The History Channel’s Alone season nine episode six opens with seven survivalists remaining in the competition. And by the time the episode wraps up, seven contestants still remain in the quest to be the last person standing.
Episode six – “The Weasel” – takes us from Day 28 through Day 33. Survivalists spotlighted include Terry, Teimojin, Jessie, Tom, and Juan Pablo.
Terry, Age 31, Homer, AK
Day 28: Terry’s built himself a nifty little smoker and fills his belly with meat from the beaver’s skull before getting to work. He’s having a difficult time scraping out the brain but doesn’t give up. Terry’s down 32 pounds and needs the protein, vitamins, and omega-3 fatty acids the brain contains.
He’s determined not to let any of the beaver go to waste, including its eyeballs.
For now, his number one priority is preserving the meat. It’s a time-consuming task but necessary since the conditions aren’t conducive to maintaining fresh meat for long. Terry prepares the meat for smoking as quickly as possible since the smoke has an antimicrobial effect on meat.
What he can’t smoke he’s planning on boiling and eating.
A Whiskey Jack chatters as he’s working, and Terry realizes the bird could draw in larger predators. Terry explains he loves to procure and preserve meat, but he knows getting his smoker to work effectively will be a trial-and-error process.
Day 29: Terry let his meat smoke for a day and when he pulls it off the rack it’s gorgeous. He describes the smell as sweet and aromatic. The meat’s thoroughly dried and now he’s got a nice amount of meat that can last up to two months.
Smoking done, Terry sets to work collecting the remainder of the meat from the bones. He needs to cook it now before it turns bad. He takes a bite and it’s delicious beaver bacon – crispy, chewy, and fatty.
Terry’s also boiling up fat and he plans on sipping on it since it’s a good source of calories. He believes it’s exactly what his body needs to keep it going.
He misses his loved ones, in particular his mom. Terry didn’t have much growing up in West Virginia and his mom’s always been an incredible supporter of his.
Day 31: Terry confesses he loves it here. The view’s tremendous and now that he’s finished processing the beaver, he hopes to be able to take a little time each day to just relax and appreciate the area.
Terry’s feeling stronger with more energy after shooting the beaver. However, he realizes he still needs to keep foraging, hunting, and fishing in order to thrive.
Before he heads off to explore, he finds a pretty spot to do a dedication to his mother. He loves her deeply and is so proud to be her son. Terry’s living his dream, thanks to his mom.
Tom, Age 35, Earlysville, VA
Day 28: Tom’s built an incredible shelter and the best fireplace and stove of the season. Instead of working on food, he’s making earrings for his sweetheart. The earrings are composed of rabbit bone, grouse feathers, and snare wire, and they’re actually surprisingly pretty. He finishes up one and decides to head out to check his traps.
Tom wishes one of his 10 items was his sweetheart and says she’d be “kicking a** at this.”
It’s a long walk to his snare line and when he gets there all four snares are empty. He realizes he doesn’t have a lot of fat on his body and won’t win a starving contest, so it’s imperative he bring in food.
Tom turns his attention to a beaver dam and decides he’ll need to check it out at night.
Day 29: Tom heads down to the beaver dam at 6:30am when it’s barely light, hoping to spot a little beaver activity. He crosses his fingers, acknowledging his skinny frame will make his strength deteriorate fast if he doesn’t get some real food.
It’s still fairly dark as he finds the perfect spot to watch for activity. He loves to stalk but knows the odds are against him. “The challenge is what makes it so exciting,” says Tom.
His background’s in conservation and he believes that’s made him a better hunter. He’s learned that if you let a few animals walk around while you just observe them, you have a better chance of ultimately shooting one.
Tom makes it to the water’s edge and watches a beaver swim by in one direction and then quickly turn around and head back the way it came. Tom’s patient, waits for just the right opportunity, and shoots at his first beaver. The animal dives underwater and Tom watches for it to surface. Tom can’t spot any bubbles and believes the beaver will head toward the dam.
“If I didn’t hit it well, it’s going to just tear me up,” he admits. He’s desperate for food but there’s now a lump in his throat thinking about the beaver possibly suffering and then ultimately going to waste. The thought of it dying in the dam is heartbreaking.
He retrieves his arrow and it doesn’t have blood or hair on it. Now he’s not sure he actually hit it.
Tom decides to leave the area alone for a few days to cool down. He hopes he hasn’t ruined his chances of getting a beaver in the future.
Teimojin, Age 31, Montreal, CAN
Day 28: Teimojin’s cabin’s fireplace has drawn the attention of mice whenever he lights a fire. He’s going to set up Paiute deadfalls (trigger traps) to kill them since he’s putting a pause on fishing. The water levels have dropped and right now it’s not the best source of food.
A veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, Teimojin’s strategy is to improvise, adapt, and overcome.
While he’s working on traps, he hears a grouse nearby. He’s pretty sure he lives in a grouse flight pattern. Apparently, they pass by his camp on the way to eat sand/grit which helps with their digestion. He takes a shot but misses. Fortunately, he spots his arrow and takes another shot. This time, the arrow sails away toward the shelter. He hopes he can find it.
All contestants are allowed nine arrows, and Teimojin’s already down one from shooting it into a tree. He decides to retrieve the one stuck in the tree by knocking it down with a sampling. He tosses the sampling, but it misses the arrow which is stuck 20 feet up.
Teimojin’s forced to climb the tree and notes that sometimes you forget you’re all alone in the middle of nowhere. Being 15+ feet up a tree is a solid reminder of the dangers of Alone. “This is like an injury waiting to happen,” he admits since emergency crews can take up to an hour to respond.
