Bowsite.com

The dates are approximate as I do not have my info any longer but it was early spring 2005. Dale at Sportsman’s Lodge was only able to put 1 hunter in camp (out of 4) on a bear in a weeklong hunt. Although the guide I had seemed to work hard for us he was very disgruntled with the operation Dale was running. It was the opinion of the four men in camp that the outfitter and guides had not started baiting until just before our trip. Hence the bears were not conditioned to coming to the bait to feed.

Weather was cool and could have squelched bear movement but given the experience of my last hunt (see http://sportsmanslodgemanitoba.com/) which took place during the 1st week of May 2006 and was pretty cold including some flurries- yet we collectively saw dozens of different bears.

The best part of the trip ended up turning into the worst. I was able to kill a wolf with a backup rifle near the end of the hunt. That wolf was skinned out and preserved in the freezer at the lodge. The skull was also trimmed to remove some of the meat. Both Dale and his guide Brian were to take care of my unique trophy. Dale and Brian never attempted to contact me about delivering this once in a lifetime trophy. After 1 year, Dale mentioned the hide could be giving the taxidermist trouble. Well after many calls by me and receiving was I considered BS answers; I gave up on all hopes of seeing my trophy again. In regards to the skull, it was never seen again. In fact, I spoke with Brian's new boss who promised, "to look right into it" about a month ago or so. No info to follow as of today. If you’re thinking of this outfitter, I'd run away!

Was the outfitter notified of problems? - YES