CANADA: WTA & Northway Outfitters Saskatchewan

[bashaw]

If the past few decades of traveling for hunts has taught me anything it’s that scarce few can maintain high quality for an extended period of time. Once the pics get out; the outfitter always blows up and get very popular and eventually the place gets shot out. Seen it time and time again.

Northway’s situation got complicated once they blew up. They basically had an entire reservation to hunt for many years. They did a good job managing it. It went basically unhunted for a long time. It was a land of giants and lots of them. Then Northway showed up and the Monster Bucks videos. All downhill from there.

After seeing that Northway was making money other natives on the rez wanted to guide too. So Northway’s footprint kept getting smaller and smaller as the council tried to appease other natives looking to open outfits. In no time flat; some of the areas they were giving up were being shot out. So the neighboring parcels got ruined in a hurry. Meanwhile; Northway has a list years deep of people booked to hunt.

Fast forward and they get a great section in Glaslyn. It was remarkable; the quality of deer coming out of Glaslyn was often better than the reservation. Problem is; like I mentioned earlier is that people started shooting small. It started with just a few and became an epidemic.

Believe me; the high quality genetic material is there. The only way it gets back to what it was is to greatly reduce the number of hunters and impose antler restrictions. That’s a hard sell when you have bills to pay.

I thought I was doing my homework a year ago, & then working with Worldwide Trophy Adventures Cabelas/Bass Pro it would be a good hunt, all the photo albums in the lodge were pre 2014, it’s definitely shot out

 

[wiltznucs]

I thought I was doing my homework a year ago, & then working with Worldwide Trophy Adventures Cabelas/Bass Pro it would be a good hunt, all the photo albums in the lodge were pre 2014, it’s definitely shot out

I’ve been with WTA for 20+ years. I’ve had an overall good experience. I had an elk hunt go sideways early on and they made it right. They dumped the outfitter almost straight away and gave me a credit towards a future hunt.

More recently; got setup on a Kansas Whitetail hunt during Muzzleloader season and nobody in camp saw an antlered deer all week. In fact; I saw two does for the entire week. Come to find out that outfitter hadn’t anchored one during muzzleloader season in years. It was a pretty awful hunt. WTA did seem apologetic and as best I can tell they don’t represent the outfitter any more.

The other hunts I’ve booked through them have generally met my expectations. I work with Casey at WTA; he’s a straight shooter and I like the fact that he’s very transparent about what to expect.

 

[CEO]

I hunted with Northway every year for a decade. Circa 2002-2012. I love Buddy, Brenda and those boys of theirs. It was a pleasure to watch them grow up in some cases. It’s really a shame that the once vast property they hunted got taken from them due to tribal law.

I shared camp there with professional athletes, the entire RealTree team, Fortune 500 execs and a who’s who of television hunters and hunting magazine writers. For many of those years people couldn’t get in; the rebooking rate was very high. If you boarded your plane after the hunt without rebooking there wasn’t a place for you the next season.

It was positively magical for many, many years. The bucks killed at the Mosquito Rez and later in Glaslyn were huge. I don’t think a hunt went by in those early years where a 180+ buck didn’t come out during my stay. I saw a few over 200”. I was never so fortunate; I did get a massive 140” 8 point in Glaslyn. I electively ate tag soup my last two visits hoping for better. My last year there they had me hunt a private tract with a local; I took this as Buddy acknowledging that the quality had dropped and I was better off taking a chance elsewhere.

I remember many people telling them that the quality was declining. Begging him to impose a size restriction and penalties for shooting small. The challenge was people would save up the $4,500-5000 for the hunt; which was quite a lot back then and the prospect of going home empty-handed was simply not an option. This was truly a once in a lifetime hunt and they weren’t coming back. Something was gonna get shot; and by my last few years it was often a 120-130” deer.

I don’t know if it was the Native American in them; but, they seemed to have this belief that nature will just keep providing, and they can just keep shooting with reckless abandon.

I hate that you had a bad hunt; although, it checks out given the trajectory I witnessed a decade ago. I will say with absolute confidence; the only person who hates it more than you is Buddy. That man prides himself immensely on putting people on big deer. He absolutely lived for it for it when I was there. There’s no doubt in my that he dies a little inside every time a hunt like yours happens. For the better part of two decades he had what was without question the best whitetail outfit in the world and I’m sure he would do anything he could to get it back.

I knew this outfitter sounded familiar. Wasn't until you mentioned the Mosquito Reservation that it clicked. Used to daydream watching those videos as a kid.

I agree with it being tough to keep a good thing going in the outfitting business. Seems the majority have a limited shelf life before it starts to go downhill.

 

[dogcat1]

Not a big WTA fan. Large volume outfit. Prefer smaller boutique outfits. There are plenty out there.

 

[wiltznucs]

I knew this outfitter sounded familiar. Wasn't until you mentioned the Mosquito Reservation that it clicked. Used to daydream watching those videos as a kid.

I agree with it being tough to keep a good thing going in the outfitting business. Seems the majority have a limited shelf life before it starts to go downhill.

It was without question the best fair chase whitetail outfit in the world. I consider myself fortunate to have seen it at its best. Some of my fondest memories were when the bus would take the hunters back to the hotel in Saskatoon after the week. The look on the faces of hunters who’d hunted elsewhere as a parade of giant Northway racks walked in was something to see. They really had it going on; until they didn’t. I’d love nothing more than to see them get it back to what it was. I’ve debated booking a hunt just to go catch up on lost time with the crew there.

 

[bashaw]

Dino is the guy that I booked hunt through, I liked him immediately, seems like he wants his customers to be happy, we’ll see after the holidays.