I have built Ongaro’s Outdoor Outfitters from the ground up. With vision and purpose my team has methodically put together not just a great waterfowl hunt for you but, rather, a three day, hassle free, action packed, hunting experience. We have taken the headache out of planning your trip with a Canadian outfitter. You will receive formal correspondence and open communication via our 24 hour 1-800 number, website content, Facebook posts and youtube video updates. All licensing and paper work will be taken care of for you so you can focus on enjoying your hunt. Your birds will be processed on site, packaged and frozen. You are welcome to bring your own retrievers – our clean dog runs and kennels will safely house your dog. The boot dryers that await you at the end of the day is another small comfort we provide. Exquisite full course meals need no mention. The list goes on. Although these conveniences set us apart from other outfitters, it is our outfitting system that truly makes us a model for other outfitters to follow.
Alberta offers some of the finest waterfowling in the world. At Ongaro’s we have worked hard to build a world class waterfowling operation centered in the heart of Alberta’s pothole country. It is here where hundreds of thousands of ducks and geese nest and raise their young. The primary nesting species are Mallards, Pintails and Greater Canada Geese. This local bird production coupled with the continuous stream of migrating Canadas and Mallards (from the furthest northern reaches of Alberta) combine to create some of the finest waterfowling in the world. To add to this, tens of thousands of Snow Geese and Whitefronted (Specks) Geese migrate through in the early season. This makes an early season multi species hunt a reality.
We provide top-notch equipment to maximize your hunting success. Our extensive inventory includes guides, spotters, trucks, decoys, blinds, and trailers. With over 2000 decoys, including Cabela’s duck and goose floaters, Bigfoots, Fully Flocked Decoys, and SilloSocks, we’ve got you covered. Additionally, we offer flags, electronic calls, portable blinds, and other essential hunting components. Our three enclosed fiberglass tandem axle trailers ensure the safe transport of decoys and blinds, while UTVs allow easy access to muddy fields. Our reliable 4-wheel drive vehicles come equipped with cellular telephones and county maps for effective landowner communication. Travel to the hunt is comfortable and dependable with our crew cab trucks. We’ve thought of everything to make your hunting experience exceptional.
Our outfitting system consists of two essential components: spotting hunts and utilizing equipment. Here’s how it works: We hunt two parties of five in separate fields, miles apart, with a team of five guides. Prior to your arrival, our guides have already been scouting the fields and potholes, studying bird patterns, and arranging access for your hunts. While you hunt in the morning with one of our guides, the remaining three guides are out spotting new hunts for the evening and next morning. Your afternoon hunt introduces a new guide and a different hunting scenario. The morning guides transition into spotters, assessing the morning’s reconnaissance and organizing additional hunts. This process continues throughout your stay, emphasizing teamwork and communication. Our guides understand that the spotting program is crucial for delivering a high-quality hunt, and there is no competition among them—we operate as a unified team.
Your worry-free hunt begins at our lodge, where you’re greeted with warm Alberta hospitality and a delicious, professionally prepared meal. The evening is spent in the cozy Great Room, enjoying the crackling fire and the atmosphere of a hunting lodge. In the morning, a leisurely continental breakfast awaits before heading out to carefully scouted hunting grounds. Our experienced staff ensures a smooth and satisfying hunt, with no surprises. Upon your return to the lodge, a hot lunch is served, allowing for relaxation and downtime during the midday hours when the birds are not active. In the afternoon, you embark on a carefully planned evening hunt, where the birds flock tightly to the decoys, providing fantastic shooting opportunities. The day concludes with memorable pictures and another exquisite full course meal. The evening can be spent relaxing in the Great Room or watching video footage in the TV Room. The second day of hunting follows a similar pattern, and before you know it, the third day arrives. After breakfast and another successful hunt, a leisurely lunch is enjoyed. Your cleaned birds are packed (remember to bring large coolers), and by midday, the gear is loaded for the drive back to Edmonton.
Executing the hunt is where the proper use of all the equipment falls into place. We anticipate the birds arrival by at least one hour – which is ample time to set up the decoy spread and retire the vehicles out of sight. This is where your guide’s expertise and hunting savvy of local hunting techniques and conditions take you through the final steps before the hunt begins.
Alberta is graced with among the most liberal limits in North America. Daily duck limits are 8 birds (all of which may be Mallards) with a possession limit of 24. Dark goose limits are an impressive 8 daily (4 of which can be Whitefronts but all 8 can be Canada’s) with a possession of 24. Snow goose limits are 50 daily and no possession limits. Limits may have changed since the last updating of this document. Please call to confirm.
