UNGAVA CARIBOU A CANADIAN TUNDRA ADVENTURE

We were 1200km north of Montreal, Canada in the centre of the Ungava Peninsula, east of Hudson Bay in Northern Quebec on a one-week caribou hunt. Thirty hunters had flown the first 950km north in a charter aircraft. The aircraft, adapted to serve the mining camps, held 32 passengers, with the other half converted to cargo, plenty of space for hunters’ gear and supplies for the camps. The flight landed at the airstrip at the Caniapiscau Reservoir (Lac Pau), created as part of the James Bay hydro project. The construction camp built for the hydro project served as the base camp for caribou hunts in northern Quebec. An Otter on floats flew hunters in groups of six from Lac Pau to one of five hunting camps that had been chosen for the season based on anticipated caribou migration patterns. Our destination was Lac Coursolles, 250km further north. We were introduced to Cury, who would guide the four of us. I had booked a semi-guided hunt with Jack Hume Adventures for my wife Carole and myself, along with my brother Duane and his wife Lucille. With some help from us, Cury caped out our trophies and did the butchering. We all pitched in packing the caribou to camp.

With a few hours of daylight left and brimming with enthusiasm, we were anxious