Probe begins after caribou shot and abandoned
Conservation officers are investigating two recent incidents of caribou shot and killed but not recovered.
By Chuck Tobin on October 21, 2015
Conservation officers are investigating two recent incidents of caribou shot and killed but not recovered.
CO Shawn Hughes explained this morning it looks like the four bulls shot along the Dempster Highway near the Yukon-N.W.T. border were intentionally abandoned.
There is some indication the cow and calf shot and killed in Old Crow may have been the result of accidental wounding, he said.
In both cases, Hughes emphasized, officers are asking for the public’s assistance.
As a result of tips from hunters concerned that as many as 12 caribou were shot and abandoned along the Demspter Highway two or three kilometres from the border, he said, he investigated last Thursday.
Four mature bulls were found within 300 metres of each other, with the closest one to the highway being about 600 metres off the road, Hughes said.
He said the caribou were not touched, and most likely were simply abandoned.
The situation does not have any signs of being the result of accidental wounding, he said.
Hughes said it looks like three of the four died of a single gunshot, while the fourth may have had a couple. The meat was not salvageable by the time he located them, he said.
Hughes said there is a high probability the incident occurred on Oct. 13, as large numbers of migrating Porcupine caribou reached the highway Oct. 12 for the first time in several years.
There were dozens of vehicles parked along the roadside that day, he said.
Subsequent efforts to find more abandoned caribou were foiled by blizzard conditions, Hughes said.
“They were very close to the highway, and they were in plain view of the highway,” he said from Old Crow before flying back to Dawson City this morning.
“You could see them from the highway. It would be very difficult for somebody to say they didn’t know they were there.”
Hughes said they would like to hear from hunters or anybody else who may have information that would assist the investigation.
“Any information would be helpful.”
Hughes said the incident in Old Crow involves a cow and calf found dead along the Mountain Road leading to the rock quarry a few kilometres out of the village.
The caribou were found just before the quarry on Thanksgiving weekend and had each been killed by a single shot, likely on the morning of Oct. 9, he said.
Hughes said they’ve since found out the cow and calf may have been wounded and got away.
They know there was a case of wounded caribou seen and the cow and calf may have been those animals, he said.
Hughes said they’d like to hear from anybody who was hunting the Mountain Road that day, and in particular from anybody who can provide an explanation of what happened.
Comments (7)
Up 21 Down 0
Poaching101 on Oct 26, 2015 at 10:59 am
Great job by the Yukon Conservation Officers for finding this wasteful act. I have observed many similar atrocious, wasteful acts in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, Lynn Lake, Manitoba, Port Alberni, B.C. and Chilliwack, B.C.
This is a generational issue, where local elders have failed to promote traditional harvest methods. Automatic weapons, anger and greed while hunting don't make for an ethical harvest. Although the individuals will never be held accountable, elders in these communities need to be consulted and advised of the issue. Social media is a great tool to make Canadians aware of these atrocious acts by local individual.
Up 29 Down 1
Groucho d'North on Oct 24, 2015 at 9:17 am
Every race has jerks and a**holes in it and sadly their actions reflect on the entire race for many of the critics with limited capacity to understand an issue. Because of the unique hunting and fishing rights aboriginal Canadians have, when abuses of this kind are held up in comparison against a white hunter who violates the law in some trivial manner and what the courts render as a penalty, the dichotomy of what’s fair resonates loudly and the perceptions of racial equality all but disappear. Wanton waste such as this should not be protected by the Indian Act and offenders should suffer the full extent of the law as it would for any other abuser of the natural resource.
Up 44 Down 1
Moose Meat Mafia on Oct 22, 2015 at 3:32 pm
As a first nations hunter and raised by my grandparents to be such, I am sick to my guts when idiots like this kill and waste. Where's your head and your values of respect?
ALL governments have to make changes to regs for harsher punishments. Charge them and any other idiots like them.
It's time the laws reflect Yukon values!
Up 22 Down 7
Josey Wales on Oct 22, 2015 at 6:24 am
Why even waste a cent "probing" the most probable cause, really why bother?
If the crew responsible is caught, absolutely nothing will EVER happen to them.
MMIC....nobody will come forward, doesn't happen for humans, why think it'll be any different here?
If it is all true as bleated...the creator will get them in the end.
Up 78 Down 7
moose101 on Oct 22, 2015 at 6:00 am
Its waste of time. Nothing will be done or ever has been in charging first nations for wasting meat. I have lived here over 40 years and have never seen a charge make it to court .
But good for the COs for making it public.
Up 98 Down 4
Yukon Hunter on Oct 21, 2015 at 5:24 pm
Physically closing the Yukon/NT border on the Dempster, like making it impassably closed, while the Porcupine herd is going through would go a long way to preventing acts like this, at least on the Dempster. The ferries aren't running right now anyhow.
And the Old Crow wastage is simply inexcusable in a community that claims to hold the Porcupine herd in such high regard.
Up 76 Down 6
disgustipated on Oct 21, 2015 at 4:31 pm
Someone knows who shot these animals and let them go to waste. Do they have the guts to step forward and out someone in their own community?
I'm not holding my breath.