Hunting in Canada

[GP3]

I have watched several tapes lately of diffrent Pro-Staffers hunting in Canada. I have heard several people comment on how easy it is to get someone to let you hunt on their land in Canada. Is that true? What would you suggest for someone that wanted to plan a trip to Canada to hunt Ducks and Geese? Who is a good guide Service up there if what I stated above is not true?

[Bill Cooksey]

GP3,

It is typically easy to obtain permission to hunt in Canada. If you have the time to drive there, and all of the equipment necessary to hunt, hunting on your own is a great options. Everyone enjoys the satisfaction of knowing their success was due 100% to their abilities.

That being said, there are many good reasons to use an outfitter. You can maximize your field time. Rather than driving up with a trailer loaded with equipment, you fly in, begin hunting the next morning, and fly home right after the last hunt. You also have more opportunities to hunt ducks and upland game in the afternoon since the outfitter will do the scouting for the next morning.

If you have a hangup about guides, most of the outfitters I have met in Canada have no problem with you setting your own decoys and handling the calling. If you are really worried about it, go with them to scout, then you've been part of every aspect of the hunt. Personally, I'd rather spend the afternoon shooting mallards.

If you'll look at the Guides and Outfitters section of our website, you will see several outfitters from Canada. I have hunted each of them, and have no reservation about recommending any one of them.

Bill Cooksey

[GP3]

Thanks. I will check into it.

[Mike Hungle]

GP3,

I have hunted Canada all my life and have always found the landowners very friendly and cordial. However, my home province of Saskatchewan is a vast space of open country. Even in a great year, there are not birds in every field. You can drive for hours on end and not see birds. For first time visiting hunters, the process is unnerving. That is where guides come into play. They know the hot spots and spend hours each afternoon driving, while their clients get to shoot ducks over potholes and then have the luxury of a goose hunt the next morning.

I’ve been on some of the filmed hunts you’ve seen in Saskatchewan and in many cases, those spectacular back to back morning goose hunts took place 60 plus miles apart. That means a lot of driving (150 plus miles) and a lot of scouting. During those times, I’ve done the afternoon duck hunts and the evening scouting....trust me, the hunting is more fun.

If you’ve never hunted in Canada, you owe it to yourself to come up here to see the country, witness the massive flocks of birds and experience some of the greatest hunting in the world. Whether you do it yourself or go through an outfitter, you’ll have a chance to meet the landowners and make new friendships with a number of people.

Oh what a great sport we participate in!

Mike

[Allan Stanley]

GP3,

If you can go with someone who has been there before, that will get you up to speed much faster. They will at least know some places to begin looking, namely, where they found them the time before. This might put you in the right zip code, but it will still take a lot of scouting. Conditions and crops change from year to year.

If you plan on doing a roll-your-own hunt, make sure you take a GPS unit and know how to use it. Much of the country I have seen in Sask. looks the same. And there is A LOT of country there. You'll be able to find your spot in the dark that way.

There are also area maps that show who owns each piece of property, available through our equivalent of the county courthouse. This will help you get around, AND tell you who owns the land so you can ask to hunt.

A guide isn't a bad way to go either, for the reasons already mentioned. If you are going alone or in a small group, it would be much easier and most likely way more productive.

Allan

[Brett Beinke]

Everyone had had great ideas. I'll give you another that won't help you the first year but..you'll be back! We get email adresses of our favorite land owners that give us permission to hunt. We keep in touch with them all year long. Sending jokes, talking sports, really getting to know them. When we come up to hunt they are excited to see us again and they have done a lot of the scouting for us. We arrive in Canada on Sunday and scout all day not just for the next day, but plan a.b.c.etc... I hope this helps!

[GP3]

Thanks, you have all been a big help.