whitehorse, yellowknife--mosquitos/blackflys??

A

awesomeame

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Well I recently moved to Timmins ON, and the job isn't working out real well. So I'm thinking about moving to Whitehorse or Yellowknife when a job for me becomes available up there.

What is the bug situation like in Whitehorse and Yellowknife?? Can you be outside without swatting at mosquitos and blackflys constantly? I would think since it's colder up there there would be less bugs??

Matt
 
You might think that, but there are plenty of bugs up here. We were taking care of a bear last Monday evening, and there were hundreds, literally, of mosquitoes attacking us. They were all over the bear, too.

Ted
 
X10! When I was surveying up there in the early 60'sYou could'nt see the rod mans face or hands for damn skeeters,also have buffalo flies(You can feel them land!and remove a chunk of flesh) Bug juice is your friend,don't leave home without it! JITC
 
I just returned from Whitehorse a few days ago. The mosquitoes seemed to be out in force, but then again, it didn't seem as bad as it could be. Maybe that's just the experience with Labrador blackflies talking.
 
Northern Canada, mosquitos and flies. Long warm days of June in damp areas, tapering off a bit in July, mosquitoes fierce. Miserable little black flies, the type that draw blood, fierce.
Middle of June to late July, horse flies, the ones that draw blood on every bite, fierce.
I grew up in the bush hinterlands of northern Saskatchewan and I know where of I speak. A small river a few miles away. Swimming hole across the river. Take all clothes off, wade the river to the hole. Going over, horse flies didn't get you, skin dry. Coming back, wet, horse flies swarm you. I have stayed in the hole, thinking how I'm going to get to my clothes. Rough stones to wade on, can't go fast, water too shallow to basically go under to clean off the horse flies.
Blood all over you before you get the clothes on.
I think Ted will agree, the Yukon is terrific in August. We've sat around a lake and played cards until eleven at night, not a mosquito or fly. Delicious wild blueberries to eat.
 
I agree with Sheephunter, I've never thought Whitehorse to be too bad. I spent 11 seasons mining out of Dawson City and might have used bug spray a couple times. Now if you venture out into the bush that can be a different story.
 
thanks for the input...doesn't sound so promising lol, at least in june/july! Unfortunately I'm allergic to bug juice, and the non-deet versions barely work and stink like hell! (i don't know if the smell of citronella helps or impairs while hunting??)

Matt
 
It's nothing that would bother a real man! ;)

I don't have a picture from the Yellowknife area but here's one from the Kazan River area to the east.

IMG-10e.jpg
 
Why not? said:
Roger that, but out in the bush is totally another story. Fall time, like when you were here last year, they are not bad at all in the bush.

Ted
Click to expand...

I've been up there quite a few times in the summer as well and am always amazed that the bugs aren't worse. The country around Yellowknife on the other hand is brutal.
 
sheephunter said:
I've been up there quite a few times in the summer as well and am always amazed that the bugs aren't worse. The country around Yellowknife on the other hand is brutal.
Click to expand...

The reason is because of glaciation. Much of the Yukon was not glaciated.

Glaciation scours the surface downwards into a flat peneplain of older Precambrian rocks. This results in the distinctive drainage pattern of the Canadian Shield consisting of many lakes and rivers which results in better breeding grounds for the flies.
 
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