Resolute (Apr 18/05) - Between April and June is the best time of year in Resolute, when the relenting winter weather and animal migration make the hunting the best, according to Lucas Amagoalik.

Four kids, hunting, snowmobiling and a hotel full of clients coming to experience the Arctic keep 28-year-old Lucas Amagoalik busy.

If he can take time out from his new general manager's position with Qausuittuq Inns North (he was promoted from the manager's position), Amagoalik likes to go out seal hunting or snowmobiling.

"Most of the local people start going out on the land now," he says.

The 28-year-old Inuit man moved to Resolute from Iqaluit 12 years ago to spend more time with his father's side of the family. The quiet and ease that came with living in the small community kept him here.

With four children under the age of eight and a job that demands 12-hour work days, he has no plans to leave.

North Pole expeditions, NASA visits and cruise ships docking in the summer mean the inn is constantly a hub of activity, with Amagoalik at the helm.

"It keeps me busy and nobody else was committing to do the job. It's too hard," he says with a laugh while attending to a group of hotel clients.

With many of the clients he sees in the hotel coming to experience the harsh Arctic climate, Amagoalik worries about the increasing effects of global warming.

"Every year it's different," he says of the shortening hunting seasons.

Resolute hunters have had to change their routes over the years and some animals, like the endangered Perry caribou, can only be hunted sporadically.

Since moving to Resolute, Amagoalik has seen changes in the sea ice as well. There is open water between Cornwallis Island and Devon Island to the east all year now, he says.

The main hunts are now seal and polar bear, with the yearly quota split between sport hunters and people from the community.

Amagoalik has to get back to his busy job, shuttling hotel guests to and from the airport.

He will be extra busy in the coming weeks, training someone to take over as manager.

He may have trouble squeezing in a few seal hunts this spring.