Curiosity (2011) s01e10 Episode Script
I, Caveman - The Great Hunt (2)
Host: 1 0 people l think a lot of people in this modern world have lost touch with where we come from.
on a journey back 20,000 years What is it? to find out if modern humans have what it takes to live like cavemen.
lt's literally the toughest day l've ever had in my life.
A team of expert watches our every move, assessing our efforts lt's a difficult making fire.
and tracking the effects of this primitive lifestyle on our minds and bodies.
They were essentially starving.
l can't do this.
l can't starve myself like this.
[ gagging .]
My body cannot handle cold weather.
Why wouldn't you go by the fire? Finding food has been a struggle.
Rat.
Where did you get him at? We're gonna take these primitive weapons, and we're gonna go hunt down some elk.
We're gonna try and keep bushes in between her and us all the way up so she doesn't see us.
We were going to find an elk, and we were going to kill.
Be ready.
l can't believe that.
Hunger can break you down.
We're halfway through the experiment.
Can we make it to the end? We're about to find out.
This morning killed me.
That was the game changer right there.
[bleep.]
l got one.
l got one.
That one's hit.
That one's hit.
-- l got one.
-- l got it in the neck.
We rushed as fast as we can to get this thing butchered so we can get it back to camp.
Careful walking, guys.
Spurlock: lt's day six of our experiment, and we're in the midst of something that cavemen did all the time -- moving camp to be closer to a better food source.
Ugh.
Amy: l'm a little concerned about the move because, like, physically, my energy feels really depleted right now.
You guys all right? Unlike other animals, humans have a lot of extra costs associated with moving.
They have to take clothing, bedding, tools and weapons.
So moving camp is hardly a cost-free endeavor.
All this gear.
lt's hard.
lt's hard work.
l was a little bit hesitant.
lt was gonna be another large energy expenditure.
Moving the camp could break some people.
We're about half way there.
Half way? Spurlock: When we arrive, our first concern will be building shelter and making fire.
But Billy's already one step ahead.
So, what l did was found some rotten aspen bark where the inner fibers were shredded really fine and tied it together with pieces of willow bark, and it just smolders until you get to your location.
And then there you've got guaranteed fire.
l think Billy's idea of transporting the fire is ingenious.
They won't have to expend the energy to make a new fire, which can be unpredictable in this environment.
Drop it here.
This is it.
You're kidding.
Hey, Robb, keep an eye on this.
lf it flames up, jam it in the ground.
We don't want this thing to torch up, or it will burn it all up.
Spurlock: Thanks to Billy, we have no trouble getting the fire started at camp.
Good job, bro.
Good job, bro.
Even from here, we can hear elk calls.
So l think we're a lot closer to some bigger game.
My spear is gonna be in one of those river rats over there, in a matter of hours.
But first we're gonna build shelters, and then l'm gonna get dinner.
Those are the two priorities.
Break some of these branches off.
We could use them for bedding.
We could put one of them right here.
What do you think, Billy? Put them right here on these trees.
Yeah, l like this.
lt's cushy.
lt's real soft.
-- l can feel it.
-- Yeah.
Be nice to put down and soften where we sleep.
Spurlock: We're constructing two ridge pole shelters.
We wedge the ends of the ridge pole between a branch and a tree trunk on each side.
The sides of the triangular shelter are formed by securing sticks against the ridge pole.
We'll weave twigs, leaves, and other debris between the sticks to finish the job, and hopefully the result will be an insulated, almost waterproof shelter.
And we should start to build, like, now.
'Cause the build's gonna take a while.
l agree.
l'm ready to get to work.
Everybody else can sit around if they want.
Spurlock: There's a saying in corporate America that 20% of the people in a typical office do 80% of the work.
Maybe we should cut that one off, too.
ln our case, it's more like 50% of the people doing all work.
Robert: Once again, the same five of us will build the shelter, get the food, go hunting, support the rest of the group, and Amy: Man, l can't even feel my stomach anymore.
lt's, like, gone.
ln traditional hunting gathering societies, what we see are some very well developed rules trying to minimize the impact of people who are not bringing in resources to the group.
Spurlock: But we have no rules.
And without them, we're finding it difficult to deal with those who aren't pulling their weight.
These people are [bleep.]
psychos.
We don't have food.
We don't have shelter.
We got to work, work, and bust balls the to get through this.
We got roots for lashing, y'all.
Nice.
So you would think everybody would want to contribute.
But, l mean, we already got nappers all over the hill and people not wanting to work.
l mean, this isn't a joke.
lf l was Supreme Ruler, they wouldn't be eating.
-- Looks pretty good, bro.
-- Looks excellent.
Look at that.
Wasn't even a Boy Scout.
You guys should fill this whole thing in with fur.
Manu : The shelter is badass.
Great job, guys.
A lot of work, man.
A lot of work on like no food.
We'll still cover the bottom with fur.
Still level it out inside a little more.
My whole goal, we're gonna get this done.
Once this is done, we're gonna go kill a muskrat.
Muskrat love tonight for this guy.
This is awesome.
All right, l'm going to get more.
We spent so much energy building our shelter that everyone was just spent and exhausted and wasn't sure what was gonna happen or where we were gonna get our next meal.
lt's looking real good.
lt's looking really good.
Spurlock: We've got shelter and fire.
But we still need real food.
l've had my fill of stinging nettles and dandelions.
l want meat, l've got a score to settle with a certain fast-swimming rodent.
Robert: Morgan took this vendetta against this muskrat very personally.
Like, he will not leave the experiment until he brains that animal.
l go out there, and after 20 minutes, l have to leave 'cause l can't take it anymore.
He doesn't care.
He's that focused on getting that rat.
l bet money he won't get it.
They're too smart.
They come out and they show themselves, and then they disappear.
He gets all frustrated.
l cheer him on, man.
l think it's great that he can sit there and get eaten by mosquitos for a rat that's smarter than both of us.
Spurlock: Robert doesn't stick around long.
He doesn't share my obsession.
l'm starting to feel a little like Captain Ahab chasing Moby Dick.
Didn't get him.
Again.
See, that time, if Robert would have stuck around, we'd have had him.
This is a two-man job.
l'm gonna get it.
Spurlock: The toughest part of this experiment is the constant lack of food.
And it's been hardest on Amy, the smallest member of the group.
Hey, can you gals grab some firewood when you're feeling perky? Yeah.
Ah.
Oh.
l think l'm blacking out.
Right now l'm really digging so deep inside to stay strong.
l feel my ribs are gonna collapse 'cause there's nothing to hold them up anymore.
You know, l'm praying a lot.
And, you know, l'm really at a place where l have to, like, find that inner strength in order to stay here.
Thanks, guys.
You're welcome.
We're building these second camps.
That was fatiguing.
lt was hot.
And then Amy was largely checked out.
My heart is, like, racing.
l need to sit down.
Too much energy.
Robb: You didn't take advantage of the easy food when we had easy food.
You didn't take advantage of easy water.
So now we're seeing the manifestation several days later of you not recognizing what a serious situation we're in.
l don't know how much longer l can take this.
l don't have the energy to deal with her.
l mean, l think she ought to just go home.
All she does is lay there all day anyway and complain and cry.
[ sighs .]
What did you think when you came on, like, what did you l thought there would be [bleep.]
food on the land, dude.
There's no food here.
My body is not up for this [bleep.]
l live in a different century.
l'm not a [bleep.]
cavewoman.
l'm so tired of this whole thing.
Why can't they just [bleep.]
sneak me a cracker? Amy is spazzing out.
l think she's reached her limit, to be honest, mentally, physically, nutritionally.
l don't think she can handle it anymore.
She's out of here now, huh? She's spazzing out.
That's it.
She'll be gone today.
My poor Amy.
That's my girl.
Where did she go? [ crying .]
Manu : Her heart isn't in it, and it's very obvious.
And, you know, l know she's tiny and everything like that, but she's bailed out.
She bailed out in day two.
Right now we've moved, and there's no meal.
There's no guarantees of anything right now.
Just, like, things aren't normal with my body.
My heart's racing and l have, like, nausea.
You know, l'm just shocking my system now.
We don't have the knowledge or skills to even, like, catch the game or, you know, anything that's out here right now.
[ sobbing .]
No food.
l just didn't know l was gonna come out here and starve to death.
Janeshia: She's withering away.
We're all suffering, but she is not able to mentally and physically withstand the rest of this experiment.
l need meat.
l need food.
[ crying .]
Spurlock: Amy's in bad shape.
l'm, like, blacking out when l stand up.
So Dr.
Lipman comes by to check her out.
lf we don't have food for another 24 hours, l can't do this.
l can't starve myself like this.
