Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada deer hunting Dryden Ont.

That trip to Butler Lake was my first real adventure. I was really young and we left the dock in Wabigoon and did the trip in and out in a day.

Carl took us in his boat. We saw deer, moose and duck families. Were you there Keith? I only remember Mom, Carl and I but that seems odd no one else in my memory. It was the first time I was in a boat with a steering wheel.

Your young memories are better than mine. I remember walking in to Dore Lake in the winter with Carl, but not Butler.

Butler Lake eh? I would like to try Paulson some time again. It has been years since I've been there. It gets to be a weed bed late in the year. Once in Butler,I seem to never miss getting to Whitefish, call it a bay, or a lake. My wife was stacking the pickerel up like cordwood in Mud Bay at the NW corner of Whitefish some years ago.More years than I like to think about. Randy's reference to ducks makes me think of watching the Mallard hen, and ducklings dive before the boat in the channel into Butler, then bob up in order behind the boat. You fellows are making me homesick.

m'on back.

I guess I gave fair warning, so, If we make it to Butler, I'm wondering if the penchant for snacking from the bait pail is a family trait? Or maybe I should just bring nightcrawlers, and leeches. (I am not sure about the winkie things. Shakespeare got by without them,they look a bit like a crutch. (Just think that I am smiling broadly.)( You are going UNARMED I HOPE!)

Guess I'm a late-comer to this thread.

Been making trips to Ignace to fish since 1974.

We hardly EVER see a whitetail track out in the bush. Moose......yes. Whitetail...........no. Always figured they couldn't weather the wolves very well.

Last trip up (June 2010) we did see about 3 or 4 whitetail, including one velvet buck that appeared to have some potential going on. But, unless there's a secret I don't know aboot, I'd hate to drive the 1300 miles each way and pay to try to tag a wallhanger.

Just one man's limited observation.

Yoder409,I have been to Ingace, but never fished the area,save the English River for a short time. What lakes have you fished, and what time of year. Good luck there? 1300 miles each way? About where do you live?

I spent ten and a half hours in court in Ignace today, and my brain is numb -- there! I admitted on a public forum that I am a numb-skull.

Ignace doesn't have the deer population that Dryden area has. Fishing there is superb though. Lakers and Pickerel. Who cares about Northerns, but let's not start that again.

Keith,

You mention that Ignace does not have the deer population of Dryden. I only hunted the Ignace area a couple or three times, probably in the early '70's. Actually we hunted in the Clearwater West Lake area which is north of Ignace. At that time whitetails were abundant, probably more so than moose.

Do you know whether there has been a decline in the whitetail population in the Ignace area or have deer numbers increased to a greater degree around Dryden?

Have always thought I might like to hunt deer in the western part of Ontario. When I was younger and had the drive to travel I either didn't have the time or the money to do so. Now those things are available the thoughts of driving 1,000 or 1,100 miles to hunt deer turn me off the idea.

Must be the evolution of a hunter. Last fall both the s-i-l and I turned down opportunities to take deer because they were simply meat animals and we didn't want to get our hands dirty. This was within 150 miles of home.

Jim

You might have been in school as I was very young.

The number of antlerless deer tags available in the two WMUs near Ignace would indicate there is not the abundance of deer there compared to Dryden. 1100 surplus tags in 008 and 005 as opposed to 225 for 012A and 015A.

My wife and I worked in Ignace in the 70's. We put the canoe in at Ignace and three days and 22 portages later we were at White Otter Lake. Three weeks later Keith picked us up at Dyment and it turns out my wife somehow got pregnant on the trip.

On that trip we saw lots of deer but it was much closer to Atikokan.

Randy, No jokes about age here.Just the thought that the 70's don't seem that long ago. do the math, however, and it has been 40 years. Lot's of things can change,stay the same, or even change back.

Hi there
I am still fishing White Otter. We come in from the south however.
Terrific fishing & IMO the most beautiful lake in Ont.

I heard tell from one of my flatlander cousins that they didn't like NW Ontario, cause all we had was lakes, rocks, and trees. Wasn't any pretty fields to be seen.

Brother, More for the rest of us to enjoy. Having said that, "Everything is beautiful, in it's own way".Sloppy stinking liquid hog manure, makes a corn plant tuck on a bib, and makes it's mouth water, so to speak. I understand NW Ontario was conserded a wasteland untill the minerals were discovered building the Canadian Pacifc Railway.A motel clerk in Missouri told me Iowa was dull becouse of all the crop fields. At $10,000 an acre someone must like it.

No arguments there my friend. We had a couple days when the water was like glass and we could see the bottom at 200 ft. We left at thr NW side on the Turtle River through Scmirch, Bending, and Stormy as well as dozens of unnamed lakes and rivers etc. We packed rice but othewise lived off the land. It was my wife's first off road canoe trip and she was the best first mate with whom I have been in the bush.

We fish out what's called the North Road. Mostly Arethusa and Flatrock lakes. Generally we go the first week of August. But last time was the 2nd week of June and fishing was better.......bugs were worse. We drive in from Pennsylvania.

Did you stop & check out the castle? Thats always interesting.

There are the remains of an old POW camp near the castle also.

Yes to both. The castle was original then. I hear they had the Junior Rangers spend a summer working on it since. we camped in the bay just north of the castle which faces south. We were there three days swimming, fishing and just enjoying the break. The MNR had a CO that flew between Manitouwadge and the Manitoba border back then.

As we travelled in we picked up metal and glass garbage to take out of the bush.(Still a pet peeve of mine) He stopped to see what we were up to while we were on the beach. It was supper time so we gave him fresh fish and rice with some wild onions and blueberries for desert as well as a few cups of coffee.

He inquired how we were disposing of our garbage and I told him of our cleanup. He took the bag we had collected with him and stopped twice more on he route we left with him for a repeat coffee and garbage run. He was a great guy and obviously well chosen for the job.

The POW camp was obvious although falling apart. Pretty safe place to store prisoners. I found the log chutes fascinating and climbed on them a bit but in the middle part they were pretty wrotten so that was that. I really should try to find some of the slides I shot and see if there is some way to post them. You would see a difference no doubt.

Randy