This was an awesome experience I will never forget. It had begun to rain earlier in the afternoon but the stand was very comfortable. After harvesting my bear, I contacted David by phone and he arrived in a few minutes. One of the things that make this such an enjoyable trip is that David gets as excited as the hunter does when a bear is harvested! We recovered my bear and headed to pick up Stan. He had not seen a bear the first day.

I enjoyed the traditional meal after my harvest…”Fries With The Works”. It was an enjoyable experience. Stan hunted on the second day and saw 4 bears. He decided to hold out. On the third day of his hunt, Stan endured some awful hunting conditions, and it paid off!

Stan harvested a really nice black bear! I was excited for him, as he was for me! I would highly recommend Farmland Outfitters to anyone interested in harvesting a black bear! You will not regret it! Thank you David, may God bless you! Looking forward to a return trip!

Mike Blackmon
Florence, South Carolina

Tuesday brought more wet weather, but the relatively mild temperature made the hunt pleasant. David was right on time to deliver me to my stand. Tuesday was indeed productive. I “shot” a sow with her two cubs…with my camcorder. I got 30 minutes of the three bears as they feed on the “goodies” David had put in the drum just a few hours earlier. I saw these three bears and 2 others. I had one of these in the cross hairs, but felt it would come on in to the bait…it didn’t. Later I saw another bear from a distance. I well could have been the same bear. Saw 4 maybe 5 bears on Tuesday.

Wednesday brought more rain. David had everything in control for the hunt every day…except the weather. He says he’s working on that. I hunted Wednesday in the rain and wind. Tropical storm Ophelia was bringing in the rain and wind. I was dressed for the weather and at 5:00 PM I finally got my shot. This was the second bear I saw on Wednesday. I put the bore down with one shot from my 30/06. David did most of the work getting the bear out to the processor and back to The C&C Restaurant for the celebration meal.

I completely recommend Farmland Outfitters to anyone that wants an exciting week of hunting. I hope to add grouse and speckled trout next year.

THANK YOU DAVID FOR A VERY ENJOYABLE HUNT.

Stan Yates
Liberty South Carolina

Owner/Operator David MacLeod with co-host Amie of Best of Bull Run with her bear she took this fall with Farmland Outfitters

Farmland Outfitters runs a first class operation and put our team on bears consistently. Dave MacLeod has Nova Scotia bruin dialed in on speed dial. Thanks for putting us over some great bears just as you promised and helping Amy get Nova Scotia’s first ladies crossbow kill.

Peter MacIsaac
Best Of Bull Run

The film crew from Nova Scotia’s hit series Best of Bull Run also took a nice bear and will be back next season to take a monster bear that Candace watched at 15 yards but couldn’t get the shot she needed on him this year with the crossbow. The TV show will air early in 2012 on Wild TV here in Canada and the Sportsman channel in the USA. So watch for the show that is packed with lots of exciting footage. You can pay for the whole seat but you will only need the edge with regular guest Amie taking her first ever big game animal.

Amie and Candace were the first female hunters as well crossbow hunters to hunt with Farmland Outfitters and it was a pleasure to have the ladies along with all the other clients that traveled great distances to hunt with us here in Nova Scotia.

Owner/Operator David MacLeod with co-host Amie of Best of Bull Run with her bear she took this fall with Farmland Outfitters

Keep checking back to our Testimonial page in the up coming months to read about the hunts here with Farmland outfitters this season.

Owner of Farmland Outfitters and friend Mark, with 25 lb tom with a 8 ½ inch beard

Traveled to New York for May 1st opening day turkey season for my second time. My first trip a few years earlier turned out to be a great experience filling my two spring turkey tags. Shooting two jakes, which I felt was great for my first trip.

This trip my intenseness was to hold out for bigger birds. Well I wasn’t disappointed. Opening morning seen one hen and had what we had thought was a mature tom by the actions of the turkey. We got him into about 60 yards but held up in a thorn thicket and never got a look at him.

Next morning we decided to change locations were it wasn’t long after day break the first hen appeared. And not long after the first call from a male turkey started. Shortly after that two turkeys began to call. Then out of know where they appeared; but it was two jakes so I decided to wait for a tom. Shortly after that the hen started to move of with the two jakes on her tail. Then out of know where a bird appeared. Not able to tell what it was threw the trees. Then the bird gobbled and his long beard was hanging below his neck. We began calling but to no luck he was hot on the hen as well. So my buddy mark from New York said “if you want him go get him”. So I crawled on my stomach for about 20 yards while Mark kept calling. Just as I got to the rock the hen began moving back towards the rock. The tom was still about 60 yards away. The hen was getting closer and closer. I thought for sure she was going to bust me. She got at about 10 yards of to my right, as the tom was still some distance away. So just as I thought the hunt was over the hen held up and the tom began to move towards me. The tom got within in range, which seemed like forever. Just then the hen started towards me again. So it was now or never the tom gobbled and stuck his head out past the tree as the roar of the 12 gauge rang through the woods. It was over my first mature tom with one more to go.

