Gallery » Caribou Hunt

This photo job involved a series of mishaps and bad luck, but was an amazing introduction to the landscape of the tundra and life in the north. I was hired to take promotional shots for an Inuk-owned and -run hunting outfitter that operates from Arviat. The photos shown here are a mix of some of those promo images and more personal shots that I find compelling.

We were initially delayed, stuck in Churchill for three days, because it was a very stormy September and the bush pilots had to wait for the weather to clear. I was eventually flown to Arviat on a commercial flight and then inland to Baralzon Lake in a two-seater Cessna. I arrived at the end of the first day's hunt, during which the hunters took at least a caribou each. One guy shot his limit of two and was done hunting for the week.

On day two we had stormy wet weather, and the hunters I went out with struck out despite a couple of almost-good shots and opportunities. And on the final day, the rough weather kept me at camp because the boats were too hard to handle with the extra weight of a photographer along. Thus, I managed to go out to take photos on a guided hunt where every single hunter shot his limit, and yet got no shots of an actual kill.

Fortunately the landscape of Nunavut is spectacular, and both the camp itself and the caribou processing (performed by the guides) was fascinating.