Taco54149

Hello everyone,

Just got home from Donat. Hunted from the 26th to the 30th. Three of us in our group and we got 2 bou, a cow and a calf. I personally did not see an animal. I see that a few guys are going to Kisk, we were up there talking with Paul (the owner) and he said that he is calling the hunters that are coming in and offering them the deal. If I were you, I would take it. We went from Donat to Kisk with a fresh covering of snow and seen very few tracks. A couple of hunters had gotten bou off the road, but that is a long trip to see almost nothing. On the way out on the 1st, there was snow and we only seen 3 sets of fresh tracks from Donat to the turn to go to the check point. The guy registering at the checkpoint said that the herd is already south of the checkpoint but they will circle around again (I dont know if I believe that). We hunted hard, day break to night fall, if the bou were there, we should have seen them.

For the guys going to Donat, I truly feel sorry for you. He treated us like crap. He was telling people from Quebec where to go on maps and offering guide service to them. ($100 for them, $325 for those from Ontario) but nothing to us. When we stopped in to talk to him, he hid. I definately will not be staying there anymore.

DARKSIDE55

I guess there's a few hunters in this forum that should have read the 200 or 300 pages, or what ever there is here, before they booked. All the outfitters there have been discussed in length more than once in this forum. The good, the bad and the ugly about all of them. None of the outfitters there can predict the migration of the herd. The last 4 or 5 years it has drastically changed. The herd is moving sooner and more south every time. The maps tell the story. And now that they've pulled them you've got nothing to rely on. And for most of you it's a very long drive up there and back. You need to hit them in the pocketbook...where it counts. And that includes the province of Quebec. Each year it seems to get a little bit worse with what time the caribou are there and how many of them.

And yeah, like the guy at the check point told you, they'll turn around. That's a foregone conclusion. What he probably didn't add to it was...that will be the end of March or April, which obviously isn't going to do you any good.

SLOKIE

moorebam4 take the offer to hunt next year believe the maps the bous are scarce at best in 22B If I had that option instead of come early they are here now I would gladly have taken it. We a group of 8 changed our plans at the drop of a bucket so we could at least see some bous other than just beautiful country. We did ask @ Donats if we would have been able to make other plans for next year with any compinsation had we not come due to lack of bous she said NO!! AS WE EXPECTED FROM DONATS !!!!

cwcjr119

Left Mirage early on the 30th, 5 hunters, one cow one calf. each day the amount of tracks and animals were less. Walked in 3-4 km at marker LA36 only saw one fresh track. Kisk guides coming out on sleds saw little sign. Rented sleds and went up to power lines only one fresh track. A Guide that hunts the fall hunts also told me that this year there were fewer bulls in the herds he saw and they were running smaller. Migration is definately changing. Also some disease issues.
I'm also a bit dissapointed in the new Mirage management. The brochure when I booked said they had daily meetings for the hunters telling where they were seeing bou. When we asked about that, we were told they don't do that any more but the guides were there in the evening to answer questions. The guides just wanted to give general info and give enough to try to get you to book them for the next day.
Our second day there while out in the bush busting our tail looking for bou, we saw the Mirage plane out running a search pattern. That night we asked what the plane saw, we were again told to talked to the guides. Again they spoke in generalities and just wanted us to book them for the day at a cost of $255 per day plus the cost of snowmobile rental $250 plus insurance and fuel. Kind of funny that the people that rented guides the day after the plane went up had much better succes than the others. We were given the impression before we booked that the plane and resources of the Mirage were there to try to help the success of all of their customers. Not just the ones with the bigger pocketbooks. Us workin guys stretched our budgets to stay there and the accomodations were great, but we did not feel we got what was represented for help with the hunt. It's not their fault that the bou were not there but they did not give up the information they had. Won't be back.

cwcjr119

DARKSIDE55, I kind of got the impression from the one guide I talked to that in addition to some sort of black horn disease and another disease with the flesh being pale and yellow on some animals, that the herd may be showing signs of over hunting. He said there was a big meeting with the outfitters in Montreal this fall discussing these problems. Have you heard anything about this. All I know is I went three times and each trip saw less animals. I agree though we need to hit them in the pocketbook.

SLOKIE

cwcjr119 Please inform us of anything you know or here of about black horn disease or the pale yellow flesh you talked of / sorry to here you did not see any bous it was slim pickins again this year , It sure would have made it alittle more palitable if some of the outfitters worked a little harder for there clients instead of there self interest as in most cases when you are a captive audience its always ALL ABOUT THE $$$$$

bob in pa

Taco you said that Kisk is run by a guy called Paul. 2yrs. ago when I was up it was a guy called Renee. Do you know if Kisk also changed hands, or are Paul and Renee partners? Also it cost more than you paid at Donat, but I would say it was worth the difference when I was up. Even what they are writing about Mirage reminds me of what we put up with booking a fall hunt with Jack Hume.

jgv

Just came back from quebec caribou hunting. WE STAYED AT NOUCHIMI. has anyone heard of this happining. My self and 2 other hunters were returning to camp on the LA1 road. When we were stoped by 2 game wardens going the oposit way. I was driving i had one guy next to me and the other in the back seat. they came up to both sides of the truck ask to see licenses and normal stuff. then they both went to the passanger side and made my to buddies get out of the truck. now let me say all our guns were unloaded. they took both of my freinds guns, and bullets a total of 5 bullets. they left mine alone. they looked in all the guns and said there guns were loaded. we said hey no they are empty the bolts were whide open. they said no they are loaded and whent to the truck and wrote 2 tickets in french came back and handed it to them and told them in brooken english that they were going to pay $638.00 each in fines. we said again what for they said the guns were loaded we said no they are empty. the one said if you dont like it pleade not guilty and come back to quebec for a trial. now they go back to the truck and get the guns. the one gun was put back in the rear seat. the other put back in the front seat. now let me say this when they took the guns they took the bullets 4 from one guy and 1 from the other. when they returned the guns 1 bullet was missing. guess were it was. they planted it in the gun in the front seat and handed it to us that way. why i dont know.
we were robbed and set up by what is suppose to be the law! please tell me if this has been heard of befor. we were told by the locals at camp it was. by the way nouchimi did nothing for us. it was bad enough there were no caribou but to have that happen wow. I have never been treated so poorly my whole life. once we get the tickets translated in to english i will post the names of each officer.
please someone respond and if you heading there be very carfull.

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bjess

When we were on our way to Mirage and were in zone 22A, we saw 2 game wardens with 2 vehicles had a fellow pulled over. All his equipment including 2 caribou were out on the road, I don't know if the hunters had done it or the gamewardens had them take all there stuff out of the trailer but it seemed kind of strange to see the guys stuff all over the road.
Sure don't like to hear stories like yours, when we were hunting in 22B we never saw one cop or gamewarden in 4 days.

bjess

Hey jgv,
Did your buddies have bullets in the clip attached to the gun, if so, it is considered loaded. You can have bullets in the clip as long as it is not attached to the gun, such as the clip in your pocket with bullets in it.
Did you see or get any caribou?