ANZLIE_JACKO AVERY_HOFFMAN GAGE_HOFFMAN HAZEL_STRASSBURG JAQUELINE JOEL_JACKO JOHN_PINGAYAK PANITA_PINGAYAK SONNA_BOY SOPHIE_STRASSBURG STEVEN_TIG_STRASSBURG TERESA_PINGAYAK JOHN PINGAYAK Be ready. JOHN PINGAYAK Sonna boy, get your big gun ready. TERESA PINGAYAK Just in case we come across a moose. Have to be ready all the time, because you know it happens so fast. SONNA BOY We are about eight, nine hours by boat from Chevak. Due to all the restrictions on fishing for salmon, catching a moose is a lot more important right now. One moose can feed a whole family for a year. PANITA PINGAYAK Look! A moose. JOHN PINGAYAK Too far. TERESA PINGAYAK Oh, look it stopped! It stopped. Now it's going again. PANITA PINGAYAK Too far, it's already running. TERESA PINGAYAK How exciting! JOHN PINGAYAK All right. JOHN PINGAYAK There's a moose around here! JOHN PINGAYAK Let's go up there, and I'll show you. JOHN PINGAYAK Our old grandpa's sod house. This is part of my homeland where my ancestors came during fall time to get a moose. JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking Cup'ik] Una canimetliniuq. JOHN PINGAYAK This must have been where one of the houses was. JOHN PINGAYAK Usually when the land is disturbed these types of brush will identify them. They didn't have two by fours or plywood and they constructed with driftwood. JOHN PINGAYAK And they used the sod that's from this land. JOHN PINGAYAK A long time ago, uh, my two uncles that have passed away, JOHN PINGAYAK At night they saw a big fire in this area, and they call it JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking Cup'ik] Ircinrraq Place. SONNA BOY I remember when I was little. SONNA BOY I woke up one morning and went below the bluff, Chevak. JOHN PINGAYAK Yeah. SONNA BOY And there was a little man following me and hunting with me. JOHN PINGAYAK Really? SONNA BOY Yeah. And then, uh, their eyes were like diagonal, like this. JOHN PINGAYAK Yeah. Instead of like this they were this way? SONNA BOY Yeah. JOHN PINGAYAK Yeah. SONNA BOY They'd stand up and then their arms were almost touch, they'd touch the ground. JOHN PINGAYAK You know what the creature's name is? JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking Cup'ik] Egassuayaq. JOHN PINGAYAK Underground people, they're human-like thinkers like us. They're not gonna really bother you as long as you don't bother them. But don't get startled about anything you see on this land. We respect them, and we don't bother them. JOHN PINGAYAK So, I don't know if I wanna stay overnight out here. Let's go back down and look for moose, okay? GAGE HOFFMAN There it is. GAGE HOFFMAN This looks like a pretty good gravel bar. GAGE HOFFMAN For grayling. GAGE HOFFMAN When we come to Takotna, we try to prioritize fishing for grayling since we don't have that opportunity in Bethel, and we love eating it. You wanna fish that way? AVERY HOFFMAN I wanna fish straight out this way. GAGE HOFFMAN Roger. AVERY HOFFMAN Where the swift current meets the slow-moving water. AVERY HOFFMAN I'd love to catch some grayling out here. That'd be nice. GAGE HOFFMAN This river is amazing, and it provides a lot of different foods for us. Duck hunting, fishing, moose hunting. AVERY HOFFMAN This weather is so crazy. GAGE HOFFMAN It was just so sunny. AVERY HOFFMAN Oh! GAGE HOFFMAN What? AVERY HOFFMAN I almost got one. GAGE HOFFMAN I know me too. Come on, baby. Right there! AVERY HOFFMAN Oh, you are so annoying! GAGE HOFFMAN Woo-hoo! AVERY HOFFMAN How you catch one before me? GAGE HOFFMAN Nice. AVERY HOFFMAN Awesome. Good catch. GAGE HOFFMAN Some good eating. AVERY HOFFMAN I don't know how he caught one before me. GAGE HOFFMAN Nice little guy. These graylings are cool. Try to get some more and. GAGE HOFFMAN Hopefully Avery gets one, too. Want me to show you how? AVERY HOFFMAN I guess. We need more. That we do. I'm changing out my lure. AVERY HOFFMAN Gage has the best hook so I gotta try to find something better. GAGE HOFFMAN The rivalry between my brother and I is always good natured. It's not the lure it's the fisherman. AVERY HOFFMAN Nope. GAGE HOFFMAN Uh-hmm. AVERY HOFFMAN You just have the best hook. GAGE HOFFMAN No. AVERY HOFFMAN Yup. I like to compete in grayling fishing just to prove it to him. I don't know it's just nice to be a little competitive. Switch rods with me. GAGE HOFFMAN No. AVERY HOFFMAN Exactly. Point proven. GAGE HOFFMAN No, no that doesn't make any sense. Ultimately, we're a team and we work together to be the providers for our family. AVERY HOFFMAN At least the suns coming out again. Ho-ho-ho! Unless it's a snag. Dang it. GAGE HOFFMAN What was all that cheering about? AVERY HOFFMAN I thought I snagged one right away, man. I was like "called it". Sike! GAGE HOFFMAN Oh, my God. AVERY HOFFMAN Big one! Awesome. