A hunter in Sachs Harbour, N.W.T., has killed the first walrus anyone has seen there in about 15 years, giving residents in the territory's northernmost community something different to chew on this fall.

On Thursday, local hunter Lawrence Amos said he was hunting seals when he spotted the large creature in the fog off the shore of Banks Island.

Sachs Harbour, N.W.T.
(CBC)

"Kept it close to the shore — that way, you know, it doesn't go into deep water," Amos told CBC News of the walrus, which he said measured 3.5 metres long and weighed about one tonne.

"We ended up getting it after probably about 10 rounds of shells or shots into it. And it sunk after it died, and we hooked it out and dragged it home."

Walruses are very uncommon in the Sachs Harbour area, located 1,154 kilometres north of Yellowknife and 514 kilometres northeast of Inuvik.

After dragging the walrus carcass to the hamlet with his boat, Amos used a front-end loader to take the animal out of the water.

He said the effort involved in harvesting and hauling the animal home was worth it, especially for fellow residents in the hamlet of 122.

"The meat's sitting down at the beach right now after we butchered it, and it's cooling off and we covered it with a tarp," he said.

"We're probably going to distribute to people, whoever wanted some walrus meat. The hide is soaking or sitting in the water right now. We're planning to flesh it and hopefully make a blanket-toss blanket out of it."

The hide could be stretched to four metres by four metres, he said. Amos said he hasn't decided what to do with the tusks, though he may consider making earrings out of them.