Caribou kill continues on Dempster Highway
Between 24 to 30 unharvested animals have been reported since hunt began in October
Kassina Ryder
Northern News Services
Monday, April 11, 2016
YUKON
Four Porcupine caribou were found shot but not harvested along the Dempster Highway in incidents believed to have taken place over the Easter weekend, according to a Yukon conservation officer.
Yukon conservation officers are asking for information after four Porcupine caribou were found shot and abandoned at two sites along the Dempster Highway in the Yukon on March 29. - photo courtesy of Joe Bishop |
"It hasn't been a very good year for this," said Scott Hughes.
He said he confirmed two dead female caribou, including a calf, at kilometre 208 on the Dempster Highway on April 2. Two bulls were found at kilometre 191 on March 29.
Hughes said an investigation is currently taking place but there is no evidence the caribou were killed and left behind on purpose.
"There is no indication that this was intentional or anything like that, so if it turns out that this is accidental somehow, we just would like to know that," he said. "We'd like to hear from the hunters that were there."
Accidental killings can happen in a variety of ways, Hughes said.
"High powered rifles, a bullet goes through one animal and hits one behind it and the shooter doesn't realize it. He thinks one animals drops when in fact, there's two," he said. "Sometimes there's wounded ones that get away from the group, the hunter doesn't know it was hit and it wanders off and dies elsewhere and goes unnoticed by the hunter. Those are the most common ones."
Incidents like these aren't rare, Hughes added.
Yukon conservation officers confirmed 13 cases of caribou that had been shot but not harvested since the hunt began last October, Hughes said. Between 24 and 30 cases - including the 13 confirmed by officers - were reported by the public during that same time-frame.
In October, 13 Porcupine caribou carcasses were found dumped along the Dempster Highway along the NWT/Yukon border.
"We know there is a lot more out there than what we've found. We're talking about having to drive five or six hours away to confirm these, so it's not always possible to get there in time or to find them," he said. "There is a lot that comes in from the public that we know happens, we have no reason not to believe that a witness found an animal out there, but we can't always confirm them."
Wastage incidents are typically more common at the beginning of the hunting season in October, Hughes said.
"There is a very high hunting pressure in the first two weeks after the caribou arrived," he said. "There were a lot of cases of this and then throughout the winter as the hunting slowed down, so did these cases."
William Storr is a Gwich'in Tribal Council representative on the Porcupine Caribou Management Board (PCMB), which is made up of members from Yukon and the Northwest Territories.
Storr said wasting meat puts all hunters in a negative light.
"Harvesters are being given a bad name by people that do that," he said.
Aklavik residents are especially dependent on the Porcupine caribou herd.
"It's an important resource for our community. That's where we get most of our caribou meat for the year," Storr said. "It's the only herd that we harvest from, mainly. We rarely hunt other herds."
Storr said in an effort to reduce accidents, Aklavik holds a Sight Your Rifle program each year in partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the local hunters and trappers committee.
"It reduces the losses, of wounded caribou getting away and going and dying somewhere," he said.
Another factor hunters need to keep in mind is how easily animals can be lost when hunting as a group, Storr said. Keeping an eye on one another's targeted caribou can help reduce the risk of losing an animal.
"When there's more than one person when they're hunting, then they see what is going on and can reduce that risk," he said.
Hughes said he agreed.
"It's easy enough to keep track of one animal if you're shooting one or two animals, but if it's a group of hunters and they're harvesting a lot of animals and taking five or 10 home with them, you could lose track of one or two if you're not really careful," he said.
Having a plan and waiting until caribou are separated from the others can reduce the risk of unintentionally shooting another animal, Hughes said.
"Select the animals that you want and wait for them to be singled out. Don't shoot into the herd," he said. "The biggest thing I would suggest is just for hunters to slow down and take a good look at the group and come up with a plan as to how many they want and collectively decide on the best, safest and most responsible way to harvest them."
Hughes said anyone with information about the most recent incident or to report any other wildlife issues can provide tips anonymously by calling 1-800-661-0525.
Storr said he hopes harvesters realize taking care of the herd now is crucial for its future.
"The most important thing is to try and conserve the herd that we have," he said. "Right now it's in a healthy state and we'd like to try and keep it that way."
There were 197,000 Porcupine caribou as of the last population survey in 2013, according to latest report submitted to the PCMB.
