The N.W.T government is banning hunting in the Bathurst caribou's winter range to try and slow the herd's decline. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)

Traditional hunters say they may ignore a ban imposed by the government of the Northwest Territories on caribou hunting north of Great Slave Lake.

Declining caribou herds prompted the government to ban caribou hunting in the Bathurst Caribou herd's winter range.

According to the government's count, the Bathurst herd declined from 186,000 in 2003 to just 32,000 this year.

The new restrictions are to come into effect Jan. 1, 2010.

But the ban, announced last Friday, came as a shock to people in BehchoK'o where caribou hunting is at the root of the culture and a major source of food.

John B. Zoe negotiated the Tlicho land and self-government claim and questions whether the government can legally impose a ban on caribou hunting.

"Probably not," he said. "We have an unprecedented threat that nobody knows how to deal with. So I think it's a knee-jerk reaction."

Marcel Zoe researched traditional use of the land, before the claim was settled and cannot believe the government move.

"It's unreal why the government is doing this," he said. "To my understanding, there should be no boundary at all. Period."

Former BehchoK'o chief Leon Lafferty predicted many will ignore the ban and will hunt to survive.

"Myself, I will go out hunting and I'll invite ENR (officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources) to come along with me if they want to charge me," said Lafferty. "I've got to put food on the table, and so does my dad, my brothers, my sisters, they all need food."

Lafferty said more than 30,000 caribou have already passed through the region and he rejects the need for an emergency ban on hunting.

"It's amazing how they say the numbers are so low when there's caribou everywhere," said Lafferty. "How do 100,000 caribou disappear in three years when you just said three years ago, they were stable and increasing? Now how does that happen? That's beyond belief. I think the government doesn't have the numbers correct."

The government's caribou management plan will be hotly debated in February before the Wek'eezhii Renewable Resources Board.