Hunting Riverside

June 15th 2009

2009-06-16T21:59:00.001-05:00

It's finally here, summer, and it is hot! 29 C is hot for me, that's around 84 F and i know there are hotter places but this takes the lick out of me. The fish are biting though, walleye are being caught steadily, making for great fish frys. we cook pieces coated in our special batter and over the fire in hot grease. man is that good, everybody loves it.
Going to plant our garden this week as the danger of frost is low now. A late start means there will be fresh garden veggies for this fall waterfowl hunt. Fresh killed game and garden fresh vegetables, good eating!
We had a great spring hunt regardless of the weather. All the hunters were great sportsman and hunkered down and hunted hard even though conditions were poor. There are some big bears who will live to see another day and some that won't, and that's hunting! Our bird hunts are starting to take final shape for this fall with tons and tons of ducks nesting and groups of bachelors. Grouse are doing very well as well the rabbit population has exploded. The 2 seem to cycle together for as long as i can remember. I've hunted them both since i was around 4 with my bow and arrow and pellet gun then the .22. There generally hit highs and lows together, probably due to the same predation and weather conditions.
Big plans for my big boat too, hopefully they will be done soon and we can use it for some serious work. Too hot inside right now, no a/c in here, going outside to catch the last of the daylight hour.
Over and out,

Spring or mild winter bear hunt?

2009-04-26T19:17:00.000-05:00

It is a very cold late spring, none the likes of any i remember seeing. It is still freezing at night and some days, still ice on the small lakes and 2 ft on the big lake. Can't launch a boat yet but the river is open, just not my boat launch. Going to be an interesting spring hunt, the season opens tomorrow but i am glad we don't start for another 2 weeks. We plan it that way just incase such as this happens, and it paid off. The bears are our moving around and starting to hit the baits but nothing crazy. I think our first hunters will be surprised as they were here last year and what a difference.
We'll still have a good time and skin some big bears but it will make life more interesting. For one preparation is difficult as i normally have all the little things taken care of and most of the big projects by now. We are about 3 weeks behind normal so i have a lot of work to do in a short time. The other is spring is ugly till it warms up and things start to grow, right now it is ugly. No greenery yet and ground is wet, frost still coming out of the ground causing boils and everywhere is wet and muddy. That's spring and we are getting the extended version.
I know of a some bear hunters hitting the baits on Monday morning, April 27th, so if anybody reading this wants some updates give me a call. 1-866-214-8402

Hunting trip flies by at 3,000 gph

2009-02-18T13:32:00.000-06:00

Hello All,

Ran Across this article, thought I would share this with all of my followers:

Hunting trip flies by at 3,000 gph

I’m not going to tell you that last weekend’s goose hunt was great because it wasn‘t. It was almost unbelievable!

We had geese in the air over our decoys 30 minutes before shooting time, 30 minutes before sun up, at sun up and for the next hour and a half. that’s around 21⁄2 hours of constant geese in the air over our decoys.

When there are a few birds to a flock and a few flocks, it’s easy to get an accurate count of the number. When the flocks turn into a stream, counting birds is like weighing a fish after it got off. Having time that morning, I put together the following formula.

Flying from south to north in a two-minute frame there were four flocks of geese. Each flock had around 25 birds giving us 100 geese every two minutes. Two times five gives you 10 minutes and 500 geese. Six times ten gives you 3,000 geese per hour, about 7,500 for the time we were hunting and that’s only the geese flying in a line directly in front of me and at telephone pole height. Not counted were the flocks that came into our decoys nor the geese behind us or above us or the ones we could not see in the dark or hear in the clouds. In other numbers “one heck of a bunch of geese.”

Five of us limited out on Canada geese and harvested four different varieties of Canada geese from two of the largest — one was banded — down to several of the small mallard duck size. The smaller Canadas winter in Oklahoma, and as all the geese we saw were coming up from the south we wondered if they were riding warm air up from the Salt Plains or the watershed ponds of Barber County?

Read More

Just had a group cancel!!

