Category: Hunting, Fishing and Trapping

Hunting and Fishing and Outfitting, Oh My!

The 2013 edition of the Hunting, Fishing and Camping show at Place Bonaventure was a jam-packed hit that featured the latest in firearms, knives, fishing technology and outdoor gear. This year’s highlight was the booth hosted by Magnan Taverne, where many patrons enjoyed a cold one while filling up on a ... read more ››

Nunavik goes back to the future

Inuit hunters in Nunavik are being asked to return to dogsledding as climate change continues to eat away at ice floes, making snowmobiling increasingly dangerous, according to Martin Tremblay, an environmental researcher with the Kativik Regional Government, which oversees Quebec’s Artie region. Inuit hunters’ dependence on snowmobiles for transportation over the ... read more ››

Deer Killed Near Ouje-Bougoumou – The Species Is Rarely Seen That Far North

It began with a Moose and Bear Hunting Contest in Ouje-Bougoumou in early September. I was really looking forward to the moose hunt. I went with my uncle Dave and his family to their hunting territory at Waposite Lake. When we arrived, the camp was all we could have imagined: nice ... read more ››

Firearms Safety Is Always First

Firearms play an important part in the lives of many Cree. If you have a gun, then it is up to you to make sure that it does not fall into the wrong hands or cause accidents. Given that moose and goose breaks are happening, the Nation along with the ... read more ››

What Goes Around Comes Around

The spring time goose hunt has always been a big part of our culture and tradition on the James Bay coast. It is a period that has been part of our way of life for thousands of years. People up the coast look forward to seeing the annual migration of ... read more ››

John Rupert Killed the First Two Geese in Whapmagoostui

On April 22nd 2005 at approximately 2:00 p.m.

My First Goose Break

The anticipation of shooting my first goose had me fidgeting in the car on the drive up to Paul Dixon’s trapline. It also gave me a lot of time to think. I wondered how many geese I’d bag. I was hoping for three, but I’d settle for one. During the eight-hour ... read more ››

Who Killed the First Goose?

Every year the Nation desparately phones around to see who gets the kudos for killing the first goose in their community. Geese represent the beginning of spring for many Crees. It is also the end of winter and the lean times for trappers living on country food. So here’s the ... read more ››

Your Favorite Goose Hunting Spot

The Nation asked a few goose hunters in Eeyou Istchee for their favorite goose hunting spots. We also asked what qualities make for a good goose boss, or whether a goose boss is even needed. Harry Scipio of Chisasibi: My favorite goose hunting spot is at Seal River far north of ... read more ››

Hunting Regulations in Eeyou Istchee: What do you think?

The question we pose for this issue concerns gun regulations or hunting restrictions. Some of the regulations from section 57 of the Conservation Act state that no one is to leave a cartridge in the chamber or charger. No one is to shoot a firearm from a vehicle, including a ... read more ››

Board Removes C.T.A. President from Office

Citing a lack of leadership, the Cree Trappers Association board of directors voted to fire CTA President Johnny Cooper December 9. Cooper says he is stunned by the decision “I didn’t feel too happy,” he told the Nation. “It wasn’t a very good Christmas gift.” CTA Director Donald Gilpin, who has been ... read more ››

Hunting in the ‘Grey’ Zone – Cree Fined for Following Game; Discovers Strange Grand Council Policy

Jimmy Cooper is beginning to wonder the meaning of being Cree in today’s world after a Val d’Or Court ruling found him guilty of hunting south of the 49th parallel – even though he had signed an agreement with the farmer who owned the land he was hunting on. Having grown up ... read more ››

Goose & Moose Break

This week we look at Moose and Goose Break. Along the coast of James Bay people are out goose hunting and further inland they are out Moose hunting. We asked people their observations and of course how they like their goose or moose cooked. George Snowboy Sr, Chisasibi said he didn’t ... read more ››

Nuudmessanaan…”The Place Where We Fish”

Nuudmessanaan is a fishing spot upriver from Waskaganish. Rezolution Pictures International went to visit Johnny Weistche and his wife Clymie. We were there to film them fishing. They had been fishing since August and Johnny listed off almost all the other Cree communities he sent the fish to. Johnny would check ... read more ››

Moose Hunt 2004 – Four-year-old Caller Helps Grandfather Bag Three Moose!