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah, that's a good size one. It's got a lot of meat on it. AVERY HOFFMAN Woo-hoo! On the board! GAGE HOFFMAN Okay. I'll stop making fun of you now. Kinda feel like a bear out here, hunting for fish. Aye! AVERY HOFFMAN He got a little one. GAGE HOFFMAN Nice. Should we keep him? AVERY HOFFMAN Nah-uh. GAGE HOFFMAN Too little? GAGE HOFFMAN [speaking Yup'ik] Tuaten Pilartut! GAGE HOFFMAN There he goes. Well, that still counts, Avery, I still have two. AVERY HOFFMAN Your two make up one of mine. GAGE HOFFMAN Getting anything, Avery? AVERY HOFFMAN Not really. You wanna switch over to ducks? GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah. We could just hunt those on the way down. Compensate for not as much grayling as we thought. AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah. GAGE HOFFMAN I still caught the first one. AVERY HOFFMAN I got the bigger one. JOEL JACKO So, there's the kennel it's not really being used anymore. JOEL JACKO It's got this like divider thing which I don't think we need. So, I think I can use this. Last year, I went over to this creek that I heard there was silver cohos which is a different kind of fish that we don't get on the lake. There was defiantly silvers over there, there was only a couple. It's really hard to catch one salmon out of a big group and so. JOEL JACKO This year I had a plan, like, I'm gonna make a spear and I'll just go spear the salmon, you'd know, and that'd be my way of picking, like, a fish out of a crowd. All right. I'll try to make a couple spears for me, and Anzlie and I can kinda show her, hopefully show her how to spear. There's a lot of variables to all this cause I've never really welded a spear head before. Trying to make like a trident. I think I'll go find a little mermaid. I know a lot about fixing stuff and I'm getting more and more familiar with the traditional ways. This is gonna be the plate that the little prongs are gonna be welded to and then this is gonna slide inside of a, like a stick basically. In theory that's how it's gonna work. In all reality I don't know it's gonna work at all. You don't know until you try. Living out here you really try to repurpose stuff. Yeah! Reuse stuff and you know salvage what you can. Give Poseidon a run for his money. Think I'll go grab Anzile and we'll go do a little practicing in the bay off the dock. Anzlie loves the water. She loves the rivers, so I want her to know how to do you know all this stuff. One, two, three. Oh. JOEL JACKO You try to hit that thing? Oh, oh, you nicked it that was good. You just need to work on your aiming a little bit. ANZLIE JACKO I'm gonna try it from here. JOEL JACKO There you go, yeah. Oh, that was good, yeah. ANZLIE JACKO Ah! JOEL JACKO It went straight in that time. Try to like go like this, watch my hand go like, phew. ANZLIE JACKO Oh! JOEL JACKO Phew, like that, okay? ANZLIE JACKO Okay. JOEL JACKO Anzlie is very strong willed. There you go that was a good one. When she sets her mind to something, that's what she's doing. Oh, that was good. You think you're ready to go do real fishing now? ANZLIE JACKO Yeah. JOEL JACKO You ready? Take off? ANZLIE JACKO Yup. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Ladies first. My little ladies. Today I'm getting set taking out my two older daughters. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Hazel and Sophie and we're gonna go up the South Fork River. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG And pretty much at the confluence of the South Fork and the Fish Creek. It's a really good moose hunting area. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG You girls are gonna toughen up and you're gonna be sitting on the bow. