Outfitters have always been associated with hunting and fishing. However, more and more of them are offering outdoor activities, such as kayaking, hiking and snowshoeing. Their goal here is to attract new customers and to stay open all year round.
Posted at 11:30 a.m.
“It’s almost since the creation of outfitters that some offer outdoor activities, but it had remained an unknown product,” says Josiane Lavallée, head of communications and marketing at the Fédération des pourvoiries du Québec.
At Domaine Bazinet, in Sainte-Émélie-de-l’Énergie, in Lanaudière, we started implementing outdoor activities almost 30 years ago. “When my parents bought the outfitter, confirms Cindy Auger. They said to themselves: “Fishing, yes, but you also have to do activities for the whole family.” »
They started by offering nautical activities, such as the rental of pedal boats, kayaks and canoes. “Thirty years ago, it was still special to see this in outfitting, it was innovative,” observes Cindy Auger.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Outdoor activities abound in summer at Domaine Bazinet, in Lanaudière.
New activities and back to basics
Over the years, the owners have introduced new activities such as snow slides, an outdoor skating rink, snowshoe trails, “including one for young children: we hung doggies in the trees, a bit like a hunt for treasure “.
Since 2014, Cindy Auger and her spouse have joined the father of Mme Auger, Benoît, to become co-owners of Domaine Bazinet. They keep adding outdoor activities year after year. “This year, it could well be cross-country ski trails, we didn’t have any yet,” says Cindy Auger.
Pure and hard fishermen who travel in gangs of guys to fish, that still exists, but it’s aging, this crowd-the.
Cindy Auger, co-owner of Domaine Bazinet
Josiane Lavallée, from the Fédération des pourvoiries du Québec, notes that there has indeed been a drop in the number of workers over the years. “But for two years, with the pandemic, there has been a return to basics, she enthuses. There is a considerable increase in the issuance of hunting and fishing licenses. »
At Domaine Bazinet, we take measures to encourage the next generation. The small families who come to enjoy the outdoor facilities are often neophytes when it comes to fishing. “Every Monday, we offer a fishing course for beginners, says Cindy Auger. We do a theoretical course, then a practical course, so that they are ready for the rest of the week. »
However, they are not expected to spend the week fishing from morning till night. “Caring for a 5-year-old child 12 hours a day in a boat is not easy,” comments Josiane Lavallée. We’re going to do a little morning fishing, we’re going to introduce him to that, the parents are happy. »
PHOTO PROVIDED BY DOMAINE BAZINET
Slides for the little customers of Domaine Bazinet
Also in winter
The addition of outdoor activities allows many outfitters to open their doors in winter, a quieter season when it comes to hunting and fishing.
In May and June, it’s the opening of fishing, everyone is very excited, so it’s a lot of fishermen that we receive. As soon as we fall in the school holidays, it is mainly small families that we see. In the fall, the fishermen come back and, in winter, we fall back into family mode.
Cindy Auger, co-owner of Domaine Bazinet
Josiane Lavallée indicates that about a hundred outfitters, out of the 330 in the network, open their doors year-round. About fifty of them offer ice fishing. For the others, we are talking about accommodation, snowmobile relays or an offer of outdoor activities.
“The outdoors is a good thing, it’s a great opportunity for outfitters,” says Cindy Auger. It shows people that we’re not just super remote places in the back of the woods, with rustic camps, no electricity, no water. It gives a better picture. »
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