I just received newsletter from Ramhead that after 35 years they sold to Sahtu Sercetarite.What is their experience in the outfitting industry ?

they are first nation-metis and so far are not involved in outfitting. maybe the land will be use only for their people ....

Anything usually involved with first nations does not usually go well.

I can guarantee that eventually this will be a sideshow, ......they've wanted the outfitters gone for a long time, ..........native politics!!!

Much more of this to come in the future. Nothing too shocking about it, as those who have been paying attention have known for several decades it was eventually going to head this way.

You will see more outfitters deciding to bail before they get pushed out. As already occurs in parts of the NWT and all of Nunavut, non-resident hunting of any kind will depend upon the local hunter/trapper associations within First Nations communities allowing a portion of their annual harvest to be used for outfitting.

There are areas right now in the provinces and territories where the First Nations demands would take up ALL of the annual allowable harvest of many big game species....... with nothing left over for resident licensed hunters, never mind "foreigners" on outfitted hunts.

There are going to be many changes in the northern areas and we, as both resident and non-resident licensed hunters, are NOT going to like them!!

With the prices that sheep areas are going for these days only the FN bands and Churches can afford them. Unquestionably, there is a move a foot to get these areas into the hands of the FN bands and I suspect we'll see prices for sheep hunts continue to climb as there becomes less and less privately owned areas.

I look to see sheep hunts by FNs go down after a few years of unorganized chaos.I just don't see this to be a successful venture.Those of us that have been on mountain asian hunts will think those were organized in spite of the short comings,compared to whats on the horizon.

Can the pricing really get much worse? Really? Hell, who knows, maybe in the long run it will become less costly. I remember when you could get an Dall hunt for 5500.00 and a Stone for well under 10K in the early 90's. Prices are triple that in 20 years. At that rate a new chevy 4x4 truck would cost 75K instead of the actual ~40K.

If the supply of quality hunts goes down, then yes sheep hunts can get much more expensive.....and will. Today is likely the cheapest sheep hunt you will ever book.

Well, at some point the average hunter saving for years will just decide to hunt something else and even well to do hunters will look elsewhere for a better valued hunt.....and only the people needing a NA sheep of a particular specie to fulfill a grand slam etc will be the hunters paying that kind of money, and they will be far fewer than what we see now. Kind of the same thought as the number of people that have a Chevy vs those that have a Mercedes.

I know change is inevitable but I hate change like this!

North American sheep hunts are already over-the-top financially! I'm glad I went on several when they were almost free, comparatively speaking. (My first Dall hunt was $2700)

These "new" prices make the Asian sheep hunts look even more appealing....and I'm glad I hunted Mongolia when I did since these are outrageously price nowadays too.

God help us all (but smile on hunters just a little more)

Zeke

Just received a follow up letter from Ram Head.The 1st newsletter stated that Stan and crew would be @ SCI Vegas to assist Canol Outfitters in their booth.Not so now as he states "we have no details on the management and operations of the new outfit,or their experience in running an outfitting area." Stan will only be @ Wild Sheep Convention.Wonder how the hunters that are already booked in advance are going to fare.He has always been booked full 3 years out.

The latest news in the North on this,

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...outfitters-1.3938613

The big question making the rounds up here, is, "who the hell is Glenda Groat?"

Classic can of worms First Nations take over of a company. First Nations outfitting operations in Canada that are managed and guided 100% by First Nations.........and function smoothly......are beyond rare. There is almost always some outside people hired to help manage/market the operations and they generally have a high turn over rate due to the problems associated with it.

I sincerely hope that some provisions were in place to refund deposits for clients that had booked and are now caught up in this. The sale of outfitting businesses even under normal circumstances can cause some problems for hunters caught in the transition.

Like I said previously, there is going to be more of this. Many of these transfers will be a complete flop and will be perpetually fraught with problems as new management comes and goes. I sincerely hope that this will not be the case but I have seen way too much of how things usually go with business arrangements between non-aboriginal and Dene beneficiaries to believe that will be the case.

Looks like the outfit is going to be run by a very capable gal that knows the Mackenzie's well. I'm sure if she has the final say on things that the outfit will run as smoothly as ever. I've known Glenda for well over a decade and she's as tough as any man in the mountains and a darned straight shooter! I wish her well. It sounds as though Stan has returned all the deposits he took.

Good to hear Stan returned the deposits.

I am sure your assessment of Glenda is accurate. The key will be whether she is allowed to manage things as she sees fit. That is usually the stumbling block.

Time will tell.

quote:

Originally posted by ~Arctic~:


The big question making the rounds up here, is, "who the hell is Glenda Groat?"

Certainly not in the sheep hunting world is anyone asking that!

quote:

Originally posted by Skyline:
The key will be whether she is allowed to manage things as she sees fit. That is usually the stumbling block.

Time will tell.

That will be the challenge for sure.