Outfitter Review - Portland Creek Outfitters

Outfitter Information

Outfitter Name: Portland Creek Outfitters

Outfitter / Contact: Aster Caines

Location: Newfoundland, Canada

Hunt Information

Animals Hunted: Moose/woodland caribou

Game Quality: OK

Game Quantity: OK

Accomodations: very nice

Camp Condition: good

Food Quality: excellent

Guide Experience: good to excellent

Other Personal Experience: good

Review Information

Hunter: Barry Stephan

Phone: 616-538-7364

Email:

Would Recommend: yes

Overall Impression: very good

This was my second hunt with Portland Creek (last week of Sept 2006). Did not get a moose on the first hunt, passed on a small moose the first day of hunt then. That hunt suffered from unseasonably warm weather (2004) and then a hurricane came up the east coast. However, it was an honest hunt, (if you want a sure thing that is what a preserve is for)with capable, hard working guides, a damn fine cook, and an owner paceing on the dock when our float plane brought us out after being weathered in for three days due to a hurricane. So I went back. This time (2006) again weather wasn't the greatest. First morning hunt was in a thunderstorm. Weather was a bit warm (in 70s F. by afternoon). So after seeing total of four moose and passing on two spike bulls second day, when we saw a decent bull the third day, the hammer went down. Four hunters in camp, four hunters got a moose. Mine happened to be the largest, thirty inch outside spread, eleven points, with decent palmations. No whopper but with the weather warming and little action, felt pretty fortunate. As two of us also wanted to try for woodland caribou, we were taken out of camp to look for caribou. Saw a small stag and a few does but again, warm weather kept caribou in mountains and not in bogs. So, I hope to go back (as does everyone else)in two or three years and will hunt a little later in season and hope for cooler weather. This was what I consider an "honest hunt", the opportunity is there, the animals are there, the guides are capable and willing to walk the legs off you, and the Newfies are good folk, I'm looking forward to seeing some of them when they come this way to the sport show this winter. Better (cooler) weather would have made for a better showing on this trip but, hey, that's the way things go sometimes. If you have the bucks to go to Alaska or British Columbia, go for those bruisers. Newfoundland has a lot of moose, and some of them are good sized, but like any hunt, weather can make it or break it. Accomodations were very comfortable. Camp was reached by traveling across bogs by Argo and ATVs. Two hunters per bedroom (four hunters in camp), two bathrooms,hot shower, generator turned on at 5:30AM, breakfast on table at 6AM, and guides (one guide per hunter) expect to be hunting by 7AM. Back at camp by dinner time (about 7PM), lights out (generator off) when the last joke is told, the last card is played and the most macho can no longer keep their eyes open (between 9 and 10PM). Made for a long day but my guide was serious as a heart attack about getting a moose and since that's what I was there for, worked out just fine by me.

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