In the full episode of “Braving Waters for the Perfect Bear” in Port Protection Alaska, Curly embarks on a dangerous journey to hunt down a spring black bear. Living in Port Protection offers complete freedom and a nautical community surrounded by forest, and only accessible by plane or boat. With a small population, the residents must come together in times of need to ensure the survival and thriving of their village.
From dealing with a sinking fuel dispenser float to hunting for bears and fishing for halibut, the residents of Port Protection showcase their self-sufficiency and determination to make their way of life work. With each challenge they face, they come together as a community to overcome obstacles and keep their village thriving.
Join them on their adventures as they tackle the wilderness of Alaska in search of food, resources, and a connection to their roots as hunter-gatherers. Where money is scarce but resources are plentiful, the residents of Port Protection show that living off the land and sea can be a sustainable way of life. Experience the beauty and challenges of living in this remote corner of the world in “Braving Waters for the Perfect Bear.”
Watch the video by National Geographic
Living in Port protection is as close to complete Freedom as a person could possibly ever have anywhere on the planet it’s basically a nautical Community even though we’re surrounded by Forest the only way to get here is you got to step off an airplane or step off of a
Boat there’s only a very small number of people that live here and whether you like it or not when it comes push to shove everybody’s got to kind of come together poort protection has kind of been a Crossroads not sure which way it’s going
To go if it’s going to go from bad to worse or from bad to good newer Generations coming in here that are willing to get their hands dirty that’s what we need keep this Village going these B sure uh freshy freshy fresher than fresh there’s a fierce will to survive here
And become a stronger family together I’m happy to see Port protection growing a little bit more than what it was and I’m happy to be a part of it around here it is pretty much self-sufficiency but we realize that as individuals it’s not just us doing it for us it’s all of us
Doing it for us success the goal for all of us is to build a thriving micro civilization out here on the Wild Frontier but first we’re all attempting to build for the future and their future is Now that’s the weather sucks right now kind of hard to take might want to start working our way up the beach I think to get over here we can get away from the wind a little bit on this other side hopefully there’s some bears out make it worth a while
Anyway it’s wether we’re having now you know I mean the Bears they don’t mind the rain too much you just got to keep out it don’t give up I’ve lived in Port protection for 25 years we moved away to get away from the society and I think it was just a Destin
For me and it’s a little different life than uh jumping in your car and go to the grocery store but I cherish the fact that I’m able to harvest my own food and it makes you really appreciate it whenever you do eat it little ler back here in this little Bay
We’re just kind of out of the bite of it right Now well I got a spot here nearby pretty well-known Bear Trail comes down out of the Beaver ponds and into the Back Bay and I set up a trail camera and see if I can catch any bears going by on it CHS this spot specifically because I
Can’t think of a year that there wasn’t a bear on this beach sometimes three or four see what we got going on here ah ah yeah here I see a bear head in a nose I’m really liking what I’m seeing here that’s a beautiful bear he’s
Perfect I think I’m going to set up a camp hopefully catch him while he’s coming down the creek there to the beach in the mornings to feed It’s usually the best times to hunt him I just uh put my time in I’ll get him make some of the best sausage
Around here in for protection it’s a matter of all hands on deck every man woman and child out here knows that it’s up to us to make sure that we can Thrive not just Survive okay well you’re you’re clear on the ports we need to actually uh take a good look at I think so yeah yeah makes makes sense and again once we’re under there it all change well if you’re feeling froggy jump and we’re off out here things can come apart in a
Hurry we do live all in the Ragged Fringe we’ve got some pretty significant difficulties going on with our float it’s getting lower in the water and starting to rot out a little bit it doesn’t have a whole a lot of flotation left this is our first foot forward and
Trying to address them you know not only does this float hold part of our Water Resource we running the dock it is budded right up next to our current fuel dispensing float if it started to go south on us it could cause some serious ecological catastrophe just really
Hoping we’ve got enough flat surface under here that we’ll be able to get something cribed up under there to to lift it where it actually needs to be lifted important to preserve this way of life in this Village cuz there’s not much like it that thing goes
Down that is an utter disaster for our B that’s thousands of gallons of fuel dumping in Here years and years and years if ever to to come back from it’s imperative that we’re available and and willing to to help out the community and do these chores the more we put into it today the better tomorrow is going to be there’s a couple holes where you can
See all the way to the wood there’s no foam at all I’m sure that floorboard is rotten we got our work cut out for us I’ve been here basically since I was kneehigh a grasshopper the more years you spend out here the tougher you get and it’s my job basically to pass on