When young, healthy people tell me they're going to pass out, l usually become pretty concerned.
l think l got to go.
l really think l got to get out of here.
l hear Amy crying and kind of freaking out.
And it was a bad situation.
l think everyone was feeling really deflated.
My body is not designed for this [bleep.]
Okay.
Lora: You know, she predicted this.
She said l don't think l can move.
l don't want you to have to suffer through this if you feel you can't.
lt's absolutely your decision.
Spurlock: This experiment is suggesting that some modern people, at least, would find caveman life too hard to endure.
Amy: Today l definitely hit a huge wall.
And l just think that at this point, it's the best decision for me to leave.
And this has been a crazy experience.
lt just Crazy.
lt's more than freakin' crazy.
[ laughter .]
Her decision of leaving was probably a good choice.
Mentally she's not strong enough to get through this.
l hope you guys kick butt, and l know you'll be fine.
Robert: The mistakes Amy made along the way were very big.
She refused to eat.
She just couldn't hack it.
l'm sorry.
[ laughs .]
l definitely underestimated this experiment.
l would never do anything like this ever again.
l will keep you guys in my thoughts and prayers.
-- Okay.
-- All right, bye, guys.
-- Take care.
-- Bye.
Going back into modern civilization, l'm taking with me a whole new appreciation.
Daily necessities that l may have taken for granted, l will never take for granted again.
Bye, Amy! But, when Amy decided she was gonna leave the experiment, honestly, l was concerned.
Because that's opening the door for other people to back out.
We're gonna do great tomorrow, okay? Amy is a strong person.
Anyone that made it through the first day of this is mentally strong.
l think that she was not mentally prepared for this experiment.
Tomorrow is our day.
We're gonna take it down.
lt's gonna be great, all right? -- Yeah.
-- All right.
The group morale is really critical when you're out in Stone Age living situations, traveling as a band.
One person being out of the group in terms of morale can really affect the psychology of the entire group and make it spiral downhill.
Spurlock: Amy's gone.
For the rest of us, the experiment continues.
l'm hopeful that her departure will bring the rest of us closer together.
We have nothing to be ashamed of.
We have nothing to feel bad about.
lt sucks that Amy left, but everybody else did a really good job.
l think it's gonna become much more cohesive now as a result of this.
So we'll see tomorrow.
lt's gonna be a hard day, but l think it's gonna be a very beneficial day.
So time to go to bed.
Good night.
Spurlock: Day seven.
lt's 2 miles to the hunting ground, another exhausting hike for the group.
The group is at the breaking point now.
Everybody is starving, so we put a six-person hunting party together.
On this hunt, we're taking our atlatls.
We're taking hand spears.
We're pretty much taking our whole arsenal.
Manu : We are exhausted.
We are hungry.
This has to happen.
We're gonna take these primitive weapons, and we're gonna go hunt down some elk.
l'm skeptical that it could be done.
A lucky hit, yes.
But it's gonna be pretty primordial to take down an elk with these tools.
Split up.
[ whispering indistinctly .]
Our backs are against the wall.
We really wanted to bring an elk back to the camp and lift up their spirits and, you know, get us more in a positive zone.
Spurlock: Those left back at camp can only hope the hunters deliver.
Robb: This is day seven, and it's literally the toughest day l've ever had in my life.
l have absolutely no energy.
l'm looking at three more days of this if we don't find any food.
Lora: l think hunger is everything.
Having sleep is really important.
And having good water is important.
But if you don't have any nourishment, then nobody's gonna have any energy to do anything.
There's an absolute desperation in camp that they need to be successful, or we're not gonna make it.
Spurlock: We've moved camp to get closer to the big game, but that doesn't mean the elk have to play ball.
Spread out.
[ indistinct whispering .]
Robert: We stumbled across that herd.
There were 1 50 elk there.
l haven't eaten in four days.
Now it's like l'm ready to kill something.
We saw the elk, so we were just like, ''Oh my gosh.
There's elk there.
'' We had to travel down into a valley.
We persisted through all the brush.
l was very focused on being stealth-like.
Gen : We're going after big elk.
l want to bang it over the head and bring it home and eat.
That's a caveman reaction to his environment.
They were already spooked, and they were already giving a warning.
[ elk barks .]
They did this, ''waa, waa'' noise.
lt's like a bark almost, and it's a warning to all the rest of the elk, ''Hey, these guys are here, and they mean business.
'' Spurlock: That signal was all the herd needed.
Just like that, our opportunity was gone.
l'm definitely disappointed that had we haven't caught the elk.
What more can go wrong at this point? We're done hunting here today.
Given how desperate we are for food, this is a pretty major blow.
Robert: l'm tired of laying around in the dirt.
l haven't showered in eight days.
l haven't eaten, and l've had four fish in seven days.
Why starve? Robert is devastated.
He is irate.
l thought he was gonna pass out, like choke somebody.
Robert: There's no reason to suffer.
lt's just stupid.
l don't really give a [bleep.]
l'd rather go lay in my bed and [bleep.]
my girlfriend and eat cheeseburgers.
You know what l mean? Kind of over it.
Spurlock: The hunt was a failure again, and we head back to camp, where Billy and Robb have been setting up traps for small game.
But that's not any easier.
Billy: We got to find a flat spot to set this.
lt's not a simple task, and it's even harder on an empty stomach.
Definitely lots of burrows around here.
Robb: We haven't had food in several days.
We had some fish two, maybe three days ago.
We've set a couple of traps, but every single trap takes about an hour to set up.
Drop it down.
Let's see how -- -- Yeah.
That looks good.
-- Okay.
l just don't know if l can go on, but l just really, really, really don't want to give up.
[ sighs .]
How you doing? Tired, man.
l'm really tired.
Setting up traps was not as effective as we hoped it would have been.
Okay.
All right.
lt's set.
Hunger can break you down.
Having protein in any form is essential in a survival situation like this.
Plants just don't do it.
Spurlock: Morale was pretty low when we returned to camp, and no one is more dispirited than Robert.
When you see 50 of them and you can't get that close to them, it kind of plays with your mind a little bit.
Yeah.
lt sucks.
l don't want to lay in the dirt anymore.
l'm starving, dude.
l'm like weak.
Certainly not going hunting anymore.
l'm not walking 1 5 miles a day for nothing.
You guys are back.
How did it go? Fantastically terrible.
You guys didn't get anything? Sounds like a good story.
What went down? l thought y'all were gonna get some.
We were close.
They are extremely smart animals.
They're intelligent.
Yeah, and that's why they survived here for tens of thousands of years.
They know when something's up.
They know it.
When the hunting party left, we were all hoping desperately that they were gonna come back with something.
lt's draining, walking all these miles for nothing.
Yeah.
l agree.
And with no gun, it's a whole different ballgame, because instead of it being, you know, a quarter of a mile away, you got to be 50 feet away.
Yeah.
Unfortunately after this hunt, Robert, you could see it in his eyes.
He lost that spark.
He didn't want to be here anymore.
Robert: What's three more days of laying in the dirt starving gonna do for me? l'm just so frustrated and aggravated.
Rather than say something or do something that l would regret, l'd rather just bow out nicely.
This morning broke me.
That was it.
Spurlock: lt's day seven.
We've just returned from an exhausting hunt that got us nothing.
The lack of food has sapped everyone's energy, and we're in danger of losing Robert, one of our more experienced hunters.
Robert: This morning broke me.
That was it.
ls there anything that we can say? lt's not a personal thing.
l love all you guys.
We don't take it personally.
lf you guys want to stay here, then stay.
This morning killed me.
You weren't with us this morning.
lt killed me.
That was the game changer right there.
Nobody wanted him to quit, because he was a hunter, and he was important to the team.
lt's like it's enough, guys.
You enjoy your elk.
l'll go get Del Taco.
l only lasted two days, man.
Based on this experiment, from what l've seen, modern-day man absolutely, 1 00% does not have the hunter, gatherer, killer-instinct personality that man possessed 20,000 years ago.
Want to go get a muskrat with us? [ laughs .]
l wish the world had to go through what l just did.
-- All right, man.
-- Love you.
Because it will change you as a human, and it will make you a better person no doubt, and you will appreciate everything that you have every day of the week, every day of the year.
Spurlock: Robert's departure is a sobering reminder that even the strongest caveman can lose his will to fight.
l've got to get real food into this camp, and my best shot right now is that muskrat.
This time he's mine.
ln a lot of foraging societies, you're seeing smaller game really representing the bulk of their diet.
What is also true about the gathering and the small-game acquisition is they are activities that are less physically intense, requiring lower expenditure of calories to procure those resources.
[ groans .]
[bleep.]
[ sighs .]
God, that was close.
