The last two polar bear tags are still waiting to be claimed as male bears have proven elusive lately, according to Enuk Pauloosie, manager of the Gjoa Haven Hunters and Trappers Association. The first three tags were accounted for closer to March, when the season opened.
Complicating matters is that the designated area for Gjoa Haven hunters this season is in the Gulf of Boothia, north of Taloyoak, about a 500 km round trip, Pauloosie estimated.
“It’s far and it’s expensive to go that way. It costs a lot of money,” Pauloosie said. “They spend a couple thousand dollars probably just to go catch a polar bear, if they catch one. It’s not cheap. Gas is expensive. If you’re not working it’s almost impossible to go hunting… These people are trying to feed their family.”