A Moose Hunt with White River Air

I knew that White River Air offered some amazing hunting opportunities in Northern Ontario, but I would have never imagined the crazy adventure I was about to be lead through.

This September I was grateful to travel up to White River, Ontario to meet with Dan, Wyatt, and Brandi MacLachlan with White River Air. After the 10-hour drive from Southern Ontario, I had arrived at their amazing lodge, located 10 minutes outside of the town White River. Dan and Wyatt showed off their beautiful Otter and Beaver float planes and took me through what I could expect for the next week in the woods. After loading the Otter, we took off on a bluebird sky day and the 120 Km flight gave distant sights of Lake Superior’s shore, countless lakes, and the unique terrain that the north has to offer.

After we touched down on the lake I’d call home for the next week, we unloaded the plane and settled into our remote outpost cabin for the evening. Dan and Wyatt had returned to drop off a few more supplies and we had spotted a giant bull moose on the opposite side of the lake as the guys landed. The surreal picture-perfect moment of having a float plane above the backdrop of the coniferous and deciduous treeline with a gorgeous bull moose roaming about in its habitat, truly looked like a postcard photo. After taking in this unbelievable moment, I reminded myself that this is why I love to travel to the North.

With the day still young, I headed out to sight in the bow and look at the map to get some info about this lake and what it had to offer. I found a point that looked over a nice river system and a marsh that would prove to host most of the moose sightings throughout the week.

After picking some spots on the map I cooked dinner before falling asleep to complete solitude with sounds only Northern Ontario can create.

The next morning, I made my way back to the same point as the night before with hopes of calling in a mature bull moose. Under the cover of the rising fog, the lake came to life. I began calling and just with enough light to see across the lake, I spotted a young bull swimming towards the next point up from my location, such a unique encounter I have only experienced a handful of times in my life.

Shortly after the little bull worked his way into the woods, I heard a new bull returning calls by grunting and raking from deep in the marsh. Unable to see clearly what this bull looked like I heard his rack scrape and break brush as he came through the swamp and thought he was an average sized bull. He continued to work his way towards me, returning calls after each step he took.

As I waited on the shoreline, I saw the bull emerge from the thick marsh and present his stunning antlers. The bull then crossed over to my shoreline and I heard the bull working his way through the thick timber behind me, and after 20 minutes he closed the distance, with not much time to waste I made my way into the timber where I met the bull face to face at 9 yards.

I drew my bow and took aim but was unable to find a clearing to make an ethical shot on the moose. The bull saw my movement and the gig was up, he slowly trotted off towards the marsh. Feeling gutted by the inability to make a shot, I was both devastated yet thrilled to have experienced one of the greatest encounters with a moose in my life.

The morning continued and I had heard distant grunts from across the lake a mile into the timber. The big bull had moved back to the marsh and was looking in the direction of the other bull that had made distance, grunting with every step. Filled with excitement, I had seen some of the foliage moving as the new bull started raking the brush across the lake, just inside the timber line and sure enough another younger bull stepped out to the lakes shoreline.

The big bull then became territorial of his area and decided to swim across the lake to push out the younger bull. After these two bulls swam back and forth chasing each other, the morning sit came to an end, and I headed back to camp to eat breakfast and give the walleye fishing a try.

After catching a dozen walleye, I headed back to camp to prepare for the evening sit, and as I pulled up to the dock with the boat, I had noticed a sow black bear snooping around camp. The bear scared off and I then gathered my gear to go set up on the other end of the lake due to a switch in the wind direction.

The evening sit was quiet and peaceful but did not attract any moose to the new location. I once again made way back to camp to have dinner and catch some sleep with thoughts of how incredible the day truly was.

I woke up the next morning with the bright moon glimmering across the water and creating a halo effect through the thick fog. I had scoped out another spot on the lake from the day before that would be good for a west wind and decided to take my chances at calling in this location.

As I walked into the bay, I could hear a moose grunting from 500 yards down the lake. Once set up I made a few cow calls, and this bull began making his way towards me. The fog started to lift as the sun rose over the tall hills that surrounded the lake and soon after the bull walked out into the bay.

This bull was the definition of an up and coming giant, I roughly aged the moose at 4 years old from what I could see from his actions and antler growth. Although an amazing bull moose, I passed on taking a shot in hopes to find the giant I had seen days prior. The bull and I called back and forth to each other for an hour before he continued his way.

As an outdoorsman and wildlife enthusiast, one of my favourite things about moose hunting is that it is such an interactive hunt, being able to communicate to an animal and watch as an outdoorsman and wildlife enthusiast. Its mannerisms and behaviours are fascinating to me.

The week continued to showcase great weather, fishing, wildlife encounters, and distant moose activity including calling and raking. I knew that this time of the year is when the bull moose are in the heaviest part of the rut and usually become fixated on one cow moose, often not wanting to travel or respond to other moose.

Having this in mind I knew that it would only be a matter of time before the moose would break off from their current habits and continue to travel and respond to calls.

The week was nearing end and I figured that the moose were starting to become more active as I had been hearing more and more distant calls. On the morning of day 7 the wind had finally favoured the east end of the lake where I had the encounter with the big bull at 9 yards.

I arrived at the spot on the point under the cover and silence of the fog before setting up and letting out some brief calls as the sun began to rise. In the direction of the marsh, I heard a deep grunt followed by raking in the thick brush and knew immediately that this bull was to be taken seriously. In hopes that the bull wouldn’t cross through the thick timber behind me, I decided to make a move to the next point on the shoreline that offered a better visual into the marsh.

After making the move, I heard the bull grunting with each step he took and knew that he was on his way. The bull slowly revealed himself through the sun lit fog and to my surprise it was the same bull that I met at 9 yards on the first morning.

The bull slowly made distance through the marsh and eventually came into bow range at 45 yards. I drew back my bow and he caught a glimpse of the movement and bolted back out away from me, with no time to re-range the bull I guessed that he was now at 60 yards. He stopped and I released my arrow.

As I watched the arrow fly in what felt like slow motion, I watched the arrow take perfect trajectory before falling short of the moose and hitting the long grass in front of him. He then ran further away back into the marsh and was never to be seen again all morning.

Although I once again felt devastated that this magnificent bull got away on me, I was so grateful to have been able to experience this amazing opportunity. An opportunity of which created unforgettable memories, successful in harvesting a bull or not, this trip will go down as the most action filled moose hunt that I have ever been a part of.

If you travel to Northern Ontario to chase big bull moose and an even bigger adventure, White River Air truly has that and more to offer with their array of remote outposts and thrilling outdoor adventures. 

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