Over 300 muskox to be processed
Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Mar 26/01) - Hunters overcame challenging conditions and finished with a successful annual muskox hunt in Cambridge Bay.
Gary Connors, general manager of Kitikmeot Foods -- the muskox and arctic char processing company based in Cambridge Bay and owned by the Nunavut Development Corporation -- says 326 animals were harvested.
If "we would have had control of mother nature," more animals would have been harvested, Connors said.
"The community was supportive. This year was the first year everything for the hunt was bought in Cambridge Bay," he said.
About 26 people participated in the federally inspected harvest that ended March 14. Processing of the meat, occurring currently at Kitikmeot Foods, will take several months to complete. As well as various cuts, the meat is also made into jerky. Connors said this year the meat will be trimmed into some different cuts, like ribs.
The 326 muskoxen taken -- organizers were hoping for 400 animals -- tops the previous high of 262 harvested last year. The plan is to increase this year's yield by utilizing more of the animal, Connors said.
Kitikmeot Foods has already begun shipping processed meat from the hunt.
About 900 kilograms was shipped to Kitikmeot's Foods' Yellowknife representative, about 10 days ago.
