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Some of you may already know this, but Ron and Jeannine have begun their well-deserved retirement from their bear outfitting business!

I visited with Ron recently and he has agreed to allow me to continue the Annual Christmas Auction! I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ron and Jeannine one more time for the past generosity.

My wife Shelley and I own Adrenaline Outfitters. We have been Bowsite Sponsors for many years. Our camp is located on the East side of Lake Winnipeg and would be considered a remote, drive-in Bear Camp.

The rules will be the same as in the past:

1. Bowsite, it's owners, employees, and its sponsors are not affiliated, or responsible for this auction or any issues regarding from it, nor will be held liable if any problems arise.

2. Adrenaline Outfitters Ltd. will not receive any monies generated from this auction. All funds generated from this auction will be donated to the charity of the winning bidders choice.

3. The Auction will run until December 20, 2018. If the bidding slows down prior to that, Shelley and I will give a 24 hour notice for the Auction to be closed.

4. You are bidding on an all-inclusive hunt, with tags and taxes included. This hunt may be taken in 2019 or 2020 available dates (please contact me for availability).

5. This is not a leftover or fill in hunt. You pick your dates (based on current openings at time of Auction close).

6. To claim your hunt, the Auction winner must donate to their charity of choice, their full bidded amount, then produce the tax deductible receipt showing the date and amount donated. Once that is provided, we will confirm your hunt dates and complete all booking forms.

Shelley and I would like to thank Bowsite for providing this opportunity to us.

Currently, our website is being updated, but for a review of the 2018 spring hunt, please check our Facebook page. Please PM or email us if you have any questions about the hunt, travel requirements, or any other details.

Good luck and thanks in advance to all bidders.

Russ and Shelley Mehling/Adrenaline Outfitters Ltd.

—jim

Russ & Shelley/Adrenaline Outfitters

Brotsky, I can definitely add a disclaimer that the winning bidder gets to choose Pat as his guide!

Russ/Adrenaline Outfitters

Good luck with this Russ and enjoy the ride.

Ron and Jeannine Dare (Semi-retired)

Russ

I'm about to take off for the weekend to my son's hockey tournament - and believe it or not, we won't have wifi for the weekend!!

Hopefully bidding picks up, but if it doesn't, Shell and I will make a call to end it earlier. We'll see where things are at Monday, but we will make sure to give a 24 hour notice to the close of the auction.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Russ & Shelley Mehling - Adrenaline Outfitters

Our camp is approximately 2.5 hours NE of Winnipeg MB. We stay in a motel in the small town of Manigotagan. Our hunt area is North and East of that community. Normally we put two hunters in a room. Each room has a private bathroom, satellite tv, and 2 double beds. We operate with a maximum of 6 guests per week. The area is allocated, which means there are no other outfitters in the area and we know resident pressure is all but non existent.

Hunters are required to get themselves to camp. It is all paved road, except the last 2 miles. Plan to arrive Sunday late afternoon. After supper Sunday, we issue tags and go over an orientation covering sizing/sexing bears, treestand etiquette, and explain the week's schedule.

You will hunt Monday to Friday, predominantly evenings. Each guide will have 2 hunters. Breakfast and lunch are eaten in the restaurant attached to the hotel - it is only open to our guests. A bag lunch is packed and hunters usually take part of it to the stand and leave some to snack on when they get back.

You will leave camp between 2 and 3. Stands are from 1/2 hour to 2 hours from camp. We aim to hunt the last 6 hours of every day. We have a lot of sites and only stands with the proper wind will be hunted. You will get back to camp between 11 and 1 am depending on the stand you were at and the time of year. Stands are generally 2-man ladder stands, 15' high and from 18 to 22 yards from the bait.

You will hunt Monday to Friday. Departure is Saturday morning after breakfast. Most hunters drive in for the hunt and take their meat/hides with them since crossing the border is easy. If one wants, we have an excellent taxidermist to recommend.

Our first week fishing season is closed, but after that, we have 2 boats on hand for guests to use. The walleye fishing gets better as the season progresses and peaks in late May. It usually stays excellent until the end of the season.

Bugs will start up around May 15 and get crazy after that. Bring a thermacell!

Our opportunity rate is near 100%, with our kill rate around 80% (not including unrecovered bears). We only started weighing our bears this spring, but an honest average would be 225-250. Hides will generally square at 6'+. Since we tube skin most of our bears, it is hard to get true squares.

