How Biologists Count a Herd That Never Stops Moving
The George River herd is counted from the air, in July, using GPS collars and photographs. The method, and what the 2024 count found.
The Caribou Ledger
Every entry in this ledger is a numbered note on one question about hunting caribou in northern Quebec: what the season allows, what a rifle should do at the shot, how a fly-in camp actually runs, what the herd's numbers say and what happens to a quarter of meat once it is back south. Entries are written from the regulations, the outfitters' own published practice and the country itself, then filed under one of four logs.
- entries
- 10
- Sections
- 4
- Last entry
Latest entries in the ledger
8 / 10
Why the George River and Leaf River Hunts Stayed Closed
Quebec has issued no caribou hunting licence for the George River or Leaf River herds since 2012 and 2018. The counts behind both closures, herd by herd.
Reading a Rental Ad: From 25-Word Classifieds to Online Port
What a 25-word classified line, a handwritten For Rent sign, and a photo of an empty room tell a renter about how Canadian rental ads changed.
What Gets Cancelled Before You Leave Japan
A three-month countdown of the utilities, contracts and registrations to cancel or hand back before flying out of Japan.
Moving a Quartered Caribou Off Wet Tundra
How to quarter, balance and carry a caribou across wet tundra without wrecking the meat or your knees, using the pace and rest rules of a working draft team.
Wind, Water and the Decision to Move
Wind, river level and cloud decide a northern caribou hunt. What to read before a crossing, and when to abandon the plan for the day.
What Hunters Can Copy From a Cold-Water Angler
Waders, boots, layering and warm feet: what a northern caribou hunter can copy from a cold-water fly angler's kit, from river crossings to drying gear
Keeping Meat Cold From Tundra to Freezer
Field dressing starts the cold chain. Meat stays safe near freezing for days. Anglers and hunters cool a catch with ice, shade, water, and airflow.
The hunt
Seasons, licences, rifles and cartridges, field shooting and the shot placement that puts a caribou down cleanly.
Reading a Rental Ad: From 25-Word Classifieds to Online Port
What a 25-word classified line, a handwritten For Rent sign, and a photo of an empty room tell a renter about how Canadian rental ads changed.
What Gets Cancelled Before You Leave Japan
A three-month countdown of the utilities, contracts and registrations to cancel or hand back before flying out of Japan.
Wind, Water and the Decision to Move
Wind, river level and cloud decide a northern caribou hunt. What to read before a crossing, and when to abandon the plan for the day.
The herd & the country
The George River herd, the tundra and taiga of Nunavik and Labrador, the weather, and how the caribou move.
How Biologists Count a Herd That Never Stops Moving
The George River herd is counted from the air, in July, using GPS collars and photographs. The method, and what the 2024 count found.
Why the George River and Leaf River Hunts Stayed Closed
Quebec has issued no caribou hunting licence for the George River or Leaf River herds since 2012 and 2018. The counts behind both closures, herd by herd.
Camp & travel
Fly-in camps, what an outfitter provides, gear lists, cold-weather clothing and the trip from home to Schefferville.
What Hunters Can Copy From a Cold-Water Angler
Waders, boots, layering and warm feet: what a northern caribou hunter can copy from a cold-water fly angler's kit, from river crossings to drying gear
What a Northern Lodge Provides on a Hunt
A lodge fee covers more than a roof: meals, a guide, boats, fuel and game handling. Here is what to ask before you book a northern hunting or fishing trip.
Meat & the return
Field dressing, cooling and transporting meat, caping a trophy, export permits and the records a hunter keeps.
Moving a Quartered Caribou Off Wet Tundra
How to quarter, balance and carry a caribou across wet tundra without wrecking the meat or your knees, using the pace and rest rules of a working draft team.
Keeping Meat Cold From Tundra to Freezer
Field dressing starts the cold chain. Meat stays safe near freezing for days. Anglers and hunters cool a catch with ice, shade, water, and airflow.
Related sites
A short list of external pages our editors find useful for this issue.
An entry in this ledger can only describe what a camp provides in principle. For the version of that question written by an outfitter actually running one, an Ontario fly-in lodge keeps its own notes on boats, cabins and the shape of a season.
A stalk and a cast are decided by the same reading of wind, light and current. A guide who teaches reading water before you cast puts that method in public, and a hunter who borrows it will approach more animals and spook fewer.
The rivers of the north are read much like the rivers of the Loire. A French desk that keeps river fishing techniques in writing shows how much of a day on the water is settled before the first cast, by light and by level.
A notebook kept on a southern river is not a manual for the tundra, but the discipline of cold water does not change: dry feet, layered hands, and gear checked before it is needed. The hunter who reads it packs better.
Pilots, fishermen and hunters move when the water says they can. A local magazine that keeps notes on how a coast reads its water is a reminder that the deciding skill on any open ground is observation, not equipment.
Draft horses move weight by balance, pace and rest, and a hunter carrying a quartered caribou over wet ground is doing the same work. A working horse guide on moving a heavy load calmly explains why the calm pair arrives and the rushed one does not.
A car hired on Lewis comes with single-track roads, ferry timetables and weather that rewrites the day, and a bureau on the Outer Hebrides sets out what a booking commits a driver to before the keys change hands.
Le Cabestan answers what a sea-view room on the Var coast commits a guest to, how wind and orientation change a stay, which coves and posidonia beds shape the shore, and what Provençal markets and wines put on the table.