Victoria Outfitters Newfounland opinion?
Moose
Hi, do anyone know Victoria Outfitters? I want to go for a moose on 2018 and I dont find any current report. Thank you very much!!
Victoria Outfitters was sold by the previous owners (Dave and Eileen Evans), in early November of 2016. The new owners are young but I think pretty experienced and are native of N.F. The lodge is beautiful, the setting is remote (although it's drive-in access). There's plentiful game, both bear and moose, though the Caribou hunting is closed in that area. The fishing is excellent.
I will try to find a link to their site.
I've met Jackie, but I haven't met Ryan yet.
This is the correct link with the right contact info:
https://victoriaoutfitters.com/pages/contact
https://victoriaoutfitters.com/pages/contact
Hope Dave enjoys his retirement! Good guy!
Hey Charlie, Dave and Eileen stopped by to see me on the way back to NF from Florida last month, they are enjoying "retirement" but I don't think they've slowed down one bit! lol
I went with them a few years ago when Dave had the operation. There was moose sign all over the place, unfortunately the weather was so warm that the sightings were minimal. Dave was a very generous person, and the accommodations were great. The ride in along the "road" was pretty rugged.
If you are planning on bowhunting, you might want to consider that there isn't much of that in Newfoundland. None of the guides had ever bowhunted. Perhaps that has changed. But I did see a lot of sign, and the bear tracks were worth writing home about.
TMBB
Dave is a great guy and the area is beautiful. The lodge was really setup for combo caribou and moose - they can't hunt bou anymore. I saw B&C bou when hunting with them and I also had very warm weather.
I went a few years later with a fly-in hunt and would probably not go back with a drive-in. The cost isn't that much more but the quality and quantity are vastly different. Plus who doesn't like a helicopter ride?
I rifle hunted but if you go during the rut with a fly-in operation like the one I used you will get shots with a bow. I would also not go outside of the rut as the terrain can be very tough to sneak in on a bull.
The one thing I warn guys is that 90% of the moose killed in NL are cows and smaller bulls. The success rate is high because of that fact - I was one of those naïve guys who thought giant bulls were just waiting for me. I would liken a NL moose hunt for big bulls like an elk hunt - you have a chance but it's far from a slam dunk.
I'm not trying to dissuade anyone but I think the trip is more enjoyable when you understand the realities of what you are walking into.
Dave is getting a lot of good press here, but Dave has nothing to do with the business any longer as of Nov 2016. What you want to know is how is the performance of the new owners? That remains to be seen. There is a very limited amount of time to judge, virtually no Moose season to base any decision on. What I can tell you, they are located in a strong area for Moose. There are big bulls in the area, big bears also.
Dates: From August 25th to September 3rd , 2018 Bow Season Outfitter: Victoria Outfitters, Newfoundland. Specie: Moose and Bear (baited) Succeess: 100% NON-success I went with two friends, we contracted a moose and baited bear combo on 1x1 fully-guided 6 days hunt. The weather was warm and dry and the rut had not started, so we tried to stalk and call the moose in mornings and sit on the bait for bears some afternoons. Among all of us we did´t see any bull, only some cows. Most of the days we didn´t see any animal throughout the day. At the end of the 6 days nobody had the chance to shot any moose. With bears we had the same bad luck, they didn´t come to the bait while we were seated. The didn´t go to the baits every day, and when the did it was during the night.
I know that my guide tried to do everything he could, and he was as frustrated as me. I don´t know if it was the warm weather or what was the problem, but I never had any chance on moose. I could shoot a bear during a stalking, but I did a low shot and we never found the bear. On baits we never saw any bear, probably because the were only 4 baits for 3 hunters and there were not baited time before we arrived and they didn´t bait regulary every day.
The accomodation was good and meals also were really nice. As an anecdote we had to buy the beer on the town, and it was really expensive.
I try to be objective on this review. To be honest, guides were experienced and proffesionals, they tried the best they knew. I really think we had bad luck with the moose because the weather was warm. With bears, probably, if the outfitters had have done his job bettet we would had have better luck.
Good luck!!!!
"On baits we never saw any bear, probably because the were only 4 baits for 3 hunters and there were not baited time before we arrived and they didn´t bait regulary every day."
you are way too kind. with the statement above there is no way that outfitter did the best they could. ridiculous. period.
