In Yukon, hunting for bison academic

High school field trip part of kids’ outdoor education

School supplies for some classes in the Canadian Yukon include headlamps, sleeping bags, snow boots and hiking boots. It helps to know how to drive a snowmobile or all-terrain vehicle.

Regular classes involve getting out on the land. The area is steeped in First Nations culture, and education about indigenous peoples is a mandatory part of the curriculum.

A bison hunt is a common field trip. Students and teachers from Porter Creek Secondary School in Whitehorse — Yukon’s only city, with 25,000 of the province’s 35,000 people — killed a 1,500-pound bison during a hunt on a field trip in March and feasted on its meat with classmates and parents earlier this month. Three teachers and three government guides led eighth and 10th grade students on a four-day trip into the wilderness filled with camping, hiking, ice fishing and bison-stalking.

“The Yukon is a very unique place in Canada where outdoor education with these type of trips are still happening,” Terry Milne, a teacher who helped plan the trip, said in a phone interview. “Part of the importance of hunting trips like this is teaching hunting ethics. Hunting is a huge part of the culture here. You can’t grow and farm things up here like you can other places.”

This was Porter Creek’s first school-sponsored hunting trip. Teachers saw it as a way to combine lessons from multiple classes — geography, history, First Nations education, math and others — into a field trip.

“These skills that kids learn growing up in this environment, they’re important,” teacher Brad Gustafson said.

The group planned to traverse miles of terrain on snowmobiles while looking for bison, but unseasonably warm weather before the trip melted much of the snowpack. They rented fattire bicycles, a common mode of transportation, and set off. By the first morning of the trip, it was clear the bikes were quiet enough to allow the group to successfully find a bison nearby.

The government encourages locals to hunt bison to maintain a stable population size.

By the end of their first day of hiking, teacher Alexandra Morrison and a government hunting guide spotted the bison they’d been tracking all day. Morrison, one of the group’s two designated shooters, took the animal from 80 yards away. The group hiked to the animal and held a moment of thanks, each person placing their hands on the bison and expressing gratitude.

During the recent community feast, dishes included the animal’s heart and tongue and more traditional cuts of meat.

“It was amazing,” Morrison said. “The northern lights were out. The wolves were howling in the distance. It was the most wonderful, respectful experience.”