This June, three of us will be heading up that way for bears. We would like to minimize lodging expenses by just camping. If any of you are familiar enough with that area and can suggest some well-maintained campgrounds that could accommodate a pitched tent or that has cabins on site, please give us your recommendations.

Thanks.

Russ

How close to Thompson are you planning to hunt? Non -resident hunters must purchase their licenses thru an outfitter. The guide can have as many a 3 hunters in the field at once but must remain in a position to be identified. If your guide is looking after you properly they should have plenty of locations where you can camp. As for your first question yes there are cabins at Paint Lake ,about 15 miles south of Thompson. Good Luck

Hi, Russell:

I am sitting here imagining you and your friends with a meat pole up in a provincial park with a couple of shot-up, bleeding bears hanging from it. On the next site are a couple of Greenies from Hanover or Stockholm. Hoooey! I'll drive over to watch that one.

I don't know Manitoba law, but as has been said, Ontario requires non-residents to use an outfitter unless you are the same-sex spouse of a resident. If you were, that would give you points with the Greenies, although the dead bears would likely erase any surplus.

Importantly, 85 percent of Canada is public property (Crown land). Again subject to regulations, residents can camp anywhere on Crown land for free.

Although I do a lot of canoe tripping and camp free all over the place, and although I hunt, I seldom do both at the same time. Hanging meat, salted hides, cat-hole toilets, drinking from the lake, no running water and lengthy portages don't go well together. Stop by in blackfly season and you can multiply the misery by 100.

Call the Ministry of Natural Resources in Flin Flon. If you want to cut costs, camping free works, and you actually don't need a canoe. Any old logging road will work.

kk

Russ, I lived in thompson for 10 years, and still have family there. Send me an email at danbelisled@netscape.net and I will attempt to answer all your questions and give you leads. - Dan

Russell:
I've driven from Thompson to Lynn Lake a couple of times a year for the last ten years. All up and down the road are campgrounds, most of which are on the shores of a lake that are part of a "system" of streams and lakes. Some extend for 20 or so miles without a difficult portage or more complicated task than dragging your trusty Lund through a few rapids and shallows. If I knew a little about how you are planning to hunt, I could offer some specific advice. Feel free to e-mail me and, if you wish, I'll give you my phone number and we can talk. I'll be going up that way the 6th of June this year. There are some monster bears in that part of the world and I've been lucky enough to take a few.



Keep the faith:

[ 01-03-2003, 20:59: Message edited by: judgeg ]

Guys, guys, guys... this isn't my first bear hunt in Manitoba. Yes, we've booked an outfitter -- deposits paid, dates set, the works. Yes, he offers accommodations, but we think we can save some money in that department. Green Peace? The next tent over? Can someone tell me about Canadian prisons?

I'll send E-mails and PMs as requested, thanks for the lodging information.

JudgeG: Nice bear picture!

Snowman: As you'll recall my Route 6-related fiasco, from HA, on my last Manitoba bear hunt... and the suggestion to drive what the locals drive... I'll be doing as I've done on all my subsequent hunts since then: renting a 4x4 truck.

Thanks, guys, for the help.

Russ

[ 01-03-2003, 21:49: Message edited by: Russell E. Taylor ]

Well, an interesting update. Via research of my own and from contacting my outfitter for a recommendation, I was told about "Pat's Paint Lake Lodge and Marina." I had my buddy call up there and talk to Pat (who turned out to be a female Pat -- you just never know about "Pats," I guess... which reminds me of the old character on "Saturday Night Live"... but anyway) who said that she doesn't allow dead bears on her property. Huh??? Well, it turns out, after getting off the phone with my buddy a while ago, that she said there are no bears up around there, so she reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally doesn't like it when hunters come up there to kill bears, since there are so few. "So few???" She said we were welcomed to come up and fish. Oh joy. "Fishing." Yippee Kay-ay. Marvy. (The last I knew, shooting fish was illegal in most places.) So, she went on and on about how she doesn't understand why hunters come up there (to the Thompson area) to hunt bears because there are no bears. She's operating in a "state park" (I think they're "provincial parks"... but whatever) and she said in the past year she's only seen "one" bear. Now, wouldn't you think, with lots of stupid campers leaving their food out and about their campsites, and not being able to hunt inside the park, that you'd see tons of bears??? Well, she said she's only seen one in the past year. Now, granted, the game plan is to drive into town each day, about 20 minutes away, meet our outfitter, then follow him about 30 minutes away to hunt. So, maybe the bear hunting is better 30 minutes later in whatever direction he takes us -- but this just doesn't jive.

