artic homesteader
 

Pretty cool video of a homesteader in ANWAR in northeat Alaska.
There's a book called The Last Fronteirsman, about Heimo's life. Its a really good read.

I can't seem to get any sound on the video.checked my sound button..will try again..

What a great video !! Need to finish watching it...great !! And I think we live far from civilization...

Great video

Heimo Korth
 

I saw the tv show and read the book. Heimo is an extraordinary fella and lives a hard life. He is one of very few that have managed to stay alive in such a place. And he does it with a family in tow!

The book is a good read- fills in all the details.

Great story !!! Thanks for sharing......what a rough life !! and ohhh so cold !!

Once I started watching I couldn't stop. Thanks for sharing.

Outstanding video Gladetop thanks.

That was a great story. :thumb:

Oh this looks good. I better go do my chores and come back and watch this until DH comes home for supper. I already have the chicken soup made. Thanks for the link.

Thanks for link.

I have the book and it is a good read. Today I watched the video on YouTube and also downloaded it to my laptop so we can watch the video again offline at a future date.

I just finished watching it.

I have a question:

If he killed the bear the night before, how/why did it already stink when he went back to it the next morning to skin it? Wouldn't the freezing temps delay the decomposing process? Or at least the bloating stage?

Or is that a dumb question?

I haven't watched it yet Mama Crow but I assume he killed a brown bear. They STINK! I can tell if a brownie has been nearby just from the smell he leaves behind, enough to make you gag. I can't imagine skinning one 'o them critters without a gas mask!

Interesting viewing, but he sure lives a hard life. Probably the closest thing to the way people lived when man first came to the Americas. They are semi-nomadic to not deplete their food resources, which seems smart in an area that has so little. I give them much respect for choosing such a hard life when they don't have to, but I wouldn't want to live that way. Far to hard on an old gal like me, I want to make things easier on myself as I age.

I was wondering how long some of the treks they made for hunting and trapping actually were...they looked to be quite a walk, most likely 5 miles or more. Ordinarily that wouldn't be a lot, but in their area it is a very long haul. The terrain makes for slow going, and you really have to watch where you place your feet.

GrammaCabin is correct, it was a brownie and they stink something awful even when alive. That video made the skinning look pretty easy but its harder than he made it look. They are really greasy (though in that cold it wouldnt have been as bad) and their hides are super tough. I usually have a couple of skinning knives ready because it will actually dull the blade.

You mean, YOU'VE done that? You've skinned a big bear?

:eek:

Whoa ........................

:eek:

Black bears smell awful strong, too.... not as bad as brownies, but you can smell them from a distance.

We simply can't get them to bathe up here...... :hysterical:

Large animals that have fat reserves, if killed, and not skinned, will tend to bloat up... the internal body heat won't immediately dissipate out into the cold...

I haven't seen the videos... we're on satellite, and videos are a big no no...

But, if I killed any animal I planned on eating, and I found the critter, no matter how tired, hungry, or cold I was, I'd field dress the animal at the minimum.

texican, brown bears are not edible so he didn't see the need to hurry and dress it out.

Black bears, however are great eating if taken care of correctly, dressed out and cooled down immediately. And yes, this ole granny has skinned and cooked her fair share. Done right a black bear is as good eating as any meat there is, just a little tough and needs to be slow cooked.

Thank y'all for chiming in with answers.

But here's another question:

If he wasn't going to eat the brown bear, and just wanted the fur, then why did he go ahead and whack it to pieces? What did he do with all that meat?

I watched the video and liked it.A beautiful country up there,but too many bears for me.That man had nerves of steel or was :censored:to walk up to a bear in the dark and start shooting.That kinda life ain't for me,if I need to go to the toilet,and got to carry a gun for bears,the toilet would never be used.

Lol,some folks can't take care of business unless their mind is on the business at hand,and a 600 lb grizzly walking around outside,:eek:would make them lose their concentration enough, that no business could be taken care of at the present time.Now if I happened to make it to the toilet,and the bear broke in,I would probably kill two birds with one stone, #1, by shooting the bear and # 2,, took care of business at the same time.

Around here, there are some mighty big black bears,the world record was killed three miles from my house,but I thank the Good Lord that our toilet is INSIDE the house,therefore business as usual.;). BUT, LIKE I SAID, THE MOVIE WAS GREAT!AND THANKS,, LOL Eddie Buck

P>S>= If ya'll ever hear of this old boy killing a bear on his trip to the toilet,be rest assured the dang bear had already broke through the walls of my house first,because a bear is the last thing I want to be thinking about,when I got business to take care of..:flame:

I sure he did'nt want to kill the bear for its hide. It was fall and the bears are getting as fat as they can before taking a winter nap. With all his winter meat hanging outside the bear would have came back and destroyed his winter cashe. So he had to shoot it. Here in alaska if you harvest a bear with a tag or kill a DLP bear the hide and the skull has to registered. If its a DLP bear it has to be turned in to F and G troopers. So thats why he skinned the hide and hacked the head off. It looked like to me the bear got rolled off into the river.
It may seem bad, but this way it would float away from his cabin and it would be used by other animals. Here in AK nothing ever goes to waste..