Dropped: Escape the Arctic | Complete Season | Survival Show

Hunters have always been the first to venture Into the Wilderness whether driven by necessity or a thirst for adventure it is Hunters who dare to go where most others won't Brothers Chris and Casey Kiefer represent the modern day Hunter for most of their lives the Kiefer Brothers have tested their skills as survivors in some of the world's most dangerous and unpredictable Landscapes dropped with only a sidearm for protection and the clothes on their backs together they will spend the next month stretching and clawing their way over 100 River miles through a land ruled by predators in a Race Against Time Supply yielding caches will be placed by The Producers throughout their journey to acquire them the brothers must beat the clock as Mother Nature threatens to choke the north with ice and snow for the first time the Kiefer Brothers will find out what it's like to be cast into the wild with virtually nothing this is dropped Alaska's Brooks range the northernmost extension of the Rocky Mountains is one of the most remote and least Disturbed landscapes in the world dramatic Peaks and valleys are plagued with Wolves Wicked terrain and fast-moving weather she has a will of her own spanning nearly 800 miles much of the range is only accessible by air with the highest aviation accident rate in the country flying in is a perilous start for brothers Chris and Casey Kiefer [Music] I'll try and find that little outlet and then boogie down to the creek we're gonna have to make a beeline for that cash Chris and Kasich will have five hours to Trek four miles in order to validate their first cash if they can find it now let's just hit his head coming touching down in remote Alaska means the brothers instantly must kick into survival mode because the clock is already ticking their immediate mission is straightforward Traverse miles of Baron Tundra on foot in hopes of reaching the likely location of the first Supply Cache dubbed the Pioneer cache they must quickly steady their nerves and get their bearings because hesitation now could cost them more than just daylight you didn't waste any time foreign we have no way to start a fire and we have to go that direction based on what we saw coming in because that's where that Creek is it's over that Ridge we're going to have to figure out a way to make some shelter up here man well I'll tell you right now that we will absolutely freeze I mean right now we're midday we got high Sun I'm still chilly so if we don't get down to the river and find a way to make shelter we're going to be in trouble Chris and Casey have carefully chosen the Basic clothing they need to stay warm the brothers are wearing an advanced layering system this allows them to quickly remove and add layers to combat the rapid and drastic shift in temperatures they're also relying on the accuracy knock down power high capacity and control of semi-automatic 10 millimeter handguns for Last Resort protection against Alaska's most dangerous predators if any of these items fail the Brothers fail at least if we can locate the cash that's going to represent at least something I'm home more than we're going to have now I mean we've been dropped in areas before this is like ridiculous there's nothing up here dude I've been a lot of places in Alaska I've never been anywhere this wide open problem is we don't know where the cash is the Kiefer Brothers have over 100 River miles to cover between insertion and extraction their starting point in the High Country sits miles from what seems to be a small Outlet Creek once at the creek they must travel the Waterway towards the tree line the supply yielding caches will be placed at predetermined locations and will contain tools vital to the brother's Mission as they work their way Downstream Chris and Casey will need to be opportunistic hunters and gatherers if they hope to stay alive using nothing but the tools found in each cache it's going to take us a hell of a lot longer to reach that Creek than we think dude look how far that is I know but there's no other option at this point not only that but if we're between two Creeks that means we got to figure out how to cross one before we get to the bigger Creeks with this one running right here and that one running right there we're eventually gonna have to get across one of them uncertain of their destination and with no mode of transportation the brothers are forced to Trek over the open Tundra well there's nothing else to do at this point besides roll old it's 40 degrees we got to figure out shelter start turning our minds towards food and just focus the rest we're gonna have to figure out all right that's what we do man I'm down let's go this segment of dropped is presented by Cabela's it's in your nature buck knives edge of a legend and Winchester celebrating 150 years of legendary excellence enduring a lack of food burdensome hiking and fluctuating temperatures can quickly drain the body of energy for the kefir Brothers the effects are noticeable almost immediately as the initial surge of adrenaline wears off pay attention moral to the right because I remember being in this direction at least that Inlet looked like it was that way depth perception is the visual ability to perceive the world in three dimensions helping us to judge the distance of an object in order for the human brain to process certain visual cues both eyes must work together as a team this is called binocular vision each eye is in a slightly different position Gathering a different view from its own unique perspective when both eyes aim at the same object equally and accurately two separate images are relayed to the brain for processing the brain Stitches the two images into one adding the depth Dimension this is called stereopsis and it allows the kefir Brothers to estimate how far they are from the next Ridge at all times the seemingly lifeless Tundra covers over half of Alaska but the Desolation can be deceiving several different animal species call this Barren ground home and they all compete with each other for food and territory the treeless region offers little cover from the Predators that Patrol the landscape it if visitors want to survive they have to adapt for Chris and Casey adapting hasn't been effortless their first few miles is taking longer than anticipated nothing like tough to turn the muskeg I mean it's like a maze you can't just walk straight this right here is what makes walking in the tundra so hard this is toxic all these little knobs and nastiness the Alaskan Tundra is a treeless ecosystem spanning over 300 000 miles and home to over 1700 plant species every time you stand on top of this stuff it just shifts back and forth and you can roll your ankles tweak your knees it just makes walk in hell so I make things even worse then you get on stuff like this you get on this Moss right here big soft bungee type stuff that when you step in it you sink way down even if you pick a straight line when you're walking through this kind of stuff you probably walk twice the distance because you kind of try to weave in and out of it the joys of walking around the tundra man walking twice as far means burning twice the energy I mean it's just false Ridge after false Ridge didn't look nearly that far from here freezing out right now too this wind is just cutting through me a nightmare to walk through that's it right there I mean that's the only thing around here despite being further than expected the brothers run into their first sign of water we got to get this cash before it's too late abrupt changes in temperature can wreak havoc on the ill-prepared the kefir brothers are already seeing the benefits of their clothing choices as they race against the clock with over a mile to go and just an hour and a half left to validate the cash help me there it is brother yep definitely it it's actually bigger than I thought it was gonna be yeah I know this is definitely the headwaters right here utilizing even the slightest elevation change in the tundra helps the brothers determine what lies ahead we know that this is going to run out it's going to hit that right there that's that is the top of the wall and you can see that Valley that whole way the brothers have located the headwaters but now they must find the actual cash I mean if they're going to bring it in here they're probably going to bring it in over here somewhere where there's beaches don't you think they're going to drop right here plus this is the easiest way around right here look how open that is compared to this side over here past experiences have given the brothers valuable insight into the areas of the North country that are accessible by humans and how as they scan the banks they rely upon their knowledge to systematically gauge where the cash should be if for some reason we have to backtrack we will but I feel like we should go right over there with that first let's get over there one wrong move will cost valuable time and precious energy get down to that corner right there thank you the clock is ticking and the Kiefer Brothers have yet to find their first cash they've decided to gamble on the path of least resistance if their gamble is wrong they face backtracking burning energy and impending Darkness the Kiefer Brothers have zigzagged over three miles from their point of insertion they're now within just one mile of the pioneer cache with hopes that the supplies are waiting for them near the banks the cash is camouflaged by a thick blanket of low-lying brush surrounding the lake in order to find the supplies they need to continue their Journey Chris and Casey must proceed with purpose and focus keep your eye out through this repair lowland stuff right there right in front of us right here right there nice fine dude oh man yeah nice spot all right oh well we got a tensing bag for sure which is good we got a backpack now you got a raft all right here's binos instead of waiting boots I gotta find the GPS in order for the brothers to make use of the supplies in the Pioneer cache and any other caches they may find they must first validate their location back to the producers if they fail to validate any of the correct locations in the time allotted the cache's contents will be useless to them real hold on I'm going to validate this there's other waders checking in [Music] okay and okay cash validated right now water bottle what do we got it's been half a day since the brothers were inserted on the high mountain lake having battled miles of open Tundra tussock and a lack of clear Direction the brothers have successfully found and validated their first cash Waiters waiting boots fly rod reel there's only one set of boots yeah hold on let's rip this thing off that right there look at this thing okay so we got the raft yep here's a knife oh yeah that'll be good yeah no that's solid if we can ever get into a place where there is wood all right we got nothing for a weapon no we got a fly rod though we know there's Grayling up here there always is yeah but there's no weapon there's no gun or bow no weapon means the brothers can't take big game drastically limiting their food options you know what else there isn't but there's no gun I know that all right this one will work there's no oars what there's no oars this segment of dropped is presented by PSE experience PSE experience performance scentlock proven deadly gorilla for the toughest jobs on planet Earth and Wiley X Eyewear absolute premium protection in the field there's got to be ores all right let's get back to this for a second there's no weapon and there's no oars and there's no tent no oars will make the brother's Journey more difficult and hinder their Pace I'm worried about the tent because we can use the raft and we can build shelter rope right there for concert on this for a second we have a pack we've got a knife which is huge to have that because at least we can chop down wood if we can ever get into a place where there is wood foreign tender well we just got to take what we got we got at least we have something to try and catch some food the end of the day that's kind of important up here in this High Country the Pioneer cash contains a number of critical items the raft is a 16 and a half foot inflatable canoe capable of carrying up to 1800 pounds of cargo made of 32 ounce PVC the Pioneer extreme weighs in at 72 pounds the 5-weight fly rod is equipped with a large Arbor reel the setup comes complete with a fly box containing dry flies and nymphs making it possible to land anything from Grayling to Salmon the fire starting kit contains a fire Striker flint rock and a Tinder nest for quick ignition even in extreme conditions rounding out the critical cash items is a set of 10 by 42 binoculars these Optics should prove useful for trying to locate game for food and provide a better look at what's ahead the binoculars are tucked into a soft harness with an elastic strap for comfortable carrying boy that's going to make it here it is hold on to make it rough we have eight miles down river to the next cache maybe that's where we're going to end up getting other stuff I'd hope while a GPS is a modern tool to the brothers it's nothing more than a glorified Compass survival in A Primitive situation for them means using your mind and your instincts more than any other tool yeah and then we'll get into the gear and get this all figured out with no ores and a Setting Sun the brothers decide to spend the days last Light getting their bearings yeah at least we have the ability to Glass let's just see if we can't get some eyes on what lies ahead of us because we're gonna have to go out this way anyway all right [Music] wow there's not a tree anywhere look right here Caribou right there are you kidding the movement among the tussock is quick to draw the brother's attention this time it's a herd of caribou and they're surprisingly close are you messing with me right now look at them they're coming right at us we got a entire herd of caribou that sucks according to Alaskan Game Regulations Hunters are prohibited from flying and hunting in the same day I mean there's all kind though right there look at that the wind too we could literally sneak right down there like that that's painful 14 days of meat right there I hate that we gotta move past these Caribou what are we gonna do there's nothing we can do I know I know there's nothing we can do but sit here and watch them all day I hope one of them Falls over completely Falls over dead and we just walk up on them training because that is a lot of food right there that bowl right there is a complete slam dunk a little disheartening at this point in the game yeah to say the least come all this way to have these Caribou right in front of us we can't do anything so I mean at the end of the day we're just spinning our Wheels boy it's maddening a couple weeks worth of meat man let's quit wasting time I gotta get back down there I'm not even gonna mess with them let's just get out of here North America's unique system of game laws was specifically created by hunters as a way to conserve protect and ensure the future of many species of wildlife while these Caribou would provide weeks worth of meat the brothers must leave them be but in Alaska they're not the only item on the menu fish Ptarmigan or natural forages such as berries and plants can be found if you know where to look these resources can be scarce so the brothers will have to take advantage of any opportunity they can to find fuel for their bodies here there's nothing else laying around down there like I don't see anything in the I don't see anything else I mean that's it man right there we got those items so we'll just make the best we can do with it let's fish our way down Lord knows we're not gonna be going fast because we don't have oars missing oars means there is no way for Chris and Casey to propel or even steer the raft with half a day behind them and no food or water a mundane chore quickly turns into back-breaking work all right being in the elements for an extended period of time depletes the body of energy for the brothers the labor of inflating a raft compounds that in an unexpected way life in the middle of nowhere is a constant strain mentally and physically don't take any more yeah that's about it this is it man oh oh that's where it's at all right so how about this instead of sweeping under it and using it for a shelter let's put it right there against that Hillside we'll put this stuff so it's on the left to give us some you know wind break and let's just get in this thing down and dirty with it oh yeah if we get in it's going to keep us up off the ground it's like a big air mattress well here's the deal if it rains flip it flip it on us let's get it up and set right now and then we can figure out the rest of the stuff oh I was gonna go to sleep right now you got a weekend we're not done yet we're not done yet as we lay down we're going to be done get that get packed up with the temperature dropping the brothers settle in for the evening all right you get the pack I'll get these waiters okay I got some of this stuff I'm gonna sleep in these waiters tonight man be warmer than not sleeping in them go ahead and do whatever you'd like to do because we're not going to start a fire are we no I say we don't start a fire I mean we're not going to have any wood right here I mean this is all just fantastic and Willow I mean there's nothing dead I think we're going to waste time if we start a fire I think we just talk in save that save that Tinder for once I mean I don't want to waste it on all this green especially because we're not cooking anything no I mean I'm not gonna fish tonight I think that Sun's going down here pretty quick where do I start with this one a boat with no oars no weapon and no shelter really throws a monkey wrench in Alaska right now you know maybe we don't need orders the first couple of days maybe we're going to be doing an awful lot of dragon which side do you want room one or room two I think both of our goals right now is to hit tree line I mean there's no wood up here to speak of not even a firewood up here it's gonna be a long cold night but as of right now we're making do we're getting tight for the night tomorrow we gotta haul it winter is coming early in Alaska [Music] Hunters have always been the first to venture Into the Wilderness whether driven by necessity or a thirst for adventure it is Hunters who dare to go where most others won't Brothers Chris and Casey Kiefer represent the modern day Hunter for most of their lives the Kiefer Brothers have tested their skills as survivors in some of the world's most dangerous and unpredictable landscapes dropped with only a sidearm for protection and the clothes on their backs together they will spend the next month scratching and clawing their way over 100 River miles through a land ruled by predators in a Race Against Time Supply yielding caches will be placed by The Producers throughout their journey to acquire them the brothers must beat the clock as Mother Nature threatens to choke the north with ice and snow for the first time the Kiefer Brothers will find out what it's like to be cast into the wild with virtually nothing this is dropped summer has officially left the Brooks range the arrival of autumn triggers a drastic change in the behavior of many of the range's yearly residents Bears begin to eat around the clock building a thick layer of fat to survive on during hibernation moose who are typically solitary animals actively seek a mate as they come into rut beavers cut trees to build and stock their lodges with food last night's plummeting temperature was just a precursor of the winter that is to come a warning that must be taken seriously as the Kiefer Brothers awakened to tackle the first leg of their Journey they are greeted by an icy morning their first cash yielded basic Transportation a way to catch food and the ability to make fire with no protection from the freezing temperatures the brothers endured their first night with little rest that was one of the coldest nights I've ever spent period that sun feels like a sauna right now we gotta get out of this High Country miles of unknown terrain stand between the brothers and their next cache of valuable equipment we got to make it eight miles but I don't know if we'll be able to make it eight miles I have no idea what's in store on this River we don't know if it's skinny and shallow lots of Boulders or what but usually a pie like this these Rivers can present quite a challenge but all that's cold with no prior knowledge of the river's Channel or flow and a lack of oars the brothers will push off from a small Outlet slew River levels fluctuate drastically in Alaska even drying up or going underground at times in the likely event of shallow water the brothers will be forced to carry their equipment over Rocky ground which will slow their pace time you wake up with ice on your face not good with no shelter to protect themselves or their gear last night's drop in temperature has created some unexpected problems September in Alaska means limited daylight the brothers can't afford a slow start it definitely dropped down into the 20s last night for sure they're just Frozen everything up here frozen solid okay this is gonna be a pass when the temperature drops below 32 degrees water vapor in the air transforms from a gas to liquid and then to a solid anything exposed to the open air will form a thin sheet of ice that exhibits a repeating pattern at every scale this is known as Frost water seeps into voids found in fibers and Equipment which can solidify into ice this ice expands and attracts water from adjacent voids which then freezes upon contact crystals continue to grow and join creating an ice lens that degrades elasticity and erodes materials long-term exposure to the element and potentially render the kefir Brothers limited equipment unusable okay next time just at least figure out where the Sun hits first set those in the sun Not underneath I mean I can't even get the boots tight I don't know well the faster we get moving the faster I start to come back around tie this stuff up carry it good thing is we don't have much to carry the body's natural way to combat a dangerously low core temperature comes in the form of shivering the body contracts and relaxes muscles erratically in an effort to heat itself back to temperature burning precious calories in the process for the brothers the fastest way to get warm is to get moving the faster we get moving the faster my blood gets flown frozen solid man the main means of transportation now sits in front of the Kiefer Brothers as a frozen chunk of Backwater Slough I think we're just gonna end up having to carry the raft it seems like they're looking forward to this the sharp edges created by fracturing ice can easily slice through waders and tear holes in a raft two risks that aren't worth taking for the brothers to make progress they must find moving water well it's a good way to start the day sweating now this segment of dropped is presented by Cabela's it's in your nature buck knives edge of a legend and Winchester celebrating 150 years of legendary excellence okay here's the mouth of the river right here okay I'll go right down the cot es of the North Country provide a useful Highway for traveling but a lack of oars means the brothers will have to continuously exert themselves if they want to beat an Alaskan harsh winter this high in the tundra endless changes of depth Direction and water flow means a constant battle to keep the pace a little deep right here the brothers have managed to find a channel that holds enough water to float a rarity of the high Arctic rivers of the region now all we got to do is find the next gas let's hit it yeah shallow again I'm just gonna go straight over the point repeatedly dragging a raft over sharp rocks on the creek bed completely destroy its Hull a little bit more rather than risk damaging the raft the brothers choose to Portage there is no way of knowing whether portaging a raft around this stretch of the river will make for easier travel but the brothers have already wasted valuable time dragging ready yep the added weight of the raft on their backs and the constant mental focus needed to pick through the Maze of tussed grass consumes their limited energy watch your ankle oftentimes in the far reaches of the north the fastest way around a stretch of shallow water in a river known as a rock garden is portaging portaging requires carrying the raft and all its contents out and around obstacles some portages may