Anyone still watch "Life Below Zero"?

[JeffG]

I have stopped watching most "reality " television.

 

[Armored farmer]

Any show on TV that has an outdoor setting and and real people gets my attention. Especially if its Alaskan.

 

[Hunter2678]

Wife and I record and watch it.. it's getting pretty old IMO...they're always justifying why they decided to live there and with the exception of Chip and Agnes the rest of the cast is mehh..I do like the new dude Ricky the Native fella with the 2 small kids...he's my kinda people.

 

[Jack Ryan]

I'd rather watch the view than watch a faux eskimo run down game with a snow mobile and motor boats so the whole family can shoot at them. That is no "outdoor show" IMO.

 

[Bull Nutria]

I like Chip and Agnes, the other on the LBZ are ok. I was baffled by a recent show in which Agnes was repeatedly missing muskrats and beavers with a 22. She normally is dead on!! Sue is not my favorite but she is unbelievable in all the stuff she does etc. it is the most real of the reality shows!

Bull

 

[H&Hhunter]

Okay..

let’s not talk about legal issues of a fellow THR member. If you have any questions about those issues feel free to PM that member.

 

[caribou]

Hey, just so you know , the "reality" is the Muskoxen was "illegal" because i had a permit for a Bull. I was convinced that it was a Bull when i took the shot, after 20 + years of Muskox hunting. This one had what I thought was "battle damage" to one side as bull Ox often do, and as it turned out, sorta both sides, because the base of the horn was very wide for a female.
I called in to FG and told them what i did, when we saw it was a cow, and we did as most do when this sort of thing happens, we gave away the meats, and gave FnG the skin and horns.
I told the judge what I basically wrote here, and the judge said he couldn't tell that it was a cow, either, so since I did a self turn in and did as the FnG guy said, I got the minimum fine of 300$. No strings.
If it were in defense of life or property, or i was starving, it would have been fine free.

The lowest fine is 300$, but can go untill 10,000$ and a forfiture of vehivcles, guns and such used in the hunt. You can lose your hunting license for 5 years and be unable to apply for tags again.
Screw that long dark road.

This year the wife won the tag, so at least well be in the meats. Its certainly no secret around here, alot of people were very happy to receive meats........but until the episode shows, i cant say nothin'....well there it is, fact check at yer leisure Its really us and what happens when they are filming, sometimes **** happens, and while we may not like it, Hollywood loves it.

 

[hq]

I kind-of do. BBC Earth does reruns from around 11pm to past midnight and whenever I can't sleep, it'll fix the problem swiftly. Much better than the Outdoor Channel, which runs commercials at twice the volume compared to programs, not to mention the recurring "ON OUTDAAH CHANNEL!!" voiceover that'll wake you up ever few minutes.

Does this count as "watching"?

 

[D.B. Cooper]

Anybody eat muskox?

I have. A few times. I don't much care for it. It always seems to be bitter, no matter how you cook it.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

I do find it fascinating that in the 21st century there is still that possibility of living as a "hunter gatherer".

Yes, it's all quite romantic.

It's only possible if only a small number of people are doing it; if it everyone is doing it, it will last about a week.

The pre-contact (prior to the coming of Europeans, which, for Alaska, is the Russians in the mid 18th century) indigenous population of all of Alaska was less than 100k people. All of them lived similar hunter-gatherer lifestyles. All of them lived in relatively small groups of not more than 300, and, in most cases, not more than 100. They lived hundreds of miles apart from each other. This dispersal pattern prevented conflict over natural resources, i.e. food. Even then, hunger and starvation existed periodically.

Fast forward almost 300 years. The 2010 census population for Alaska was around 700k. If some doomsday prepper fantasy type event forced all of us to revert to hunting and gathering, the wildlife population in Alaska would be wiped out within a year. The wildlife population near the three major population centers (Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau, where, combined, 50% of the population live) would be wiped out within a week. There is a reason that human societies made the switch to agriculture, and I don't think we can go back. As much as I wish we could.