2009-02-09T18:42:00.000-06:00

A spring bear hunt is available for up to 5 hunters for the prime hunting week of May 24th, 2009.
There will be no one else in camp for that week and the bear baits are all to yourselves. That's good bear huntin.
$2600.00 per hunter, license and taxes included.
Good price too.
Call Gildas 1-204-524-2472 or email riversidelodge@xplornet.com

Feb 15th, 2009 Sold!
Still some space available for 2010,11

Hunting Scent control

2008-12-18T13:27:00.000-06:00

Have you ever smelled some of the Deer lures/attractants in a bottle? Many have a familiar smell right. Kind of like licorice?
I used to work in the animal feed business and something we would use from time to time was Anice seed. It is what alot of those Deer scents are made of. It is also what black licorice is made of.
Take some black licorice candy with you on your next hunt and eat as a snack. Best cover scent going and tasty too.

Deer Hunting Tips

2008-12-12T19:16:00.000-06:00

Whitetail Deer hunting is a many things to many people. All deer hunters try to understand deer behaviour to some degree. The most common instructional information and "How to" material will speak in general about mostly Agriculture Adapted Deer. The whitetail deer are a complicated creature but not a lot different than most warm blooded critters when it comes to adapting to an area for survival. In fact because of human progress the deer have adapted to live and thrive in most agricultural areas. It provides a food source that is carefully maintained to acheive optimum yeild. With some close attention to our habits they have learned to share what little cover is left, with us humans. And the wild predators are generally afraid of us and so we also provide a certain degree of protection. That becomes the reverse effect during hunting seasons when we become the predator.

Long story short, most of the stuff we are told by deer biologists, specialists and scientists does not apply to real wilderness deer.(I could now use some support from the people who know what i am talking about.) I have itemized the main points of difference below. It is a different breed of deer that inhabit the true massive forests and swamps of Canada. There aren't many places like that if you look at the Whitetail's most northernly range. The areas that are still as wild as they were hundreds of years ago are generally inhospitable to a person trying to carve out a living. There are easier places to live, so that largely reduces the human factor and presence. But, that is where the deer originated from. It is genitically built for the food sources and terrain of the wild bush. So a hunt in the real wilds here at Riverside Lodge will provide an incredible experiencre unlike many places. It enables you to become the predator and harvest a buck while he is at his weakest, the Rut.

7 Facts about Fair Chase Hunting Our Wilderness Deer.

1. Wilderness deer need to be on their feet to cover ground to find hot does. So they are moving a lot more giving us an opportunity all day long and each day. Each stand show different deer from day to day. (In Agriculture areas and/or baited areas, the deer don't need to travel much so they will bed down part of the day and not as many new deer will show everyday). Therefore 11;00- 3;00 can be the best time to be in the woods.

2. Food source dictates where does want to be, and bucks follow. In Agriculture areas areas that changes every year. In wilderness areas it doesn't, so natural/historical trails and routes produce every year. Old scrape/rub lines are there for a reason and are used every year. Habitual use of areas for cover, food and travel.

3. We can use weather as a tool more than a hindrance in the wilderness. Deer don't like thin ice, so youcan funnel them even more during the early part of the season before the ice thinkens. Cold weather will drive the does to feed more and be more active making the bucks need to travel a lot more. A worn out buck will start to take shortcuts, which can lead to his demise when dropping his guard and responding to calls and scents and recent doe activity. Warm weather is very poor during the Rut but it can also narrow down the funnels and crossings. It also can make sitting more comfortable for the hunter.

4. In AG areas the deer are used to humans, in fact they expect them. In wilderness areas the deer have sometimes never seen a human so they are not sure what to think and certainly are not watchful for us.

5. Wolves are the main danger for these deer, from the time they opened their eyes their mother taught them to survive by avoiding wolves, not humans.

6. In wilderness areas you will get the opportunity to see and hunt deer that behave naturally.

7.Deer travel with the wind?(this one gets me the most looks)

MOST Deer in the wilderness travel with the wind!!! Not into it. They want to know what is behind them not so much what is in front of them, they can see in front, but don't want to be ambushed from behind. They will sometimes, bust your scent but will not run blindly in any direction without knowing what is out there, so be ready for it to stop. Still practice scent control and noise control to try be invisible as possible! Scent control is always important, never cheap out on it. Just be prepared for deer coming in with the wind.