span several miles while portaging usually saves time and provides a safer Route Around stretches of dangerous Rock strong sections of the river it often comes at the expense of carrying dead weight over tough Terrain yes better I'm over this toxic it's ridiculous I feel like every step you know snap an ankle and I got glass angled as it is I know this is ridiculous right adapting to this harsh environment is proving tiresome for the Kiefer Brothers hopefully we don't have to Portage much more I mean we stick to following just this Brushy stuff that's on the side of the creek at least find good flow I mean this is cutting off a ton of time so if we can just get right to there just amazes me how caribou and they just move through this stuff like it's nothing at all they run through it traversing the Tundra with ease is not the only adaptation that has been essential to the survival of caribou in the north their split holes have four toes two are Broad and Crescent shaped making it easier to swim and travel in the snow their outer coat is made of hair that is hollow keeping them buoyant and trapping heat close to their bodies their noses have a special chamber for holding in heat and moisture this pocket is designed to warm cold air before it enters the lungs they can even lower the rate at which their body burns calories this allows them to survive on the sparse vegetation found in the open Tundra during the long winters of the North way more water it's a little steep don't you think hey what I'm not walking any further so she's going in somehow the river's current has increased at desirable levels for floating but in order to reach it the brothers must make their way down a steep Bank Falling In The Frigid Waters could lead to hypothermia within a matter of minutes let it turn us and then I'm coming you ready yep go the brother's decision to Portage has paid off they have finally reached a channel that's suitable for floating the kefir Brothers still have four of eight River miles left to reach the next cache today's Pace has been continuously slowed by shallow water and there's only so much daylight the brothers can spend on travel alone without oars Chris and Casey are at the mercy of the river's flow they must use their hands and feet to prevent the raft from slamming into the riverbank each Bend in the river risks an injury or puncturing the raft which could leave them stranded foreign this is way easier man headwinds are brutal there's no ore lacking oars from their first cash not only slows their Pace in the face of a stiff wind it also means they'll be forced to pinball their way down river sooner than later we're gonna have to find some trees with no trees in sight the brothers May face another night of freezing temperatures without the warmth of a fire with daylight fading and only half the distance to their next cache behind them the Kiefer Brothers have stopped to evaluate an area for making Camp there's a grailing right there oh he got some Grayling Rising well that just solidifies it for sure past experience has taught the brothers to consider only what's directly in front of them when making any type of decision we got Driftwood Deadwood this is the first time we've even seen trees yeah all right you want to stay here yeah if you want to stay here everything we need we're not going to do the what's around the next Bend no I'm not doing what's around the next Bend dead wood for fire and actively feeding fish make this a prime location for the brothers all night and just kind of all right I'll go to work getting this Rod together the ability to divide and conquer in any survival situation is crucial to success as Chris searches for Reliable wood Casey sets out to land the Trip's first meal we got kind of a classic fishing River with riffle run pool riffle run pool and what happens is when you get to those pools and you find those fish you're going to have a fish right at the bottom at the tail you're going to have a fish all the way at the top and then you're going to get some fish that hold throughout the middle but what I like to do is I like to start at the very bottom and I'll start down here at this tail a good fisherman focuses on keeping the area being fished in a calm and natural state that way I can control them and keep them away to keep all the water up above me a hooked fish swimming wildly throughout the pool will spook others and the chances of Landing a second decreases catching a meal with basic equipment is only half the battle cooking one has its own fair share of difficulties Chris must find dead wood if he hopes to build a fire all dead live wood contains significant amounts of water making it almost impossible to burn forearm thick Willow or Spruce makes perfect Fuel and oftentimes rests on the edges of gravel bars yeah this is dead finding a limb this tall in the tundra is rare utilizing it as a push-pull provides Safer travel but sacrifices hours of warmth around a fire if not Casey doesn't get one probably make him pretty mad but at least I got one which is going to be nice yeah I'm gonna dig through this fly box because I don't even really know what's in there over 2 000 species of insects can be found in the Alaskan Tundra mayflies Stone flies and caddisflies make up the primary diet of the various fish that call these Arctic Rivers home a fly fisherman uses imitations of these insects to pique the interest of a Hungry Fish where the insects are found in the water column is an important aspect of which type of imitation fly to use the cache's limited selection of flies means Casey must be constantly aware of insect patterns seasonal changes and River conditions if he hopes to catch any summer there are a few mayfly imitations which is probably what I'm going to start with because basically a mayfly is big and slow a Caddis is fast and it skates across the water quickly and they have to work hard to get it may flies they don't have to work hard to get I had I did see mayflies in the air while we were floating today so I know they're up here I didn't get a good look at what color they were but hopefully I can catch some supper tonight mayflies are well known to fly fishermen these aquatic insects lay their eggs on water which settle to the bottom or adhere to a submerged object where they incubate after roughly two weeks the eggs hatch into their nympho form they can spend much of the year in this stage feeding off algae found on the riverbed when ready they rise to the surface and molt their exoskeleton to take flight once Airborne the adult mayfly may have at best two days to find a mate and lay eggs before its short life is over there's at least four to six good fish up this Edge right here kind of watching this seam and this bubble Line This is where the fish are all lined up at and pretty much that seam that bubble line exactly where that is is where the food travels generally what a fish does is he lays on the surface as the bug comes to him he follows it and then he hits it and then he goes back and lays down seeing a fish rise to the surface to feed allows Casey to predict where it may be laying on the riverbed so I got one right here that's about 10 feet in front of me see if we can't make it happen when fly fishing the concept is to use the weight of the line to load and then unload energy from the rod back to the line the most common cast is the overhead cast where the angler whisks the fly into the air back over the shoulder until the line is nearly straight then forward placing the weightless fly perfectly on the surface there are a great number of special casts meant to evade problems like trees behind the angler a difficult sport that takes touch and patience the brothers have reached a pivotal point in the journey as Casey lands their first meal railing buddy you did get one [Music] you know what I do with the first fish though right don't let him go how I roll man no you're not doing it first Grayling of the trip look at that he's right in the belly food right there food that goes back in the water why do you do that because I always let the first one go man if I give back hopefully they give back to me Casey's time-honored tradition flares Chris's nerves Zach what are they going to give to you if you worry about nothing give you food is what they give you that's why you catch them he's gonna go tell all his little buddies out there yeah well you can tell all his little buddies to catch onto your little line there because you let another one go getting the first meal of the trip swim back into the water is a bold move what was a sure source of protein is gone within seconds I don't understand what they can get back to you they're giving you food that's the whole point of the fish is it gives you food give you protein and you let it go it's great that's sweet good well I get the first one then if he's small I get him oh come on why is this fish not Rising this segment of dropped is presented by PSE experience PSE experience performance scent lock proven deadly gorilla for the toughest jobs on planet Earth and Wiley X Eyewear absolute premium protection in the field and stop for the night on their quest for the next cash Chris's temper is flared after Casey's Superstition let the first solid meal slip back into the water he's been nervously searching for another fish ever since hey Chris what oh [Music] your fish gives back well that one's given right here so don't be throwing the second one away that's a beautiful fish though what are they stocking with dry flies I just threw a mayfly on I saw those mayflies when we were floating and figured give it a whirl big and slow they'll eat them boy you're lucky they took a second one yeah yeah I don't even think about it how's the fire going you got enough kindling got enough stuff going right now we're dialed and I found two uh old Willows we can use them for poles we just kind of kind of Whittle them down a little bit but no more ping pong and we can use them so that's better than nothing I'm just gonna dig out a little pit and try to get that Flint going okay well I'll try and pick one at least one more off here all right see how we do foreign Casey's persistence is paid off but they still have to cook the fish it takes time to build a proper fire something the brothers are losing every second as the sun dips toward the Horizon Casey's catching some fish so hopefully I got another one for himself all right well we got this Tinder and Flint in the cash I'm gonna see if we can't get a fire going with it he is I'm going to start extremely small see if I can build it it's just a matter of building a little bit of a nest [Music] an experienced hand of a bush Savvy Hunter makes the process look easy Chris and Casey have spent countless days honing their skill set an ability they must always keep sharp or risk facing more cold nights oh yeah we got fire all survival situations call for compromise while tonight's Camp lacks shelter it does offer food water and a solid source of fuel for fire eight like literal heat so we can cook food when we find it like the Grayling case is catching those are two things that we need after a long day of rowing like that and we got them both this is now my favorite camp fire tonight means food and heat throughout the Long Cold Night an essential element that will punish the brothers energy for the next Day's Journey you know Grayling they don't have a pile of meat on them they got a lot of bones but when you're out here in the middle of nowhere and you don't have anything it sure as they'll do the trick known as the lady of the stream the Arctic grayling is symbolic of the clear cold streams of the northern Wilderness a relative of the salmon it can live up to 32 years these voracious feeders can grow up to 24 inches and 5 pounds Casey's catch is a far cry from these numbers but any amount will do after two days on a Nifty stomach fish as a food source provides a high protein low-fat content that will sustain them but only temporarily the intense workload of surviving in the wilderness demands a high fat diet that the brothers can only attain from red meat something they can only dream about tonight [Music] how's that feel oh warming my hands everything I mean it's absolutely I need to warm my hands back prolonged exposure to cold water has sent Casey's body into survival mode his brain is forcing the blood vessels in his extremities to constrict in order to redirect the warm blood to the body's internal organs this process protects his core temperature but it also results in frigid fingers and toes that water's got to be 38 degrees 40 degrees something like that it's a good little spot this is a phenomenal spot I mean it literally has everything we've been looking for yeah you know what this is six trees but I feel like six more than we've worked more and more into that all the way down I mean the further down we get the further the more rivers are starting starting to flow in more drainage is increase camping here for the evening allows the brothers to rest but it also means they will only have four hours of daylight tomorrow to reach their second cash all right get up and get out in the morning don't you think oh yeah but I'm not sleeping more than four foot away from this I'll just get a pile of wood and we just sleep right here amazing what a fire will do for somebody out here I mean it totally just brings back everything that you missed just having that heat is awesome because when the sky was open it was cold it was really really cold Casey pulling out a couple Grayling was awesome keep eating fish and picking our way along this River I'm not really worried about the food thing but of course I mean I never thought it would be that hard to row down a river with Outdoors it's proving to be pretty difficult thus far but now that we have some push pulls we're able to kind of bounce around a little better you know you never know what's around the next Bend and that's part of what drives me I think when I'm out here we haven't hit Treeline yet so I feel like we're going to run into a lot more animals down there foreign Hunters have always been the first to venture Into the Wilderness whether driven by necessity or a thirst for adventure it is Hunters who dare to go where most others won't Brothers Chris and Casey Kiefer represent the modern day Hunter for most of their lives the Kiefer Brothers have tested their skills as survivors in some of the world's most dangerous and unpredictable Landscapes dropped with only a sidearm for protection and the clothes on their backs together they will spend the next month scratching and clawing their way over 100 River miles through a land ruled by predators in a Race Against Time Supply yielding caches will be placed by The Producers throughout their journey to aquarium the brothers must beat the clock as Mother Nature threatens to choke the north with ice and snow for the first time the Kiefer Brothers will find out what it's like to be cast into the wild with virtually nothing this is dropped over 150 million years ago much of Alaska was nothing but a shallow sea things changed after a drifting tectonic plate sank its teeth into the Arctic Shelf the Plate's ceaseless Advance over countless centuries has forced the Bedrock to buckle and Rise building the Brooks range we know today the DraStic shifts in elevation Define the landscape a trait that many of the range's residents had become accustomed to even dependent upon something the Kiefer brothers are all too aware of as they struggle to escape the shallow rivers of the open Tundra Chris and Casey Kiefer are fighting a shallow River in their race to beat the rapidly approaching Arctic winter surviving on a meter meal of fish and with little protection from the sharp winds and freezing temperatures the brothers were forced to break Camp early to drag their raft over two miles before ice and snow choke the river they have another two miles to validate their second cash with hopes of acquiring a few more precious tools to help survive a harsh Alaskan winter that's what I wanted weather and water Chris and I chose to Bow Stern our way down through this High skinny water it's uh it's actually a really good method to move through this skinny stuff because you can get in and out of the boat really quick and really easy when the boat comes down and it drops over a rapid as the ball gets closer to Shore and Chris pushes off what that does is that actually spins the boat on its axis like this toward the shore a lot harder every impact threatens to damage the raft which could leave the brothers stranded so far we've been going through this skinny water getting out of the tundra but we're picking our way through the surge river is a good sign that the brothers are steadily making their way out of the barren High Country definitely dropping an elevation because we're getting more relaxed right now look back there you can see it see the layers like down flat down flat Ripple flat it comes all the way through there the rivers that flow on the south side of Alaska's Brooks range start in high elevation as they flow towards the valley below the river's gradient will vary often times areas of relatively low gradient only drop a few feet in elevation per mile in other sections the river will drop drastically over a short distance and will turn a once calm River into turbulent Rapids these unpredictable and fast-moving sections of the river are oftentimes littered with large Boulders that can prove fatal to a raft or a rafter in stretches like these rafting can turn violent in a matter of seconds 20 degrees since we started rolling oh yeah the wind's gone freeze all the more reason to get to this cache will run in tight yeah so I say we just Hammer up Welcome to Alaska Let's Roll hold on let me get up here thank God we have the raft the Kiefer Brothers broke Camp prior to daylight in order to get a jump on the Storm changing river flows ingredients have plagued the morning float and only compounded their troubles on the water but they're about to reach a critical point the water is beginning to pick up speed allowing them to cover long distances in short bursts however it will also mean equally long distances of calm shallow water without oars to propel them these calm sections of the river will eat away in valuable time something they can't afford to waste if they hope to validate their second cash a steep drop in elevation has rocketed the brothers almost a mile down the river through a fast stretch of water littered with Boulders a narrow Escape that is made up valuable time for snowfall first couple of stands of goods Bruce all in all feels pretty good it's good to get down out of that High Country man get down into here where we got some trees gives us a little sense of shelter way better for a fire we have had to navigate some Rapids for sure in some rocky sections but we're making do we're getting by rolling down the river come on the river's gradient has bottomed out the slow shallow water means Chris and Casey will be forced to drag the raft the last half mile this segment of dropped is presented by Cabela's it's in your nature buck knives edge of a legend and Winchester celebrating 150 years of legendary excellence Kiefer Brothers are fighting the rivers they battled the elements in search of their second Supply catch with limited Vision in the face of a blizzard and only 14 minutes left to find and validate the cash the brothers must be extra vigilant in their search they're saying we're at the coordinates right now bloody good that does us as the brothers struggled to maintain a healthy internal temperature their bodies use up resources that would otherwise be available for mental processes as a result the mind is more likely to make mistakes or choose the easy option rather than the correct one everyday decisions can quickly become life-threatening scenarios because of the extreme environment they find themselves in baby it's right here yeah oh it's like Christmas morning okay I'm gonna validate yeah send that in dude I'm getting into this thing get it okay sent cash validated covered in Rock y one of the coldest nights I've ever spent it's proven to be pretty difficult thus far it's been two days since the brothers were dropped in the high arctic tundra having covered 12 River miles over tough terrain and in freezing temperatures with minimal gear the brothers have successfully found and validated their second cash we got a frame pack got something in it salt tag bags and salt seriously you got to be more than that what else is there any other pocket no nothing on the inside there's something in here ring finder oh boy you know what that means hoping that's it if there's a rangefinder we got a gun awesome skinning knives come on baby they're folded up in there yes yes look at look at lucky what kind of gun are we working with four bullets four bullets four you gotta be more bullets than that I'll check every pocket only four bullets will leave little room for error uh 270 win short mag ores huge salt and tag bags got a tarp the brother's second Supply Cache proves critical for taking down big game the meat care kit contains iodized salt synthetic game bags and skinning knives these items will help prepare and preserve game meat and hides for several weeks if they can find game with the addition of oars the raft kit is finally complete and the brothers can now travel safely down river at a quicker Pace the rifle kit contains a model 70 270 short magnum rifle four ballistic silver tip bullets a 4 to 12 by 50 rifles go and a rangefinder these items will afford the brothers the opportunity to take down big game from a distance those doors are going to be huge because I'm done with the sticks and the Roy we got orange now finding oars in the cache means less time spent on the river valuable time the brothers can spend searching for food yeah here we go all right cash validated your next cash is located 15 miles down river 18 miles far that's far so at this point with this weather I say we just keep moving and try to find a spot for this evening since we got more Daylight I'm not camping here no way all right let's just keep rolling dude we're already in it best way to stay warm is to keep them pushing let me get this all buttoned back up so they got a frame pack where's that range finder I think I put it back yet back it's all the tag bag is great it just means we can take something down but what we should do is just lay this stuff and then let this carpet yeah tarping the raft will protect what little gear the brothers have by keeping it dry it's a good part too throw your stick yeah do that too but it's very invigorating hello success Man cast you down man let's keep moving I'm starting to get together [Music] all right look at that tell you what Winter's coming fast it's Alaskan baby that's how she rolls you ready yeah I'm ready oh ah yeah perfect as the sun peeks in the sky on the brother's third day in Alaska the cloud cover Burns off taking the winter storm that has barraged them all morning with it the Elation of finding oars in their second cash is short-lived as they find themselves in shallow water as the day drags on the brothers Pace continues to lessen this morning's push to the cache sap their reserves and they find themselves Running on Fumes it's just wild out when you're flying in here everything looks so tame and so peaceful from the air from a distance land looks level and flat the river doesn't look too daunting and then you get down here there's nothing flat about it the rivers are nasty but that's what we sign up for you know it's not the postcard you see it's the real deal this whole time Casey and I've been kind of going down this River we're looking to see if we can't pick up some protein along the way the thing about the Tundra is it's so vast and and then out of nowhere you'll run into a herd of Caribou or you'll see a moose and you're like where did he come from but it's a little discouraging where you can see five miles in all directions and you don't see anything warmer temperatures take hold as Chris and Casey slog their way through a long flat stretch of river their primary goal now is to reach tree line where food will be more prevalent hey Chris right there what's on that left leg what what is it hey it's a parody 150 yards standing over 12 feet tall an adult male grizzly in the fall can weigh more than 1200 pounds and run up to 40 miles per hour over long distances their paws have four inch claws that are specialized tools to dig up Roots even in frozen ground they are strong enough to kill an adult Caribou in a