You see him? -- So close.
-- Yeah? He came out of his hole, and l was so impatient, l didn't let him get all the way out, and so l threw the rock right at him, and it skipped off the rock that l put it right above his house to keep him trapped in there.
So he came crawling out, and l just didn't let him inch out like a foot more.
That's what happens when you're hungry.
l plugged up two of his holes though now.
Oh, that's good.
-- So there's only one place where he can go.
-- Oh.
l'm gonna get you, swamp rat.
Just you wait.
Spurlock: When l come back to our camp, the group is trying to make stinging nettles into soup.
lt's all we've got.
Cold soup anyone? lt's such a bummer.
Gene, would you like some? l'm good.
Gene: Going without food for a couple days has left us lethargic.
lt's just a feeling of not having any energy.
l wonder what our caloric intake is a day right now.
We'd be lucky if we hit 1 00 to 200 calories most days.
Real lucky.
But we're probably burning about 3,500 to 4,500 calories a day.
l can hear my stomach growling.
As it growls, l can just like feel it going [ growls .]
But the growls are getting, like, more high-pitched now.
lt's like [ high-pitched growl .]
like it's a smaller stomach.
Spurlock: Right now we need to gather all of our energy for one last shot at an elk.
lf we don't succeed, we'll probably have to quit this experiment entirely, and that would be a disaster.
One of the important things about bringing down a big-game animal is it provide some sustenance for a long period of time for a group like this.
We're just gonna go to that hill where we saw them going up the mountain.
Hamburger Hill, where the elk get decimated tomorrow.
That's exactly right.
So we'll try and stagger ourselves like this along the hill so that anything coming up, we'll be able to get like a clean shot at.
The biggest thing for us now is to continue to be active in this search for food.
We're gonna get a shot tomorrow.
We're gonna get a couple shots.
lt's gonna be up to us to get some big game.
Tomorrow should be a better day.
We're at a point now where food is essential, and if we don't get something this time, l potentially see a full group shutdown.
Spurlock: Four hunters -- Billy, Robb, Manu, and myself -- rise before dawn for what may be our final attempt to bring down big game and our last event to survive this experiment of Stone-Age living.
They were on that ridge.
They were up that hill and on the top.
See that little, flat, green part right there? We strike out early that morning, long before sunrise, and it's dark.
We're out at a good time.
And we're armed with our atlatls and hoping for good luck.
lf they come to the pond, you might have a better shot at it.
l had already started preparing a mind set that we were going to find an elk and we were going to kill.
Spurlock: lt's going to be a long day for us and an even longer day for the four left back at camp.
They can only sit back and hope that we return with something.
l'm totally okay with not having gone hunting.
Yesterday was just a drained day.
Everyone was exhausted, no one slept the night before, and it was a really rough day yesterday.
So l'm hoping today will be better.
lf you didn't like the hike coming up here, you definitely wouldn't like that one.
-- Gene? -- Yeah? What is that? Well, l'm gonna use this tripod as a cooker and a smoker.
We can hang the meat on this.
And l think what we should show the guys who went out is that we have faith that they're gonna come back with some meat, show those guys that we believe in you.
That's awesome.
Really good.
Lora: l think the people are a lot more optimistic today and hopeful.
We would absolutely love it if they brought back some elk.
lt's good to be prepared as opposed to they come home, and we're like, ''What are we gonna do? How are we gonna cook it?'' And it looks really cool, too.
-- Yeah.
lt looks awesome.
-- Good job.
Spurlock: We've been out here for three hours, and l'm worried that this hunt will end just like the others did, in failure.
Robb: This has just got to happen.
Like, there's just not really an alternative to it.
Like, it just must happen.
Up to the top of that ridge.
Give us a better vantage point.
Billy: Up on a pasture, we see a herd of elk, and so we stay low as possible and get to the edge of the brush.
l was thinking, ''Here we go.
We finally were in a good location.
'' Okay.
Let's walk up.
But l was still really skeptical, because the elk are so in-tune with their environment.
Spurlock: This is as close as we've gotten to an elk since the first hunt, and Billy is in perfect position.
Billy, shoot, dude.
Shoot.
[bleep.]
Here's an opportunity to bring home some meat, and l blew it.
Spurlock: Robb is our last chance.
The rest of us are just too far away, and these elk can spook at any moment.
l was getting ready to throw my atlatl dart, and l was waiting for this elk to turn so that l had the flank and the neck all open.
Time just was stopped.
lt felt like the beginning of the world and the end of the world, and everything was all woven together.
You got one, you got one.
That one's hit, that one's hit.
-- We got one.
-- l got it in the neck.
And l could just see it rifle in, hit the elk in the neck.
The tail end of the dart whipped around, and the elk's head whipped around.
l knew that it was a kill shot.
Nice shot, brother.
Great job.
Spurlock: The herd scatters, and we approach the wounded elk.
Billy: This was it.
My heart was pounding.
The only thing l was focused on was getting up to that elk as quickly as possible and making sure that it didn't get back up.
When l saw that elk go down, it puts ''food'' in a completely different context.
This is something we've done and our ancestors have done for hundreds of thousands of years.
But that doesn't mean that we're emotionally detached from it either.
Perfect shot.
Manu put one really good shot into the lung, and you could hear it out gas immediately.
[ sobs .]
Billy: Manu was very emotional, and l became very emotional.
lt's a very big responsibility to do something like that, to take an animal's life.
[ sobs .]
Manu : We have waited for this opportunity for a long time.
And even though l'm a hunter, seeing an animal die like that, right in front of you is -- it's a really emotional thing.
Thank you for giving up your life and thank you, God.
Billy: l know that having done that and having seen that has changed me.
Spurlock: We've killed an elk, and all of us are shocked by the emotional impact.
-- ls he still breathing? -- No.
We have to set our feelings aside and get to the task at hand -- a race to field-dress the elk and get the meat back to camp so we can finally eat.
We've got food, and that makes a huge difference now, y'all.
A huge difference.
l think this arrow should belong to you.
We're gonna have to quarter him right here.
Well, we got to start doing something now before -- Yeah.
Well, l'm gonna go get the tools so we can start cleaning.
We're fighting the clock because a big animal like this holds a lot of heat and can spoil very quickly, so we're rushing as fast as we can to get this thing butchered so that we can get it back to camp.
Spurlock: To butcher the elk, we have to slice it open and remove all the organs.
lt's a bloody, labor-intensive process.
lt's important not to cut the stomach, bladder, or intestines because doing so could taint the meat and render it inedible.
Once it's gutted, we'll quarter it and then carry the meat back to camp.
Hell, yeah, look at that.
Billy: The stone tools worked surprisingly well.
They are razor sharp.
And l was able to open that elk just as quickly as if l'd had a razor blade in my hand.
This thing has got a mammoth-sized liver.
-- That's the liver right there.
-- Yeah, freaking huge.
We're gonna quarter it, and then when we get back to camp, we actually have a creek that is fed by a snow melt, so it's barely above freezing, and so we're gonna cache a bunch of the meat in that snow melt, and that would last for weeks, possibly months.
lf l can get in there Let me pull the ribs out a little bit.
We're so much on a time limit, so we have to work fast.
lt's a huge, huge piece of meat, so we're gonna go back stacked with meat for tonight and tomorrow and the next day and the next day.
-- Nice job, Billy.
-- Yeah.
Nice job, y'all, for getting the elk.
l think the fact that this group took an elk with an atlatl is just mind-blowing.
l can't imagine how their reaction's gonna be when we walk in with an elk.
l think it may be one of the largest animals taken with an atlatl in modern times and certainly with paleolithic stone points.
And the fact that this group could be out here for one week and actually bring down a creature as big and magnificent as an elk is really a tribute to this group's abilities.
Spurlock: At camp, the mood is cautiously optimistic.
After all, no news can be good news.
What are you guys praying for right now? 'Cause l'm putting it on tree.
l'm praying for sunshine, fish, and elk.
The hunting group had been gone for a long time, so we started to feel a little bit optimistic.
Trying to think if there's anything else we need.
They know how desperate it is.
We don't think that they're gonna come back without any food.
l think if we remain positive about it, it will happen.
Look at that.
lt's one of the spear points.
So it went all the way through.
Looked like it, yeah.
Spurlock: The fact that we were able to kill an elk with atlatls, using stone tools to cut it apart, l think we've really kind of proven that you can do it.
lt's not easy, you know.
This hasn't been easy from the beginning, but l think we're at the point now where we've literately become a real kind of tribe.
Right there.
Caveman high five.
We did it, y'all.
l think we are now officially modern-day cavemen.
The fact that we got that with an atlatl l'm still kind of blown away by.
Oh, yeah.
