The speculation of a clamp down on the Quebec "meat run" has been brewing for a few years now. For the past 4 years we hear from the outfitters that the caribou "are in our area" and they are thick as flies so hurry up and book NOW!

For us, it's a 24 hour plus drive over treacherous winter roads only to find that over the last 4 years our arrival in camp revealed that the outfitters "expanded upon the truth" and the caribou had actually migrated through a month before the season opener on December 1st, and only by luck of the draw did some manage to pick off a few stragglers, with the rest of the herds several hundred kilometres to the west and well outside of the legal hunting zone.

Last year we spent our week looking at a desolate wasteland of snow and sparse trees in minus 30 degree weather. On the drive out, we left at 3am, and by mid day and well beyond the legal hunting area, we finally ran into so many caribou we had to drive extremely slowly and carefully to avoid hitting them on the roads. At one point I stopped the truck so my buddy could get out to take a leak and a caribou bull running along the guard rail damn near ran into him. He had to jump into the truck and slam the door to avoid being run down or skewered by the antlers.

I should also point out that we as non Quebec residents are limited to a specific hunting zone that does not apply to resident Quebec hunters. The Quebecers and the Indians do not have such restrictions as do we non residents. It makes one feel that our money is good enough to take but that's where it stops. The outfitters generally seem to act like a pump and dump shady stock salesman "come and get it before it's too late"!!!! Hurry hurry, buy now!!!. I suppose I can't blame them for the aggressive marketing because some have a considerable pile of dough tied up in their remote bush camps and need the hunter's outfitter fees in order to survive.

This year, we refused to go. The price had increased dramatically and the tags were cut back from 2 animals down to one. It was an option to get a second tag, but the tags were limited and frightfully expensive.

Travelling/hunting to/in areas outside of Quebec in the north west end of the continent has never been inexpensive so I don't believe the cancellation of the Quebec hunt will have a great deal of bearing on the demand for those hunts. Most folks going to Quebec were looking for a great and cost effective hunt with the reward of some wonderful tasty caribou steak. It was never so much about big racks and trophy hunting. The really big racked caribou come from the west.

For those unfamiliar with the area's biology, there are two main herds. One herd (George River) has seen dramatic decline in numbers and has not been huntable for a few years now. The other herd has held to numbers around 500,000 animals although it too has been in decline. It is not known whether the decline is a natural population cycle or whether it is habitat loss related.