The next day was a shopping and rest day as the rain came down. After supper that evening we decide to head back to where the male turkey held up on us the first morning. But we would head up behind where the tom held up the other morning to see if we could get a look at that bird. It wasn’t long and we had some action a doe and three fawns came out to see what the morning had to offer. After they left it wasn’t long when mark stated ” here comes a hen, then no it’s a tom get ready he’s a strut in”. Mark kept on the call and the tom in full strut just kept on coming. When the bird got to where I could take the shot it was less then 20 yards. So as the tom gave me a shot I squeezed off the shot taking my second mature tom and filling my two spring turkey tags yet again. Now that is a hunting trip to remember good times, great friends and memories to last a lifetime. My next trip will be even better as I take my oldest son Riley to hunt for his first turkey. I’m already counting the days and I know Riley is as well. Thanks once again to Mark and his family.

Second tom of the trip weighing 20 lbs with a 9 ½ inch beard

After seeing a number of deer on the third morning I took my first Nova Scotia White-tail Buck (207 lbs 7 pointer in the picture to the right). As excited as I was to take that nice buck I was even more excited to get to spend sometime hunting some of the waterfowl I had been seeing in my travels over the last few days on route to the deer stands.

We headed out on the morning of day four shooting a few geese and ducks. That afternoon I decide to go with guide/Dave owner of Farmland Outfitters to scout for the next mornings hunt. After scouting for a few hours Dave thought he seen all there was to see but just before we headed back he said “ lets check one more spot ”. Once we were almost to where we were headed Dave said “take a look at that, now that looks promising”.

Once we arrived to the destination I couldn’t believe my eyes. There were geese feeding on the ground and waves of geese coming into the field in flocks of 10 and 20 birds at a time. After seeing this I said I know where were heading tomorrow. He informed me that this was not one of his farms but he had a field not far by.

After the meal that evening we sat around the table like we did every evening to discuss the days hunt and the next day to follow. Dave said after listening to the weather report the prevailing winds for the next day would work for the field he spoke about earlier in the day. I asked Dave what kind of crop would we be hunting in expecting him to say corn like we have been hunting. When Dave said, an old wheat field that was cut in early September.

I started to worry Dave must have noticed my concerns and said you look puzzled. He then said I have hunted this area for a long time the geese have a route that they follow for every wind direction you can imagine. The wind that they are calling for tomorrow will be in our favor.

We were in the pasture well before daylight setting up our decoys and blinds. Dave set up a “T” pattern with the decoys and set the layout blinds in a arch about 5 to 7 yards apart so when we laid down in the blinds the wind would be coming from behind us. This would allow the geese to land into the wind directly in front of us.

The decoys were placed in a loose line from the center blind out to about 25 yards where a family group was set. From this point, the decoys were placed in slight arch out to each side of the center line. This created a T with the decoys. We placed several decoys randomly behind the blinds. At the end point of the wings of the T there where family groups. Each group had a sentinel decoy. With this setup, the geese have two landing strips, one on each side of the trunk of the T. This places the geese directly in front of the two shooter blinds.

The guide, Dave, was in the center blind. No sooner than the blinds were camouflaged, we heard geese coming in our direction. Dave told us to get in the blinds and get ready.

The first goose we saw was alone coming in on the right side of the set. Roger, (Dave’s uncle) who is left-handed, was in the outside right blind. Dave stopped calling and told Roger to get ready. The goose sailed right into the set and cupped up to land when Dave shouted, “Take ‘em.” Roger setup and harvested our first goose of the day.

Dave went out and placed the goose under a shell decoy as a large group of geese topped the trees some 250 yards from us. As Dave called the geese began to circle our set, they were so close you could see them turning their head and looking for anything they did not like about the set. Finally on the third pass, their feet came down and they began tipping about 50 yards out on my side of the set. I do not hear very well, and Dave called my name as the geese passed the sentinel decoy less than 20 yards from me not 15 feet off the ground.

Dave said, “Jeff, get ready to Take ‘em!” I thought he said, “Jeff, take ‘em!” I focused on the two lead birds coming directly at me.

I took my first shot at the goose on the right, he folded, I moved my gun left and folded his partner. The other geese had turned and were, moving away in the wind. The whole time Dave was saying, “No, No, wait!” I could not understand. The geese were well inside the kill zone and directly in front of me. I had harvested two with two shots, what was the problem? Dave said, “If you would have waited we would have taken them all!”