All l got to say is, Robert, you left a little too soon.
You got it? Nice.
-- Look at that.
-- You're there.
Yeah, stone-tool technology.
-- Nice job, Billy.
-- Nice, Billy.
Billy: l was running on pure exhilaration after that, having been able to take down this animal with a weapon of such ancient lineage -- Let's do it.
-- Let's go, guys.
Great work.
and then being able to take the meat back to camp to feed everybody.
l couldn't wait to see the expressions on their faces.
When we roll back into camp with this animal, people are gonna be ecstatic.
Holy -- are you guys carrying something? -- Oh! -- Oh! So, uh, is anybody hungry? Finally, we got a caveman kill.
No squirrel, no fish.
This is real deal.
l feel great.
l feel a sense of relief.
Congratulations, guys.
We knew it, we knew it, we knew it.
We have food for the rest of tour time here.
Good, good.
Like, we don't have to worry about food.
-- That's awesome.
-- Yeah.
Spurlock: Not everyone shares our euphoria.
The killing of an animal touches some very strong nerves.
The hunting group came back with the elk, and l almost bumped into Billy, and he was carrying one of the legs.
And so l was just like, ''Whoa.
'' These are the loins, the heart.
l saw, like, the heart, and l could hear them say, ''This is the heart, this is the guts, this is the liver,'' and l was just like lnteresting.
l'm not gonna eat any of it 'cause that was pretty intense for me.
Like, l almost threw up.
And you guys gutted it there? l know that was one of the elks that l seen alive the day before, and l was not happy with that.
Oh, my God.
Lora: And we kept praying, ''Please let them catch an elk.
'' And then they do.
And then you're like, ''Oh.
We killed an animal.
'' But thank God.
We're really, really hungry.
-- Are you feeling okay? -- Mm-hmm.
Janeshia: l don't eat red meat, and l was not gonna eat that elk.
The fact that they were like, ''Oh, we need meat to survive,'' was B.
S.
l'm not eating meat.
l'm surviving.
Kuipers: Well, when the group brought back the big game, Janeshia decided she wasn't going to eat it.
ln a survival situation, it's very difficult to meet your protein needs just with plant material.
And so, in the long term, if she was going to be out here and be a vegetarian, l would expect that she'd lose lots of weight and that she'd get anemic pretty quickly and that she'd lose her energy to be a part of the experiment.
We got an elk up there that we're gonna eat on, and then we'll deal with this later.
Amy: Okay.
These are the ones that go in the water? These are going in the water.
Just find a spot where it looks deep enough to hold it.
Just needs to be deep enough so it's fully submerged so that no predators can smell it.
Way to tote that thing, man.
That thing's got to be between 1 00 and 1 50 pounds.
Yeah, it's heavy.
So that water is like 33, 34 degrees, so we got some solid refrigeration right there.
When you're deciding which game to target, big game can be very attractive because they come in huge package sizes.
You bring down an elk, you have 200 or 300 pounds of meat, which can feed a large group of people for quite some time.
We did it, man.
Good job, man.
Good job.
Good job, everybody.
After successfully killing large game, it's often a very festive time.
lt's a big event.
lt doesn't happen that often, and when it does, people are in a good mood.
Spurlock: At last, it was time to feast, and meat has never tasted so good.
Oh, man, y'all.
l can't tell you how long l've waited for this.
For some meat.
Mm-hmm.
-- Does that taste good? -- Mm-hmm.
Gene: Many hunts came and we came back with nothing.
lmagine the best prime rib you've had.
Now to have a bounty, it's excellent.
Delicious.
Pretty solid, huh? Mm-hmm.
When we first got the elk, l was kind of standing there, and l thinking that, when l'm dying, when l'm on my death bed, l'll look back, and that event will probably be one of the, um Critical moments of my life.
And it, uh l don't know.
lt was just all the emotionality that we can -- lt was like, we just took this animal's life, and at some point, it's gonna be my turn, too.
l think it just focuses your experience.
But we had to eat.
lt had to be done.
Spurlock: After a successful hunt yesterday, we awake, secure in the knowledge that we have enough food to last us the rest of the experiment.
lt's a great feeling.
We now have time to reflect on what we've been through and what the experience meant to each of us.
l bet you any money, when we get back home, we are going to be able to smell things like way more intense.
l don't think it'll just be the smells.
l think it'll be the sights.
l think it'll be the noise.
-- l think it'll be everything.
-- Yeah.
The touch of your head on the pillow.
Oh, that's gonna be spectacular.
The next few days, as we finish this experiment out are gonna just be much easier on everybody.
We've got food.
We have shelters.
We know that's taken care of.
So now is the time to kind of take it easy.
l'm also excited about the fact that l can go out and see all these plants.
You'd be like, ''Oh, l can eat that.
'' lt's been a rough trip so far, and look at me.
Look at this face.
This is a rough-looking face right now.
And l think after a trip like this, you deserve to have something to smile about.
Spurlock: For cavemen, the big kill meant a time of feasting and celebration.
But it also gave them time to explore some other things that make us human, like art and storytelling.
Are you telling the story of the hunt? Trying to.
l'm not really that great of an artist.
That's cool, man.
The killing of big animals is an important event because it's such a huge boon.
And in paleolithic times, in the artwork that we find, big animals are a very, very regular theme.
And it's clear that they were a very significant and meaningful part of people's lives in much more than an economic way.
We were here.
We've all bonded and became one close family, so now we're just enjoying each other's company and thinking of fun stuff we want to do.
Spurlock: l'd like to just kick back and enjoy the fresh mountain air some more, but l have some unfinished business.
Throughout this whole thing, l've had a little personal vendetta with a little swamp rat lives right over there.
So before l leave, l just have to take care of something.
Or maybe not.
Till next time, muskrat.
Being here has taught me a kind of respect.
Killing an animal is a serious act.
lf you don't need it to survive, well, maybe think twice before killing it at all.
With the experiment almost over, it's time for our experts to weigh in on just how well we did, or didn't do, at living the caveman life.
When you walk into their campsite, l think it feels very authentic.
Authentic.
Or when you see them out foraging, it feels like, there you are -- 20,000 years ago.
Hell, yeah! A way of life that we haven't seen in a very, very long time on this planet.
Frog legs for dinner, boys.
Spurlock: The experts gave us credit for adapting to our unfamiliar environment, but we didn't rate too well on some of the basic caveman survival skills.
Probably need some water, kiddo.
My head is pounding.
Throughout the course of the experiment, we saw them get to a point that they were all very, very low-energy and Tired, man.
Really tired.
They really didn't do justice to how expert hunter-gatherers are and paleolithic people were at living this life, right? l mean, they were essentially starving.
Spurlock: But we didn't starve.
ln fact, in my view, we triumphed, and we did so by persevering and pulling together.
Overall, l thought they did very well.
lt gives me a lot of optimism that modern human beings can go back 20,000 years ago and be pretty successful.
Right there.
Caveman high five.
We did it, y'all.
This experiment was probably as hard as l anticipated.
l mean, it was miserable.
lt absolutely took me to my limits.
We've been here, we've been there.
We haven't killed [bleep.]
This situation was crazy.
l wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
lt was the realest thing l've ever done in my life.
ln this primitive world, you are working hard just for survival.
lt's a very difficult life.
The modern world, everything's just kind of like handed to you.
And l think this experience makes me respect things a lot more.
The paleolithic people who lived this way, l am in awe of the hardships they were able to endure and still were able to pass on from one generation to the next.
We are living proof that paleolithic people were hearty, tough survivors.
And l think we all owe them a debt of gratitude, because without them, we wouldn't be here today.
l live in a different century.
l'm not a [bleep.]
cavewoman.
Modern people are really disconnected from their ancestors.
This is a way of life that all of our ancestors lived.
We only have to go back about 7 00 generations, and everybody on the planet was a hunter-gatherer.
What is it? We see that when we put modern people in this situation, they realize that, though it's technologically simple, it's by no means stupid, and it's a highly skilled way of life that doesn't come easily.
All right, guys.
Let's be very proud that we all made it.
We're survivors.
We did it, y'all.
l'm just shocked that we actually did it.
As soon as you guys are ready.
-- Let's go.
-- Here we go.
Spurlock: Today, we live in a world with so many distractions.
We're all so busy.
We have so much going on.
We don't even take time to actually spend time looking at one another, talking to each other, and that's what this whole experience has been about is about us connecting as human beings, about being with one another, talking to one another.
And, you know, while you may have all of these things to make your life easier, that doesn't mean you have all the things to make your life happier.
And l think that the biggest thing that l have learned out of this whole experience is the value of your tribe and that community and that family, and that's what l'm taking home with me.
