Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Whos hunted with Safari Nordik

Im trying to decide for a 2012 hunt. Looking at Newfoundland Moose and caribou, Maine Moose, or Quebec caribou. I got some info on Newfoundland and Maine but lets hear from you that have hunted with Safari Nordik. I want to hear the good and the bad. I am looking at a early sept trophy hunt. Thanks Joel

For what its worth, I hunted with them in 1993 for Spring bear. Worst hunt I was ever on. Since then I've been told the ownership has changed but I'm soured on them for life. A group of friends also hunted Caribou that year and although they shot bulls, and some good ones at that, they thought things weren't all they appeared to be. The one thing we all thought was happening was last minute camp switching for preferred customers.

Maybe all has changed and its a good outfit now but check references really well.

nobody else has hunted with Safari Nordik

Go check out the caribou section on Bowsite, but plan to have some serious time to devote to reading. Lots of people on there that have been burned by various caribou outfitters in the last couple years.

my brother, and one of my friends, and several friends of his went black bear hunting through safari nordik, they used Kenneth Gingrich which owns and runs one of their offices in the usa and lived close to us. anyway they went bear hunting with him 3 or 4 times in the late 90's and early 2000's and they never had a bad thing to say about it. some years of course were not as good as others but they always killed a couple bears. my friend got a nice black bear one of the first years and then the last time he went he got an extremely nice cinnamon bear that he was totally thrilled with.

About 11-12 yrs ago I knew of two fellas who booked with Safari Nordic. They got totally skunked as the caribou migration had not started and felt Safari Nordic should have re-scheduled their hunt knowing no caribou were moving. Keep in mind this was 11-12 yrs ago.

MtnHtr

My dad caribou hunted in Quebec with them during 9/11 (which wasn't that fun!!), and wasn't that impressed. He said the guides weren't the greatest at all, and wasn't very happy with his hunt. He did get two caribou though.

My .02 cents.

Ben

I think most everybody that goes up for a caribou hunt has a whackem/stackem mentality. They saw the tv shows where hundreds of caribou go running by, and you simply pick out the biggest one. I'm sure the guides would love if that happened for every single one of their clients.. but the reality is that it doesn't. Just a roll of the dice.

Just looked at the prices.. HOLY CRAP. And I don't Holy Crap easily....(grin)


I'd look elsewhere..

My info is old since it has been 10+ years since I hunted with them. Was supposed to be three hunters per guide, but turned out to be 4-5 per guide. In our group of four I was the only one that killed a caribou-the only one we saw- and it would have been the equivalent of a spike. Basically ran out of food for a day or day and a half for the entire camp. Hunters were asking to be moved to other camps, per the contract, but were told there was no reason, since none of the camps were seeing caribou. One guide apparently didn't like a hunter assigned to him and seemed to delight in trying to capsize the boat and dump the hunter into the lake.

My brother and I hunted with Safari Nordik last year. We saw 6 caribou, total, in 5 days. My brother shot 2 so-so bulls, but I didn't pull the trigger (I already have 7 caribou on the wall). And we'd been flown into the most active camp at the time. If you've researched Quebec caribou hunting, you know that the fickle caribou migration can either result in very hot, or very cold, hunting. But....caribou numbers are slipping wherever you look. The Leaf River herd is staying farther north and the George River herd numbers are evidently plunging. Labrador is currently considering dropping it's entire 2012 caribou season.

I have also hunted Newfoundland. Moose are easy; caribou are tough. In the NWT, the Bathurst herd is losing numbers, and the outfitter that we used 12 years ago--a spendid hunt--has ceased operating. Something is happening to caribou numbers in Canada. Safari Nordik is a victim of this nadir, I believe.

Since I didn't have a shooting opportunity last fall, I'm entitled to hunt this year for free with SN, as per their guarantee. But, I will have to take time off and purchase airfare to Montreal. I haven't decided for sure, but I don't think I'll take the free hunt. And that's not so much a knock on SN as it is a reflection on the whole Quebec caribou experience.

Back to the poster's original query.....I think I would go to Newfoundland and hunt moose and BEAR. If you get an opportunity to take a nice woodland caribou, it would be icing on the cake. The Newfie people are the best there is!

