Well, if the cabin burns down, you have shelter! And a cuddly friend, until rescue.

We've been getting some real weather. 30" snow in 48 hours and temps between -30 to -38. The deep snows cost me a couple catches




A lynx stepped right on my set while checking out a beaver carcass




And a wolf stepped on a trap I've had set for over a month. First time its been back to this scent post

But they didn't all get away. This large female got caught under the cover of a nice spruce canopy.

And this will be my final marten of the season as the season is now closed

My Dad wanted a picture of him with some fur so he could email his buddies. He's turns 88 this year and is very internet savy.





You can see a four year old burn up in the hills above my trail along the creek




Should make for some good moose habitat.

I've been a travelling man the last few weeks. I hit Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto, and small town eastern Canada via air and car. Makes me appreciate my home.


Weather had been consistently cold and lots of snow. Makes for good travelling as long as you can handle the snow depths. I've only been hung up a few times.
The wolves have been almost non existent on my line this winter which is very unusual. But I figured they'd show up sooner or later. A few weeks ago they crossed my trail but kept going.

A couple days ago they returned. What I believe is happening is they are spending way more time up in a large burn that is fairly new. I'm thinking lots of moose wintering in the new growth. Regardless they came down onto the creek and its obvious that breeding season is in full swing.




This is where the pack members all came together after dropping down off a steep hillside.





Then they came down onto the creek and made this scent post





I left a trap there and set two more around each corner. Here's hoping they return soon

You never know what you'll encounter under the snow. But I know the trouble spots and expected this to drop out.




It snowed so much that a fox walked into a wolf snare.





New snow slowly sliding off cabin roof.

Despite the several feet of snow we still have spring is coming to the mountains. I pulled my high country sets last week and closed up the line cabin for the winter. I put metal sheets over my doors and windows. I've left trail cams setup and always look forward to whats on them come summer when I can access the cabin again. It should be a rock and roll breakup with all the snow we have today. back to the bush today to close up the 150 wolf snares i have scattered across the trapline. There have been very few wolves this winter and lots of reports of crappy wolves due to mites.




Mine are still pretty though!

Smiling for the camera! haha. Fun to see whats around.

Seems like it's been a while since a post. We're still in the middle of winter around here but it's starting to bust loose. Although I still have a couple feet of snow in the back yard. I've been hauling word to camp and doing some cabin maintenance but nothing too exciting.





My Dad has been hanging onto my first 22 for over 40 years and just gave it back to me. He was so proud I had shot a goose with it when I was 13 that he had a note taped to it still. I dropped the goose on the wing at over 50 yards and Dad couldn't believe I killed it at that distance. He bragged to his buddies for weeks about it... good thing he didn't know that I was shooting at the lead bird and got the third one. I suspect most legendary tales have a spin like mine!

I've started refurbishing the 22 and am turning it into a "grandkids" rifle






And if you woke up with a headache this morning think how this poor guy feels.

Spring Fever


The inmates are restless. They’ve been released from the “Big House” for several days now and the novelty has wore off. Small differences begin to magnify and you can feel the tension building inside the homes they’re domiciled in. At any moment a tantrum could break out.

Yes… it’s Spring Break time and schools all across the province have discharged a tsunami of kids looking for action, or more accurately distraction. And for many of them that distraction comes from their electronic devices. But not around my place.

My wife and I aren’t against the use of modern devices by our grandkids but we figure they get enough of that in today’s world. What we have to offer is some good old fashion fun that stands the test of time with all kids if they’re given half a chance. And most of it revolves around the outdoors.

We live in the country, so helping out with the extensive vegetable and flower gardens that are my wife’s passion, plus caring for of our animals, adds a nice rural touch to the grandkids life. But if you asked them what their favourite place is, the odds are they’d tell you Sheep Creek Lodge.

All of them love the place and we have made many good family memories out there over the years. And this last week we made some more. Deana and I loaded up three of the crew and headed for the mountains.

In the winter when we are out by ourselves trapping we can only handle as many kids as can fit in our one bedroom cabin. Plus we have to haul them in on snowmobiles so three kids is a pretty good load. This posse consisted of a 3-year old, 6-year old, and a 8-year old.

On the snowmobile ride in we like to stop and look at tracks and interesting sign that we see. On this trip a cougar came onto the trail, and we showed the kids how the tail drag mark in the snow, and lack of claw marks in the tracks told us it was a cat, and the length of the stride and a long tail meant it wasn’t a lynx.

And to make it even more interesting we could see where the cat had started chasing a deer on the trail, obviously why it had come onto the trail in the first place. The deer tracks really stretched out along a half-kilometre of trail before darting off into the bush. That deer was only touching ground every 12’ between bounds. Probably demonstrating to the cougar how healthy it was and signalling, don’t waste your time chasing me.

We weren’t done with cat tracks as lynx were wandering everywhere in groups of two or three. Breeding season really puts the wanderlust into these forest felines. And if hare numbers hold we should see a good kitten crop this year. I like seeing fresh tracks in spring snow is a good way to assess next years potential fur population.

Once we’re in camp things settle into a nice rhythm after the first day’s excitement runs its course. Kids start to calm down and pay more attention to spending time with each other instead of staring at a screen

But I never was one to waste free labor so we find work projects for the kids to help with. This time around we cut, hauled, and split wood for camp. I got a real kick out of three-year-old Bronson tackling a round of wood and hoisting it into the trailer. Meanwhile his older brother and sister are working harder than a lot of adults I know.

