The following section explains the two methods we use to capture caribou.

River Captures

In early October 1997, Robert Kay and William Josie from Old Crow took YTG and Alaskan biologists out on the Porcupine River while caribou were crossing during their fall migration south. Caribou were seen crossing about 42 miles up the river from Old Crow.

There were long periods of waiting on the shore until caribou were spotted walking on the opposite shore and getting ready to cross. Once the caribou were in the water, the capture crew quickly got into their boats to catch up to the caribou. The boats approached the caribou from behind and a cow was picked out.

A long rope was used to catch the antlers and the caribou was moved along side the boat. The boat would move the caribou closer to shore since they seemed easier to handle when they had their feet on the bottom of the river. One person would hold the caribou by the antlers. This is not as easy as it sounds since caribou are strong and maneuverable swimmers and can turn away from the boat very quickly.

Once we were sure the caribou was a cow, a second person put the collar around her neck. Then the caribou was released. The total handling time was about 2 to 3 minutes. This method is thought to be the least stressful for the caribou. Eleven caribou were collared with this method, with 8 of them having satellite collars.

Net Gun Captures

This method involved shooting a net out of a special gun from a helicopter. The helicopter moves in on a group of caribou and a cow is picked out of the group. The shooter sits behind the pilot, in the doorway of the helicopter with the shooter's door removed. The pilot moves the helicopter into position, slightly behind the chosen caribou. The net is then shot out so it drapes over the front half of the caribou. This is so that the antlers and front feet catch in the net and the caribou is less likely to get away.

Once a caribou has a net on it, a second person quickly gets out to secure the animal. Once the caribou is under control, the shooter can then get out of the helicopter and help. A third person, who was dropped off before the capture started, is then brought over to where the caribou and the other 2 biologists are waiting.

For the biologist's safety, the caribou's feet are tied because they can kick very hard. Once they are immobile, the caribou calm down very quickly, often within a couple of minutes. There are always one or two people physically restraining the caribou. Another person puts the collar on and takes any other measurements and samples we need, like blood for example.

This is the most efficient method we use to capture caribou and is the only way that we can recapture the caribou to remove or replace their collars.

Net Gun Re-captures

The method used to re-capture the satellite collared caribou is the same as a normal net gun capture, except that it is more difficult. When we are capturing a random animal, we have the luxury of choosing any one out of the group. In a re-capture, we have to find and catch one specific animal that may be in a group of 20, 100, or 10,000 caribou. Obviously, finding the collared caribou is the first challenge.

To find the caribou, we have a crew of biologist in a fixed-wing aircraft fly high overhead and locate the collared caribou by its radio-transmitter signal. Once they have located the caribou, the airplane circles overhead while the helicopter flies in underneath. The crew in the helicopter is also listening to the radio signal and flying at a lower elevation to look at all the caribou. The biologists in the airplane tell the helicopter when they think that the helicopter is directly over the collared caribou. Once the helicopter crew spots the collared caribou they proceed with the capture.