This month brought a mix of weather to the Grand Lake area. We received about two feet of snow and a wind storm that caused considerable damage. There were many downed trees and power outages right across the province. Here at home on Salmon River, the high winds caused havoc by blowing over a large jack pine in my yard and a second tree downed the power line. The pine tree caused damage to one vehicle and we had to use our generator for about twenty-four hours. No serious damage but a real pain in the butt getting things cleaned up and back on the power grid. Here are a couple of photos of this weather event. Coltons car took the worst of the damage done during the storm.
As you can see, my truck barely escaped getting some serious damage
The middle of the month brought us a nice thaw that reduced the snow pac considerably and gave our suffering deer herd a nice break. A thaw like this gives the deer herd a leg up and really increases their chance of survival. They are able to feed and travel easily and this postpones having to use fat reserves until later in the year when they really need it. This is good news for deer and deer hunters.
The New Brunswick DNR has sent out a deer survey to selected deer hunters and although this survey is supposed to be a positive endeavor, most hunters, myself included, consider this to be an insult to the intelligence of deer hunters and New Brunswickers in general. That might sound a bit harsh but after all that has been said about the state of our deer herd and our forests in general, this survey is redundant. It's all been said and the truth is out there. Why would DNR put out a survey when they know damned well what the problems are? I will fill mine out and it won't be sugar coated. The DNR has totally failed in their mandate to protect and promote deer hunting in this province and New Brunswickers know this! This issue isn't going away anytime soon and there will definitely be repercussions at the the polls in the next election. People are organizing and social media is fanning the flames of discontent and only time will tell what happens. Hopefully the outcome of this mess will be positive for deer and deer hunters.
Although white-tailed deer numbers are at historic lows, there were still some beautiful bucks taken across the province. This speaks to the potential of the quality of our bucks overall and with a little help, we may once again regain the glory days of white-tail hunting. The following photos show some of the nice bucks taken across the province last season. This buck was taken on the first day of the 2016 season.
The next photo shows a hunter with a bow killed buck.
This photo shows another buck taken on the first day of the 2016 season.
This buck was taken during the first week of the 2016 season near Hampstead.
The next photo shows a big buck taken during the 2016 season.
The next buck had nine points and was taken in Zone 16. It dressed out at 254 lbs.
The next photo shows a nice 10 pt buck taken during the second week of the 2016 season.
The next buck was taken during the third week of the season and had a live weight of 288 lbs.
This buck sported 13 pts and was taken during the 2016 season.
The buck in the next photo had ten pts. and dressed out at 214 lbs. with a 22.5 inch spread.
The next photo shows a nice 11 pt. buck.
This next buck was a dandy taken during the 2016 season.
This nice buck was taken by an old timer during the 2016 season.
The buck in this photo was a super 6x5 taken after having photos for five years and finding one of his sheds.
The next photo shows a hunter with a buck he harvested during the 2016 season. A big ridge runner!
The next buck was a nice non-typical with a long drop tine.
The next photo shows a nice buck with 10 pts. taken at last light on the last day of the 2016 season. This was the hunters first buck.
This photo shows another nice buck taken during the waning moments of the 2016 season. A nice first deer.
Here is another big buck taken on the last day of the 2016 deer season.
The next photo shows three hunters with their top bucks taken in the Miramichi region in 2016.
As you can see from these photos, there are still some real trophy bucks running around our province. I urge my readers to also be aware that this sampling of big bucks were taken by residents from all regions of the province. These bucks were also taken on private land for the most part.
Dallas followed up a couple of days later with a nice eight pt. buck that came into the bait when he blew his doe bleat.
As usual, Jamie topped things off with the biggest buck. This deer was his first buck over 200 lbs. It tipped the scale to 248 lbs, dressed. The big 9 pt. was an old warrior who had survived several seasons on crown land before running into Jamie.
When Jamie got his deer weighed there were two more bucks on site getting weighed also. This was the first time in many years that we got to look at three trophy bucks hanging in one spot. Here are a couple of photos of those bucks.
\This photo shows the two bucks that were already hanging.
Ken and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the deer hunters who were successful in harvesting a nice buck this past season. Most of these bucks were taken with hard work and determination under trying conditions.
This bear was a regular visitor during daylight hours. The next photo shows a bear with a belly that was almost touching the ground!
This bait had a couple of big bears hitting it on a regular basis during shooting hours.
Finally, a couple of photos of two more big bruins.
