GRISE FIORD - Two Grise Fiord hunters got more than they were aiming for with a narwhal they pulled in June 20.

Tommy Kalluq and Marty Kuluguqtuq caught a modest, female-sized narwhal in the evening with a big prize attached - double tusks of around five feet each.

Marty Kuluguqtuq and Tommy Kalluq of Grise Fiord show off the double tusks from a narwhal they caught last month. - photo courtesy of Marty Kuluguqtuq

"I didn't believe it at first," Kalluq said. "We thought it was just the reflection of a single tusk on the water - I was just going for the maktak - and then when we pulled it up on top of the ice, when I was able to feel the tusks, I was amazed."

The brothers-in-law were hunting along a lead outside of the hamlet when they came upon a pod of about 10 narwhals.

"It's not uncommon to follow that crack for seals and stuff," Kuluguqtuq said.

Kalluq took aim for the head of one without a second glance at the tusk, and they brought it onto the ice successfully.

"I said 'holy bleep-bleep!'And a double-check on it and I said, Tony - it's a double," remembered Kuluguqtuq.

"We were high-fiving at that point, and when we saw the double there was all the more high-fiving."

"I think this is the first double tusk narwhal in Grise Fiord modern history, I am told," he added.

While hunters have occasionally seen double-tusked narwhals around Grise Fiord, they haven't caught them, said Kuluguqtuq.

"It's more common to hear about it in Pond or Arctic Bay," he said.

Tom Naqitarvik killed a double-tusked narwhal in Arctic Bay in 2004, and Lennon Kalluk caught one in the same community in 2003.

Kalluq said they are in no rush to sell the trophy. "I'm going to take my time to sell it so I can have a decent price," he said.

"I'm happy I had the privilege to be part of it," Kuluguqtuq said. "It was a pleasant surprise. The spirits must be looking after us somehow."