2008 Bear Hunt Report

[teddy12b]

Friday Aug 15th we drove through the night to get to the lodge.  Along the way we had to go through Ontario customs and it only took about 15 minutes to fill out the paperwork for our guns and we were on our way without any problems.  About 3:30am on the drive we came across a cow moose standing by the road and we tried to get pictures with flashlights, but she took off. 

Sat. 16th, we arrive at the pickup point at 9am for our guide only to find out that he can’t sell us our hunting licenses and that we’ll have to go back at least an hour one way to a place that “might” sell them, if they can’t we’d have to drive and hour and a half one way to a place that definitely sells them.  We got lucky and were back ready to be picked up just after 11:00 am.  We no sooner get a minute or two across the water going to the lodge and the guides boat runs out of gas.  We paddled back to the dock in drizzling rain and got some fuel.  This first day pretty much explains how the whole hunting trip went and it was a little frustrating.

That night when I got out to my “blind” I was amazed to see that what they called a blind is what I would call a metal folding chair.  The bait site didn’t look like it had been prepared very well in my opinion because I couldn’t see much around the barrel, or even the opening of the barrel.  The guide pointed in the direction to head out to the trail back and when I left the “blind” I ended up getting turned around.  It was a little hilly there and I ended up walking about 15 feet on the inside of the trail, but the bush is so thick up there I could see it.  First time in my life I’ve ever been turned around and it’s a lonely feeling.  Fortunately, I had plenty of ammo, two pop up flares, a GI compass, and a 25 mile two way radio.  I got ahold of my hunting partner on the radio and he sent the guide out on the atv, and I heard it and walked over to him.  I owe Motorola a thank you letter.  On the way back to the lodge the guide pointed out another stand that was literally right on the trail and said I could hunt that one for the rest of the week so I did.  I ended up hunting the original stand on the last night just to redeem myself if nothing else.

We got back on Fri. the 22nd with the only things in our coolers being our gear.  It was a good time though no matter how you look at it.

As far as the hunting goes, there were 9 guys there that week.  2 went home with bears (176#, & 290#), another 2 actually saw bears and let them walk, 1 saw a bear and couldn’t get a shot off, 1 guy took a shot at one with a 12 gauge SST slug and the blood trial ran out, and 3 of the 9 guys didn’t even see a bear.  In all fairness to the guides though, there were berries everywhere.  The bears didn’t have much reason to go to a bait site when the woods were filled everywhere you looked with berries.

I wasn’t too impressed with the outfitter.  My hunting partner and I kept comparing them to who we hunted with last year and it was night and day.  It wasn’t like they weren’t nice guys, but I still don’t know who was in charge up there.  It was pretty half arsed how they never knew who baited what or when, but the real issue I had was the lack of attention to detail.  The hunters were all talking with each other about how you could barely see the barrel and there were all kinds of branches in the way and it was obvious that nobody had actually sat in the stands to make sure everything was setup well in advance.

I don’t really want badmouth the outfitter, but we’re not going back and I don’t think several of the other hunters will either, just because nobody really seemed to know what was going on or who’s doing what.  For what we paid, the actual guiding service wasn’t up the par.  The food and lodging was better than the hunting.  Send me a PM if you want the outfitters name.

All things considered I spent a week in the woods with nature and didn’t even see a bear.  It was still a good time and it beats the heck out of work.

[Empty Quiver]

    Wow, that's a shame.  The guide has no control over berry production, but should show some obvious effort towards bait sites that are hunter friendly. The lack of organization would burn my toast most of all.

    I'm leaving on a trip this Fri. We had a very positive experience last year, but berries were scarce. I hate reading your story as it makes me a little worried about our upcoming hunt.

    It sounds like the northwoods are still better than work and your hunt wasn't a total bust, but a person sure gets a lot of mental as well as financial investment in one of these trips. When I return I'll post up our experience this fall in Ontario.

[teddy12b]

The toughest part of it is after a year of waiting and anticipating the hunt, you show up and the guys haven’t really put in much effort or seem to care about the things that are within their control.  If you’re going up there take a thermacell and buy the holster and refills for it.  The mosquito’s were everywhere so a good bug net, gloves, and a thermacell are a must if you want to be reasonably comfortable.

[Empty Quiver]

Thanks for heads up on bugs. We'll be in the Sudbury area, which is about 3hrs east of Slt. St. Marie Mi.. I really don't like the skeeters, are the therma cells as good as they claim? Thirty bucks for a half good solution is a non starter, a headnet and an old bottle of Muskol is my current plan but I'm not opposed to change.

[teddy12b]

Thermacells are like anything else, there are guys that swear by them and guys that swear at them.  I knew I needed to change the butane catridge in mine when the skeeters started showing back up.  It's definately worth $30 to find out.  From my experience you can easily go through two of the replacement pads in an evening, and you get about 3 of the pads out of one butane cartridge.  The holster is nice because it keeps all that stuff right there for you.

