I watched the latest episode of LIFE BELOW ZERO on TV last night. One of the characters, Sue, who lives in Kavik went moose hunting in late winter. After a long snowmachine ride she came upon some "moose" tracks. They sure looked like snowshoe hare tracks to me. Then, she found a small branch that she said was gnawed by moose. Sure looked like hare gnawing to me. The other characters are pretty good but Sue is paranoid about wolves or wolverines attacking her each time she goes outside.

Then, there's ULTIMATE SURVIVAL ALASKA with 8 guys trekking across various places getting from point A to point B in 72 hours. They are paranoid about bears. Last night's episode was on Admiralty Island where they constantly worried about bears and bears got into their packs and what little food they had after they left packs on the ground while portaging kayaks.

In all of these shows most of the hunting episodes are pretty bogus from Sarah Palin shooting a tiny caribou to YUKON MEN chasing moose and shooting them in the water to WILD WEST ALASKA'S phony bear hunt.

And then there's the constant breakdown of machinery. The GOLD RUSH guys had breakdowns every 15 minutes. The Alaska trapper on MOUNTAIN MEN has snowmachine accidents and breakdowns every time he goes out.

Guess I watch way too much TV!

quote:

Originally posted by vicvanb:
Guess I watch way too much TV!

I believe your assumption might be correct.

Hunting TVs how much does a lic for a 48 inch screen cost.

The phrase "hunting show" is nuthin' but an oxymoron. Neither hunting nor a show.
Why anyone would waste their time on that garbage is beyond me. But,to each their own, I guess.
Bear in Fairbanks

I'd be somewhat curious to see the Admiralty portage segment.

A hunt/fish buddy of mine's daughter-in-law was running logistics and ground support for this circus.

When you take the oxymoron of "reality TV" and add hunting (hard enough without a full camera crew) to a remote location, you are going to have problems

The hunting is here, and the bears are a very real concern.....often overlooked by "experts" that don't spend time outdoors here.

Cheers,

Dan

I want to know why in the hell is Sue living in that remote place 196 mi north of the artic circle. What is that place she lives with all those storage containers? She hates society or what? There has to be a story there!

I find these shows interesting. However they may well not be reality.

I find Sue to be funny as hell. I would like to know the entire story on her living alone up there and why there are so many buildings.

I particularly like the Ultimate Survival show. I am sure some is scripted.

I have talked to the Hailstones for a few years on another forum. They are for real but the camera crews want to limit what they do. All they have shown is Agnes doing the hunting but Chip on a normal basis does most of the hunting in real life.

That Sue is also paranoid about bears.

If interested you might check out this link.

http://www.yesterdaysweapons.c...ca2c824487d7e38a348e

Rad

What I find odd is that Sue is paranoid about all the major predators. She does all the grand standing about her versus the predators. The next thing you know, she is shooting birds with a 22. She doesn't seem that scared to me if she is carrying the 22.

I though the wolverine thing was total BS.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
I though the wolverine thing was total BS.

Has there ever been a case of a non-rabid wolverine attacking a human? I don't recall one during the last 40 years.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
I find Sue to be funny as hell. I would like to know the entire story on her living alone up there and why there are so many buildings.

Looks like her place might have been a supply hub/field camp for oil exploration crews, but maybe not.

Little article on Sue and how she came to Alaska.

http://articles.chicagotribune...hop-chicago-palatine

quote:

Originally posted by vicvanb:

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
I find Sue to be funny as hell. I would like to know the entire story on her living alone up there and why there are so many buildings.

Looks like her place might have been a supply hub/field camp for oil exploration crews, but maybe not.

It is funny that this thread showed-up today. I have been considering starting a this exact thread.

First I must say that Sue has to be tough as nails to live as she does(alone, in the middle of nowhere in very harsh conditions, etc.). All that aside, she is a real crack-up. Every episode there is some animal that is "trying to eat her", so she has to "go to war" with the varmint "mano-a-mano" and show it who's "the boss". She is overly paranoid about everything....

Supposedly Sue's place is a "hunting camp". She also mentions that is used as a base for search and rescue and a weather station. Everything about her section of the show is a bit sketchy.

Otherwise I really like the show. It is clear that the Hailstones are the real deal. There is no doubt that they know what they are doing.

I also get a kick out of the young guy who lives alone(Eric Salitan?). He has a hunting outfit and I believe one of our members here on AR is supposed to hunt with him.

I'm sure a lot of you Alaskans cringe at the thought of these shows representing your state but I have to say that, for the most part, they show Alaskans to be good, hardworking folk.

