Aim for your best when hunting
September 2006
The PCMB wishes all hunters a safe and successful hunt.
It might seem counterintuitive to want hunters to be successful. After all, if a hunter misses his prey, that's good news for the caribou, right?
Not necessarily. After all, if a hunter wounds a caribou that runs away and then dies a few days later, that hunter still needs meat and will keep trying to kill a caribou.
Or if a hunter shoots into a group of caribou and the bullet passes through and kills one animal, that same bullet might wound another caribou and that second caribou might run away and die some time later.
Responsible hunting, then, can save the hunters the long chases and expensive bullets. And responsible hunting can save the herd unnecessary deaths.
With responsible hunting, fewer animals die to put the same amount of meat on people's tables.
Here are some ideas to ensure the best success.
First, make sure you use the right kind of rifle and the right kind of bullet.
Rifles such as a 25-06 Remington, a .270 Winchester, a .280 Remington, a 30-06 Springfield, a .303 British and similar cartridges shooting bullets 120 to 180 grains will kill a well hit caribou from much further away than a 30-30 Winchester. Choose one of the lighter weight bullets in your caliber choice, i.e., 150 grain in a 30-06.
To ensure accurate shots, sight-in your rifle before you hunt, each and every time you hunt, and always sight-in with the same kind of ammunition you will use to hunt.
The PCMB and the territorial governments have targets available free of charge for hunters to sight in their guns.
A bullet always travels in a big arc, some almost like a rainbow. No bullet shoots flat, but some shoot flatter than others. A 30-30 Winchester, 32 Special, 300 Savage or 45-70 shoot in a much bigger arc than .243, .270, 30-06, 7 mm Remington Magnum or any .300 magnum. These last named cartridges start off faster with pointed bullets so they shoot flatter.
The flat nosed, slower moving 30-30 Win has to be aimed much higher to hit the target at 150 yards.
It is not easy to correctly estimate your target's distance in the wide open space of the tundra. Choosing a flat shooting rifle and using good bullets that retain their speed and energy for longer distances is a good idea.
It's the speed of the bullet that gives it the energy, which is its killing power. If the bullet is slower to start with and loses speed rapidly then it also loses energy to the point where it will not kill the animal when it hits.
With your sighted-in rifle, you need to know what to aim for on the caribou's body.
The bullet should be shot into the heart/lung area to kill the animal quickly without it suffering.
Steady yourself before you take aim. Sit down or kneel using your knees as a rest or rest against the snow machine; do not shoot from the standing position.
Bullets easily pass through even big animals, so wounding a second animal could happen. Don't shoot at a group of animals. Instead, pick one that is separate, with no others on the opposite side of it, and shoot that animal.
A wounded animal should be immediately shot again to kill it. This prevents the animal from wandering off and dying elsewhere, where it is wasted. It also minimizes the suffering.
Very important is the fact that meat flavor can be tainted by the animal going into shock after being wounded. A quick death means better meat.
Before you shoot an animal, check the time. After the animal is killed, you will have to retrieve it and field-dress it. It's important to make sure you have time to do that before you lose daylight.
Another factor affecting meat quality is the rutting season. Hormones released by the animal during that time can make the meat stinky and foul tasting, and most people can't tolerate eating that meat.
To avoid disappointment in your first caribou dinner, it's best to avoid hunting Porcupine Caribou between October 10 and November 1.
We have also requested that all hunters voluntarily avoid hunting female caribou so that the herd's declining population has the best chance to recover.
Rather than shooting a female or bull caribou during the rut, the PCMB would advise hunting at a different time. Or, very skilled hunters can select immature bulls during that time. While immature bulls that are unlikely to have participated in the rut will not have meat tainted by hormones, it can be very tricky to identify them.
Once an animal has been shot, the animal should be kept cool, clean and dry.
Gut the animal promptly to avoid spoilage, especially if it was shot in the belly. Gut the animal carefully to avoid contamination by spilling contents of the bladder, stomach or bowels on meat.
The skimmer or truck box should be clean of gas, oil, garbage or saw dust – use a tarp.
Be sure to consider your transportation. If you use a snow machine, be sure to avoid harassing the caribou. Chasing them fills their muscles with chemical compounds such as lactic acid, which make the meat taste bad. And if the chase isn't successful, you may have scattered the group of caribou, which means you'll have to go farther to try again.
Finally, novices can benefit from going out with experienced hunters to learn hands-on best practices for a successful hunt. In addition, hunter education courses are a great way to get detailed instruction.
The PCMB is currently working with user groups to develop a Porcupine Caribou hunter education curriculum to be delivered throughout the range of the herd. This curriculum will incorporate traditional knowledge and will be adaptable for hunters of all age groups.
By using these guidelines as a starting point for ethical and successful hunting, hunters will be happier with their results, and the caribou herd will experience less hunting stress.
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