meat.
I feel bad jarring it.
CHRIS: I know.
It's amazing that came off the front arm.
Normally it's so tough and stringy.
But really, canning is like the best way to preserve this.
I really take a lot of extra care when I'm processing an animal,
and it's solely out of respect.
This animal has sacrificed it's life so that I may live.
Ah, I feel so blessed to get this bear.
We're really lucky, we haven't had a lot of food lately.
It's not quite fishing season yet, grouse are out of season,
they're mating right now so the only thing we've got to
eat for meat is these bears.
Just a little bit of salt.
JESSI: Kay.
And the lid, and the ring.
CHRIS: Kay.
JESSI: Ready?
CHRIS: Awesome.
JESSI: All right, so we're just gonna put the lid on and
lock it down.
CHRIS: Yep, once it starts boiling,
we'll get it up to just over ten PSI and then
90 minutes later it'll all be done.
JESSI: Awesome. Bear stew, coming soon.
BRITTANY: Living out here was definitely not my dream,
it's been Kaleb's.
However, the longer I'm out here the more I love being out
here and the more I appreciate that Kaleb had the
foresight so many years ago to move us here.
Wanting animals has been my dream,
and I love that we're able to essentially marry our two
dreams of living out here and of having animals.
KALEB: It's starting to get cold.
That sun's dropping.
What do you think of the floor so far?
BRITTANY: This looks amazing.
KALEB: Is this everything you dreamed of and more?
BRITTANY: Everything I dreamed of and more.
I cannot wait until it's done and painted and
with beautiful birds in it laying eggs.
KALEB: I'm excited for that, too.
BRITTANY: The eggs part, right? KALEB: Yes, the eggs.
BRITTANY: Maybe while you're working on something you don't
need my help with,
I can start on the nesting boxes?
KALEB: Sounds good to me,
and then we'll just bolt them into place,
and it'll be done.
BRITTANY: Sure.
So, I'm making the sign that will go right on top
of the top of the nesting box.
It's going to have my daughter that passed away
almost four years ago,
her name on it.
Because this coop is kind of in memory of her.
Several years ago, I found out I was pregnant with Eve.
Eve had a heart condition that made it so it was very
unlikely that she was going to live,
and sadly she also had a lung condition that meant she
couldn't have the surgeries for her heart,
which meant that comfort care was the only option.
So, she died ten and a half hours after she was born and
while I was gone,
one of our chickens who had nine little chicks
following her around some animal came along and ate all
the chicks and killed her.
And that was just a little bit too much for me.
So, we got rid our chickens and I'm finally ready
to have chickens again, and I'm really,
really excited about that.
And so, in memory of that this coop will have
little bits of the whole family but also little bits of Eve in it.
I miss her a lot, every day we think about her.
Sometimes it's because we're sad and sometimes
it's because we're happy.
Going from having to be done with chickens to having my
dream coop is just really exciting and healing in a way.
She's a big part of our life,
even though we only knew her for a very short period.
JOHNNY: When I'm living a life where I'm not sure
if it's work or play.
I think that I'm living a successful lifestyle.
'Cause I wanna live a lifestyle where I can't differentiate
between work and play.
JOHNNY: You ready, Java?
Time to get foraging.
The beach holds a lot of resources that I'm gonna use
for this garden.
Little kelp bulb,
yeah, all this stuff's gonna be really, really good for the garden.
You know, you need to make soil and this stuff
right here is gonna create really good soil.
You can almost look at it as I'm a soil farmer,
and the soil grows the produce, not me.
So, if I create good soil the soil will create good produce.
There is a little bit of minerals in this seaweed and
that's from the ocean water.
And the minerals are washed on the mountains from the rivers
and the snow melt, and it washes down to the ocean.
All this seaweed kinda absorbs a lot of those minerals which
are gonna make it into my garden.
The minerals are pretty good for this soil.
I got a little finger situation,
cut myself with a knife when I was making some
dog food for Java.
I was just taking my time, working with one hand.
Get a little injury, no big deal.
You just gotta take care of it and nurse it properly.
The challenge is gonna be packing 'em up and hauling 'em
back up the hill.
And that's the seaweed.
I'm gonna hike it up the hill, get it back,
come back to the beach, and start filling these
buckets up with sand.
CHEVIE: I want the Roach family name to mean something.
I want people when they hear that name to know that they
live on the land and they have good ethics and values,
and I want those things to be passed on to my kids.