Any knowledge I can I’m trying to smell for fish that’s why I brought you along Sam you can tell me where to set and if we do bad then it’s all your fault let’s drop it here Sam kind of like I love the smell of gunpowder in the morning but uh in this
Case hering squid and salmon I’ve got a bunch of projects coming up so I need to go make a few bucks my friend Kevin is a commercial fisherman who I’ve known for basically oh close to 60 years and he’s got some halb ifqs which are individual fishing
Quotas and I’m going to crew for him so with any luck we’ll catch enough fish to make this operation profitable with the economy and and people struggling the way they are I feel very fortunate that I can actually uh you know step on board a boat and go make a few bucks fishing
Is pretty stable everybody likes to eat fish and I like catching them you could say that being a deckhand on a boat’s a young guy’s job but I’ve still got all the moves I’ve been crewing on Long liners since I was a little boy so there’s one thing I know
About is actually how to catch a fish I think we’re good well let’s come up with a battle plan and go splash a couple more hundred hooks in the water and just see what happens all ready let’s hope the fish cooperate my glorious vision of the
Future was kind of what I grew up with as a kid you know families doing well kids running around having fun that may take some time but anything I can do I will do cuz this is my life and this is my home it’s probably good enough for now
Well let’s go catch dinner then H the road Jack this time of year this is Hooter season this is when they come out and they find a big nice Tall Tree and they puff up they go I just heard one do you know how that goes right Carl when you hear a Hooter
You walk for days looking for that Hooter it sounds so close but it could be a mile away is that real deep it’s doable the Hooters are a Blu Grouse and they’re not native on Prince Wales so we have to actually traversed some kind of Uncharted Territory to look for
Him it’s a ways it’s across the musk I’m hearing something out here I’m hearing something out there yeah I heard something over that way too yeah it’s right over there in that Timber you want to just head for that Timber line yeah just kind of head generally that direction and right now
With this wind it’s kind of hard to tell exactly where it is I grew up in Petersburg Alaska along with multiple logging camps and kind of all around the place I met and fell in love with Carl and moved to Port protection he is the love of my life and my soulmate and
Living in Port protection for 2 years I know it in the very depths of my soul this is going to be the place that I will forever be might be I next we Clump the trees up yeah it’s real close just going to take it a little easy move very
Gently I never hunted growing up and it is a whole new world basically for me to learn I love being sneaky I love going out there I love the adrenaline rush I’m I’m hoping that I can get my first Hooter with the help of Dawn and
Carl I think we’re just about on top of them right now so be a little stealthy he’s right above us he one of these right here yeah it’s this one all right I think can’t see nothing in there though okay oh I see him right there come
Here look right there that little hole in the branches right up there but he’s a big fat one oh that’s massive yeah yeah he’s PL help whenever you’re ready to shoot him go ahead and take him try and pick his head off if he can I can’t find Him damn he didn’t drop I might have to climb up there and get him I dropped him but he didn’t fall no he didn’t fall did he hang up on the limb I don’t know if he’s just hunker down alive or oh no he’s hooting again he’s alive
What the seriously he’s hooting still like all those feathers I thought you nailed him for sure I think I might have try that one more time we got a clear shot I think knock him out knock him out I’m looking for him give me a second did he come
Down he’s catching these limbs on the way down and he just ain’t dropping here he’s dead come on stay here I’m just going to kind of hug the T Timber’s edge here to keep myself camouflaged there a little bit then I’m going to slip up to this cek where this
Game Trail is and hopefully be come trpes and along there that’s something you got to quit No Cry Babies no whining allowed typical kid you have the last word in right yeah want to flip the buoys out there Sam I I Skipper I’ve been actually doing this
For 53 years remember when my dad let us actually haul the gear uh shoot I was only in the sixth grade then so I think I was 11 I think we caught like 1,000 LBS or something like that damn it why is he sitting there I
Can’t tell all right yeah he should be right out in the open for you he’s twitching a little bit there he goes well good Lord that was about the hardest grous to knock out of a tree ever but we got him for dinner yeah good Shot Donkey Kong All right well the idea I’ve come up with is using some plastic pallets and some 30-gon poly drums sink them float them under there and then uh use some compressed air to refill them that ought to help uh pick that old fuel dispenser float right out of the water pretty
Easily so I think first off I’m going to go ahead and uh fire up the skill saw and try to put like a 45° angle cut along the outsides there and that might be able to uh get the drums to sit down in there a little bit
Better been up here for about a little over a quarter Century it’s the only place I actually call home anymore I’ve always had a number of rough edges when it comes to dealing with two-leggers out here I’ve got the room to uh live life as I see fit and every neighbor is
