A sombre day for a man in Fort Chipewyan, Alta., was made brighter this week when he got the unlikely — perhaps unprecedented — chance to harvest a muskox.

It was just after 10 p.m. on July 21 — sunset in northern Alberta. August Marcel and a friend had driven about three minutes out of town to bury the family dog, which had recently died. They ventured into the bush with the deceased pet and a rifle to protect them from bears.

In the woods they heard stomping, "like something that we never heard before, so we went to take a look," said Marcel.

That's when they came across a hulking, horned beast lurking solo in the brush.

"I couldn't really identify it right away because we don't have them here," said Marcel. "As soon as I seen his horns and his head I knew it was a muskox."

Muskoxen are shaggy-haired, cow-like mammals with distinctive horns that curve upwards, like hooks. They're typically found in the far North — on islands in the Arctic Ocean, on the Arctic coast, and through the Sahtu and North Slave regions, according to the N.W.T. Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The animals are occasionally spotted as far south as the territory's South Slave region, but in Alberta, reports of muskox sightings are rare.

Muskoxen are most prevalent in the far North. Marcel said his family didn't believe him at first when he told them he harvested one. (Submitted by August Marcel)

The lone beast (also atypical, as muskoxen tend to travel in herds) didn't flinch as Marcel drove his truck close. Marcel said he shot the animal from two or three yards away.

"It was a pretty sad day, turned around real quick," he said.

The two friends rallied the help of Marcel's uncle and younger brother to skin and butcher the animal.

"I cut up all the steaks, made a traditional dry meat," said Marcel.

My grandpa is over 70. It's the first time he's ever heard of one in our community. - August Marcel

His family didn't believe him at first, when he said he hunted a muskox.

"I literally had to walk in the house with the head, that's the only way everybody would believe me," he said.

"My grandpa is over 70. It's the first time he's ever heard of one in our community."

Muskoxen can do well south

It's unclear exactly how far south of the treeline muskoxen will travel, said Jan Adamczewski with the wildlife division at the N.W.T.'s Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

"In the last year there's been pretty reliable observations of muskox on the Saskatchewan and Alberta border, but this is further south than anything I've heard of for quite a few years," said Adamczewski.

"Clearly they can do quite well well south of the treeline"

Staff at the Andrew Lake Lodge at the Northwest Territories-Alberta border were shocked to see a muskox near one of their cabins in 2012. (Dan Wettlaufer )

Judging from the photos, Adamczewski said it looks like Marcel encountered a young bull, around three or four years old.

That could also explain why the mammal was alone, he said.

"It's not uncommon that the first colonizing animal, the animal furthest out there, would be a lone bull. That's consistent with what we've seen."

Sharing the harvest

All who helped in the harvest were treated to meat, said Marcel, as well as his family and friends.

What did the meat taste like?

"It was wild for sure, it was different from caribou. It was different-good," said Marcel. "I really enjoyed it."