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG You make sure you're watching each bank. In case a moose stands up. Ah there's a good little lake back here, see what's going on. Hazel, put your gun down and grab the rope. HAZEL STRASSBURG Okay. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Culturally you know everybody goes out moose hunting, the men and women they both shoot moose and hunt moose. I feel confident that my daughters are big enough to go out there and handle a task like this. I feel like we're in the right area we just gotta try and sound like a moose and get one to come out to us maybe. There's a moose in here I guarantee you that. It's not out in the open, he's in the willows and brush some place. Come on, let's just go back to the boat. We'll come back down here. Girls be looking into the willows and everything okay? HAZEL STRASSBURG Okay! STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Keep a real good eye. It's gonna be really narrow. HAZEL STRASSBURG Okay. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG We see anything, they're gonna be right next to us so keep your guys eyes peeled now. No napping. Right here. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Little bull! [COMMERCIAL BREAK] STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Oh, wow it is running. See that's what I mean when they're going to be right next to us. He was running this way so. See as I'm walking through the woods making noise, it's kinda hard not to be make noise so what I do is make a cow call. So, if anything does hear us walking hopefully, they'll at least think we're a cow. So, if my daughters did get a moose this trip a lot of it would be passed out to the elders around town. In our culture that when we first have that success with a new animal that we're going after, the kids are going after, they, they share it with the elders. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Bull moose tracks. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Oh yeah. You see a little wider toes. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG On this one here. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG You see, that bull moose, he's got split toes. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Split hooves. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Oh yeah. We're on their trail right here. Yeah, this is the trail we'd seen that moose is not even far from here. You know the moose is here might as well hang out see if we can get this guy to come out. JOEL JACKO You ready for an adventure? ANZLIE JACKO Yeah. JOEL JACKO I think Tracker's ready too. We're gonna try to go up the river first. JOEL JACKO There's some silver up there we'll just you know try to spear some fish. ANZLIE JACKO Why do you want to spear? JOEL JACKO Because see all the fish are red and there's only like a couple silver ones. So, I figured if we have spears maybe we could you know, just get the silver ones. 'Cause these red ones aren't good to eat anymore. ANZLIE JACKO Well, if we catch any, we could give them to Tracker. JOEL JACKO That's true maybe we could practice and get a red one for Tracker. I don't know what the outcome is gonna be of this, but I know it's gonna be fun and I know Anzlie's gonna have fun. There's lots of red salmon in here. See any silvers? ANZLIE JACKO No. See any trout? JOEL JACKO No. I'm not a professional spear thrower so we'll just see how it goes, I guess. Oh, there's a bunch coming now. ANZLIE JACKO Where? JOEL JACKO Coming down. Agh! Man, they're quick. ANZLIE JACKO Dad look behind you some are coming. JOEL JACKO Yeah, we just need to hold still kinda, so they come up to the boat. You know what that is holding still? ANZLIE JACKO No. JOEL JACKO I didn't think so. ANZLIE JACKO Daddy look! You get one? JOEL JACKO Oh, I did! Ha! ANZLIE JACKO You did? JOEL JACKO Ha, he's taking my spear! Yeah! Oh, I think he got off. Dang like a cartoon. ANZLIE JACKO I'm gonna try to get one again okay daddy? JOEL JACKO Go ahead. Oh, you gotta throw hard like hard as you can. ANZLIE JACKO Oh, buttery biscuits. JOEL JACKO Hmm, buttery biscuits. Can you grab it? You know the traditional ways of life is a good way to be self-sufficient so that is what I'm trying to instill in her is you know self-sufficiency. Hard as you can. That was better