It's a romantic fantasy to think that such a lifestyle is sustainable. Even native Alaskans are forced to participate in the cash economy. Certainly, they live a subsistence lifestyle to be sure, but they have adopted European technology and integrated it into their lifeways. They are dependent upon on gas and oil to power the outboard on their aluminum skiff to provide transportation and a hunting/fishing platform, or to run the generators they need to have electricity. I've run into Athabascan hunters during caribou season; all of them have been riding four wheelers. I have numerous Native Alaskan students every year. None of them wear animal hides to school. All of them have iPhones. They are dependent upon the modern supply chain of retail outlets for all of the modern tools and equipment they choose to use. There seems to be little interest in giving up that technology and truly "returning to the land."

To answer you original question, no, I don't watch Life Below Zero. None of the non-reality shows are terribly realistic. Most make all Alaskans look like some sort of Arctic banjo boy from the movie Deliverance. That said, the best of them were R5Sons and Alaska: The Last Frontier.

 

[H&Hhunter]

Hey, just so you know , the "reality" is the Muskoxen was "illegal" because i had a permit for a Bull. I was convinced that it was a Bull when i took the shot, after 20 + years of Muskox hunting. This one had what I thought was "battle damage" to one side as bull Ox often do, and as it turned out, sorta both sides, because the base of the horn was very wide for a female.
I called in to FG and told them what i did, when we saw it was a cow, and we did as most do when this sort of thing happens, we gave away the meats, and gave FnG the skin and horns.
I told the judge what I basically wrote here, and the judge said he couldn't tell that it was a cow, either, so since I did a self turn in and did as the FnG guy said, I got the minimum fine of 300$. No strings.
If it were in defense of life or property, or i was starving, it would have been fine free.

The lowest fine is 300$, but can go untill 10,000$ and a forfiture of vehivcles, guns and such used in the hunt. You can lose your hunting license for 5 years and be unable to apply for tags again.
Screw that long dark road.

This year the wife won the tag, so at least well be in the meats. Its certainly no secret around here, alot of people were very happy to receive meats........but until the episode shows, i cant say nothin'....well there it is, fact check at yer leisure Its really us and what happens when they are filming, sometimes **** happens, and while we may not like it, Hollywood loves it.

Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[JERRY]

of all those extreme Alaska shows the only one that didn't appear scripted was The Last Alaskans. that one was true hunting, trapping, fishing do or die.

 

[Patocazador]

I would love to watch it regularly but I don't have cable and I'm sure that Chip and Agnes have better internet service than Century Link gives me. The hunting is why I watch it when I visit my rich kids.

Sue chaps me with her constant "boogeyman is sneaking around" attitude.

 

[recurve]

Hey, just so you know , the "reality" is the Muskoxen was "illegal" because i had a permit for a Bull. I was convinced that it was a Bull when i took the shot, after 20 + years of Muskox hunting. This one had what I thought was "battle damage" to one side as bull Ox often do, and as it turned out, sorta both sides, because the base of the horn was very wide for a female.
I called in to FG and told them what i did, when we saw it was a cow, and we did as most do when this sort of thing happens, we gave away the meats, and gave FnG the skin and horns.
I told the judge what I basically wrote here, and the judge said he couldn't tell that it was a cow, either, so since I did a self turn in and did as the FnG guy said, I got the minimum fine of 300$. No strings.
If it were in defense of life or property, or i was starving, it would have been fine free.

The lowest fine is 300$, but can go untill 10,000$ and a forfiture of vehivcles, guns and such used in the hunt. You can lose your hunting license for 5 years and be unable to apply for tags again.
Screw that long dark road.

This year the wife won the tag, so at least well be in the meats. Its certainly no secret around here, alot of people were very happy to receive meats........but until the episode shows, i cant say nothin'....well there it is, fact check at yer leisure Its really us and what happens when they are filming, sometimes **** happens, and while we may not like it, Hollywood loves it.

waiting for netflix to put on the new episodes

I enjoy your family's adventures the most
have a few old hand saws around ....my wife wants an ulu made so I better get to it lol
best of luck
Reggie
canada

 

[drobs]

I've met a couple Sue type personalities both in the Army Reserves and when I was Contracting in Iraq.
IIRC Sue is in her 60's or 70's and really gets to work.

Love Chip and his family too.