Teimojin jinxes himself by talking about the possibility of falling right before a branch breaks and he nearly takes a tumble. He’s okay and manages to retrieve his arrow. Teimojin says he’s not going to take any more tree shots; it’s not worth the risk.
10:30pm on Day 28 has Teimojin in a reflective mood. He wondered if he’d feel alone in the competition but has learned he actually felt more alone when he was homeless and living out of his van. It was his last year in medical school and he hit rock bottom emotionally. He never asked his parents for help and did everything himself. Attempting to get through that period by smiling and pretending he was okay made him feel more alone than being in Labrador without any companionship.
Day 30: Teimojin shoots a grouse for dinner and hears another one on his way back to camp. He’s having a lucky day and shoots another one. He counts himself fortunate to have so many grouse in his area.
“I love my shelter location, man. Feeds me…shelters me,” says Teimojin. “Every time I get a grouse I find the wishbone and when I break it, I wish for more food. It must be lucky or something. But it’s working.”
After talking about his luck, he sees yet another grouse and adds a third bird to his collection. That’s three weeks’ worth of food in just a matter of a couple of hours of hunting.
Teimojin thanks the grouse and cleans the birds while wearing rubber gloves from his emergency kit.
Everyone back at home supports him including his girlfriend, although his friends and family don’t understand why he’s doing this.
Day 31: Teimojin’s ready to set up a second shelter closer to the beach. Its construction requires him to cut down the biggest tree yet in order to make a lean-to. He’ll use the building as a secondary shelter and smokehouse in order to keep the bears away from his primary camp. It’s a fast build and he finishes it up in a matter of hours.
Back at his first camp, he roasts up grouse for a dinner consisting of scraps, skin, a liver, and two hearts.
Jessie, Age 49, Pagosa Springs, CO
Day 30: Jessie sings a song about not having any luck catching fish. Her plans for the day include trying to get the walls up on Hodge Podge Lodge. She’s done an incredible amount of work and admits she’s spent more time working on it than she should have.
She’s lost 30 pounds and really wants to finish the shelter so she can focus on fishing and setting snares.
Day 31: Jessie’s still working on her shelter, slowly edging closer to finishing it up. While brushing her teeth she spots fresh snow on a nearby mountain. That gives her more incentive to finally finish up Hodge Podge Lodge.
Jessie gives us a tour of her shelter and she’s got an awesome firepit in the center of the floor, complete with punkwood (the rotted area in a tree or log). She’s even made an air vent for the pit that leads outside. Winter’s definitely in the air and all she needs now is to finish her roof and then she can move in.
Jessie heads out to collect moss while explaining she gained 30 pounds prior to coming to Labrador. She adds sod to the roof and knows she lost a lot of weight working on her shelter.
Jessie completes the roof and plans on moving in tomorrow. She sings in celebration.
Day 32: Moving day arrives and Jessie’s excited to actually set up inside Hodge Podge Lodge. She’s checked her snares and nothing was there, and it’s been five days since she had protein.
Jessie admits she’s been thinking about home and her boyfriend recently. She misses sharing her life with someone at the end of each day.
Jessie heads to the river but she isn’t successful in getting food. Back at her lodge she’s feeling really hungry and is upset she can’t celebrate completing the lodge with a little food. (For what it’s worth – Hodge Podge Lodge is one of the biggest, most impressive structures in Alone history.)
Juan Pablo, Age 30, Pinawa, CAN
Day 30: Juan Pablo’s got a pan of fish heads to eat after having already finished off the bodies. He describes what’s in the pan as “jello fish.” Juan’s goal for the day is to focus on fishing.
His motto: “Don’t screw up.”
Juan heads to his recently constructed dock and discovers a large crack in his rod, requiring him to take the time to fix it before it completely breaks.
He was born in a big city but is passionate about living off the land. His parents’ house was close to the forest, and he spent a lot of time doing things outside including hunting and trapping. Juan describes his survival philosophy as being all about nature and listening to it in order to thrive.
Rod repaired; Juan gets busy fishing but nothing’s biting. He decides to head out hunting instead and spots a weasel. It’s super quick and he decides he’s not going to take a shot; Juan just wants to observe it because it’s cool.
Next, he spots a grouse in a tree but it’s too high up. He takes a shot when it flies down and hits the bird. Juan can hear it flapping but loses it in the woods. He does, however, find his arrow with feathers and blood on it, confirming he did hit the grouse.
Juan knows the grouse is wounded but has no idea where the body is. It’s the first time he’s mortally wounded a grouse and didn’t recover the body. Juan doesn’t feel good about it but knows he needs to learn from his mistake and move on.
Day 33: Juan spots a squirrel in a tree but doesn’t take a shot. Instead, he heads off on a short hunting trip and finds the grouse he shot. An animal ate part of it but he’s going to eat the remainder.
He spots the weasel again and this time he shoots it. “Poor weasel – I didn’t know I was actually going to hit you. You’re so fast,” says Juan, apologizing to the dead animal.
Juan’s going to keep the fur intact and gift it to his partner of seven years. His life would be a mess without her. Juan hasn’t asked her to marry him because he doesn’t have any money. He’s determined to win Alone so he can finally propose.
Later, Juan confesses that the morale boost he got from observing the weasel was greater than the amount of food it will provide. He admits he screwed up.
- Alone Season 9 Episode 1 “Drop Shock” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 2 “Consequences” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 3 “Law of the Land” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 4 “The Beaver” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 5 “The Land Giveth” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 7 “The Birds” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 8 “Gut Feeling” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 9 “The Ice Up” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 10 “Winter’s Grasp” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 11 “Fight, Flight or Freeze” Recap
