Quebec Winter Caribou Hunting - Page 61

DARKSIDE55 · 12-01-2005, 04:53 PM

Here are some pics for you if they go in. Only let me put one per post.

buck8888 · 12-01-2005, 07:01 PM

My dad's caribou at my house in Indiana. He took it above the dam on the LA-1.

Colorado Bob · 12-01-2005, 07:54 PM

Nice bulls------What a difference a couple of days make----we were at Donat 11/20 thru the 23.

cwcjr119 · 12-02-2005, 07:12 AM

Thanks for pics guys. I went in 04 and was early enough to be successful. Looks like the same time period this year was pretty tough. I'm planning a trip for 06 but worried a little about fuel prices. For, Anyone that was there this year, how much was fuel along the way. Thanks

DARKSIDE55 · 12-02-2005, 07:55 AM

Gas was from .99 to 1.25 litre. Going back in 2 weeks let you know.

Wolfhunt! · 12-03-2005, 09:56 AM

Just got back last night from Donat's.
Hunt was fromNov 29 to Dec 2.First time 'Bou hunter. We saw thousands of them. The drive up was terrible. ( I would rather fly).Pouring rain all the way and the pavement and Trans taiga rd were glare ice. I couldn't believe that they never closed the roads to traffic. We ended up taking way longer than expected and spending the night at 381 gas stop. It was an interesting, learning experience. You had no problem telling which groups had been up there before. They had vehicles that were set up for the long drive with custom built racks for carrying spare gas cans and hauling all the caribou home.
Donat's is what it is. A bunch of oldbunkhouse trailers left over from dam construction. Nothing special.Trailers have no running water but there is a communal trailer with flushing toilets and hot showers.
We were sort of lucky because we were the only ones in our trailer (2 of us). People in the larger trailers were put with people that you don't know and obviously there is the chance that you may not have the same interests (heavy smokers or staying up late drinking and carrying on).Most everyone we noticed were lights out early and headed out hunting early. Ourswas a 10 x 16 foot with two bunks, a small table and kitchen counter. It had a fuel oil furnace and the inline filter leaked so they had a metal pie plate under it to collect the dripping fuel. Thiscaused heavy fuel vapours to fill the trailer. Lucky it was verywarm out and we could leave the windows open.Like I said there is no running water but they give you a large container of water for dishes etc.
They offer cutting services. $45 to skin and cut up you 'bou. Which consists of cutting off the four quarters and removing the back straps and putting the pieces in clear plastic bags.
It took up no more than a few hours of the first morning to sort through a mess of caribou and pic out the ones we wanted to shoot. 5 kms from camp. I was very happy with the hunt and the methods that I harvested them. I found an area with lots of trails and walked in the woods till I found a goodspot with some large openings and waited til they came.
It was really neat to hear the clicking while they walked. I could hear the large heards long before I could see them!
We went for dinner at the Mirage. Very nice place. They obviously have spent a lot of money there. I say if you don't mind spending the extramoney then what the heck!
Ican not imagine driving that distance and not seeing a caribou.That would be very disappointing. But the way it goes is, nothing one day and thousands the next!
There was a man in camp from southern Ontario. He was 92 yrs young and shot his first two caribou on the first day of his hunt. It was a real pleasure to meet him and hear his stories.
We are booked for next year. Hopefully the driving conditions will be better and the hunting will benearly as good.
If you have any specific questions please feel free to PM me.
Good luck hunting and have fun!

DARKSIDE55 · 12-03-2005, 12:12 PM

Hey Wolfhunt, sounds like you had a great time! lol First trip up eh? I've been going up there for years and have stayed at all the outfitters one time or another. It all boils down to how much you want to pay. I made a post back a while ago rating the outfitters from my point of view. Did you book at Donat's for next year again? That's why I'm going back. There was nothing there in November. If everyone would just look at the migration maps, they are pretty dead on where the caribou are. It won't get your money back but it will save you the long drive up. When we go back in a couple of weeks it should be all snow, not ice. I hope!!! A couple of years ago, we did drive from 544 km back to 381 on ice in a 4x4 with thousands of caribou all over the road, dead and alive. It took us 7 1/2 hours...believe that? What a nightmare. Dodging dead caribou and wrecked vehicles all the way. It's 0 F here today. I believe the unexpected warm weather is gone for about 5 months.

Wolfhunt! · 12-03-2005, 04:46 PM

Yes we did book at Donat's for next year. Am I wrong or do they only update the migration maps once a week? I am not able to bring up their site for some reason. Everyone up there(outfitters and gas stops had printouts of the migration maps but I think they were dateda weeks span. Caribou can move out of the country in a week!
I am going to book for the same time and if they are already gone then I will look for straglers or go shed hunting! If they are not there yet thenI will do what I can. I know I will not sit in camp for 4 days belly aching to the owners and guides about being ripped off!
I met a pile of really nice people andam looking forward to going again(just not the drive).We left381 Relais gas stop at 6:45 am and arrived at Donat'ssomewhere around 6:00 pm.
Hope your hunt goes well !

DARKSIDE55 · 12-03-2005, 07:14 PM

Glad to see you enjoyed it!! And yes Donat could use a few improvements. lol. The maps come out once a week like you said, usually Monday afternoon or Tuesday. In a weeks time, they don't migrate that much unless there's no food. I've never had a problem getting to the site. I'll put a link in here for you. You go to the bottom of the page and all the maps are listed there by weeks. You just go to the one you want and click on it. Takes about 15 - 20 seconds for it to load and open the map. Every year for the last 4 years, because of the weather I assume, the caribou migration habits have changed. Like last year, if you went after Nov. 30 the caribou were walking around 381 and no where near where you could hunt. They went right on through the zone and didn't come back until after the season closed. That's where all the trouble was for the guys there in Dec. and Jan.. They got charged for hunting out of the zone including some locals. Anyway, I'll let you know how we make out. I still hope there's some good racks left although I primarily hunt for meat.

http://www.fapaq.gouv.qc.ca/en/faune/caribou/index.htm

big or small kill em all · 12-04-2005, 10:11 AM

Just got back from Camp Kiskimaastakin and had a great time. We arrived Wednesday Nov. 30th @ 11:00 am and we had 4 nice bulls by 2pm.
We stayed until Friday afternoon and saw about 3000 caribou. We saw some bigger bulls but for first timers we were happy. Was a little disappointed at hunters gutting their caribou right on the road. Also saw at least 20 caribou that were shot and left in the field. Apparantly the racks were not as big as they thought when they shot the animals. The conservation officers were very cordial, they allowed us to park on the road as long as it was not on a curve. They also caught a hunter without orange and only gave them a warning. It is a long drive drive but I will do it again next year. I will post pictures when I get them developed.