I hunted with Safari Nordik in 2003 and 2006 and both hunts were a lot of fun and were by far the best outfitted hunts I have been on. They were both unguided hunts though, so I didn't have to kiss a guide's a$$ to get him to treat me right. The camp manager and the cook (camp manager's wife) were fantastic though. I never saw the migration but there were caribou around camp to hunt every day and I easily got two bulls each time.

The problems with Quebec caribou hunting are that the prices have gone way up because of the currency exchange rate and fuel prices. Also if an outfitter decides to cancel his season's hunts and keep his hunters' money, he can do so with impunity. The Quebec government and the outfitter's association will do absolutely nothing except give you the runaround. In 2008 Tuttulik Outfitters canceled their season in the middle of September, keeping the more than $5,200.00 paid by each of 168 hunters in the process. That comes to $873,600.00. I know this happened because I am one of those hunters. Hunters who had partially paid for 2009 and 2010 hunts lost their money also, but the amount is unknown. Now in 2010, Luco Outfitters did the same thing, but as far as I know, the number of hunters who got ripped off hasn't been released.

Another problem is that unusually warm weather the past few years has screwed up the migration and the herd numbers are down, in some cases way down.

So the bottom line is,IMO, if you want to hunt caribou in Quebec, book with an outfitter who has been around for a long time, like Safari Nordik or Jack Hume Adventures. Just don't get your hopes up about getting your money's worth until it actually happens.

I heard about this story & sorry to hear you got ripped off. I'm convinced there will be no Caribou in my future unless an outfitter accepts cash upon arrival of hunt. Did anyone of the hunters attempt to contact a lawyer or least try to get a portion of there money returned?

Do a ridge top super cub hunt in AK. 40 Mile Air seems to have their act together, based on the reports I've seen.

The Quebec fiasco has been well posted on the 'net.

In the last few years hunters going to Quebec have been screwed over in epic proportions.

I have zero interest of going to Quebec knowing you have no recourse when bad things happen. Were talking millions of dollars here.

Bowsite has the most active threads on this theft.

It makes African plains game look like a bargain.

My brother hunted with them in early October 2010 and killed two small caribou. His story was one of not seeing any/very many animals and an unexpected cost that crushed his mad money.

He was put in his room with another hunter but the other guy didn't want to room with another hunter and asked for a private cabin. My brother was then told that because his roomy left he essentially now has a private room and would have to pay the extra $$$$$$$ for the private accommodations. He tried to get a refund from the outfitter but has not received funds.....

I say let Keith Warren use them.....you should find somebody cheaper and better.

By the way my brothers hunt cost 6K + tags and airfare. All totaled just a drop under 8K.....that suks!!

How do you think the 300 or 400 people feel who paid for their hunts full upfront and then had the hunts cancelled at the last second.

No refunds, no explanation, nothing..

Feel free to look into this and then tell me you could support or hunt Quebec

I hunted with Safari Nordik in October of 2004. This was my fourth Caribou hunt, and the first that I even saw a trophy bull Caribou, let alone fired a shot. Be very careful when picking your outfitter, as they tend to promise all kinds of things.

My first hunt was with Ungava Bay Outfitters in 1987 out of Ft. Chimo Quebec. We never even saw a caribou. When we asked to be moved, we were told that they had no camps where the Caribou were located.

Hunt number two was in the N.W.T. in 1989. This was a combo hunt for Muskox and Caribou. I shot a nice Muskox, but again never even saw a Caribou. The outfitter did refund the Caribou portion of our hunt, which was nice, but not expected.

Hunt number three was back to Quebec with Club Chambeaux out of Schefferville. We saw a few Caribou, but they were all small bulls or cows. After three days and a break in the weather, they moved us to another camp. My friend shot a very average bull, and I was skunked once again!

Then in 2004 with Safari Nordik it was like being in a National Geograhic film. We had bulls, big bulls walking through camp. There were Caribou just pouring over the hills in every direction. All ten hunters in our camp were tagged out in three days. Out of courtesy for hunters in camps with no Caribou, we offered to leave early so they could bring them into our camp. Safari Nordik took us to one of their fishing camps, and we fished for Artic Char for a couple of days.

Overall I was impressed with Safari Nordik and would hunt with them again. Caribou hunting is no slam dunk and sometimes because of weather, herd location etc. there's not a damn thing any outfitter can do about it.

Mike

I've not hunted in Quebec, but have done some bou hunts. One is typically either into caribou or out. When he is on the outs, it can be a long long time between sightings.