The book the Final Frontiersman chronicles the life of Heimo Korth, living and sustaining himself as a trapper and a hunter in the Alaskan bush. We read this book and found it to be more enjoyable and entertaining than we were expecting. It was engaging, well written, and a great educational resource. The book follows a writer who goes to live with his cousin, Heimo, on his trap line. It provides an outsider perspective with intimate insider access to all the first hand knowledge of the Korth family. The result leads to a lot of insightful and well written content that combines the knowledge and the good writing.
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The Use of the 22LR For Everything in Alaska
In the book, the wife actually used a 22 to take a caribou. 2 shots to where the neck meets the head. They stressed shot placement. I personally would rather have a 17 HMR in the bush rather than the 22, but the principle is that if you put the bullet in the right place, you’re ok. In the book, they shoot big game, moose and caribou with those neck shots. It was impressive to read about, and it will get the job done. My take away? I need to practice with my rimshot rifles, and I may want to consider neck shots in a survival situation over the old double lung.
Nature is a killer
The book continuously highlights the hazards of living in the Alaskan bush. Water, cold, and weather are killers. They talk about the dangers of the ice, grizzly bears, the water, the snow, parasites, starvation, and the lack of quick access to medical care. The Korths had experience with most all of these. The river was really dangerous with ice break up, sweepers in the river, and even parasites in the water. The ultimate and horrific example of the dangers of the bush happens when Heimo’s daughter is lost when their canoe killed his daughter. It is heartbreaking, but really shows the unforgiving nature of the bush.
The weather they experience routinely gets down to -50. The coldest I’ve personally experienced is -20, and I thought I was going to die just breathing that in. Every breath froze my nose hairs and burned my lungs. -20 was considered normal trapping weather. You are able to acclimate yourself to different weather. In the book, Heimo would actually go out running in a basic sweat suit at -20.
Don’t Take Unnecessary Risks
Risk is always with this family as they live in the bush. The weather, the animals, the river, all of nature it seems is combining to try to kill you in the Alaskan bush. Because of this, you don’t take unnecessary risks. It was a theme throughout the book. It highlighted instances where the family did take risks, sometimes necessary risks, sometimes foolish risks, and the successes or failures that came from those, some of which I’ve already mentioned. You want to minimize risk while also trying to maximize resources and rewards. It’s a fine line, and in the bush, the consequence can be death.
Sustenance Hunting
Alaska is probably the only place left in the US where sustenance hunting is even possible on a relatively large scale. The population density is low enough, and natural resources are high enough that they can probably hunt and trap for food sustainably for a longer period of time. I think the deer and wild game population would be decimated in the lower 48 if people had to hunt for food, and that would lead people to starve.
Heimo Korth and his family practice sustainable hunting practices, moving their hunting and trapping location year to year so areas can recover and rebound. They also try to only shoot males of whatever species they’re hunting. All of these practices make “The Final Frontiersman” able to live the life they live.
Conclusion
This book was the real deal. It was raw, entertaining, and educational. If you read and loved The Hatchet as a kid, you’ll love this book. Similar challenges, similar landscape, similar survival situations, but The Final Frontiersman is a true story, not a fictional novel. If you’re interested in other prepping books, check out our list of favorites that every prepper should have on their book shelf.
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Other Books We’ve Reviewed
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