[Graybeard]

Seems to me you owe it to your fellow members here to let them know who you hunted with so they don't make the same mistake. If ya don't report the good and the bad then you're just helping the bad take money from others.

[teddy12b]

Fair enough.  I just didn't want to come off as a guy who didn't get one and now blames the outfitter.  There were a lot of things beyond their control and I can reasonably understand those.  It was the parts of the hunt that were within their control that I was disappointed in.

I hunted with Fox's Den on Dog Lake in Missanabie, Ontario.

[Graybeard]

That was my point. Not everything is within their control but those things that were seemed to have been done rather poorly on your hunt. Whether you kill a bear or not and often whether you even see one is not completely within the guide or outfitter's control but the things that are should be done correctly.

[1sourdough]

 Thanks for the report. At least you didn't just about total your truck on top of it like a guy I know did several years ago. You can add to your knowledge for next time.

[Varmint Hunter]

OK - here is some info regarding my Maine spring bear hunt on tribal lands with Bulldog Camps:

Outfitter transports hunters from lodge to hunt site in a school bus - 3hrs on the road and your teeth are jarred loose
Lunch is at noon and you don't get pack-in food or anything else until the 3hr bus ride home which is 10pm-11pm-12pm
Bait can is so secluded that it can't be seen from the stand
Bait can is solid plastic with a lid - inhibiting scent dispersal
Outfitter never brings in fresh bait when you are brought to stand - seems like he knows that it hasn't been hit
Stand is a wood ladder stand with no seat
Outfitter prohibits Thermocells - "it spooks bears"
Outfitter discourages the carrying of backpacks - "it encourages hunters to rummage through it"
Stands have no nails, hooks or other method of hanging binos, guns, gear or anything else -just hold everything in the little stand for hours on end
Outfitter has no scale to weigh bears
Outfitter does not skin bears - you must take your own bear to a skinner or taxidermist which isn't around the corner
Outfitter's dog isn't capable of finding a skunk in a perfume factory
Success rate is very low - some hunters leave before the week is through
Food is excellent but DON"T BE LATE or you'll go hungry
Cabin was comfortable & clean with hot showers
There is no electricity in cabins but there is gas operated refrigerator, hot water heater and lamps

How would you guys rate this outfitter?
 

[teddy12b]

That's exactly the kind of outfitter I would only go to once.  All you can do is take the outfiiters word and the word of their references before you get there.  Once you get there you'll know if it was all worth it.  Unfortunately it doesn't always seem like money well spent, but try to make the best of it then live and learn.  The best recommendation I'm going to start asking about is repeat customers.

[Graybeard]

I'd rate that outfit a total loser and wouldn't intentionally hunt there knowing that info if the hunt was free.

[drdougrx]

ohoh.....now I'm worried.  I'm leaving on Sept. 14th and going to the Oxbow in Maine.  Teddy....I'm so sorry that your hunt was that bad....how can you charge good money for a sloppy hunt.  I'll report on my hunt as well if anyone has interest.

[teddy12b]

drdougrx,
     I wouldn't worry about your hunt.  I was in ontario, and you're going to be at least a 1000 miles away in Maine.  You'll have a good time no matter what.  Any day spent hunting is not wasted.

[jk3006]

I agree.  Even if I was just paying a guy a few hundred dollars to bait for me, I'd expect a good effort.  Sometimes it just doesn't work out, but when everything appears to be done half-assed is what ticks me off.

I'd rate that outfit a total loser and wouldn't intentionally hunt there knowing that info if the hunt was free.

[Redhawk1]

Sorry to hear about your hunt.  I now have an outfitter I will use exclusively for black bear hunting.  I just had a great hunt with a great outfitter in Wade Maine, Wild country Outfitters.  I highly recommend Pete Koch. 
http://www.mainewildcountryoutfitters.com/index.html

[Cabin4]

Selecting an outfitter is a time consuming research process. It literally takes me as long as a year of exhaustive research before I can conclude who to go with. Of course I'm doing this in my spare time. I build an Excel spread sheet with a list of each and every aspect of the hunt, outfitter and their camp that I want. Then its a process of filling it in for every outfitter that comes close when looking at their web site. Then calling and talking to the owner to fill in the blank spots. Calling referrals, local game wardens and the state biologist responsible for that game animal in the region the outfitter hunts. Once it all complete, then I'm in a position to make a true qualitative assessment. Much like a Procurement approch of selecting a major supplier of goods or services. Only them will I select an outfitter.

I just started this process recently for an Elk hunt that I want to do in the fall of 2009.

[teddy12b]

cabin4,
      I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only guy with spreadsheets with outfitter information on it!  I compare them as much as possible so I make sure I'm compareing apples to apples.

[Empty Quiver]

    Teddy, back from Canada, the trip was good. The Thermacell made all the difference, not a breath of wind and temps in 80s had the skeeters thinking it was mid summer. That thing is amazing unlike bug dope the bugs leave the entire area.