I told all my Nova Scotia friends that the American just didn’t know any better. They all laughed as we heard more geese coming into our set. We covered up and waited.

This time there were three groups of about 20 geese per group circling our set. The first group went across the way and landed in another pasture but, the other two groups began to drop in altitude. The first of these two groups came in and landed in the set. Dave whispered, “Wait, the others are going to land too!” As I was watching the second group make their approach on our set, I caught something out of the corner of my eye.

I looked to my right and saw a goose standing next to my blind as if he were looking in at me. At that moment the other geese were about to land and Dave yelled, “Take ‘em!” They are everywhere. When the shooting stopped there were ten geese on the ground. Those Canadians know how to shoot! There were just three shooters or nine shots. That means that someone downed two geese with one shot.

The rest of the morning was more of the same. We ended up with five shooters and all of us harvested our limit of Canada geese. All of the men agreed, it was one of the best goose hunts they had ever been on in their lives. Roger looked at me and said, “That’s what I call making memories.”

If you would like an opportunity to hunt geese in Nova Scotia, just call Dave MacLeod of Farmland Outfitters. You make your plans by calling 1-902-899-3144. Dave is a very good friend and excellent guide. We will be leaving on September 10, 2010, for a week long bear hunt with Dave.

Jeff Wright (far right) with Friends from Nova Scotia

Jeff Wright
East Pickens, South Carolina

Barry Jacks with his first ever Black Bear with Farmland Outfitters

This past year two groups of friends went back to Nova Scotia for another bear hunt with Farmland Outfitters. The first group consisted of three men while the second went with a group of just two men. I am happy to say this year we made no mistakes and were 100%. Dave, our guide worked hard for the guys to see and harvest some fine bears this year. Barry ( seen in the picture to the right ) harvested his bear less then 1 hour in the stand on the opening day. The bear had a perfect chevron on his chest.

This year I was blessed to be able to harvest the largest bear of the two groups. He was very impressive at a distance of less then 20 yards. Dave had sent me a picture of the bear taken from the trail camera placed at the bait barrel early in August I could tell it was a nice bear from the picture.

The night before the hunt Dave slipped in an hung another lock-on. So Dave’s uncle could sit with me to try to get the hunt on camera. Just before roger and I headed to the stand Dave said, “ when u get in the stand and settle in take a look to your right and laughed and headed out with the other boys”. Shortly after this Roger and I drove to the site and walked in and waited in hopes the big bear would show up during legal shooting time.

Dave said the large bear was showing up almost every evening shortly before the end of legal shooting time. Roger had the video camera in hopes to get the bear hunt on film. After sitting there for some time Roger said “have you looked off to the right yet”. I had forgot all about what Dave had said so I looked to my right to see the signs of a very large bears claws spanning 5 or so inches wide, 6 to 8 inches long peeling the bark back on the tree directly across from where my head was. My knees began to knock for a short time.

Then just before legal shooting time ended the big boy stepped onto the road we had walked in just hours before. He stood there for what seemed like hours sniffing the air. He would take three or four steps and stop and smell again. As he made he’s way to the barrel he turned into the woods and stood on his back legs and tilted up his nose as high as he could and sniffed the air while rolling his head from side to side. We were close enough to see the bears nostrils of his nose enlarge and twist to determine if it was safe to go the last few yards to the barrel.

Once he felt safe he went back down on all fours and made his way to the barrel. He sat down on the right side of the barrel and reached his left paw into the barrel giving me a perfect shot at less then 20 yards. So I let of the safety ever so gently and took my shot. The bear went less then 40 yards and was easy to recover.

We have hunted with Farmland Outfitters for two years now. I can’t say enough about the way Dave works to insure his clients have an opportunity to harvest a nice bear. Thanks Dave for another great year in the Canadian bear woods. We will be back next year I promise you!

Left to right Dave's Uncle Roger Morrisey, Guide/Owner Dave MacLeod and Jeff Wright with his 19 7/8 inch skull, 460 lbs first ever black bear

Jeff Wright
East Pickens, South Carolina

As you can see, the bear hunt was very successful. Eddie Pettit had the opportunity to harvest a very large bear. (shown with owner/guide David MacLeod below) two other men Terry Anderson and Freddie Duncan were also fortunate to harvest a nice bear each during there trip to Nova Scotia . Dave is an excellent guide, and I would recommend him to anyone who is interested in hunting bears in North Eastern Canada. He has a never quit attitude when it comes to assisting and caring for his clients, and if you reach out to him you can form a lifetime friendship.