I mean, I've researched "bear hunting in northern Manitoba." The bears are bigger and more plentiful -- probably because the prices are typically higher and Joe Schmuck won't pay those kinds of bucks -- so I just don't get it. I hunted eight hours south of Thompson, two years ago, and the baits were being DESTROYED DAILY! Not just "messed with," but flat-out DESTROYED! "DAILY!"

So, in military-ese, "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Over." The guy has good references and had a good write-up in "Bear Hunting" magazine. So... "no bears???"

Huh?

Russ

Sounds like she's trying to keep the place to herself or is just flat out lying about the bear population.

A few years ago my bro and I drew mule deer tags in an area in Oregon we were unfamiliar with so we drive 7 hours one way for a 3 day weekend in mid-summer to check out the hunting area. In talking with a few locals they all said the deer were run out of the area years ago, however, that evening we saw 20-30 deer 1/4 mile from where the locals said there were no deer. We went back that fall and harvested 2 nice mulies in 4 days. She's either a game hog or a bunny hugger.

Russ:
On my frequent trips through Thompson I almost always have seen at least one bear on the road within 60 miles of Thompson, albeit sometimes north towards Lynn Lake, sometimes south towards Winnipeg. The place crawls with bears. Pat is either blind or doesn't look out of the window much.

I think you'll have multiple bears on your baits. Just hold out for a six-footer plus. They are there, and there in good numbers. Follows another picture of a northern Manitoba bear. I'm 6'2" and weigh a cool 300 lbs. You can see that the bear is appreciably bigger than me.



[ 01-17-2003, 23:50: Message edited by: judgeg ]

Hi Russ,
Back to Man. for ya don't worry blackie is still out running around but sleeping now.
BTW I think a bunch of us are likly still banned from there seems a bunch of drunks pulled up to Lodge about 4:30 AM and there were rabbits all over. Some of the more athletic E. Fudds thought they could catch one and pet it. Turned out wabbits can turn faster than the boys could drink.
HHHHHowever the rest of the resort woke up quite quickly.

Russ, she's just naieve. When I lived there I worked for the Forestry service, and one of my jobs was to trap the bears from Paint Lake and haul them down the trail a ways away (about 30 miles down the road, where we would let them go). The Provincial Forestry people keep the bear traps going constantly (I used to move about one a day, sometimes two) to keep the bears away from the campgrounds. Bad press if Joe Tourist gets chewed on by Yogi on his holiday. Go anywhere that isn't a provincial park campground, and you'll find bears. - Dan

I trust you will be stopping by for a visit??

Given the information in your profile I am
confident you will enjoy the tour...

Ross

The jaws music and the land shark referance, put together with the post of those bears from Kamchatka, just raises the hair (what's left of it) on my head. - Dan

Canadian prisons are country clubs compared to US prisons. Still when you murder a eco-weenie, you'll go to a nasty prison in Ontario, and that's pretty bad.

The best thing to tell the eco-weenies is the truth. Like, THERE ARE SO MANY BLOODY BEARS IN CANADA THEY ARE BECOMING A NUISANCE, AND HUNTERS ARE ALLOWED TO SHOOT TWO OF THEM! I actually think that in certain areas of BC, they were considering having a 3 bear limit a year or two ago!

If you're an Alberta resident, and are on your own land or have the landowners' permission, bears are considered a varmint and are shot accordingly. No tags, no seasons. Just show up and shoot. - Dan

Sorry Russ. You could always just come as a guest, I guess. No guarantees of bear size though. - Dan