Young Manitoba Hunters - More taking part in the sport...

2008-10-27T11:00:00.000-05:00

There’s young bucks out there in the hunt, and we’re not talking the four-legged variety.

Youth hunters, between the ages of 12 and 17, have increased substantially in the last decade or so, thanks in no small part to an organized effort to get them involved in the sport...

.....The introduction of a youth licence for $10 – which allows them to hunt various species under certain conditions – made it more affordable for youth.

Safety stressed as hunting season kicks off

2008-10-27T10:58:00.000-05:00

With hunting season kicking off across Manitoba this fall, the provincial government is reminding hunters to keep safety in mind as they head to the woods.

Read More

Last Minute Hunts Deals

2008-10-15T13:28:00.001-05:00

Can you imagine saving $1000.00 on a Whitetail Deer hunt?
We have hunts available for 2008 that have been canceled, the deposits were withheld, and we are passing the savings on to you. Book for this fall Whitetail hunts (dates between November 10 and 29 2008) and your hunt will only cost you $2300!!! That includes your license and all taxes!!!!!!!!!!!

Never before or again will you see deals like this.
have a look at our Whitetail Deer hunting page for more info on our hunts or call me now @ 1-204-524-2472

Email Us: riversidelodge@xplornet.com

fall Duck Hunting

2008-10-15T09:05:00.000-05:00

We're still hunting! It is mid Oct. and we are doing very well on ducks. Seems the migration is late again this year by about 2 weeks. We had decent hunting from the start of the season with a few slow days but when comparing to other areas we are quite happy with our numbers. Hunters are doing very well on divers in the small lakes. The big lake has birds but they are very shy and stick to the big rafts out in the middle. The weather has turned cold and we actually had 4 inches of snow on Monday, melted Tues, but still cold. So the migration is late but cold weather is early, figure that out! nature calls the shots as always and we can only try and adjust our strategy to make things work for us. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we don't, but that is hunting. We do try and that is what matters. We believe that we are only as strong as our weakest man, so we work as a team and help each other constantly. It pays to have vetran staff and new staff that are willing to try new tactics and new areas.
We have had excellent hunting guests this fall, all very nice people, and that make sour job a pleasure. I always say it easy to host nice people. Human nature tends to lead us to try harder and do more for the nice guys, not the miserable demanding ones. Funny how that works.

Ducks galore right now, and winter conditions, i predict only weeks away.

Versus Country hunting and fishing

2008-10-03T14:35:00.000-05:00

Please check out the following link to Versus Country TV.
http://www.versuscountry.com

Great hunting videos, and lots of good hunting tips and topics.

Also go to my video library for interviews with Tred Barta and David Morris, videos, and games.

Full limits

2008-09-30T20:01:00.000-05:00

Happy hunters, beautiful day, lots of birds, in a duck hunting camp it doesn't get any better. We eat our dinner early today but the duck plucker is working overtime.
Just another day here at the lodge, and honestly, the birds aren't even all here yet. But they are coming, sure as the winter winds, we will see a whole lot more.

2008 fall waterfowl hunting

2008-09-28T17:51:00.000-05:00

Our bird hunting is underway! We have our first week behind us and once again we were surprised with the species of birds and numbers. The fall is showing a bit later of a migration with what i believe is a push of northern birds to come. The temps up north are favorable and we are seeing the numbers of birds as a result. The first part of last week was a bit slow by our standards but still good as far as hunting goes. The later part of the week showed many more birds and different species much more like we are used to. This week will tell more and tomorrow will tell the tale when the hunters come in. I pay close attention to the weather in the north and it is showing cold wet conditions but no snow yet. Still i believe we will see more birds soon. I like to see huge rafts of divers and smaller flocks throughout the day. We have a large group here this week and i think the report will be very good. I will post pictures once i resize them. We had a few fantastic shoots last week and even some greater Canada Goose hunts, full limits. We also taped a few hunts for a promotional DVD we will have available for prospective customers. It was professionally done showing all of our facilties, equipment, hunting, staff, lodge, etc.
Well one thing for sure, we always know when the peak of the migrations happens after it is over.
Stay tuned for more reports,

good hunting.

