Hunting Nueltin – A Sub Arctic Adventure in a Land Where Time Stands Still!

A sip of hot coffee spreads warmth to your core as you swing open the screen door and step quietly into the cool morning air. The hushed and darkened expanse envelopes you as you walk toward the lodge, pausing briefly on the deck to take in the scenery that surrounds you. Opening the door, the sights, sounds and smells stir memories of a childhood that doesn’t seem so distant right now. You feel a calm certainty that this trip is time well spent…

The powerful opus of the outboard motor shudders to sudden silence as your guide hits the kill switch. You hear the water lap the shore and gently slap the side of the aluminum boat. The gritty shoreline meets keel and forward progress is halted. Your guide smiles and whispers hushed last minute instructions. You exit onto the beach, feel the sand beneath your boots and prepare to climb the rise immediately ahead of you. Checking your rifle, you shoulder it and anticipation begins to awaken within you.

Laboring quietly as you climb the rise of the sand esker, you watch your breath. It floats ahead and then behind you – a piece of your spirit escaped but hesitant to leave your body. Your gaze moves across the landscape and you regain that sense you don’t normally notice until you are on the hunt. The game paths you follow on the sparsely treed taiga were beaten by the foot of your prey – and the ancient hunters that came before you. You are the only one there, but you don’t feel alone.

Again checking your safety, your mind wanders into a distant past. What it must have been like for the people who once paddled these waters and walked this land. They followed the same herd on some of the same paths. This adventure is a way for you to come to know this wild place and become a part of it – they were a part of this land but their adventure was one of greater urgency. They felt the winter coming. As the nights grew longer and colder, they knew that they must be successful in their hunt. With taut and powerful handmade weapons, these People of the Deer sought the prey that would sustain them in this beautiful, though harsh, land. The meat was their sustenance. Hide and bone was their transportation, clothing and shelter. They watched the same grey ghost of their breath hanging behind them on the trail. Just as you pause to think of them, they paused to remember the hunters who came before them.

Many of the People of the Deer are gone now –or at least not living upon the land as they once did. As you gaze across this ancient pristine wilderness, you feel a presence. The spirit of an ancient unnamed hunter shares your path.

A light breeze crests the esker and cools you around the collar as movement on the horizon captures your attention and brings you instantly into the here and now. You again feel a calm certainty that this trip is time well spent…

NOTE: For detailed information on the historical and cultural facets of the Nueltin Lake area, please refer to the following books as you prepare for the adventure of a lifetime!
-Trail of the Wild Goose, Hank Parsons
-Desperate People, Farley Mowat
-Curse of the Viking Grave, Farley Mowat
-Lost in the Barrens, Farley Mowat
-No Man’s River, Farley Mowat
-Sleeping Island, P.G. Downs
-Cold Summer Wind I & II, Clayton Kline
-Unbeatable Breed, Bob Lowery
-Photo Book From the 1930’s, Earnest Oberholster
-My Journeys North from Prince of Wales to NW Territories, Samuel Hearne
-Ancient Mariner, Ken McGugen
-Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, Yates

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