Nunavut man bags 1st moose after Yellowknife fires force a trip to Alberta

Kyle Aglukkaq is used to hunting caribou. 

When the man from Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, had to leave his home in Yellowknife due to wildfires, he  got the chance to hunt something bigger.

A moose. 

Like many Yellowknife residents, Aglukkaq fled to Alberta to wait out the unknown after the entire city was ordered to evacuate in mid-August.

He ended up in Peace River with a friend and his relatives. That friend took Aglukkaq out hunting in the area where they saw some elk and several moose that "seemed to appear out of nowhere."

That's when Aglukkaq's friend passed over his gun and told him to shoot. 

"I was very excited, I didn't really know how to react or how to feel. The moose just appeared, buddy handed me the gun and told me to drop it so that's what I did," Aglukkaq said. 

"Up until that point, I never thought I'd get to experience that," he added. 

Aglukkaq works on a fishing boat in Yellowknfie and grew up hunting, but he said he had never seen a moose until that moment.

"The anatomy of a moose is very similar to a caribou but the size is just enormous. The legs are so much longer," he said. 

"To smell the moose, to me it reminded me a lot of muskox."

Aglukkaq's friend brought the hide back to his grandmother, while Aglukkaq brought back some meat to Yellowknife to share with his own family. 

The young hunter returned to Yellowknife last week after nearly three weeks away and is now back in his home. 

"It's starting to pick up … It's becoming very lively here," he said of the city. 

"I had a great experience. I recommend northern Alberta if you ever get the chance."