Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Quebec Caribou Hunt Report

Sorry it took so long, but I have been up to my neck in it with work since I got back. I am sure most if not all of you know how it is after being gone for over a week on a hunt.

So I owe you all a report with pics since you all have always as well as this time been big help on everything from who, when, where, what to take, tips, ect. Thank you again

The trip was with Leaf River Lodge in northern Quebec with travel on the 17th and 23rd of September. The logistics before and after went very smoothly even though the hunters were really never filled in on the plan or what we needed to do at each step of the way until the last second. But as I said, no complaints since all went very well.
There were 5 of us in our group (myself, my Dad, my Uncle Randy, my buddy Ben and his Dad Bob) and we were joined by a single hunter Joe from Wyoming who was a great addition to the group. I would hunt again with him anytime. The initial plan was for a total of 12 hunters to go to Camp Desbergeres. We were informed as we were getting ready to take off from Lac Pau towards camp that we would not be hunting with 12 hunters, but rather the 6 others would be going to a different camp called Camp Arbic. We later found out that was due to the fact that the animals were at this other camp. So we must have drawn the short straw, but as they say, �It is what it is.�
So we got to camp and settled in, took care of some paperwork, shot our rifles and had a great meal. The food was fantastic all week. The checking/sighting in our rifles set the pace of the entire week. We were shooting from 100 yards at a target about 2�x2�. As my Dad shot his first shot, the youngest guide Frank was watching with binoculars. He immediately said that it was about 10� low and 8� right in the black boarder at the bottom of the target. My Dad was a bit flustered by this as he knew it was right where he wanted it two weeks before when we shot. So he really concentrated on the second shot to make sure it wasn�t a fluke. After the second shot, Frank the guide said, �Right next to the first one�...�, and my Dad was about ready to lose it when Frank added, �Right in the top of the bull�s-eye.� This was of course followed by a few laughs especially from those also watching with binoculars. Again this set the pace for a lot of ribbing and laughs throughout the week.

Day 1:
We all had breakfast and then split up into groups of 2 hunters w/ 1 guide. There were some strong winds, so the camp manager Claude wasn�t about to let anyone take the boat ride across the big lake. Off and on throughout the cool day, there was everything from sun, rain, and sleet. The only thing that was constant was the stiff wind. Without actually saying it, the guides made it pretty clear that there weren�t caribou around and we were essentially going for some exercise and a look around. Needless to say, no one saw a hair on Day 1.

Day 2:
My Dad, Ben and Bob were taken on a fly out to find some animals. They got into a pretty good group of animals, compared to our standards at that point, and each came back with very respectable bulls. The remaining three of us stayed and took the boats out to different ends of the lake to climbed some hills for some glassing. My uncle Randy and his guide Daniel spotted a bear a couple/few miles away and made a nice stalk and fantastic shot at 351 yards to tip his bear over. The camp manager who has multiple decades of guiding bears claimed that this bear was well over 15 years old based on teeth and other aspects. He had a huge skull that was roughly measured and estimated to go around 22�. He was a fighter and was all tore up including a big hole through his nose. While they went one way that morning, Frank took Joe and I the other. As we entered a back channel, Joe spotted a bull just at the crest over my shoulder. We docked the boat on the beach and head up the hill. We found a small scattered group of about 10 caribou headed away from us. There were two bulls again in that respectable range. I first had to teach Joe how to play rock/paper/scissors, and then he beat me, so he got to shoot first. We hustled around the corner to get at least parallel with them and got set up. I ranged his bull for him at about 230 yards. He made a great neck shot and dropped him right there. My bull would not give me a clean shot and was over the crest before I had a chance. So we went up to take a look at Joe�s bull and then noticed my bull with about 6 cows heading away from us. I threw down my pack right next to his dead bull and Frank ranged him at 391 (Joe couldn�t hold the range finder steady due to the adrenaline pumping). I took a few needed breaths and squeezed one off��just to hear Frank say �Miss�. I chambered another round, had to bear down and drilled him in the ribs. The shot was further back than I wanted, but it did the job. So we took care of the two bulls, packed them to the beach and went and got the boat. All six of us got our hands dirty, so Day 2 took a huge amount of pressure off of all of us.

Randy�s Bear:


Joe�s Bull 1:


My Bull 1:


Bob�s Bull 1:


Ben�s Bull 1:


Dad�s Bull 1:

Day 3:
The day started off with changes and confusion. It was decided that Wyoming Joe, my Uncle Randy and I were going to be moved to Camp Arbic where the animals WERE�I stress �WERE�. Our guide Frank went with us and he wasn�t too happy considering his hunch was that the animals would be arriving at our original camp that day or the following. Sure enough, while we are gone the other three group members saw thousands for caribou. Rightfully so, they all raised their bar and looked for some dandy bulls. Bob shot a dandy bull for his second out of this herd. As for us transplants, we saw very few cows and calves, and no bulls. We put on quite a few miles covering a lot of ground. We did have some luck though. Frank and Joe had headed off in one area, while Arbic�s camp manager Travis took my Uncle Randy and I in another. At one point my Uncle Randy spots a bear way off in the distance on a crest. We make a stalk and get to about 500 yards. Randy and the guide stay behind a rock watching in their binoculars while I try to get closer. I get to about 175 yards and the bear lifts his head to check the wind. He was sitting facing straight towards me and I could see him from about the chest up and squeezed one off, hitting him in the throat. He never took a step. When we walked up on him we could see that he was sitting over a caribou carcass and obviously did not want to leave his meal. After taking care of my bear, we spotted a group of caribou bedded a few miles away and made a walk. Once we got there, we found ourselves right in the middle of about 25 cows and calves that seemed more curious than scared. That brought Day 3 to an end.