CHEVIE: Let's go see if we can find...
SYDNEY: Beaver?
CHEVIE: That beaver we shot last night.
We know we hit it pretty good, but we couldn't find it,
so you always have to go back and make a good effort
and look around, okay?
It's my job as a parent to teach Sydney about respecting
the animals and good ethics like we lost a beaver last
night I shot it.
It dove into the water, and it happens sometimes, it does.
And they'll get caught under logs or you'll lose an animal
but may be floating the next day,
so you have to come back and look.
Right here somewhere.
CHEVIE: It's where we killed it.
A lot of times you come back and look and
they're not there, they're still not there.
But sometimes every once in a while, you get lucky.
Right here Sydney, it's up against the edge right there.
Is that it?
CHEVIE: Holy smokes, that's a big beaver, too.
CHEVIE: Whew, we got freaking lucky.
CHEVIE: I can't see where I hit it but we hit it good
enough to kill it,
but we couldn't find it last night
for whatever reason.
So that's a really good thing that we came back
out and we looked for it again.
Now we feel better about shooting at 'em again,
because we haven't lost one.
So, we got a nice little patch of snow right
over here Sydney.
SYDNEY: Yeah.
CHEVIE: So, let's bury this beaver in that snow
and keep it cold.
SYDNEY: Got it.
CHEVIE: If you shoot something and you can't find it,
it doesn't mean it's over.
You gotta come back and you've gotta look and
you have to have ethics and put in a really good effort
to find that animal.
She's gonna remember that forever.
Okay, right here looks like a fairly deep little
section of snow, okay?
SYDNEY: Yeah.
CHEVIE: Kay, let's put it right here.
And so, it keeps kids from just shooting stuff and
walking away or people just shooting stuff and
walking away and making really bad decisions.
They gotta have good ethics while out in the woods.
So, we don't have time right now, so we're gonna come back.
SYDNEY: No one can find it.
CHEVIE: Cook him up and have a nice dinner.
SYDNEY: Okay.
CHEVIE: Okay, let's go. SYDNEY: We're going now? CHEVIE: Yep. We got that done.
SYDNEY: Can we hunt beaver?
CHEVIE: Yeah, what do you wanna do?
You want me to cook you something first or?
SYDNEY: No, beaver.
BRITTANY: When you have a homestead there is no such
thing as done.
You always have a project to do.
And it's great, it's a good life but it's a hard life.
This is just one more step in being self-reliant.
KALEB: Welcome to the Chicken Minium.
BRITTANY: Nice.
Look at that, we got ourselves a door again.
KALEB: Door and two windows.
Anything to make those chickens happy.
BRITTANY: That's for me.
Anything to make your wife happy, right?
KALEB: Sure.
BRITTANY: The coop though is definitely picking up energy.
Oh baby, look at that! What'cha think, Ellie!?
ELOVIE: That looks amazing, dad!
ELOVIE: You're welcome.
BRITTANY: This is so exciting.
I love that the plan that I made weeks ago is finally happening.
Okay. This looks really, really great.
We have the coop all painted.
Nice.
KALEB: Got a roof and good weatherproof paint.
BRITTANY: So now we just need to put fencing here to
keep the chickens from roaming as well as other animals
from coming after them.
Kaleb definitely has a different way of grieving
about Eve than I do.
He's Kaleb.
He doesn't necessarily talk about it.
Kaleb definitely shows his love for me as well as Eve and
Gilbert and Elovie often times through actions.
How he serves us, that is definitely his love language.
KALEB: Surely there's a better way to put up fencing.
BRITTANY: I don't know it.
KALEB: There's probably a farmer out there somewhere
laughing at us right now.
Okay. Come pull on the bottom of the fence.
BRITTANY: Yeah.
KALEB: We're gonna just try and tension it into place.
BRITTANY: Ah, crap!
GILBERT: Are you okay?
KALEB: What did you do?
BRITTANY: I was pulling it 'cause you told me to,
and then I fell over 'cause that pushed me over.
KALEB: Here, how about Gilbert holds this up.
BRITTANY: Okay.
GILBERT: No, how about I pull on that?
KALEB: Gilbert.
BRITTANY: We just need to get this in 'cause the
chickens are coming.
It's going to be really great to have farm-fresh eggs
right on our homestead.
We can walk outside our door,
go to the chicken coup and get our breakfast.
Fresh eggs squeezed daily.
As opposed to having to go into town for something as
simple as eggs.
