No I have not got em yet!!!  Deer hunting for myself has been good but not good enough.  Seeing alot of deer, but I have not seen anything 150" or better Yet, I'm still at it.  But its not about me anyway, our deer hunters had a pretty darn good hunt.  We went 4 of 5 the first week with a 125" 8, 135" 7, 160 5/8" 10, and a 162 5/8" 10.  Some really nice deer.  Week 2 we went 0 for 2, our two hunters were looking for that 150" or better and it just didn't present itself, high winds played a big role the second week, it was very tough to even stay in your tree. 

Details and interest in deer hunts are dealt with personally either by phone or email. 

Winter seems to have set in early, since the 7th of November we have been below 32 degrees, last night it got down to -4 degrees.  Many lakes have iced up with just a few to go,  Betty and I ran out of open water for late season musky, so I have turned my attention to whitetails, and by the way, their driving me nuts.

2008 turned out to be our best year yet and we thank you all for making it possible!  We will be reporting a year end update and 2009 things to come. 

Until then take care and thank you all again.

 

Dave and Betty 

6 moose and 4 deer were taken here at PCC over the last two weeks.  Not bad for the warmer temps that we have had.  I will be absent for the next two weeks running a deer hunt.  With below freezing temps on monday and Tuesday deer should be moving.  Scrapes and rubs are showing up at a higher rate now with adult deer starting to leave sign.  I hope to report an excellent deer hunt on the 12th of nov.  One tip for you guys that are getting out and hunting in your areas is not to scout too much where you already know there will be deer sign, try and sneek in and sneek out, sometimes we are tempted to walk around our hunting areas to confrm what we already know.  When we do this we are letting the big boy know he is being hunted.  Keep the wind in your favor, hunt hard and long, and send me an email on your sucess.  Talk to you in November.

Mid October and hunting is in the air.  Our first week of moose season was slow over all, warm temps a problem.  With slighly cooler temps lately our guys are going much better.  Bill Beckets groups got a nice cow there first time out on Saturday and the Genereaux gang shot a great 52 " bull yesterday.   A total of five moose have been taken so far during the gun season at PCC.  We talk about temperature alot.  These animals are built to live in very cold harsch conditions, and when temps this time of year are above 40 degrees they just don't like to move.  Moose and deer alike burn more calories and waste needed energy in warmer weather.  Here in the north cold weather gets em up on their feet, Just the opposite for you guys going down to Texas this fall, cold weather in the far south usually shuts movement down.  The deer movement here is mostly at night, but many scrapes and rubs are starting to show up, Barry and I have been setting deer stands up, and things are looking good for this falls hunt.  For those guys who are taking a break from hunting, the fishing in the area is still good on some lakes.

 The Randy Clayton group hung a nice cow and calf today.  Moose are finnally starting to move.  We have another moose coming in right now, not sure what it is, I'll let you know soon.  Many reports of moose being taken and seen today.  The second week is shaping up to look just fine, our weather is'nt real cold but cold enough in the morning to keep em moving.  Walleyes were biting today, we boated a few nice 20 inchers off of Pickerel today. Actually a mixed bag of fish and surprising they were in 8 ft of water. 

For those of you planning on coming to canada in 2009, Passports will be required.  There is an alternative, a passport card.  A passport card is for land and sea ONLY, not air.  The card is $45 for adults and $35 for children, you can read about and get an application for the passport card at www.travel.state.gov 

 

No Moose today, more warm weather, wind and lots of rain.  Not much to report today, just trying to stay dry.

I can't remember an openning weekend of moose season (gun) with not one moose hanging at Pickerel Creek Camp.  Weather is still warm and the animals just are not moving much.  I did hear reports of 5 moose taken yesterday in the area, but our guys are without so far.  Tuesday looks colder, maybe even a frost, that will get the moose moving a bit.  I believe the moose are still right on the water.  Water temps are in the high 50's to low 60's, aquatic feed is still available for the moose, with more pressure from hunters and the abundant wolf population, moose are very comfortable near the water.  Rifle hunters should be in the cuts that are surrounded by water, get your maps out and put together a plan.

 

Ken Facchina (Elwood, IL) Nailed two nice muskys 45" an 39" we had 3 others on and boated a smaller 30" something.  We were suspending sucker rigs about 20 ft. down and fishing in 30 to 80 ft of water, rock piles and rock walls were the ticket.  The 45" er actually was caught when we drifted out to 82 ft.  The moose rut is still going but probally winding down, Our hunters have not had much action with the warmer weather the last few days.  Moose moment definately has to do with tempature, all the guys seen moose on days that we had a hard frost, unfortunately we did not have many cold days.  Moment at night is the result.  Barry and I set tree stands yesterday for deer hunts, small bucks are rubbing and scraping, we happened to cut a few tracks of mature deer that we hope our hunters get a chance at.  Gun season for moose opens Saturday, we expect the weekend to be slow but monday has a high of 39 degrees, that should get em moving, we'll just have to see.

Moose hunting is kicking in pretty good right now.  It seems that we are in peak rut.  Cows are making noise with bulls right behind them.  The strang thing is how many wolves our hunters are seeing.  Guys are cow calling and are not only having bulls answer but wolves as well.  Colin Watson and fellow hunter Josh heard a pack of wolves take down a bull moose just a few hundred yards away.  Richard Geths and Don Robinson have called in 5 wolves at three different times.  Looks like I'll be buying a wolve tag this coming week. A nice 10 point buck was taken down by wolves this week on pickerel lake.  Todd Heath and myself finished out a nice week by calling in a 60 inch bull, although we were looking for a cow, it was a nice animal to see. Many big deer have been seen moving around.  Fall is here and colors are vibrant, 25 degrees in the morning and warming up in the 50's in the afternoon, its a great time to be in NW Ontario.  Muskys are still on a summer type of pattern but with water temps beginning to fall, things will change.  Walleye fishing was very good this week, Bob and Keith Robinson (MN) caught fish every day, with most fish coming out of 15 to 22 ft of water.  They are finding fish heading towards their winter hang outs.  Hanging deer stands will be next on our list and closing up for the winter for the most part.  We will be open the rest of October with resident moose hunters in camp.   

Sorry people, my intern doesn't know how to spell.  I fired him today.

Thanks for a nice week Delta Waterfowl.  The ducks just were not here for the guys from Ill Praire DW, but they enjoyed trying and it seemed that walleye fishing saved the week.  They were able to catch nice stringers of walleye in good nubers.  Grouse hunting has been slow as well.  The grouse are not beening seen to much on the logging roads yet, but there are grouse here, we have been seeing them in the bush in good nubers while moose hunting.  Which brings me to the next report.  Cooler weather moving in this weekend aided Rob Hamm (Wis) and myself in taking a great NW Ontario Bull Moose Friday morning.  A 52" Bull what a great animal.  Rob and I saw 3 moose that morning and held off for this one, it took about 2 hours to finnally coax the bull in, but raking and challenging him did the trick.  One lesson I learned again which goes with alot of things is Patients.  After we worked the moose the first time we did not hear him for well over an hour.  Finally we must have hit the right note and he must not been able to take it any longer.  As soon as we seen he was a shooter I began to challenge and the show was on, he was raking and grunting all the way in. Rob made a great 30 yd heart/lung shot and put the bull down quick.  We had hunted for 7 days, the moose just were not moving, but we stayed with it and Rob has a terrific trophy.