Dual Trips to Maiden Bay Camp

This was a special year for me, as another one of my daughters, Britney, turned 12 and could take her hunters and firearms course to hunt in Ontario. I had big plans for her come the fall, as I was taking her on a bear and grouse combo hunt in Northern Ontario.

We were hunting with Maiden Bay Camp just outside North Cobalt in Northeastern Ontario. The camp is situated along Lake Temiskaming, which is shared with the province of Quebec. They offer several rustic cabins with multiple bedrooms, bathrooms, full kitchens and living rooms.

Our adventure with Maiden Bay Camp first began in September with the goal of harvesting a fall black bear. We took our Yamaha side-by-side out to our first spot, along with our guide Glenn White. We got set up in our tree stand and near last light had a big bear working towards the bait.

Unfortunately, the big bear stayed hidden in the forest, away from the view of the video camera and my daughter Britney. I could just make out parts of the bear as it slowly walked towards us, and eventually, he held up on the edge of the tree line. I could tell he was a big bear and a seemingly wise one at that. After about 5 minutes of standing still surveying the area, he turned around and walked back into the thick timber.

The next morning, we decided to try a little fishing and had fun catching a few walleye and pike.

After our morning fish, we switched gear back to bear hunting. We headed back to the same spot from the night before, but this time decided to set up a natural ground blind since the wind direction had changed. Once again near last light, I saw some movement behind the bait. It turned out to be a smaller bear from the night before, but size didn’t matter to us, as we were just trying to get my daughter her first black bear. But this bear took off just as fast as it arrived, never offering Britney a shot.

Over the next couple of days, we hunted a few different locations, and though Britney did have some more encounters with bears, they never offered her a shot placement long enough for her to pull the trigger before leaving. This was definitely a case of someone new to hunting and not committing to her shot fast enough, but I was happy she didn’t rush her shot either.

Fast forward to October when Britney and I headed back to Maiden Bay Camp after a few other hunts I was away on. After a very scenic fall drive, we got into camp and met up with our guide Glenn White once again and headed right out to the bear woods.

We set up a ground blind at the same location we had the encounter with the big bear back in September. Even though the bear movement had considerably slowed down, as it was getting close to the time of year the bears moved to their denning areas, we still had hope as Glenn had captured the big bear working this bait a few days prior.

Though we sat patiently, we never saw any bears on our first night back bear hunting.

The next morning, we tried to hunt some power lines, this time using a game call to attract the bears. But again, we never did see anything on this very cold and frosty morning.

We decided to try our hand at some grouse hunting after our morning bear hunt. This time I had brought my dog Sako who joined us on the grouse hunt. It didn’t take too long for us to spot our first grouse, and my daughter Britney made a great shot on her first-ever grouse.

To see her big smile as Sako retrieved the grouse was something very special.

We kept at it, hiking and covering a lot of ground, though the weather turned and started raining, it didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits and we still managed to shoot a few more grouse. 

Back in camp, I showed Britney how to clean and cook the grouse. I decided to cook the grouse following one of our Rough Cooking recipes from our YouTube channel called The Ultimate Pheasant Cutlets Wrapped in Prosciutto (Saltimbocca). Saltimbocca is an Italian dish which means “jump in your mouth” and let me tell you this dish did just that! It was very delicious, and Britney and I loved it.

We ended the evening with a very quick fish and I was lucky enough to catch a very nice walleye.

When it came to the bear hunting, we did try going out a couple more times, and though we had some fun encounters with multiple birds and a very entertaining pine marten, the bears had seemed to leave the area. 

Back home in southern Ontario, we had a close friend who offered his property up to us so Britney could harvest her first deer. We jumped at the chance and got a blind set up on the edge of a food plot a number of deer were using, including a few nice bucks.

After spraying down, we got set up and had deer working into the field fairly quickly. Many does, buck fawns and a good-looking up-and-comer young buck with larger brown tines, worked in and out of the field. The young buck with long brow tines spent a lot of time chasing the does and keeping us entertained. 

Near last light, I decided to do a calling session of rattling and grunting. Shortly after, we spotted a good buck working in the field. He was searching for the deer he heard fighting, but once he didn’t see any he was very cautious. 

He slowly worked closer to us, and Britney slowly made her way to her bow. Eventually, the buck gave her a nice broadside shot and she let the arrow fly. She connected with the buck and after a large donkey kick, he disappeared into the woods.

When the buck approached us, he was so cautious I was worried about moving too much and didn’t properly range him, and I accidentally gave Britney the wrong yardage, making her hit low. So, after following the blood trail for a while, we decided to pull out and wait until the next morning. We knew it was going to be a nice cold night, so the meat wouldn’t spoil.

The next morning it only took another 30 yards before we found the buck dead in a nearby cornfield. What a moment to watch Britney see he first buck down, and a great buck at that!

After many hugs and smiles, we dragged the deer out, field dressed and butchered the deer back at the barn, harvesting a lot of great meat to take back home with us.

This fall was a great reminder that hunts don’t always go as planned but just because they don’t go as planned doesn’t mean they’re failures. I was able to spend some quality one-on-one time with my daughter in the woods and on the water. We made many new memories I’m sure neither of us will ever forget.  And I do look forward to heading back to Maiden Bay Camp one day to get one of the many black bears they have captured on the game camera. Big thanks to our guide Glenn White for all his hard work.  

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