We seldom get skull sizes from our guests, but having been a P & Y scorer involved in many bear kills and scoring a ton of them, I would estimate we kill a couple 18's per week, and will get a couple in the 20's per season. Over the past 3 years, hunters have averaged seeing 3+ bears per sit.

If you would have asked me 3 years ago about taking a colour phase, I would have said 1 in 25 or less! This has been changing and last year we took 2 colour phases and saw 4 more.

My favourite statistic is our repeat clientele. All of our 2018 guests are returning, and we have some booked for 2019 that hunted with us prior to that.

Hope that clears a few things up, and if there are more questions, please ask on here or contact me.

Thanks for following,

Russ/Adrenaline Outfitters

I’d be leaving a pizza at the hotel for when I got back. Or my good old Jetboil and some Mountain Houses.

The other open question is there a max size limit on the walleye?

Sorry for the delay in getting back on here. I wasn't at a computer all morning.

Yes, we serve a big breakfast, then our large meal is at lunch. In the past, we packed bag lunches for the day, then had our large meal after the hunt. At the recommendation of quite a few of our guests, we changed it. Since then, most have been happy with this schedule.

What was happening was some hunters getting back to camp an hour later than others. Some would feel obligated to wait until everyone was back before eating, or would eat by themselves. If they waited, it just got too late. Most did not enjoy a large meal just before heading to bed, and didn't sleep well.

So, we moved the large meal to lunch (1:30ish) and pack a bag lunch for hunters. Some would take a bit to munch on in the stand, then finish it off at camp when they got back. This also provides an opportunity for everyone in camp to share a meal at the same time.

Regarding walleye sizes, there is a slot limit and any walleye over 22" have to be released. That's ok, since our experience shows the 18-20 walleyes are the tastiest...and we have a LOT of experience when it comes to eating walleye. :)

We can have you in several stands in less than an hour from camp. So, as long as the winds are good, and there are good bears in the area, we can keep travel light for those that request it.

Even though we are staying in a motel, this area is quite remote. We are literally at the 'end of the road', so there are very few options regarding accommodations.

Russ/Adrenaline

MP, thanks for the kind words.

Russ

Without really trying, we have become almost exclusively bowhunting. I'd have to check stats to confirm, but I would say over 85% of our hunters are bowhunters. For 2019, I believe we have 2 rifle hunters and 1 cross bow hunter on the books.

Russ/Adrenaline

We'll go until 3 pm Central Time. Right now, huntinelk is at a $2800 donation to St. Jude's.

Russ/Adrenaline

Here are some photos of bears we know made it through the season!

More bears we are targeting for 2019!

I will stay at my computer until 3. At that time I will hit refresh and the high bidder will be notified.

Thanks for all who are bidding. I've checked out the charities and all seem very worthy. Good Job Bowsiters.

Russ/Adrenaline Outfitters

At this time, Saphead is the Auction winner for a bid of $5550. I will let everyone know once all has been confirmed.

Thanks Ron, Pat and Bowsite for allowing us to continue this incredible tradition.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Russ/Shelley/Luke Mehling - Adrenaline Outfitters Ltd

Thanks to all of the bidders.

Congrats Saphead!

Russ, what a professionally conducted auction. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Doug

As I promised, when my computer hit 3:00:00 pm Central, I hit refresh and Saphead was the winning bidder. I typed the final result in, and when I hit 'Submit Message' and the page refreshed again, I saw SteveB had placed a higher bid.

I immediately PM'd SteveB to explain what happened. I felt terrible writing the PM, then I thought, 'hey, this is my auction, I don't have to feel bad!', and came to a decision.

Saphead is the winner of the auction. Once I receive the documentation required, that will become official and him and I will start making plans for his hunt.

SteveB is the consolation winner. I have discussed with him and if he provides documentation of his donation bid, we will start making plans for his hunt as well. Think of the extra $200 as a late bidder penalty!!

At the end, we'll have raised over $11,000 for charity. I'd like to applaud SteveB and Saphead for playing, as well as all the other bidders. It was a good time.

Now I have to go explain to my boss (Shelley) why we are giving away 2 hunts!! LOL!!

Russ Mehling - Adrenaline Outfitters

I always enjoy these threads, I just can't hang with the big money guys on bidding.

Congratulations and enjoy your hunts, well done by all!

Jeannine and I are happy for both bidders/winners. And thanks for keeping the auction a Bowsite Christmas tradition.

Stay tuned this December for another opportunity to donate to your favourite cause and win a bear hunt at the same time!! Have a great summer everyone!!

Russ & Shelley Mehling - Adrenaline Outfitters Ltd.