Territoire de l'Orignal

Territoire de l'Orignal (Moose Territory Lodge) holds an exclusive-rights territory of 165 km² (65 square miles) bordered by the La Vérendrye wildlife reserve, where 45 private lakes are kept for its guests alone — nobody else hunts, fishes or traps there. The main camp, on the shore of Marion Lake, gathers three fully equipped cabins — two sleeping 8 and one sleeping 10, the latter with a wrap-around porch and a very large kitchen whose dining room seats twelve. Nine outpost camps round out the territory — Arnot, Bapati, Caughlin, Christian, Clement, Hervi, Monic, Pike Bay and Trap — sleeping 4 to 9 people, most with running water and plumbing, each with its own view over its own lake. Four species swim here: the pink-fleshed lake trout of Marion Lake, spring-fed and never stocked, northern pike running 20 to 30 lbs, speckled trout in six lakes, and yellow and blue walleye in six more. Boat, motor and gas come at no extra charge, and a five-minute portage brings you to Cedar and Arnot lakes where boats and pontoon boats are already waiting. On the hunting side: black bear in spring, from the second week of May to the end of June, bow or rifle, one bear per hunter, over roughly 70 baited sites; and moose in the fall, each party given a sector nobody else will have hunted that season. ATVs and side-by-sides are available to rent on request for reaching the more isolated lakes. Established in 1959 and taken over in 2009 by its current owners, who live on site, this is no resort: it is a genuine hunting and fishing camp, far away from everything.