Deer Hunting In Full Swing

2008-09-08T11:31:00.000-05:00

Hello All,

With Deer hunting getting underway for the fall season I thought I would look for some good articles on what is happening in the Deer Hunting World. The previous posts were some articles that I found on the wire.

Good Luck Deer Hunting this season, we will keep you updated with all our hunts this season!

Deer hunting season arriving just in time

2008-09-08T11:30:00.001-05:00

The bow and arrow deer hunting season gets under way on Saturday, and for many farmers, growers of nursery crops and drivers it is none too soon.

The white-tailed deer is the most impressive and graceful species of wildlife in New Jersey. It is also the most destructive.

An exhaustive study done by Rutgers, Cornell and Penn State universities revealed that more than one million deer-vehicle collisions occur annually in the United States.

This costs the nation's drivers over $1 billion in repairs. More importantly an average of 29,000 human injuries result and over 200 persons are killed.

The study did not explore the immense hospital costs of the accidents or the effects of disease, such as Lyme disease spread by deer ticks, carried by deer.

Deer are acknowledged to be the principal cause of damage to agricultural crops and nursery stock in New Jersey. Deer cost farmers in the Northeast alone more than $100 million.

Deer and geese numbers high while moose declines

2008-09-08T11:27:00.000-05:00

By Heather Robbins
Friday September 05, 2008

Hunters in the Interlake can expect a good season overall, with a few exceptions.
Bryan Joyne, of Manitoba Conservation, says goose and deer populations are strong, while the moose and duck populations will be lower than normal.

“Waterfowl came into the year with good numbers,” said Joyne. “Hunters can expect a very good goose season.”

Duck populations, however, have dropped nine per cent due to dryness across North America’s main waterfowl nesting areas.

According to a July 8 Ducks Unlimited report, population estimates for canvasbacks were 44 per cent lower than 2007, northern shoveler’s were down 23 per cent, northern pintails were down 22 per cent, gadwalls down 19 per cent, American wigeons 11 per cent down and mallards were seven per cent fewer in number.

Scaup estimates were similar to 2007 estimates while Blue-winged teal, green-winged teal and redhead numbers remain the same.

Joyne says hunters can still expect a satisfactory harvest.
“It wasn’t the best spring to help the young this year, but I’d guess we should have a healthy duck population into the fall,” said Joyne.

Deer populations are expected to be healthy this fall.

Read More

Keys To Early Season Deer Hunting Success

2008-09-08T11:10:00.000-05:00

Hi all you knuckle headed deer hunting freaks. It's Billy Bob here again. I hear that many of you want some early season deer hunting tips? Hey, you know Billy Bob doesn't dissapoint! Here's my best early season deer hunting tips.

Billy Bog knows that deer hunting early part of bow season can be easy. However, they won't stay in their Summer pattern long. Learn how to get on the deer quickly while they're still enjoying their Summertime routes.

You have to remember one thing when looking for Summertime Bucks. They're carrying around antlers on their heads that are covered with velvet that has millions of nerve endings and blood vessels in them. They know they have to protect their velvet from bugs and things that might scuff up their head gear.

They prefer to stay in semi-open terrain where there are breezes to keep the bugs and branches to a minimum.

I find many bucks in the same general area as Does during the Summer. Fields are a great place to glass in the mornings and evenings.

My favorite places to search for Summer Bucks are pipeline and power line right of ways. This is true especially if I'm scouting a new area or want to see what quality of Bucks the current area holds.

In some states, you can actually spotlight Deer at night. Just be sure to check your local regulations before doing this!

Summertime scouting for deer also gives you the chance to pattern the Does. Chances are they'll stick around the entire year. It helps to try and learn their patterns as well.