KALEB: There we go.
We got us a chicken run.
Fencing complete.
I'm gonna have to hang up my shingle.
Kaleb Rowland, pro-fencer.
BRITTANY: Maybe don't quit your day job.
JOHNNY: To me, challenges are all equal.
Every season has its difficulties.
As the seasons change, the resources move, and so do I,
and that's part of the subsistence lifestyle and that's how I live.
This is where I come to get shells.
There's a lot of clam shells scattered about.
I'm gonna use 'em for calcium in my garden.
It's good for the plants, and I'm gonna crush 'em up.
And use the crushed-up shells to feed my plants calcium,
'cause they need that to be nice and strong.
And it'll help me yield a really good,
really healthy garden.
I'm gonna get to the clamming grounds right over here,
right up over this hill.
I got a little audience here, a bunch of little seals.
What's up little dudes?
You know if they're here, that means there's gotta be
some clams as well,
'cause they eat all that stuff.
I don't have these beaches in the Brooks Range.
So, when I'm down here at my summer outpost,
I like to take advantage of the beach.
Java! That's a good girl!
You gotta find the good times out here 'cause the balance
out the bad times.
You know going to the beach, hanging out,
collecting some shells for the garden.
It's fun to hang out with Java.
I'll take 'em.
It's nice living in a place where I can just come out here,
get the resources I need, you know, get the job done.
And it's fun.
I'm outside, standing on a beach,
hanging out with my dog.
And it's just, uh, really grateful for these moments.
Let's see if we can put ourselves in some clammys.
It'd be nice to find some with meat in 'em, but if not,
I'm still meeting my objective.
CHRIS: When you're living a lifestyle like this and you're
living one with nature, you have to respect every
gift that's given to you, and if you don't,
the world will just take it away from you.
JESSI: This is very difficult.
CHRIS: Gross.
Now that everything's settled down,
we're gonna make a really nice pliable fur that we can make
all sorts of things out of.
When you're fleshing it, you're pretty much just taking
all the meat and skin and fat that's on that hide
and getting it off.
It's quite a process.
Oh, you know what I forgot, I was supposed to go, um.
JESSI: No, you weren't.
This is what you're supposed to do.
You're not doing anything else.
Nothing else. Nothing to do.
CHRIS: Uh, like, uh, I think there was a three-wheeler
I had to work on or there was a,
I have to go cut firewood.
JESSI: Out here there's nobody to phone call you
for you to shirk your responsibilities.
I think it's done.
Pull it over.
CHRIS: Wow.
JESSI: Look at that fur!
It's so amazing.
CHRIS: What a beautiful fur, Jess.
Just a few days ago, this bear was banging on our door.
And now here he is, we got a full pantry,
and we got this beautiful fur we can make something out of.
We really did a good job.
It's just a little wet.
JESSI: It is a little wet though.
What do you think we let it just air-dry for a little bit
and we go for a hike,
we come back and roll it up and bring it back in.
CHRIS: Perfect.
JESSI: All right.
It's gonna be a Morse family break that we all needed.
CHRIS: We haven't left very far from our cabin the last few days,
so with the big predator out of the way,
we're just gonna go for a nice hike.
I don't know what we'd do if that bear got in the house.
If you've got a pissed off bear, you're gonna lose.
When fear starts to take hold,
it gets in and it ruins everything.
You don't wanna go out and go hiking.
You don't wanna go out and enjoy the land because you
think that there's something out in the woods.
JESSI: Gross. What's that from?
CHRIS: That is a big pile of bear crap,
from probably last night.
Well, that's not good.
CHRIS: Stay close, Toze.
I thought after we shot that bear,
we weren't gonna have any more bear problems,
but I mean,
this bear has come by in the last day or two at max.
That is really fresh (bleep).
JESSI: I guess I thought they were kind of territorial,
and I thought that if we killed that bear that's been here,
and it's been coming by that.
CHRIS: Well, obviously, as soon as you shoot a bear,
another bear moves into the territory.
There are so many bears this year and there's nothing
for them to eat that they're really working on
getting food and they're coming in,
and they're coming towards our camp 'cause
they smell the dog.
They smell us barbecuing.
Like we're the only people out here for miles-upon-miles,
and so they can smell us.
You know and if there's nothing else for them to eat,
they're gonna be coming towards us.
So, the only thing we can do is protect ourselves,
and what we need to do is just make sure the camp's
clean and stop letting Toze out of house by herself at night.