yeah. Remember it's gotta penetrate the fish. And Tracker's out of the boat again. ANZLIE JACKO He jumped out. Oh. JOEL JACKO Dog. That dog of mine. Well, there goes all your fish Tracker. Scared them all away. Think we're gonna call it quits here and maybe head up the river and see if we can spear a couple from the beach. ANZLIE JACKO How far are we going to go? JOEL JACKO All the way to the end. ANZLIE JACKO Dad! JOEL JACKO Till this creek turns into a trickle. JOHN PINGAYAK If we happen to get one, we're gonna say. That'll be the sign, okay? We catch one. TERESA PINGAYAK Okay. TERESA PINGAYAK You go get your moose. JOHN PINGAYAK Are you excited Sonna Boy? SONNA BOY Yeah. JOHN PINGAYAK Cup'ik word for moose is. JOHN PINGAYAK [speaking Cup'ik] Tuntuvak. JOHN PINGAYAK Moose hunting is very difficult. JOHN PINGAYAK It's not easy. The moose are aware of people hunting. They can hear the boats and when they hear the boats, they'll disappear to the willows they're very shy. And so, they have to present themselves. SONNA BOY Moose like to hang around willows and freshwater lakes. SONNA BOY Easy meals for them. Aye, over there! Over there! JOHN PINGAYAK Where? JOHN PINGAYAK Where? SONNA BOY It went in. It was a young bull. JOHN PINGAYAK Go back there and check. SONNA BOY It's probably long gone, I'm gonna make sure 'cause you never know it might pop up. Like oh what was that noise and then, unfortunately, boom. Ha. Yeah, it's gone. JOHN PINGAYAK Nothing? SONNA BOY Nothing. It got away. JOHN PINGAYAK Which way? SONNA BOY It went over there. JOHN PINGAYAK Let's check it out. SONNA BOY Hey, over there. Over there! Over there! JOHN PINGAYAK Shoot it. JOHN PINGAYAK Sonna Boy! JOHN PINGAYAK Shoot it! SONNA BOY I missed! [COMMERCIAL BREAK] JOHN PINGAYAK You got it! Praise God. Wowee. Make sure it's dead. SONNA BOY Yeah, it's gone. It's dead. I'm just really happy that we got a moose. JOHN PINGAYAK It's pretty good size. SONNA BOY Yeah. JOHN PINGAYAK Plump? Gimme high five. Good shot Sonna Boy. All right. Okay let's go take care of it. About time you didn't miss. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG It's getting a little later in the evening. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG I'm starting to notice my daughters they gotta be cold. I'm a little bit chilly so I'm gonna go with making a little fire here. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG I don't want to leave until the sun goes down. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG And it starts getting a little darker. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG See if those moose are gonna be. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG A little more active. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG I know you girls are getting cold but. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG We'll take this opportunity to STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG See if this guy will come back out for us. I'm not trying to bring my daughters out here and you know, have killed them from just trying to get a moose you know, I do want them to enjoy it. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Cutest little hunters ever. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG I can't see too far I know there's a lot more to see out there off in the distance. I can see quite aways. No moose though, I see a big rainstorm. We're just on the edge of it. Get up stretch out you guys let's get going before this rainstorm gets us. One more day tomorrow girls. Another chance. AVERY HOFFMAN You want to meet at the bows so I can get full vision on either side? GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah, that'd be a good idea. AVERY HOFFMAN All right. GAGE HOFFMAN We didn't get much fish so we're looking for ducks. Just going to be combing through these, uh grassy areas. Right there. Shh. That's way too far. AVERY HOFFMAN You wanna try, paddle up to it and see how close we can get? GAGE HOFFMAN Be ready though if it flies just shoot it but yeah it's a little outta range. AVERY HOFFMAN Okay. GAGE HOFFMAN Hold on. AVERY HOFFMAN Oh my God. GAGE HOFFMAN Dude! Shot at one and there was thirty. AVERY HOFFMAN How was I supposed to know what's around the corner? GAGE HOFFMAN Let's turn the corner and see what it looks like. AVERY HOFFMAN Swans! Holy (bleep). Gage. No. Ho ho ho. GAGE HOFFMAN They're huge! AVERY HOFFMAN I could've got 'em. GAGE HOFFMAN Why didn't you shot them? AVERY HOFFMAN What they scared me! GAGE HOFFMAN Oh my God yeah. AVERY HOFFMAN They're huge. AVERY HOFFMAN And I'm not shooting them unless you know that you're gonna get both. 