Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

NNSL (Nov 16/98) - For Yellowknifer Darcy Hernblad, it's not so much what's in Yellowknife, but where Yellowknife is that matters most.

Hunting is Hernblad's passion and the North has it all, he said.

Born in Regina, Hernblad grew up in Victoria and moved North in 1980. "Everything has worked out just right since the day I got here," Hernblad, a firefighter with the Yellowknife fire department since 1985, said.

Back in 1980, he was customizing vans, motorhomes and recreational vehicles for a company in Victoria. But, when the economy slid off track, spending on customized motorhomes also got derailed, he said.

So, he packed up and headed to Yellowknife. Other family members were here and he started working for Hay River Truck Lines out of Yellowknife. He would move on to Northwest Transport, then volunteer at the fire department. That worked into a full-time position and he's been a firefighter ever since.

As a firefighter, Hernblad works four days and has four days off. When he's not on the job, he's on the land as much as possible.

"For someone who loves the outdoors, this is one of the most fantastic places. I spend a lot of time out on the land. My whole life is wrapped around hunting trips."

He schedules his time off so he can guide for Greg Robertson's Aurora Caribou Camp at Desteffany Lake near the Coppermine River. He also guides for Ragnar Wesstrom at Trout Rock Lodge on Great Slave Lake.

Yellowknife is the perfect base camp for expeditions, he said.

As well as winter caribou and wolf hunting near Yellowknife, he travels to the Mackenzie Mountains for moose hunting and to the Fort Providence area for spring bear hunting.

"I have a very understanding wife (Sherry)," he said.

"Right now, I'm waiting for the lakes to freeze so I can get out caribou hunting and ice fishing."

And, in March, Hernblad will travel north of Great Bear Lake with fellow hunter John Kowerchuk to go hunting for muskox.

The March trek will cover about a week and include driving to Norman Wells by ice road.

"Muskox have historically been moving to the southeast towards Norman Wells. We think of them as in the Barrens, but they're getting into the treeline."

Outside of the hunters and trappers associations, the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development issues two resident tags for muskox a year.

Hernblad was lucky enough to win the draw for one of those tags. The tag cost him $10 plus GST. The trip however, is another story. It will run him about $1,000. If he gets a muskox, he'll spend about $1,200 at the taxidermist. Hernblad is a frequent customer at the local taxidermist and evidence dominates his Arden Avenue home.

As his garage door rolls open, revealed are two caribou, a moose and a wood bison.

These, he says, are the "ones that won't fit in the house."

The mounts that have found a place in the living room include a wolverine, a trio of ptarmigans, a fox with a weasel and the centrepiece placed in the bay window -- a wolf curiously eying a porcupine clinging to a tree limb.

Someday, he hopes to add a grizzly taking down a caribou to the collection.

"I'm hoping to build a cabin for everything," he said, after admitting that his living room is getting pretty full.

Asked about any close calls, Hernblad talks about one trip in particular.

He had gone wolf hunting at MacKay Lake. Temperatures were around -35 C.

While following the animals, a whiteout closed in from behind and got between him and his truck parked along the ice road.

Snow quickly blew over his snowmachine tracks and he knew the situation was becoming serious. No one knew where he was and hunting companions were not due to meet him for three or four days.

Luckily he found his way back to his truck. It meant stopping every few minutes, standing on his sled and scoping for some sign he was heading in the right direction.

It took him four hours to find his vehicle.

That kind of situation won't happen again, he said.

Despite any danger associated with hunting in the North, Hernblad says the experiences he's had have been more than worth it.

"It's amazing what's just out our back door. This is nature at its best."

And, with all that wildlife and landscape out there, Hernblad said he has no plans to leave the North.

He and his wife plan to always call this city home.