Moose by canoe - looking for feedback

I am in the planning stages for a wilderness moose hunting trip in Northern Ontario. We expect to spend ten days (+/-) in the backcountry.

My group (either two or three) will drive and then look to paddle into a remote watershed. We will be taking two canoes (either between two people or three people) as a safety measure and also to help pack out meat should we be successful.

The WMU's I have targeted are WMU 25 and WMU 17 as they offer the closest proximity to Ottawa (where we will be coming from) and meet my criteria - excellent tag odds and a mid September firearms opener (able to hunt the rut). Others are 1C, 16A, 16B, and 16 C. All of the WMU's listed above offer excellent tag odds (frequent surpluses) and a mid September firearms opening date.

I know that road access to WMU 25 and WMU 17 is scant to non-existent. I would simply be looking to find a "jump off" point.

We are all extremely experienced backcountry travellers and very fit.

If anyone has information/photos about the terrain we will encounter (Google Earth doesn't tell you much in terms of small topographical changes or vegetation type), info about the road network, etc. I would appreciate hearing it.

All feedback welcome, either by PM or in this thread.

From Pickle Lake you can access the Pipestone/Winisk Drainage Basin via the Windigo Road (leads to the Musselwhite gold mine).

Or just south of Pickle at Osnaburgh you can access the upper reaches of the Albany Basin.

Last time I was in that area was about 20 years ago so access may have changed

We hunted twenty five with the idea of using the rivers went up fushumi road into to twenty five rivers were not passable by canoe due to beaver dams and blowdowns a far amount of people. There are moose there but the rivers are quite small don't know anything about the other area hope this helps. Now if your pool b then it still might be the only local zone to get a tag

Some of the areas you listed look good on a map but the road access is restricted. I know you intend to hunt by canoe but if the waterway you are attempting to access is restricted then you could be disapointed. I found 16 really bad for this. Its frustrating. Talk to MNR before you apply for tags to make sure you can get to the lakes and rivers you want. Good luck.

Went to 16c a few years back.... Never seen a moose in 10 days hunting... And everywhere you go the rds were restricted... Total crap.... Caught some good fish though!

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Originally Posted by grizzlygreig

Went to 16c a few years back.... Never seen a moose in 10 days hunting... And everywhere you go the rds were restricted... Total crap.... Caught some good fish though!

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what do you mean by restricted? gated or just impassable?

Posted... And strictly enforced... These back rds go into these back lakes... Outfitters fly big paying people in there for moose... We called the MNR about it and we were warned to stay out... If we get spotted by an outfitter in there we will be getting huge fines... The locals up there hunt very hard before the season ... Hunting is 365 days a year... We did see fresh tracks on the main rd!... Another hunter said he saw the bull but it was being chased by a local in a Chevy celeberty!... Waving to him as they went by...

I've always felt that once season opens the first rut is over and moose have pretty much abandoned water systems as a favorable food source and are now more often found on hardwood ridges.

How can the mnr fine you for being on crown land? If the outfitters owned the land and it was private property I would understand.Would such charges stand in a court of law?

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Originally Posted by Hunter John

How can the mnr fine you for being on crown land? If the outfitters owned the land and it was private property I would understand.Would such charges stand in a court of law?

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Ha. You need to research OntORA and Ontario land restrictions.