I recon if the stories about the bear attacking her are true, she has reason to be paranoid.

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

quote:

Originally posted by vicvanb:

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
I find Sue to be funny as hell. I would like to know the entire story on her living alone up there and why there are so many buildings.

Looks like her place might have been a supply hub/field camp for oil exploration crews, but maybe not.

It is funny that this thread showed-up today. I have been considering starting a this exact thread.

First I must say that Sue has to be tough as nails to live as she does(alone, in the middle of nowhere in very harsh conditions, etc.). All that aside, she is a real crack-up. Every episode there is some animal that is "trying to eat her", so she has to "go to war" with the varmint "mano-a-mano" and show it who's "the boss". She is overly paranoid about everything....

Supposedly Sue's place is a "hunting camp". She also mentions that is used as a base for search and rescue and a weather station. Everything about her section of the show is a bit sketchy.

Otherwise I really like the show. It is clear that the Hailstones are the real deal. There is no doubt that they know what they are doing.

I also get a kick out of the young guy who lives alone(Eric Salitan?). He has a hunting outfit and I believe one of our members here on AR is supposed to hunt with him.

I'm sure a lot of you Alaskans cringe at the thought of these shows representing your state but I have to say that, for the most part, they show Alaskans to be good, hardworking folk.

I've not seen most of the Alaska shows, but I'm under the impression that the majority simply aren't applicable.

If you're truely paranoid of everything, you don't belong here. In the case of bears,.....well,.....they're everywhere,......so what? Around here, theres bears in the creek, bears at the bay. Theres bears in the subdivision and bears downtown. Theres bears at the gas station, bears in the trees, bears on the highway and bears in the backyard. Bears, bears, everywhere you go bears. Relax. the bears will be here long after we're gone. They'll literally outlast us.

I'd guess some tv producer has encouraged this Sue person to act afraid of bears as a story line. I gather all these shows have a plot and like I said, it usually has nothing to do with what its actually like to be here. I've never had a caribou hunt like the one Sarah Palin went on.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
Hunting TVs how much does a lic for a 48 inch screen cost.

48" TVs aren't legal in Alaska unless they have 4 or more control buttons on one side...........

Brett

Yup!! There's bears behind every tree & bush up here. I'll take the bears & skeeters any day over rattlesnakes, water moccasins, coral snakes, scorpions, 110 deg. temps, AND, last but not least - Californicators & their ilk.

Bear in Fairbanks

quote:

I'm sure a lot of you Alaskans cringe at the thought of these shows representing your state

Imagine how I feel, with Housewives of New Jersey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL

I know Andy & Kate on the "Life Below Zero" and they are OK. The kind of people that the longer you know them, the more you respect them. Andy gets his one moose every season and has a fish wheel, so gets all the salmon he needs. Andy has always been a greenie of sorts but not nutty or anything, a realist in the woods. Good people and all that talk about his temper I've read on computer is just that. Heck if he didn't get hot quick, I'd think he had the cancer or something; everybody around here just laughs at him and enjoys it.

I'm glad to see them on the show. Back 5 years at ice out, Kate was on the radio at 7 am begging anybody listening to call her kids and tell them she luved them; before she died. She was hanging on their roof as the cabin bobbed in 40 foot deep of water and ice that surrounded the place by 1/4 mile; no getting out that is. Helicopter finally pulled them out and they went back home when it was all over, rebuilt. Takes some fortitude and luv of the homestead to do that sort of thing. Heck I respect everybody that lives down river, not an easy lifestyle. We live 4 miles outside of Eagle, not on the river and thats rural enough for me.

I believe most those people on the show are for real, just all played up for the TV. I know Indians who are related to those guys on Yukon Men and hear they are OK too; just played up for TV by the cameras. One buddy was out goose hunting and they got like 25-30 and ran into the Yukon Men film crew and their gang didn't have one goose, just how it goes some days.

Just imagine if they filmed locals loading 10-15 caribou up into trucks to spread around the village for all who were too old and worn out to go hunting themselves; so each could have a bou for winter meat. Nobody would understand reality but the rural folks.

I've been to Sue's place at the Kavik Camp twice. She's a real nice gal.
The Kavik camp is a staging area to access the ANWR by supercub. In 2011 on my sheep hunt she was limping and hobbling around after being mauled by a bear and I believed it.

I hate that the season finales are this Sunday. I love to watch the shows.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
I hate that the season finales are this Sunday. I love to watch the shows.

Me too!