And l want to really make sure l place a real value on the people who mean the most to me, and l think that's something we should all do.
on a journey back 20,000 years What is it? to find out if modern humans have what it takes to live like cavemen.
lt's literally the toughest day l've ever had in my life.
A team of expert watches our every move, assessing our efforts lt's a difficult making fire.
and tracking the effects of this primitive lifestyle on our minds and bodies.
They were essentially starving.
l can't do this.
l can't starve myself like this.
[ gagging .]
My body cannot handle cold weather.
Why wouldn't you go by the fire? Finding food has been a struggle.
Rat.
Where did you get him at? We're gonna take these primitive weapons, and we're gonna go hunt down some elk.
We're gonna try and keep bushes in between her and us all the way up so she doesn't see us.
We were going to find an elk, and we were going to kill.
Be ready.
l can't believe that.
Hunger can break you down.
We're halfway through the experiment.
Can we make it to the end? We're about to find out.
This morning killed me.
That was the game changer right there.
[bleep.]
l got one.
l got one.
That one's hit.
That one's hit.
-- l got one.
-- l got it in the neck.
We rushed as fast as we can to get this thing butchered so we can get it back to camp.
Careful walking, guys.
Spurlock: lt's day six of our experiment, and we're in the midst of something that cavemen did all the time -- moving camp to be closer to a better food source.
Ugh.
Amy: l'm a little concerned about the move because, like, physically, my energy feels really depleted right now.
You guys all right? Unlike other animals, humans have a lot of extra costs associated with moving.
They have to take clothing, bedding, tools and weapons.
So moving camp is hardly a cost-free endeavor.
All this gear.
lt's hard.
lt's hard work.
l was a little bit hesitant.
lt was gonna be another large energy expenditure.
Moving the camp could break some people.
We're about half way there.
Half way? Spurlock: When we arrive, our first concern will be building shelter and making fire.
But Billy's already one step ahead.
So, what l did was found some rotten aspen bark where the inner fibers were shredded really fine and tied it together with pieces of willow bark, and it just smolders until you get to your location.
And then there you've got guaranteed fire.
l think Billy's idea of transporting the fire is ingenious.
They won't have to expend the energy to make a new fire, which can be unpredictable in this environment.
Drop it here.
This is it.
You're kidding.
Hey, Robb, keep an eye on this.
lf it flames up, jam it in the ground.
We don't want this thing to torch up, or it will burn it all up.
Spurlock: Thanks to Billy, we have no trouble getting the fire started at camp.
Good job, bro.
Good job, bro.
Even from here, we can hear elk calls.
So l think we're a lot closer to some bigger game.
My spear is gonna be in one of those river rats over there, in a matter of hours.
But first we're gonna build shelters, and then l'm gonna get dinner.
Those are the two priorities.
Break some of these branches off.
We could use them for bedding.
We could put one of them right here.
What do you think, Billy? Put them right here on these trees.
Yeah, l like this.
lt's cushy.
lt's real soft.
-- l can feel it.
-- Yeah.
Be nice to put down and soften where we sleep.
Spurlock: We're constructing two ridge pole shelters.
We wedge the ends of the ridge pole between a branch and a tree trunk on each side.
The sides of the triangular shelter are formed by securing sticks against the ridge pole.
We'll weave twigs, leaves, and other debris between the sticks to finish the job, and hopefully the result will be an insulated, almost waterproof shelter.
And we should start to build, like, now.
'Cause the build's gonna take a while.
l agree.
l'm ready to get to work.
Everybody else can sit around if they want.
Spurlock: There's a saying in corporate America that 20% of the people in a typical office do 80% of the work.
Maybe we should cut that one off, too.
ln our case, it's more like 50% of the people doing all work.
Robert: Once again, the same five of us will build the shelter, get the food, go hunting, support the rest of the group, and Amy: Man, l can't even feel my stomach anymore.
lt's, like, gone.
ln traditional hunting gathering societies, what we see are some very well developed rules trying to minimize the impact of people who are not bringing in resources to the group.
Spurlock: But we have no rules.
And without them, we're finding it difficult to deal with those who aren't pulling their weight.
These people are [bleep.]
psychos.
We don't have food.
We don't have shelter.
We got to work, work, and bust balls the to get through this.
We got roots for lashing, y'all.
Nice.
So you would think everybody would want to contribute.
But, l mean, we already got nappers all over the hill and people not wanting to work.
l mean, this isn't a joke.
lf l was Supreme Ruler, they wouldn't be eating.
-- Looks pretty good, bro.
-- Looks excellent.
Look at that.
Wasn't even a Boy Scout.
You guys should fill this whole thing in with fur.
Manu : The shelter is badass.
Great job, guys.
A lot of work, man.
A lot of work on like no food.
We'll still cover the bottom with fur.
Still level it out inside a little more.
My whole goal, we're gonna get this done.
Once this is done, we're gonna go kill a muskrat.
Muskrat love tonight for this guy.
This is awesome.
All right, l'm going to get more.
We spent so much energy building our shelter that everyone was just spent and exhausted and wasn't sure what was gonna happen or where we were gonna get our next meal.
lt's looking real good.
lt's looking really good.
Spurlock: We've got shelter and fire.
But we still need real food.
l've had my fill of stinging nettles and dandelions.
l want meat, l've got a score to settle with a certain fast-swimming rodent.
Robert: Morgan took this vendetta against this muskrat very personally.
Like, he will not leave the experiment until he brains that animal.
l go out there, and after 20 minutes, l have to leave 'cause l can't take it anymore.
He doesn't care.
He's that focused on getting that rat.
l bet money he won't get it.
They're too smart.
They come out and they show themselves, and then they disappear.
He gets all frustrated.
l cheer him on, man.
l think it's great that he can sit there and get eaten by mosquitos for a rat that's smarter than both of us.
Spurlock: Robert doesn't stick around long.
He doesn't share my obsession.
l'm starting to feel a little like Captain Ahab chasing Moby Dick.
Didn't get him.
Again.
See, that time, if Robert would have stuck around, we'd have had him.
This is a two-man job.
l'm gonna get it.
Spurlock: The toughest part of this experiment is the constant lack of food.
And it's been hardest on Amy, the smallest member of the group.
Hey, can you gals grab some firewood when you're feeling perky? Yeah.
Ah.
Oh.
l think l'm blacking out.
Right now l'm really digging so deep inside to stay strong.
l feel my ribs are gonna collapse 'cause there's nothing to hold them up anymore.
You know, l'm praying a lot.
And, you know, l'm really at a place where l have to, like, find that inner strength in order to stay here.
Thanks, guys.
You're welcome.
We're building these second camps.
That was fatiguing.
lt was hot.
And then Amy was largely checked out.
My heart is, like, racing.
l need to sit down.
Too much energy.
Robb: You didn't take advantage of the easy food when we had easy food.
You didn't take advantage of easy water.
So now we're seeing the manifestation several days later of you not recognizing what a serious situation we're in.
l don't know how much longer l can take this.
l don't have the energy to deal with her.
l mean, l think she ought to just go home.
All she does is lay there all day anyway and complain and cry.
[ sighs .]
What did you think when you came on, like, what did you l thought there would be [bleep.]
food on the land, dude.
There's no food here.
My body is not up for this [bleep.]
l live in a different century.
l'm not a [bleep.]
cavewoman.
l'm so tired of this whole thing.
Why can't they just [bleep.]
sneak me a cracker? Amy is spazzing out.
l think she's reached her limit, to be honest, mentally, physically, nutritionally.
l don't think she can handle it anymore.
She's out of here now, huh? She's spazzing out.
That's it.
She'll be gone today.
My poor Amy.
That's my girl.
Where did she go? [ crying .]
Manu : Her heart isn't in it, and it's very obvious.
And, you know, l know she's tiny and everything like that, but she's bailed out.
She bailed out in day two.
Right now we've moved, and there's no meal.
There's no guarantees of anything right now.
Just, like, things aren't normal with my body.
My heart's racing and l have, like, nausea.
You know, l'm just shocking my system now.
We don't have the knowledge or skills to even, like, catch the game or, you know, anything that's out here right now.
[ sobbing .]
No food.
l just didn't know l was gonna come out here and starve to death.
Janeshia: She's withering away.
We're all suffering, but she is not able to mentally and physically withstand the rest of this experiment.
l need meat.
l need food.
[ crying .]
Spurlock: Amy's in bad shape.
l'm, like, blacking out when l stand up.
So Dr.
Lipman comes by to check her out.
lf we don't have food for another 24 hours, l can't do this.
l can't starve myself like this.
When young, healthy people tell me they're going to pass out, l usually become pretty concerned.
l think l got to go.
l really think l got to get out of here.
l hear Amy crying and kind of freaking out.
