Results of Newfoundland Big Game Draw: So Who's Going Hunting?
- Thread starter X-man
- Start date
There are some decent deals available if you look for them. Some outfitters offer discounted late season hunts or will add on black bear for a couple of hundred bucks. Depending on the season, many will offer free small game hunting or trout/landlocked salmon fishing if you tag out early. I've seen prices in the $2500-$3000 range for those.
The full service premium moose hunts have gone up a fair bit over the last couple of years. I guess they're averaging around $5000-$5500. That sucks. I guess a lot of outfitters are hurting pretty bad because of the near collapse of our woodland caribou population.
In the mid-90s it was just a shade under 100,000 animals. Today the population is somewhere between 20,000-30,000. Predation is playing a big role. Our Wildlife Dept., is blaming black bears as the main culprit. Most hunters blame our Newfoundland coyote/wolf hybrid. Only arriving on the island in '86. Our caribou population has declined as the coyote population has exploded.
The end result has been a dramatic reduction in the number of available caribou tags for both outfitters and locals. Caribou put a lot of coin in outfitters pockets. I guess they're trying to ride things out by raising the price of their moose packages. No winners here.
The full service premium moose hunts have gone up a fair bit over the last couple of years. I guess they're averaging around $5000-$5500. That sucks. I guess a lot of outfitters are hurting pretty bad because of the near collapse of our woodland caribou population.
In the mid-90s it was just a shade under 100,000 animals. Today the population is somewhere between 20,000-30,000. Predation is playing a big role. Our Wildlife Dept., is blaming black bears as the main culprit. Most hunters blame our Newfoundland coyote/wolf hybrid. Only arriving on the island in '86. Our caribou population has declined as the coyote population has exploded.
The end result has been a dramatic reduction in the number of available caribou tags for both outfitters and locals. Caribou put a lot of coin in outfitters pockets. I guess they're trying to ride things out by raising the price of their moose packages. No winners here.
Dorian Gray
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Sweet Jebus!
The prices range hunting in NFLD, like mentioned before they can be as low are 2500-3000 up to 13,000. as you said Captonion having family there doesnt make a difference, i'm from NFLD but have been gone long enough not to be considered a resident anymore and even tho all my family is there and my uncle is a licensed guide(not working with a outfitter) i still would have to go through an outfitter to hunt there and pay the $$$$'s
No licence for me this year 
. I'm not complaining though, as I've had a individual licence four out of the past five years. On the up side, a couple of good buddies got their's, so there will be lots of days in the woods and lots of meat to go around. One has our home area and the other is a road trip.
. I'm not complaining though, as I've had a individual licence four out of the past five years. On the up side, a couple of good buddies got their's, so there will be lots of days in the woods and lots of meat to go around. One has our home area and the other is a road trip.
little bear
Regular
Got a moose license. Can step out through my door and be hunting in 10 minutes. Got a bear license too!
What are you hoping to do? Tag out first thing opening morning and then 18 holes at The Wilds? LOL!
I think I know the outfitter you're referring to. IIRC, its a fly-in only hunt, one on one guide in an area that has zero hunting pressure and is essentially inaccessible to resident hunters. Bulls in those types of areas can grow up to 60" and average spreads are in the high 40s to low 50s. You don't see those kinds of trophy animals in more accessible areas and when you're talking a 60" Canada Moose and not Alaska/Yukon, its a damn big moose! I've only seen one in that class in my 20+ years. I passed on shooting him because he was on the opposite side of a river, on a spruce and boulder and moss covered hill with almost zero chance of getting the meat out before it could spoil. Since I was a meat hunter and not trophy hunting, and the fact that I'm an ethical hunter, the only way I could shoot that moose of a lifetime was to take my sack of spuds and onions with me, cross the river and eat him in place!
I still think about that big bruiser...Sigh. Even with a de facto guarantee of success, $12,500 is a lot of money. I've seen Alaska/Yukon hunts in the same price range, and you could certainly do a plains game African Safari for that kind of coin. I guess it all comes down to your personal priorities and how much your wallet can bear.
I just hope our Wildlife Dept. can pull their head out of their arse in time to save the Caribou and put the outfitters back on better financial footing. They'd could allow the use of Crossbows for big game hunting to get more hunters in the field. Reduce or cancel the user fees for black bear licenses and sell them over the counter. If they did that, you'd have a lot more resident hunters picking up a black gear license to go along with the moose/caribou license so that they're prepared for a target of opportunity. With the distances involved, it is very difficult for hunters from other MMA to successfully keep a baiting station going.
