Government press release
https://www.mffp.gouv.qc.ca/english/press/press-release-detail.jsp?id=11259
The Hunting Report
http://www.huntingreport.com/worldupdate.cfm?articleid=721
You can easily do a high success DIY bou hunt up there for less than the cost of those guided packages.
"ou can still do AK for less money and be sure there will be no surprises.. such as going from two animals to one."
You're talking about the government....you can't predict no surprises.
Make no mistake...Alaska unguided Bou hunting has not been without its share of d-nozzles either. When the Mulchatna Herd was at its peak, hundreds of guys from the lower 48 were hosed by unscrupulous AMERICAN outfitters. Same thing has been happening in Kotzebue for the last 10 or more years. If you add up the economic hosing given American hunters by American outfitters in Alaska over the last 10 years, I would guess that it would far outweigh what's been handed out by our unscrupulous neighbors to the north.
Not defending anyone or any locale, just making an observation that the flag flying over an outfitters camp does not make him safe or unsafe. Always buyer beware.
"Couple of thoughts......up until the point that Tutilluk pulled the plug, there wasn't a hunter alive that didn't think they were the greatest. Not trying to put JHA in the same category. However, just something to keep in mind."
He is 100% right in that Tuttulik was a great operation and well touted, in every way possible including Bowsite sponsors, semi-live hunts, and hosting of one Bowsite group hunt and another one lost in the scam. From a hunting offering perspective, results, value, track record, etc. they were top notch in the field until the day they locked the camp doors and flew out (I know I was there when we locked the doors for the last time).
Their issue was 100% financial, credit related, etc. That is something that we are all subject to getting bitten by unless we are doing credit checks and running D&Bs on there outfitters.........and not just once, but regularly since that can change in short order. I know I don't do that. Not sure how to figure that into the mix..........references on the hunt experience are all best in class, but they go bankrupt.
That could happen with a Hume, Moody, Visser, Jaragin, Knapper, etc. but it could happen with any business, including the airline to fly to the hunt on or the company who makes your car. It could happen to your guy in AK or the flight service you use in a drop camp. I guess the issue becomes what recorse may one have in a chapter 7 or 11.
I'd hunt with Hume forever and take the chance. That operation is solid at least to the extent anyone can check.
(posted June 02, 2015) We have received word that Quebec's Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs (MFFP) has not renewed Sarfari Nordik's outfitting license. The ministry informed the public of their decision through Newswire.ca, and has not yet issued a press release on their website.
Back in Feburary we advised readers that the MFFP was considering testimonies from hunters who had encountered problems with Safari Nordik. At that point, we noted that "If it is established that Safari Nordik failed to provide the lodging, services or equipment necessary for the carrying on of the activity concerned and for which a person has paid, the Minister may suspend or revoke the outfitter's license, as stipulated in section 177 of the Act respecting the conservation and development of wildlife (CQLR, chapter, c. C-61.1)."
It appears the MFFP has done just that, after considering Safari Nordik's failure to honor its commitments to clients. Without a license Safari Nordik will not be permitted to function as an outfitter, and will no longer be able to sell hunts in Quebec.
Given Safari Nordik's situation, we are afraid that this may diminish the likelihood that hunters will receive reparitions from undelivered hunts. We do not know what will happen to any clients who have deposit money tied up with the company, but we hope that Safari Nordik's affairs will be wound down speedily. There is already legal action proceeding against the outfitter in the form of a class-action lawsuit. Email Tim Jones at [email protected] for additionals details.
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Just got a call from a buddy who got ROBBED up there coming back from a bear hunt.......by the local police! Got pulled over for "speeding". Cop tried to say he was doing double the speed limit(BS). Bottom line was he had to pay $188 in CASH if they wanted to get home. Or go back up there to fight it in court. They ponied up the cash and got out of there.
Bottom line was he was towing a loaded trailer and had a truck camper in his pickup bed loaded-no way he could have gone that fast even if he wanted to! And, his buddies in the truck following him said NO WAY he was going anywhere close to what the cop said.
Then the cop said it would be $188 Canadian OR American. Could not pay with a credit card and would follow to cash machine if needed. And no change- had to have exact amount or he would keep the difference.
I was pissed but had no alternative as he told me he would be parked at the on ramp and watching for me if i choose not to pay.
