Exercising the right to hunt

Oakley Barnaby shot his first moose this year. It was given to the Pow Wow. He just turned 12 years old.

He’s been hunting with his mom, Jill Metallic, and Ricky Condo his whole life. Condo likes to bringing kids hunting and fishing.

Among many things, Condo reminds people of the recent past, when First Nation hunting rights weren’t being acknowledged. When he was growing up, some people were even scared to hunt. He makes sure the kids never feel that way.   

“Nowadays it’s not the same,” he said. “We go everywhere and anywhere there’s moose. Whenever we want – to practice our rights.”

But Condo certainly doesn’t take every moose he sees.

“My god, there’d be no moose left out there,” he said.

He tries to teach the kids the many aspects of hunting, like when, how, and why to hunt.

“You don’t just shoot it for fun,” Barnaby says now, pulling a stool up after school. “You have to have a reason to have it.”

“Anybody can shoot a moose,” Condo said. “It’s what you do with the moose after.”

Condo and Barnaby were driving on “Pow Wow Road,” when they spotted a big dark moose about 350 yards away. Barnaby had been practicing, so he got out, and steadied the gun in between the door and truck. His mom had her gun ready too, in case he missed.

Barnaby could only see the face. He shot. And everyone thought it fell just off the road.

When they got up, they saw the moose running down the hill – now nearly 1,000 feet from the road. It was heading straight for the trees.

Condo took aim and shot. The moose fell

With the help of a friend and lots of rope and pulleys, they managed to pull the moose all the way back to the road, and onto the truck.

“It was good that it was hard,” Barnaby says now. “So I know how difficult it could be.”