Last year on a return trip from Caniapiscau (along the James Bay highway) my son Emmett shot his first moose. That day we saw three moose within 10 kilometres of each other and we vowed to return for the big bull that got away. This year we went back. Clarence Tomatuk ... read more ››

Nemaska Trapper to Walk Against Rupert Diversion

Freddy Jolly says enough is enough. The Rupert’s River diversion must be stopped and he is looking for support from as many people as he can to help him in his quest. Jolly, a Nemaska trapper, will be leaving his home on August 2. He will trek 456 kilometres to Wemindji, ... read more ››

Quebec Innu Plead Guilty to Hunting Endangered Caribou

Three Innu men from Quebec’s North Shore have pleaded guilty to killing 14 animals from the endangered Red Wine caribou herd in Labrador. In April 2003, three hunters from Pakuashipi travelled to a restricted hunting zone near Cache River in Labrador. When wildlife officials investigated, they found one of the dead caribou ... read more ››

Waswanipi Cree Model Forest to Restore Moose Habitat

A forest in danger, the livelihood of thousands on the brink of extinction? Not if the people working to create Waswanipi Cree Model Forest (WCMF) have their way. Since 1997 WCMF has been working to maintain and enhance the natural quality of Eeyou Istchee. Through developing new methods of forest management while ... read more ››

Harmonize This

Problems on your traplines? Through the trapline Harmonization and Enhancement program, in collaboration with the Cree Trappers Association and Local Joint Working Groups, tallymen finally have an opportunity to apply for funding to improve the quality of their haunting grounds. The industry has scapegoated their responsibility of sustainable forestry far too long ... read more ››

The Smell of Goose is in the Air…

This time of year represents a fresh new beginning and a rejuvenation of sorts. It also represents an important time in the lives of everyone in Eeyou Istchee. Goose Break, as numerous people have told me, is a time to reflect, a time to share, and a time for the community ... read more ››

Washaw Sibi Bags First Goose

The familiar sound of honking has returned, signaling the arrival of spring and the goose hunt. According to the Nation’s findings, the first goose in the Cree communities was had April 6 by Jeff Ruperthouse of Washaw Sibi. It was given to Beatrice Trapper who prepared it and had a ... read more ››

Cree Trappers Association to Restructure

The Cree Trappers Association (CTA) is looking to restructure itself in order to better serve the trappers of Eeyou Istchee. The CTA was created through the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (JBNQA) in 1978 and has almost 4,000 card-carrying members. “It was felt (back then) that the Cree hunters and ... read more ››

Trapline Tale: A Will to Change

Harry Capissisit’s last wishes were simple: to leave his trapline to his sister. Upon his death in 2002, because there were no other men in his family, he wanted to pass trapline W15 to his 68-year-old sister Jane, and later to her grandson Steve Coulombe. However, Harry’s wish is controversial. The ... read more ››

Ontario to pass ‘right to hunt’ law

The Ontario government is poised to push through Bill 135, the Heritage Hunting and Fishing Act, which gives people a “right to hunt and fish.” The Chiefs of Ontario fear the law will weaken the ability of the provincial natural resources ministry to conserve and manage the province’s wildlife. The ... read more ››

2002 – A good year for trappers

The Fur Harvesters Auction Inc.’s 11th annual convention, held February 28 to March 2 at their fur barn warehouse in North Bay, Ontario, attracted an unprecedented number of Aboriginal trappers and representatives of Aboriginal trapping organizations. Ironically, although trapping in many northern areas of Canada is still the traditional occupation for ... read more ››

A SOUL SATISFIED

We hunted goose differently from the way the coastal people did. On the ice where there is a lot of open water is where we would go when we wanted to kill geese. When the geese were spotted sitting out on the ice on a lake, we made a trail ... read more ››