Sixty Years of Bears, Baits, and Family Legacy

As the long winter was finally drawing to an end, Paul Beasley was excited to head out for a spring black bear hunt. This year, he was bound for Chelmsford, Ontario—a beautiful community just twenty kilometres northwest of Sudbury and home to his outfitter for this trip, Yvon and Sons Bear Hunt.

Yvon & Sons Bear Hunt is a storied, multi-generational, family-run outfitter that has provided hunters with unforgettable memories for 60 years. During Paul's week, he was pleased to spend time with three generations of the Goudreau family, including co-owner and guide Kevin and his grandfather, Yvon. Yvon is 94 years old, but still has a youthful passion for the hunt, and was happy to share tales from his lifetime of hunting and outfitting.

Twelve Bears in One Night: Yvon Goudreau's Early Days Guiding in Ontario

Yvon described the earliest days of his career as little more than friendly favours. When he chanced upon some travellers from south of the border who were having trouble hunting bears in the area, Yvon offered his services as an informal guide—in an era before bear tags were even a consideration. Word of mouth travelled, more visitors enlisted Yvon's expert guidance, and before long, he was in charge of a booming operation.

"Our best night? We got twelve bears in one night," Yvon recalls, “Twelve bears were hanging up in the garage. And there were some 400-pound bears—big bears! The biggest bear that night weighed approximately 500 pounds. Imagine that!"

Three Generations, One Bait Site: Kevin Goudreau Carries On the Family Business

More than half a century later, Yvon and Sons Bear Hunt is still going strong, and is presently run by Yvon's son, Gilles, and his grandson, Kevin Goudreau.

"To be the third generation of this family business and to carry on this legacy, it's an honour for me," says Kevin. "I've been raised in the family business, so as I grew up, that's all I knew: skinning bears, butchering bears, feeding bears. Not gonna lie, it was a lot of work. Throughout the summer, getting up early and going out in the bush, it wasn't fun. But today, here I am, the third generation, and now it's kinda falling into my hands. And I've gotta say, I've got passion for this." 

Kevin's passion is immediately apparent; in the days and weeks leading up to Paul's arrival, Kevin has been working hard, baiting his sites and gathering intel from a multitude of trail cameras.

Paul was surprised by two things revealed by the trail camera pictures. First, there were still lingering patches of snow on the ground—not an unusual sight for the far north, even in mid-May, but certainly unusual for this time of year, just five hours from Toronto. Secondly, the trail cameras reported a promising amount of bear movement; recent images showed multiple bears at bait sites, and some genuine giants.

First Sit, First Bears: A Busy Opening Night at the Bait

For his first evening, Paul headed to a stand where a nice, mature boar with a distinctive dark muzzle had been showing up on the trail camera. And it didn't take long for the bear activity to begin: About thirty minutes after getting settled into his stand, Paul spotted his first bear. After that, he was rarely without a bear in front of him—they moved in and out of the bait area from all directions. At one point, Paul watched a bear take a drink of water from the rapidly melting snow, pass under his feet, and lie down for a quick nap behind his stand—the first time, Paul says, he's ever seen a bear have a snooze in the woods. 

A healthy number of bears visited Paul on this first evening, including a pair of scrappy boars that kept him entertained as they tussled at the bait site. As the evening drew to a close, Paul also spotted a massive bear working through the brush around his stand. It was different from his target boar, but a definite shooter. Unfortunately, the bear was smart, and the wind conditions were unfavourable. The bear circled behind Paul, scent-checking before vanishing back into the woods. 

Repositioning for the Wind: Day Two of the Chelmsford Bear Hunt

Paul was greeted by sunshine and steadily rising temperatures on his second day with Yvon and Sons. After checking some trail cameras and confirming that the dark-muzzled boar was still appearing at his bait site, Paul and Kevin came up with a game plan. 

Playing to the wind direction, Paul re-positioned his tree stand, hoping it would increase his chances with one of the area's smart, mature bears—if not his dark-muzzled target bear, then perhaps the big brute that had teased him the night before.

Shortly after getting seated in his relocated stand, Paul caught a glimpse of a sizable bear rubbing against a tree in the nearby brush—a promising start to his second evening. And even as the afternoon's open skies gave way to brief periods of rain, the bears continued to move in and out of Paul's site. Sometimes there would be three or four bears moving about the bait area at the same time—and there were still bears on the stand as Paul reached the end of legal light, but no sign of his target bear or the big brute from the previous day. 

Walleye Fishing Near Sudbury with Reel Time Guide Service

With gorgeous weather and a few hours to spare on the morning of his third day at Yvon and Sons, Paul and Kevin Goudreau met up with Eric Daoust of Reel Time Guide Service —an expert on the local waterways—to take advantage of some local fishing. Almost immediately, Eric had the guys on fish. Kevin reeled in a sizeable walleye on his first cast of the morning, and by the time the guys had to head back to shore, the live well was teeming with perfect eating-sized walleye. 

A Perfect Shot: Paul Beasley Harvests His Ontario Black Bear

When Paul climbed into his stand for his third evening, he double-checked the wind direction. Conditions were perfect. And sure enough, about half an hour into his sit, a mature boar strolled into the bait site. He wasn't the one with the black muzzle that Paul had been waiting to get a look at, nor the brute from the first evening, but his back was taller than the upright barrel, and he was well-filled out. Immediately, Paul found himself in a good-better-best scenario. So now, on his third day, should he pass this really good bear to hold out for a chance at one of the giants? The choice seemed like a no-brainer.

Paul sent an Easton FMJ downrange for a perfect quartering-away shot on the big boar and, seconds later, he was down within sight of Paul's stand. 

The thrill of the successful harvest overcame Paul immediately—any thoughts of doubt melted away like yesterday's snow, and he threw his hands up in enthusiastic celebration. 

Kevin was quick to arrive to share in the celebration and recovery of the bear. But he made it clear that even after they'd finished preparing Paul's harvest for the freezer, there'd still be something left to do: "Now you have to get initiated," he told Paul. 

And so, Paul took part in a unique initiation ceremony back at camp that welcomed him into a multi-decades-long history of successful bear hunters with Yvon and Sons Bear Hunt. The ceremony was led by Yvon himself, still excited to perform this camp tradition after more than five decades. The ritual involved a sharpened axe and a blindfold—but as we've been sworn to secrecy, we already fear we've shared too much. The details of "The Knight of the Axe" ceremony are reserved, after all, for those who've harvested a bear with Yvon and Sons. 

"I hope it's going to keep on going," says Yvon, speaking not just of the initiation ritual, but all the long-standing traditions of Yvon and Sons Bear Hunt. "I'm 94 years old, but I hope my son Gilles and my grandson Kevin keep on doing the same as what I did. If you treat the people right, they're coming back. And that's how we built up our business. It's been like that for fifty years, and I hope they'll keep it up for another fifty years."

After enjoying a successful hunt and being invited into their exclusive club—and sharing laughs back at camp with three generations of the Goudreau family—Paul can't help but think the future of Yvon and Sons will honour the legacy that has been built over the past half-century.

"With Yvon and Sons, it's not just a business, it's a family tradition," says Kevin. "And when you come hunt with us, you'll leave feeling that you were part of the family."

Showing 'Edited Body' is no longer supported.