Extended family you know it’s a totally different perspective when it comes to uh everyday living all right yeah actually I think that’ll work out pretty well on to the next even though it’s a difficult life quite often it’s one I wouldn’t trade for anything and it’s up to us to make
Sure that this is still a thriving active Community Jack of every damn trade master of damn near none of them sure the hell don’t stop me from trying ni I think we’ll be able to get them filled with water pretty easily and uh luck will stay where the hell they’re supposed To let’s see what Junior does when he sees a bear you better be Quiet even though Junior’s not been on a Bear Hunt much in general he’s a really good hunting dog he tells me if there’s a bear in the area if there’s wolves or whatever that’s it right up there that’s what I want an hunting dog to let me know what’s going on in my
Surroundings ni spot right Here I see the plentiful grass in the game Trail they feed on grass like cattle here what do you see he’s on to something Junior no no no no oh it’s a Le fluttering back and forth that’s what he’s see get over here scar bears away come on we’re take him
Out boy you don’t have the patience so you have to sit still do you I grew up down in Washington and I’ve been hunting pretty much all my life it started as a young kid going out with my father before I was old enough to pack a
Gun you know you change a lot as a hunter through the years it’s something you never quit learning keep it simple and persistent and you’ll be Successful been here about 2 3 hours and doesn’t seem to be anything moving around I think why I’m not seeing this bear is my timing he’s coming in earlier than I am I don’t know maybe I’ll move down the beach a little ways all right man I’m ready let’s do
It so I’m uh filling up the drums here first with water to get them sunk and we’ll see how much fun we can have getting them up under there and into place that’s good good Luck once in position I’m literally going to be grabbing this air hose and stuffing it down into the drum all that air going in there is going to displace the water that point as quickly as possible I will put in the bung hole back in there and then uh rinse and rep
This is where we really need the uh the lift the most we want to get at least two of these pontoon towards the back corner which is lowest and where most of the weight is contained in the float after we get that going we’ll see how
The rest of the float is starting to orient itself and we’ll adjust from there how warm are your paws are they still all there yeah right spring diving not for the F of heart there we go that’s good on to the Next the fuel dispensing float is really critical to life here on the water and everybody uses it if it broke loose or started sinking it could cause some pretty serious Calamity so it is a key piece of infrastructure that we have to do our best to maintain
How do it look like it came up well it looks like it came up some but I think we might have to even go three on that back corner to get it to lift yeah still not a entirely sure where I’ll put this one but I’ll find a spot one more and we’re
Done but I can tell I am running a little low on some flat ground here so I think from here on out we’re going to be testing my Tetris game he’s trying to see if it’s got enough of a footprint to lift without shooting one way or the
Other between the bubbles and the uh lack of light I really can’t see what the heck’s going on down there so this is all on tro well there’s another one hooting down there hear it I do yeah I guess we could pluck this one here real quick
Yeah and then just pack them the best time to Puck them is like right away yeah once they cool off those feathers don’t want to come out very easily at all can I do this yeah just grab and rip hold them down just rip chunks out Carl and Dawn have lived here their
Whole lives and I am two years into this it’s a a new thing for me being able to actually take charge and provide for myself and for my family it’s pretty awesome oh my God it’s got rocks in there you feel it needles need yeah so this is interesting given the uh
Habitat around here there are a lot of pine trees but usually they’re eating Spruce needles and uh maybe Hemlock needles so I’m curious to see if those are pine needles or that out real quick and look take a look yeah want take a look that’s bull
Pine that’s all bull pine yep what in the world yeah I’ll be damned that’s going to taste really good the Hooter meat consistency wise it’s kind of like pork it’s almost like a red meat but not quite and uh really tasty that is crazy learn something new every
Day well this is the Moment of Truth give me some slack I’ll run it through here this is our first pick first anchor is the year coming up and we got about 2/3 of a mile of gear going that direction so with any luck there was a
Seam of fish coming along here we’ll get a handful as self-sufficient as we are in this neck of the woods and there are any number of things that you cannot create yourself out here occasionally you need to buy some nuts and bolts or some tools so sometimes you need some actual cash
Uhoh that’s what we don’t want to see a sand shark venerable sand shark still in good shape I think something’s coming here abandoned is that what they call it uh convict convict or something of that nature call that an eating fish dang oh lots of stuff down there just not the correct
Stuff what do you call these guys Dusky yeah some kind of I’ve never seen one that’s a big one look at that all shapes and sizes a we little one oh we’re about done with this Hall and we don’t we have very little to show for besides a bunch of miscellaneous finfish last