As the firewood stack gets higher and higher you can see the pride in the kids in a job well done! We celebrate with banana bread and hot chocolate and call it a day. That night as the wood stove kicks out the B.T.U’s we make a point of praising the wood they gathered, pointing out we’d have no heat without it.

We finish off our spring break with a day spent shooting BB guns, cooking hotdogs, and getting spirited around in a toboggan by Grandma on the snowmobile. As usual after a half hour Bronson crashes in Grandmas arms on the snowmobile and has a good nap as the rest of them squeal in delight as they are dragged around and around.


As the kids went to bed that night there were a few complaints about having to leave the next day. A lot of rationalizing about how we could stay as school was still out. We remind them that they have a couple of parents who miss them and want them back.

But in truth all their lobbying to stay is just music to my ears. They get it, this place and these moments are special. Long after we are gone these kids will be telling their grandkids about these experiences. Here’s hoping you have your own special placed to immerse your kids and grandkids in nature.

You are right Brian, those kids will remember those experiences for the rest of their lives. Its nice to see people taking the time to get kids out in the woods. Sounds like you have a good balance of work and fun, and thats important too.

It's good to read about grandkids enjoying grandparents, especially outside!

Nice shooting with the .22 Brian. How in the world did your dad keep that rifle from you for so many years. Maybe your not telling the whole story. What else did you shoot with that little rifle?

Sounds like a good time with the little ones Grandpa. Reading tracks with the little ones is sure fun. It's great to see their attitude in hard work change as they see their own productivity like stacking the wood pile high. The memories in the simple things like gathering fire wood, hotdogs over an open fire and hot chocolate outside will be passed on for years to come. The fun really kicks in when they are old enough to really be helpful and the pride shows when they wanna come and help.

Thanks for sharing and have a safe and productive summer.

Thanks guys, I had a blast with my kids when they were little and now I'm enjoying the next crop. There were no lack of guns at our home AK and this little 22 was the runt of the litter and I moved on to a pump 22 winchester pretty quick. I still have that gun too.

My buddy dropped off about 50 photos from my past. A real trip down memory lane. This one is in 1979 along the McKenzie River and I remember it was bitter cold. I see I have a fox and a marten on the go.

I was also checking out my toboggan. It was a red oak plank model from the Hudson Bay. I probably paid $300 for it way back then. First nations would use a canvass bag for their gear but I'm using plywood I see. I also noticed my mitts dropped down in the snow. Always more handy then gloves as I still use bare hands at most sets. Years have flown by but the fire still burns and if anything things are even better.

And this was our cabin at the time. I built the log one on the right in about 4 days as our previous cabin had burnt down to the ground. I used old telephone poles as Telus switched over to satellite. The frame cabin beside the log one is still in use today and weather tight. It was super insulated and you could heat it with a candle. Lots of good times and memories made there.

Luckily we were at the old cabin we had used before these two when the chimney started the roof on fire. When we saw there was no stopping it we grabbed a chain saw and cut a hole in the wall and threw all our possessions out. We hardly lost a thing, other that the cabin.

And to add insult to injury we had just put a 16' x 16' brand new addition on a 12' x 10' piece of crap older cabin. It was the old wing that caught fire. It burnt down to ashes!

Love seeing those old pictures Brian. You have seen and trapped some country. Would love to know more about your time up there....maybe a book?

A book is definitely on my list Dave but for now I'm still trying to make stories.




I remember this day pretty well. We dragged the canoe overland for a mile and hit a creek feeding into a lake. We spent the day calling for moose while we fished for pickerel. Scored on fish but no moose this day.

This was a hail Mary caribou I killed on a fall hunt. We had been hunting down by the NWT / Alberta border in the Cameron Hills but had to leave because we kept puncturing our trike tires on willow that had been slashed the previous winter. We all rode out 25 miles on flattened trike tires. We popped the tires off rims and stuffed them with rags and tarps to get a little bit of cushion on a brutal ride out over muskeg hummocks.

Once we fixed our tires we headed towards Fort Simpson and went hunting up the Mills Lake Road. it's an old military road that leads from the McKenzie Highway all the way to the McKenzie River to where an old US army base had been stationed during the second world war. I dropped the caribou in a muskeg meadow about an hour after we started hunting. The bugs were so bad I gutted it in record time and threw it on my big red and tore out of there to get away from no-seeums.

I will probably never kill another caribou in my life. They're having a hard time these days.

Pretty fun to look at old photos for sure!!
Recently found an old album of mine from Montana. Might just have to be the start of a new thread!! ;0)
Were of the same era you and me Brian.
Still on my bucket list to come down and hunt these bugle bulls with you.
Thought you would get a kick out of seeing this one.
Did college for a year out of highschool. Then decided to take what I veiwed as a chance of a life time.
Guiding in the Absaroka wilderness area on the outsskirts of Yellowstone Park back in the hey days for a fall. 25 miles by horse and mule. This would be Fall of 1980


Decided to pack some traps in while I was there.


These were high school photos. Probably 1977 or 78. Carried those fox home on my Honda 125 motorbike. haha




Was lucky to hit Alaska in 1984 with some experience behind me and never looked back.