By Ron Spomer
Presented by Bernard+Associates
Shaggy, hump-backed remnants of the Pleistocene, musk ox are flourishing on the Arctic tundra.
There were no polar bears, and no minus-60 degree temperatures. But there were musk oxen.
“On the bluff across the river,” our camp cook said, pointing. He was the first person awake in our tundra camp high above the Arctic Circle in Nunavut, one of the new provinces carved out of Canada’s Northwest Territories. “Probably an old bull all by itself. Just off that point. See?”
“Oh yeah!” Three veteran U.S. hunters eyeballed their first wild musk ox, one of most recognized yet least seen and least appreciated big game animals in North America.
Two of us hopped into an aluminum boat with George Hagonak, one of our Inuit guides, and motored across the wide, milky Ellice River.
“Both horns are broken off,” I said after a careful study through binoculars. The others confirmed it, despite the dim, gray dawn light.
“He’s an outcast,” George explained. “Lost his standing when he lost his weapons. The younger bulls have taken over the herd.” Read the rest of this entry »
