Multi-Species Waterfowl Hunting at its Best - Harvest Lodge, Manitoba

Harvest Lodge, located on the banks of the Waterhen River near the town of Waterhen, Manitoba, is a hunting and fishing lodge with massive value and variety! From waterfowl, whitetail, black bear, upland and incredible fishing, you can really do it all at this unique location.

Situated on the fringe of Manitoba's agriculture and on the border of Manitoba's Interlake and Parkland Regions, Harvest Lodge is right below the central and Mississippi waterfowl flyway, offering some world-class waterfowl experiences in a remote but accessible area of the province

Recently, we joined Jon and Karissa Warkentin, the lodge's owners, and The Canadian Experience TV to partake in this epic waterfowl adventure. Check out the video below, and keep reading to learn all about it!

Harvest Lodge

I’ve been to Harvest Lodge several times in the past for fishing both in spring and fall, and I had a bear hunt earlier this year, which was incredible. This time, however, I was here for a waterfowl hunt. My friends over at The Canadian Experience TV show were going to meet me at the lodge in early October for what should be some unbelievable waterfowl hunting. Host Ty Sjodin brought friends Jake Wallace and cameraman Justin Mueller on the trip to capture the experience.

On our first night there, we settled into our cabins, which were extremely comfortable and spacious, and then relaxed in the main lodge, catching up with old friends. Owner Jon Warkentin and his crew went scouting for the evening and once they were back, it was time to make a game plan for the following morning. They had a good idea of which field they wanted to hunt; it was just a matter of how they wanted to hunt it. After discussing all the options, they decided on the best plan of attack. Now it was time for some shut-eye.

World-Class Goose Hunting

Bright and early the following day, we headed to the dining room, had some breakfast that Jon’s wife Karissa had prepared for us, and headed out the door. We arrived at the field a short time later. Jon and his guide Eric knew exactly where the birds were the night before and exactly how they wanted to hunt them. We drove onto the field, found the spot they wanted to set up, and then on top of tons of feathers and under the northern lights, we began to set up the spread.

It wasn’t long before the spread was done. It was just a matter of hiding the blinds, and it would be showtime. Luckily, there was plenty of hide in the field, so camouflaging the blinds was easy. As dawn began to show itself, we got the trucks off the field and perfected the spread. Everyone was happy and comfortable, so it was finally time to get in the blinds.

The legal shooting light in Manitoba is 30 minutes before sunrise, and before we could even shoot, birds were buzzing by. We sat patiently until the legal light, and as soon as we had the green light, we waited for the next flock to show itself, which wasn’t hard considering there were birds completely surrounding us.

Flock after flock, Jon and Eric pulled birds straight to us. From calling to flagging, we had them dialled. Early on, we had some fantastic flocks of snow geese right on our doorstep and capitalized on them big time. Some flocks were at least a few hundred just circling right on top of us; it was incredible.

Ducks, Ducks, and More Ducks

We also had some enormous flocks of ducks come right in. We had two Mojo ducks in our spread that we turned on for ducks and off for anything else. Once ducks could see our spread, when those Mojo ducks were spinning, the birds were absolutely glued to them. They would see them from what felt like a mile away and fly on a rope straight to our spread, and we’d smoke em’. There was one flock in particular with tons of gorgeous green heads that just worked perfectly, and after we took a few birds from it, they worked so well that all we could do was look at each other and laugh and realize just how lucky we were to be there.

A Hunt to Remember

After the hunt, we admired the birds, took photos, and cleaned up. Once we were back at the lodge, Karissa prepared us a big hearty lunch which was much appreciated after the successful hunt. With the rest of the day, some of the guys decided to go fishing as that time of year is outstanding walleye fishing on the Waterhen River. It’s right out the front door of Harvest Lodge, and the fishing is a ton of fun.

Multi-Species at its Finest

While The Canadian Experience was there, they also took advantage of some of the area's incredible upland game bird hunting. You don’t need to go far from the lodge before you can get into some really great ruffed grouse hunting, and they sure did. I wasn’t able to join them, but they were sending me photos, and I was incredibly jealous that I wasn’t with them. They also went on a diver duck hunt that evening, and that looked incredible as well.

I was extremely impressed with Harvest Lodge’s waterfowl experience. It’s such a fantastic location for a hunting lodge, and the hunting speaks for itself. Having walleye fishing, upland hunting, and diver hunting all at their disposal are tremendous assets that make for a complete waterfowl hunting experience.

Harvest Lodge - A Waterfowl Hunt of a Lifetime

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Author

Marcel Laferriere | Hunt Fish Content Specialist

As an avid outdoorsman, it was only natural for Marcel Laferriere to use his keen interest in photography and videography to film the outdoors. After years of working for outdoors clients under his company, Laferriere Film, Marcel joined Travel Manitoba as the Hunt Fish Content Specialist in 2020. Marcel works with Manitoba’s incredible lodges and outfitters to create content that invites anglers from far and wide to experience what our province has to offer. Whether it’s a giant open water lake trout or big whitetails in the fall, Marcel will film it. If you ever see him in the wild, feel free to say hello or bonjour!

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