Double Bears at Whitefish Lodge & Outpost Camps

Big Bears at 20 Yards, a Cow & Brand-New Fawn Moose at 20 Yards and Wolves at 10 Feet! These are just some of the highlights from my week of bear hunting in the Algoma District of Northern Ontario this past spring with Whitefish Lodge & Outpost Camps.

Whitefish Lodge & Outpost Camps is run by William ‘Coop’ Cooper. They are located about 25 minutes outside of Wawa, Ontario. They offer multiple fully equipped cozy rustic cabins and a main lodge where most meals are served.

During this week’s hunting adventure, I was joined by Gerry Dinesen of Monses Sporting Goods, who rep archery hunting brands like Easton Archery and Hoyt Archery. We started our first morning in camp cooking a fine breakfast on our large Camp Chef flat-top grill, as we overlooked the beauty of Whitefish Lake. After getting our fill, Gerry and I had some fun shooting our Hoyt bows before meeting Coop to go over trail camera photos. Coop had several great boars hitting his baits, including some colour phase bears.

For our first evening, Coop set me up in a stand that had an old boar with half an ear torn off, while Gerry was set up in another location, holding another mature boar. Though Gerry did encounter a younger bear near last light, my target bear was a no-show.

Before heading out on our second hunt, we were treated to a very tasty meal at the main lodge, homemade chilli, cornbread and a delicious dessert, cooked up by Sophia Foehr, who took care of us throughout the week.

After we ate, we headed to our respective stands. Near the end of the night Gerry had a nice boar and a sow come into his bait. After it worked closer, Gerry identified it as one of his target bears and was able to get a shot off.

Coop drove me over to Gerry and the three of us started to follow the blood trail. Luckily Gerry’s bear didn’t go far, and we all celebrated and admired his boar before getting help to remove the bear from the bush.

The next day we got busy breaking Gerry’s bear down. First skinning it, then cutting all the meat into cuts ready for the kitchen. Black bear meat used to have a bad reputation, but it’s our favourite wild game meat! It’s very versatile and tastes like a mix of beef and pork. When it comes to the food-borne disease caused by a microscopic parasite, called Trichinella, commonly found in bear meat, there’s no need to be afraid to eat it. All you do is cook the meat to an internal temperature of 145 °, a much lower temperature than what many thought years ago. We have many Rough Cooking recipe videos on the Canada in the Rough YouTube channel that will help give you some great ideas of how to cook bear meat to impress even the most stubborn eater.

After we processed the bear, we had just enough time to get out for a quick fish. Whitefish Lodge & Outpost Camps offers fishing for Walleye, Pike, Trout and Bass. We managed to land a few fish before I had to head back out hunting. However, Gerry headed back out on the water and had a great time catching his limit of Walleye.

With the winds changing direction, I set up a new stand near a large beaver pond, and I had another great boar visiting it. After getting my ISO Tunes Sport earbuds in, which not only protect my ears from loud gunshots but also enhance subtle noises like bears trying to quietly sneak in, I spotted my first bear approaching after hearing something walking in the woods.

Though this wasn’t our target bear, it was a decent boar. I enjoyed watching him explore the area, before he left the way he came from, without touching the bait. This boar acted like it might have been his first time visiting this bait. A couple of hours after he left, I had another bear come in. This time a beautiful sow. My target bear never did show but I enjoyed the evening very much.

I kept at it over the next couple of days, hunting different stands. I did have a few cool encounters with pine martens, rabbits, several bird species, and even a couple more younger bears. But I never did see any of our mature target bears.

After a few days of hunting and reviewing trail camera photos from multiple bait sites, it seems like the rut might be in full swing. Throughout the week, the big boars have been moving hard. Most were only sticking around at one location for 1-2 days, then disappearing for 2-3 days or never seen again.

With help from our Stealth Cam trail cameras, we were able to see some boars have been roaming from one bait to another bait several kilometres away, some even swimming across large lakes to do so. When bears start to do this, it often means the rut is on. Boars will search for sows in heat and can cover some serious distance in their purist, some will even cover 100 square kilometres.

On my last day, Coop set me up on a site we had been keeping an eye on throughout the week. It was one of his water baits, set up on the edge of the lake, and with the latest pictures showing two target bears hitting it on the last day, I was excited to sit it. The first target bear seemed like a mature colour phase boar coming in just before last light, while the second target bear was a good boar fighting with a sow. More signs the rut was happening.

Shortly after I was set up, I heard some sticks cracking straight ahead. With my heart rate rising, out stepped a cow and a calf moose. The brand-new calf, probably only a week or two old, was wisely staying close to his momma. To have an encounter with such a young calf at 20 yards is extremely rare and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Calves like this are often targets for bears. It’s another great reason why spring bear hunting is very important, as it helps keep the bear population in check. Not to mention, when baiting for bears it gives bears another easier food option, again, saving many moose lives.

A few hours after the moose had continued on their way, I caught some movement on my left.

As waited and stared, out stepped one of my target boars. It was the boar that we captured fighting with a sow earlier in the week.

As he worked towards the barrel and knocked it over, I was able to get my bow at the ready. I was holding off on drawing since he had quickly sat down and fed. He would move positions from sitting to laying down, but he wouldn’t give me a shot I felt good about. So, I waited.

Then all of a sudden, the boar ran off! I don’t know what happened, maybe he caught a swirling wind? But all I knew was my target bear had just run off on my last night with less than an hour left of light. I was deflated.

As luck would have it, the big boar worked his way back in and this time I didn’t want him to get to the bait, so I bleated him to stop before letting my arrow fly.

The boar only went 30 yards before tipping over in sight.

Coop was able to join me for the recovery and we were both very happy and appreciative that it all came together on my last night. A beautiful coat, big head and a very thick body.

We had a great time hunting with Coop and everyone at Whitefish Lodge and Outpost Camps, and as if our week wasn’t good enough, on our way home we encountered several moose along with 2 wolves. The wolves trotted by our stopped truck at only 10 feet, something I’d never witnessed before. We have a pretty cool video on our YouTube channel that you should check out!

As people who have hunted and visited Northern Ontario before will tell you, you never know what you will see while exploring Ontario. It’s full of incredible animals and stunning scenery.

If you’re looking for a scenic bear hunt in Northern Ontario, check out the fine folks at Whitefish Lodge and Outpost Camps.

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