Hunter Education

Hunting Polar Bear in the Winter is a guide to hunting one of the most important game animals for Inuit. This book includes advice on preparing for the hunt, avoiding detection by the polar bear, skinning the animal, preserving the meat, and staying safe on the hunt. It also includes information about traditional Inuit hunting methods and reflections on ethical and environmentally friendly hunting. Supplementary video resources showing actual hunting footage and interviews with hunters, elders, and wildlife officers are available online. Bilingual English / Inuktitut tumble. Hunting is one of the most important land skills in the Arctic, and continues to be an important source of income and food for many people and communities. The Hunter Education Series facilitates the transmission of knowledge regarding proper hunting techniques, safety, and animal behaviour. It will also help to preserve traditional Inuit hunting knowledge and the value of environmental stewardship. The third in the Hunter Education series, this book provides concrete and practical information for hunting one of the North's most iconic animals. CONTENTS Introduction.............................................................................9 CHAPTER 1 PREPARING FOR THE HUNT.............................................. 15 Equipment ......................................................................... 16 Tools............................................................................ 16 Food, Clothing, and Other Basics ..........................18 Camping and Overnight Supplies ..........................18 Emergency Supplies................................................. 19 Your Rifle .........................................................................20 Choosing Your Rifle.................................................20 Preparing Your Rifle................................................. 21 Preparing Your Qamutiik............................................... 23 Preparing Your Snowmobile ......................................... 24 Checking the Weather.................................................... 26 Traditional Methods of Predicting Weather........ 28 Dressing Appropriately.................................................. 29 Preparing for Emergencies ........................................... 30 Considerations for Camping ......................................... 32 Equipment Checklist ......................................................34 Summary .......................................................................... 36 CHAPTER 2 UNDERSTANDING THE ANIMAL ....................................... 41 Background Information about Polar Bears ............... 41 Senses and Behaviours ........................................... 41 How to Locate Polar Bears ...........................................43 Determining Sex, Health, and Age...............................45 Sex..............................................................................45 Health and Age ........................................................ 47 Major Observable Differences between Male and Female Polar Bears .......................................48 Summary .......................................................................... 52 CHAPTER 3 HUNTING TECHNIQUES ..................................................... 55 Approaching the Animal................................................ 55 Taking the Shot ...............................................................56 Aiming ...................................................................... 57 Firearm Safety .........................................................58 Other Considerations..............................................58 Traditional Inuit Skills and Knowledge........................60 Summary ......

Hunting is one of the most important land skills in the Arctic, and continues to be an important source of income and food for many people and communities. The Hunter Education Series facilitates the transmission of knowledge regarding proper hunting techniques, safety, and animal behaviour. It will also help to preserve traditional Inuit hunting knowledge and the value of environmental stewardship. CONTENTS Introduction .............................. 9 CHAPTER 1 PREPARING FOR THE HUNT ............... .15 Equipment ............................ .16 Hunting Tools....................... .17 Food, Clothing, and Other Basics ...... .19 Emergency Supplies................. 22 Your Rifle ............................. 23 Preparing Your Transportation........... 27 Preparing Your Boat................. 27 Preparing Your Snowmobile .......... .31 Checking the Weather .................. 34 Tides .............................. 36 Dressing Appropriately ................. 38 Preparing for Emergencies .............. 39 Equipment Checklist ................... 42 Summary ............................ . 44 CHAPTER 2 UNDERSTANDING THE ANIMAL ............ 47 Background Information about Narwhals . . 48 How to Locate Narwhals ................ .51 Determining Sex, Health, and Age ........ 52 Summary ............................. 56 CHAPTER 3 HUNTING TECHNIQUES ................... 59 Approaching the Animal ................ 60 Harpooning the Narwhal ................ 63 Shooting the Narwhal .................. 65 Firearm Safety ..................... 66 Traditional Skills ...................... . 68 Summary ............................. 72 CHAPTER 4 AFTER THE HUNT ........................ 75 Skinning and Dressing .................. 76 When to Skin and Dress .............. 76 The Process ........................ 77 Removing the Tusk .................. 79 Uses for the Animal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Summary ............................. 82 Taking Care on the Land, Taking Care of the Land ................... 85 Photo Credits ............................ 89

CONTENTS Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 CHAPTER 1 GETTING READY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Trip Plan and Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Sail Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Preparing Your Snowmobile . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Preparing Your Boat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Hunting Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Food, Clothing, and Other Essentials . . . 30 Emergency Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 How to Pack Your Qamutiik . . . . . . . . . . . 34 How to Pack Your Boat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Checking the Weather . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Tides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Dressing Appropriately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 On the Ice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 On the Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Preparing for Emergencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Equipment Checklist: Ice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Equipment Checklist: Water . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Sample Sail Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 CHAPTER 2 NAVIGATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Traditional Navigation Methods . . . . . . . . . . 56 Uqalurait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Sea Currents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Puikkaqtuq . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 The Sun and Stars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Landmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Modern Navigation Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 CHAPTER 3 HAZARDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Hazards on the Ice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Leads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 The Floe Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Thin Ice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Rough Ice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Landfast Ice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Polynyas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Overflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Weather Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Travelling in the Dark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Wildlife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Break-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Hazards on the Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Tides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Wind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Islands, Rocks, and Reefs . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Icebergs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Boating in the Dark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Wildlife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 CHAPTER 4 EMERGENCY SITUATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Equipment Breakdowns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Avoiding Snowmobile Breakdowns . . . . . 97 Avoiding Boat Breakdowns . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Accidents and Other Health Issues...... 100 Falling through the Ice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 If You Fall through the Ice . . . . . . . . . . . 102 If Someone Else Falls through the Ice . 103 Person Overboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Hypothermia . . . .