MAYBE IT'S TIME YUKON SHOULD BAN OUTFITTERS BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. THERE HERE FOR THE TROPHIES NOT THE MEAT.

The proliferation of guided trophy hunting in the Yukon has reached a critical tipping point. Across countless online videos, we see outfitters bringing in out-of-territory hunters to target "trophy" animals, specifically the largest, genetically superior moose in our herds. This is not just about sport; it is a systematic removal of the best genetics from our wilderness. When the strongest bulls are gone, the health and size of the entire population collapse.

For generations, the Yukon has relied on a biological reality: the sheer size of our moose meant that one animal could sustain a single family through a brutal winter. This was nature’s insurance policy, ensuring that residents had enough to live on and that future generations would inherit a sustainable resource.

However, the consequences of trophy hunting are now hitting us square in the face. This season, hunters are reporting a disturbing trend: moose are smaller, or entirely absent. We are witnessing the beginning of a food security crisis. If the "one moose per family" standard vanishes, Yukon residents will be forced to kill two animals to survive the same winter. This doubles the pressure on the land and doubles the risk of starvation for the herd.

While the rest of the country has normalized the need for multiple hunters to provide for one household, Yukon residents should not be forced into that precarious position because of an out-of-territory industry. We cannot allow the pursuit of a "celebrated trophy" for a tourist to compromise the caloric survival of a local family.

To protect the future of our residents and the integrity of our wildlife, the Yukon must seriously consider banning outfitters. We must prioritize the dinner tables of our citizens over the trophy walls of strangers. It is time to put the survival of the Yukon people before the profits of the guiding industry.

N.Boisvert

Yukon resident /subsistent hunter