7:00 AM Sunday, September 11, 2011, Kuujjuaq, Quebec
 
Talk about crazy weather we are having this past week - with changes from drizzle, rain and snow with very little sun - not very cold but difficult for the boys to stay dry while hunting. Charlie Camp hunters all tagged out after only 3 days of hunting with rifle and bow. North Camp nearly tagged out with a mix of rifle and bow hunters with only 4 caribou left to take out of a possible 16 caribou in only 2 days of a 6 day hunt – what a time to hunt caribou.

Our hunters experienced a 100% opportunity for success on caribou since we first opened on August 18th. All hunters saw caribou just about everyday and from what we know we are just starting to see the serious migrations. All indications are that the caribou are still heading East from the West and should hit the coast this coming week – split up and spread out in our region in smaller groups – offering ideal hunting opportunity particularly with the bow.

5:00 PM Wednesday August 30, 2011 Kuujjuaq, Quebec. Our guides at camp are literally reporting tons of caribou coming from the West and travelling directly East with many good bulls in big bunches. A review of the recent satellite maps of caribou migrations will show the direction that the herds have taken – strait to our region. We are expecting the caribou to travel to the coast and the herd should break up on hitting the ocean and start circulating back and forth in smaller groups through the gauntlet – our camps. Things are shaping up great so far this season and I wish we had more tags and more hunters – what a great opportunity to see some serious caribou numbers.

Memo from Sammy Cantafio, Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, August 14, 2011

Well we are just about done and ready to receive our first guests at Charlie Lake Camp on August 18 – Yves Menard and partner are up for their 3rd trip and Maurice Baril and his party of 4 are up again for their 2nd trip in the row. Our Helen’s Falls Camp on the George has been opened since July 30 and is experiencing one of its best years ever in terms of the number and size of Atlantic Salmon taken. Rick Yeiser, Jr. of Worcester, VT (on this, I believe his 24th strait year) reported fishing was as or better than back in the eighties. Rick caught and released over 39 fish during his week and the majority were running upwards of 15 to 20 pounds. Needless to say Rick has already committed to returning to his favorite fishing camp in 2012.

Weather has been just unbelievable since I arrived in Kuujjuaq in late July. At one point we experienced 24 strait days of warm sunny weather and only today are we experiencing some steady rain. In fact, water levels are low in all rivers and lakes and we could certainly use some rain.

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.