Iqaluit (Jun 05/06) - Some teenagers love to spend their time playing video games.

Others, like Joshua Kilabuk, would rather head out on the land.

That's exactly what the 13-year-old did May 26-28, accompanying his grandfather, Simanuk, and grandmother, Hanna, on a fishing trip for char.

His mom, Kitty Markwell, who was waiting on the Iqaluit shoreline to greet her relatives after they returned from the 48 km journey by snowmobile, said she can't keep Joshua at home when there's an opportunity to venture out.

"He likes to go hunting with his grandfather, too," she noted. "He's happy to go."

Joshua said his initiation with nature came as "a little baby."

He has regularly been assisting his grandparents over the past several years, and Simanuk appreciates it.

"He's a helper, my right hand," said Simanuk. "When you're getting old you need help from the young people."

He recalled how impressed he was with his grandson's abilities when they travelled nearly 640 km return to nab some prey a few years ago.

"He shot a lot of seals in the summer," Simanuk said. "He's learning."

Their most recent trip entailed traversing some dirt-covered terrain aboard snowmobiles within Iqaluit city limits.

The melting ice on Frobisher Bay will soon put an end to their travel by motorized skis and tracks. Therefore they will switch to plucking char out of the Sylvia Grinnell River during the summer, Simanuk said.

They added more than half a dozen char to their cache - kept in a wooden shack by the shore - on their recent outing.

"I don't count fish," a smiling Simanuk said when asked exactly how many specimens they landed by hook.

Joshua said he likes to eat char raw.

His grandfather prefers to fry it or savour it after its been dried or smoked.