Newfoundland Moose/Bear-Headed to camp!
- Thread starter jt13
- Start date
bowhuntmontana
Well-known member
Amazing trip. Happy for you both that you had the late success. Congrats and thanks for the details.
sbhooper
Well-known member
Way to go.That turned out well. When I went, my partner and I drove, so that we could easily bring back the meat. I put 6,000 miles on my new Tundra. That looks like a big bear. Newfoundland definitely has them. I tried for one spot and stalk and we found some, but the fog moved in on us both days.
LCH
Well-known member
Nice! Bucket list item..
Going through my notes figured someone might find this useful. I kept track of all of the essential costs for the trip to end up with a fairly accurate number of what the whole trip cost from door to door
$4300- Moose hunt
$1000- Non hunter/observer fee
$300- Bear tag
$600- Bear harvest fee
$900- 2 round trip flights
$80- Off site airport parking
$125- Hotel stay in Gander
$220- Baggage/firearms fees
$50- Canadian gun permits
$550- Gratuity
$400- Butchering
$600- Meat shipping
--$9125 total trip cost--
$4300- Moose hunt
$1000- Non hunter/observer fee
$300- Bear tag
$600- Bear harvest fee
$900- 2 round trip flights
$80- Off site airport parking
$125- Hotel stay in Gander
$220- Baggage/firearms fees
$50- Canadian gun permits
$550- Gratuity
$400- Butchering
$600- Meat shipping
--$9125 total trip cost--
sbhooper
Well-known member
We did ours in 2011 and it was not too bad. I spent 4100 on the hunt itself, I spent 350 (or whatever it was) on a bear tag, I tipped my guide and his wife (cook) well, got the meat all vac sealed and all of the gas and motel rooms in between. The total, as near as I could figure, was right at $6000 and we brought all all of the meat back with us, so no additional charge there.
Compared to lots of hunts, these days, what you spent was not bad. Newfoundland is one of the best deals going, in my book. That country and the people that I encountered were amazing.
Compared to lots of hunts, these days, what you spent was not bad. Newfoundland is one of the best deals going, in my book. That country and the people that I encountered were amazing.
I think youre about spot on, Id say if you broke it down individually it'd work out to $6000 for moose and $3000 for bear
bobbydean
Well-known member
Nice story.
Thank you everyone!
Probably last thing worth mentioning that I neglected in part 4 was bringing meat home on the plane.
My carry on bag was a softsided cooler bag that looked like this:
I filled it with partially frozen meats, some cuts froze hard overnight while others did not. The bag contained: heart, liver, tongue, inside loins, and one half of a back strap. It weighed about 45lbs by my estimation.I was told by the outfitter that I would be okay with it as a carry on in Gander but would never get it on the next plane in Toronto unless it was checked into baggage. Well I didn't listen and went ahead with it as my carry on bag.
At the airport in Gander, security questioned its contents and I told them it was frozen meat and they didnt so much as raise an eyebrow to it.
Next was security in Toronto and it was the same story. The bag was pulled aside, they asked what it was and when told it was frozen meat they handed it to me and sent me on my way
Last stop was customs where I had to declare that I was in possession of meat/animal products as well as firearms. Going through the process they never even inquired about the meat or asked for any documentation or export permits (which we had ready).
I was expecting more hassle than I got, it was basically a seamless process.
Hope all this info serves to help someone planning a trip in the future!!
Probably last thing worth mentioning that I neglected in part 4 was bringing meat home on the plane.
My carry on bag was a softsided cooler bag that looked like this:
I filled it with partially frozen meats, some cuts froze hard overnight while others did not. The bag contained: heart, liver, tongue, inside loins, and one half of a back strap. It weighed about 45lbs by my estimation.I was told by the outfitter that I would be okay with it as a carry on in Gander but would never get it on the next plane in Toronto unless it was checked into baggage. Well I didn't listen and went ahead with it as my carry on bag.
