Anybody recognize the rifle used by the Eslimo wife to shoot caribou in the show Life Below Zero? Was it a K98 Mauser? Obviously a MilSurp of some type. Old & beat up but works fine. A true testament.

Got a pic?

 

I just checked IMFDB and they did not have the show listed.

 

 

http://www.imfdb.org/index.php?search=life+below&go=Go&title=Special%3ASearch

Straight bolt handle and safety look like a Mosin Nagant.

I was thinking a Mosin too. I knew she was just going to wound the animal though. If your going to hunt with that thing at least put a scope on it.

+1 for Mosin 1891/30.

Yeah a Mosin Nagant was my 2nd. guess. She did wound it but then her & her husband went to it & he slit it's throat.

Ear

I was thinking a Mosin too. I knew she was just going to wound the animal though. If your going to hunt with that thing at least put a scope on it.

FWIW Eskimos are subsistence hunters. As such, as long as they get meat on the table at the end of the day that's okay with them. Maybe not sporting but they eat. Totally different perspective from an Eskimo's point of view.

 

I've read that after its introduction in the 30s, the 22 Hornet became a popular cartridge with Eskimos as the ammo was cheaper. There aren't many things Eskimos have to convert to cash so the 22 Hornet was used for everything from ptarmigan to polar bear. Yes, polar bear. I remember seeing a show where the guy going for polar bear had an Eskimo guide. He was carrying something like a .375 H&H. The guide had a 22 Hornet which had been his fathers.

 

They made an issue in the show how the husband was the butcher and his wife did the shooting. There may be legal reasons for this. IIRC Eskimos are exempt from most game laws, seasons, limits, the whole shebang. They can also hunt animals like seal, walrus, and whale.

 

The guy on the show is a regular on The High Road.org and goes by the screen name of Caribou. He's been talking about the show.

Subsistence hunters should want to drop the animal with one shot so they do not have to worry about tracking the animal or missing it all together like the girl did in the show. One of my friends goes up to the artic circle to hunt caribou every other year and the natives that he stays with and hunts with take all head shots so they drop the animal where it stands. If I was relying on my rifle to get all my meat for me I sure as hell would invest in a decent scope.

Subsistence hunters should want to drop the animal with one shot so they do not have to worry about tracking the animal or missing it all together like the girl did in the show. One of my friends goes up to the artic circle to hunt caribou every other year and the natives that he stays with and hunts with take all head shots so they drop the animal where it stands. If I was relying on my rifle to get all my meat for me I sure as hell would invest in a decent scope.

 

Ideally, you're correct.  It just doesn't always work that way in real life however.  We don't know what kind of shot she was trying for or where she hit the animal. 

Just watched that segment again. He says that herd gets spooked because it lives near a village. Its been shot at a lot so the caribou are educated. He says we usually go for a head or neck shot but can't get that close to that herd (lung shot?). When he administers the coup de grace he comments "as long as it gets meat on the table".