single blow and their bite force is over 1200 PSI strong enough to crush a bowling ball these bears that call Alaska home are known to roam several hundred miles losing sight of him now means Chris and Casey risk stumbling upon him somewhere down river oh Hey There came down the hillside right at us now we have no idea where he is the problem is where we last saw him is right there his River bends and goes right by there we're just taking our time just gonna kind of talk out loud yell at him there were more than 30 000 bears in Alaska meeting one up close is something the brothers always try to avoid stay alert grizzly bears are found in many different habitats across North America they are normally solitary animals and not typically territorial however they are known to congregate where food is plentiful a grisly attacking a human is uncommon but their temperament can easily change if cornered surprised or a mother's Cub is endangered this is not the first encounter the brothers have had with Grizzlies threat the brothers must always be aware of when traversing the Wilds of Alaska with a bear in the immediate vicinity Chris and Casey are forced to continually stop and check their surroundings with each new Bend in the river we just want to see what's ahead of us anytime you can use the land to kind of get a grasp of what's up in front of you you got to do it especially with a bear in the area for once I'm glad there's no trees We Can See For Miles the brothers make use of a small hill to see out and around their surrounding location also known as glassing this Vantage Point allows the brothers To See For Miles in all directions as they hope to spot the grizzly before it spots them going to see them if he's gone yeah but the grass is real tall here look at those mountains man they're closing in all around us though the brothers have reached an almost impassable section of the range and have come face to face with a full-grown male grizzly bear shortly after validating their second cash steep mountains flank the sides of the river and force any traveling animal into the only passable area for Miles known as a choke point animals in the surrounding area will be forced to funnel into this concentrated Chute making it a prime hunting habitat but the presence of a Grizzly reaffirms that the brothers aren't the only ones on the hunt Predators have learned to take full advantage of terrain changes like this and are known to Congress Brigade where prey is plentiful finding this choke point increases the brother's chances of attaining red meat but it also means they must be more cautious than ever as they are now in direct competition for food with the area's resident predators nothing I should probably get going huh wait what's that what dude Caribou right there the Caribou is back up River with a Brother's last spot at the bear this segment of dropped is presented by PSE experience PSE experience performance scent lock proven deadly gorilla for the toughest jobs on planet Earth and Wiley X Eyewear absolute premium protection in the field Chris and Casey have spotted a lone Caribou wandering the open Tundra but they must act fast the brothers must hurry back to the raft to re-equip before he moves out of range just spotted a caribou up on the side of the Hill thing is we don't want to go hammering up through there the waiters on because of the terrier waiters they're worthless we got like a perfect win right now gosh we got that rifle we don't have a lot of bullets gotta make the shots count I'm ready to go let's go the longer the brothers are away the greater the risk of them losing track of him Caribou hair matches perfectly against the backdrop of the open Tundra acting as a camouflage against predators is he still there right there right there on the left phone left to right Sam hey what's the range on them there are many factors the brothers must take into consideration before taking a shot pressure velocity and distance the primer found in a bullet spits fire creating gas and increasing pressure that launches the bullet forward within a millisecond the weight of the bullet and the pressure acting upon the bullet determines both its velocity and distance as the bullet leaves the muzzle wind air and gravity impact its energy and trajectory slowing it down and arching its path adding in wind direction and a moving Target makes it that much more difficult a strict code of ethics will not permit the brothers to take a poor shot even in these extreme circumstances 196. where'd he go I don't know all I can see is white that disappeared right there see his head just bought all the eggs right there see him all right he's standing up he turned his body Caribou are one of the only mammals that can see ultraviolet light a rare ability that allows them to spot Predators across long distances combined with the vast emptiness of the tundra gives the Caribou a distinct advantage over the brothers it's quarter and two and he spun look and he knew we were here oh yeah he's looking right at him he go in that Creek yep okay he's like him a day away already I hope the bear doesn't get him having spotted the brothers the Caribou has taken refuge in a small Creek almost 500 yards back up River but the creek is a double-edged sword there is nowhere else for the Caribou to avoid detection and the thick cover in high banks will allow the brothers to move undetected if they can make their way around the front side of the creek they may have another shot but they must also be aware that a grizzly bear still lurks in the immediate area without the luxury of the river to help them the brothers are forced to cover 500 yards on foot with all of their gear they can only hope the Trek will be worth its weight in red meat the brothers must also keep their eyes open for the bear that could still be lurking in the area I feel we creep in here right now but I don't want to like dive in there why don't we just walk up and let our wind blow he just stood up a white wolf was lurking in high brush around the creek stalking the Caribou or the brothers look at that I took three steps back Chris is fortunate to still be in one piece after such a close encounter he just got up right there I don't know if he's coming at me or if he's charging or what but at this time I'm not messing around dude he knew we were here long before we knew he was here that second shot dropped him right there in the truck he was just laying right down in here that's kind of stood up behind this stuff and looked just when he stood up and looked at me and I just popped off one and he just kind of folded the second one he just dropped I heard you yelling and the next thing I know you're shooting oh freaked me out when I turned around and that's all I saw the wolves that roam the remote corners of Alaska are some of the most lethal and efficient Hunters on Earth generally found in packs that consist of six or seven animals wolves are social carnivores that rely on numbers to take down prey five times their size oftentimes due to relatively High birth rates a pack of wolves must continuously be on the hunt in most of Mainland Alaska moose and Caribou are their primary food source with small animals like squirrels beavers and snowshoe hares supplementing their diet an efficient pack of wolves is capable of taking down large game every few days especially when the ground is snow covered this High rate of predation can have drastic effects on the reproduction rates of moose caribou and even dull sheep Alaska is home to an estimated 11 000 wolves and they have never been considered either endangered or threatened checks and balances are in place to control the wolf populations if left unmanaged this super Predator would devastate Alaska's wildlife today was a hard day but it was well earned you know ever since we entered this Valley we started to see you know signs of caribou kills up in the hills you know there's wolves around you know you get in those situations and that animal in particular is so unbelievably skilled I don't know it's uh it's a humbling experience we're not survivalists we're not we're not guys that you know claim we know everything about being out here we're big game Hunters that love to test ourselves but just being able to see Caribou tonight and not be able to pull the trigger just watching that food go by is pretty hard if anything I've learned it's that you got to take it as it comes we spend a lot of energy today going up there but that's how we roll Hunters have always been the first to venture Into the Wilderness whether driven by necessity or a thirst for adventure it is Hunters who dare to go where most others won't Brothers Chris and Casey Kiefer represent the modern day Hunter for most of their lives the Kiefer Brothers have tested their skills as survivors in some of the world's most dangerous and unpredictable Landscapes dropped with only a sidearm for protection and the clothes on their backs together they will spend the next month scratching and clawing their way over 100 River miles through a land ruled by predators in a Race Against Time Supply yielding caches will be placed by The Producers throughout their journey to acquire them the brothers must beat the clock as Mother Nature threatens to choke the north with ice and snow for the first time the Kiefer Brothers will find out what it's like to be cast into the wild with virtually nothing this is dropped deep in the Brooks range of Alaska the natural elements are a constant display of unpredictable weather shifts and sheer strength this volatile and desolate landscape is brimming with dangerous obstacles the elements are capable of wiping out or wearing down most everything in their path the Kiefer brothers are feeling the effects of Mother Nature's suffocating grip as they battle to escape with basic gear and minimal calorie intake shock adrenaline surges hard worn miles and a meager diet can all lead to Pure exhaustion an impossible State for the brothers to maintain if they hope to continue covering ground well here we are floating on today's adventure down the river it's been interesting No Doubt but we're starting to get into Timber starting to get in some high Bank the weather's changing it's warm and then it's snowing that's Alaska for you right there hot then snow hot then snow seems to be the theme right now so kind of prepared for anything keep on rolling down Trucking down the river looking forward to seeing what's up ahead of us looks pretty good we'll see a cold front has settled in and the temperature has dropped below freezing rather than face another winter storm on Open Water the brothers decide to conserve body heat by stopping to build a fire the fire is a complete Spirit lifter man prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures can quickly result in frostbite finally starting to get a little bit warm and my fingers are getting cold I'm starting to lose the ore because my hands are starting to close out so yeah it's the right call jump back in the raft and slide off the side of it because it's freaking icy and snowy yeah it's been five days since the brothers were inserted on the high Arctic Lake they've covered over 15 River miles since their Journey began and have tackled freezing temperatures shallow rivers and come face to face with more than one Predator the sparse number of fish they've eaten along the way has kept them going but barely exhaustion is starting to set in however they have finally worked their way out of the baron tundra in lower elevations Timber is more prevalent perfect Moose Country kind of over the rafting part right now man I'm sore feeling a little bit weak wouldn't mind looking around see if we can't get some more food maybe catch a few Grayling let's just kind of do a little bit of hunting from here Bruce country starts to turn into Moose Country you know what I mean yeah we got all the proper tools to do it if we can just get some elevation maybe do some glasses the brothers desperately need red meat if they hope to survive the rest of their journey I mean I can certainly try for Grayling and we can fish forever but you know yeah because we've done it before man yeah but we still have when we got the pole now we got the rifle now we've got a tarp we got options yeah so at least we have options that allows us to take our time now and kind of starting to rain again this weather has been all over the map I mean jeez oh man we got snow we got 50 degrees and we're back to snow again and rain it's been a mixture of everything and the wind doesn't help I know it's getting ridiculous the immune system is the body's natural defense against dangerous pathogens this complex network of organs tissues and cells battles foreign bacteria viral infections and parasites drastic changes in body temperature sleep deprivation and inadequate nutrition are all factors that contribute to a weakened immune system something as simple as a common cold can turn into a killer if Chris and Casey can't find a way to revitalize themselves you know you get up in here and you get actually off the river a little bit falling down you know I feel like we ought to just take the time and maybe set up a little bit of a shelter right here I mean there's no reason to push it right now we're getting a good country thing is getting that rifle was huge because now we actually have the ability to go out and get elevation do a little hunting I'm down let's drag the raft over and then once we get the raft over here we can kind of figure out how we're going to set this up we keep this fire going and just definitely keep the fire going restarting the fire would be nearly impossible if it were to rain heavily build this up a little bit and we'll go to work see if we can't get a shelter before this rain I don't want to get any wetter than I already am toes are still numb and it's snowing again this segment of dropped is presented by Cabela's it's in your nature buck knives edge of a legend and Winchester celebrating 150 years of legendary excellence the Kiefer brothers are facing an Alaskan winter without adequate shelter they must piece together what little equipment they have to try and build a sturdy structure that will keep them out of the elements let's just carry all this stuff over carry the raft over first just leave it all in here it's all staying dry right now other things we take this wrap we can set it on that back side yeah and then wrap that tarp up and around it yeah it's a little break on the back side all right let's get it over there Chris and Casey must drag the raft close to 30 yards from the bank of the river to their fire a gauntlet of bushes and rocks threatens to damage their only mode of transportation on the way hunger and fatigue make the chore that much more grueling let's just put in here the raft will be a key piece in building their shelter it will act as a Windbreak one of these doors is a ridge Pole right there yep across those branches and run the carp off I was thinking that we could use it on both ends but like tie it up to hold it up at the end each brother has a different opinion on how the shelter should be built I think when we get the raft kind of as a back you know like as a Windbreak and not to get anything wet all right I was trying to just kind of slide it in yeah just watch for Sharp sticks yeah they don't want to poke it yeah be in trouble the tree branches will support the raft and keep it upright but with reward there is also risk carry it in flip it up should be good you got enough coverage down there Perfect all right fingers are getting cold again here take this around back and then I'll grab it from the front you might be able to tuck it on the back side of that you can grab that and start to get it through then I can probably tuck it right here we're all the way up at the top of the raft already the tarp is too small to cover the entire left you know what I mean turn it long and skinny that's all we need right there yeah I know we're not going to be able to tuck it underneath can we just lash it down [Music] I'm gonna have to lash it to that tree and lash it to this tree what if we what if we took that rope and lashed it to rocks out the back we could exhaustion and hunger is sapping Casey's patience pull the pull the whole front tight like this and use the oars up front but let's secure the back so it's 100 tight okay something anyway trying to build the shelter out just kind of going through this paracord we're going to build a little bit of a lean-to and use what supplies have been given to us my only concern is cutting paracord I don't like cutting paracord ever I only want to use what we have to use because I don't want to have to cut it in half and then you know down the road go oh I wish you really had more rope I mean you can always splice it back together and tie it back together but we're not really going to have a choice so large stones will anchor the tarp to the ground and hopefully prevent it from blowing away yeah here's the end of it right here I don't want to cut it but we have to cut a section [Music] as tight as we possibly can be like that so if you want to tie that up I can pull all the slacks through yeah that should be about right there at least we can anchor it with these rocks once that's secure I'm going to cut right here tie it and then we can adjust the rock tension on the back okay there that's going to be good right there all right let's do the same thing in that next Corner okay okay and then once we put pressure on those fronts it'll pull it pull it pull it tight some sort of Ridge Bowl I think but we've done this one yeah here you want to take this one yeah I'm thinking we can go through here and then just tie it to like up by the Warlock scenario the oars will act as poles and extend the tarp out to become the roof do the same thing over there all right you want to weave it through Chris and Casey must secure the tarp as best they can high winds can easily blow it away taking the brother's shelter along with it I have it just tied to the orloff with it tethered to The Ore gonna give it some weight so that if the wind picks up again it's not going to blow the front of it got some of that lower dead stuff we can break off too for wood yeah oh yeah that looks nice in here now we can build a reflection wall to bounce some of that heat right back at us addition of a tarp in the brother's second cash has allowed them to build a makeshift shelter keeping the fire at a distance from the shelter is necessary but by doing so they lose precious Heat by building a retaining wall of stone roughly 12 inches high in front of the fire the brothers are able to reflect the otherwise lost heat back toward their Shelter by blocking the back of the shelter with their raft they are able to contain the heat even more this addition will help keep their brothers warm through the night a small reprieve that makes all the difference while sleeping in freezing temperatures this is the frame pack yep get the fire going right here yeah we're totally out that'll be good we got enough wind break yeah plenty of room for smoke to get out this is it buddy this is home for a little bit nice thing is we don't have far to go for elevation so we can go up the back side but I like it I like it take a load off and get warm and dry bad I'm hungry Chris and Casey Kiefer are waiting out an Autumn rain in the heart of the Brooks range they've built a temporary shelter from limited gear however surviving on a diet of fish to this point means they must venture out and find food soon or risk going hungry it's already staying in here yeah at least we're out of it man oh yeah we got it up in time too this rain's starting to hammer down we got enough dry wood left us a little bit I see we just hang on and then uh maybe try and do some hunting I could do some on man look at all this elevation back here behind us take a little hike even look for signs see if we can find some tracks find something you know I'm enjoying this right now though Alaska is home to nearly 200 000 moose with the most dense populations being found near the northern forests and Timber plateaus these primarily solitary animals are herbivores surviving on Aspen leaves Birch Willow Pond weeds and grasses they are surprisingly Adept at swimming even from birth reaching speeds up to six miles per hour in the water many moose make seasonal moves between calving running and wintering grounds these movements can cover anywhere from a few miles to as many as 60. wolves black bears and brown bears are the moose's primary Predators with any luck Chris and Casey will join this list an accomplishment that would prove Monumental in their quest to escape the Arctic A Lull in the rain has allowed the brothers to leave camp and Survey their surroundings they decide to split up to cover more ground each with a specific task at hand you're gonna do some calling yep well I'll go see if there's any fairies left with over half a day at 10 of them the brothers are able to spend time scoping out the surrounding area while Chris hopes to call any nearby moves Casey gets the lay of the land and searches for edible plants blueberries are still in season and they may be growing on a nearby Hillside [Music] it's early in the season to be cow calling but we're moving into Moose Country there's timber that's starting to pop up all the way down this Valley with no moose call afforded in either cash Chris is forced to use his hands to mimic The Cry of a cow it takes two and three days for one moose to come in they can hear you from a long way it's not like Whitetail where you just run at them they come running it takes them a long way there's a lot of ground but they can hear you so the key is consistency continuing to call every half hour 45 minutes but I don't know what they're doing with this weather I mean it's 50 degrees one day and it's snowing the next so it could be into full rut they could be just getting kicked in I gotta see what's happening so the best place for me to do that is up high like this where I can kind of really see what's going on see the valley hands together over his mouth and nose Chris is able to achieve a wide range of Amplified calls heard throughout the rut Chris's index fingers come together to pinch his nostrils while swinging his head from one side to the other to mimic the pitch tone and direction of a live cow call during the early stages of the rut the calls are short and purposeful during the heat of the rut the calls are long drawn out moans [Laughter] this method is also used to mimic the sound of a grunting bull sparking the interest of any nearby Challengers if their calling efforts are successful the brothers could earn an opportunity to take weeks worth of meat with a single shot normally I'd like to have an actual bank loose call so you can get that sound out there we only have one so it'll work for now this segment of dropped is presented by PSE experience PSE experience performance scentlock proven deadly gorilla for the toughest jobs on planet Earth and Wiley X Eyewear absolute premium protection in the field Chris and Casey Kiefer are facing an early Alaskan winter rain and freezing temperatures combined with sheer exhaustion have driven the brothers to ground in search of food shelter and rest while Chris calls for moose from a nearby Vantage Point Casey surveys the land in search of berries and plants appear on the tundra on these hillsides a lot of times what I like to look for is called Colt's foot it's just a little leafy vegetation that grows but it's really good if you get sick out here you get you know some sort of head cold or some sort of stomach cold because you can take these leaves you can mash them up and you can make a really good tea out of them unfortunately winter is coming and winter is coming quickly and every little leaf that I find it's pretty much dead and you definitely don't want to do anything when it's dead like this without a steady supply of meat food options become scarce in this remote landscape at times foraging becomes the brothers only means for sustenance a number of aggregate berries grow wild throughout Alaska's forests and Woodlands including strawberries raspberries and blueberries the inner bark of birch trees and the buds needles and stems of spruce can help sustain a Hungry Hunter when times get thin foraging becomes more difficult in the open Tundra with options being limited to small blueberries and the occasional cloudberry a number of edible leafy greens pepper the mostly Barren ground but Chris and Casey must use caution some edible plant foods have toxic