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Arviat youth hunts in Africa Nine-year-old bags impala, waterbuck and kudu
Miranda Scotland
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, July 17, 2013
ARVIAT
Nine-year-old Kadin Copland impressed outfitters in Zimbabwe last month with her skill with a hunting rifle.
Kadin Copland, 9, travelled to Zimbabwe last month for a hunting trip with her uncle and grandfather. Pictured with her is the impala she bagged during the adventure. - photo courtesy of Joe Savikataaq Jr.
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During a recent family trip to the country, the Arviat youth proved to have one of the most accurate shots they had seen among children her age, according to her uncle Joe Savikataaq Jr.
"They were all very shocked and amazed at Kadin." said Savikataaq, who accompanied Copland on the adventure along with the child's grandfather.
The trio spent nearly two weeks in the Zambezi valley stalking prey with help from an outfitter, two trackers and a government worker who monitored what they caught. By the end, Copland had bagged an impala, a waterbuck and a kudu while Savikataaq killed an elephant.
They shared the meat from the animals with those in the area and tried a little themselves.
The head of Copland's kills are being mounted and sent to her.
The youth told her uncle in Inuktitut that she enjoyed the elephant meat. It tasted almost like beef, she added.
Copland learned to hunt when she was about four years old.
Her uncle took her out on the land and taught her how handle a firearm, how to load and unload and how to take an accurate shot.
She now has the ability to shoot the gun without any help.
The trip to Zimbabwe, which took three years of planning, was her first time hunting in the south African country.
It was different, Copland said, but a lot of fun. Someday she might like to go back, she said.
"But I don't like the long travel going to Africa."
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