Kitchenuhmaykoosib – Canadian Rangers from Kitchenuhmaykoosib rescued a stranded moose hunter late on Thursday evening after his snowmobile broke down in the bush about 45 kilometres from the remote community.
Sergeant Spencer Anderson, commander of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Canadian Ranger patrol, said the hunter was some distance from both his hunting cabin and the community when his snowmobile broke down in slushy trail conditions and he was unable to repair it.
Kitchenuhmaykoosib is an isolated Oji-Cree First Nation located 580 kilometres north of Thunder Bay.
“He broke down shortly after 5 p.m. and he used his satellite phone to call people in the community looking for help,” he said. “He had snowshoes, his rifle, and his emergency kit but he did not have enough clothing for the night temperature.”
The overnight temperature was -2C.
“The police said they could not go to his help so we were authorized to go for him,” Sergeant Anderson said.
Rangers Michael McKay and Darryl Sainnawap left the community on snowmobiles and quickly found the hunter, who was unharmed, and brought him back to Kitchenuhmaykoosib.
“I’m very happy,” Sergeant Anderson said. “Everything went very smoothly. We were able to move out and get to him quickly. He was pretty much happy when he got picked up and was brought back. His snowmobile was left where it broke down. He’ll pick it up later.”
Captain Mark Rittwage, duty officer for the 3rd Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, said the rescue was another illustration of the ability of local Canadian Rangers, who are part-time army reservists, to serve their communities in emergencies.
Canadian Rangers were involved in 25 search and rescue operations in 2016 in which they saved the lives of 32 people.
(Sergeant Peter Moon is the public affairs ranger for the 3rd Canadian Ranger Patrol Group at Canadian Forces Base Borden.)
