I was at a sports show this past weekend, and on my dream list of hunts for the past 5 years or so was a Canadian moose hunt. Up until this year, it seemed far and few between that any outfitters were even offering them. I heard the population really took a hit between wolves and some type of disease they were catching from whitetail deer. I saw more offerings this year at the show I attended than all of the shows I attended combined in the last 5 years. From my research, it seems if you want a big one--go west. BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba. Conversely, the strongest population seemed to be east in Newfoundland, but the moose were smaller.
What I've been trying to do to narrow the field is find some recent reviews of outfitters. I don't expect anyone to guarantee you'll get a moose, because that's on the hunter to deliver. But I would very much like to hear someone say that there is close to a 100% opportunity rate.
Does anyone have any firsthand experience on outfitters in Canada they can recommend for moose hunting?
I suppose the other thing worth mentioning is that kind of an important caveat is that I was really striving for finding an outfitter with a lodge that has WiFi. Personally, it's something I would prefer to be without. However, as a small business owner I don't have the luxury of being completely off the grid for a week.
bobdahunter; Good morning to you, I hope the day in your part of the planet is shaping up nicely and you're well.
Welcome to the 'Fire from just north of the medicine line in south central BC.
We've cobbled together a pretty good treasure trove of information for travelling hunters here. While some of the particulars have changed in the last decade plus, the links are still good.
My moose information is only here in BC and sorry to say it's not great news as our game populations have been on the downward slide for the past few years, moose in particular. I'd perhaps go so far as to say if someone thought they could offer you 100% chance at a moose they've either got one locked in the barn or they're not being entirely truthful.
As for wifi here in BC, we're in the second most populated chunk of the province and there are spots down in the valley where there is no service. On the mountain behind the house there's places I can see the big Doug Fir at the top of our driveway but there's no service. When the beer flu hit and my wife attempted to work from home here, the ether webs were too slow and none of the providers were even remotely hopeful or interested in getting high speed out here - and again we're just off the valley floor in our semi-rural property.
Wherever you choose, again I'll strongly suggest you call unsuccessful hunters as well just to see what they say.
Sorry for the less than positive reports back to you since our outfitters for sure are hurting after the shutdowns and could use the work.
Good luck on the moose hunt whichever way you decide.
I was at a sports show this past weekend, and on my dream list of hunts for the past 5 years or so was a Canadian moose hunt. Up until this year, it seemed far and few between that any outfitters were even offering them. I heard the population really took a hit between wolves and some type of disease they were catching from whitetail deer. I saw more offerings this year at the show I attended than all of the shows I attended combined in the last 5 years. From my research, it seems if you want a big one--go west. BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba. Conversely, the strongest population seemed to be east in Newfoundland, but the moose were smaller.
What I've been trying to do to narrow the field is find some recent reviews of outfitters. I don't expect anyone to guarantee you'll get a moose, because that's on the hunter to deliver. But I would very much like to hear someone say that there is close to a 100% opportunity rate.
Does anyone have any firsthand experience on outfitters in Canada they can recommend for moose hunting?
I suppose the other thing worth mentioning is that kind of an important caveat is that I was really striving for finding an outfitter with a lodge that has WiFi. Personally, it's something I would prefer to be without. However, as a small business owner I don't have the luxury of being completely off the grid for a week.
bobdahunter
The most important thing to know about guides is that their rates are all over the map. Do you mind me asking what your budget for this moose hunt is?
And is a huge trophy a must? The bigger the moose you want a crack at the more $$$ you can expect to pay.
I hunted Moose in Newfoundland in 2021 and 2022 and two trips don't make me an expert but here is my two cents worth.
I feel like moose numbers are pretty good and the country is pretty open as compared to most of eastern Canada. Its easy to see moose and success rates are high, but not guaranteed.
My last outfitter had nice fly in camps with a generator and wifi (the wifi was quite a surprise) and our cook was maybe closer to a chef than cook. The guides worked hard and knew the ground and moose well. It was a good experience in general and I will go back.
However I did feel that the quality of the moose wasn't that great. The outfitter takes in 5 or 6 hunters a week between two camps for a season that s something like 4 or 5 weeks long. Thats a lot of bull moose out of the two camps. Our camp had maybe two hundred pictures of moose taken pinned up on the walls dating back to the early 2000's Looking through them, its clear they were on average taking considerably bigger moose 15 years ago than they do today. When I crossed on the Ferry each time I walked up and down the rows of trucks waiting and chatted with the hunters and checked out the racks and I think that my impression that the moose aren't that big is generally true. yes there were a few good sized moose but they were really not very common
I have hunted Ontario twice, New Brunswick three times and Maine once and all but one of our Ontario/NB/Maine moose would have been in the top 20% of what I saw on the ferry.
To summarize I would say its a nice experience, a fun hunt, you don't have to fight or draw for a tag, but if your looking for once in the lifetime hunt and your looking for 45"+ bull.. its not where I would go.
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In terms of my budget, I guess from what I've seen out there, the low side would be $8K for a week. The high side seems to be $12ish thousand. I'm not sure why that if you cross the border to Alaska, the price doubles. I guess I'm somewhat lesser concerned about price than I am picking the right outfitter and having a great experience. Put it this way--I'd much rather spend $12K and have a great hunt, then spend $8K and be disappointed.
And @noKnees- Thanks much for your thorough review of Newfoundland. That seemed to echo the sentiments I have heard about Newfoundland. Will you see moose? Certainly. If you're doing it one time in your life and want a once in a lifetime bull--probably not the place.
The one thing I have seen on some sites is that some outfitters would encourage you to buy a bear and/or elk license, and if the opportunity came, take one of those too. That seemed kind of intriguing but I also wasn't sure the likelihood of seeing those animals either, and I might just be donating money to the Canadian government...