Of course, as the food sources change, so will the patterns. In agriculture areas, those patterns don't seem to change as much as they do in Deep Woods. Keep that in mind when you're scouting your hunting area.

Don't overlook watering holes. Although Whitetail Deer don't water like Cattle, in arid regions, especially as the Summer temps rise, they'll visit watering holes a lot more often than people think.

I've actually watched Does playing in an old Slough one year while Squirrel hunting. So expect the unexpected. Deer like water a lot more than hunters give them credit for.

I like to cruise rivers and large creeks and look for deer crossings. If I can find several on a stretch of the River, then I'll set up a ways away with binoculars or a spotting scope so I can see all the crossings. I'm looking for bucks that use these crossings and trying to find out which river crossing they may be using. This way, come hunting season, I can have my stand in the right place.

Early season buck hunting can be hot. So make sure you wear cool clothing and take along some water or other refreshments. It's not worth having a heat stroke over!

Billy Bob lives in Lousianna and considers hunting and fishing the only sport for real men. When he's not paddling his pirot through the swamps hunting gators, he's dreaming about deer hunting. Besides fishing, early season deer hunting is favorite thing to do.

2008-09-02T20:12:00.000-05:00

2008 Duck Bay Youth hunt

We hunted from shore at a little flooded pond, same place as last year but less water. The teal really like it there so the action was steady, we shot 36 birds with 7 12 yr old hunters in 3 hours, pretty darn good. There was 2 pintails, 2 mallards, 1 spoony and the rest were blue and green wing teal. The weather held for us and made perfect overcast cool weather. Everyone really enjoyed themselves, another success, another battalion of definite hunters hitting the school steps today, armed with stories and knowledge they didn't have before.
It is a great feeling to hear about one of the kids talking on his way home saying "i had a great summer holiday, but this was the best part".

That's all it took, take them hunting.

and a big thanks from the kids to the mentors Chris Hoover, Sticky (Sticky's Bait and Tackle), Dwayne Zarichny,and sponsors DU, Delta Waterfowl and Manitoba Wildlife Federation

above is a pic of the young hunters speaking on all of our behalf today and tomorrow.

Carp Fishing

2008-08-08T20:44:00.000-05:00

I have mentioned that we have a great abundance of Very Large Carp here. Here is a small one, 22 lbs.
We shot 29 in a few hours today.
Bow Fishing is super fun and not only that, catching these guys on a rod and reel,,,,,,look out!!! What a fight!
UK fisherman, you don't know what you're missing.
Come up and catch that 50 pounder. They are here.

Cousin Andrew's 4 ga. Shotgun!

2008-08-04T18:19:00.000-05:00

Andy who is a gunsmith recently built his own shotgun. But he didn't stop at conventional factory loads/gauges, he built a 4 gauge. It shoots 1 pound of lead and is deadly to 100 yds. he fires 1200 grains of f powder behind the shot. He built the entire gun from scratch including the boring machine he needed to punch out the almost 2inch dia. barrel, 40 inches long. He even cut down the cherry tree to make the stock. The man is a genius when it comes to firearms but is content to do his own thing although he could probably work at any firearms manufacturer out there.
He say 3 shots and that's it, shoulder starts to hurt. No doubt!!! And no cushoin butt plate!

Hunting Specials

2008-07-12T15:35:00.000-05:00

It's no secret that people are struggling with high costs as a result of the inflated fuel prices. Everything and everybody is being affected and jobs are being lost to boot. Many people have had to cut back on spending and luxury is usually the first things that get cut off. But many people work or have worked hard for their money and i've heard many people say that they are not going to quit doing the things they enjoy the most. For many people that is hunting and there are only a few days/weeks a year we can partake in that enjoyment. For many their dream hunt may have to wait a year but for those who don't want to miss a year, we have some specials on now.
We are offering some discounted hunt prices for 2008 as follows:

Manitoba waterfowl Hunting
5 day trip @ $1900.00!
3 day trip @ $1500.00!

Manitoba Monster Whitetail Deer Hunting
6 day trip @ $2800.00!

Manitoba Timber Wolf Hunting
6 day baited hunting trip
$2500.00!!!

