Because of an illness I was asked to join a group of Caribou hunters in the NWT this fall. I was told by the group leader that there was a $150 trophy fee per animal for any caribou that is exported from the NWT. I am not sure if he was quoting US or canadain $$. Is there a reason for this charge other than another way to generate revenue? Who collects the fee?

It's been 2yrs since I went, but if I recall correctly it is $150cdn/animal and you only have to pay it if you take the meat home. You pay the govt. When you get back to Yellowknife the outfitter takes you to get the meat/horns inspected.

It previously was called an export fee because you pay it if any part of the animal is leaving the NWT in an unfinished state. Bottom line is to use Robertson's Taxidermy in Yellowknife and donate your meat to the Food Bank. You'll get a high quality mount and not have to pay the fee, as when the mount goes to you it is a finished product!
There has been some lobbying to drop the trophy fee and just charge a higher? licence fee. .......yeah, like $400 more? ......No, don't complain, where else can you buy a non-resident licence and tag for $50 and go hunting? If you don't shoot, you're only out $50, and if you do take something, you then pay the trophy or kill fee, ........to me it sure beats some western states! Is it generating revenue? .....of course, but the NWT only sells maybe 4000 hunting licences in total, and resident tags are $10, so any hunter revenue is appreciated to justify hunting to all the tree huggers that would love to stop this insane killing of cute creatures.
Where else can you go to hunt and be successful for $200 in licences and fees? And that's only $150 in US dollars, the cost of one hotel room in Yellowknife!
a few years back when they tried increasing everything< we fought hard to keep this cheap and simple, ..........didn't know that some preferred to pay the higher rate of other areas.
~Arctic~

trapntrav & Artic,

Thank you for the explanation. When I went to Newfoundland I had to ship the meat home because the planes were not large enough to carry the meat, now that was expensive!! Artic, I also sent you a PM.

something tells me there is much more to it than $200 in license and fees, like perhaps thousands of dollars in required guide fees, etc.

Is everything draw in the NWT or can one just buy a license over the counter.

What are all of the animals available to hunt in the NWT

Every non-resident must be guided in the NWT so there are other costs. Just to get here would be close to $1000, and the air charters to my camps (included in our basic costs) run me over $4000 apiece, but that's the price of true wilderness hunting. Basically the licences are over the counter, but each outfitter has a tag quota. In the NWT you can hunt dall sheep. goats, moose, 3 types of caribou, central Canada barren land, mountain, and Peary or Arctic Islands, plus muskox, polar, black or grizzly bear, wolf, wolverine, and walrus and seal. As a bonus, the fishing is excellent for trout, pike, grayling, char, etc. The NWT is twice the size of Alaska with only 40,000 people and 1/2 of them are in Yellowknife ....that means most of the country is absolute wilderness! ~Arctic~

I would recommend Robertson's Taxidermy as well,didn't have my caribou done there as I already had other arrangements, but I did tour their shop and they do nice work.

I'd like to assure everyone that Arctic is exactly what he says he is.

I've known him well for decades, and the NWT is precisely as he describes. His camps are hundreds of miles beyond ANY form of road access (except winter ice roads) and his outfit offers just about the truest Northern wilderness experiences available anywhere.

Dang...I may have to go back there myownself...as a "sport", this time!

(His quote of $4000 per charter is for the whole airplane, not each hunter!)