IQALUIT - A few more hunting trips like his last one and you will be able to call Metusalie Inookee "Mr. Big Shot."

The Grade 5 student at Nakasuk school was the toast of his classmates Feb. 23 after returning from a recent excursion where he shot his first polar bear at the ripe old age of 10.

Metusalie Inookee grabs a handful of Rockets for a candy toss at Nakasuk school Feb. 23. The special toss was in honour of Metusalie's first polar bear, which he shot the week before. - Chris Windeyer/NNSL photo

"Everybody's saying congratulations," Metusalie said moments before presiding over a candy toss held in his honour at recess.

Inookee's first bear came on a hunting trip about 70 kilometres outside of Iqaluit, travelling with his uncle Eliyah Ineak and grandfather Inookee.

The elder Inookee took a spill on his snowmobile and was in the process of righting himself when the trio spotted a bear on a ridge above them about 10 or 15 metres away, Ineak said Monday.

"Suddenly the polar bear came running at us really fast," Metusalie said.

Inookee handed his rifle to Metusalie and told him to take the shot. The rifle was too big, and the scope a little foggy, so Metusalie missed the first shot, but planted the second one right in the bear's lungs.

"I was like, ‘Yes! I caught my first polar bear when my grandpa was alive,'" Metulsalie said.

At home Monday, the elder Inookee said through translation all his grandchildren have now caught polar bears.

"I was so happy," he said.

The meat has already been distributed to friends and family, while the hide rests in a plastic bag at home.

"He (Inookee) is not too sure what he'll do with it," Ineak said.

While the bear might be Metusalie's first big game, he said he's "been hunting since (he) was a baby."