Ever hunt in WMU 16A???

Slooshark1

Slooshark1

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Well...after phoning in 3000 times this morning (I'm not exaggerating), I finally got through to the Surplus tag hotline and all they had left for surplus tags was a cow tag in 16A. I wasn't quite sure where that was and it wasn't one of the WMUs that I had hoped for but I said sure what the heck and now I have one coming in the mail. After looking at the map, I see that it's about a 20 hour drive from Sudbury to Pickle Lake. Just wondering if anyone on this site can make some recommendations on where to go. It would just be my 15 year old son and myself. One pick up truck and one 18 ft prospector canoe. This would be his first moose hunt so I want it to be fun and not a bloody nightmare. I'm not even 100% sure that I would go as it would likely be 4 days of driving, which would only leave 3 or 4 days of hunting. I might be further ahead to hunt partridge around here instead of spending 2/3s of my vacation staring through a windshield. Any advice would be welcome.

Regards,

SS1
 
This would be his first moose hunt so I want it to be fun and not a bloody nightmare.
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Good , you got tag. Tag numbers are so rare and you just got lucky.

Better find few partners, if not drive safe. There is nothing to worry, you will bump into bunch of hunters.
If not, start from the lodge you be staying, gas pump you buy the gas, CO that comes to check licences.

They all live there and know more, so go a day or two before the hunt season open. No worries !!!
 
Get maps , go to Google Earth or Maps and go hunting if you'll hunt a bit harder than most of the road hunters . Hit the creeks and small rivers with the canoe . I used to hunt the Nungasser (sp) Lake area . I haven't searched any numbers so take this with a grain . The success rate could be 20% for road hunters and 70% for guys who put in the effort . I just made those numbers up but I believe them . Load your haul out gear in the canoe and a motor would be a good idea . Have a plan and a back up plan . There are many creeks that are fine when the water level is up and impassible if the water is down . I wouldn't drive that far to road hunt . Many small lakes have swampy ends . You don't have to go far to get away from road hunters and you don't have to hit the bigger lakes like the boat hunters . Have several plans and be flexible . Lots of long narrow lakes there and many worth hunting . By long I mean a mile and wide , 100 yards and most are orientated roughly east/west meaning you paddle in with the wind at first light of before , shoot a moose and the wind has changed direction . You gotta deal with the moose and into the canoe and try to paddle back against the wind . Take a motor . 3 , 4 hp is fine . Take chest waders and changes of clothes and a good rope hoist and a couple of slings . Chain hoists are too heavy and not long enough and wire hoists are just about useless . I have a 3 ton ratchet rope hoist with 150 feet of rope and up there that's enough to haul a moose out of a creek bottom or the swampy end of a lake . Look for creeks and streams with terraced beaver dams . It makes the hunt harder but much more successful as very few will haul their gear over a beaver dam .
 
It would be a shame to take the tag out of availability and then not use it... I'm sure someone else would have appreciated it... I haven't hunted 16A, but I have fished it... the walleye fishing is exceptional and there are a lot of moose in the unit. Who doesn't like a road trip? You never know what's around the next corner... once you are up there you will forget the drive...

P.S - I still have the maps of 21A that I photocopied for you when you asked abut that unit two years ago...
 
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