Canada 2014

[ilovesprig]

Who's going?.............Every waterfowler should experience it at least once in their life........One of my daughters teachers noticed I had hunting stickers on the back of my truck. He then asked me what I liked to hunt. I told him everything, but especially loved waterfowling......He then proceeded to tell he was from Alberta and his uncle had a big farm in Alberta.....Ding,Ding,Ding.....I found a friend who wanted to go and we were set to fly up September 12th, 2001.......Well, I don't have to tell you what happened Sept 11th, 2001......We postponed the trip till Sept. 18th......When we finally got up there with our 18 Feather-Flex honkers in our luggage. We were like kids in a candy store.....Ponds, ducks, and geese everywhere........We now have 100's of decoys and a trailer up there. And have become close friends with many of the farmers & their families.

Going into the 14th season, I'm still like a "kid in a candy store".......lol

A few pix from last year........... ;D

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[baboltin]

looks like a awesome hunt I would love to do this hunt one day and I am not even a huge waterfowl hunter but i do like killing some geese !!!

 

[8SteelTown]

Man that's awesome! One day I hope!

 

[ilovesprig]

Freelancing is more fun and actually pretty reasonable........About a $1000.00 for a week of hunting.......The trade off is you need time to drive (1400 miles just to the border)......We flew up the 1st few years and hunted for about 4 days. Hunt in the morning, scout and clean in the afternoon.

Outfitters are pricey, but it's a great way to go, if you can afford it. About $3,000.00 for 3 days (5 hunts)......Claudio Ongaro is IMO the best outfitter in my area, but I think he's closer to 4 grand.....

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[breacher]

I dig those specks. Never been to Canada but have experience a spring snow goose hunt in the Dakota's. That is some fun shooting!

 

[msailor]

Great story and awesome pics that remind me of hunting when I was a young man in southern Wiscsonsin. It looked like a tornado of water fowl!

 

[Josh Pearson]

I did a freelance hunt like this in 2011 northeast of Saskatoon in Saskatchewan and can't wait to go back to canada again.

 

[TJD123]

Awesome pictures!! Looks like you found some jewelry for your lanyard

 

[NBK]

I have been busy and wanted to post on this thread days ago -

We also freelance Canada and have done so for about 10 years. "JustMyGame" and I have a good friend in Alberta and I try to make it up there every year. We sent up 8 dozen Bigfoot decoys that fit nicely in our friends hunting trailer. Our friends dad is the Chief of the fire department in the farming town he lives by and his grandfather had the only tire shop in a 150 mile radius. Needless to say, we have never been turned away from a field after asking permission to hunt.

Scouting and then hunting is a blast. It is much more gratifying than hunting with a guide in Canada. Our first two years we guide hunted; while it was fun it was also expensive. Ilovesprig hit the head of the nail. It is about $1000 trip to freelance hunt for a week versus $3K-$5k to do it with a guide. I also agree that Claudio Ongaro is the best guide/outfitter I have met.

We are planning this years trip as we speak. Here a are a few pics from past trips. Also a pic of Robs whitetail that scored 214 inches! And of course, my Dieter!

 

[NBK]

pics...

 

[NBK]

more

 

[NBK]

A few more of my Dieter

 

[NBK]

And Rob's beast of a whitetail!

 

[Bonejour]

OMG what a monster!


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[ilovesprig]

John,

It looks like we hunt the same general area...Great pix...In my 13 years, I've only seen one other "freelance" hunting group. It was our 1st two years and they were from Utah.

That's one magnificent buck...........Not in the same league as Rob's, but this almost perfect typical taken by one of my farmers friends son. Hard to appreciate unless your standing next to it.......

We're getting more & more moose in our area too.

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[ilovesprig]

Can't seem to get that Alberta buck picture to load.......I'll try again......

The buck to me looks half white-tail and muley.......Both live on their land.

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[NBK]

It's a great buck for sure Steve. The muledeer and whitetail do interbreed but their mortality rate is much higher than the "pure bread" deer. So you don't see very many. This is due to the fact that the mixed deer breed loses it's ability to stot which is an important part of the deers safety mechanism.

Anyway - cool pics nonetheless!

 

[ilovesprig]

Yes, had that conversation with a friend in Montana......White-tail don't stot (jump wheel running)......

Couple more pix..........Oh, Canada!

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[NBK]

I have heard that the majority of hybrid deer are in Montana. And ya' only the Muley's stot. The link below is what I know regarding stotting.

http://southerncaliforniahunting.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=210:why-mule-deer-survive&catid=38:hunting-blog&Itemid=187

Here are a couple more pics of Rob's deer. The last pictures did not do it justice. And a video link to a short compilation of decoying birds from a ground blind perspective. It was our 2012 Alberta hunt. The gun cam!

http://vimeo.com/68025484

 

[NBK]

Moose etc.