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Newfoundland

buckbuster217

*Supporting Member*
3,136
85
Byesville, Ohio
We got to our Outfitters lodge on Sunday around 11:30 a.m., we met our outfitter and his wife Hazen and Diane Chippett. They gave us a tour of the lodge and and let us pick out our rooms, as we were going to be the only 3 hunters in camp that week we each got our room, we put Steve in a room away from everyone as we learned on our trip up there that Steve can wake the dead with his snoring! Once we was settled into our rooms we got our paperwork in order and got our licenses and maps ( the outfitters there issue your license), once that was done Hazen asked us if we wanted to go on a little sight seeing tour as your not allowed to hunt on Sundays in Newfoundland, him and his wife took us on a tour of the area showing us the small fishing villages in the area and some other sights.
We woke up Monday morning to 35 degree temps with rain and strong winds, went out in the morning with Hazen and baited some of the sites with all the sites we visited have being been hit in the last 2 days since he had refreshed them. Hazen informed us that he had 15 bait sites going right then with 13 of them being hit regularly. we went back to the lodge and had a wonderful lunch and then proceeded to get ready to go out to our first sits for the week, it was still raining slightly with fog and cold, the 3 sites we was put on had been hit and Hazen refreshed them and got us in our stands, he gave each of us a walkie talkie and said that if we needed anything to just radio him and he would be there as quickly as he could. Mondays night sit I seen no bears but did see a moose, squirrels and several different types of birds I had never seen before, Bob seen one bear, which came in and was eating at the bait barrel but he decided not to shoot as it was the first night and the bear was what he thought was small, Steve saw no bear but plenty of other wildlife.
Tuesday started the same as Monday being wet cold and rainy, went out in the morning to check and refresh other bait sites with Hazen, where we was introduced to our first Newfoundland "bog", he explained to us that when walking across the bog to step in the same place that he did and if we didnt see where he stepped then not to step anywhere there wasnt any grass, he demonstrated by taking about a 6 foot long branch and pushing into the ground where there was no grass and it went down into the ground with no resistance all the way to the end of the stick !! that definately got our attention!!! back to the lodge for lunch and then out into new stands for me and Steve, Bob asked to go back to the same site that he was on the night before where he seen the bear, Me and Steve struck out again with seeing bears but Bob had six bears come into the site total, the first was a bear so small that it took him three tries to knock the barrel over, the second bear was a large bear that got in the bait can and then set down to eat, Bob shot at the bear and missed!!! dont know what happened but we think he might have been alittle worked up, the bear took off like a bullet and Bob decided right then that if another bear came in he was shooting it as we could get another bear for anther 500 dollars, he didnt have long to wait as his bear came in about 15 minutes after he missed his first one, he laid that bear down then set in the stand for awhile watching it to make it was expired, during that time 3 more came in but he was not going to shoot because he didnt know for sure if he had missed the first bear or not.
Wednesday was a bust for Steve and Bob, I had 2 different bears come into my site but didnt commit to the bait can and didnt present a shot. Weather was still nasty with rain and cold
Thursday dawned with sun and no wind, it warmed up to 60 degrees and every bug in Newfoundland came out!! we had high hopes for that evening but ended up being a bust for us all
Friday morning we got up and went out on the boat with Hazen and he took us to see some icebergs and several different bald eagles, back to the lodge for lunch and then out to the stands, once we got into our stands the sun dissappeared and the rain and wind started again, go figure huh? It was a bust for me and Bob but Steve shot a bear right before dark, once Hazen picked us up he told us that we would go back out at first light to track the bear because it didnt drop at the site and it wasnt a real good idea to try and track a wounded bear in the dark, which we all agreed was a good idea ( the outfitters in Newfoundland are not allowed to carry any type of firearm while guiding or baiting).
Saturday morning we was up at first light and went out to look for Steves bear, it had rained most of the night so things didnt look good, we found blood and tracked the bear for almost 2 hours before finally runnning out of blood and deciced to stop, Hazen left the decision up to Steve and said we would continue to look if he wanted but Steve made the call and as hard as it was he knew that we was not going to recover the bear. We headed back to the lodge and stared preparing for our trip back home.
We definately drew the short straw when it came to the hunting conditions but I can say without a doubt that the trip was worth every penny, just to see the island, meet the people and to see the things that we got to see was awesome, things that you cannot see anywhere else and will never get to see again unless I go again, which I'm planning as I type this!!! Hazens wife , Diane is a professional photographer and loaded all the pictures she had taken all week onto my SD card so I have 674 pictures so I will include some here that I think everyone will like.

Newfoundland 2014 229.jpgNewfoundland 2014 053.jpgNewfoundland 2014 142.jpgNewfoundland 2014 395.jpgNewfoundland 2014 122.jpg
 

Ricer2231

Senior Member
Very nice write up and awesome pics Tad. Glad ya had a good time and the weather definitely sounded pretty crappy. The nice part is there are memories there you will never forget.
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,741
274
North Carolina
Newfoundland is a beautiful area with lots of history behind it as well..... Lots of friendly folk up there who always treated us like family..... Glad too see you enjoyed yourself.....
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
31,856
260
SW Ohio
Thanks for sharing your hunt Tad! Sorry to hear about the crappy weather though. Glad you still had a great trip.

Was that quicksand Hazen stuck the stick into when walking through the bog?
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,721
248
Ohio
Looks beautiful. Sounds like some great memories. Sorry you guys didn't have better luck.
 

buckbuster217

*Supporting Member*
3,136
85
Byesville, Ohio
Thanks for sharing your hunt Tad! Sorry to hear about the crappy weather though. Glad you still had a great trip.

Was that quicksand Hazen stuck the stick into when walking through the bog?

I really wouldnt call it quick sand, it just looked like a bare dirt spot, if you got beside any water in the bog you could feel the ground around you sink when you walked, like the whole thing was floating
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,741
274
North Carolina
We had a great time J , did you ever get schreeched in while you was up there?

Yep, lol.... We just had a bunch of new bees go thru that just did it as well lol..... Really didn't like the rum but a pretty cool certificate lol..... Right of passage for going thru there lol.....
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
Cool stuff man. Thanks old or sharing. Even with no bear it sounds like a great trip.