The Hunting Thread

[MJK]

Let me preface this by saying I was born and raised (mostly) in Newfoundland but currently live in Baker Lake, Nunavut and am married to an Inuk so my hunting privileges are the same for those that have lived here all their lives. Basically my wife has shared her rights with me so that I can hunt and help feed my family. My son is always happy when I bring home fresh meat and I am proud to be able to do it for them and also my wife's immediate family who is not always able to get out and get meat for themselves.

I am an avid hunter and living in Nunavut there are neat things to see and hunt.

I hunt to feed my family, share meat with other in the community and in some cases my wife makes clothing from the skin although skins have many purposes. You'll notice in pick #2 I have an inside-out caribou skin and use that to hold my gun on the Honda. Makes a great case.

I hunt mostly caribou, but sometimes ptarmagin and geese depending on the time of year. Last weekend I shot my first Muskox and just finished a spaghetti supper with ground muskox meat in the sauce...yummy. I am also making Muskox jerky as I type this.

I'd like to share some pics of my most recent catch because I know most people are not overly familiar with this animal:










So, what are you guys hunting?

[RedMileDJ]

The short line at Safeway or Co-Op to pay for my meat.

[Minnie]

Have you eaten the hooves, yet? I'll have to see if I can find it - I have a picture of my dad eating Muskox hooves. I lived in Kugluktuk for a bit, when I was a kid. Your post brings back so many memories - zipping around on the skidoo, or using the quad. Ice fishing with my Inuk friends. Learning how to carve soapstone in school. Going down to watch the barge come in - it was better than Christmas.

I miss Ptarmigan. And Char. Good eating. Oh, and bannock - so frigging good.

[MJK]

Originally Posted by Minnie

Have you eaten the hooves, yet? I'll have to see if I can find it - I have a picture of my dad eating Muskox hooves. I lived in Kugluktuk for a bit, when I was a kid. Your post brings back so many memories - zipping around on the skidoo, or using the quad. Ice fishing with my Inuk friends. Learning how to carve soapstone in school. Going down to watch the barge come in - it was better than Christmas.

I miss Ptarmigan. And Char. Good eating. Oh, and bannock - so frigging good.

My dogs get the hooves and bones.

And yes bannock is the best!

[Regulator75]

Pretty sure a couple of those pics warrant spoilers.

[Cuz]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

Pretty sure a couple of those pics warrant spoilers.

Isn't that kinda implied by this being a hunting thread though?

[DuffMan]

how did you end up there?

[killer_carlson]

Im a bird hunter myself. Ducks, geese, patridge etc. normally go Thanksgiving weekend, but was double booked this year.

Great photos and good for you for eating what you shoot.

[MJK]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

how did you end up there?

I originally went to Chesterfield Inlet in 2007 as a teacher, have since taken a new position with the Government of Nunavut - Sport and recreation Division.

So to answer your question...work and the 'double Newfoundland salary '.

[MJK]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

Pretty sure a couple of those pics warrant spoilers.

Fine I took them off even though they were PG13

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by MJK

Fine I took them off even though they were PG13

Boo. The last one posted was a great pic.

To answer the question, deer, every other season usually. Love jerky, as well as deer chilli.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Heading out on Thursday looking for a mule buck.
Tasty and they look good on the wall.

After that it's up north looking for a big ass Whitey, moose with some buddies.
And if all goes well, I'll have time to get a few grouse while I'm at it. Now that's good eats!

[MJK]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

Heading out on Thursday looking for a mule buck.
Tasty and they look good on the wall.

After that it's up north looking for a big ass Whitey, moose with some buddies.
And if all goes well, I'll have time to get a few grouse while I'm at it. Now that's good eats!

I did a lot of moose hunting in Newfoundland and miss it a lot. Skinning that muskox reminded me of moose.

[dissentowner]

Wait, they have internet in Nunavut?

[Regulator75]

Originally Posted by MJK

Fine I took them off even though they were PG13

Just use the spoiler tags, you didn't have to remove them.

[jayswin]

Haha, Regulator's like the unofficial mod of "all the little things" on CP.

[Nehkara]

These are not the best pictures I've ever taken considering I took them with my phone and I was still shaking from adrenaline but I got my first moose this year!

Spoiler!

[FLAMESRULE]

I'm heading out for my first hunt this Friday. Pretty damn pumped. We're going to try and get an Elk, but I'll be happy to fill either of our muley or white tail tags.

Great pics MJK. How do you like that Sako?? What calibre?

Also a big difference in the moose pic vs muskox pic just for terrain. Is it quite the ordeal to track the muskox and get close enough in wide open tundra like that??

[Huntingwhale]

I hunt the most dangerous game of all: man.

[Nehkara]

Hunting story:

Saturday, October 26th

I went out hunting to WMU 326 which is west of Caroline. Me and my buddy were after whitetail deer. We snuck into this area, got there before the start of shooting light (30 mins before sunrise). Our last trip here, in this exact spot, we had heard a buck thrashing the bush with his antlers and we were hoping to get a look at him.

After hunting that small area thoroughly for awhile we headed out of there and continued our explorations for the day. We go in another road and I see that there is a large clearing behind a patch of tall timber and a very old, small road (probably mostly a quad trail these days) that goes through the timber and into the clearing. We creep out there in the truck and see ravens. Tons and tons of ravens.

Now our curiosity is piqued. We look out into the clearing with binocs and see a timber wolf running for the trees as fast as he can. That was cool. I'd never seen a wolf in person before.

After a few moments of carefully examining the area for more wolves and after a short discussion, we decide to get our rifles out and go and see what all the ruckus was about (wolves + ravens = dead animal).

I tell my buddy to keep his eyes peeled... I know that wolves are very very unlikely to attack a human and the last we saw of the one wolf, he was very far away... but I really didn't want to be on the news.

Anyway, we start moving across the clearing to where the ravens had been congregating and we find this:

These images are graphic (blood, dead animal). Please don't click if you are squeamish.

Spoiler!

Based on what we observed, it looked as though the wolves had taken the buck very recently (there was steam rising from the wounds on the animal). It is a pretty incredible find, discovering a wolf kill shortly after it occurs, and we were fascinated. We were very careful the whole time, just in case... my buddy was watching and had his rifle ready to scare off the wolves in case they decided to push us off of the kill. After examining the site for a few minutes we retreated to the truck.

My friend is a fairly new hunter, I've been teaching him how to hunt the past few years and this was the first time we had ever encountered wolves while out together. So when we were back at the safety of the truck... I said, "Listen to this."

I howled at the wolves, doing my best impression of a canine howl. At first we didn't get a response but then I howled again... and suddenly the whole area just erupted in barks, yips, and howls from the wolf pack. It was an incredible experience.

I recorded the wolves howling on my phone... here it is. Make sure you listen to the whole thing as the best sounds are towards the end.


One other cool thing... out in the areas where we hunt, wild horses are becoming more common. I always love seeing them. We got some pictures of this stallion who had a mare and two foals with him.




And one last picture that is kind of funny... a sprinting grouse that we saw on a prior hunting trip.