And it was a bad situation.
l think everyone was feeling really deflated.
My body is not designed for this [bleep.]
Okay.
Lora: You know, she predicted this.
She said l don't think l can move.
l don't want you to have to suffer through this if you feel you can't.
lt's absolutely your decision.
Spurlock: This experiment is suggesting that some modern people, at least, would find caveman life too hard to endure.
Amy: Today l definitely hit a huge wall.
And l just think that at this point, it's the best decision for me to leave.
And this has been a crazy experience.
lt just Crazy.
lt's more than freakin' crazy.
[ laughter .]
Her decision of leaving was probably a good choice.
Mentally she's not strong enough to get through this.
l hope you guys kick butt, and l know you'll be fine.
Robert: The mistakes Amy made along the way were very big.
She refused to eat.
She just couldn't hack it.
l'm sorry.
[ laughs .]
l definitely underestimated this experiment.
l would never do anything like this ever again.
l will keep you guys in my thoughts and prayers.
-- Okay.
-- All right, bye, guys.
-- Take care.
-- Bye.
Going back into modern civilization, l'm taking with me a whole new appreciation.
Daily necessities that l may have taken for granted, l will never take for granted again.
Bye, Amy! But, when Amy decided she was gonna leave the experiment, honestly, l was concerned.
Because that's opening the door for other people to back out.
We're gonna do great tomorrow, okay? Amy is a strong person.
Anyone that made it through the first day of this is mentally strong.
l think that she was not mentally prepared for this experiment.
Tomorrow is our day.
We're gonna take it down.
lt's gonna be great, all right? -- Yeah.
-- All right.
The group morale is really critical when you're out in Stone Age living situations, traveling as a band.
One person being out of the group in terms of morale can really affect the psychology of the entire group and make it spiral downhill.
Spurlock: Amy's gone.
For the rest of us, the experiment continues.
l'm hopeful that her departure will bring the rest of us closer together.
We have nothing to be ashamed of.
We have nothing to feel bad about.
lt sucks that Amy left, but everybody else did a really good job.
l think it's gonna become much more cohesive now as a result of this.
So we'll see tomorrow.
lt's gonna be a hard day, but l think it's gonna be a very beneficial day.
So time to go to bed.
Good night.
Spurlock: Day seven.
lt's 2 miles to the hunting ground, another exhausting hike for the group.
The group is at the breaking point now.
Everybody is starving, so we put a six-person hunting party together.
On this hunt, we're taking our atlatls.
We're taking hand spears.
We're pretty much taking our whole arsenal.
Manu : We are exhausted.
We are hungry.
This has to happen.
We're gonna take these primitive weapons, and we're gonna go hunt down some elk.
l'm skeptical that it could be done.
A lucky hit, yes.
But it's gonna be pretty primordial to take down an elk with these tools.
Split up.
[ whispering indistinctly .]
Our backs are against the wall.
We really wanted to bring an elk back to the camp and lift up their spirits and, you know, get us more in a positive zone.
Spurlock: Those left back at camp can only hope the hunters deliver.
Robb: This is day seven, and it's literally the toughest day l've ever had in my life.
l have absolutely no energy.
l'm looking at three more days of this if we don't find any food.
Lora: l think hunger is everything.
Having sleep is really important.
And having good water is important.
But if you don't have any nourishment, then nobody's gonna have any energy to do anything.
There's an absolute desperation in camp that they need to be successful, or we're not gonna make it.
Spurlock: We've moved camp to get closer to the big game, but that doesn't mean the elk have to play ball.
Spread out.
[ indistinct whispering .]
Robert: We stumbled across that herd.
There were 1 50 elk there.
l haven't eaten in four days.
Now it's like l'm ready to kill something.
We saw the elk, so we were just like, ''Oh my gosh.
There's elk there.
'' We had to travel down into a valley.
We persisted through all the brush.
l was very focused on being stealth-like.
Gen : We're going after big elk.
l want to bang it over the head and bring it home and eat.
That's a caveman reaction to his environment.
They were already spooked, and they were already giving a warning.
[ elk barks .]
They did this, ''waa, waa'' noise.
lt's like a bark almost, and it's a warning to all the rest of the elk, ''Hey, these guys are here, and they mean business.
'' Spurlock: That signal was all the herd needed.
Just like that, our opportunity was gone.
l'm definitely disappointed that had we haven't caught the elk.
What more can go wrong at this point? We're done hunting here today.
Given how desperate we are for food, this is a pretty major blow.
Robert: l'm tired of laying around in the dirt.
l haven't showered in eight days.
l haven't eaten, and l've had four fish in seven days.
Why starve? Robert is devastated.
He is irate.
l thought he was gonna pass out, like choke somebody.
Robert: There's no reason to suffer.
lt's just stupid.
l don't really give a [bleep.]
l'd rather go lay in my bed and [bleep.]
my girlfriend and eat cheeseburgers.
You know what l mean? Kind of over it.
Spurlock: The hunt was a failure again, and we head back to camp, where Billy and Robb have been setting up traps for small game.
But that's not any easier.
Billy: We got to find a flat spot to set this.
lt's not a simple task, and it's even harder on an empty stomach.
Definitely lots of burrows around here.
Robb: We haven't had food in several days.
We had some fish two, maybe three days ago.
We've set a couple of traps, but every single trap takes about an hour to set up.
Drop it down.
Let's see how -- -- Yeah.
That looks good.
-- Okay.
l just don't know if l can go on, but l just really, really, really don't want to give up.
[ sighs .]
How you doing? Tired, man.
l'm really tired.
Setting up traps was not as effective as we hoped it would have been.
Okay.
All right.
lt's set.
Hunger can break you down.
Having protein in any form is essential in a survival situation like this.
Plants just don't do it.
Spurlock: Morale was pretty low when we returned to camp, and no one is more dispirited than Robert.
When you see 50 of them and you can't get that close to them, it kind of plays with your mind a little bit.
Yeah.
lt sucks.
l don't want to lay in the dirt anymore.
l'm starving, dude.
l'm like weak.
Certainly not going hunting anymore.
l'm not walking 1 5 miles a day for nothing.
You guys are back.
How did it go? Fantastically terrible.
You guys didn't get anything? Sounds like a good story.
What went down? l thought y'all were gonna get some.
We were close.
They are extremely smart animals.
They're intelligent.
Yeah, and that's why they survived here for tens of thousands of years.
They know when something's up.
They know it.
When the hunting party left, we were all hoping desperately that they were gonna come back with something.
lt's draining, walking all these miles for nothing.
Yeah.
l agree.
And with no gun, it's a whole different ballgame, because instead of it being, you know, a quarter of a mile away, you got to be 50 feet away.
Yeah.
Unfortunately after this hunt, Robert, you could see it in his eyes.
He lost that spark.
He didn't want to be here anymore.
Robert: What's three more days of laying in the dirt starving gonna do for me? l'm just so frustrated and aggravated.
Rather than say something or do something that l would regret, l'd rather just bow out nicely.
This morning broke me.
That was it.
Spurlock: lt's day seven.
We've just returned from an exhausting hunt that got us nothing.
The lack of food has sapped everyone's energy, and we're in danger of losing Robert, one of our more experienced hunters.
Robert: This morning broke me.
That was it.
ls there anything that we can say? lt's not a personal thing.
l love all you guys.
We don't take it personally.
lf you guys want to stay here, then stay.
This morning killed me.
You weren't with us this morning.
lt killed me.
That was the game changer right there.
Nobody wanted him to quit, because he was a hunter, and he was important to the team.
lt's like it's enough, guys.
You enjoy your elk.
l'll go get Del Taco.
l only lasted two days, man.
Based on this experiment, from what l've seen, modern-day man absolutely, 1 00% does not have the hunter, gatherer, killer-instinct personality that man possessed 20,000 years ago.
Want to go get a muskrat with us? [ laughs .]
l wish the world had to go through what l just did.
-- All right, man.
-- Love you.
Because it will change you as a human, and it will make you a better person no doubt, and you will appreciate everything that you have every day of the week, every day of the year.
Spurlock: Robert's departure is a sobering reminder that even the strongest caveman can lose his will to fight.
l've got to get real food into this camp, and my best shot right now is that muskrat.
This time he's mine.
ln a lot of foraging societies, you're seeing smaller game really representing the bulk of their diet.
What is also true about the gathering and the small-game acquisition is they are activities that are less physically intense, requiring lower expenditure of calories to procure those resources.
[ groans .]
[bleep.]
[ sighs .]
God, that was close.
You see him? -- So close.
