Northwest Territory

Northwest Territory Hunts

Canada’s Northwest Territories cover over 519,734 square miles. The regions of Dehcho, North Slave, Sahtu, South Slave, and Inuvik are located within its boundaries. Their remote landscape encompasses forests, mountains, Arctic tundra, and islands in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Dehcho's Nahanni National Park Reserve centers around the canyons of the South Nahanni River and 100-foot-high Virginia Falls. The regional capital, Yellowknife, is on the north shore of Great Slave Lake. The Northwest Territories has the most interprovincial and inter-territorial land borders among all provinces and territories of Canada. The territories of Nunavut border it to the east, Yukon to the west, and the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan to the south. It also touches Manitoba to the southeast at a four-point intersection, including Nunavut and Saskatchewan. The land area of the Northwest Territories is roughly equal to France, Portugal, and Spain rolled into one. However, its overall area is even larger due to the size of its immense lakes.

Hunting in the Northwest Territories in Canada epitomizes a big-game hunter’s snowy paradise. The Northwest Territories reach over half a million square miles. As a result, the climate is very diverse from the south to the north. Southern regions are subarctic, while northern territories are exclusively polar. The wildlife in the Northwest Territories reflects these climate differences.

Residents and tourists hunting the Northwest Territories enjoy a large bear population, leading to popular Black bear and Grizzly bear hunts. Whitetail and Mule deer also frequent these regions. Caribou, Elk, Moose, and huge Dall Sheep constantly travel in herds. Cougars also provide an adventurous hunting experience, as do wolves.

Once people make the journey to the Northwest Territories, they are often surprised by how quick and efficient the travel is. With major airlines offering service to and from Edmonton, Calgary, Whitehorse, Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver, you have many options to fly into Yellowknife. With most airlines offering connecting flights through Edmonton or Calgary, Yellowknife can be reached in less than a day’s travel from many regional centers in Canada and the United States.

The NWT’s busiest airport in Yellowknife is a connection point for flights into other NWT regional hubs and communities. Inuvik is the hub for flights into the western Arctic, with daily jet service from Yellowknife. Hay River is the hub for the South Slave region. Fort Simpson is the hub for the Dehcho region, and Norman Wells is the hub for the Sahtu region.

There’s daily jet service to Yellowknife from many southern destinations, including direct flights from Calgary (2 hours), Edmonton (1.5 hours), Ottawa (4 hours), Toronto (4 hours), Vancouver (2.5 hours) and Whitehorse (1.5 hours). The four airlines with direct flights into the Yellowknife airport are:

• Air Canada (from Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver),
• Air North (from Whitehorse, Toronto, and Ottawa)
• Canadian North (from Edmonton)
• WestJet (from Edmonton and Calgary)

Many more NWT airlines offer scheduled or charter services within the NWT to communities, wilderness rivers, national parks, remote fishing lodges, and fishing lakes.

The Northwest Territories can also be reached by vehicle. Northwest Territories roads take you through scenic, unspoiled wilderness, yet there’s access to campgrounds, picnic sites, service stations, and visitor information on major highways.

Three southern highways link to the fabled northern routes. Drive up the Alaska Highway through the Yukon to reach the legendary Dempster Highway, leading you to the Western Arctic hub of Inuvik and the coastal town of Tuktoyaktuk. Follow Alberta Highway 35 north through the boreal forest to connect with NWT Highway 1 south of Hay River. Or, in British Columbia, take Highway 77 to the pioneering Liard Trail, running parallel to the Mackenzie Mountains and ending in Fort Simpson.

All major communities in the territory, and many of the smaller outposts, are linked by year-round highways. Most of these routes are paved, and standard passenger cars, RVs, etc., can navigate all of them.

In summer, four-car ferries bear travelers across the unbridged rivers. For several weeks during “freeze up” in the autumn and “break up” in the spring, these ferries are out of operation, limiting overland access to certain parts of the territory.

In the winter, the territory’s lakes and rivers freeze over and become ice roads that temporarily connect fly-in communities in the Sahtu, Dehcho, North Slave, and Western Arctic regions to the rest of the highway grid. These roads, built atop packed snow and three-foot-thick lake ice, weave through the Mackenzie Delta, the Mackenzie Valley, the North Slave region, and to the Dehcho towns of Nahanni Butte and Sambaa K’e. Take precautions and ensure you are stocked with warm winter gear and supplies if you drive on these roads. Or, if you want to stay relatively close to town and still experience the wonder of an ice road, feel free to get creative with your method of transportation.

