Flyfishing, Wingshooting, Hiking, Big Game, Lodges, Map, Home, Bowhunting,
2009 Big Game Hunting Season Summary
As expected, and following the best moose activity ever the previous year, 2009 proved to be yet another very successful year of hunting at our wilderness lodges. Only 3 moose tags were unfilled, and all hunters involved either saw moose, had stalk opportunity or passed up an animal hoping for a larger bull. Although our woodland caribou hunting has been heavily reduced because of a declining population, our limited number of caribou hunters had no problem filling out tags with good mature animals at our one remaining caribou hunting location. 2 of the 3 lodges that we hunted this year also showed decent black bear activity for the hunters who added a bear tag to their moose hunt.
This high level of hunter success was despite a fall of weather that many felt was the worst for hunting that we have ever witnessed, with a very high percentage of days with fog, rain and wind. With our primary hunting method involving sitting on high points of land and spotting for animals, this put our guides at a big disadvantage when not being able to glass to locate game.
Hunters at
Rocky Ridge Lodge filled all moose and caribou tags, although no black bear
activity was observed in that area. Caribou numbers did not seen to be any less
than in 2008 and our hunters harvested good quality trophy animals. Ptarmigan
seemed to be uncharacteristically scarce in that area this past fall and are
believed to be on the low end of their population cycle. Once again this fall,
Rocky Ridge Lodge underwent continued reconditioning of the facility, and I am
now proud to say that the lodge is in better shape than it has been since we
acquired it in 1993.
This was the
first year of hunting moose instead of caribou at Caribou Lodge, due to the
closure of that caribou hunting area, and it did not disappoint our moose
hunters. All but one of the hunters at that lodge filled their moose tags, and
that hunter turned down opportunity hoping for a chance at a larger bull. He was
said to have remarked that he had been moose hunting in Alaska a number of
times, but that he had seen more moose by mid week at Caribou Lodge than he had
seen before in his lifetime. I personally guided at that lodge for a time this
past fall, and on my very last day of hunting spotted 12 moose, including 5
bulls. As usual, there was good bear activity and we almost had a first by
taking 2 bears on the same day, but one was hit and escaped. On another point
worth noting, I returned to that lodge some time after we had finished hunting
operations to winterize the lodge, and spent a little time filling my own moose
tag from the 3 bulls I spotted. While this area is now closed to all caribou
hunting because of declining population, during my own 3 day hunt I observed at
least 100 caribou within 3 miles of Caribou Lodge, which was encouraging.
Our Salmon Brook Lodge once again showed a large number of moose, with 5 of 7 tags being filled, and all hunters spotting moose. One of the guides reported 18 sightings in a single day. Of the moose taken, all but one sported good quality antlers with paddles, of which the largest was slightly over 50 inches. As usual, there were a fair number of bear sightings near this lodge, but nobody was able to make a successful stalk, so all remain for the 2010 hunting season.
The fourth of
our lodges, The Forks Lodge was not hunted at all this year for the second year
in succession, even though the area definitely has a very healthy moose
population, including some good trophy animals. The area is simply too rugged
for most hunters and before this year we have been able to hunt our entire
licence allocation for that area out of our Salmon Brook Lodge. We now have
additional moose permits for that area, so will need to rethink plans for future
moose and bear hunting at The Forks.
Despite the poor weather this past fall, all guest transport to and from our lodges by helicopter was completed without delay and guests were more than pleased by the level of service provided at the lodge and the helicopter base. As in the past few years, our staff remained unchanged this year, and all are eagerly looking forward to expected great hunting in 2010.
We have such great confidence in our expectation for hunter success that, following a trial experiment this past year, we are now offering all our big game hunts at a significantly reduced initial sign-up price, with trophy fees due only after a successful hunt. There are now openings available for next year’s hunting season, and we look forward to your contact to arrange a hunt at one of our helicopter accessed lodges soon.
For more information, including copy of our hunting video, or reservations, please contact:
Grey River Lodge Ltd.
22 Riverview Drive, Shoal Harbour, NL
Canada A5A 4M9
Tel: 1-877-466-2440 (Toll
free) Tony
Tuck
Cell: 709-427-3494
Fax:
709-466-2536
E-mail
Please sign our Guest Book
Flyfishing, Wingshooting, Hiking, Big Game, Lodges, Map, Home, Bowhunting,
Last updated February 23, 2010
Newfoundland Moose Hunting | Newfoundland Moose Hunt | Newfoundland Moose Hunting | Newfoundland Big Game Hunts | Newfoundland Big Game Hunting