I apologize in advance because this post is pretty long. If the moderator needs to edit or remove it I understand.





Nunami Outfitters Hunt Report - Caribou



I rifle hunted caribou in northwest Quebec, Canada, with Nunami Outfitters on Sept 24-30, 2004. While I did take a good bull (357 B&C gross green score) I do have some issues with the hunt � from the very beginning to the return.



I purchased this hunt from a booking agent, Bullseye Outfitters, at a hunting show. I was told that there had been several cancellations for the week prior to the rut and that the price was reduced from $4800 to $3875 to fill the slots. The rep confidently stated that I could expect to see thousands of caribou and if I would listen to my guide and be patient, I had a good chance of taking two B&C bulls. It was explained that when you were taken to camp, if the caribou were not there the outfitter would fly you either to a spike camp where there were caribou or fly you to the main herd.



Nunami�s Literature and website claimed 100% success rate on two bulls for the past 5 years and really played up the point that �trophy� bulls were what they produced. Of course, the photos in the literature showed several monster caribou that were taken.



This sounded too good to be true so I called the owner camp, Michelle Lemieux, in Montreal. I explained what the rep had stated and Michelle chuckled, saying that he would not guarantee B&C bulls, but with patience I could expect to take two very big bulls. He confirmed that if there were no caribou where I was, I would be flown out to another camp or the herd to hunt.



I checked numerous references via the internet and telephone and got nothing but very positive information. The folks I talked to spoke of thousands of caribou . . . huge bulls . . . etc. With that, I booked the hunt for myself and two buddies who wanted to go as well.



Two of us were hunting with rifles. The third is a well known archery champion and would hunt with a bow, but we all wanted to hunt together as the arrangements were for 1 guide per three hunters. This was told to Nunami and they said that would be fine.



For over a month I watched an internet site where the caribou could be tracked weekly by radio collars and noted that it seemed that all the caribou were east of the hunting area by a couple of hundred miles.



I stayed in touch with Nunami, to insure that I was doing everything I needed to. I even checked to see if I needed to bring salt for capes and tape and rubber hose to protect the racks during the shipment back. I was told that there would be plenty of salt in came and that everything would be taken care of to ship the racks and not to worry.



The hunt date arrived and we flew into Montreal where we were to stay at a hotel for the hunters. I had been given a phone number and name to call when I arrived at the hotel and when I did, no one at that number knew the person I was supposed to contact. When I explained I was told to call there because I was going on a caribou hunt with Nunami, the person only said that I should be in the hotel lobby at 9pm for a meeting. I was starting to get a little nervous!



Nine o�clock arrived and a man known only as �Harry� arrived. He looked as though he had been in the bush hunting for the past 6 months . . . unshaven and unkempt. His job was to give everyone a Nunami cap (there were 18 total hunters in the group) and hand out different colored tags that we were to put our name on and attach to our luggage. He offered no other information or explanation. When we began quizzing him about what the hunting conditions were, he only said that the caribou were not around the main lodge and the only caribou that they had been seeing were still 90% in velvet.



We asked why the address tags were different colors and he explained that the color determined what camp we were going to. Of the three in my group, we had two different colored tags so I asked Harry why we were not assigned together. He asked if we were rifle or bow hunters and I explained that one was bow and two were rifle. He then said that the bow hunter would be going with other bowhunters. We immediately let him know that this was unacceptable as we had booked to hunt together. Harry did not seemed pleased as he had to go back through his list of hunters and juggle names around and re-distribute tags. My question of why they did not know of our arrangement since I had booked it that way was only met with a statement that he had not been told. My nervousness over this outfitter and the upcoming hunt was increasing.



We also learned that 4 members of the group were from a national TV hunting show. The host, camera crew, and a couple of other guys were to be filming the hunt for their show.



Everyone was told to be in front of the hotel at 8:00am the following morning to go to our charter plane. It was to leave at 9:00am.



The following morning all hunters were ready to go at 8:00am. At about 8:30am Harry pulled up in a large cargo truck and everyone loaded their luggage, guns, bows, and other gear onto it. Harry then said nothing to the group of hunters, but got into the truck and drove away! I looked at my buddies and a couple of other hunters and commented that we had just watched thousands of dollars of gear drive away in a truck driven by a guy whom we didn�t even know his last name! Now several of us were nervous!