What's funny is this: I heard they had a film crew down Andy's a year back, didn't pay much attention myself; didn't even mention it to Andy or Kate when I'd see them over the last year out and about. Andy usually digs 75 lb taters from my tater patch; one of the locals I like giving some of what I can't use anyway; so I'll be sure to ask him about it this fall.

I watched my first show just the other night, but set the dvr to record some of the other ones. Ya know, living out here, you get accustomed to doing all your seasonal activities
and don't get too involved with everybody's else's business, ha ha.

I've been on the Taylor after it closed myself, blasting through drifts all chained up with the one ton; having to shovel 50 feet of drifts 4-5 feet deep just hoping the wind didn't kick back up. It can make a 200 mile 4-5 hour trip, an 18 hour trip pretty quick.

Life is still good in Eagle just the same, now I have to watch the rest of those shows.

I watched that episode of Life Below Zero with Sue hunting Moose. I had to stop it, run it back and call my wife to watch the part about the moose tracks. She has never hunted before but I asked her if those were moose tracks and she said, "of course not, they're rabbit (hare) tracks". Then I asked her about the moose nibbling on the branches. She had no idea it was also hare's feeding in late winter but she sure knew it wasn't moose feeding.
I know these shows are scripted but to put something on that is so obviously inaccurate is just stupid.

I think the last show is tonight, Sunday night that is. Andy & Kate really did about die 5 years back when the ice came in 1/4 mile on their side of the river. When that occurs, it busts up everything, breaks tele poles like matchsticks, just gouges it all down to the ground. We had Islands that had 100 foot spruce that are now bare ground and short weeds. They got flooded again this season, but not as bad. Hasn't been a flood prior since 1930s too. That first flood spooked Kate and she is a real nice girl, I don't think nothing would spook Andy, he'd just get mad and hollar, ha ha. But Imagine hanging on the roof of your cabin floating in rolling ice chunks the size of trucks & water and your cabin breaking up on ya. They rebuilt too, so I suspect Andy really likes having his freedom down there.

I saw a guy with camera down at launch with Andy last week, so looks like it will be on nx year too; more laughs and they got to be getting a few bucks for doing it too. Money themselves up for their rural existence and nothing wrong with that, good deal for them.

I hope you are right. I really enjoyed the show in spite of the occasional scripted drama.

quote:

Originally posted by Zhurh:
...more laughs and they got to be getting a few bucks for doing it too.

It can be more than a few bucks depending on which outfit produces the show. I heard that one of the businesses featured on one of the Alaska shows was paid $300,000 for one season's shows. Imagine how much the PAWN STARS crew gets--but they are now reality show super stars. You have to stand in line to get in their store and then the main characters are never there. They must shut down during filming.

I heard the people on "Life Below Zero" didn't make that much; I heard 100,000 but who cares. They sure ain't making or spending 100 thou a year where they call home, so if they keep the show going for a year or two, they'll money themselves up, buy new stuff and enjoy it the nx 10 years. Old snowmachines with 20,000 miles on them are a headache. MOst rural people can't afford new ones every season either. So, I'm glad for them.

My brother-in-law called last night from Pennsylvania. He has been here to Eagle and down river in my boat, saw Andy's place. He wished we had called him, so he could have watched the shows, ha ha. Told him we didn't watch them either, ha ha. So, I'm going to have to get a signed picture from HOLLYWOOD Andy & Kate to send him.

These rural communities are kooky places, only normal ones are the Indians. Many local Whites are nut cases that live here because there isn't any law enforcement or they be getting locked up all the time; no joke. Most Whites here seem jealous about Andy's show, especially the other families that live downriver near him and fight with Andy over trap lines and anything else of value. Andy is the best one down there actually. The church people here turned the show off 2 minutes after Andy started swearing. Everybody has something bad to say about everybody else out this way, something in the water. Seriously, ole Andy is a good guy and Kate is better than him. They have went through a bunch of headaches downriver and have stayed on. Probably not many others here in Eagle that could have done the same; so I'm glad for him. Hope they plan some good scenes for nx season; then Andy will build a new fishwheel, ha ha.

