Isolated Taiga

In the Isolated Taiga of Siberia, self-reliance is the key to survival in the harsh wilderness. In an environment not bound by any rules, it is crucial for the hunters to develop their own way of living and their own system by which they do things. Though they were assigned by the Russian government to locate in the taiga, aside from infrequent supply drops, the hunters really are isolated. If they want food, they’ll have to find it by either making traps, hunting, or fishing. If they want shelter, they’ll have to build it with logs and moss. If they want any additional supplies, they’ll have the make it using the materials available to them in the Taiga. After being assigned a certain location by the government, the hunters are now free to …show more content…
Though the hunters are free to do what they want, they still need to harness the skills to survive in the brutal cold. With choice comes opportunity, which the hunters have a firm grasp of. In an area with a scarcity of readily available food and resources, it is critical that the hunters can identify an opportunity and take it. Before the start of winter for example, they tried to catch as much fish as possible before the river froze. Though raw material isn’t necessarily scarce in the taiga, obtaining supplies is difficult. With a lack of technology, having only the snowmobile, making use of resources in the environment is important. If the hunters want to cross the river, they’ll have to make their own canoe. If the hunters want to stock up on food, they’ll have to make traps out of the trees to catch sable. If the hunters want to repel mosquitoes, they'll have to make their own bug repellent by burning a tree in order to obtain the tar inside. Having an opportunity doesn’t mean the hunters should act immediately however, as catching sable too early would decrease the amount of sable in the winter. Whether or not the hunters can be considered happy people is