'Cause those swans are paired for life and you don't wanna just get one. AVERY HOFFMAN And the last thing you wanna do is shoot one of two swans and the other swan is kinda circling making its call and just, it just sounds so sad. GAGE HOFFMAN Oh! Too far. AVERY HOFFMAN Oh! Oh, too far too far. The main ducks that we try to get are the mallards because they are the biggest at this point when we're hunting for food and trying to fill our freezers if there's not really mallards around, we have to divert over to other ducks like teals. GAGE HOFFMAN I'm not for sure but there seems to be a lot of ducks all the time around this bend. We're gonna pull up here and, uh, Avery's gonna walk around the corner and try to surprise them. So, you're gonna walk through? I'll just wait here. AVERY HOFFMAN Okay. Lots of moose tracks. I really hope I don't spook up a moose I can't see that far. And I'm gonna be face to face to him if I see him so that's a situation that you don't wanna be in. AVERY HOFFMAN There's ducks at the point. Hopefully they don't fly until I get pretty close and see if I can knock a few out the air. Ha. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] AVERY HOFFMAN Gage, hurry up I got a few. All really good sized, fat mallards. GAGE HOFFMAN It was crazy, how many were there? AVERY HOFFMAN There was like ten, I think. But they were just popping up outta the grass and everything. I seen one and I was getting ready to shoot and they all just started taking off and I was like well, time to let them fly. GAGE HOFFMAN Your bullets or the birds? AVERY HOFFMAN Both. But look how gorgeous, fat. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah, those are nice. AVERY HOFFMAN Gonna be yummy. GAGE HOFFMAN Nice, good eatin'. Good stuff. AVERY HOFFMAN This Takotna River is one of the most amazing rivers ever been on. Just enjoying the scenery, observing what nature's given us. It's the best feeling in the world. GAGE HOFFMAN Two ducks. AVERY HOFFMAN I see 'em, oh there's two more coming straight in. GAGE HOFFMAN Coming straight in? AVERY HOFFMAN Yup. GAGE HOFFMAN Oh yeah. AVERY HOFFMAN Boom, one shoot. GAGE HOFFMAN Whoo! Dude, that was a beautiful shot. AVERY HOFFMAN Pintails. GAGE HOFFMAN Nice. Good one. Okay. AVERY HOFFMAN All right. I like the number of ducks we got. GAGE HOFFMAN It's good. AVERY HOFFMAN Making me hungry. GAGE HOFFMAN Let's cook up our grayling for lunch. AVERY HOFFMAN Okay. GAGE HOFFMAN All right, let's go find a good spot, huh? AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah. GAGE HOFFMAN Good shooting. AVERY HOFFMAN Thanks, good driving. JOHN PINGAYAK Let's go and take the legs off. We bring all of it home except the stomach. You take the legs off first before you work on the stomach area, but you have to cut this brisket. JOHN PINGAYAK The harshest time. JOHN PINGAYAK Is the winter time. JOHN PINGAYAK Cause they'll be nothing there. JOHN PINGAYAK Everything will be frozen, so this is a very important time. JOHN PINGAYAK For us to get extra food. SONNA BOY First time finding the bullet. I wanna keep that. JOHN PINGAYAK Gotta be very careful; I don't want to puncture the stomach. There you go. It's full of meat. SONNA BOY My grandfather, he has the right mindset like, oh I'm young and I'm strong. Nothing can take him down. I just think that if I wasn't here, he'd still have that mindset, but it would be a little bit more difficult for him. Because I'm here, he just has more motivation to think young and be young. JOHN PINGAYAK Look at all this meat. JOHN PINGAYAK Teresa and Panita will be really happy. PANITA PINGAYAK There he is. TERESA PINGAYAK Oh, look. Yeah. TERESA PINGAYAK They got one! Oh, that's so beautiful. A tender moose, that's exactly what we ordered. Oh, my goodness. TERESA PINGAYAK [speaking Cup'ik] Quyana. JOHN PINGAYAK The heart, the liver, the tongue looks so good. SONNA BOY Can we have some moose soup tonight? TERESA