-- Yeah? He came out of his hole, and l was so impatient, l didn't let him get all the way out, and so l threw the rock right at him, and it skipped off the rock that l put it right above his house to keep him trapped in there.
So he came crawling out, and l just didn't let him inch out like a foot more.
That's what happens when you're hungry.
l plugged up two of his holes though now.
Oh, that's good.
-- So there's only one place where he can go.
-- Oh.
l'm gonna get you, swamp rat.
Just you wait.
Spurlock: When l come back to our camp, the group is trying to make stinging nettles into soup.
lt's all we've got.
Cold soup anyone? lt's such a bummer.
Gene, would you like some? l'm good.
Gene: Going without food for a couple days has left us lethargic.
lt's just a feeling of not having any energy.
l wonder what our caloric intake is a day right now.
We'd be lucky if we hit 1 00 to 200 calories most days.
Real lucky.
But we're probably burning about 3,500 to 4,500 calories a day.
l can hear my stomach growling.
As it growls, l can just like feel it going [ growls .]
But the growls are getting, like, more high-pitched now.
lt's like [ high-pitched growl .]
like it's a smaller stomach.
Spurlock: Right now we need to gather all of our energy for one last shot at an elk.
lf we don't succeed, we'll probably have to quit this experiment entirely, and that would be a disaster.
One of the important things about bringing down a big-game animal is it provide some sustenance for a long period of time for a group like this.
We're just gonna go to that hill where we saw them going up the mountain.
Hamburger Hill, where the elk get decimated tomorrow.
That's exactly right.
So we'll try and stagger ourselves like this along the hill so that anything coming up, we'll be able to get like a clean shot at.
The biggest thing for us now is to continue to be active in this search for food.
We're gonna get a shot tomorrow.
We're gonna get a couple shots.
lt's gonna be up to us to get some big game.
Tomorrow should be a better day.
We're at a point now where food is essential, and if we don't get something this time, l potentially see a full group shutdown.
Spurlock: Four hunters -- Billy, Robb, Manu, and myself -- rise before dawn for what may be our final attempt to bring down big game and our last event to survive this experiment of Stone-Age living.
They were on that ridge.
They were up that hill and on the top.
See that little, flat, green part right there? We strike out early that morning, long before sunrise, and it's dark.
We're out at a good time.
And we're armed with our atlatls and hoping for good luck.
lf they come to the pond, you might have a better shot at it.
l had already started preparing a mind set that we were going to find an elk and we were going to kill.
Spurlock: lt's going to be a long day for us and an even longer day for the four left back at camp.
They can only sit back and hope that we return with something.
l'm totally okay with not having gone hunting.
Yesterday was just a drained day.
Everyone was exhausted, no one slept the night before, and it was a really rough day yesterday.
So l'm hoping today will be better.
lf you didn't like the hike coming up here, you definitely wouldn't like that one.
-- Gene? -- Yeah? What is that? Well, l'm gonna use this tripod as a cooker and a smoker.
We can hang the meat on this.
And l think what we should show the guys who went out is that we have faith that they're gonna come back with some meat, show those guys that we believe in you.
That's awesome.
Really good.
Lora: l think the people are a lot more optimistic today and hopeful.
We would absolutely love it if they brought back some elk.
lt's good to be prepared as opposed to they come home, and we're like, ''What are we gonna do? How are we gonna cook it?'' And it looks really cool, too.
-- Yeah.
lt looks awesome.
-- Good job.
Spurlock: We've been out here for three hours, and l'm worried that this hunt will end just like the others did, in failure.
Robb: This has just got to happen.
Like, there's just not really an alternative to it.
Like, it just must happen.
Up to the top of that ridge.
Give us a better vantage point.
Billy: Up on a pasture, we see a herd of elk, and so we stay low as possible and get to the edge of the brush.
l was thinking, ''Here we go.
We finally were in a good location.
'' Okay.
Let's walk up.
But l was still really skeptical, because the elk are so in-tune with their environment.
Spurlock: This is as close as we've gotten to an elk since the first hunt, and Billy is in perfect position.
Billy, shoot, dude.
Shoot.
[bleep.]
Here's an opportunity to bring home some meat, and l blew it.
Spurlock: Robb is our last chance.
The rest of us are just too far away, and these elk can spook at any moment.
l was getting ready to throw my atlatl dart, and l was waiting for this elk to turn so that l had the flank and the neck all open.
Time just was stopped.
lt felt like the beginning of the world and the end of the world, and everything was all woven together.
You got one, you got one.
That one's hit, that one's hit.
-- We got one.
-- l got it in the neck.
And l could just see it rifle in, hit the elk in the neck.
The tail end of the dart whipped around, and the elk's head whipped around.
l knew that it was a kill shot.
Nice shot, brother.
Great job.
Spurlock: The herd scatters, and we approach the wounded elk.
Billy: This was it.
My heart was pounding.
The only thing l was focused on was getting up to that elk as quickly as possible and making sure that it didn't get back up.
When l saw that elk go down, it puts ''food'' in a completely different context.
This is something we've done and our ancestors have done for hundreds of thousands of years.
But that doesn't mean that we're emotionally detached from it either.
Perfect shot.
Manu put one really good shot into the lung, and you could hear it out gas immediately.
[ sobs .]
Billy: Manu was very emotional, and l became very emotional.
lt's a very big responsibility to do something like that, to take an animal's life.
[ sobs .]
Manu : We have waited for this opportunity for a long time.
And even though l'm a hunter, seeing an animal die like that, right in front of you is -- it's a really emotional thing.
Thank you for giving up your life and thank you, God.
Billy: l know that having done that and having seen that has changed me.
Spurlock: We've killed an elk, and all of us are shocked by the emotional impact.
-- ls he still breathing? -- No.
We have to set our feelings aside and get to the task at hand -- a race to field-dress the elk and get the meat back to camp so we can finally eat.
We've got food, and that makes a huge difference now, y'all.
A huge difference.
l think this arrow should belong to you.
We're gonna have to quarter him right here.
Well, we got to start doing something now before -- Yeah.
Well, l'm gonna go get the tools so we can start cleaning.
We're fighting the clock because a big animal like this holds a lot of heat and can spoil very quickly, so we're rushing as fast as we can to get this thing butchered so that we can get it back to camp.
Spurlock: To butcher the elk, we have to slice it open and remove all the organs.
lt's a bloody, labor-intensive process.
lt's important not to cut the stomach, bladder, or intestines because doing so could taint the meat and render it inedible.
Once it's gutted, we'll quarter it and then carry the meat back to camp.
Hell, yeah, look at that.
Billy: The stone tools worked surprisingly well.
They are razor sharp.
And l was able to open that elk just as quickly as if l'd had a razor blade in my hand.
This thing has got a mammoth-sized liver.
-- That's the liver right there.
-- Yeah, freaking huge.
We're gonna quarter it, and then when we get back to camp, we actually have a creek that is fed by a snow melt, so it's barely above freezing, and so we're gonna cache a bunch of the meat in that snow melt, and that would last for weeks, possibly months.
lf l can get in there Let me pull the ribs out a little bit.
We're so much on a time limit, so we have to work fast.
lt's a huge, huge piece of meat, so we're gonna go back stacked with meat for tonight and tomorrow and the next day and the next day.
-- Nice job, Billy.
-- Yeah.
Nice job, y'all, for getting the elk.
l think the fact that this group took an elk with an atlatl is just mind-blowing.
l can't imagine how their reaction's gonna be when we walk in with an elk.
l think it may be one of the largest animals taken with an atlatl in modern times and certainly with paleolithic stone points.
And the fact that this group could be out here for one week and actually bring down a creature as big and magnificent as an elk is really a tribute to this group's abilities.
Spurlock: At camp, the mood is cautiously optimistic.
After all, no news can be good news.
What are you guys praying for right now? 'Cause l'm putting it on tree.
l'm praying for sunshine, fish, and elk.
The hunting group had been gone for a long time, so we started to feel a little bit optimistic.
Trying to think if there's anything else we need.
They know how desperate it is.
We don't think that they're gonna come back without any food.
l think if we remain positive about it, it will happen.
Look at that.
lt's one of the spear points.
So it went all the way through.
Looked like it, yeah.
Spurlock: The fact that we were able to kill an elk with atlatls, using stone tools to cut it apart, l think we've really kind of proven that you can do it.
lt's not easy, you know.
This hasn't been easy from the beginning, but l think we're at the point now where we've literately become a real kind of tribe.
Right there.
Caveman high five.
We did it, y'all.
l think we are now officially modern-day cavemen.
The fact that we got that with an atlatl l'm still kind of blown away by.
Oh, yeah.
All l got to say is, Robert, you left a little too soon.
You got it? Nice.
