SACHS HARBOUR - Charlie Haogak Jr. began hunting geese when he was only 12-years-old.

For the past five years he has ventured out on the land to participate in the annual tradition in Sachs Harbour - where geese arrive in flocks over the Beaufort Sea this time on year.

Charlie Haogak Jr. is from Sachs Harbour and studies in Inuvik. On May 14, he was preparing to go visit his family for a month, for the annual goose hunt. - Philippe Morin/NNSL photo

Families travel out to places like Egg River, to claim as many as possible.

"There are millions," is how Haogak chooses to describe it.

"You take as many as you can. We fill up our freezers."

The piles of birds are brought back to the community in sleds, and shared amongst both Sachs Harbour's residents and outside relatives.

"You can make goose soup," Haogak said, adding he sometimes helps with the plucking but leaves the cooking to his mother and sisters.

"It's good food."

Haogak said he learned to hunt from his late father Charlie.

He said a goose hunter must first build a blind, which is a small shelter made of tarp or maybe snow.

"You have to stay down and be quiet. Also, they can see you if you're not behind a blind."

Once the stage is set, the hunter calls out to the geese and encourages their approach.

Haogak describes the call as a "high pitched hawking sound," which he is too shy to demonstrate in person.

But he explains it takes a little practice at first.

"If you do it right, they turn around," he said.

Of course, the last part of the hunt involves a 12-guage shotgun.

While hunting is fun and it allows Haogak to reconnect with his family in Sachs, he said he still studies during the month-long trips.

"I try not to miss too much school," he said, adding he takes homework to the island and completes assignments.

Having been hunting with family since he was a young boy, Haogak said he considers it a tradition, and perhaps his favourite time of the year.

"I've been doing it since I was three feet high," he said.

And his favourite part of all?

"I guess maybe the shooting, but they're good to eat too," he said.