The Animals

Black Bear

Black bears tend to stay in their small personal territories. They prefer dense forests and will eat meat and plant life as well. If meat is scarce, Black bears will feed on berries, fruit, and vegetation. 

Barren Ground Grizzly Bear

The Arctic barren ground grizzly is one of the great trophies of the world. These bears are hunted on 10-day hunts from late April to the end of May when they are just coming out of their dens. Arctic grizzly bears are beautiful bears and often have hair that is over 4” long with no rubs. These bears are hunted on the mainland in the far western areas of the Northwest Territories. Hunters and their Inuit guides will travel by snowmobile while searching for male bears.

Polar Bear

There is only a spring season in the Northwest Territories, with hunts taking place in February, March, and April. The weather is coldest in February, with 8 to 10 hours of daylight. Temperature and daylight hours increase as time progresses towards April. Hunts take place off snow machines with sleds called qamutiks towed behind to get to base camp, then dog teams and sleds while hunting. Bears will be looking for seals and will live near open water. Cabins and small wall tents are the normal accommodations on these hunts. In addition, muskox, wolf, and wolverine can be harvested on these hunts, making this hunt a true arctic adventure. 

Whitetail Deer/Mule Deer

Whitetail deer are found throughout the country and have the largest population of any big game in Canada. Mule deer are also present but are located more to the west than anywhere else. Deer graze on nuts, berries, vegetation, woody substances, and acorns. Deer are cautious and usually travel into the wind for protection.

Caribou/Elk/Moose

Caribou, Elk, and Moose are located primarily in the mountains or the northern swampy regions, but they migrate and can be seen in many areas. During the winter, they usually stick to valleys and lowlands. They graze on a variety of nuts, fruits, and low-lying vegetation. 

Dall Sheep

The ever-impressive Dall sheep are hunted in the mountains – The Mackenzie Mountains is the prime hunting location for Dall sheep and Mountain goats.

Cougar/Wolf

Cougars live in the higher elevations of western Canada. Cougars are impressive hunters and live and bed at high altitudes, which allows them to see danger or food from a great distance.

Cougars also provide an adventurous hunting experience, as do Wolf.

Musk Ox

Musk oxen in the NWT are managed by controlling the hunting season for resident and non-resident hunters. They are hunted under quota on Melville Island, Banks Island, and four areas on the mainland. Muskox hunting season on Melville and Victoria Islands is open from August 15th to March 31st.

All non-resident hunters in the Northwest Territories must have an outfitter to hunt big game. A hunter must have a valid hunting license and proper wildlife tags to hunt big game in the Northwest Territories. Wildlife tags are issued for each species. The tags are part of the hunting license and must be attached. Licenses and tags can be purchased in Yellowknife and some of the larger communities or from vendors. However, non-residents must purchase theirs at an Environment and Climate Change office (ECC).

All non-resident hunters must have an export permit before exporting meat or big game parts. There is no fee for an export permit. However, non-resident hunters must pay a harvest fee when the animal is taken.

Firearms

When hunting big game in the Northwest Territories, the hunter must use a .222 or larger caliber to hunt wolf or wolverine. Wood bison require a 30 caliber, or larger, rifle. Ammunition for Polar bear hunting must have 2100 ft-lb of muzzle energy. (I highly recommend at least a .375, or larger, for any bear, especially those of the Polar type.) Something in the .243 and up range can be used for other game animals. You will be walking a lot, climbing a lot, and shooting very little. The rifle is undoubtedly going to be the heaviest single item you will carry. To put a finer point on the matter, if a hunter is carrying a 40-50 lb. pack on a 5-day backpack hunt and straps on a walnut stock 7mm Rem. Mag, you will have increased your load weight by 15-20% or more. No other single item is going to increase the weight on your back like your rifle.

An average rifle weighs somewhere in the 7.5-8.5 lb. range without a scope (although many rifles are heavier). Furthermore, there are several featherweight rifles that weigh 5-6 pounds. At those weights, many hunters can shave two or more pounds off their load by switching to a lightweight rifle.