Newfoundland Moose/Bear-Headed to camp!

[BAKPAKR]

Congrats and thank you for posting a great story and all of the details. I would like to take my daughter on something like that when she gets older.

 

[jt13]

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.

Im sorry to hear it! Weather seems to be the common denominator when these Newfoundland hunts go south. Everyone told me going in that moose dont like wind, rain, and fog but I didn't believe them. I should have! Unfortunately with hunts booked years in advance you will always be rolling the dice

 

[jt13]

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.

Going into it I was expecting to see at least a hand full of moose and have the ability to be choosy about what bull to take home. You are right. That seems the minority of the experiences. Probably as "easy" as a moose hunt gets but not a gimme by any means

 

[thusby]

It still looked like a lot of fun.

 

[ol_spark]

My take on Newfoundland is if you want big antlers go to Northern portion and fly in where the native population can’t drive to. Central and southern areas that are obtainable by road are hunted hard and moose therefore don’t have opportunity to grow old or get very big antlers. Caribou are also a Northern area best animal scenario Bear are hit and miss. Definitely not a gimme but it’s a fun hunt and a great experience. Whenever you pass on taking any game, you’re rolling the dice and must accept the outcome. I know, I’ve eaten a lot of mule deer tags over the years. It’s true that rain and wind will ruin your hunt in a hurry but you can’t plan that. Again a great adventure to share with someone you’re close to. Good luck on your next adventure.

 

[jt13]

Got the call yesterday from Central NL Shipping that our meat arrived at the cold storage facility! I didn't want to waste any time so I rushed down today after work and picked it all up. 4-50lb boxes of moose meat, 1 set of antlers, 1 bear hide, and 1 box of bear meat. All looks good and the pick up was pretty straight forward. Its pricey and an average of $125 per box shipped but you really cant beat the convenience. Given the few alternatives, it's definitely the way to go if you fly to NL for your hunt.

 

[rwbowser]

Heck of a hunt. I’m supposed to go there end of October and really hoping it doesn’t get cancelled.

 

[rwbowser]

PART FOUR:

The trip home was a little more eventful than the trip there. First issue we had was having ammo and guns in the same case, which is okay for the trip into canada but apparently not okay for the trip home. Second atfter arriving in Toronto you go through US customs before you continue on to your final destination. This was extremely time consuming, upwards of two hours. Last issue was that they couldnt fit my baggage on the plane and was not waiting for us when we arrived. I had to wait for the next plane from Toronto to come in which was fortunately only about 90 minutes later.

What I liked about the hunt:
-Moose sign everywhere
-No other hunters around
-Friendly people
-Great food
-Great service even though only 2 in camp

What I didnt like :
-More road hunting than expected
-Low moose sightings but most likely the poor weather
-Cigarette smoke. Our guide like to smoke while we were hunting. Wasnt a huge fan, but didn't say anything.

Things I would do/bring different next time:
-Better fitting rubber boots (something you can tighten around your calves)
-Slightly warmer clothes (our temps were 27-72 degrees)
-Better gloves (hands were frozen on the ATV rides)
-Bring less regular clothes (overpacked on the camp clothes)

Stuff that was great:
-Rain gear (Sitka Thunderhead and Downpour)
-Merino gear (worn everyday with no smell)
-Cerakoted/stainless guns (everything is damp in NL)

Clothing/Gear:
-Double socks almost everyday- merino
-Merino Firstlite baselayers
-Merino Firstlite sawtooth hybrid
-Merino puffy
-Pants- Skre, Guide Pants, nylon hiking pants
-Sitka Thunderhead jacket/pants
-Gloves- fingerless wool and mechanix gloves
-Muck boots
-Tenzing 2220
-Tikka T3, 30-06 stainless
-TC Venture, 270, cerakoted
-On the cold days I was wearing nearly every item on this list, could've dressed warmer...

I didn’t know that about ammo, how did you get your ammo home? Did you have a second TSA approved locking case?

 

[jt13]

I didn’t know that about ammo, how did you get your ammo home? Did you have a second TSA approved locking case?

They had us open up the gun case and remove the ammo. It had to go into a checked bag, no locks needed. Little sketchy opening a gun case in the middle of the airport but no one seemed remotely concerned