Arctic Circle Muskox

Hunts were fully booked for the next few years with a long waiting list. I found several hunts that I would have jumped at back when I was 30, but now two weeks on a snowmobile in mid-winter seemed a bit daunting for a 70-year-old! I received a “good news – bad news” reply to a 2014 email looking for an update. The bad news was that

Grey Goose Outfitters had doubled the price they were asking for tags.

The good news was that a number of hunters had backed out and tags were available. I choked at the price, but getting over the shock, I started to rationalise a trip. I wasn’t getting any younger and, with my wife Carole, I would have the chance to fish for monster lake trout in Great Bear Lake, the premier freshwater fishery on the continent. Yellowknife, where we would board the charter aircraft, was an easy two-day, 1500-kilometre drive from our home in Edmonton, Alberta. There was a lot to see on the way, so in effect we were getting two holidays out of one trip. I was familiar with the landscape around Great Bear Lake and was sure I was still fit enough to hunt there so was reasonably confident I would get a muskox. Our muskox hunt was on; we booked. Landing at Great Bear Lake we were met by Kent