Bobby's Blog

2025 is my second hunting season as a full fledged hunter. As a kid, I would go hunting with my dad at mononc’ Guy’s property for a weekend each November. The tradition continued until I was about 11 then my dad got busy with work, and I got busy with school and friends and it suddendly died out. Many years would come to pass before I learned that as much as I would tell him “We need to go hunting again” we wouldn’t go unless I took the initiative. I found us a 330 acre property that the land owner was willing to lease out to us for the moose and deer seasons, found a cheap ass motel to stay at, and last year we went hunting for the first time in 15 years (including a new species – moose).

Today, we’re approaching the 2025 season, and I’m dialled on spending as many days as possible in the woods. It’s been difficult to focus on anything else, especially work. I’m angsty with anticipation and itching for the first day out.

Here’s what’s new from this year:

Target Species:

Moose is out, small game and migratory birds are in! I want more action, I want more days outside, and above all I want to eat local wild game. Migratory birds and small game offer the greatest opportunity to accomplish all of my goals, not to mention, moose hunting in Québec is much more complex logistically, especially for two people with no access to ATVs. Specific species of interest are: Ruffed grouse, cottontail rabbit, duck, and of course white-tailed deer.

Despite having never hunted small game, it seems to be the most accessible. The season runs the longest; in most zones going from mid-September to mid-January, species depending. There are wildlife reserves within a couple hours of Montreal that offer daily access, and boast “harvest to hunting days” ratios above one, meaning that if you hunt for one day you are likely to kill one point some-ought animals (in this specific case I am talking about ruffed grouse).

Hunting migratory birds really excites me. I was looking to buy a shotgun this year, and was hung up between an inexpensive pump-action 12GA but had an opportunity to tier-up to a semi-automatic at a marginal price increase. Having a new gun in the (very limited) armory enticed me to search out guided duck hunts around Montreal and found a couple at a reasonable daily price (considering the otherwise necessary of cost of duck decoys). Not to mention, the opportunity to learn is much greater going with a guide then figuring it out alone.

Property:

I’m expanding my reach principally due to the expansion of species we’re hunting. Small game will mainly be targeted at two wildlife reserves: Mastigouche and Papineau-Labelle. I know absolutely nothing about them other than the maps available online. I foresee heavy trial and error here. Both wildlife reserves are located north of Montreal, Papineau-Labelle is westward while Mastigouche is eastward. If you were to draw straight lines connecting them to the city it would look like two antennae growing out of Montreal’s head with Mont-Tremblant National Park sitting in the middle.

Duck hunting is contingent on where the guide will take us but it will either be on Lac St-Louis or Lac des Deux-Montagnes, the latter being the lake I grew up sailing on. I’m quite familiar with it, yet I’ve never seen any duck hunters there – interested to see where it goes.

Finally, we found a new property to hunt deer. A family friend has an unused 50 acre lot in Harrington that he graciously will permit us to hunt this November. I’ve yet to scout the property but from pictures I gather it mainly consists of deciduous hardwoods, not nearly as densely populated as last year’s. If we’re lucky, there will be oak. For if there is oak, there are acorns; and if there are acorns, there are deer. (Or so I’m told).

Closing Words:

Much is new this year, but much hasn’t changed. At the end of the day, we’re still spending time amongst the trees, seeing more squirrels than deer and hoping to fill the freezer before we freeze our asses off in the November chill. One of my favourite childhood traditions ended because we were too busy to make it a priority. I deeply regret the many years spent wishing to go hunting rather than working to make it happen. But my focus is on the now, rather than ruing the 15 years of experience I could have had. I’ve worked a lot and done much more research this year to make it a fruitful season. As always, I hope to bag a buck, several grouse and many ducks. Yet, as always, I expect to be humbled by the woods, finish the season with another year of lessons but, hopefully, a freezer full of game.