The Kilchers rush to finish winter prep work and Otto drives his herd home.

Otto gets creative in beating the frozen soil when moving the outhouse.

Eivin's deer quota is met and it's up to Eve to bring home enough meat.

The Kilchers race through the last few days of fall before winter hits.

The Kilchers race through the last few days of fall before winter hits.

With summer half over, the Kilchers head out fishing, but it's not for fun... at least, not entirely. They need hundreds of pounds of fish to eat and barter with during winter. Each couple has their own time-proven technique for catching salmon, halibut and trout.

Atz Lee and Eivin travel 160 miles and brave the bears of "Terrible Island" to hunt deer. Otto refuses to admit defeat and will use all the blackpowder he has to remove a pesky stump blocking his progress. Eve helps Charlotte solve a swarming bee problem.

Fall arrives; the Kilchers scramble to finish their winter prep. Otto confronts a predator killing calves from inside his herd. Atz Lee and Jane catch and smoke salmon in their secret fish camp. Eivin uses a samurai sword to prepare Thanksgiving dinner.

Cattleman Otto Kilcher sees life a little differently. Some people think he's crazy, but he'll tell you it's just his willingness to accept whatever life brings him. Otto's sense of humor is infectious and his ingenuity inspires family and neighbor alike.

For the Kilchers, necessity truly is the mother of invention and recycling takes on a whole new level -- from bone yard scavengers and make-do parts to tasty roadkill suppers. And it's not just the Kilcher men who have to be tough and resourceful.

Late fall. Half the herd returns early from the summer grazing grounds so the Kilchers drive the rest home across icy rivers. The family rushes to finish other winter prep work but still makes time for a beach-scavenged gourmet picnic.

Otto gets creative to beat the frozen soil when he realizes he must move the outhouse, now. Eivin takes Eve on her first deerhunt on Afognak Island, which is teeming with wild animals including awake bears. Atz and sons gather trees for a big new project.

The Kilchers race through the last few days of fall before winter finally hits, prepping the hunter and cattleman cabins, winterizing the bee hive, sorting the root cellar, bottling the raspberry mead, and creating a new field with an excavator and barge.

Take a deeper look at Kilcher family history with archived footage including Yule, the family patriarch and original homesteader. Otto and Atz share parenting insights and Otto and Eivin search for gold.