At the airport in Gander, security questioned its contents and I told them it was frozen meat and they didnt so much as raise an eyebrow to it.
Next was security in Toronto and it was the same story. The bag was pulled aside, they asked what it was and when told it was frozen meat they handed it to me and sent me on my way
Last stop was customs where I had to declare that I was in possession of meat/animal products as well as firearms. Going through the process they never even inquired about the meat or asked for any documentation or export permits (which we had ready).
I was expecting more hassle than I got, it was basically a seamless process.
Hope all this info serves to help someone planning a trip in the future!!
sbhooper
Well-known member
Did you have the rest shipped, or donate it to someone?
elkrchr
Well-known member
Bottom of the ninth, two out and two strikes. Bang, homerun! Way to stay after it.
The rest is being shipped by Central NL Shipping in December
You’ve made some great memories on your trip. Glad you got to share it with your fiancé and by the way good shooting by her on the off hand shot. A lot of good eating on that moose she got. Your bear appears to have very nice fur and would make a nice rug. What are your plans for it? Congratulations and a nice write up of your adventure.
She's lethal, that's for darn sure!
As for the bear, she is going to be a rug! Absolutely beautiful coat on her
buffybr
Well-known member
Jt13,
Again, congrats on your hunt.
I just got back to Denver last night from my hunt, which had a little different outcome than yours.
First off your advice for clearing your firearm in Toronto was good, but with both Canadian Customs going in and and U.S. Customs coming home, each took 2 1/2 hours to clear. Very inefficient officers and procedures!
My guide picked me up at my hotel in Gander Sunday morning and we drove to our camp which was a trailer about 25 km from the camp lodge. The trailer was fine and we had both moose and caribou tracks within 100 yards of camp.
I had both moose and caribou tags but my priority was caribou. The first morning out we had a good bull moose standing broadside about 75 yards from us. He had about a 30 inch spread and 5_6 points per side, but he was a mile outside my moose unit.
In the next 5 days we saw 3 more smaller bulls and 3 cows. I could have shot any of the small bulls, but was looking for bigger one. So much for trophy hunting.
We also put more miles on the quad than I have driven in my life, and I have 2 of them. We also sloshed up to 4 miles a day in a good number of bogs without seeing any caribou.
It also rained up to 3" a day for 3 of the days, and a couple of mornings we couldn't see 100 yards because of the fog.
A good trip hunting, but the only shots fired were the two to check my rifles zero.
Again, congrats on your hunt.
I just got back to Denver last night from my hunt, which had a little different outcome than yours.
First off your advice for clearing your firearm in Toronto was good, but with both Canadian Customs going in and and U.S. Customs coming home, each took 2 1/2 hours to clear. Very inefficient officers and procedures!
My guide picked me up at my hotel in Gander Sunday morning and we drove to our camp which was a trailer about 25 km from the camp lodge. The trailer was fine and we had both moose and caribou tracks within 100 yards of camp.
I had both moose and caribou tags but my priority was caribou. The first morning out we had a good bull moose standing broadside about 75 yards from us. He had about a 30 inch spread and 5_6 points per side, but he was a mile outside my moose unit.
In the next 5 days we saw 3 more smaller bulls and 3 cows. I could have shot any of the small bulls, but was looking for bigger one. So much for trophy hunting.
We also put more miles on the quad than I have driven in my life, and I have 2 of them. We also sloshed up to 4 miles a day in a good number of bogs without seeing any caribou.
It also rained up to 3" a day for 3 of the days, and a couple of mornings we couldn't see 100 yards because of the fog.
A good trip hunting, but the only shots fired were the two to check my rifles zero.
thusby
Well-known member
Everyone talks about Newfoundland moose like you will be looking at a dozen per day. The reports here are definitely different from that generalization. I thought it was a little fishy when they were pushing an "easy" moose hunt. I know the general moose numbers in Newfoundland are high but that doesn't mean that the moose are big or accessible.