-- Look at that.
-- You're there.
Yeah, stone-tool technology.
-- Nice job, Billy.
-- Nice, Billy.
Billy: l was running on pure exhilaration after that, having been able to take down this animal with a weapon of such ancient lineage -- Let's do it.
-- Let's go, guys.
Great work.
and then being able to take the meat back to camp to feed everybody.
l couldn't wait to see the expressions on their faces.
When we roll back into camp with this animal, people are gonna be ecstatic.
Holy -- are you guys carrying something? -- Oh! -- Oh! So, uh, is anybody hungry? Finally, we got a caveman kill.
No squirrel, no fish.
This is real deal.
l feel great.
l feel a sense of relief.
Congratulations, guys.
We knew it, we knew it, we knew it.
We have food for the rest of tour time here.
Good, good.
Like, we don't have to worry about food.
-- That's awesome.
-- Yeah.
Spurlock: Not everyone shares our euphoria.
The killing of an animal touches some very strong nerves.
The hunting group came back with the elk, and l almost bumped into Billy, and he was carrying one of the legs.
And so l was just like, ''Whoa.
'' These are the loins, the heart.
l saw, like, the heart, and l could hear them say, ''This is the heart, this is the guts, this is the liver,'' and l was just like lnteresting.
l'm not gonna eat any of it 'cause that was pretty intense for me.
Like, l almost threw up.
And you guys gutted it there? l know that was one of the elks that l seen alive the day before, and l was not happy with that.
Oh, my God.
Lora: And we kept praying, ''Please let them catch an elk.
'' And then they do.
And then you're like, ''Oh.
We killed an animal.
'' But thank God.
We're really, really hungry.
-- Are you feeling okay? -- Mm-hmm.
Janeshia: l don't eat red meat, and l was not gonna eat that elk.
The fact that they were like, ''Oh, we need meat to survive,'' was B.
S.
l'm not eating meat.
l'm surviving.
Kuipers: Well, when the group brought back the big game, Janeshia decided she wasn't going to eat it.
ln a survival situation, it's very difficult to meet your protein needs just with plant material.
And so, in the long term, if she was going to be out here and be a vegetarian, l would expect that she'd lose lots of weight and that she'd get anemic pretty quickly and that she'd lose her energy to be a part of the experiment.
We got an elk up there that we're gonna eat on, and then we'll deal with this later.
Amy: Okay.
These are the ones that go in the water? These are going in the water.
Just find a spot where it looks deep enough to hold it.
Just needs to be deep enough so it's fully submerged so that no predators can smell it.
Way to tote that thing, man.
That thing's got to be between 1 00 and 1 50 pounds.
Yeah, it's heavy.
So that water is like 33, 34 degrees, so we got some solid refrigeration right there.
When you're deciding which game to target, big game can be very attractive because they come in huge package sizes.
You bring down an elk, you have 200 or 300 pounds of meat, which can feed a large group of people for quite some time.
We did it, man.
Good job, man.
Good job.
Good job, everybody.
After successfully killing large game, it's often a very festive time.
lt's a big event.
lt doesn't happen that often, and when it does, people are in a good mood.
Spurlock: At last, it was time to feast, and meat has never tasted so good.
Oh, man, y'all.
l can't tell you how long l've waited for this.
For some meat.
Mm-hmm.
-- Does that taste good? -- Mm-hmm.
Gene: Many hunts came and we came back with nothing.
lmagine the best prime rib you've had.
Now to have a bounty, it's excellent.
Delicious.
Pretty solid, huh? Mm-hmm.
When we first got the elk, l was kind of standing there, and l thinking that, when l'm dying, when l'm on my death bed, l'll look back, and that event will probably be one of the, um Critical moments of my life.
And it, uh l don't know.
lt was just all the emotionality that we can -- lt was like, we just took this animal's life, and at some point, it's gonna be my turn, too.
l think it just focuses your experience.
But we had to eat.
lt had to be done.
Spurlock: After a successful hunt yesterday, we awake, secure in the knowledge that we have enough food to last us the rest of the experiment.
lt's a great feeling.
We now have time to reflect on what we've been through and what the experience meant to each of us.
l bet you any money, when we get back home, we are going to be able to smell things like way more intense.
l don't think it'll just be the smells.
l think it'll be the sights.
l think it'll be the noise.
-- l think it'll be everything.
-- Yeah.
The touch of your head on the pillow.
Oh, that's gonna be spectacular.
The next few days, as we finish this experiment out are gonna just be much easier on everybody.
We've got food.
We have shelters.
We know that's taken care of.
So now is the time to kind of take it easy.
l'm also excited about the fact that l can go out and see all these plants.
You'd be like, ''Oh, l can eat that.
'' lt's been a rough trip so far, and look at me.
Look at this face.
This is a rough-looking face right now.
And l think after a trip like this, you deserve to have something to smile about.
Spurlock: For cavemen, the big kill meant a time of feasting and celebration.
But it also gave them time to explore some other things that make us human, like art and storytelling.
Are you telling the story of the hunt? Trying to.
l'm not really that great of an artist.
That's cool, man.
The killing of big animals is an important event because it's such a huge boon.
And in paleolithic times, in the artwork that we find, big animals are a very, very regular theme.
And it's clear that they were a very significant and meaningful part of people's lives in much more than an economic way.
We were here.
We've all bonded and became one close family, so now we're just enjoying each other's company and thinking of fun stuff we want to do.
Spurlock: l'd like to just kick back and enjoy the fresh mountain air some more, but l have some unfinished business.
Throughout this whole thing, l've had a little personal vendetta with a little swamp rat lives right over there.
So before l leave, l just have to take care of something.
Or maybe not.
Till next time, muskrat.
Being here has taught me a kind of respect.
Killing an animal is a serious act.
lf you don't need it to survive, well, maybe think twice before killing it at all.
With the experiment almost over, it's time for our experts to weigh in on just how well we did, or didn't do, at living the caveman life.
When you walk into their campsite, l think it feels very authentic.
Authentic.
Or when you see them out foraging, it feels like, there you are -- 20,000 years ago.
Hell, yeah! A way of life that we haven't seen in a very, very long time on this planet.
Frog legs for dinner, boys.
Spurlock: The experts gave us credit for adapting to our unfamiliar environment, but we didn't rate too well on some of the basic caveman survival skills.
Probably need some water, kiddo.
My head is pounding.
Throughout the course of the experiment, we saw them get to a point that they were all very, very low-energy and Tired, man.
Really tired.
They really didn't do justice to how expert hunter-gatherers are and paleolithic people were at living this life, right? l mean, they were essentially starving.
Spurlock: But we didn't starve.
ln fact, in my view, we triumphed, and we did so by persevering and pulling together.
Overall, l thought they did very well.
lt gives me a lot of optimism that modern human beings can go back 20,000 years ago and be pretty successful.
Right there.
Caveman high five.
We did it, y'all.
This experiment was probably as hard as l anticipated.
l mean, it was miserable.
lt absolutely took me to my limits.
We've been here, we've been there.
We haven't killed [bleep.]
This situation was crazy.
l wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
lt was the realest thing l've ever done in my life.
ln this primitive world, you are working hard just for survival.
lt's a very difficult life.
The modern world, everything's just kind of like handed to you.
And l think this experience makes me respect things a lot more.
The paleolithic people who lived this way, l am in awe of the hardships they were able to endure and still were able to pass on from one generation to the next.
We are living proof that paleolithic people were hearty, tough survivors.
And l think we all owe them a debt of gratitude, because without them, we wouldn't be here today.
l live in a different century.
l'm not a [bleep.]
cavewoman.
Modern people are really disconnected from their ancestors.
This is a way of life that all of our ancestors lived.
We only have to go back about 7 00 generations, and everybody on the planet was a hunter-gatherer.
What is it? We see that when we put modern people in this situation, they realize that, though it's technologically simple, it's by no means stupid, and it's a highly skilled way of life that doesn't come easily.
All right, guys.
Let's be very proud that we all made it.
We're survivors.
We did it, y'all.
l'm just shocked that we actually did it.
As soon as you guys are ready.
-- Let's go.
-- Here we go.
Spurlock: Today, we live in a world with so many distractions.
We're all so busy.
We have so much going on.
We don't even take time to actually spend time looking at one another, talking to each other, and that's what this whole experience has been about is about us connecting as human beings, about being with one another, talking to one another.
And, you know, while you may have all of these things to make your life easier, that doesn't mean you have all the things to make your life happier.
And l think that the biggest thing that l have learned out of this whole experience is the value of your tribe and that community and that family, and that's what l'm taking home with me.
And l want to really make sure l place a real value on the people who mean the most to me, and l think that's something we should all do.