Also, remove the caliber restrictions on coyote hunting and let hunters use whatever firearm they own to hunt them without having to have a big game license for that area. A lot of resident meat hunters have no interest in chucking $1000 for a new coyote rifle that they can't use on moose or caribou, so they simply don't hunt coyotes.
The restrictions are pointless. The poachers are going to poach regardless and the law-abiding hunters are going to respect the law regardless...so, really what is being accomplished except keep more potential hunters from killing coyotes and saving moose and caribou calves.
Predation in some study areas in terms of calf mortality rates was at 100% That is unsustainable.
I think I know the outfitter you're referring to. IIRC, its a fly-in only hunt, one on one guide in an area that has zero hunting pressure and is essentially inaccessible to resident hunters. Bulls in those types of areas can grow up to 60" and average spreads are in the high 40s to low 50s. You don't see those kinds of trophy animals in more accessible areas and when you're talking a 60" Canada Moose and not Alaska/Yukon, its a damn big moose! I've only seen one in that class in my 20+ years. I passed on shooting him because he was on the opposite side of a river, on a spruce and boulder Ppethical hunter, the only way I could shoot that moose of a lifetime was to take my sack of spuds and onions with me, cross the river and eat him in place!
Even with a de facto guarantee of success, $12,500 is a lot of money. I've seen Alaska/Yukon hunts in the same price range, and you could certainly do a plains game African Safari for that kind of coin.
The $12500 was just for caribou. If you wanted a moose, it was an additional $2900. Effords hunting adventures.
Fwiw I've hunted in NFLD 2x for moose and for me it was worth the $$, but was a lot cheaper than the above...
GameStalker30-06
CGN Regular
- Location
- Newfoundland
A license 2 years in a row on the Avalon..Last year area 35 (back yard hunt) for bull only, got my animal...this year it's area 44 ( 1 hour drive) for bull only...Can't wait!!!!
Its not really the Wildlife Division that is blaming bears for the caribou calf mortality. That's what the science is showing, and there has been a great deal of science in the past five years of the caribou strategy.
I'm not downplaying the role of coyotes, because they are a close second, but bears are No.1.
Mind you, calf mortality hasn't gotten any worse in the past couple of years. It hasn't improved much either, but it seems to have reached a plateau.
The question is whether the recruitment will be enough to keep the downward trend from continuing. In the meantime, the number of available caribou licenses has been the same over the past two seasons.
(The graph for the George River herd in Labrador is a LOT more scary).
Man, if I lived in the same countries, there is no way id pay that kind of money for a Moose or Cariboo... Being Australian, unfortunately I still wouldn't pay that kind of money to hunt them.
I'l praise the Australian hunting regs for time being, just spewing old James Cook didn't release some other critters into the Land
WL
good luck to all who got on, Pictures or it really didn't happen.
I'l praise the Australian hunting regs for time being, just spewing old James Cook didn't release some other critters into the Land
WL
good luck to all who got on, Pictures or it really didn't happen.
I thought my wife would have gotten one since she was in the draw for the first time, completed her Hunters course last fall, but she was not selected. I never got a tag this year either, I have had one the last two years but thought maybe I may have gotten selected for Gros Mourne this year. Got pictures of a big bull close to Western Brook Pond last fall on the way home from Roddickton so I thought I way as well try there this year.
It is a money grab, you can buy multiple licenses for different MMAs. You should be able to buy a bear license and use it where ever you want, just report the area in which it was killed. The season needs to be extended as well, ending it after the first week in November is a joke, it goes until the end of November in Labrador and the cold weather starts there earlier then on the island! I asked the guys putting on the bear hunting clinic about those two things and they basically looked at me and shrugged their shoulders. They need to be a pain in the arse to their superiors and push for changes to the rules and policies, worked for me where I am employed, and not just let the hunting community push for change. Let's be honest the majority of them are complacent and won't speak up or don't know to ask for change.
Excuse me for getting off topic a little.
It is a money grab, you can buy multiple licenses for different MMAs. You should be able to buy a bear license and use it where ever you want, just report the area in which it was killed. The season needs to be extended as well, ending it after the first week in November is a joke, it goes until the end of November in Labrador and the cold weather starts there earlier then on the island! I asked the guys putting on the bear hunting clinic about those two things and they basically looked at me and shrugged their shoulders. They need to be a pain in the arse to their superiors and push for changes to the rules and policies, worked for me where I am employed, and not just let the hunting community push for change. Let's be honest the majority of them are complacent and won't speak up or don't know to ask for change.
Excuse me for getting off topic a little.