look-alikes a misidentified plant can leave the brothers sick or even dead still finding some last blueberries kind of hanging around up here on the tundra most of these berries seem to be on their last leg right now in late September as the frost sets in a blueberry bush is nearing the end of its yearly cycle any unharvested fruit will fall to the ground decompose and planted seeds in the spring the plant will Sprout and grow rapidly into a low shrub roughly 6 to 16 inches high their leaves are dark green less than a quarter inch long and leathery with pinkish white flowers fertilized flowers produce the familiar purplish blueberry within a few weeks of blooming typically around Late July to August as Autumn sets in their leaves turn purplish red and their berries turn nearly black just before dropping this food source is key to the survival of many of the range's inhabitants and something the brothers have relied on time and again to get them by in a pinch getting really soft and mushy that's not going to keep me from eating the one thing you don't want to do is eat a lot of blueberries on an empty stomach because if you eat them on a stomach they give you a lot of gut rot it's just going to turn your guts over you can make things a lot worse but you can tell when you're sitting in the Tundra's starting to give less and less clouds continue to swirl overhead as Chris and Casey hike to the peak of a nearby range having only found a few withering berries the brothers can only hope Chris's calling session draws in any nearby moose hiking up the Steep Hillside will burn precious calories but it may prove invaluable if they are able to spot big game in the area here wow upon reaching the rich the brothers realize they are in prime hunting habitat coming down that Snow Valley anytime Two Rivers join like that it's a hot bath it runs all the way down this backside right here and the two of them are going to join up up there somewhere a meeting of Two Rivers known as a Confluence draws animals in from both sides doubling the brothers chances at finding big game or Timber we're in the chips now we just got to make it down there you can definitely talk about the weather but it's Alaska man that's what we sign up for when we come up here that's part of the fun is not knowing what's coming next today was a good day breathing for the first time since we got here it's just been running gone in a test all the way getting down and getting into a significant amount of spruce trees where we can actually get shelter for the night I can't tell you how huge that is there's things that we can do now with the tools that we've been given that we couldn't do before we are the only people on this River the only people and we're going for a hundred and some miles and we're the only people that have touched this ground it's just unfathomable those are the places that Chris and I set out to find and so far I'm having a hell of a time doing it we're kind of at the precipice and what's going to happen I'm excited about it Hunters have always been the first to venture Into the Wilderness whether driven by necessity or a thirst for adventure it is Hunters who dare to go where most others won't Brothers Chris and Casey Kiefer represent the modern day Hunter for most of their lives the Kiefer Brothers have tested their skills as survivors in some of the world's most dangerous and unpredictable landscapes dropped with only a sidearm for protection and the clothes on their backs together they will spend the next month scratching and clawing their way over 100 River miles through a land ruled by predators in a Race Against Time Supply yielding caches will be placed by The Producers throughout their journey to acquire them the brothers must beat the clock as Mother Nature threatens to choke the north with ice and snow for the first time the Kiefer Brothers will find out what it's like to be cast into the wild with virtually nothing this is dropped the sun a star in the center of our solar system burning close to 27 million degrees at its core its radiation and light sustains all life on our Blue Planet a full rotation around the sun's axis takes 365 days but the Earth's axis is tilted which means the amount of light each area of the planet receives varies in length in Alaska this time of year daylight is growing shorter making life almost unsustainable Chris and Casey Kiefer find themselves in the center of this Monumental shift armed with basic gear and a limited calorie intake with the sun's departure the brothers are more desperate than ever for a fresh supply of gear that will hopefully protect them from the harsh Alaskan winter as they make their way toward their third cash my hands are frozen let's go over here let's Beach it the brothers are forced to stop and catch their breath while Casey inspects the gear Chris notices something along the bank we're always stop in the river for a second just to kind of get warm shake it out you're dragging your feet in the water all the time and start to get cold so we gotta stop every now and then and uh tracks are all over the thing we catch up to these bad boys put the game on again so for now we get warm and we stay hot on the heels of the Caribou continue down here it's been four days since the brothers reached their second cash they have faced Predators rain freezing temperatures and hunger since then but their fortunes are about to change a meeting of Two Rivers known as a Confluence lies a few miles Downriver from the brother's immediate location and in the general area of their second cash a fresh supply of gear and prime hunting habitat could make all the difference in taking big game something they desperately need they hope to escape the Arctic winter bearing down on them with only a few hours left to find and validate their third cash the brothers must keep moving dragging close to 100 pounds of gear over another shallow section of river brings the Brothers close to their Breaking Point well we wanted to come back to Alaska at least these trees are helping block the wind North America is broken up into several different biomes including Tundra Taiga deciduous and many more deciduous forests are dominated by broadleaf trees such as Maple Oak and Hickory characterized by its ability to shed its leaves this biome experiences four distinct Seasons conifers such as Spruce and pine dominate the Taiga Biome these trees retain their needle-like leaves all year round allowing them to draw energy from the Sun throughout the Long Cold Winter directly above the Taiga is the tundra biome consisting mainly of lichens and mosses this region receives such little sunlight that trees simply can't survive the brothers have slowly made their way out of the tundra and into the Taiga just in time this stronghold of trees affords them protection from the devastatingly bitter winds and temperatures of the open Tundra finally Smooths out oh good little section of fast water yeah I want to get to the cache or find the cash the rapidly accumulating snow could make it difficult for the brothers to spot the cash we're at the Confluence right here what's it saying I don't know God I hope I didn't blow past the cache backtracking the river to find the cash would be nearly impossible segment of dropped is presented by Cabela's it's in your nature buck knives edge of a legend and Winchester celebrating 150 years of legendary excellence Chris and Casey Kiefer are making their way down river to their third Supply Cache however freezing temperatures in a rapidly growing Snow Line are making it difficult to pinpoint the Cash's exact location it's one Widow Maker in the middle clear I don't know don't [ __ ] up I can't read it right there oh yeah this is it maybe yeah oh my hands are freezing yeah finally [Music] it's not very big huh hard better be something good oh I gotta validate oh well you got to use this stuff huh well it's a little bit different when we're not up against the wire almost forgot if the brothers had forgotten to validate any in all gear found in the cache would be useless to them dude this is a pretty good spot man see what we got to our next catch okay it's a pretty good spot cash validated wait for a response what do you got [Music] there's the Caribou right there it's been seven days since the brothers were dropped in the high Arctic they've covered over 27 River miles since their Journey began and faced Predators fluctuating weather freezing temperatures and lack of foods berries seem to be on their last leg right now they have now successfully found and validated their third cash oh yeah this is it maybe well Hallelujah yep there's the ball the PSE now go three arrows broadheads broadheads the addition of a bow will allow each brother to carry a mid to long range weapon we got the moose call got the call yes I was actually gonna start to try to make one but we're not in any Willow or anything no now we can actually rake now I got a pack to carry ooh baby we got a headlamp yeah yeah yeah get to the goodies right there I see citric acid okay more more bullets perfect four additional bullets increases the brother's chances of taking big game look at that Snickers bar and oatmeal and one two three four packs of oatmeal a little taste of comfort provides just the lift the brothers needed the key is one Snicker so we we wrestle for it or what's in the big big one it's gonna help shoot the bow can't pass beautiful tree saw more wood to better we're in Timberton a set of finals yes all right what else that's it I check every pocket pretty good cash dude we got the bow we gotta release I'll take it all day long Camp ax is saw there's a set of binos so you can quit borrowing mine easier this food here oh my God that is going to be a reward for a long day on the river man yep the brother's third cash doubles their ability to find and take big game with the addition of a second set of binoculars the Optics kit is complete allowing both brothers to survey the surrounding area effectively doubling their chances of spotting big game the moose call will increase the brother's vocal range and authenticity and will hopefully allow them to call in any nearby moose the bow kit contains a compound bow three arrows tipped with broadheads a quiver and a release these items along with the rifle allows both brothers to carry a weapon while hunting the addition of an ax in a tree saw completes the fire kit these critical items will allow the brothers to cut and stockpile larger chunks of wood for their fire a necessity as winter sets in over the range this is a great little spot man we're at the Confluence we know how far we are down now the fact that we can both hunt right now that's huge we're gonna have just a rifle we got the bow we hunt together one takes close one takes bar we split up we got options yeah that's the biggest thing we need when we're out here I think if we can uh hold on here this cash validated we've got 13 River miles to the next cache Downstream we got time we can spend a couple days here for sure especially because you know how it is two rivers come together moose Haven man it's like a main Highway all right let's just stay right here looks like we got elevation on the back side right there too I can tell you this right now we can get a fire going get some shelter built do some investigating trying to figure out what's going on around here and then I'd like to lay everything out again at some point maybe this evening and just make sure we're not missing anything but right now I'm feeling good man and this now do you eat all four one time or do you just ease into them that's how he's into them I'm still gonna call shotgun on the Snickers maybe that's a game time decision but you want me to watch this no I don't even put it in that bag I don't want you to watch it maybe I'll eat it all at once Kiefer Brothers third Supply Cache was located at a junction of Two Rivers known as a Confluence these areas are proven to be a highway for animal movement so the brothers decide to make Camp a few yards from the cache's location foreign wood right in here ample amounts of dead wood close to a camp make sustaining a fire an easier process we can just kind of take this top layer down this is good soft ground right in here too but we can kind of rest up against with every new campsite the brothers must reconstruct their shelter each new location has its own challenges and forces the brothers to adapt their shelter as needed rather than risk damaging the raft on the sharp dead wood Chris and Casey decide to use an ore as a ridge Pole my hands are so cold I can't even function trying to tie this up I'm gonna make a ridge Pole right in the center run the tarp and bottom up and over and then anchor it I think what's going to be key about that is it'll give us a little bit of a slanted roof which in the snow we're going to need [Music] at that time it ain't gonna be pretty but you're gonna work same back here what's that we can do the same back here they're going to get us enough yep oh yeah all right let's get some rocks we'll need a whole lot of room it's just harder to keep warm we can get under there we can get a fire going right here right where you're kneeling that'll just blow that warm right in there and that backside is almost tarp all the way off that'll work That's it man we're just fine oh let's jump for that branch the brothers had made camp in prime hunting habitat animals will be drawn in from both sides of their Camp as they travel South to escape the bitter cold of winter as Chris Manns the fire Casey sets off to survey the surrounding area a small Mountain lies directly behind the brothers giving Casey the perfect vantage point to Glass the surrounding area help me that's how you know it's cold right there this Marsh is already starting to freeze up I wanted to get back in here a little bit further there's this big bowl right here surrounded by this huge Ridge and now that we actually have a moose call I'm gonna put this thing to use areas like this moose love to rut in these kind of big open marshy type areas they're awesome for Moose Run and what's even better is we got a little bit of elevation on the side of it if I had to guess I'd say they use that saddle and come down into this River Bottom where all these Rivers come together all these Creeks everything meets it's kind of like like a main Highway for all different kinds of wildlife so I feel good about this spot that we're in I just want to get a closer look as Casey surveys the marsh Chris Stokes the fire and boils water for the evening we get to a new camp like this Casey and I like to divide and conquer and right now he's out checking the terrain and I'm staying back here trying to get this stuff ready he is not to let this fire go down if I can build a good base of coals here this water will boil a lot faster you got to boil the water out here it's the only way that I can purify it up top it's not that big of a deal I mean you still want to make sure you're super careful don't recommend drinking directly out of the river but up top you could pick these Mountain Streams that would come down flowing off the side that are just completely absolutely untouched water now that we're in the Confluence it's muddier it's a little bit dirty it's just something that you got to do water can become contaminated with microorganisms bacteria and viruses that can potentially cause serious or fatal illnesses giardisis also known as beaver fever is a common parasitic disease found in the waterways of the North country simply filtering water will not remove all levels of risk so Chris and Casey must sterilize their water by boiling for at least five minutes this process will kill bacteria and parasites making it safe for consumption an extra step that could save a hunter's life when surviving in remote regions you can definitely see two main Trails coming together finding this game trail reaffirms that animals regularly travel the Marshland we didn't care if we could do something like that but to me that looks like most anytime they travel through this stuff they leave a pretty wide swath they're a really big animal a good time though Chris and Casey Kiefer are trying to escape an Arctic winter having found a main Highway for animal activity close to their third Supply Cache the brothers have set camp in hopes of finding big game it looks really good out that way oh heck the sun's even coming out for a second I don't know if I've ever seen such Prime Moose Country which is either a good thing or a bad thing Tundra skirts the edge of the Boreal forest that the brothers find themselves in meeting both moose and Caribou could be in the immediate area as Casey calls out from this location he must always be cautious as prey travels South so do predators in search of their next meal something the brothers have experienced firsthand once already this trip I want to give a couple last boost calls before I get down off this Hillside right here [Music] Echoes and echoes [Music] sound is the energy created by moving or vibrating objects this energy travels in the form of waves vibrating through a medium like air or water this energy can speed up slow down or be reflected back as an echo depending on its medium temperature air pressure or if an object blocks its path the denser the area the shorter a wave can travel if Casey hopes to call in any nearby moose he knows he must gain elevation for his sound waves to travel the maximum range oh I can see your fire smoke from up there well I got a fire going good yeah I got up on that edge that that little Marsh rate gosh that's so good that little Marsh right there yeah there's Trails cutting across it back and forth all the way through there and then I hit that other Edge I just went up that Hillside probably 60 feet maybe yep what a world of difference 60 feet maze so between having this mountain right here and the river right there ain't no one's about to come they got one spot to come what do you got there I got one of those oatmeal oh yes yeah I'll even give you the owner so I can burn my mouth first yeah that's kind of what I was thinking this is oatmeal served with tree bark so much for the honors huh oh oh try that man let me guess I can't go I can't smell anything my nose is Frozen it's Maple brown sugar oh like a big jump right there with beautiful tree isn't it Audrey she can't see Clark her eyes are frozen shut I figured we could just have one conserve it you know be a long row ahead of us oh flavor just comes down to that Snickers yeah I mean at some point let's leave that alone we're gonna arm wrestle or we're gonna fight or we're gonna do something for that Snickers but hopefully it won't come into effect that we won't need it did you add extra Spruce to this by the time I gave it to you it's actually hot in my stomach it doesn't taste like fish how is it in there nice and warm yeah it's actually really nice it's a major difference in temperature and you're out there and compared it in here well the boat's secure we got enough firewood gathered for the night tomorrow we get up and we head up at the mountain this is Alaska she will throw everything she can at you she wants to fight us with weather we're going to fight back you know both having a weapon now is absolutely huge we're gonna have to do our due diligence every time we stop from here on out we got to try and figure out as much as we can about the land that's around us we've got the opportunity at all kinds of animals they walk through here we've got moose we've got Caribou all that's still in play this is pretty much a super highway for Animals I think this is the first time in the trip so far where everything is tipped in our favor it's always encouraging when you know there's multiple animals that you can take down while you're here Hunters have always been the first to venture Into the Wilderness whether driven by necessity or a thirst for adventure it is Hunters who dare to go where most others won't Brothers Chris and Casey Kiefer represent the modern day Hunter for most of their lives the Kiefer Brothers have tested their skills as survivors in some of the world's most dangerous and unpredictable Landscapes dropped with only a sidearm for protection and the clothes on their backs together they will spend the next month scratching and clawing their way over 100 River miles through a land ruled by predators in a Race Against Time Supply yielding caches will be placed by The Producers throughout their journey to acquire them the brothers must beat the clock as Mother Nature threatens to choke the north with ice and snow for the first time the Kiefer Brothers will find out what it's like to be cast into the wild with virtually nothing this is dropped the porcupine caribou herd is one of the largest herds in Alaska with numbers nearing 170 000 animals this herd also completes one of the longest migrations on Earth at roughly 400 miles one way during the Spring the melting ice in snow signals pregnant cows to begin trekking North to their calving grounds along the Arctic coastal plains where food is plentiful and natural predators are limited as summer approaches the Flies and mosquitoes become unbearably thick driving the herd to Higher Ground in the Brooks range where wind and Timber protects them from the bugs the onset of autumn pushes the herd further south as they utilize the mountain range as a barrier to protect themselves from the worst of Winter's Wrath during their Journey South the cows come into heat which Sparks the Bull's desire to mate intense battles take place as Bulls fight to earn their desired mates as spring awakens the cycle begins all over again understanding the travel patterns and life habits of the local Caribou herd is essential to the Kiefer Brothers survival a caribou would provide weeks worth of meat a necessity for the brothers to acquire if they hope to make it the rest of their Journey foreign it's been three days since the brothers validated their third cash they've exhausted their supply of oatmeal awarded to them and fishing has been unsuccessful with only seven days left and 13 River miles to their next cash the brothers must find games soon or be forced to leave the fertile hunting grounds empty-handed get across this Market that's fine get up on that little Hill that's fine with me let's just get up there and glass I don't think it's lightening up you know yeah yeah we can see your visibility is much better yeah rampant snowfall has limited the brother's field of view even with Optics which makes it difficult to spot animals amongst the dense terrain temperatures cooling down for sure let's just see if we can't get some eyes on what lies ahead of us let's do it okay we're setting in man not sure how much longer we stay here if we don't see something today still have time and type yeah it's been 10 days since the brothers were inserted on the high Arctic Lake they've covered over 27 River miles since their Journey began they've faced tough terrain fluctuating water levels and predators along the way having let big games slip through their fingers on two occasions their diet has mostly consisted of a few sparse fish a handful of berries and four small packs of oatmeal as winter sets in over the range the brothers will desperately need red meat if they hope to survive the rest of their Journey help me oh come on this Marsh is brutal it's hard to keep my footing Chris and Casey must cross a marsh to get to their Vantage Point oftentimes the bottom of a bog consists of a thick layer of mud that can reach thigh high the brothers must be constantly aware of the ground shifting under their feet or risk getting stuck in the mud foreign love this kind of stuff to run in look at that habitat for most when we're moose on first off is vegetation I'm always looking for vegetation something that the Moose can live off of they love eating Willows Willows along the river provides adequate nutrition for them there's piles of Willow down through here [Music] Willows are the most common shrub in Alaska this hearty plant comes in a number of varieties and is a food source to many of Alaska's wildlife in winter months Willows are fast growing some putting on three to four feet of growth per year they have long narrow green leaves that contain more than seven percent protein and produce antioxidants that boost the immune system finding a large Willow Grove is a good sign as it is the primary food source of Alaska's largest animal the moose come on [Music] any little bit of elevation you can grab helps doesn't matter if it's 20 feet or 200 feet any elevation you can get in this country