Here is a funny story about Andy, about 6-7 years back, my daughter and I rode snowmachines up Eagle creek. It was all overflow and wet, we were flyin across open water. So anyway, here comes a loose dogteam, heading down creek. We spun around and gave chase and I caught them about a mile out on the Yukon; tied sled to skandic. So, I'm wondering? Who lost their dogs team, who fell off the sled? So here comes another dogsled off in the distance with a girl on runners. The girl got close enough and she looked to be Chinese or Asian and Andy was in the basket with his red parka all over his head. He didn't want to see me, ha ha. So when they got close, I started yelling at them to never let go of the dogsled, whatever ya do, ha ha. Andy wouldn't answer me and the girl didn't know what to say. So I started yelling "You no speake English" Andy by then had enough and jumped outta the sled screaming and yelling his head off, ha ha. It was too funny, even the girl on the sled runners was laughing. I started yelling, Andy lost his dogs, Andy lost his dogs, and he was busy kicking everything and swearing at me. He finally grabbed his sled and off he went. The tourist girl laughed and shook her head as she went by, it was a good day. True story and a couple weeks later I saw Andy and we all laughed about it.

Andy and Kate are good people, even as liberals, and I'm glad they came onto some good luck of late.

You mention kooky places in the rural areas. Have you seen the AK Highway Patrol show? There is some pretty crazy stuff on that .

The Ak patrol show is mostly urban areas from what I have seen. I've seen them in a few larger villages, but usually the smaller places 100-200 people see state police maybe once or twice a year. They don't want to come in and as long as your village is pretty quiet, they don't. When the State Police are 200 miles away and the road is closed for 8 months; they almost never come around. That Ak State Police show is even more scripted than Below Zero.

Everybody is armed in Eagle, due to bear. Hasn't been a murder in over 30 years, and that guy was drowned by his drunk buddies. When was the last murder in lower 48? Couple minutes ago? Pretty laid back in Eagle actually.

quote:

have talked to the Hailstones for a few years on another forum. They are for real but the camera crews want to limit what they do. All they have shown is Agnes doing the hunting but Chip on a normal basis does most of the hunting in real life.

HerrMesser,

There is actually a really good reason why Chip doesn't do any shooting or firearm handling on TV. It's called a felony conviction. I'm not saying it was right or wrong, it sounds like a BS deal to me, but he was found guilty which precludes him from owning or handling a firearm.

http://www.thearcticsounder.co...ntenced_seeks_appeal

quote:

Noorvik's Hailstone sentenced, seeks appeal

December 7th 3:42 pm

Edward "Chip" Hailstone of Noorvik was sentenced to 15 months in prison last week in connection to his July conviction for felony perjury and false testimony. The court determined that Hailstone had lied in order to obtain a temporary stalking protective order against a Kotzebue-based Alaska State Trooper Christopher Bitz, which he was filing on behalf of his daughter.

Hailstone said two separate confrontations with Trooper Bitz led him and his family to fear for their safety.

The court found that he had falsely testified and committed perjury during his sworn statements to the court, along with making an initial false claim against Bitz.

"Mr. Hailstone's actions significantly undermined the justice system," said Captain Barry Wilson, C Detachment Commander.

However, Hailstone is continuing to argue that his testimony and claims against the troopers have been truthful all along, and further that the troopers have tampered with audio recordings submitted as evidence in his trial.

Hailstone and his public defender, Jay Hochberg, filed a motion for a new trial. That motion was denied, Hochberg said, making the next step for Hailstone an appeal of the ruling.

The motion for retrial states: "A forensic audio expert hired by Mr. Hailstone has confirmed that the audio presented to the defense was 'interrupted'. This constitutes newly discovered evidence that confirms the defense testimony as well as scientific proof that, far from lying, the defense witnesses were accurate. The interests of justice require a new trial."

The audio expert was able to determine that the tape in question was paused for 11 seconds, Hailstone said, missing information that he believes corroborates his previous claims of the trooper threatening him and his family.

Hailstone is optimistic about his chance at appeal, he said. He maintains his original claim that Trooper Bitz acted threateningly toward his family members, and that the troopers have made efforts to cover those actions and discredit Hailstone.

In August Sgt. Duane Stone of Kotzebue's Detachment C squad told the Sounder that neither Hailstone, nor his family, has any reason to fear the Alaska State Troopers.

"I'm sorry he feels that way," Stone said at that time. "He is very, very safe but he needs to stay compliant with the law."

I enjoy all these shows...if you can't be there you might as well enjoy the view. I can filter out the drama.

I've enjoyed watching Mr. Hailstone and his family on the show and reading his posts on another site. The post above about his legal trouble is an interesting view about one more aspect of village life. I always thought the main reason his wife does as much shooting as she does is because SHE is a native and has certain "rights" to hunt and shoot certain animals that he, as a non-native does not have.

In any case, I wish him the best and am thankful to all these people that are willing to share their lives with us...I wouldn't do it!

