Canadian Goose and Duck Hunts

We booked a trip thru Cabelas. They supposedly vet the lodges. We got screwed by the outfitter like he was a $1000 whore. When we contacted Cabelas, they told us that they were only a booking agent and had no control over the outfitter. After a long process of complaint calls, we were refunded $400 off of a $2000 trip. Considering that our total costs were over $3000 each, it was not satisfactory. Services were no where close what Cabelas advertised. I would not trust Cabelas to sell me a rock.

T.A.W., Baw.

You want to go to Canada? Confused

I don't have any recommendations for lodges, but I can give you my experience. Please let me emphasize that this is MY EXPERIENCE and shouldn't be taken as the final word.

1) There aren't many traditional "lodges" like you are thinking (there are some). Mostly there are plenty of outfitters who move with the ducks and geese and mostly work out of hotels. The oil business in central Canada is way down. So there are actually plenty of hotel rooms available, even during the hunting season.

2) If you want to focus on geese, you need an outfitter. Because you need his trailer full of decoys and his experience on how to hunt geese. (I don't really know very much about goose hunting).

3) If you want to focus on ducks, with some geese thrown in, and you are even a decent duck hunter, then you DO NOT need an outfitter. Ducks are everywhere, and they are easy to hunt. And, landowners give permission to independent hunters a lot easier than they give it to outfitters. Just ride around and knock on doors. The farmers are really, really friendly and they will help you network with neighbors that have birds.

4) To me, the most valuable part of the trip was the relationships I developed with the farmers I met. I brought them duck breasts and gift cards to restaurants. They had me in their homes, cooked me dinner, mixed drinks, and wanted to talk about America, hunting, farming, cattle, etc. I am storing decoys and waders in their barns right now for my trip next year.

5) I have been disappointed with 8 of 10 outfitters I have ever hunted with (deer, duck, turkey, etc). I usually end up feeling like a number that they are just grinding through. And I don't like the hidden fees (bird cleaning fees, etc). I like freestyling it. And Canada waterfowling may be one of the last great freestyle hunting experiences left. You leave your hotel at daylight with no plan. Two hours later you have a limit of waterfowl in your truck and you are having breakfast with a family you just met. There's really nothing else like it.

6) For geese go in September, for ducks go in October

This is just my experience and preference. I don't mean to steer you away from what you want to do. And, I have only done it twice. The first time, I went with an outfitter. It was an OK experience. But within two days I was thinking: I could do this myself, and more to my style. The second time I went by myself and I will never go back with an outfitter. And by myself, I mean: totally by myself.

I have a handful of friends who want to do it but they were like: You go up and figure it out and then when you have a system down, we will start coming with you.
(bunch of softies!). So next year I am putting together a crew of hard pipe hitting MS boys. And we are gonna give them hell on the prairie.

Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.

North Star Outfitters. Our group has been going with them the same week for the last 8 years or so. Give Neil a call and he'll set you up. He has a lodge and pretty much hosts louisiana hunters all season. He also does bear and deer hunts if your interested. One year some members of our party would goose hunt in the morning, then deer hunt in the afternoons.

North Star

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You want to go to Canada? Confused

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Yeah, wait. I thought he was wanting to hunt canada geese.

ALso, i'll agree with NoColors that you could do it on your own and be succesfull. But i would still recommend going with an outfitter on your first try just to eliminate some of the learning curve.

we have been freestyling sask canada for years. its a blast. u need a trailer of dekes and blinds. there are folks out there you can rent from, but quality can be suspect. We leave our trailer in canada with the farmers we stay with. Best bet is to start out of a hotel and start making contacts with farmers.

Our company has been using Take Em Outfitters for 13 years. They slaughter the duck and geese every year. I went 2 years ago and have never shot so many birds in my life. We had 80 Canadians on the ground before 9:30 then that afternoon put 56 mallards on the ground in 54 minutes. They have a new lodge and great guides.

talk to Clay Charlton
www.takemoutfitters.com

I've never been but my grandfather's best friend goes every year for 2 weeks. This year they killed 1100 geese, one of the guys brought 8 cases of shells and came back with one. One day they shot 90 geese in 45 minutes. None of that is made up. Usually they shoot 500-600, a bad year was like 300. That's for 3-5 guys.

My recommendation is to make sure if you go with a guide they are very mobile. Like willing to move 100 miles or more. It's a vast area and the birds can move quite a bit.

As said, there's way more farmers then there are guys to hunt. If you can bring your own decoys, you won't have an issue finding a place to hunt. The farmers hate the geese, and they'll call other farmers and get you permission to hunt the field the birds are working. Completely different in that aspect from the states. It's very easy to self guide, or the guides have a very easy job. The key is being mobile enough to be where the geese are.