"All the hunting on Newfoundland takes place on public land, and, because this is a very mobile society, any place that can be reached with 4wd, ATV or boat gets hunted. Most outfitters rely on floatplanes to move clients to fixed camps in unpressured territory. The weakness of this strategy is obvious. Once you've taken all of the large moose in an area, it's hard to grow new trophies if you continue taking hunters there. And outfitters are reluctant to pull out of an area because fixed camps are expensive to build.
"Enter outfitter Don Stowe whose operation is appropriately named Mobile Outfitters. Stowe uses fixed platform tent camps in an area that's accessible only by helicopter and receives no local hunting pressure. He rotates his camps frequently between two different valleys to maintain high trophy quality and takes a maximum of 16 hunters per year. He also restricts his hunters to trophy bulls only - no cows or meat bulls. All of these precautions are, apparently, paying off. Stowe's clients score better than 90 percent on 40-plus-inch bulls.
"According to Stowe, his camps are very comfortable, with a bag shower, an outhouse and sturdy canvas tents. The camp has a kitchen with a full-time cook, and the food is equal to what he serves at his Silver Mountain Lodge, where he runs fishing trips. Stowe cautions that this is `an arduous hunt' and says you should be in shape to walk over rough country. I haven't hunted in this area, but most of Newfoundland is rough walking, and for a New-foundlander to call the terrain `arduous' is significant.........(continued)