Thanks surestrike

That explains a lot as to why. That is going to make it a bit hard to get all the food that that he normally gets. Unless out of sight, out of mind!!!!!!

Rad

quote:

Originally posted by LeonardC:
I always thought the main reason his wife does as much shooting as she does is because SHE is a native and has certain "rights" to hunt and shoot certain animals that he, as a non-native does not have.

I believe(but I'm not expert) that Alaska's subsistence laws are written to grant tags to all people living in rural areas without regard to race. Alaska also allows(at least in some instances) for a hunter to fill another person's tag.

There is an anti-fed mind set in Alaska. Many Federal laws are ignored by the powers that be, Fed gun laws. If you were to look at Indians & Eskimos; you would find half the village has felony convictions for alcohol related incidents at sometime over their lifetime. All the locals, including VPSOs (who are often related) think many of these gun restrictions should be ignored and changed. Don Young was talking about it also and said the gun laws need to be ignored.

In our rural community, I remember one guy who is mentally off some and he had a dozen felony convictions concerning alcohol many years back. Nobody thought anything about him carrying a gun for bear protection or hunting. In our community there hasn't been a murder in over 30 years and that guy was drowned in the river.

Hailstone seems to be a normal white guy in the village; an asset to the community. Maybe all the people in the lower 48 should worry more about their 14,000 murders a year than Hailstone. Nobody in the village is worried about Hailstone.

You know, Alaska is a different place, its different country in the rural areas, not much law enforcement, all kinds of freedom. I never want to see it change either.

JBrown,
We have proxy permits. If a person is unable to hunt due to infermity (age, injury, etc.) they're hunting (or fishing) tag can be proxied to an able bodied person.

quote:

Originally posted by Zhurh:
There is an anti-fed mind set in Alaska. Many Federal laws are ignored by the powers that be, Fed gun laws.

You know, Alaska is a different place, its different country in the rural areas, not much law enforcement, all kinds of freedom.

There is a difference between freedom and ignoring laws. Where does it stop if you start ignoring the law?

Poaching in some rural areas is common. In one study, for every moose legally taken, one was poached. The legal but unreported harvest was also high. When moose populations are low, poaching can prevent increase of moose.

It's really easy to think that if we can ignore certain laws we don't like, we can then also ignore the game laws and poach moose, or exceed the bag limit, or commit wanton waste, or use illegal methods and means--all of which occur in rural areas.

Every body needs to obey the laws--all of them--or pay the price. Living in a rural area does not grant anyone the right to break any laws.

Rural people don't waste or deplete the resource. just not enough of them out here. They ain't going to go hungry either. Poaching is a word not spoken in rural areas, especially by Indians. They believe the hordes of urban hunters, non resident hunters, and the increasing wolf numbers have a greater impact on their food supply, the resource they depend on more than you depend on Sams Club or Costco. So in the end, many rural people believe resources in their area should be strictly limited to rural/local folks. I don't agree with that myself, have relatives & friends who come in and hunt. Just saying it seems like more and more rural people demand controls. The Feds play user groups against each other, just take a look around. I saw the BLM people working the locals last winter to restrict all the atvs that come in from the urban areas with trail restrictions where now there are none. I see how quick certain rural folks joined forces to try to keep outsiders from hunting here,but not close trails. THEY ALWAYS GO BACK TO LOCALS NOT GETTING THEIR WINTER MEAT LIKE THEY USE TO AND WHY IT'S THE NON LOCALS FAULT. I see F&G attempting to placate the locals with extended seasons for locals, and by looking the other way to keep them from pushing the issue. Just saying getting fresh meat is not seen in the same light as urban people see it, for sure not labeled POACHING. F&G is trying to manage thee problem so everybody can hunt. Indians believe if there is a problem with lack of game, it must been caused by all the Whites hunting in rural areas. They have more power than you would think too. Between that and decreasing herd numbers caused by many reasons, F&G keeps closing/reducing limits in various areas. Look around at what has happened to caribou hunting since the 80s. Urban hunters drive further and further.

No offense, but if you ever lived out in a village or in an area without access to say Sams, you'd see it yourself.

There is also a difference in freedom and what you have back East in America; maybe you all need more laws back East? I myself enjoy what I see in rural Alaska. Rural People abide by the laws they see as fair and ignore what they see as dumb & unenforceable, especially when it tells them to go hungry. If you lived around some Indians for a year, you would see the reality of rural Alaska, no joke.

I just see both sides and hope certain user groups are not eliminated from hunting. I know it won't be the locals if that ever occurs.