At about 9:30am two shuttle buses pulled up and told us they were taking us to the airport. When we arrived at the plane, a Dash-8, we still had to wait for a fuel truck to arrive to gas up the plane before we could leave. At this time, I�m wondering if the rest of the trip was going to be as unorganized as what I had already encountered.



The flight was uneventful and we arrived at Kuujjuarapik, to switch planes and fly to the camp. After all of the gear was unloaded from the plane, everyone was told to grab only their rifle or bow. When a couple of us started to also get our baggage, we were reminded that we were only to take our rifle or bow due to the weight factor on the plane. They explained that our luggage would be delivered later. Luckily, a few of us did get into our luggage and pull out some ammo and stuck it in our pockets. Several of the hunters flew out dressed in jeans and a dress shirt instead of hunting clothes.



Twelve of the 18 hunters (my party included) got onto a Twin Otter and left northbound. We figured that the other six were coming to camp either on another plane or our plane was coming back to get them.



It didn�t take long to figure out that we were flying a different direction than where the lodge was supposed to be. As it turned out, we landed at a spike camp about 100 miles north of the main lodge. All 12 hunters got out of the plane and we were told that those six with yellow tags would be staying here to hunt. We asked the pilot what was going on and he explained that there were no caribou around the main camp and this was our free flyout to a spike camp. The six hunters that had been at this camp all week came up to the plane and since I was one of the ones to stay, I was hoping to see big smiles on their faces from the fantastic hunt that they had just experienced. That was not the case as they explained that they had seen very few caribou and had only taken small bulls. I�m not sure how many racks were there to be flown out but I think there were only three . . . and none of them big enough to write home about! My nervousness is getting worse.



We later learned that the TV group went to the main lodge where there was satellite TV, flush toilets, a pool table, three �restaurant style� meals per day, washer/dryer, etc. Our situation was starting to make a little sense.



The 12 hunters that had been flown out were given very little information about what was going on. This seemed to be a trend. To get information we had to ask the right questions � a difficult thing to do if you had never been on a caribou hunt before.



My buddies, Ellis and Aaron, and I met our guide, Marcel. We all hit it off immediately. Marcel was the type of person whom you could tell knew what he was doing. I felt a little better.



We checked out the spike camp and found it basic, but livable. We had bunk beds, a shower, and a small dining area. The small cabin was heated with an oil stove and a generator supplied electricity when needed. I had been told not to bring a sleeping bag as bedding was furnished but I wasn�t happy when I later crawled into a sleeping bag that smelled as though several dozen smelly caribou hunters had previously slept in it.



Someone yelled, �Caribou!� and we all went outside to see a group of bulls on a hillside about 3/4 mile away. We watched as they entered the water and swam to a point on our side of the lake, not far from camp. The three hunters that were hunting with the other guide (Nick) grabbed rifles and took after them. Within an hour of arriving, they put four bulls on the ground. None of the bulls were the �trophy bulls� that had been advertised but considering what the last group had just told us, they shot what they could.



Marcel was a super guide. Later that evening, even though our luggage still had not arrived, we took a boat and went to look for caribou. The boat was plywood and easily held four people, but the 15hp motor was a little light. Also, we had to continuously bail water as the boat had several leaks in it. Being one who does not swim, I was REALLY nervous!



We only saw 4 caribou but Aaron took one. It rough scored about 330 B&C and ended up being the second largest taken in our camp for the week.



After photos were taken Marcel gutted the bull. Aaron wanted the flat hide tanned and a skull mount so I skinned the bull while Marcel went to get the boat. We made it back to camp without problems and settled in for some of Marcel�s great cooking.



Then I learned that the �salt� that was to be in camp was barely enough to take care of a small whitetail cape, let alone the possible 12 caribou that our camp could take. The little bit of salt that was there had been used on another hide and was wet and bloody. As it turned out, only Aaron�s first flat hide had any salt put on it to preserve it.



During the course of the week, Aaron and Ellis each took two bulls. Aaron�s first bull was by far the biggest of their four. I took a 357 B&C bull and, although I did see a few more bulls, did not take a second bull as I only saw one other that even came close to the quality of mine.