All of our hunting trips include your hunting licence, all applicable taxes, all meals, accomodations, hunting equipment, hunting travel, guide, skinning and caping, freezing and meat processing/freezing, use of all facilities and professional service.

We are one of the world's best places to hunt for North American game.

This summer at Riverside Lodge

2008-07-12T15:10:00.000-05:00

We've been having fun in between the rains with fishing and some camping. The bugs this year are doing well again, mosquitoes and bulldogs are hungry as ever, like most Julys. There is slim chance of forest fires right now
We haven't taken on any major projects for this summer, doing repairs and maintenance and building a few small sheds and some equipment. The summer is going by fast though and with a few fishing trips lined up and the odd weekend of fun it will be hunting season again.
Lily caught her first fish this week and now it is "Dad can we go fishing" every day. She is going to make a fine fishing partner and probably guide one day.
The walleye are biting at Darcy's on minnows and spinners, on days when the wind is right and the sun is up. Not many people fish these waters because of the size, and the price of fuel.
The Elk are calling now and the deer are looking good in their velvet. The fawns are starting to run with the does as we see them out in the open trying to get some breeze to fight off the bugs.
I have been joining more and more hunting forums and inet advertising sites to get some of our hunt specials advertised. (I will post up some of those soon.)
The economy is getting pretty beat up lately and as a result we have more than a few cancellations. I hope that it can turn around soon and something is done to bring the price of fuel down to a reasonable amount. We have not seen the worst of it yet though i believe, so good luck to everyone and let's hope we can still enjoy the things we love while we scratch out a living.
On that note i will leave to continue my marketing campaign and crunch out deals for the remaining hunts that have become available.
hang em' high

Youth Waterfowl Hunting

2008-07-05T17:14:00.000-05:00

We have a full roster of youth hunters again,
actually it was full last year, with so many kids wanting to participate. We can only handle 6 -8
kids with 3-4 mentors, mostly because of the full service hunt package they get when here for the weekend. It takes a fulltime cook to keep the meals prepared for these young hunters. The kids get a full weekend of hunting much like they would if they booked a hunt with us. The only difference is there is a day of "school" where we educate them about waterfowl hunting incl: calling, decoys, equipment, ethics, species id, shot gun patterning and more. There is a big emphasis put on Safety and proper gun handling, even though all the kids need to be graduates of hunter saftey course, we give them a little reminder course.
The kids have a ball and even find cleaning the ducks a blast. It is all part of hunting and they soak it up.
Manitoba Conservation has openned a week on Sept 1st where youth hunters can hunt without a licnese (with a mentor) to help introduce youth into hunting. We take full advantge or that to add a real positive experience that they will remember forever and tell all their freinds what a blast duck hunting is!
It is all about getting kids into hunting and learning that it isn't complicated, rather quite easy and it is a natural part of our heritage and what we as humans are designed to do.
It is too bad more people don't step up and mentor a kid for a day even, it would do wonders for hunter recruitment, and the future of hunting.

Above are some photos of last years group, they were a great bunch, and GOOD SHOTS!

Manitoba bear hunting pictures spring 2008

2008-07-02T15:58:00.000-05:00

Here a few more of our bears and some certified BBB hunters!

Bear hunting spring 2008

2008-06-26T17:27:00.001-05:00

Well we finished our spring bear hunt and it was another very successful season. Lots of bears, great guests and nobody got hurt.
The harvest consisted of a nice blonde, 3 cinnamons, and some big black bears. the largest this spring scored 20 3/16 and several 18 and 19's. the coats on all of them were perfect even the last week of the season. Avg sightings at the baist were 5-7 bears including cubs and almost every bait had a pair of cubs or more. Very good for the future of our area as most were color phase cubs also.
We had one big black bear (shown here)with a bald patch on his forehead, we called the Great Outdoors Bear.
It was all scarred up and hair was worn right down to the scalp. I can't imagine what happened to him for that to happen but it am guessing it was from fighting since there were fresh wounds and it was mating season.

Thats is all for now, there are more pics but i only will post a few at a time.

hang 'em high