This bear is so close to the house that if Toze
had been wandering around like normal last night,
she'd probably have been eaten,
or at least mauled half to death, which is terrible.
JESSI: Yikes.
Well, let's grab Toze and.
CHRIS: Come on Toze, let's heal up and go home.
Well Toze, what do you think?
You wanna go home and bear-proof the cabin with us?
Yeah? Let's go.
Damn. All right.
Well, let's get heading back. We got a lot of work to do.
This sucks. Damn bears.
CHEVIE: It's not about money.
It's knowledge,
and the only way you get that knowledge is by learning,
and learning from people around you,
learning from first-hand experiences.
You're out here hunting with me, okay?
SYDNEY: Okay.
CHEVIE: We're gonna try to get you a beaver here.
SYDNEY: Yay.
CHEVIE: So, going out, being on the land,
being opportunists,
it's work to capitalize on animals.
It takes a lot of patience, long days, early mornings,
waiting for a long time in certain areas.
And Sydney has that patience to be successful,
so with that patience and the learned know-how,
I think that she'll be really successful.
Sydney, beaver.
CHEVIE: There was a beaver sitting right up on land right there.
Be ready, baby.
You gotta be watching for it to come up and give
yourself a better opportunity.
SYDNEY: Okay.
CHEVIE: Sydney, be looking for bubbles.
Okay?
When you see those bubbles start coming up,
that means it's getting ready to come up.
Right there in front of you.
Right there in front of you, baby, to your right.
Cock it and shoot it.
(gunshot)
CHEVIE: A little bit above it.
Okay. Come here.
We gotta be ready though, okay?
At least you got a freaking shot off, okay?
Right in front of us.
CHEVIE: Okay.
Get ready this next time though, okay?
Get ready.
Let's just give it a second right in here.
I can see a wake going back and forth, back and forth.
Holy (bleep).
It's gonna come up right there.
There it is, right by the bank, Sydney.
Right by the bank.
(gunshot)
CHEVIE: Yeah, Syd, you've done, you're doing a good job.
SYDNEY: Uh-hmm.
CHEVIE: A really good job. Those beaver are fast, huh?
SYDNEY: Uh-huh.
CHEVIE: And you know the most important thing
too that you've done that's super good?
SYDNEY: What?
CHEVIE: Your gun safety's been really good.
All of that is more important than,
than even getting a beaver or getting an animal, okay?
SYDNEY: Okay. Uh-huh. CHEVIE: It's cold out, huh?
SYDNEY: Uh-hmm.
CHEVIE: You can just sit back and relax and watch
your dad, okay?
SYDNEY: Uh-hmm.
CHEVIE: That beaver swimming up there now?
I see it.
CHEVIE: We're just gonna watch him from here and
see if he comes down here towards us.
SYDNEY: Okay.
CHEVIE: It's coming towards us.
(gunshot)
CHEVIE: That one's floating, okay, baby?
SYDNEY: It's floating? CHEVIE: Yup. SYDNEY: Yes!
CHEVIE: Okay, you see it right there coming up?
SYDNEY: Yeah, I see it.
CHEVIE: It's okay. Watch the dog. Maybe the dog'll get it.
CHEVIE: See what happens with old Thor here.
This'll be a first.
Good boy. Get it. Get it. Good boy.
Wow. Look at that pose.
Okay, Sydney. You wanna go grab it?
CHEVIE: Grab its tail.
And then grab its back feet.
Grab one foot and then the other one.
CHEVIE: Yup.
Okay, now you can step on the boat,
and you just drag it over the bow.
SYDNEY: Okay.
CHEVIE: Okay. Now right there, perfect.
Right there.
SYDNEY: Okay. CHEVIE: Okay?
Just grazed it in the back, grazed it in the head.
CHEVIE: That one I just barely got it.
SYDNEY: Yeah.
CHEVIE: I didn't hit it real good.
It's good that we got that 'cause there were some people
in town that were asking for beaver meat.
SYDNEY: Like who?
CHEVIE: Uh, George and Alice, and grandma.
Are you happy for the beaver?
SYDNEY: Yes.
CHEVIE: Ready to go home and, and, and have a snack
and some hot chocolate?
SYDNEY: Yeah. CHEVIE: All right.
We'll get home here pretty quick.
The goal with the beaver hunt was to get Sydney to be able
to get her gun up and get a shot on that moving animal.