Bob�s Bull 2:


My Bear:


Day 4:
The three of us at the camp Arbic spent the day hiking and glassing only so see a few more cows and calves. The highlight of this day for me was that I shot a ptarmigan with my bow. Hopefully the taxidermist can repair the damage from the broadhead and make a pretty mount out of it. It was in mid-phase with white on its front and under half and brown on the back and head. Joe and Frank had some fun with some cows and calves that came, let�s say, VERY close to them. The video is pretty awesome. Back at camp Desbergeres, the caribou continued to flow. My Dad saw some really good bulls that he got pictures of but had his �bar� pretty high waiting for the elusive �Double Shovel��which he may regret. Ben gets some amazing and I mean amazing footage of the migration. He has a dandy bull walk within 10 yards of him that he doesn�t shoot due to the fact there is a bigger one further behind on its way. He ends up shooting this stud of a bull below.

Ben�s Bull 2:


Day 5:
The three of us at camp Arbic learned that we were going to be flown back to our original camp to rejoin our group and hopefully catch some animals before they were completely passed. Between the anxiousness and plane being late, I think we (or at least I) about wore out that dock pacing and watching our watches as the last day ticked by. Finally at about noon the plane showed and took us towards Desbergeres. He ended up dropping us off at a lake near camp where a small group was headed. On this pit stop, my Uncle Randy was able to take two good bulls within a 2 minute span. We were only on this pit stop for about 2 hours and then were picked up and headed back to camp. At this point the pressure was on again. My Dad was out hunting yet with one tag to fill. Joe and I were chomping at the bit with one each to fill. So Frank hustled us to the boat and off we went in his canoe with an outboard on it. While we were out, my Dad had a group of caribou come by and after passing on a LOT of animals, had no choice but take a smaller bull to fill his tag and the freezer. He caught plenty of grief from the guides about it, but that is his mentality with all hunting and his walls don't lie. Finally with about 1 hour of daylight left, Joe spots a group of bulls on the hill. Frank gets us to the large rock shore and Joe bails to the beach, ending up about hip deep in the not so warm lake water. We humped it up the hill and when we finally got a shot, Joe made a nice shot on a dandy bull. Well, we quartered that out and hauled it to the boat. We shoved back off and headed up the lake when we spotted another lone bull on the hill. When we hit the rock shore, I bailed and just as Joe did got soaked. I humped it up the hill trying to cut the bull off. I got about � up the hill when I saw him coming at a trot. I stepped out from behind a tree and tipped him over. Well there wasn�t much daylight left and there was a storm coming in, so I had to make short knife work. We got everything loaded and got back to camp just in time for it to get about as dark as you can imagine as it was a new moon that week. That ended the week, the hunt, but not the excitement. That night the guides and hunters all had fun in the mess hall.

Randy �s Bull 1:


Randy�s Bull 2:


Ben�s Bear:


Larry�s Bull 2:
[img]http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p251/rlsilha/Larry2nd.jpg[/img]

Joe�s Bull 2:
[img]http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p251/rlsilha/Joe2nd.jpg[/img]

My Bull 2:
[img]http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p251/rlsilha/Rob2nd.jpg[/img]

nice job....looks like a great time!

12 bulls and 3 bears in 5 days don't sound too bad... i'm guessing that you all had a blast...
that a BAR you're holding in the bear pic???

Yep that's a BAR in a 7mm Rem Mag. I shot my caribou with my X-Bolt in a 325 WSM.

It was a blast overall. As I mentioned the only negative was moving back and forth and missing the herd both ways.....but they explained over and over again that "That's Caribou Hunting". Whatever that means.

Thanks guys.

Nice job and looks like a great hunt, even with all the moving. Can you give me some details on the outfit you used, location, cost, etc. Sound like a great hunt to make and Quebec is drivable from where I live. Send me a pm if you don't mind.

Thanks for sharing the detail. Sounds and looks like a great time for all...

We drove with a trailer to Montreal as well from Wisconsin. It made life a lot easier to bring back 10 sets of horns, about 7 capes, 3 bears, 15 boxes of meat, and a bird....not mention all of the gear.

We hunted with Leaf River Lodge.
http://www.leafriverlodge.com/

You can check out their website and get all of the info you need. We selected what they refer to as Camp #4 (#4 because noone can pronounce Desbergeres).
Our trip was from the 17th to the 23rd of September starting and ending in Montreal.

Nice! Looks like you guys had a fun! So what do you think about that 325wsm?

I really like it. I have a 7mm WSM for whitetail size game and it is now like a third arm.
The 325 is overkill for caribou, but I wanted to use my new toy.
For Elk, bear, moose, etc. the 325 WSM is perfect in my opinion.
It shoots very flat for a 200gr pill and it bucks the wind quite well.
I sigheted it in a few weeks before we left and after getting it dead on at 200, I used the B&C reticle in my Leupold scope put three withing 1.5 inches of the "X" at 300 yards. The smaller of my two bulls was just under 400 with a decent cross/quartering wind and it performed quite well.....as long as the operator does.
Their big sales pitch is that it has the bite of a 338 with the bark of a 300, and I would have to agree so far.

I am very pleased with my choices in big game weapons so far.

I got a 325wsm in a Montana and I like it! I'm shooting 180gr tsx. From what I have see on big game it gets the job done. A 7mm wsm and 325wsm is a great combo for North America in my book!

Desbergeres is a well known place for black bear .... needless to say Alain the owner of leaf river works with his team on caribous too ...!!!

No doubt that everyone worked hard......right up to the last minute.