Part of this decline - which has been slow and steady but now seems to have stopped or stabilized - is attributed to numbers of animals actually leaving the traditional migration routes of the George River herd and joining the Leaf River herd, which is now apparently nearly equal in size to the once much larger George River herd. The upshot is, the overall decline in numbers for the George River herd is definitely NOT a crash. In fact this is potentially very good news for hunters heading to Quebec/Labrador in the coming years.
First of all, with numbers declining, the northern ecosystem which supports these vast herds, is recovering from overuse. As a result it seems likely that the George River herd will return to a more stable migration pattern to take advantage of the food supplies replenished in the areas they had abandoned. This would be good news indeed for hunters and outfitters from Shefferville who have been scrambling to cope with increasingly erratic migrations for the last decade.
The second bit of good news in the survey is that, with reduced competition for food and the availability of shorter migration routes, the animals in the George River herd are gaining in size and weight. That should translate into bigger antlers on the bulls in the coming seasons.
So, if you don't already have a Quebec/Labrador caribou on your trophy room wall, this is as........(continued)