She wasn't able to shoot one,
but that was okay.
She got to the point where I wanted her to be.
So, I think it was a successful beaver hunt.
You know, this is something that I've done with my dad and
my dad did with his dad,
and it's kinda of the legacy of what we do and so,
I can just pass that down to Sydney.
That's what makes the memory.
CHRIS: These are gonna be so good.
You ready to eat?
JESSI: I've been thinking about it for quite some time.
CHRIS: Look at these ribs.
Oh, yeah.
What a whirlwind the last couple days has been.
JESSI: We're safe.
The dog's safe.
And we got so much meat off of the bear.
CHRIS: Just wow.
JESSI: That hide. The fur.
CHRIS: I know.
I mean, I know he was a nuisance bear,
and he was coming around and he was aggressive.
I still hate taking a life.
But I am so thankful for this meat.
These are cooked.
Look at this rib.
JESSI: Cheers.
CHRIS: Love you.
There was a lot of scary moments in the beginning,
but at the end of this,
we're really lucky to live this lifestyle.
I wouldn't trade it for anything.
JESSI: This bear has brought so much more than a meal.
It's a wakeup call.
The Cosna's coming for ya.
Don't get too comfortable, because something might be
right outside your front door.
JOHNNY: Java, you always like to keep the mood light around here,
don't you?
So, I'm gonna put down this compost material here.
I'm gonna fill up these boxes, be able to plant some plants,
put some seaweed on top,
sprinkle a little love of calcium on top.
Should be a really nice garden.
I've always looked forward to growing some produce
and a dog.
It's moments like this that make the hard work
a little more fun.
All right, Java.
I'm gonna go get the plants.
Let me know if there's, uh, anything I can do for you.
This is just a step further in being self-sufficient,
and this is a step closer to that ultimate Alaskan goal
and dream that I had when I first moved here.
It's important to see growth.
I think it's important to have something in your
life to nurture.
Whether it's plants, people, pets.
I think that's what makes a good, balanced human.
Yeah, garden's shaping up pretty good.
I think that's gonna do it.
Kudos. Little pat on my back.
Java, good girl. Come on.
BRITTANY: Hello little chicky-chikies.
Hi. How are you?
All right, shall we bring 'em inside?
ELOVIE: We have the eggs?
BRITTANY: Girlies, you ready for your new coup?
KALEB: There ya go.
ELOVIE: They like it.
KALEB: I think this chicken coup is a significant
step for Brittany.
We lost a child four years ago and it hurt.
It hurt a lot.
And it's something that you don't ever truly get over.
But this chicken coup marks a turn.
It marks a turn for getting back to doing something that
we could not do after Eve passed away.
So, I think this is a mark of progression.
Another little milestone in the healing process after
losing something so precious as a daughter.
BRITTANY: It just makes me so happy,
like seeing all those cluckers out there.
It's just very lovely.
Kaleb is really amazing at building,
and I think that when he builds things for our family,
it's really him showing his love for what we're needing
and what we're wanting,
and I really appreciate that.
This coup symbolizes a lot more than just fresh eggs.
CHEVIE: George, you said you wanted a beaver a couple days ago,
so I thought I'd bring 'em over here.
Sydney and I were down at the cabin.
She helped me hunt.
GEORGE: It's a nice one, Chevie.
CHEVIE: Yeah.
So, it's important when we're out collecting any food off
the land that you share your fortunes with other people,
and it helps the community.
If you give, you will get back.
It all goes in a nice circle and the kids are
involved in that.
GEORGE: All right. Thank you, man.
CHEVIE: Okay. Sounds good. GEORGE: Okay, you guys!
CHEVIE: All right. Well, we gave him the beaver.
Let's cook one and eat some.
SYDNEY: Uh-huh, I really like beaver hunting,
so fun.
CHEVIE: Cool.
So, when we go out and get food from the land,
we appreciate what nature has to offer out here,
which sometimes can be harsh.
But it's this beautiful playground for us to
be able to be in.
Being able to sustain yourself in this
harsh environment and thrive doing it,
we don't have a certificate that says congratulations.
We just put one foot in front of the other and
get it done, and that's,
that's good enough.
Yeah, this is exactly why your mom and I wanted to build this cabin honey,
so we can have these memories so we can come
out here and hunt outta here and enjoy these
times with you.
That hot chocolate warming you up a little bit?
SYDNEY: A tiny bit.
CHEVIE: You better drink it a little faster.