After countless meetings and discussions our Wildlife Dept. has finally committed to a caribou plan that certainly should have been decided months ago. Their delay, as expected, caused much uncertainty among our clients and clients to be and just about everyone else involved in the caribou hunting industry.
 

Before we get started let me give you a quick review:
 

1950’s Less than 10,000 caribou are estimated to be in Northern Quebec.

1960’s Herds increasing.

1970-80’s Herds steadily increasing and expanding their territory.

1990’s Estimates of over 1 million caribou in the North – Wildlife believes herd should be controlled by increasing outfitting pressure, they start permitting winter hunts, increase limit to 2 caribou per hunter and even encourage commercial harvesting of the caribou for a while.

2000’s Above efforts do not control the herd which continues to grow. Caribou start showing signs of stress with increase calf mortality and parasites among some of the caribou.

Fall 2010 Indications that the southern George River Caribou Herd is seriously low in numbers from previous estimates by the Newfoundland & Labrador Wildlife Dept. with some hunting closed in Labrador. Since the George River Caribou Herd spends just as much time in Quebec as it does in Labrador – our Wildlife Dept. takes a serious look at the situation with Native groups, outfitters and biologists to review options.
 
Dec. 2010 I am informed that changes are forthcoming for the 2011 caribou season.

Mar. 18/11 Our Minister in charge makes changes to encourage the growth of the caribou herds in Northern Quebec that are estimated at present to be 68,000 or so for the George River Caribou and approximately 275,000 for the Leaf River Caribou. With over 400,000 sq. miles of caribou range estimating numbers is more like guessimating. Biologist estimate a variable of + or – (30%) on the numbers quoted.
 
Some of the more important changes are as follows:
 
Restricting winter hunts to antlerless caribou only, up to 75% reduction in some areas in available tags for winter hunting, hunts start December 1 to reduce the targeting of bull caribou in November.
 
For the Leaf River Caribou Herd that we hunt - hardly any changes except for a reduction of Fall tags by 25% and a reduced season by 6 weeks now running August 15 to October 02.
 
For the George River Herd - more serious: Hunt tags cut by 50% for the 2011 season and 2012 season closed!

Conclusion

With an estimate of approximately 343,000 caribou (+ or – 30%) in the North and with all indications that the caribou are stabilizing and are definitely in better shape than they were a few years ago – I do believe the caribou are doing well. These past few seasons has produced some of the nicest caribou that we have seen in many years. With the measures taken to reduce hunting pressure in the future we are expecting to see some serious big caribou taken in the coming seasons by our hunters from the Leaf River Herd.
 
The largest trophy caribou ever taken in Northern Quebec were taken in the late 70’s and early 80’s when the caribou were not over populated and their numbers where closely comparable to present levels. As with other species high numbers in the population generally produces inferior quality in respect to trophy animals – more is not necessarily better. I believe that Nature has a way of keeping balance. The Native elders that have meet over the years have always talked of the 50 year cycle for the caribou and from what we know of the past – history does repeat itself.
 
For Sammy Cantafio and Ungava Adventures life goes on. We hunt exclusively the Leaf River Caribou Herd that are in good numbers and condition. I operate as a family business with my son and daughter and we will continue to run the operation hands on as I have done for the past 32 years and have no plans to expand the numbers of hunters we accommodate.
 
If there was ever a time to hunt caribou it is now. At present, there are no restrictions on non-resident hunting caribou and from what I have seen the Leaf River Caribou Herd is doing well and has been producing some outstanding bulls. For anyone looking to take a big bull this coming season - we still have a few tags still available! Give us a Call!

If I can provide you with any additional information or details please contact me at any time.

Sincerely,
 
Sammy Cantafio