As you can see, my truck barely escaped getting some serious damage
The New Brunswick DNR has sent out a deer survey to selected deer hunters and although this survey is supposed to be a positive endeavor, most hunters, myself included, consider this to be an insult to the intelligence of deer hunters and New Brunswickers in general. That might sound a bit harsh but after all that has been said about the state of our deer herd and our forests in general, this survey is redundant. It's all been said and the truth is out there. Why would DNR put out a survey when they know damned well what the problems are? I will fill mine out and it won't be sugar coated. The DNR has totally failed in their mandate to protect and promote deer hunting in this province and New Brunswickers know this! This issue isn't going away anytime soon and there will definitely be repercussions at the the polls in the next election. People are organizing and social media is fanning the flames of discontent and only time will tell what happens. Hopefully the outcome of this mess will be positive for deer and deer hunters.
Although white-tailed deer numbers are at historic lows, there were still some beautiful bucks taken across the province. This speaks to the potential of the quality of our bucks overall and with a little help, we may once again regain the glory days of white-tail hunting. The following photos show some of the nice bucks taken across the province last season. This buck was taken on the first day of the 2016 season.
The next photo shows a hunter with a bow killed buck.
This photo shows another buck taken on the first day of the 2016 season.
This buck was taken during the first week of the 2016 season near Hampstead.
The next photo shows a big buck taken during the 2016 season.
The next buck had nine points and was taken in Zone 16. It dressed out at 254 lbs.
The next photo shows a nice 10 pt buck taken during the second week of the 2016 season. The next buck was taken during the third week of the season and had a live weight of 288 lbs.
This buck sported 13 pts and was taken during the 2016 season.
The buck in the next photo had ten pts. and dressed out at 214 lbs. with a 22.5 inch spread.
The next photo shows a nice 11 pt. buck.
This next buck was a dandy taken during the 2016 season.
This nice buck was taken by an old timer during the 2016 season.
The buck in this photo was a super 6x5 taken after having photos for five years and finding one of his sheds.
The next photo shows a hunter with a buck he harvested during the 2016 season. A big ridge runner!
The next buck was a nice non-typical with a long drop tine.
The next photo shows a nice buck with 10 pts. taken at last light on the last day of the 2016 season. This was the hunters first buck.
This photo shows another nice buck taken during the waning moments of the 2016 season. A nice first deer.
Here is another big buck taken on the last day of the 2016 deer season.
The next photo shows three hunters with their top bucks taken in the Miramichi region in 2016.
As you can see from these photos, there are still some real trophy bucks running around our province. I urge my readers to also be aware that this sampling of big bucks were taken by residents from all regions of the province. These bucks were also taken on private land for the most part.
Ken and I had to take a back seat to the younger deer hunters in our group this year. We didn't score but Jamie, Dallas and Brooke all harvested nice deer this year. Brooke started things off with a nice six pt. buck taken early in the second week of the season.
Dallas followed up a couple of days later with a nice eight pt. buck that came into the bait when he blew his doe bleat.
As usual, Jamie topped things off with the biggest buck. This deer was his first buck over 200 lbs. It tipped the scale to 248 lbs, dressed. The big 9 pt. was an old warrior who had survived several seasons on crown land before running into Jamie.
When Jamie got his deer weighed there were two more bucks on site getting weighed also. This was the first time in many years that we got to look at three trophy bucks hanging in one spot. Here are a couple of photos of those bucks.
\This photo shows the two bucks that were already hanging.
Ken and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the deer hunters who were successful in harvesting a nice buck this past season. Most of these bucks were taken with hard work and determination under trying conditions.
Although the spring bear season is around three months away, I wanted to show our readers a few photos of the big black bears that were hitting our baits last fall. We have a surplus of big mature bears in our hunting area and our baits were pounded all fall by bruins of various sizes. Ken and I were pleasantly surprised by the sheer numbers of LARGE bears regularly visiting our baits. Our technique for baiting bears has been refined by us over many years and we think our method gives the best results for attracting and keeping big bears on our baits. We pick specific habitat for placing our baits and they are spaced out far enough that we don't get the same bears hitting multiple baits. Trail cams are placed on all of our baits and that takes the guess work out of the situation. Another thing we are very particular about is the condition of our bait sites. We prefer to keep the sites very natural looking and free of debris. We know what other bait sites look like that are used by guides and its not a pretty site. Actually, it's a pet peeve of mine and I wish the DNR would update the rules and regulations for baiting bears in New Brunswick. It's not our call and it is what it is, so I'll leave it at that. Here is a photo of one of the nicer bears we had at one of our baits.
This bear was a regular visitor during daylight hours. The next photo shows a bear with a belly that was almost touching the ground!
This bait had a couple of big bears hitting it on a regular basis during shooting hours. 
Finally, a couple of photos of two more big bruins.
If any bear hunters are looking for a good spring hunt please don't hesitate to call me. Ken and I have a super deal available to hunters who qualify for a couple of the spring bear hunts coming up. I will give the details in my next post or contact me to get in on this one time offering.
Until then, this is Dale Bauer saying "Happy Trails to You....Until we Meet Again!"
