Newfoundland Moose Hunt
 

My wife just gave the go ahead to book a moose hunt. Does anyone have recommendation for outfitter in Newfoundland?

No, but you better treat her extra nice for a while!

We have a few guys here with some moose experience that can give you some info I think. They'll be along eventually...

-Jake

How does that work? Is it over-the-counter?

I believe the outfitters have a tag allotment. You have to have an outfitter and they work the tags into their fees. When i hunted there they helped fill out the tag info when we got to the lodge. Unless it has changed I think that is how it works.

We have gone with Patey and Sons on the northern peninsula twice, once in 2015 and once in 2018. Very professional,well organized, we liked our guides. It is a fly in one on one guided hunt all inclusive. Guaranteed tags. We went the first week of the season each time, and probably would go later..even a week or two. Last year it was very warm, which was very limiting to the moose. 3 hunters in camp, two bulls taken and I passed on one early, settled for a cow on the last day. I would love to go again and highly recommend them. Just the fly in made the trip for me...going in was by their chopper, out by the DE Havilland Beaver.

Was a dream buck list hunt of mine that went nowhere near what I thought it would. There are a ton of outfitters up there so good luck narrowing one down. In my opinion, the moose population is severely over stated. The outfitters seem to only look at clients as cash cows and they try to shuffle as many through camp per week as possible. I could nearly count on one hand every moose I saw in an entire week of dawn to dusk hunting. You were urged to shoot the first moose seen within reasonable distance of a road. The outfitter's statement of, "Oh there are 35" bulls everywhere", turned into not being able to produce a single one for me. And if you're anywhere near the meat processor in Cormack, PLEASE reconsider having your animal processed there. Google the results for them and you'll understand. All this being said, I've only been once with one outfitter so take what I say at will. You'll get opinions on all ends of the spectrum. Just do A LOT of research before you settle and set your expectations on a meat hunt vs trophy hunt and you may be alright.

Moose Valley and Bob Effords are two that have a good reputation.

I've got some friends that went this past Fall, they shot moose, a black bear, & a caribou. Can find out more from them if you'd like?

While can’t speak much about Newfoundland. I can say wishing you the best of luck. I was reading comments and saw where someone had bad luck. While I don’t know all the circumstances around it. I can say that’s moose hunting. Here during the October hunt up in the northern part of the state you almost had to push the cows out of the road. But during the cow hunt in November they were lucky if they even saw a cow or any moose for that matter. A week after the hunt and they were back out on the roads again. No one really understands why but they do that..

If you haven’t found anything my wife has relatives in New Brunswick and they can surely recommend a few guides from Newfoundland . Again good luck.

Thanks for all the replies. I have booked a hunt with A-1 Hunts in Twin Lakes NL. for the week of 9/20-9/25 2020. Already started getting gear together and tweaked for the weather there..

We'd love to read about your preparation as you go, and especially your hunt and how it goes.

-Jake

September is an excellent time for using the bull grunts on them. They work best early in the morning or just before dark. Also the temperatures shouldn’t be very bad either. The temperatures maybe warmer than you prefer but the moose will still be moving getting ready for the upcoming rut.. Good luck on your hunt and keep us posted on how things went. It’s beautiful country up that way.. Most importantly enjoy your hunt..

Well, I've begun preparations for our hunt. My nephew Travis will be hunting with me as well. It will be 1/1 guided hunt in the Twin Lakes region of NL. I have Savage 110E in 270 win, and a Savage Axis II XP heavy barrel 308 win, but the outfitter told me they are not enough gun past 150 yds. I've taken several whitetails with the 270 in Kentucky, but have not yet shot the 308. In the interest of maximizing chance for a quick, clean kill I bought a Tikka T3X lite chambered in 300 win mag. I will put a Leupold VX R 3-9x50 scope on it with the fire-dot. Now to find a good factory ammo to sight-in with. I will let you know how that goes. Should have the scope and rings next week. I have a 100 yd indoor range a short drive from my house. I'll check in along the way.

Good choice on the Tikka 300 win mag

The people that have and shoot tikkas speak highly of them. And that .300 will certainly do the job.

-Jake

270 cal. not enough gun over 150 yards. that is hard to believe.

How many elk have been killed with a 270 over 300 yards.

Lots!

​​​​​​-Jake

Moose are not hard to kill. Shoot what you shoot best, but longish shots are likely, but my last one was about 65 yards. Sight your gun in with whatever is on sale, then try a box or two of different premium. Moose are a big target, even aiming small. Find out from the outfitter what the terrain is that you are going to be in, for the best type of footwear, bring good rainwear and good binoculars. Ask if his camps have mattresses or foam pads....a lot of the back country camps just have eggshell foam, which isn't the greatest. If so, bring your own thermocell inflatable mattress to go with it. Sleeping on hard boards can really put a bad spin on your trip if you cant sleep. Be sure without excuses that you also spend range time at 2oo yards. We brought 3 100 quart coolers apiece for our meat each. Depending on wastage (which can be quite high with field boned meat) we had about 300 lbs before the butcher trimming, with about a 25% loss there. Find out ahead of time if their butcher vacuum wraps, just to be sure.
What part of the island are they on?

Hey good luck on your hunt! I'd be very interested to hear your impressions as I am looking into booking a hunt in 2021 or 2022 and have considered Newfoundland moose (as well as Africa). Please keep us updated, and if anyone else has an outfitter recommendation please PM as well.

Thanks!