If you want a chance at a trophy of a lifetime $40,000.00, I would check out a Yukon Hunt with these guys: MacMillan River Adventures
YUKON MOOSE BOAT OR HORSE CAMP HUNT $35,500.00 ALL INCLUSIVE: Hunt Dates: Aug 31-Sept 12 (horse only) Sept 14-23 (boat or horse) or Sept 25-Oct 04 (boat or horse) - Includes moose seal, Outfitter and Yukon Gov’t trophy fees and trophy handling fees on moose harvest. - Includes 10 full days in the field hunting; 12 day trip out of Whitehorse
$8,000.00 seems low to me, but you can get on hunts in Newfoundland with 95% success rates for $10,000.00 +
Resident success rates have dropped significantly over the past 3 years—because they kicked back the opening of the season—so moose don’t answer the call much. From what I see our moose populations have recovered signifcantly. All the old good outfitters I used to know are—like me—old and feeble retired—or dead. I would look at a fly-in or lodge up in the Red Lake country. But on a fly-in you prolly won’t have internet service.
If you’re a rifle hunter I can recommend Ironbound Outfitters in Newfoundland, not so much for archery. Probably won’t have Wi-Fi and might be a little more then 8k.
Much appreciated by everyone who has chimed in so far! This forum is absolutely the best. I'm eating this info up. Look forward to any other insight folks can share.
I'm from Ontario and hunted moose for years. The mount shown as my avatar is the best I personally have taken. Neither I or my buddies claim to be expert hunters or callers although over the years we have had many moose respond to the call. Having taken Only one hunt and using a native guide my experience here is limited. Our experience on that one hunt was an unmitigated disaster. The only moose that came in was called by me and the guide was useless. We dispensed with his services(?) after 3 days.
In Ontario it is my understanding the best success is found north of Kenora in the fly in areas as suggested by Karl earlier.
From everything I have read I think your best chance of getting a moose would be in Newfoundland. They may not be the largest but if you have never gotten one I think you would enjoy the experience. I have personally never understood the need for a large set of antlers. Any bull that can be drawn out of the bush by calling and coming in grunting to my way of thinking is a trophy. In addition the provide a grand amount of excellent eating. Being out in the bush watching the sunrises and sunsets, and sometimes the aurora borealis after dark are priceless experiences.
I realize everyone has different desires but think to achieve what you want will likely take more than one trip and far more money than you have planned for one trip. I don't like to be a killjoy, only trying to be realistic.
All the best in your search. Let us know in the Fall how it goes!
Thanks for that Jim. For one, when the question was asked about my budget, I just mentioned the pricing I had seen online when I gave the range of 8 to 12k. My budget is certainly open ended if I found a place that checked the boxes and had positive reviews. Although I will say I wasnt going into it thinking $20k+. I suppose I could spend that much but it wasn't really my intention either.
I concur that I think Newfoundland may be a better choice. It's more important to me to get A BULL rather than holding out for some ginormous record book trophy.
This will be a 2024 hunt for me. Already going to Africa in 2023 for cape buffalo, eland, kudu, gemsbok, and zebra. If I want to stay married, I need to space my excursions out...
Going back to Newfoundland and hunt with CONNE RIVER OUTFITTERS. Hunted with them in 2018 at their fly in camp. 3 moose were taken with 44”-46” spread and 3 more from a single antler (my son shot) and two 11-15 point
In 2021 we went with Tuckamore Lodge on the Western Peninsula. Four or so hours due north of Port Aux Basque. She runs a good operation.
The moose around CONNE RIVER were bigger than those we saw and shot on the Western Peninsula. For me it’s about the journey and if a trophy comes along, I’ll shoot.
I'll throw two names out. One in BC and the other in Saskatchewan. Jim Lancaster of Copper River Outfitters. Central BC. Not giant moose but a superb and honest guy.
The other is Kyler Knelson in Saskatchewan. Fly in hunt , Northern bush area. Chance at bigger moose. More expensive but probably a hunt of a lifetime for some.
I have killed 4 A-Y moose. 2 on unguided drop off hunts. If you gotta have contact, get a satellite phone or an Inreach.
I'm also enamored of moose hunting. The Mrs and I did two drop hunts in AK without any dead moose to show. I think I have some strange power to attract Brown Bears and repel moose. Still great adventures and I may try again there someday. I went to central Canada last year, this time guided, with my bride along as well. I was the only hunter of 4 that week that did not get a shot at a bull. The other 3 hunters did kill bulls. It was another good adventure with a few negatives. One of the guides, I swear, must have been an antihunter as he seemed to do everything in his power to sabotage our efforts. At least it seemed so. He was new and got fired, but did kind of spoil the end of the hunt. My main guide was great, and the outfitter seemed so too. Overall, much more good than bad. We were in the game every day despite very warm weather. I'm going back this fall with the same outfit, so I guess that says something. We ate moose a few times up there and the meat was really good. I will absolutely shoot a meat bull if I see one.
In my 60's now, I still plan to hunt moose as often as I can. As a general rule, central Canadian hunts seem to go $12-14K for 1 on 1 guiding and 9-10K for 2:1. Good hunts are in demand and I would expect these costs to keep rising. The better outfitters have high success rates. I'll probably not hunt Newfoundland as the distance is greater for me and the central provinces still have good moose numbers. They also have nice people and great wilderness areas to hunt. I suppose I could hunt guided in Ak, The Yukon or NWT, but the cost is more than I really want to pay. I genuinely enjoyed going unguided in AK, but father time is already limiting how far I can pack 600lb of moose on my back. I think I still may have one or two more AK tries left in me. Best wishes to you on your hunt and, hopefully, with your eventual escape from your electronic tether.
