Honore Itigaitok went hunting on the morning of Dec. 18, but lost his bearings in bad weather and eventually ran out of gas.

A total of 39 search-and-rescue (SAR) volunteers were involved at the height of the search, including 11 from Whale Cove.

SAR spokesperson David Ittinuar says when Itigaitok failed to return that evening, the local SAR committee provided three family members with gasoline to conduct a search in the Kingaurallik area north of Rankin on Dec.19.

"The family was also furnished with a satellite phone so SAR could monitor the situation," says Ittinuar.

"SAR activated at 3 p.m. that afternoon when he was still not located."

Andy Aliyak and Jackie Nakoolak were the first volunteers on the land.

They were searching a rocky area when Aliyak was thrown from his machine and struck by his qamutik.

A bombardier brought Aliyak back to Rankin, where he was treated at the health centre and released.

When his condition worsened the next day, he was flown to Winnipeg and treated for internal injuries. He has since returned to Rankin and is recovering.

The search was hampered by the fact Itigaitok didn't tell anybody where he was going.

Mathew (Kannak) Innukshuk had been out hunting and saw a set of snowmobile tracks running perpendicular to the regularly travelled route north of the Meliadine area.

Kannak volunteered to search that night and returned to the area where he had spotted the tracks. He followed the tracks all night under extremely difficult tracking conditions.

"It was a tremendous effort on Kannak's part. On his first night out, I calculated he was on his snowmobile for 28 hours, non-stop."

Kannak rested for about six hours before heading back onto the land.

"At about 10:45 p.m., Kannak phoned to ask if I wanted to hear the good news.

"He had found Honore in an iglu bedded down for the night, keeping warm.

"Honore came on the phone laughing and in good spirits."

Ittigtuk had stayed with his machine, but frost and the build-up of falling snow prevented his location from being spotted by air support. The elder arrived safely back in Rankin at about 7 a.m. on Dec. 22.

Ittinuar says the use of satellite phones played a huge role in the search.

"About 95 per cent of our search parties had phones at one point.

"The phones provided us with the best coverage I've ever seen with a search."