Hook we got something Sam oh nice fish money Fish there we go that’s what we’re looking for we need to get into a school of those we won’t be rushing back here nope that was a suck ass set if you ask me 140 lb halib it is not what we’re looking for we should have got at least
A half a dozen like that on that set well let’s check that next set yeah that’s about all we can do yeah I can already tell it’s uh it’s definitely brought up the building we’ll see what this last barrel doeses for us we get this done and uh I’m pretty sure
We’re calling it a day that’s uh that’s a lot of time in the water for Troy in a one sitting the temperature of the water is about 37 38 down there is is a guess it’s very important that I keep my head straight it gets very easy especially as
You get cold to start rushing things Focus gets harder and harder the colder you get trying to control my shivering control my breathing and uh just get the job done as safely as possible what happened lost T that’s the only one I got for a straight air blowing
Tip so is it in the barrel it must be crap do we have a b Magnet or anything might be a magnet we got this one hopefully that uh nozzle’s got some ferrish metal in it all right good luck we put a lot of our tools and a lot
Of the equipment we play with through uh riggers that they were not designed for and often whaton we get is epic fail but that’s just part of uh working around our unconventional circumstances you know keep rolling with the punches perseverance is key Junior where’s all the Bears at dang It see something Working is that a bear we’ll see how things go oh we got something coming we got a fish coming Bring Him aboard Hallelujah well we uh we got a profit fish here this is a close to a $400 fish looks good to me we just need a handful More not a thing should have looked like one standing back in there just just inside the trees let’s keep the luck going could be a mat patch of timber that’s what I’m hearing standing out in this wind it’s hard to hear as well there’s another one could be over
There that sounds like there’s two there’s two of them I’m getting it real clear somewhere right in this yeah head that direction yeah go poke in there and see what we see see something coming big one that’s big just like the last one 60 80 pounder oh he’s doing that number on me
Lively yeah he’s crash easy big guy we’re looking at uh $800 wor the fish probably cover all the expenses right there look at this we got some Gees and mards that’s a big deal how come we ain’t shootting them good boy oh God you see you SE a goose too duck oh
God what a nut and I’m Ducks torturing you Junior did you feel it rattling around in there or anything no there’s still so much water there I can tell D can’t get my fig in there I can see if I can go hunt down a couple crescent wrenches and we can just straight pipe it in
There and uh maybe that’ll work out for us hold up here and listen for a second I’m here in two there’s one over there but one in not far at all real close he might be that big H off right over there or something kind a little
Further than that I think you think so yeah that’s pretty clear we keep walking if we hear him behind us and we know we’ve gone too far the hardest thing trying to find a Hooter is picking what tree they’re in and when the wind’s blowing you know you
Kind of sound carries weird and Echoes through the trees so trying to pinpoint that location can be hard there he is I see him I got him right up in the top right on that limb straight up you see him oh he big he’s a
Fatty too you mind if I pop this one I mean yeah I’m going to shoot it but you can you let me shoot this one yeah you can shoot it I always want to take this short find a little bit of a rest to lean on here
So lean up against this I can see him from there that’s a little tight let’s see ah all this freehanded that’s Fine oh he’s running he’s fast there he goes damn it careful You got him yeah nicely done baby he was running running fast they do that great success we should uh let Don shoot the next one you’re two for two so you can’t complain too much well that one’s just right over there how many do we need for dinner
Three you want three two or three I don’t want to take more than we need it’s up to you we have an opportunity but you know also don’t want to wipe out our population yeah we’ve kind of hit this little Ridge pretty hard so let’s leave one for mating purposes good call
I’d be fine with that pluck it and head back to the creek I guess right yeah yeah I’ll just get comfy and watch it I first met Morgan and she moved out one of the first things I gave her when she came out here was a little 1022
That was the first gun she’d ever had and she’s learning how to move through the woods really well you know getting confident one of the reasons I love Morgan you know she’s down to go do this stuff and learn about it and participate and she doesn’t mind getting bloody so
That’s pretty cool okay well good size dinner right there we got H yeah yeah great success well I’m excited to try it oh you’ll love it they’re delicious it’ll be good for dinner yeah well been hunting all day long and I’m tired hungry so fresh fish would be pretty darn
Good try it out anyway haven’t been successful today but this hun isn’t even close to being over oh what’s that something in I think the best thing to do now is just give it a little bit of a break and then we’ll come back at it with the guns of Blaze
And up green link they’ll work not much on him but let me get another one and I really want to be successful be it’s the first red meat of the year that’s available oh we got here it’s a long time away before we can shoot deer Busey we got his
