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TLICHO REGION - Five hunters have been ticketed for wasting caribou meat in the Tlicho region.

The five hunters were issued fines by renewable resources officers since the beginning of March, said Fred Mandeville, manager of wildlife and environment for the North Slave Region with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Mandeville would not identify the hunters' home communities, other than to say they are all from the NWT.

They were ticketed for wasting meat fit for human consumption contrary to the Wildlife Act.

Mandeville said the hunters can pay the $500 fines, plus a $75 surcharge, or they can go to court to challenge them.

The caribou carcasses were discovered at different areas along the winter road to the old Colomac mine and Wekweeti.

Some complete carcasses were found left behind, while others had the shoulders and front or rear quarters left behind by hunters. Other carcasses simply had the heads removed, which is a practice to let the carcass bleed.

Mandeville said 22 kill sites were checked by renewable resources officers on the weekend of March 21-22.

"There were 18 sites that had wastage," he said.

Some sites contained the carcasses of five to 10 caribou.

Mandeville said the renewable resources officers issued fines after happening to come across hunters at some kill sites, while other fines were issued after an investigation.

The officers are continuing to patrol the area and other investigations are continuing into wastage.

"We'll be out there right until the road closes," Mandeville said, adding the winter route is expected to close in the first week of April.

The hunters are taking animals from the Bathurst caribou herd as it migrates through the area.

"The winter road provides them easy access," Mandeville said.

He said there is always a certain amount of wastage in hunting, but there seems to be more than usual this year.

"I'm disappointed, being a hunter myself," he said.

Mandeville is not sure why there is more wastage this year, although he said it may partly be because inexperienced hunters are shooting too many animals.

Even though only a few hunters are usually responsible for wastage, he said, "it makes it look bad for everyone else."

Mandeville said renewable resources officers check a lot of hunters and a "good majority" take everything they can from the caribou they harvest.

Some of the ticketed hunters are aboriginal people who were not following the aboriginal tradition of respecting the caribou by avoiding wastage.

"In some instances, not everyone practices that," Mandeville said.