Every trip back to my home town Chapleau involves an outdoor experience of some sort. Typically, it’s fishing and often features a relatively arduous trek up to Pickle Lake at mileage 51 west of Chapleau.  That was the case this year as well…but that’s not the focus of this blog.

This year I kicked it up a notch thanks to long-time friend and proprietor of Kanipahow Wilderness Resort and Outposts Jamie Thibault. After an exciting career featuring various entrepreneurial  roles in IT related enterprises, Jamie ‘retired’ and bought Kanipahow …lock, stock and barrel. Now he lives the good life in the beautiful surroundings of Mulligan’s Bay.

About a month before my flight back home, I sent Jamie a quick note alerting him to my trip timing in the hopes that a wilderness experience would ensue. After I arrived in Chapleau, I flew off a note and Jamie quickly responded and invited me to go bear baiting. Sounded great to me so I quickly accepted.

The following day I pulled up to the lodge in my big-ass Dodge Ram 5.7 litre hemi half-ton  (thanks to my wife El who arranged the rental for me) and I met Jamie who was repairing a water heater at one of his cabins.  The one thing I do know about Jamie’s job is that it involves an incredibly wide array of activities…from marketing his product, to repairing motors, guiding, entertaining guests, upkeep on the property and a litany of other tasks.  He directed me over to the work shed where Bobby Moreau, who I hadn’t seen in decades…probably since I played hockey with him back in the day, was busy preparing the truck for the trip out to bear baits he and Jamie were running.

Before I go further, perhaps it would be wise to explain that in Northern Ontario bear hunts are conducted twice a year…in spring and the fall, to help manage the population. Spring bear hunts were banned some time ago but the population soon skyrocketed out of control and bears were frequently wondering through the town rooting through garbage cans and terrorizing residents. As a result, it was recently re-instated (albeit with poorly worded legislation) and Jamie and Bobby were now preparing their fourth such hunt.  Bear baiting is part of hunt preparation to attract bears to a selected location…ideally near water, on a game trail and in an area that provides hunters with access and a good vantage point for bow, rifle or camera. 

The baits are designed to keep bears in the area even after they are removed and the hunt begins.

“This year we opened up four new baits for a total of 12,” said Jamie. “We use barrels to hold the food and the key is how we manage them. We drill two and a half inch holes so when they are knocked over food spills out and the bears will stay on that barrel as long as 16 to 24 hours.  They just roll that barrel around and have a good old time. We don’t even have to brush around the baits. The barrels are on 12-foot chains and the bears roll it around and do the (brushing) job for us. These barrels can hold up to 200 pounds of food. We also put out caramel around them…bears love sweet stuff.  This keeps them there…and keeps them coming back.”

“Yep, they hang around and can even get aggressive,” added Bobby. “We had one the other day that was chasing our truck trying to get at the food. That’s why we bring a gun.”

“If we both walk out of the bait at the same time, these buggers sometimes walk in right behind us,” chimed in Jamie. “They watch us bait and come in right after…you may not be able to see them but they’re there just watching and waiting for us to load up the food.”

I had the honor of manning the aforementioned shotgun while we replenished the baits. My job was to keep an eye out for bears…if an aggressive one was in the area and took a run at the lads, I would protect them from harm.

When we arrived at the first bait, I was given a live demonstration of how it was done. Bobby prepped the food (dog food mixed with a secret blend of ‘herbs and spices’), caramel (candy factory waste sourced from Montreal) and vanilla. There were fish heads and guts on hand as well which went into the mix. I asked Jamie about the rationale behind the menu.

“Well if you look at a bear you can see they are designed to follow their noses. Their heads are almost always down so you have to appeal to their sense of smell.  Fish guts are great for that purpose…heavy scents that stay low. But the problem with only relying on that is those smells stay low. We spray vanilla essence on the trees around the bait as the wind picks that up…the scent travels farther and it draws them in. As for the caramel…bears love sweet stuff. So we pour that around the area to keep them there longer.”

Another fascinating element of the baiting was the placement of motion-activated cameras at the stands. Jamie had several of them and rotated them around the baits to see how many and what types of bears were taking advantage of the barrel buffet. That allowed him to match bear stands with clients, many of whom are quite specific about what they want. And a number of whom, I should point out, just want to photograph bears. It also supports his marketing and customer service efforts as he is able to send out photos in advance of the hunt to his clients to show them what’s in store. 

Some of the photos below show the type of action his baits were getting. On one bait the last picture taken of a bear was about five minutes before we arrived on site.

“A lot of people think you should be quiet but we don’t try to be. We repeat our sounds…close the car door, run the chain out…all of it alerts the bears that food is on the way,” Jamie explained. “It’s Pavlov’s hierarchy of needs in practice. You can get a dog to salivate by ringing a dinner bell…with these bears when we drive up, we’re just ringing that dinner bell.”

I spent most of the day with Jamie and Bobby and had an amazing time….for which I am extremely grateful. As I write this Jamie is likely receiving his first guests for the hunt. Given my inside view of the expertise and strategic approach used throughout, I am absolutely confident that Kanipahow Wilderness Resort and Outposts hunters are going to have a very rewarding visit!

Until next time, thanks for reading and stay safe!

Cheers,
Lorne