To start, there are thousands upon thousands of potholes. To add to this, there are a number of major staging waters within a 20 minute drive from our hunting lodge. As well, there are many other unnamed lakes dotting our landscape which rear and stage several thousand more birds.
What will you need to bring? Along with your favorite shot gun (we now have Benelli Super Black eagle 2’s for you to use during your stay) and other personal hunting essentials, be sure to bring a warm waterfowler’s parka, water resistant boots (to keep the morning dew off your feet), hip boots or chest waders, a large cooler, and your camera or video recorder. Shot shells are always available at the hunting lodge. Please check the Gear page for more details on what to bring.
Three day hunts commence each Monday & Thursday and end each Wednesday & Saturday. Parties of two to ten are preferred. Your three day hunt commences from Edmonton, Alberta. Meals, accommodation, hunting gear and fully guided hunts are included. License fees, ammunition, and game processing charges are additional. Hunt cost subject to 5% Goods & Services Tax.
Biography - Claudio Ongaro
Claudio Ongaro started his working career as a school teacher in 1988, at the age of 22, after graduating from the University of Alberta. He taught full time for six years and part time for six years while building his outfitting business. There he taught Industrial Education & Communication Technology at the high school level and is experienced in script writing, video editing, video recording, photography, digital sound editing, digital image production, and full scale multimedia authoring.
Claudio has been a full time outfitter since 1994 and remains a prominent leading figure in the outfitting community conducting waterfowl hunts from Sept 1 until the birds leave in early November. Currently, he outfits for waterfowl from the Ongaro’s WaterfowLodge in the world famous prairie pothole region in central Eastern Alberta and outfits for trophy whitetails and mule deer in Alberta’s remote Western foothills. Claudio served on the APOS (Alberta Professional Outfitters Society) board of directors from 2007 to 2009.
Claudio has been published in several outdoor publications since 1989. Feature articles have focused primarily on his areas of expertise, which include hunting for Whitetail and Mule deer, angling for Walleye, and hunting for waterfowl. Many other topics fielding his outdoor experiences have been published. Since 1998, Claudio has been a columnist in Canada’s Outdoor Edge Magazine and has only recently relinquished this position. He now writes the monthly Seasonal Targets Column for the Alberta Outdoorsmen Magazine; this position started in April of 2007. Claudio is also contracted to write feature articles for both the Alberta Guide to Sportfishing
The Guides
Although the resource we have to work with is nothing short of phenomenal, solid waterfowl strategy is vital if we are to convert the resource into a quality hunt for you. The guiding component of the hunting operation is a critical link in the successful completion of a fulfilling hunt. The guides local waterfowl savvy and knowledge of the vast area we hunt ensures success. Guides with Ongaro’s Outdoor Outfitters are screened not only for their keen ability to hunt waterfowl, but even more importantly for their conscientious work ethic. The crew at Ongaro’s work together as a team – rotating through spotting and guiding assignments. There is no room for competition amongst guides – our number one goal is your satisfaction. The team is morally strong, very conscientious, and each guide takes it personally if a hunt goes not as well as planned. We meet twice each day to discuss hunt opportunity, strategy, and to update spotting reconnaissance information to the two guides that hunted and were not part of the previous spotting session. The result of our ‘guides meetings’ is a homogenous team ready for your next hunt. While spotting we are constantly communicating via cell phones updating each other as to the happenings in the areas each guide is covering and to select the next hunt locations.
You will be hunting with some of Alberta’s finest guides. Ongaro’s Outdoor Outfitters is one of Canada’s biggest and most successful waterfowl outfitters. We also conduct trophy deer hunts at either end of our waterfowl season. We operate from August 25 to November 20 each year (waterfowl from Sept 1 to Nov 3). Why is this important to you? It allows me to offer guides one of the longest uninterrupted work contracts in the guiding industry. This allows me to attract and recruit some of Alberta’s finest guides which I screen personally for their integrity, ability and commitment to the lifestyle of hunting. Other staff requiring mention are the cooking staff which ensure that everyone is fed gourmet meals between hunts and each evening. Cleaning staff enter each morning while you are out hunting to tidy up the lodge and maintain a clean healthy environment. Our in-house bird processing staff take care of your ducks and geese in a hygienic manner and freeze them for your trip home.