does wonders it really gives you a lay of the land and let you know what's beyond it's Bruce that you're staring at most of the day hey Chris right there what's on that Left Bank this whole group back here is coming this way a small herd of caribou have come down off the tundra the brothers must quickly make a plan of action before this golden opportunity Slips Away some of them are going to split and go up but the other ones are coming this way yeah that's what I'm saying why don't we get down and go on the other side and just wait and at least if we get down and get across there those low ones are low get a crack at one with a rifle or something that low group's making some ground right now if we can get in that first section of Timber right there right across the river we rode across got to the other side got up got in that Timber right there you just ease our way over there we have a pretty good look at him plus we can stay in the timber of our winds and our Fair going that way I know we better hurry if we're gonna do it the brothers have spotted a group of caribou traversing the tundra but they're steadily moving down river Chris and Casey must hurry down the mountain cross the marsh Forge the river and stalk the herd before they can take a shot the brothers must move swiftly but cautiously alerting the herd to their movement May spook them driving them down river even faster and potentially putting them out of range the marsh forces the brothers to slow down eating away valuable time that they need if they hope to intersect the Caribou on the other side of the river dude we're only gonna have one ore because the other one's up for the shells I put the Shelf down and just kind of they go up yeah swing across yeah there is no time to retrieve the ore and with only one the river's flow could easily sweep the brothers Downstream away from the caribou and their Camp to cross they must first move upstream and walk the raft as far as possible before shoving off you ready yeah it's getting deep quick though falling in could lead to hypothermia in minutes what's up [Music] I'm all right there I know they're gonna move off that thunder right there let's get up to that little ranch the Caribou are still in the vicinity but the brothers must cover over 100 yards quickly Baron Tundra sits between the brothers and the rich which is their only protection from the caribou's direct line of sight oh God that's a lot of care about what appears to be a small group of caribou from a distance has multiplied into a full herd with close to 200 animals [Music] they're just staring right at us no no no the Caribou herd suddenly turned into a stampede driving the animals further Inland the brothers must quickly regroup or potentially miss out on red meat yet again we cannot have 200 caribou and not walk away with one of these and when we came up we were literally right on top see that gut that like creep got right up there if we can get around to where we can at least see that if they dump off this little Bridge yeah we should be fine let's just stay below this berm right here Chris and Casey stalked the Caribou to within a few hundred yards but something spooked the herd sending the animals into a stampede that drove them further inland forced to stop regroup and reassess the brothers are now hastily moving Downstream following a ridge that will hopefully allow them to close the distance and remain undetected the brothers can't risk startling the herd a second time so drastic measures are necessary they must crawl over 40 yards to cross an open section of tundra to avoid detection [Music] winds are shifting let's make a beeline for that low spot let's try and get to that yellow tree like many animals Caribou rely on their nose for survival as well as communication the brothers take every measure they can to combat the caribou's natural sensory Advantage the human body is constantly emitting odor as a result of bacteria found on the skin breaking down sweat into acids wind can carry these odors in an animal's Direction potentially alerting them to a hunter's presence the Brothers clothing incorporates activated carbon into its fibers which acts like a sponge and is capable of absorbing a large spectrum of human odors combined with an effective camouflage pattern and controlled body movements the brothers should be able to beat the Caribou sense of smell Sight and Sound thank you fail down here her wind's perfect right now okay you're not gonna have to just wait then adrenaline hunger and fatigue can make anyone impatient the brothers know this feeling all too well but they must have patience it's unethical to fire into a herd for risk of injuring another animal a moral obligation the brothers hold on to even in these extreme situations here let me get clear of them because they're a ball we can't shoot him in a bowl because not everything's Integrity you know he had about three of them oh there's so many yeah I can't turn into that group I'm just gonna wait till Wednesday you see that one leaf a lead bull begins to separate himself from the herd all right he's gonna break off right now see him he's working his way right he gets about another 20 yards 30 yards I'm with you this could be the brother's only opportunity for red meat I got him dead to the rights a lone bull has started moving away from the herd the Kiefer Brothers must take the Caribou down or risk surviving on the edge of starvation the rest of their Journey Nice Shot perfect he's gonna go down right now he's down here look at that pile of character right there look at that we got food boys I knew we were getting red meat down here that is what elevation does right there if we weren't able to get up there and get elevation we'd have never seen those caribou never let it come right through here we'd had no idea they were even here this Snow's gotta had to have pushed them down out of that High Country love to shoot one right now because I have not got a caribou yet but I'm I'm not even thinking about it because that's a lot of work and we got food there's no reason to just hammer down for no reason you know you come up here and freaking claw tooth and nail for every inch and you get an opportunity like that right there just plots in your lap oh dude oatmeal was good Caribou back strap enough said now the hard work begins I don't even care like I don't know how the hard work is the hard work means meat in our hands which means we are living the High Life there he is Nice Shot man [Music] check that out that is awesome look at that no oh man that was so awesome to play out that was crazy it's one of those things where once we saw him from up high they seem so far away oh I know by the time we crossed the river and got up it was like yeah they're here right half back right on top of a man huh yeah dude that is an awesome awesome animal the time we made our way they were moving and it was they hurt him there's a lot of care about it is the Kiefer Brothers ethical and legal responsibility to salvage all of the edible meat from this Caribou to do that they must meticulously process the animal first they must remove the internal organs and the hide with a number of strategically placed cuts the meat is then removed using a methodical three sweep method the first sweep removes both hindquarters front shoulders neck meat and back straps the Second Sweep removes the brisket flanks and rib meat while the third sweep removes any small remaining meat trimmings if they can ward off spoilage this animal should give them the energy they need to survive the rest of their Journey [Music] we can get him up here in a little dry spot I'll get them caped out quartering them yeah the good thing is it's not that far still going to be a hike but it's not that far yeah it's not gonna be bad [Music] the brothers move forward in silence as they have so many times before together they function like clockwork each of them knowing exactly what to do to properly complete this process and earn their reward the thrill and Adventure brings them to Alaska but the meat from a successful Hunt is what allows them to stay this Caribou will sustain them for weeks providing the fuel they need to keep covering ground the brothers know there's still work to be done as they pack up their meat and head back to camp but for now they'll focus on re-energizing with a well-deserved meal [Music] okay it's pretty clean it's actually neck [Music] yeah trip was that I'll grab what I can with my hands yeah okay give me that little one the promise of food tonight lifts the brother's Spirits their bags seem light and the Trek back to Camp easier that was a really long day but we were able to get that caribou skinned quartered and packed out about a half hour a day late left despair so I'm gonna get a fire going here and we are going to eat Caribou tonight grabbed a little bit of a little bit of love here tonight the tenders this is what I've been waiting for right here this is so huge to have this best part right there The Tenderloins it's getting late it took us forever to get that stuff across that Tundra that was a pack job try to keep it as clean as you possibly can while you're out in the bush well you're getting it out don't normally dip it in water but because it's going right on the Fire I gotta make sure it's super clean Casey's starting to fire it's getting late we're trying to get all this stuff done before dark it's one of those things that you don't want to be stuck next to a meat cash in the middle of the night I'm starting to get a little light-headed right now just from all those calories that we just burned this is going to be a huge huge Advantage right here we meet the benefits of falling reward right there yeah buddy we got some meat right here oh I got you a little stick nice oh good fire you got it this is tenderloin isn't it I could tell as soon as you handed it to me I looked at it I'm like oh yeah I'm gonna destroy this [Music] aside from needing a shower today's a good day you can't find this High anywhere else except out here when you put yourself to the test and you have to rely on each other and you have to do this thing the right way and come out successful and you do it there is nothing more rewarding in this world than pulling that off you're never going to be given anything nothing's ever given to you when you're out here you really gotta take it and that's exactly what we did the cool thing about being Brothers out here is when it comes to crunch time we know each other and I know Casey's going to get it done I could rely on him and he always comes through it's nice to know that the person you're out here with has the same confidence in you to knock one down and to take that first bite of red meat in a long time that's a satisfying feeling so far we have conquered everything that's come our way and from this point forward I'm excited to see what lies ahead Hunters have always been the first to venture Into the Wilderness whether driven by necessity or a thirst for adventure it is Hunters who dare to go where most others won't Brothers Chris and Casey Kiefer represent the modern day Hunter for most of their lives the Kiefer Brothers have tested their skills as survivors in some of the world's most dangerous and unpredictable Landscapes dropped with only a sidearm for protection and the clothes on their backs together they will spend the next month scratching and clawing their way over 100 River miles through a land ruled by predators in a Race Against Time Supply yielding caches will be placed by The Producers throughout their journey to acquire them the brothers must beat the clock as Mother Nature threatens to choke the north with ice and snow for the first time the Kiefer Brothers will find out what it's like to be cast into the wild with virtually nothing this is dropped for thousands of years the state of Alaska has been inhabited by a traditional population of subsistence Hunters gatherers Trappers and fishermen this hard-worn lifestyle Demands a constant state of harmony with all things living this means nothing taken from the land can go to waste as all natural resources are relied upon for survival the glitchen people of Northeast Alaska take this very seriously known as the people of the Caribou the witchens utilize every usable piece of the animal from the nutrition gained from the meat to the warmth provided by the Skins this way of life is a must for both the residents of remote Alaska and the visiting Hunters who attempt to survive the elements Chris and Casey have a caribou on the ground they must protect and maintain their newly found food supply if they hope to escape Alaska's harsh winter having spent five days hunting in the Confluence the brothers now have enough sustainable food to complete their Journey but it's cut their travel time in half with only five days to reach their fourth and final Supply Cache they must hit the river and try to make up valuable time I'm frozen meat's Frozen yeah it's all Frozen weighing close to 400 pounds the addition of the Caribou meat will make it much more difficult to steer and Propel the raft the river's really starting to widen out which is great really giving us some flow allowing us to kind of do a bunch of different things you know be able to not drag as much row and balance Stern down through here is actually pretty solid because we can really control the line of where we're going it's cold really cold you think all this movement would keep you warm but not when the temperatures like high 20s it's getting ridiculous it's kind of floating back and forth between the 20s and 30s snow dropping hands you got to kind of get up stop for a second get a recharge in but The View down the river is pretty amazing it's been nearly two days since the brothers took down the bull Caribou they've enjoyed a day of rest to replenish their energy and spirits but with over 13 River miles to cover to reach their fourth and final Supply Cache the brothers must once again tackle the Ice Cold River as they drop in elevation they find themselves in dense patches of Timber adding a new Dynamic to the brothers travel beautiful day in Alaska doesn't take long to lose feeling in these fingers these big flat sections allow you to kind of warm up for just five seconds you know keep your mind off but calm stretches of water allow the brothers to briefly warm their hands and take their minds away from rowing we're just trying to get to the next cache taking it Bend by Bend right now a lot of sweepers down here a lot of things we kind of got to get around but all in all what do you think Beggars are cold cold feet are cold yeah fingers and feet are cold yep we got to get somewhere and get a fire started here before dark we got a lot of river to roll before that if we want to make it in time that giant sweeper yeah I see that let's take a look at that right there that's ridiculous boom I'm gonna shut this off before we wreck into the sweeper peace the water flowing through the outside of a river bend is moving faster than water flowing along the inside erosion occurs on the Outer Banks and undercut Banks eventually collapse causing trees to topple into the river a sweeper is a Fallen Tree hanging over the water that is partially or completely blocking passage a strainer is a tree that has collapsed from the bank entirely and is mostly submerged with limbs protruding out water is able to flow through freely but paddlers in their gear can become trapped by the trees and pinned underwater the ability to recognize these threats and take the necessary steps to avoid them is key to the brother's survival well we made it through that sweeper back there that was a good one but we got a lot right in front of us I got the boat you got the boat yeah we got these right here which present a major issue right there because you get stuck in one of those guys especially rowing bow and Stern some of them you can skirt through like that one we can skirt underneath this one we can probably skirt underneath but at this point why risk it you got a little side Channel pull over stop jump out drag the wrap through the shallow get back in so it's just time consuming but the bow guy makes the line goes in then the stern guy gets swept underneath it and gets smoked that turn guy gets worked Stern guy gets worked which is usually what I do to Casey I've already gone for one swim off camera I don't want to go for another one especially on a day like today because it is cold the Kiefer brothers are steadily making their way down river but their daylight is limited and they have several chores to accomplish before dark finding a viable campsite is quickly becoming their main priority as the sun dips toward the Horizon getting cold we got to get somewhere and get a fire started here before dark up here looks like a pretty good spot the open Gravel Bar is surrounded by Timber this location will be perfect to further process the Caribou while being sheltered from the Arctic wind it's cold enough this meat should be fine it looks good put it on like that bar right there let's try to keep it as clean as possible having stopped for the evening the brothers set to work moving the meat away from the boat if the meat were to become wet it would promote bacterial growth the brothers must transport their Precious Cargo to a rudimentary meat cache where it will be elevated above the water I like to separate as much as we could Chris must ensure that the individual slabs of meat are not touching keeping them separate will help prevent the transfer of bacteria should one become infected say we get it out of the bag Zone and just kind of give it some air Chris and Casey have covered six River miles today having found a good spot to stop for the evening the brothers quickly set Camp the addition of the Caribou meat adds a new chore to their list as they establish a rudimentary meat cash for the evening the brothers must keep the cash a fair distance from their campsite and their raft having them Meet close to either area is asking for a visit from one of Alaska's many predators looking for an easy meal the brothers must Now set to work meticulously inspecting the meat for any spoilage [Music] [Music] really because they're hunking off some layers keep eating they look really good it's got a good crust on it right now these tag bags are still dries above too it's just awesome the synthetic bags will resist mold and bacteria that contribute to meat spoilage that's one good thing about having snow I guess because it's been cold enough to wear not really an issue it's still got a new due diligence Stone pumping I think the biggest thing is getting air to it oh yeah big time if you get air to it you can keep it dry as long as it's dry and cold it'll be in good shape where do you think we got that citric acid you should use that cup put that citric acid in that cup and mix it up yeah and we'll just kind of make sure it's got at least a little bit of crust on it I mean there's some spots obviously like here with the bullet wounds and stuff you know I can put citric acid on it if you want to take care of The Capes yeah I may start on that bowl it's going to be a little bit Frozen but I'll just pick away at it but we should probably call in the meantime you know what I mean yeah I'd say we can keep calling from moose if we want just because we can see forever down that way see forever up that way taking down an adult moose would provide a Year's worth of meat for the brothers and their families a wolf eye is in good shape we can resalt it but it's in really good shape the air is dried it out and it's looking really good if we can do the same thing to the Caribou get them off the head yeah get some salt to them we don't have a lot of salt left but we got enough to do both all right so you want to take care of this and then I'll get started on that yeah I can do that all right [Music] Chris and Casey Kiefer are attempting to escape an Arctic winter but limited daylight has pulled them off the river for the evening the brothers must Now set to work meticulously cleaning and preserving their meat Supply if they want it to last the rest of their Journey it's got a hole in the bed yeah foreign acid mixture Casey sets to work on the Caribou skull he must tediously remove skin from the bone until the Cape is free allowing him to salt and preserve the hide removing the skull will also lower the brother's weight load as they travel down river what I'm doing now is going to prepare the citric acid to put on the outer layer of the meat it's been cold which is good it's been taking care of the meat but I'm always cautious when it comes to that you don't need a lot of citric acid you just need enough that's going to coat that outer layer and cook it and basically going to Stir It Up Until it dissolves so that it's in there and then spread it out across that layer of meat on the top layer the spoilage of meat occurs in a matter of hours or days if left untreated harmful bacteria can grow on the surface or deep into the muscle tissues this bacteria can quickly change the color odor and taste rendering the meat inedible prevent this bacterial spoilage the brothers are pouring citric acid directly on the meat at a ratio of a quarter ounce of citric acid to one cup of water the citric acid is safe for consumption and works by manipulating the surface pH to a level of pH 5 or lower slowing the growth and development of bacteria the acid also forms a dark crust on the meat's exterior this crust prevents flies from laying eggs on the meat greatly reducing the odds of spoilage [Music] get out of there what is that Bird's squawking at [Music] how's that meat coming it's in really good shape right now I'm just putting kind of a outer layer of this acid on it but it's doing good how's the cape it's coming man but my fingers escapes like starting to freeze up my fingers are just Frozen it's hard to get in and around there but yeah it's coming he is not to drench it a nice little coating on the outside this meat kind of turned white and then it'll start to turn black and then when you're ready you just cut off that section of the meat and underneath it you're going to have good fresh meat it's imperative that you check it once a day [Music] [Music] let me hear that Echo oh yeah let's hook this Valley for a long ways that's all we want well as we're out here take the time to uh to call for moose while we're definitely out here because the thing is moose hunting is repetitiveness you just keep calling and keep calling and keep calling but you got to be careful too because we are standing over a bait pile you want to keep one eye open check your six at all times but definitely keep calling for moves and use that opportunity over and over again while you're checking this meat just about done getting the head off of this Caribou which is going to be nice because then we're not going to have a ton of weight I'm also going to be able to get this cape salted up nicely so that's uh first part done I want to make sure I get these edges really good Chris and Casey must salt the hide to preserve its fur salt absorbs the moisture found in the meat and skin preventing bacterial growth if ignored the meat would rot and the cape would be useless salting down this hide is really going to help to make sure that all the moisture comes out of the hive because what happens when you get moisture in there is you get hide slip so the hair is going to start to pull out on you so we just want to make sure we do a good job of trying to suck as much moisture out of this height as possible it also helps to make it a little bit lighter too which is going to be easier to travel with one of the things that's also imperative is that you flush the cape as much as you possibly can anywhere where there could be some rotten meat something that can go bad just little chunks like this kind of imperative that you try to pull off as much as you can that way you can salt that area the brothers will have to constantly check the meat and hides if they hope to make them last the rest of their Journey hey hey right there right there [Music] Casey has spotted a moose On The Fringe Of The Brothers Camp quickly Switching gears the brothers grabbed their gears they try and call him in for a closer look oh [Music] hey just said type right here I'll come back to this point here and I'll just yeah let me know if you see him or what and I want to keep calling yeah I know he's over there somewhere in case he ran the camp our camp is in a triangle right now he ran into the camp to grab his boat range the brothers are unsure of the exact