DEH CHO - Though he caught two moose and was able to spend some time out on the land, Fort Simpson community harvester's committee chairperson Steven Jose says his hunting season was almost ruined by the actions of some of his fellow hunters.

"There were moose hides thrown along the shore and stuff like that," he said. "Whatever they didn't need, they didn't take."

Jose said he saw garbage left behind by hunters camping along the Willow River, despite the close proximity of garbage cans.

At the North Nahanni River, Jose said hunters often have to go farther into the bush in order to get moose because loud campers by the shoreline now scare them away.

"It's really bad because they're making so much noise, animals won't come to the river anymore," he said.

He said hunters from outside the community are coming to the good hunting areas in the Deh Cho region and leaving a mess behind.

"They're not respecting the land," he said.

This has been an ongoing problem in the area, and Jose said he believes one of the only solutions might be to ban out-of-town hunters.

"This has been going on for a while and I would like to get something done about it," he said. "Maybe shut down out of town people, that's what it's coming to."

Chief Dolphus Jumbo of Trout Lake said another culprit was scaring moose away near Moose Lake - wolves.

"There was some complaining about a large number of wolves in one area in the north end of the lake," he said.

Jumbo said he and a group of 11 adults and eight children spent two full weeks out on the land at Island Lake, about 30 km south of the community of Trout Lake. He said there were many moose in the area, but wet, snowy weather kept the group from hunting as much as they would have liked.

"It was very hard to go hunting in the wet cold weather, we were mostly trying to keep the children warm," he said.

"So we would go rabbit snaring and go for walks and so forth. That's what we enjoyed over there."

"It was good just to be out there," he said. "I think it's good medicine for us."

Hunters as of Oct. 4 had caught about 22 moose and one caribou.

In Wrigley, all 20 hunters that went out caught a moose said Gaylene Moses, acting office manager for the Pehdzeh Ki band office

"Every hunter that has gone out shot a moose so far," she said. "We're in moose country here in Wrigley so there are plenty of moose around."

The band office supplied hunters with a 45 gallons of gasoline to help with the hunt, she said. Many hunted along the Mackenzie River, along with Willow Lake River, she said.

She said hunters were busy preparing the meat to be stored for the winter.

Despite the weather, Jumbo said his group had a great time.

"It was good, rain or snow," he said. "No one really wanted to come back after two weeks of it."

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