PINGAYAK Okay, we'll make that tonight. ANZLIE JACKO I see a sandy beach. JOEL JACKO Hey, look at this Anzlie, there's a bunch here. Maybe we'll park here, probably a good place we could try to get us fish. When Anzlie's feet hit that sand. JOEL JACKO Like I've never seen someone become so happy so quickly. JOEL JACKO I think she'll have fun just trying to float around in her wet suit and her life jacket trying to spear fish. ANZLIE JACKO Look how close they are. JOEL JACKO Oh, we better get one. Oh, Tracker's already fishing. This is a good spot, huh? This whole thing is not about like subsistence hunting, we're not you know trying to catch fish for the win. This is more of a you know bonding experience, just a father daughter. You kinda look like a salmon, you're all pink. ANZLIE JACKO You should try to get one too. JOEL JACKO I don't want to go in the water. ANZLIE JACKO It's warm. JOEL JACKO It is? ANZLIE JACKO Yeah. JOEL JACKO No. ANZLIE JACKO Uh-huh. JOEL JACKO No. ANZLIE JACKO Uh-huh. JOEL JACKO I think you're just lying to me to get me in the water. ANZLIE JACKO No. JOEL JACKO Anzlie's fish catching plan is to float down the river and then spear salmon. I'm not really sure how it's gonna work cause the salmon like, they can obviously see you coming. So, we'll see how it goes. Kinda just wait for them to come up to you. You gotta be real still. Think that's how the bears get them. Yes, yes, maintain your striking pose, so you don't have to move when they get up to you. All you have to do is throw your spear. ANZLIE JACKO See if I can get one. JOEL JACKO Oh, you gotta throw it hard. Might need to wait for them to get a little closer to you. Oh. ANZLIE JACKO So close. JOEL JACKO So close. You gotta get it. ANZLIE JACKO Where is it? JOEL JACKO It's just right there, it's kinda floating. You should be able to grab the handle. ANZLIE JACKO Well, that should be. JOEL JACKO We need to find like the not very smart fish that's like coming up to the beach. I thought we're just gonna be spearing fish left and right. All right. Come on, we'll get the boat. It's exciting to see your kid excited. She was having a great time just being in the water. Now we're going on adventures just for her kind of a thing which is also super cool. All right, let's go grab it then we'll go down to the lake. Shoot there's a bear over there! [COMMERCIAL BREAK] JOEL JACKO Tracker! ANZLIE JACKO Daddy! JOEL JACKO Tracker! Tracker, come on! Good dog. ANZLIE JACKO Good boy Tracker. JOEL JACKO He's good, huh? Here we'll grab that harpoon and then we'll go home. I grew up out here with bears, I pass on my knowledge to Anzlie. Bear safety. Come on! Usually bears, they're just trying to leave you alone. What'd you think about that bear? ANZLIE JACKO Uh, scary. JOEL JACKO Scary? Yeah, I don't think he wanted to fight, just wanted his fishing spot back. If Tracker wasn't there, he probably would have just fished next to us, but Tracker was there and Tracker ain't putting up with that. Did you have fun trying to spear them? ANZLIE JACKO Yeah. JOEL JACKO How come you don't feel the cold water? How come it doesn't make you cold? Huh? I couldn't even be in there for five seconds. ANZLIE JACKO I was born here. JOEL JACKO I was born here too, guess you're just tougher than I am. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG All right girls we're going out full of confidence today so keep your eyes peeled. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG It's gonna be a good day. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG We got sixty miles (96 kilometers) of river in between us and home. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Until we park and land the boat. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG We still have a chance out here to see a moose. So, we're still looking, we're still trying. All right you girls look around now. HAZEL STRASSBURG Okay. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG My girls are growing so fast before I know it, they're gonna be little women. Who knows what's gonna change. They might not want to do this with daddy no more. So, yeah, it's definitely a good chance to spend some quality time with my daughters. SOPHIE STRASSBURG You look that way, I'll look this way. HAZEL STRASSBURG Okay. