I guess everyone has their phobias for sure. And I'm thinking avoiding rattlesnakes makes good sense Len & Ron. No poisonous snakes up here but they have them in southern Alberta. But garter snakes are an amazing animal able to survive in the sub-arctic , party in the spring with a big orgy, and eat a lot of destructive rodents As a kid my mom found my stash of snakes under the bed in a shoe box and told me in no uncertain terms to dump them on my way to school. I didn't want to lose them so I put them in the closed mailbox until I could get home. It didn't end well when the mailman showed up. My mom still tells that story.

Ron I averaged $75 on my NAFA martens with a $147 high.

I just found me some $5 marten boxes at our local hardware store. They were mini compost buckets but I've made a few modifications and they work great.

I just got back from the lodge. I blasted out in spring conditions hoping to finish the roof on my cabin that I started on my last visit. I took my argo as I knew I'd be in conditions ranging from mud to deep snow, and I wasn't disappointed.








I had a good load on, 4 - 20 lb. bottles of propane, 1 - 100 lb. bottle propane, 4 deep cell batteries, construction supplies, and a malamute.

Everything was going good until I made it to the lodge... when I heard some clanging I knew wasn't right. I unloaded and pulled the floor boards up to have a look




The chain on the left side had packed it in. Two sections of chain had broke connecting pins, so I fished out the broken chains out and discovered it would still run, but would it make it back? Oh well I'd worry about that tomorrow I figured. I went to work on my roof.

The spring birds were all over the place.



The northern flickers revealed some breeding behaviour to me. A female inhabited the same nest hole she was in last year and a group of 3 males congregated around the entrance and were scrapping for her attention. Pretty noisy for a while. The males all dispersed and called to the female from different signalling trees. She must have made up her mind because all at once she took off flying towards one of the males. I'm sure she bred with her choice of male.

I put a long day in on my roof yesterday and worked on it until 3p.m today and got it wrapped up. I figure I have a total of 35 solo man hours on redoing the roof. I put new rafters and strapped it before placing metal on it so I figure that's not too bad. Plus the price was right, my buddy gave me the metal, and my labor is free. Speaking of metal this stuff is oilfield salvage and a very heavy gauge. Should outlast me.



The overhang makes the cabin look better. Now for fascia and eavestroughs.

I've mentioned before that a grizzly comes into my cabins in the spring when no one is around and digs up the same hole every year. Spilled fuel in that area seems to attract the bar during breeding season. I left a camera out last time I was there.





The bear spent 5 minutes rolling in the hole and splashing in the water inside it. I have a bunch of video.




A good bear as it never touches anything in camp. I put a couple extra cameras out this time.

I can't believe it but my argo made it 12 miles back to my truck with those two broken chains missing. Would have been a crappy walk in melting snow so I'm happy!

Dang the roof looks good Brian. Those argos sure have their place. I've heard they are high maintenance but sure can extend your travels in late spring and fall. Cannot get mad at a photogenic bear that isn't a nuisance. Put a few more bear precautions at my place last week and hung a couple more cameras.

What is the blue piece around your chimney.

Chimney penetrations through the roof are a pain in the butt. But I use crazy carpets as a gasket, cut a 10" hole in them and slide over the chimney then use fire caulking around the chimney pipe to seal the deal. They last for years.

Don't you hate it when you take your bear for a walk and some inconsiderate dude has his bear off-leash and it kills yours? Should be a law against it.

I was on line checking out an upcoming auction of First Nation work. Check this out

I also saw this item up for sale. Any guesses as to its purpose? I'm thinking someone may have actually seen this in action.

Looks like a comb, but could have other uses as well.

Could be a fork?? Roof looks good Brian. The crazy carpet idea is the best tip Ive learned in years. I have lots of tin roofs and the chimneys are always a pain.

It looks like I could put it to use on the daughters boyfriend if he doesn't watch himself....

https://www.facebook.com/sculpturesurpan...9231723/?type=3

Made by a young Quebecois
he is very good

I have a lot of guns from family members. This is a 38-70 winchester model 1886 ser# 96001 that belonged to my great-grandfather.

Apparently there were only 800 of this caliber built. Anyone have an idea of value?

That is a beauty Bushman can you still get shells for it

That antler is incredible....link to auction?

No luck on 38-70 shells but nothing I'm sure money wouldn't fix.

www.walkersauctions.com sale this Sunday. you can bid online. Probably go for $10,000+