One member of our group had ordered a case of soft drinks to be delivered to camp (at $40.00 per case!). They were not delivered until the day before we left. Another negative for Nunami.



Late in the hunt Marcel had taken Aaron and Ellis out on a hunt and I stayed in camp with Nick and his three hunters. The clients had all tagged out and Nick wanted to kill a couple of bulls for himself. A group of bulls were spotted headed to a water crossing that would bring them on shore near camp and Nick grabbed his muzzleloader and started after them. I had noticed that one of the bulls seemed comparable to mine and I grabbed my rifle and started to go with Nick, asking if it was alright if I went. He quickly said no, that I should stay in camp.



This is where I made a big mistake. I had already taken a big bull and really didn�t care if I took a second one. All of the other bulls I had seen were much smaller than mine and, although I had opportunities, I saw no point in shooting a second bull that was smaller. I deferred to the guide�s authority and stayed in camp. I later learned that Nick did not get a shot at that group but that there was one bull in the group that, as he said,�dwarfed mine�.



It was not until after I thought about it that I realized that I was the one paying for the hunt and that I should have had first opportunity for the bull and not a guide. Because I had a good bull it didn�t really bother me very much, but I include this information here as a point to consider when deciding to hunt with Nunami.



By the end of the week our camp of six hunters had taken 11 bulls with mine being the largest. We had only seen about 150 caribou � not the �thousands� that we had been told to expect. On Aaron�s second bull, Marcel also skinned it out for a rug and a skull mount. I was later told by Marcel that the hunt manager, someone named �Ben�, had told him during a satellite phone call that Aaron would owe $300.00 extra because his two bulls were skinned lifesize (this charge is indicated on their literature). I contested this because (1) I had skinned the first bull, and (2) the bulls were not skinned for �lifesize�, they were only skinned for a rug. As a taxidermist of 8 years I knew that �lifesize� included skinning out the hooves and the face, neither of which was done for Aaron�s bulls. When I contested this, Marcel stated that he agreed with me but it was Ben�s decision that the money had to be paid or Aaron would not get the hides. (This was not settled until we returned to Montreal and I telephoned Michelle, the owner. After discussing it, he stated that there would be no charge for either hide.)



Ellis, Aaron, and I had agreed to give all our meat to Marcel but we did want our racks packaged for the flight home. The extent of �packaging� that Nunami does is to split the skull plates of the racks and put them into a large plastic bag. No protection was given to the tips of the racks. I found an old water hose under the camp shack and Marcel gave me a partial roll of duct tape he had. I took care of the antler tips myself, despite what I had been told prior to the hunt.



Ellis was charged $60.00 for the handling of a second cape. �Handling� meant only to take it off of the head and (days later) vacuum packing it in plastic for the flight home. The lips, ears, and eyes, were not turned and the excess flesh and fat was not removed from the cape at all. Personally, I will be surprised if all our capes and hides make it through the tanning process without the hair slipping.



After flying out of camp back to Kuujjuarapik (we never did go to the main camp) we learned that the other spike camp had it worse than us. They almost ran out of food. Their only boat was full of water and sitting on the bottom and they had no motor. Their camp shack had no front door on it and they had no outhouse or shower. Both of their guides were described as young and inexperienced. I believe that the six hunters only took 4 or 5 caribou, with only one being a large one. We heard that the hunters at the main lodge took some great looking caribou (imagine that!) � a couple that I saw in a freezer later at the hotel was magnificent!



When we were all back on the Dash 8 to fly out of Kuujuarapik to Montreal, we were told that the plane was overweight and that we had to take some cargo off. Even though there were outboard motors and other cargo belonging to Nunami, the cargo that was removed from the plane was caribou meat! We estimated that of the 18 hunters on board the flight, only 3 had the meat go back with them. For me, the meat was not an issue as I had given mine to Marcel.



Back at the hotel, again we were given no information. We had to ask hotel personnel the arrangements for keeping the racks and hides overnight. A little de-briefing from someone with Nunami would have been nice.



The next lack of information dealt with getting our racks and hides through the Montreal airport. When we arrived, we learned that the plastic bag that the antlers had been packaged in was unacceptable. The airline stated that if one drop of blood is found to leak out of a package, then that package is thrown away without notification to the traveler and without liability to the airline. I�m not sure if they can back that up, but I didn�t want to be a test case.