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG We'll stop at this bank and see what kind of tracks we got. Oh yeah, look at this, girls. Fresh, it was just here. We just missed it. Young bull, cow. See this, it's real fresh. This looks like, see the little points right here. See how the toes are spread open? That's a young bull. Underneath you still see this wet mud, that was this morning. That was just a couple hours ago. It's not very far from here. HAZEL STRASSBURG My dad teaches me a lot about hunting and what I need to know. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG You girls ready? SOPHIE STRASSBURG Yeah. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG All right. We'll go a little more ways up the river and float down. The moose are camouflaged. They're the same color as these willows, hard to see. I've watched them take one step into the willows and disappear before. You know, they're real good camouflaged. All a game of chance, but it's a nice day, freaking beautiful out. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG They're painting their faces. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Monkeying around, playing with berries. They're having fun, I'm having fun. I just keep thinking, next bend, next bend. Hey you girls, look moose! Right there. Oh, it's a cow. Yeah, big cow but there might be a bull around. HAZEL STRASSBURG Whoa, cow and a calf. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Try to do a bull cow incase these cows did have a bull; he'll be in the willows. A lot of times these cows are gonna have a bull with them. We'll watch, yeah, no antlers. Oh (bleep) that's a bull! All right back up, watch out, get out of the way girls. Hold your ears. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG I missed it. Let me check. Hang on, I'm gonna stop and look for some blood, grab the bow rope all right? SOPHIE STRASSBURG Okay. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG He climbed right here, see his tracks. Tie that boat up. Find that tracks you girls. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Where'd he go? STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG That ain't it. Thought that was it. SOPHIE STRASSBURG Found them. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG You got his track? SOPHIE STRASSBURG Uh-hmm. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG He's coming this way? SOPHIE STRASSBURG Yup. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Do you see any blood? SOPHIE STRASSBURG Uh-uh. HAZEL STRASSBURG Right through here. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Oh yeah, good eye girls. No blood just tracks but was another learning experience for my daughters. You girls did absolutely perfect. Everything perfect, all right. We might not have got it, but you girls acted, did accordingly just perfect. Just like yesterday when we seen that bull, and we were running after it. Proud of you girls. Everything went perfect except for the moose didn't drop. He was a young bull, give him some time to grow up, I guess. You girls get excited? SOPHIE STRASSBURG Yeah. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Well, you know, maybe next year he might be a little bigger. Maybe I might see him there again. Maybe I might see him next week, who knows. Perfection girls, that's all I ever expect from now on. Perfection just like you did. HAZEL STRASSBURG Okay. GAGE HOFFMAN Just get off all these scales. My dad showed us how to scales these and filet these fish pretty simply. All right got all the scales off so. AVERY HOFFMAN I'm excited to eat. My stomachs been growling at me. GAGE HOFFMAN We used to do this all the time when we were kids. Hunting and fishing for subsistence. It's a taste that we seek, the native food. It's also a great activity for my brother and I to stay healthy and also to bond and connect with each other. It's, uh, a big tradition to share so, you eat mine I'll eat yours? AVERY HOFFMAN Why cause mine is bigger? It's always a great day when you can subsist off the land doing things that we've done for generations. It's a great feeling not only protecting the culture but learning from it. GAGE HOFFMAN Ready? Ready to pull them? AVERY HOFFMAN Yeah. GAGE HOFFMAN They look pretty good. Perfect, coming