I would like to also add here that my son Richard who took over JHA from me about 10 years ago is debt free and has no partners other than his wife Amanda. The Hume's have been guiding and outfitting in Northern Quebec for caribou since 1972 and have always paid the bills on time.You can check all you want but you will never find anyone to say otherwise. JHA is also proud to have had for many years the highest number of repeat clientele in the business.
Good hunting where ever you chose to go. Jack Hume
My buddy was loaded down and going WAY under the speed limit. No way he was breaking the law!
Notice! Nunavik Expeditions/Safari Nordik Connection If you are considering a caribou hunt in Quebec with Nunavik Adventures, take heed! Kurt Santoro, the California taxidermist long associated with Safari Nordik and at the heart of several disputes reported in our pages (read our Special Report on Safari Nordik), is attempting to set up a supposedly new operation and sell hunts under the name Nunavik Expeditions. Santoro has created both an elaborate website and a Facebook page promoting Nunavik Expeditions.
We've attempted to contact Santoro both through the email address on the Nunavik Expeditions website and his email listed on his Lifelike Taxidermy of Madero, California, company website, but emails to both addresses failed to deliver. We wanted to ask Santoro who his partners are in this venture and how many hunts he had already sold. We will continue to try to reach Santoro.
A little digging in public records in Quebec produced the not-surprising fact that Nunavik Expeditions is simply a DBA for Silak Adventures, a company that has not taken caribou hunters for some years and therefore has no license quota. The most interesting fact, however, is that Silak Adventure's company records list Nicolas Laurin as the president of the board. In other words, Nunavik Expeditions is operated and promoted by the same people who operated and promoted Safari Nordik; the same people who, by their own admission, have left several hundred hunters minus deposits and "guaranteed" return hunts.
Moreover, we have contacted the Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs (Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks or MFFP) which controls caribou licenses in Quebec and have learned that Nunavik Expeditions, at this writing, holds no quota of caribou licenses for 2015 or 2016 and has no certainty that they will receive a license quota for either year. Caveat Emptor!
Why couldn't they just 1. refund everyone or 2. book the effected hunters in 2014 and following years to try and do the right thing and honor their commitments. Instead they have continued to book new hunts and leave the 221 of us whom have been screwed, flapping in the breeze.
I hate the fact we will probably never see our hunts or our $22300 but I hope they are put out of business. BLAMING the GOVERNMENT! thats a joke and an insult to our intelligence!
This is the email we received from Safari Nordik on 6/15:
""""Dear customer,As of today, we still don?t know how many licenses we will receive for theseason 2015. As you know, some customer in order to help us getting licenses in the past have called or wrote to the Government to explain their situation, trying to help us to obtain sufficient number of licenses, so everybody could go hunting. Some did only complain about the situation, but most that we spoke to were really trying to put some pressure on the Minister to get the licenses. This have been going on for more than 3 years. As you recall, I went to meet an officer of the Minister Office before Christmas. My request was of course to get enough licenses for all of you, but in any case, I was asking to know as soon as possible if I will get license, 100 licenses, 350 licenses or a 1000, so I would have been able to plan and let you know early what is going on for 2015 season. At this moment, the Minister have renew 4 outfitting permits that we manage and not renew 4 others. So far, we still don?t know how many tags will be devoted to those outfitting permits if any. It seems like the effort done by the customers to help us obtain licenses played against us since the bureaucrats have used those letters and complains to deny Puunik Camp (one of our Nunavik partners) to renew his outfitting permits. In very simple term, we asked some of you to write to the Government about the fact that since they didn?t issue enough licenses for you to hunt on your set date, you couldn?t travel, they used the fact that you couldn?t travel, not to renew Puunik Camp outfitting permits. Of course we manage other outfitting permits. Now, I am trying to get the tags technically left on the table by Puunik Camp through other outfitting permits that we manage, so we could have people travelling. If this doesn?t work, I will be contacting you after seeking proper legal advice. My Government is definitively treating you extremely wrong and I am not in a position to continue fighting to make you travel if my Government refuses to take the proper step to make it happened and corrects the wrong that have been done. I will write to you again by the end of this month or before if I receive better news. Nicolas Laurin"""""
If this wasn't so SAD, it would be funny! :(
I wonder if they(SN) were at Harrisburg(or any of the other sport shows) this past winter? And if so, how many other hunters did they swindle???!!!
