Inuvik (Feb 21/05) - Gwich'in hunters say they can shoot caribou wherever they want, even if it's on the side of the Dempster Highway.

John Blake, an elder from Fort McPherson who served on band council for 25 years, said if he was on the highway and saw a caribou, he would shoot it just feet from the road, "even if it's only three yards away."

"That's my right," he said.

In Yukon, territorial law forbids shooting caribou within 500 metres of the highway and snowmobiles can't be used until there is 15 centimetres of snow on the ground. The Porcupine herd migrates across the highway.

A First Nations group in Dawson will challenge the regulations in court in April. Three Yukon men have already been charged with the offence.

The Gwich'in Tribal Council, which represents Gwich'in beneficiaries in the NWT, has no immediate plans to pursue the matter in court, resource manager Norman Snowshoe said.

"There should be more education rather than regulations about harvesting on the Dempster Highway," he said.

In the NWT, the Dempster no-hunting corridor is voluntary.

However, more education on responsible, traditional and healthy hunting practices is needed in the communities before hunting can occur from the side of the highway, said Joe Tetlichi, chair of the Porcupine Caribou Management Board.

"We're happy with the corridor being in place now."

New regulations are on the drawing board.

"What's being proposed on the NWT side is that there be no 500-metre corridor, but the management board is recommending that hunters put on safety vests," said Tim Devine, Inuvik region manager of fisheries and wildlife for RWED.

The blaze-orange vests would elevate hunter awareness, he said, and a positive evaluation of the initiative, along with proper education, could also lead to the eventual reversal of corridors in the Yukon.

"At this early stage, we do need to have the corridor in place," said Aklavik Gwich'in Chief Charlie Furlong.

"We can't have people shooting in all directions from their trucks."

Even so, Gwich'in say they have a right to hunt where they want.

"A lot of communities disagree with the ban and I don't blame them one bit," said James Andre, member of the PCMB.

"Treaty Indians have the right to hunt, trap and fish any way that they want," Andre said.

"And also in our land claims it states that the Gwich'in have the right to employ any method of harvesting and to possess and to use any equipment for the purpose of harvesting."

Andre said without snow machines it takes too long to pack meat that far from the road, leaving hunters open to attack from grizzly bears. He alone had five bear encounters in the last year, he said.

"If they let us use our Ski-Doos we'll have no problems," he said.