off the skin. AVERY HOFFMAN Oh, mine smells good. GAGE HOFFMAN It's definitely worth it. How's your taste? AVERY HOFFMAN I'm not even using a fork, it's so good. GAGE HOFFMAN This is what it's all about. Nice to be out here again. These moments with my brother are awesome. AVERY HOFFMAN So good. GAGE HOFFMAN Lots of meat now. Might as well pluck these birds before we go back. It's nice to reconnect with the land and escape and be with each other. AVERY HOFFMAN I couldn't be any more happy right now. GAGE HOFFMAN Yeah, it's a good day. It reminds me of who we are and how we've lived in the past and what we do as a people. JAQUELINE Were you scared? ANZLIE JACKO Yeah. JAQUELINE Yeah? ANZLIE JACKO Uh-hmm. JAQUELINE But daddy protected you? ANZLIE JACKO Uh-huh. JAQUELINE Were you scared? JOEL JACKO Nah. ANZLIE JACKO We didn't catch any fish. JAQUELINE No? How'd the spears work out? ANZLIE JACKO They bented. JOEL JACKO Yeah they bent a little bit. ANZLIE JACKO And my hook fell off. JOEL JACKO I know I don't know how everything works and I don't know everything about everything but I do know some stuff. Getting more and more familiar with living off the land and the traditional ways. And I am trying to pass that on to Anzlie. ANZLIE JACKO I saw a bunch of trout, but I couldn't get it. JAQUELINE Oh, but you had fun? ANZLIE JACKO Yeah. JAQUELINE Yeah? JOEL JACKO It was a lot of fun, actually. JAQUELINE Yeah, would you do it again baby? ANZLIE JACKO Yeah. JAQUELINE Yeah, that's awesome. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG There's gotta be a moose someplace. Sitting in the woods but nothing I can see. These girls had fun, feels good I'm happy. To some people this might have not been a very lucky trip at all but to myself, it's a very lucky trip. I'm lucky enough to where I got two daughters that love to go out here and spend time with me. It is what it is, we didn't get any meat but oh man was it a great trip. HAZEL STRASSBURG Oh look, the sky is pink. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Blood red. Hunters� sunset. It's what the old timers call it. Somebody lucked out, somebody got a moose someplace. JOHN PINGAYAK Man, this is really, really good. TERESA PINGAYAK Give me your happy dance cause I listened to you and made soup for you. See how good that is, your soup. TERESA PINGAYAK You're so cute when you do that, when you're happy when I do something for you and you're just dancing away. The moose meat that we are bringing home it will provide for at least eight families or more. It's gonna feed a lot of people throughout the winter and we're gonna be good. [SNAP-IN] STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Whoa, look at this. They were fighting, look like. The moose are in a rut right now. Look like two was fighting right here. HAZEL STRASSBURG Looks like they were pushing each other too. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Yup, look how much they battled right here. Moose rut is when you know they're getting ready to breed. All the way up and look all the way from over here. Look they battled like hell right here. Bulls, they quit eating, they start running, they empty their stomachs. Damn, that's wild. I've never found a spot where they fought like this. Look at this you can see where he was breaking willows over there. SOPHIE STRASSBURG Hey, look dad, there's little moose tracks. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG Little moose track? Hey good job baby, yeah. There's the prize, that's what they were fighting over. That's what all this track is doing. See the cow is waiting back here. Everybody wants to make a baby and they start rolling in their urine and smelling strong. SOPHIE STRASSBURG They're fighting a lot. STEVEN TIG STRASSBURG A lot going on in the moose world out there right now. This, this is where he really scratches on them see. See how much he teared this up. He was just here, scraping his horns. By to tell, by seeing how much damage he did to this, he's a real good-sized bull. This is, this is good sign. That's why I tell you girls, you gotta really watch these banks. They're not gonna be standing right in the open, they're gonna be hidden behind little spots like this. Hard to see but if you're watching real good you will see it.