location of the Moose they can only hope he leaves the dense forest and reveals himself right now I'm just gonna grab the bag so we have everything the adult Grizzly is only 70 yards from the brothers and getting closer this ain't good hey there gun loaded is there bullets in it hey there he's coming right at us that went from a moose to a Grizzly real fast wow that drastically changes things going right to the meat we still gotta sleep here dude I just saw black up there I thought it was a moose I thought I just saw the back end of it go through there me too as the Alaskan winter approaches Grizzlies must gain weight to prepare for hibernation up to 90 percent of a Grizzlies diet is comprised of plant foods but protein and fat rich food sources like red meat and fish are never overlooked a mature male is able to eat up to 90 pounds of food in a day's time roughly the equivalent of a butchered Bowl Caribou thought to have the best sense of smell of any animal on earth a mature Grizzly is capable of pinpointing the smell of a carcass from up to 20 miles away meaning Chris and Casey's freshly processed Caribou is an easy target for a hungry bear let's get out of here let's let's back off this meat right now and watch from a distance because I'm not standing here over a bait pile no we got a giant grizzly bear hungry no everything's taken care of right now let's just let's just get out I mean it's ready to go that's fine let's just watch it I know I just don't want him getting into it let's put these back off so we have a way to see him I'm gonna leave that bow right there all right let's go all right let's do this with roughly an hour left of daylight the brothers have little option but to Camp here for the evening they must take every precaution before settling down for the night in hopes of deterring any more unwanted attention from the grizzly that may still be lurking in the area okay man that water is cold rinsing this thing down like this I don't really I think it's going to do a ton but any little bit helps man definitely don't want to wake up to a raft with a hole in it so especially that tarp I want to get that tarp cleaned off because we had the meat on top of the tarp as we were coming down the river we've got some blood on it and I want to make sure that I can get that as clean as I possibly can so got this wrap pretty well wiped off at least where the meat was sitting so it should be pretty good and get a good amount of water on it the river's temperature is well below freezing the icy water numbs Casey's fingers and makes it difficult for them to function properly man I need to warm my hands back foreign I was looking to find myself in that's for sure being between a Grizzly and a bunch of dead caribou the dead Caribou is easy food form that's one that he's going to take advantage of so temperatures are dropping big time right now so the meat's in good shape not worried about any type of spoilers to heat that's for sure we got a lot of work ahead of us it's not just a knock down a caribou and then everything's cool life is grand it actually creates a lot more Workforce around Camp so a little tired but it's nice having some meat really brings you back and fills your stomach up gives you that jolt that you need so chances are that Grizzlies gone by now he really didn't like us as soon as he saw us he turned and bolted but it's just one of those things where if you act like he's always around you're never going to find yourself in a troubling situation so we got to treat this from here on out as if that Grizzly is close by e get out of here Hunters have always been the first to venture Into the Wilderness whether driven by necessity or a thirst for adventure it is Hunters who dare to go where most others won't Brothers Chris and Casey Kiefer represent the modern day Hunter for most of their lives the Kiefer Brothers have tested their skills as survivors in some of the world's most dangerous and unpredictable landscapes dropped with only a sidearm for protection and the clothes on their backs together they will spend the next month scratching and clawing their way over 100 River miles through a land ruled by predators in a Race Against Time Supply yielding caches will be placed by The Producers throughout their journey to acquire them the brothers must beat the clock as Mother Nature threatens to choke the north with ice and snow for the first time the Kiefer Brothers will find out what it's like to be cast into the wild with virtually nothing this is dropped [Music] the promise of sunlight dwindles is winter descends upon the Brooks range its inhabitants have adapted to these harsh conditions in numerous ways the eyes of many animals shift dramatically increasing retinal surface pupil dilation and even utilizing a reflective membrane known as the tapedum commonly referred to as eye shine this membrane collects and re-emits light back to the retina a second time maximizing the little light available to them combined with powerful noses and hearing the animals of the Arctic are at home in the black void of winter Chris and Casey's survival hinges on their ability to see which is limited to the light of their fire as Darkness slips over the range a close encounter with an adult male grizzly has left the brothers on a Razor's Edge we still gotta sleep here clouds cover the sky as night descends blocking the Moonlight and blanketing Chris and Casey in darkness the brothers must take every precaution with a hungry bear lurking in the area so they take turns keeping watch throughout the night I just uh got a man in the fire here I think I can hear something out there in the cache I think that grizzly bears back sounded like there was rocks rolling around the brothers are at a distinct disadvantage in the dark limited to the light of their fire and Headland were only probably 75-80 yards from that cash there it is again hey Chris hey there's something at that cash or something [Music] oh yeah dude let's just walk up to the edge and see if we can scare them off knowing full well the temptation of meat to Alaska's Predators the brothers have set their campsite over 70 yards from the meat cache in a dense patch of Timber traversing the terrain and confronting a male grizzly on a Pitch Black Knight will be dangerous but they can't allow the bear to ravage their only supply of food foreign hey get get up he's coming right at us yeah let's just write a song Run all I can see is that's just what we need I knew that bear was coming back man our camp is right there yeah it's just right there in front of us he went back into that Timber he came out of us today it's gonna make for a longer night huh well I'm up now let's build fire and stay bright stay loud I see as soon as Daybreak comes let's move on you know he's gonna come back brutal as light enters the eye it's focused by the cornea into the pupil which expands or contracts to control the amount of light entering the eye light is then perceived by two types of cells cones and rots cone cells can detect color in bright light while Rod cells detect black and white images and work best in low light humans have around 150 000 rods per square millimeter but a bear has more than 10 times that amount and its pupil opens almost twice as wide when combined with the tapita membrane which allows light to hit the rods a second time a bear's ability to perceive the world at night is far superior to a humans putting the kefir Brothers at a distinct disadvantage hold on let me get up here [Music] wait shifting rocks have thrown Casey off balance slamming his knee into the stump of a fallen tree [Music] you all right yeah you hear it on the Rocks yeah I slid down these rocks and I got caught in that tree all right Grizzly bearing camp a lot of time to blow a wheel sustaining even a small injury can prove fatal when surviving in a primal situation fortunately Casey's knee can still support his weight allowing him to maneuver about albeit painfully there was enough noise to scare him off oh I'd hear them you know what I mean yeah I sound like he was huffing yeah oh well that's it for now as day breaks Chris and Casey Kiefer are grateful for the sun's return a visit from an adult grizzly in the middle of the night ensured the brothers received little rest a little tired I was miserable dude still unsure of the Bears whereabouts they waste no time packing Camp just in case he remains in the immediate area this can be back at the boat sleep deprivation reduces the body's blood flow impairing cognitive functions and slowing gross motor skills the brothers can't allow these side effects to hinder their progress dull senses in the wild can lead to injury or death try and hit this River make up as much ground as we can today [Music] yeah your hand doesn't even compare that dude Jack you up man especially when you're standing between him and his next meal he's not going to lighten up on you give you a hard time for sure when he came out of these Willows right here he came down nose to the ground just he had Caribou on his mind the close encounter has left a distinct impression on Chris and Casey you think about pushing out gosh it's cold man that's even more reason to hit the river sooner than later with no desire to stick around for another encounter the brothers packed camp and leave the Bear's territory as winter draws closer days grow shorter meaning less daylight that can be spent traveling on the river with only four days to cover seven River miles Chris and Casey must cover large chunks of ground quickly if they hope to validate their fourth Supply cash another day on the river right now I just went right in probably just got hung up again a little rapid section so we're not in the clear yet I mean this water is not very deep maybe ankle deep but we're gonna have to do some Dragon so more Dragon Boat Dragon Alaska the added weight of the Caribou will make dragging the raft much more difficult exhaustion fatigue and the mind numbing cold is sapping the brother's energy and spirits huh you got to go that way you go through here float Dragon that's what it's all about exhaustingly long stretch of shallow River has eaten into much of the Brother's Day finally finding Knee Deep Water is a welcome reprieve as they try to make up for lost time it's good to be back on the river I think this morning getting out of there no sense in sticking around with a Barren Camp coming to the cache keeping the Moose out of there kind of changes the plan so we're adjusting on the Fly we got to keep moving right now moving water picks up soil and debris carrying it down river this process is known as erosion and over time it will cut steep Banks into rock and Earth alike as snow and rain run off from the land they enter the water table and join Rivers increasing the rate of erosion flowing water has tremendous power it can move Boulders and carve out Canyons while traversing the Alaskan Wilderness Chris and Casey must always be on the lookout for a proper campsite but as they travel Downstream the riverbank becomes steeper which makes finding a location more and more difficult coming down into some of this Canyon Country as we get lower lower In this River we start to get some of these high Banks and stuff and sweepers like that one that just went over my head so a little more debris in the water but not too bad got to watch it you know what happens when you hit the side of the sweepers if they're sweepers in the water when you hit the side of those things the boat will actually hit and then the current forces you and you'll start the list the bolt will start to lift and you can end up sinking one way or the other but this area is awesome man we got tons of big tall trees in here that's what I love about Alaska is you go around the bend and every single Bend you go around something's different something's different between this one and the next one always looking at something new man it's just gorgeous foreign for several miles the brothers decide to set Camp the dangers of traversing a river at night outweigh their desire to push toward their final Supply Cache with only a few hours of daylight left they set to work building a proper meat cache we got this meat down here what we're going to do is we're going to use this little dried up creek bed right here in front of us we're going to basically stack dead Lumber and dead Willows across that Creek bed we got to get moving on this thing we got to get it done running out of daylight fast when Fallen trees or other natural barriers are unavailable Chris and Casey must take the time to build one a dead Grove of Willow lines the riverbank and will make for a perfect supply of wood to build the cache's foundation the reason we're using these Willows is because we can just bring it up off the ground a little bit how you want to go Crossways on this yeah I was trying to make a good bed down first and then we get some good ones and go across it if I put these ones down where you're standing we'd have a good bed then go across that or do you want to go cars go go across first because that'll leave it open underneath for that air to flow through it okay what do you think all right foreign that might be good I'll get a couple more if you want to start laying meat meat care bags are pretty amazing because it Wicks away all the moisture from the meat so what we don't want is we've got some of these that are doubled up two hind quarters in the back end when you get two hindquarters touching each other like that we don't want meat to meet contact because that's where you'll get some spoilage the ones that are double are going to pull out and make sure that they're kind of out in the air there are three objectives to keep in mind when trying to prevent meat spoilage without the aid of modern convenience clean cool and dry the willow branches keep the meat elevated off the ground away from dirt and water as well as allowing air to travel underneath which helps keep the meat cool in warmer conditions the person I always try to leave the bone in the actual meat anywhere and everywhere where it's plausible and it makes sense you know out here we've got a raft that we can use to help us float the meat we're not relying on carrying on our backs the whole time so it's going to be a little bit easier to pack with at the raft but the bone in what that does is that actually exposes less surface area of the meat to the outside environment which at the end of the day is going to cause way less spoilage than you might get if you go ahead and take you know the meat right off of the bone so that's a good tip it also helps to keep it a lot cooler and just cleaner overall so we always like to leave the bone in it always helps when you're packing out you know it always seems like you're against the gun up here just when you think something's not going to take that long I mean whether you're against the clock with weather or meat spoilage or Darkness whatever you just got to keep rolling you got to keep pushing well Casey inspects the gear Chris sits to work Building A Fire hard Earth can sap the brother's body heat while they sleep knowing this Chris searches for anything he can use to act as a barrier and hopefully provide some added comfort [Music] ah this Moss is like having a bed out here if you can find it and peel it away perfectly Square is great then you can lay on this stuff and it's pretty dry back in here underneath all this Pine which is great because it keeps you up off the ground a little bit that rock gets really cold at night where if you have this just peel it the heat retention is so much better it'll dry out if you can just lay it next to the fire I'm going to line the entire backside section where we're sleeping with this stuff is to give us a little bit of cushion Moss is able to absorb huge amounts of water and the brother's Basic clothing can only protect them so much so Chris must dry it out next to the fire before sleeping on it small Comforts like a moss bed help lift the brother's Spirits before facing another brutally cold night just going through and sharpening out a Willow we can use to cook the meat on and make for good skewers because it's green if you use a dead branch your meat most likely will end up in the fire got a fire going it's got beds laid down they got two little treats just about ready to eat oh is that meat on a stick oh that's meat on a stick all right there frozen meat on a stick well the river's cold and I need to get them in those hands Blowing by the fire yeah you got all this right here got all that more oh yeah but there's more so this is softer for gonna try drying some of it out yeah it's gonna be good it's definitely better than sleeping on the hard ground man get these fingers to fall off is that almost ready it looks pretty close already done careful oh yeah I literally can't even feel it that's how you know your fingers are cold because it's hot oh [Music] how is it as good as it smells especially not bad all day oh my God you know your stomach's empty when you eat it that fast as another cold night settles in over the Brooks range Chris and Casey Kiefer are on the hunt adding a moose to their meat Supply is now their main priority and fresh sign proves that moose actively use this area their campsite is set near a dried up portion of river which is an ideal location for moose to gather obviously a place that they use this little Oxbow runs back behind where we're camped at it runs all the way back like this and from what I can tell it looks like it probably wraps around it goes right back to the river so this is an awesome spot it's bow friendly I really want to explore this some more but we said no more than a half hour basically so I'm gonna have to head back but I like this spot I like it a lot as Casey patrols the area he must have heightened senses thick Timber can mask animal movement as proven with yesterday's bear encounter a Meandering River will have many Curves in its Watercourse creating a snaking pattern across the land soil is pulled away from the riverbed and surrounding Bank adding width and depth to the river after a long period of time the Meander becomes curved eventually the neck of the Meander becomes narrower and the River cuts through the neck during a flood cutting off the Meander and forming an Oxbow moose frequently use these dried up sections of river as a travel Corridor to get out of the dense Timber and open their field of view something the Kiefer Brothers hope to take advantage of [Music] what'd you see that little Oxbow that wraps back there it's awesome man I think it wraps all the way around comes back to the river over here it's pretty sweet there's sign all over the place fresh rakes everything so it's a good spot that's good I think we uh I went down to the river you can see where there's this little Meadow that comes in you can see where it kind of comes out on the one side and this is really the only section of river back and forth right here that allows us to really see as far as we can see so there's definitely moose sound around it's just a matter of whether the moves are here I got enough wood right here that we can just try to stay warm keep the fire rolling get after it getting them all get some shut eye all in all doing good got in found a great spot for Camp the access that it gives us both to and from the river I'm really excited for the spot that we're in right now you know just doing a little bit of looking around until there's a lot of moose signing around here I'd love to see a big moose hit the ground because that meat will provide for my family for a long time the shelter that we built it's not a lot you just need something that's going to keep the weather off you and keep you warm you sleep for a half an hour you wake up you got to roll to the other side because everything's hurting and aching so it's a lot of back and forth at night but it is what it is and just stick around to Camp continue to call I really like this area I like what it provides I like the ability to be able to see for a long distance you got to give yourself some time and never really be in a hurry to get anything done so when you find yourself in a hurries when you can get in trouble and that's when you can get in trouble pretty quickly so there's cash right around here we don't have time dude Hunters have always been the first to venture Into the Wilderness whether driven by necessity or a thirst for adventure it is Hunters who dare to go where most others won't Brothers Chris and Casey Kiefer represent the modern day Hunter for most of their lives the Kiefer Brothers have tested their skills as survivors in some of the world's most dangerous and unpredictable landscapes dropped with only a sidearm for protection and the clothes on their backs together they will spend the next month scratching and clawing their way over 100 River miles through a land ruled by predators in a Race Against Time Supply yielding caches will be placed by The Producers throughout their journey to acquire them the brothers must beat the clock as Mother Nature threatens to choke the north with ice and snow for the first time the Kiefer Brothers will find out what it's like to be cast into the wild with virtually nothing this is dropped deep in the heart of the Alaskan Wilderness seasons can change with little to no warning ice and snow can bury the Brooks range in a matter of hours it's common for many stretches of Alaska's interior to become completely covered by more than five feet of snow temperatures regularly plummet to negative 40 degrees plant life goes dormant or dies out completely while hundreds of animal species attempt to scratch and Claw their way through the Long Cold Season certain biological traits like long legs hoofed feet and thick Hollow fur are essential to the survival of some of Alaska's biggest game species during these brutal months those who are unable to adapt are forced to move on to milder more livable terrain when that switch is flipped the brothers will have no choice but to escape or risk getting stranded in the Frozen North Chris and Casey Kiefer are sent deep in Alaska's Brooks range having found a suitable campsite the brothers have settled in for the evening however a substantial dip in temperature keeps the brothers awake long into the night as they huddle next to their fire to keep warm and tell you what it's called the nights are long they're trying to catch any type of Z we possibly can I mean any type of shutout butts it's just cold man there's no other way around it we'll try to do any shifts you know like I'll sleep for a little bit in case you'll go and I'll slave man the fire the biggest thing is trying to stay warm yeah the thing is trying to lay down Moss or try to lay down some Bruce valves or something but I mean well it's really doing is prolonging the inevitable but I'm telling I'm telling you this is too brutal it's freezing out here [Music] the bone chilling night has left Chris and Casey Restless yesterday's brief Excursion Around the Oxbow revealed fresh moose sign hoping to capitalize on their Good Fortune the brothers set out at first light each going their separate ways to double their chances yep I'll follow this Oxbow backing around okay I could see for a good distance there's a metal on the other side that I can see one of the reasons we picked this Camp is because we have this long straight away River very rare up here to get a long straight away like this so that's why we pulled off not only that with this Oxbow behind us and this Oxbow goes all the way around it's a dried up creek bed and runs all the way around the other side which makes for easy packing and access to land that we normally wouldn't have access to so it's actually a really good spot with Casey back there and me up here we continue to call and get something to come in however I just don't know if the Moose are here that right there exactly what we're looking for that's pretty fresh too it's all torn up what these big bulls do is they'll come up to these Willows get their antlers in them when they get their antlers on they start raking back and forth and then they bust these off and I've seen some old breaks walking out here but this is definitely the freshest one that I've seen there's a little bit of rub on this one next to us too Fresh Breaks are a sign that a moose may still be in the immediate area one of the nice things about splitting up is I can come this way and I can call and I'm calling all of this back here with him going that way he's basically calling to everything on that side and on the other side of the river so essentially we can work both sides at one time if there's a bull in the area and he hears us he's coming in so the Kiefer Brothers have set their camp on the outskirts of a dried up section of river known as an Oxbow Chris and Casey know that moose frequently use these areas as a travel Corridor so they decided to split up once again each walking the Oxbow from opposite directions Fresh Prince and scrapes prove that a moose may still be in the area which drives the brothers deeper into the timber good looking area you can definitely tell it's got the moves are in here tracks all through here in case they never follow this tracks right now we know we went this way no matter how far we go to pursue them Chris and Casey Kiefer are tracking an adult moose a few hundred yards from their campsite thick Timber hinders their view as they stalk the surrounding Wetland a bull moose in rut can become extremely aggressive and with limited visibility the brothers must proceed with utmost caution foreign Chris and Casey will grunt scrape and purposely break branches and twigs to act like a rival bull they do so to draw the attention of any Bulls in the area by issuing a challenge of dominance which will hopefully draw them in closer is obviously a place that they use still with an airshow I don't know that much what do you want to do it's hard to leave an area like this when you find it the Moose is the largest member of the deer family ranging in size from 800 pound cows to Bulls weighing over 1600 pounds reaching up to six feet tall at the shoulder loose fur grows in varied shades of black and brown and is hollow to insulate the animals from the bitter cold moose carry massive antlers that can extend six feet wide and are used to fight with other bulls for breeding rights a bull's antlers are shed after the breeding season and grow Anew each spring these primarily solitary animals are herbivores surviving on Aspen leaves Birch Willow Pond weeds and grasses these sparsely populated animals can prove extremely difficult for Chris and Casey to locate and Alaska's expansive landscape [Music] well check back by the river get a hot fire going to go back huh go back towards the water right there the brothers know all too well that tracking a moose can take time opting to be patient they head back to Camp while Chris does one final sweep of the area Casey sets to work revitalizing the fire we still got a little bit of fire burn in here so the bottom line out here in Alaska is this a lot of times your bigger wood is going to feel wet on the outside it's going to feel like it's wet because it's been exposed to the elements when in reality the inside and the core of the wood is dry and it's good burnable wood so what you need is something that's going to burn fast and burn hot enough to get all of that moisture out of the outer layers so that you're left with that good dry core on the inner layer of wood that's what Spruce is going to do for you so another little trick that I like to do when I'm out here is I like to take the pieces of wood that I'm about to put on the fire next I like to kind of box those off to start to dry this wood out that much faster so when it finally does go on the fire it's dry and ready to go okay foreign this is going to change things what do you mean change thing apparently there's an extreme cold front that's going to lock in this Valley if it's cream cold front high of 11. 