I asked the airline representative how this could be when there are probably thousands of hunters going through that airport with capes and antlers every hunting season. The rep agreed and stated that there are also a LOT of hunters who don�t receive their antlers and capes when they arrive at home because they are improperly packaged.



He suggested that we re-package our antlers and capes and was nice enough to provide Ellis, Aaron, and I, with a large roll of plastic and several rolls of tape, which we used most of! We definitely got some nasty looks as we repacked antlers and hides on the floor in the main terminal area of the Montreal airport! As a result, all of our trophy parts arrived home OK but it certainly was with no help or guidance from Nunami!



All in all, there were good parts of the hunt � primarily that I took a bull that I�m happy with, even though it was not as big as promised. Marcel was an outstanding guide and is now on my list of �friends�.



The negative parts of the hunt were:



1. The hunt was definitely over-exaggerated to sell it. The quality of bulls that I saw were far from what we were told we would see.

2. No one was given the promised �fly-out� except for the TV guys.

3. I saw a lot more hunters in my group that were upset with Nunami than were happy with them.

4. A lot of things were promised and not delivered � salt, trophy prep, quality or trophies, and quantity of bulls (although I will agree that they couldn�t control the migration). Twelve of the 18 hunters never saw the main camp.

5. Nunami does NOTHING to give a hunter any information about what is going on, what to expect, etc. Be prepared to ask everything and believe half of what you�re told.

6. When asked to move to another location, we were told that there were no other camps to go to and the main herd was 200 miles to the east � too far to fly to.

7. Nunami�s �100% success rate� is shot to hell! Our group totaled 18 hunters and they took 29 bulls � only about 80% with several hunters going home empty handed.

8. With the exception of Marcel, it seemed that the entire Nunami operation was only interested in �Nunami� and not the hunters.



I will not hunt with Nunami again! Feel free to contact me for more information:



JDS



Email: jds (at) jerrystringer.net - replace (at) with @

WOW Jd , sounds like quite the gong show for the most part, as for animal sizes you shouldnt get to ticked off , animals come and go as they please but on the other perspective of being a guide in northern BC Canada I know alot of outfitters who BS about the size of animals in there territories .

if your ever into another caribou hunt please give northern BC a thought or two , I have included a photo of my hunting partner and his boo that sat at #4 in the book for that scoring period , the bull came in at a final score of 415 3/8 and was shot near atlin BC

bull caribou

jds
"I just took their statement about seeing thousands of caribou at face value."

I have yet to see Thousands of caribou...hundreds yes.
But Nunami has the "rep" of being in the right area
at the right time.I would had picked the first week of
Oct. but the dates you took were still good.

They didn't have camps to fly you out to,but they do
fly out to the herds daily.You can hunt the same day you fly there.Maybe they only offer that at thier "base camp".

Anyways thier lack of communication stinks.

You did take a better than avg bou.Most Quebec bou hunters
have horror stories to tell these days.

Jeff

an yet another Quebec caribou outfitter does not deliver! This is sadly the norm rather than the exception. For the life of me I cannot understand why anyone novice or not would book a hunt for anything in Quebec.
As a whole the outfitters in Quebec are more interested in themselves making $$ than offering an honest and fair hunt.
Worse than that is the treatment of USA hunters vs. those coming from Quebec!
Live an learn than go to AK. I DID! BB

Hi Jerry,

Yep, the hunt was kind of a mess, and you had beautiful cabin and great guide!
I got word last night that Nunami will be contacting some of us by letter to straighten out the mess we were in at the other camp. No idea yet what the outcome will be.
Like you, I understand how the caribou move, but I don't understand one boat for six hunters and two guides, not that it made much difference since that boat was sunk on the bottom of the lake! And I really wish they would have left the front door on the cabin instead of making a kitchen table out of it. And I kind of missed the hot showers and toilets they talked about, since neither existed at our camp. And it was fun looking for one of the guides when he got lost the first day. Our mistake was finding him! I won't even go into talking about the food! What a hoot!
Will let you know what we hear from Nunami.
Goose (The guy to your left on the plane as we flew to Montreal)