After taking an above-average vacation, it is considered good form to tell the story at the local watering hole.
Or in the case of the Young’s family’s recent Canadian epic, at least to the local newspaper.
“It was a trip of a lifetime, a dream my dad has always had,” said Tanner Young, manager of the Montezuma County Fairgrounds.
This fall, Tanner and his dad, Gary, spent a week hunting caribou in the remote, sub-arctic wilderness of the Nunavik region of Quebec, Canada.
After traveling to Montreal, the two boarded an otter float plane for a day-and-a-half, 1,300 mile journey northward.
“We landed on the water at Lac Pau, and set up camp 1,000 miles from any town,” Tanner said. “The area is just covered in lakes.”
In fact, much of the traveling for the hunt is done on small oar boats across lakes, then by tramping across the frozen tundra.
The caribou are not hard to find. The herd in Quebec is 44,000 strong, and their annual migration is world famous.
Compared to the skittish elk locals hunt in Colorado, caribou act quite differently.
“When you spot them, they walk up to you and investigate because they have never seen humans before,” Tanner said. “They are smaller than elk, maybe 300-350 pounds.”
Another difference is that Caribou travel along ridgelines rather than in the valleys to avoid the thick swarms of biting black flies.
“We were eaten alive. That’s part of the reason why the caribou migrate, to escape the bugs,” Tanner said.
He and his dad each bagged two caribou, then spent time hunting ptarmigans. The area is rich in wildlife.
“We saw wolves, herds of caribou, and the trout are monstrous,” Young said. “Musk ox and polar bears check out the hunting camps.”
Joining them in camp was a TV crew from the reality show Savage Outdoors. The Young’s were filmed hunting ptarmigans, and the episode will air next year.
Father and son drove 2,300 miles back to Cortez with their 200 pounds of caribou meat.
“It tastes better than elk, sweeter,” Tanner said. “It was a cool hunt to go on. Our outfitters Jack Hume Adventures did an excellent job.”
jmimiaga@cortezjournal.com