11. yeah literally got two days two days that's what I'm saying two days to extraction I mean basically it just says that there's an extreme cold front coming in that's going to lock in this Valley if we don't get out we could be stuck on the river because it'll freeze over that's unbelievable it'll take a while for this River to freeze in but you know how it is when those edges start closing in icing wraps don't work we still have to find the cash we got a long ways to go yeah like a real long way to go to push in two days we're gonna have to be literally hauling you mentioned there goes moose season yeah I mean with two days there's no way we're gonna take down the Moose I'm not prepared for 11 degrees man we're gonna literally we're gonna have to row for two days like not just float like we're gonna have to row push for two days straight because we have a long way to go well let's just load this meat up as fast as we possibly yeah we gotta go we're running out daylight we're running out day like that you let them know we got it a severe cold front is moving in threatening to blanket the Brooks range in ice and snow cutting the brother's Journey short they will have to row almost non-stock to make extraction so they must hit the river as fast as possible put that leg across the last of it even when in a hurry the brothers must take extra care to keep their raft balanced Chris and Casey load their Cargo in the center of the raft to counter their own weight on the bow and Stern the Caribou meat is loaded onto the sling seats to keep it from coming in contact with the wet floor uneven weight distribution creates increased drag on one side which can cause the brothers to lose control of the vessel sending them on a collision course with dangerous river obstacles a fully loaded raft will also push them farther down into the water line if loaded improperly the raft can become damaged by the rocks or debris on the River Bottom a balanced raft is essential to the brother's safety and their ability to continue floating toward extraction well it's been getting noticeably colder oh my God if they're coming in early for us and we're gonna have to push now we're gonna have to literally straight like push row Spike Camp row yeah and just keep hammers it's gonna start freezing in anywhere there's slack water or anything like that any of that stuff that's all gonna start to freeze I know but there's no other option at this point so let's hammer it out [Music] Chris and Casey Kiefer are making a hard push to their extraction site in less than 48 hours an Arctic Storm will blink at the Brooks range making it nearly impossible to pull them out their last ditch hope is the unknown contents of the fourth and final Supply Cache they can only hope it will provide them with the gear they desperately need to withstand the inevitable onslaught of ice and snow we still got a long ways to go get there and see if we can't just find something that's going to help us through that because not prepared for that cold man well we got a interesting inreach message this morning basically forced us to pack our stuff and go there's supposed to be some cold weather kicking in here any moment in the next couple of days which could cause us to freeze out and the last thing you want to be is stuck on an Arctic River when it starts to freeze because if it freezes out you can get into some serious trouble quickly so we're just trying to hurry our way down the river but I really don't like doing anything in a hurry down here it's uh it's one of those deals where when you find yourself in a hurry you find yourself in trouble so winter has finally arrived in Alaska with temperatures threatening to hover in the low teens Chris and Casey are forced to abandon the promising hunting grounds Rivers can freeze throughout this deep in the Alaskan Wilderness which could force the brothers to carry their Gear with over 50 plus miles ahead of them the brothers will have to make a hard push to reach extraction before the inevitable freeze-out not really looking forward to an extreme cold front but it happens here in Alaska at any given moment just kind of puts pressure on things for us because we're not anywhere near where we should be in order to get to that extraction point so we're just trying to navigate our way through the river and it seems to be kind of splitting and getting windy and it's just a matter of staying on track at this point it's got good flow but still got a lot a lot of river to go and not a lot of time Alaska is home to over 12 000 rivers and More Than 3 million Lakes bigger than five acres these freshwater resources are vital to the state's many animal species as the average temperatures begin to continuously hover below the freezing point these water sources start to freeze on the surface as the temperatures continue to plunge the ice penetrates deeper into the water column and spreads from Shore to Shore and at times even freezing from surface to floor the fish inhabiting these freshwater resources are able to survive with increased oxygen levels under the ice but they become inaccessible to the other species who depend on them drinking water becomes scarce and animals are forced to eat snow to stay hydrated the brothers frozen water is a sure sign of danger and a signal that winter is closing in on them well the temperatures starting to drop already but now that we've got this kind of early pickup scenario in this cold front coming in kind of changes the plans starting to get into some windy stuff we're looking for the cash right now it's really starting to split off we're just trying to get the right channel because it really is braided and it's just kind of just starting we can tell I mean they're all starting to meet back up again but I don't know it's uh it's getting to be a little bit hairy at the moment hopefully we continue to pick the right one we can find this next cash and Casey Kiefer are attempting to outrun an arctic cold front threatening to cover the Brooks range in ice and snow the brother's Last Hope is their fourth and final Supply Cache but its exact location and contents are unknown to them the cache may help the brothers survive the impending storm but searching for the gear is wasting valuable time foreign [Music] [Music] I can't find it either I walked all over here I took that whole section over there and walked it there's a hundred channels I know I walked all the way back through here [ __ ] this whole thing all the way back through like that there's nothing back there I did the same with all this right here I mean I don't know it's not giving me like the exact coordinates to the foot of where it's at but I mean it could be in the right channel the Left Channel we don't have time dude we're running out of time that's a problem I'm not going to sit here and mess around but now we're looking for this stupid let's do something we've got miles and miles and miles of rowing to do yeah but what if it's something we're like I mean it's a cash it could have a hint in it for all we know it could have it could have nothing in it it could have literally nothing you could have a flashlight in it we could spend hours out here looking around for this thing and not find it I mean there's there's literally 15 braids right here if not more so what are you saying just fold on it and go just leave it because if we leave it we're not going to have whatever's there even if it is a flashlight we're gonna have nothing so if we leave it we can't find it we're gone we don't have it now yeah you know what I mean I know we don't have it now so what's the difference because I'm freezing and the temperatures dropping drastically by the second the snow Line's coming down and it's getting cold I'm sitting here thinking you know there's a cache somewhere right around here it's just a matter of what channel oh we got a valley that's literally three quarters of a mile if not a mile wide that's full of braids dude I've never seen braids like this ever we're not going to find it that's the bottom line I mean it's free at this point I'm going to give it at least 10 minutes I'll go out this outside Channel I'll walk the big circle 10 more minutes if I can't find it I'll call it in you give it your 10 minutes I'll be back at the raft it's great great leave them there completely fend for himself figured out we got a complete cash full of supplies the brothers have arrived at an impasse the river has transformed into a series of networking channels and Islands known as braids these Knolls offer an infinite amount of places to conceal the cache's location while Casey heads back to the raft Chris makes one last desperate attempt to find the gear with inclement weather fast approaching Chris knows he must quickly find the hidden gear in the Maze of braids or risk missing their extraction um we're never gonna hear the end of this one I think it was my fault freezing unable to find the gear Chris is forced to admit defeat he must forfeit the cash and its contents whatever they might have been to continue down river [Music] it's been seven days since the brothers hunted the Confluence since then they've taken down a bull caribou tackled dangerous river obstacles come face to face with a male grizzly survived long sleepless nights and have been forced to abandon fertile hunting grounds due to an Arctic Storm with less than two days before extraction the brothers have forfeited their fourth Supply Cache there he is can't find the cash no I can't find the cash I could care less about that well at least I gave it an effort I can't find the validation lands on that Gravel Bar and standing there ready to get on it yeah you do what you want I can't find the cash let's go so maybe we'll freeze up we'll have plenty of time to look for it during the Spring thaw let's hit the river then that's great well we just left load of equipment behind and we can't find we don't have it now we don't need it I'm gonna make for a merry merry traveling route Hunters have always been the first to venture Into the Wilderness whether driven by necessity or a thirst for adventure it is Hunters who dare to go where most others won't Brothers Chris and Casey Kiefer represent the modern day Hunter for most of their lives the Kiefer Brothers have tested their skills as survivors in some of the world's most dangerous and unpredictable landscapes dropped with only a sidearm for protection and the clothes on their backs together they will spend the next month scratching and clawing their way over 100 River miles through a land ruled by predators in a Race Against Time Supply yielding caches will be placed by The Producers throughout their journey to acquire them the brothers must beat the clock as Mother Nature threatens to choke the north with ice and snow for the first time the Kiefer Brothers will find out what it's like to be cast into the wild with virtually nothing this is dropped the Aurora Borealis is an unpredictable display of color and light that illuminates the sky around the Earth's northernmost regions on the darkest of nights also known as the Northern Lights this impressive spectacle is created when accelerated electrons from the Sun follow the Earth's magnetic field to the polar regions where they clash with atmospheric gases as electrons strike molecules energy is transferred sending the molecules into a higher state of energy these excited gas molecules stabilize themselves by releasing the energy in the form of light once a mystery we now know the color of the display is determined by which gases are releasing energy oxygen gives off yellowish green while nitrogen causes blue or red often considered a Herald of Winter the Aurora Borealis is a sight to behold and a clear reminder to Chris and Casey that they must reach extraction or face life-threatening conditions foreign since the brothers forfeited their final Supply Cache forced to cut their Journey short due to a fast approaching cold front Chris and Casey have been rowing hard ever since stopping only long enough to build a fire before dark with less than 19 hours till extraction the already plummeting temperature keeps the brothers awake long into the night her hot Trot for Live Action from the woods and the last night have dropped what we hoped would be the last night God I hope so too because it's cold we got a rager going right now basically we decided after a day like yesterday and just rolling and pushing and Rowing and pushing it was ridiculous so tonight this is our little Nook we got going here boom look at that big fire what do you think man big old fire under some Pines been cold on that River man freezing cold snowing throwing into a headwind trying to be freaking miserable so let me tame this for you there we go that storm that they were looking for to tell us to get out early yes here we found it we found it we found it what do you think we've been rowing like mad just to try and get up out of here these last couple days and it's been cold really really really cold so today was a long brutal day we're still in our waders we're not going to sleep no I'm not going to sleep you can sleep no I don't think so keep this fire warm as soon as we get enough light to row out of here I'm gonna get back in that wrath and I'm gonna start rolling again and not not going to stop until find that plane I can tell you this much is the coldest dropped we've ever had oh hands down we're trying to document the row and try to continue to rock and roll but here's the problem right now normally we wouldn't talk about this but we are legitimately out of battery power and we have one memory card left on the production side so we do is we row and we row and we row and we keep rowing and we just keep rowing and all we would be showing would be ice and snow That's it man sign off for now daylight we go to extraction off [Music] bitterly cold temperatures keep their brothers awake and on their feet throughout the night they now have a little more than seven hours to reach their extraction site or risk being left behind several miles sit between them and their destination so they must shake off their exhaustion and quickly hit the river a slow start wastes valuable time flash that down yeah and all these knots are frozen tonight I know we got to get rolling if we're hoping to make it down there man the sun's just cracking right now let's do it last flush can't be far right nope gotta get back in the water all right let's go ready frozen to these rocks yep those into the Rocks we're in trouble the brothers must work together to safely remove the raft they kick water underneath to melt the ice as they push and pull it free they must work slowly pulling too hard or fast could damage it leaving them stranded of that rope throws them like that it's like lasso rope so my fingers feel like right now let's go over this rock all right brother ready for the last push yep let's do it oh this is it I hope oh she's breast this morning dude that was a long night that was one of the coldest nights I've ever spent oh Alaska we got a giant boulder coming up that's great oh we gotta go here left side yeah we still got a long ways to go since learning of their early extraction Chris and Casey have been forced to row from dawn until dusk stopping only long enough to make Camp d deep fast-moving water has allowed the brothers to cover nearly 43 miles in less than two days but with only seven hours to reach their extraction site they must continue to push the pace everything up here changes in the blink of an eye yeah the hardest part about rowing down this River has gotten bigger is the headwind it's cold No Doubt but this headwind is worse because it just picks everything up makes it colder it makes it harder to row even if you were Center rowing right now instead of Boston you struggle because it's like a 10 mile an hour headwind so it's like a brutal [ __ ] it's so hard to show on camera oh it's so hard to show how full and how uh how do you show wind invisible you can't show it we're trying bye look at how hard it is to roll this boat okay I think that would help me grow Earth's gravity compresses the atmosphere creating air pressure radiation from the Sun is absorbed by the Earth's surface at differing rates depending on the landscape this causes variation in atmospheric pressure warm air over land results in low pressure while cool air over land causes high pressure the warm air rises in columns creating thermals nearby cool air rushes in to take its place creating wind when air flows over a mountain it is forced upward into higher elevations where it cools and turns into precipitation the wind flowing off of and through these mountainous areas is channeled into a tunnel effect which creates strong winds and aggressive weather formations cold air is currently rushing in from the surrounding mountain range and producing violent winds that are hindering the brother's speed as they push toward extraction foreign right there Chris and Casey have spotted a small herd of moose skirting the riverbank the drop in temperature has sparked the Bull's desire to mate as he chases an unreceptive cow who is still tending to a calf forced to continue toward their extraction the brothers can only watch as The Bull disappears into the timber spotting a moose in the wild is considered a good omen to many and the brothers enjoy this rare moment to Simply observe rather than pursue oh so tight on a big giant red beard trying to get my bearings here there we go how sweet was that that was an awesome Bowl how about it man moose everywhere gosh man they're everywhere and that was a good Bowl the mighty mutakama they're out we have more time we wouldn't be rolling past them that's for sure we're just coming down the river there and we looked up and he was coming out he had a cow and a calf and he was kind of chasing I was trying to get him on film I got old Captain stubing up there just swinging us around and circles doing nothing but the whirling dervish I'm trying to man this boat from the front without my Stern man who's on a photo Safari oh I've never seen a bull chased like a whitetail before and I really didn't get to see him right there either because I was going 360. I just go fly like three times but I looked up that's always off I was trying to get the camera rolling but when I looked up I was facing the wrong way I saw the bull go by three times that's all I saw but I do know that if it wasn't pushing hard we would have spun on second timer to stop and killed that bull because that was a nice bull when he moves out on the river right now prime time at least we get to see him we came and we we came and did what we wanted to do we got it right there we're fat and happy that's a beautiful Bowl though oh that's it from uh Marty Stover's Wild Adventures we're just gonna keep rowing seems like we can at least do that even at midday the average temperature peaks in the low teens long-term exposure to these harsh conditions is taking its toll on the brothers foreign [Music] really good bull that we definitely could have taken but we got plenty of meat and a little time to make it to the pickup so just got to keep rolling it's snowing on and off snowing on and off but one thing remains consistent it is cold it's got to be in the teens right now I mean it's freezing exhaustion fatigue and mind-numbing cold is a recipe for disaster that could strike at any moment so we're just going to keep on pressing stay behind these oars as long as we can and get as far as we can the human body has millions of sensor receptors designed to react to external circumstances prompting them to send electrical signals to the brain two types of thermal receptors found on the skin detect changes in temperature long-term exposure to a specific sensation leads to decreased signal activity as The receptors wear out making the human body numb to those particular conditions long-term exposure to extreme cold can lead to an unsafe drop in the body's core temperature also known as hypothermia low body temperature can slow brain activity breathing and heart rate causing confusion fatigue and hampering a person's ability to make intelligent choices unable to stop and warm their bodies hypothermia is a very real threat to the brothers as they push toward extraction lag type okay or just put me into them one or the other I got them we're good got it the final push headed towards the pickup Point here we just plopped into this Valley and this River's gotten really really big compared to where we were I mean the river was really small where we started and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger but down here man this thing is huge it fills up this whole valley so I feel like we're getting pretty close but man these babies right here are cold home stretch almost there having covered over 22 miles today alone the brothers are nearing their extraction area while fighting the early onset of hypothermia Chris and Casey must keep a sharp eye out for a proper Landing Zone there are specific requirements needed to land a bush plane in the Alaskan Wilderness should the brothers miss one now there's no guarantee they would find another for several miles getting close I hope the