Buddy think of that huh that don’t be biting him that hook will bite you back budy this bear Is frequent in this area and I think I stand a pretty good chance getting him you know I just got to be patient and keep after it it’ll it’ll
Happen here real soon get in here in the morning and then uh wait for him to come through on his way down to feed not how Bad oh we’ve got enough fish today to cover our expenses which I’ve been un where we actually went in the hole so we got one more setup here keep our fingers crossed for a couple big ones make all the difference in the world just got two big fish and
We’ll be right back in the money it accumulates really quick when you get 80 lb fish it’s like your bank account automatically changes something down there eating the clean the hooks off here comes something that’s in shape of a Hal ah this is not our Target species we call these
Skates and I’m going to release them back into the wild well we definitely have not found a seam of fish here there something I don’t see him want to feel it oh oh yeah next hook yeah baby he’s a nice fish kind of nice to catch $500 fish I’ll Whack Him
First here is he is he got torn out let’s get his heading near the water here guy we need to get him aboard he’s just hanging by his lip to Lo in Here uh uhoh okay just keep him on the yeah oh yeah rock aola some of them don’t get hooked as good as others he was just barely hanging by his skin there just barely he’s got a little Lip lip skin going on there another one coming yeah that’s a
Fish would you look at that want to un samp it that’s a keeper commercial fishing is basically the heartbeat of Alka oh there’s a fish some of my earliest memories when I was a little Boyer the dock just lined up with commercial fishing boats I’d say we’re kicking some
Ass and taking some names here you could hear a lot of hooping and partying going on in the Old Tavern and it was pretty active spot things change feels like something coming here okay I see him been the last 20 years that has changed there we go perfect you could
Catch some fish here but the closest fish fish buyer it’s a three-hour run in a fast boat in the future I’m hoping that some of the commercial fishing infrastructure gets restored and a fish fire actually moves back into this area we’re in the chips we’re rich why’ we
Set so deep they’re all up here in the shells good deal it was a great success every nickel I just made on this little fishing trip is going to go into a bunch of projects that I’ve been wanting to do that’s the end of the line
We’re done for this trip and it was a good one yeah a new honey hole now we need to beat feet down to Craig and put the money in the bank fasten your seat belt we’re out of Here so the Quick Connect failed and it blew off our uh our straight pipe so now it’s just going to be truly straight pipe all right bud Go stuff it in there and I’ll uh I’ll plug it in here in a second you know we’re on the one yard
Line here but we still have couple inches to go sweet nice job tro let’s get you the hell out of this cold ass water mask first here okay got a hand on it can you tell us it look like it came up at all yeah
It’s definitely come up man 16 18 in it almost looks like it’s uh where it started from 30 years plus back I think we uh we managed to win yeah for many years as was a senior and consultant I came to Port protection because this is what we did for tens of
Thousands of years we were hunter gatherers and I think getting back to that I think is good for the Mind Body and Soul all right shall we uh get you headed for some warmth yeah the thing it takes a village didn’t make a whole lot
Of sense to me or really get driven home until I moved up here this community has done so much for me so it really feels good to to give back feels good to have my skills come in handy you may not be a carpenter but you know how to blow bubbles that’s
Right bubbles Broccoli well I came back here to this drainage for a second time nice to get a birthday bear see how today my birthday he left us a little surprise Junior smells him look at him that bear is here best time in a fishing trip when you get your paycheck start of another
Season Port protection we’re essentially cash poor and resource Rich 63 pounder I’ve been able to uh live a pretty damn good life on a bare minimum of cash 61 but I absolutely consider myself a wealthy man money in the bank cattle on the Range what something I’ve been wanting
To do we don’t do enough of yeah I’m just happy I got to shoot something and then come home and cook it it’s good feeling this is what it’s all about when I moved out to Port protection I was definitely an open book I’ve done a lot more in the last few
Years than a lot of people do in the lower 48 I feel strong and confident and I feel like a badass woman out here i’ love the taste of that c just right give her the real test ehy look at that not rolling not rolling success there is no downhill out here on
The coastline and in the rainforest Mother Nature will reclaim whatever she can and as quickly as she can this is a a LIF style that we absolutely love and uh the only way that it’s going to continue to go forward is if we put in the effort to make sure it does
Definitely gave very help in hand good job Troy I got a really good feeling about today at this only a hunter would understand sometimes you get that feeling that something’s going to happen and nine times out of 10 it does bear bear there he is there he is he’s looking this
Way he’s not getting me the shot I need though going down There a bit More he comes he’s coming that got a little bit more
Video “Braving Waters for the Perfect Bear (Full Episode) | Port Protection Alaska” was uploaded on 03/23/2024. Watch all the latest Videos by National Geographic on Gretopia