Eddie Pettit with owner/guide Dave MacLeod - his boone and crocket black bear

In Nova Scotia you are allowed to bait bear. Dave told us that each afternoon we would be taken into an active bear site and someone would return for them at dark or when someone shot. David supplied all the hunters with two-way radios to contact him with at anytime. David and his guides did a couple of things while at the bait to help the hunters to judge the size of the bear we found this to be very helpful to take a respectable trophy bear. During our hunt all seven men seen bears 6 shot at bears with only three harvesting them. All three bears were in the Nova Scotia record book. Freddie and Terry took bears in the mid 200 lbs, while Eddie harvested the biggest bear ever taken to date with Farmland Outfitters with a bear 463 lbs with a Boone and Crocket 21+ inch skull.

All of us were very pleased with Dave and Farmland Outfitters. Dave worked endlessly to make sure every man had an opportunity to take a bear. Dave was hosting his largest group with seven men that he has ever hosted. Six men who which had never killed a bear. Dave had his hands full.  He was also going through a difficult time in his life that had ramifications on his business. He did not allow anything to stand in his way of meeting the needs and expectations of our party.

While we were there we attended with Dave a Sweat Lodge. This is a Native American way of prayer tradition. We also learned about the Native culture as well what the bear (Muin), means to the Native people.

We were so pleased with our trip we have booked two trips for next year for the first and the third weeks of bear of the 2009 season

Jeff Wright, Farmland Outfitters Dave Macleod and the group from South Carolina

Jeff Wright
East Pickens, South Carolina

This year’s trip started off to a bad start but by no means any fault of the outfitter. When I arrived at the airport in Halifax. My luggage arrived but not my firearm. So once we came threw customs my hunting partner and I met up with Dave and told him what took place and Dave just said “that’s ok we have extras”. Dave went over to customs with me and we gave them all the information they would need to get the firearm to me once it was found.

The next morning we went to the rifle range to try a couple firearms of Dave’s and I found one I liked and would use that on this evenings hunt. One thing that really stands out to me about farmland Outfitters is that they send you trail cam pictures of the bear sites that you will be hunting while there for your hunt. Dave sent me a few pictures with some huge bears, I knew for sure one was taken by my hunting partners just weeks before. But there were still a few out there. When Dave said, “I was heading to the beaver dam”. I almost flipped there were pictures of a nice bear there. So when Dave came to pick us up it didn’t take me long to hurry up my partner and get him to the truck.

That evening just before last light I seen movement and out came the bear and yes it was the big one. But he didn’t stay long as I let the safety off it made a click and off he went. I couldn’t believe it I messed it up but a few moments later he started from the thicket again. I rushed that time afraid I wouldn’t get the shot and instead I made a bad shot and off he went. I couldn’t believe it; a few minutes later Dave showed up. When I told Dave what happen he said, “ when in dote, get out”. So back we would come in the morning. Let me tell you it was a long night and not much sleep.

So when morning came I was waiting at the door when Dave showed up. Once we arrived it wasn’t long and Dave was on the trail he followed that bear for hours but in the end the bear won. Dave explained to me when we first started on the blood trail it was shot in the leg. He showed me how it was running down the leg and into the back side of the track. But he felt good that the bear would live another day, and we gave it all we could to try to find it. Dave could see the discuss in my face. But he chuckled and said, “that’s hunting don’t worry my friend we have lots of other bears for you”.

It was a long trip back but things didn’t take long to pick up. Once we arrived back there was a note that my rifle showed up and I would have it for to nights hunt. That night I never sat long and out came another nice bear. As he came out he was probable 20 yards from the barrel; but only five from my tree stand and he stopped. When he did he stood up on his back legs he must have stood 6 ½ to 7 feet tall. He had a nice white V on his chest. I think Dave called it a chevron. He stood there for a second caught a smell of something he didn’t like and he was gone.

Not again, just when things were starting to get better. Dave arrived and once again he chuckled. And I said “that’s ok I know the rest”.

Dave Spearman

When we returned back my hunting partner Dave Spearman scored his first black bear after seeing 7 bears prior over the first couple days. The next evening wasn’t vary productive but Dave said “not to worry because tomorrow night your going to the old honey hole”.

I’ve heard of Dave talk about this stand before; there is lots of bears in this area but he has never had to use it.

I would be the first hunter to hunt this stand. He was right I didn’t sit long and I had my self my second bear in Nova Scotia.

If the story doesn’t say it enough then I will say it again. Dave is a hard working guide and you can be sure if you take a trip to Nova Scotia to hunt with Farmland Outfitters. He will do every thing he can for you to make sure you too have a successful trip. I would recommend Dave to anyone!

Eddie Pettiet

Eddie Pettiet
South Carolina