mileage is ticking down I'm not going to miss this one like we missed the cash we are going to make sure we check every single bar get a plane in here we're just kind of checking every one of these gravel bars we haven't seen a plane yet Chris and Casey are searching for a Gravel Bar wide enough and long enough for The Helio Courier to land This Plane is a certified controllable short takeoff and Landing aircraft or sea stall the plane's 31-inch Bush wheels are inflated to just 11 pounds per square inch allowing them to touch down on uneven gravel strips and roll over large debris at least 800 feet of gravel bar is needed for the plane to take off with a full load of gear and fuel soft spots and other obstacles in the landing strip can make touchdown impossible eliminating their chances of extraction there's a there's a good ceiling so they're going to get us out of here today but we're just like I said going to check every one of these bars and see if we can uh if we can find the right bar that's got enough room for the plane to land we're blessed to do this it was pretty amazing we get to spend this time in these wild places it's been an amazing journey it put us to the test this time I can't wait to go home and shower and be indoors with walls around me warm I was waiting to hear the buzz of that plane that's all I'm waiting on right now we can just keep on pushing Alaska threw everything at it and we threw it right back in her face in your face Alaska [Applause] after almost three days of rowing Chris and Casey are close to their extraction area with the storm nipping at their heels they can only hope they haven't missed their ticket home [Music] the place the plane the plane everybody well come on in yeah ah we're going home we're going home I think it's okay we might have missed it we're in the right neighborhood [Music] foreign yeah that was a good sign the plane recognized us did a little kissy now we got to go wherever he's at down there we got to get to that extraction one last set of wrappers to go through I can see the plane up there I can just see it we just kind of came around that bend you can kind of see him sticking out to the left I can see the wing so we made it we made we made it baby we did it we made it you can't miss that one can't miss that plane it's right up here on the right [Music] that's a beautiful sight it's been almost a month since the brothers were dropped on the high Arctic Lake the unforgiving terrain and lack of equipment has tested their resolve and patience throughout their Journey who's had to drop 20 degrees since narrowly escaping with their lives more than once the brothers have earned their way through Alaska's Brooks range like never before having covered over 100 River miles this trip has challenged their ability to not only hunt but be alive their primary goal has been to survive 30 days in Alaska's Wilderness on only what they can hunt or find with potential Supply caches awarded along the way fearing for their safety The Producers were forced to cut their Journey short before an early winter storm buried the Brooks range in ice and snow we got miles and miles and miles of rowing to do having spotted the plane Chris and Casey are finally going home well this is the last journal entry that was another amazing trip in the books it's one of those Bittersweet moments I mean you know this place there's something about Alaska every time I come up here it just you learn to respect it more and more and more every single time and we've battled it we've battled the elements we battled the cold we battled the snow it's all come down to one thing for me Alaska doesn't ask you to leave tells you to leave so the Arctic is definitely not to be reckoned with it's not to be messed with if you don't take precautions and you don't think things through it could be an extremely dangerous place and that's a little bit nerve-wracking to be honest with you I mean you're going into the unknown 100 it brings a whole new element it brings a new element of uneasiness a new element of nervousness but it also brings a new element of excitement I think one of the biggest challenges of this one was that we didn't know what we were going to get and when we were going to get it and so you have plans that you're trying to make you're trying to come around every corner with some sort of execution and you don't know what you're going to have and you don't know what's going to happen and there's something to be said for that there's something to be said for sitting here on the other end of that Journey successful that you can't really frame up in a camera you can't really put it into words it's something that you have to really live to experience and that's the best way I can put it Alaska through everything she possibly could at us but at the end of the day we made it to extraction and we made it here safe and we made it here together and that's what counts no matter how hard it gets sometimes you just have to save the best things for last and that is is the Snickers bar that was in the cache Frozen foreign Casey Kiefer and I'm Chris Kiefer and we're with dropped escape from the Arctic we're here at Cabela's in Dundee Michigan filming a really special episode yeah you know we're getting ready to gear up for the upcoming season but at the same time we want to show you guys a little bit about what happened during the last season of Drop that you may not have gotten to see on television there's a lot of stuff coming your way and it's right here on after the drop Hunters have always been the first to venture Into the Wilderness whether driven by necessity or a thirst for adventure it is Hunters who dare to go where most others won't Brothers Chris and Casey Kiefer represent the modern day Hunter for most of their lives the Kiefer Brothers have tested their skills as survivors in some of the world's most dangerous and unpredictable landscapes dropped with only a sidearm for protection and the clothes on their backs together they will spend the next month scratching and clawing their way over 100 River miles through a land ruled by predators in a Race Against Time Supply yielding caches will be placed by The Producers throughout their journey to acquire them the brothers must beat the clock as Mother Nature threatens to choke the north with ice and snow for the first time the Kiefer Brothers will find out what it's like to be cast into the wild with virtually nothing this is dropped foreign [Music] the camping section surrounded by all this high-tech gear none of which we took out there with us this season no we got nothing and I can still remember the very first time stepping off that plane with only the clothes on our back a sidearm and looking around and I think at that point that's when you and I realized this challenge it's real like we set out to do this and it's real and it's different it's a lot different than what we've done in the past anytime we've gotten off the bush plane we know what we have with us this year we had to earn our way to the equipment and I'll never forget the feeling of finding that First Cash keep your eye out through this entire lowland stuff there dude right there right in front of us right here whoa nice spot all right oh well we got a tension bag for sure waiters waiting boots fly rod reel except that right there okay so we got the raft yep here's a knife oh yeah that'll be good we got nothing for a weapon no we got a fly rod though we know there's Grayling up here there always is you know what else there isn't but there's no oars what there's no oars well I never will forget the excitement that we had when we actually did find that cache and tearing through it and going through all that stuff but then realizing there was one piece of equipment that was missing that was pretty integral into our movement which is going to be the oars yeah you don't realize how useless a raft can be until you have no oars to actually push it down the river with so you know it's one of those deals but we did pick up a lot of good things through the caches along the way we had a lot of small items citric acid you know the rifle the rifle's a huge the rifle was huge once we got a weapon that we could reach out and touch them with I think that that kind of changed the game for you and I because it actually allowed us to go hunt which was huge for us at that point because we have been going on no food we've been going on just little stuffed fish here and there and so it was really nice to get that rifle but I think challenging ourselves and not knowing what was in that cache was probably the most difficult thing and then being able to get there at a certain time I mean we had a rush sometimes and then other times we had you know we could stay back but for the most part we're on the Move yeah and there are so many unknowns that terrain the weather the way things change up there you just never know that's apparent by the cash that we missed that's when the brothers came out right there yeah that was almost dropped the gloves go to town on each other because we could not figure out where that cash was and you know what it was braids I mean we just got mixed up that is what it is we missed it we'll never know what's in that cabinet that's a culmination of everything the braids the weather the rush to get out of there the freezing River almost led to blows I can't find it either I took that whole section over there and walked it there's a hundred channels I know I walked all the way back through here there's nothing back there I did the same with all this right here it's not giving me like the exact coordinates to the foot of where it's at we don't have time dude so what are you saying just fold on it and go it could have a 10 in it for all we know it could have it could have nothing in it it could have literally nothing it could have a flashlight in it at this point I'm going to give it at least 10 minutes you give it your 10 minutes I'll be back at the raft it's great he's a man completely fend for himself well welcome back to after the drop so far in this episode we've touched a little bit on how things were different for us this past season in Alaska one of the major differences is we didn't get dropped with a bow or a rifle no we didn't but I'll tell you what we did get was in the First Cash we were able to pick up a rod and a reel which was huge to be able to use up in the tundra where animals were not really going anyway that's right now Alaska is known for some of the best fly fishing in the world I mean absolutely right so but we had to kind of match the hatch and even though we had limited gear you were able to do that well that's always a whole different ball game anytime you're Fly Fishing you're trying to match the hatch that's the number one object if you can do that or even if you can get close chances are you're gonna find some fish we got lucky took some time we figured it out we found our first meal of the trip hey Chris Grayling buddy you did get one yep you know what I do with the first fish though right don't let him go that's how I roll man no you're not doing it first grailing of the trip he's right in the belly food that goes back in the water why do you do that because I always let the first one go man if I give back hopefully they give back to me they got nothing to give you give you that's why you catch them let's see if my theory proves right I don't understand what they can give back to you they're giving you food that's the whole point of a fish is it gives you food gives you protein and you let it go well again ever since we've been kids you've done the same thing and you did it to me in a survival situation you let the first fish go I always do it I know those things man I always feel like if I give the first fish back then the river will give fish back to us makes sense it makes sense in your head but I'll tell you what when I was sitting there looking at that meal I'm thinking here he goes he did it again and he did but you know what Hey listen you redeemed yourself you know that's the thing when you're out there though is you can live on fish but only for so long I mean we're burning through calories in the thousands upon thousands every single day out there so when we finally did get the rifle to be able to spot some Caribou that's just icing well that was such a big moment for us and I'm just glad that we were able to get down from you seeing them and get out in front of them because when we got up on top of them I mean they were on us right on top of us there too oh yeah there's so many there's never seen that one Leah let's work this way right I got him dead all right oh you're ready Jacob oh yeah High shoulder [Music] look at that you know of all the questions and comments we get about drought probably the hardest thing to explain is the emotion we get when we get the first animal down on the ground in this case we got a caribou down but the work's just beginning we got a lot of meat prep and a lot of meat care that has to be done but we've got to care Buddha well and that's just it you know we have to do it right and we could have taken so many more animals I mean we were surrounded by a caribou the entire time we were out there and it was one of those things where that's not what this trip was about that's not what this dropped was about was knocking down an animal we had enough so that you and I could eat the rest of the time we were out there and then some so we knew we were safe in that capacity but to add a little bit of salt in the wound we come rowing up trying to get to that plane we'd run into a solid moose I mean a great moose right there sweet was that that was an awesome Bowl how about it man moose everywhere gosh man they're everywhere and that was a good Bowl the mighty mutakama they're out I was trying to get them on film I got a little Captain stubing up there just swinging us around and circles doing nothing but whirling dervish I was going to 360. I just go fly well that's it from uh Marty Stover's Wild Adventures we're just gonna keep rowing seems like we can at least do that [Music] we've been dropped in Alaska a lot of different times everybody always gets to see the beautiful side the side that looks just like a postcard the big grand beauty stuff but as you walk around this mountain you really do get an inside look at some of the more dangerous and nasty stuff that Alaska has to offer man we have had our serious run-ins with dangerous animals while we've been in Alaska but none closer than the wolf this year when we were up there that's right I surprised that wolf when I jumped up there I know it because I saw his face right before we had to take him down and it threw me for a loop but you know what you've been up there I've been up there enough times to know when you get into a situation like that you better check your six and you better put one in the chamber because you don't know what's going to happen yeah you never know that case is you know perfect we go after a caribou next thing you know you end up running into a wolf in the middle of nowhere and the Wolves they do so much damage right so much damage there are Predator up there they're hurting a caribou population they're taking things down left and right I'm glad it was him and not me because it was this close to being me it's about another 20 yards do we have North he's working his way right I think we creep in here right now but I don't want to like dive in there why don't we just walk up and let our wind blow you know what I mean oh he just stood up check them oh my god wow am I shaking look at that I took three steps backwards man dude he knew we were here long before we knew he was here that second shot dropped him right there in his truck he was just laying right down in here that's kind of stood up behind this stuff and looked just when he stood up and looked at me and I just popped off one and he just kind of folded the second one he just dropped I heard you yelling and the next thing I know you're shooting oh freaked me out when I turned around and that's all I saw I can't believe how close that wolf got to me I was super lucky there is no doubt about it unbelievable encounter I'll never forget and you know we've run into our fair share of predators while we're up there which we know Alaska's got a lot of them but when you talk about a guy like this these giant interior grizzly bears I mean think about it we're in a choke point pretty he's like honors all of their prey was funneling through one little section and they could just sit there all day long and eat it's exactly right it's amazing when that terrain changes you find those chokes you're fighting prey you also find Predators into a guy like this we're no different than any other prey rolling down through that Valley no at that point we were just a floating bait pile and when we walk up and we think it's a moose and the next thing you know we turn around and it's a giant Griz coming right at us they're gearing up for hibernation they're hungry they're willing to travel they're looking for food together hey hey loose right there right there right there [Music] all right let's go look and see holy bear [Music] This Ain't Good get that gun loaded is there bullets in it yeah yeah there but he's coming right at us come on that went from a moose to a Grizzly real fast that drastically changes things coming right to the meat we still gotta sleep here well Chris it's one thing to run into one of these big guys in the middle of the day like you can see him you know he's there you know where he's at you really don't stand a chance no matter what but it's a whole different ball game running into them in the middle of the night man I'll tell you what we just got that bear out of there he finally left our cash and we just knew it was going to be a long sleepless night foreign hey get get up he's coming right at us yep a longer night huh brutal well Casey so far we've talked a lot about the differences with this year's dropped escape from the Arctic and we talked a little bit about the Predators that we ran into and all the trials and tribulations we've had but one thing we can't explain is how cold it was when we were on that River this season was just viciously cold colder than any drop that we've been on in the past really and I still remember getting that initial you know that inreach GPS that said storm coming you gotta go I'll never forget it oh and we pushed miles and miles and miles in single degree temperatures it was just vicious and I think that's what made it worse going that fast not making shelter just to get out and I've said it before and I'll say it again Alaska does not ask you to leave Alaska tells you to leave for hot trot from the woods and the last night boom look at that big fire what do you think man big old fire under some Pines it's been cold on that River man freezing cold snowing throwing into a headwind today was a long brutal day we're still in our waders we're not going to sleep no I'm not going to sleep you can sleep no I don't think so keep this fire warm as soon as we get enough light to row out of here I'm gonna get back in that raft and I'm gonna start rolling again daylight we go to extraction off well I'll never forget that night that was the one of the coldest nights we've ever had we didn't even stop to build shelter I mean we literally just said let's build the biggest fire we possibly can and stand there all night long and really we battled shelter building the whole time the entire time and that's the battle you face is you know are we stopping for a short period of time or are we going to stay here for a while build shelter don't build shelter it's always a constant back and forth you never know what the weather's going to do but when you do build shelter boy is it nice pull the whole front tight like this and use the oars up front yeah here's the end of it right here I don't want to cut it but we have to cut a section I'm going to cut right here tie it and then we can adjust the rock tension in the back it's starting to rain again and then once we put pressure on those fronts it'll pull it to pull it pull it tight I'm thinking we can tie it to like up by the Warlock let's do the same thing over there with it tethered to The Ore gonna give it some weight so that if the wind picks up again not going to blow the front of us feel the Heat's already staying in here yeah at least we're out of it man so we're back live here at Cabela's filming the after the dropped episode and right now we're actually going to jump over to a little Facebook live and start saying taking some questions uh for dropped and kind of what the trip was all about so yeah so we we get tons of uh questions that come in via email also on Instagram and all the social media channels but what's awesome is Facebook live Bina will go live and answer questions live as is coming so we're going through here and someone just said that the beard is legit so they're digging Casey's beard everybody knows that that beer that's what keeps them warm when he's out there I'm pretty sure that's it so one guy says how did you fight the nosium bugs well really it was so cold yeah there's no bugs yep that time of year it's so cold you don't really have to worry about it I mean nothing so um one said did you keep the meat how did you guys keep the meat well actually in the cash we got uh citric acid right yeah citric acid is a great tool for keeping meat you just put a thin layer on it helps to cook the outside keeps the bugs from laying eggs it's awesome and someone just asked what was in the cache you didn't get well we don't know I wish I knew because we didn't get it and we don't want to know we didn't ask because if we ask we're going to find out and that's probably going to make us even more mad because at that point I'm sure it will be something that we would have been able to use but all right how did you deal with being so cold on drop this year that's coming from Matthew Smith how you doing Smitty keep a fire going that's about what you can do keep a fire going and layer your clothing properly that's one thing we did have the luxury of having our clothes with us when we were out there in terms of what we wanted to wear so we were able to layer it just right and everything worked out so yep all right hey from Indiana how you doing man from Indiana God bless you too man um how many socks we just had the one pair of socks yes there's one pairs yeah we didn't have any extra socks smart walls that's what we were wearing you guys on it all right occasion and if so how does it affect you on this type of hunt nope nope not on any medication no medication healthy as a horse here so and then the last question we'll take here is uh let's see what boots did you guys have on so we had on the Cabela's boots yeah we had on the Cabela's mindful boots um the Denali the Denalis um and we kept those on the whole time and they were saving grace because uh I mean without a good pair of boots you're toast so anyway thank you guys for Facebook uh we appreciate you taking all those questions and giving to them they're still coming in here all kinds of things dropping through but at the end of the day we wanted to bring you something different we wanted to be able to bring you guys something that was cool interact with social and that's what we've done on after the drops that's right fire shelter those are the two things that can get you through no matter what and the last thing is just being straight up Bush Savvy you don't have to be a survivalist you just got to be smart put your head to it and just use your head get it done man that's it so Hey listen we're super excited you guys joined us uh this week for after the drop uh kind of walked you through I think it was a lot of fun I know we're here at Cabela's gearing up I know the fall is coming we're getting ready to hit the woods right yeah we're getting ready to get out there as always we appreciate you guys watching at home the questions the comments everything you guys throw our way you helped make drop exactly what it is so and really until next time that's it that's it we're off for another drop we'll see you guys later peace peace [Music] [Applause]

Channel: FD Adventure

Views: 7,791,179

Keywords: Free Documentary, Survival, survival show, survival documentary, full documentary, dropped, dropped full season, dropped all episodes, dropped season 5, alaska survival, alaska survival challenge, alaska documentary, survival challenge

Id: bTaPpvZRgfc

Length: 230min 53sec (13853 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 13 2022