A KIELIDASCOPE OF COLORS

    Fall in New Brunswick is a beautiful time of the year and here at home on Salmon River we are blessed with an abundance of post card quality scenes. A drive around the Grand Lake area will provide many good photo opportunities with the beautiful scenery and abundant wildlife in our area of New Brunswick.

 This male ruffed grouse is in a relaxed pose. If he was strutting his stuff,  the black ring around his neck would be standing up and he would be fanning his tail feathers. The next photo was taken by a resident Laker right off of highway 105 on the Grand Lake Meadows. This heron seems to be at rest with a male mallard standing in the background.

 I took the next photo a few years ago and wanted to include it to show the beautiful colors of the maples on Moon Island near my home. It doesn't get much prettier than this!

 

 

We have packed our fishing gear away for another year but I did get away to the Miramichi for one last try for salmon. This was a very disappointing year for anglers and outfitters alike and although there were a few fish around, they weren't in the taking mood. Old Mack McCormack told me he fished the Cains on the last day and the river was full of fish. I asked him how many he hooked and he said he couldn't buy a strike! He told me he tried everything in his fly box right down to No.12 hooks but still no takers. That's salmon fishing for you!

    I didn't hook any salmon on my last outing but I did land a couple of nice trout. 

 These trout put up a good fight even on the heavier salmon tackle I was using. I'll take these trout all day long if the salmon aren't co-operating. It sure livens up an otherwise dull day! The next photo shows another trout I took the same afternoon.

 We ended our pickerel fishing for 2014 on a high note with many nice fish landed. We had multiple days of twenty plus fish hooked and released and I landed my best fish of the season on my last trip. This nice pickerel was twenty-five and a quarter on the measuring tray. That's a nice pickerel anywhere!

 The measuring tray we use is made by Frabill and they are very useful when you want to get accurate measurements such as in a tournament.

 The more I fish for pickerel, the more I enjoy catching them. They very rarely disappoint and the fun factor is high. On a good day it can be non-stop action and young and old alike can appreciate that kind of fishing. We like fishing pickerel through the ice so we're not quite done with this species yet.

 

    The duck hunt in our area was as predicted-slow! The water stayed high during the spring and summer and this hampered the growth of duck food in the bigger ponds near home. As if that weren't bad enough, the water dropped like a stone and the ponds nearly dried up during September. No food and no water means no ducks, unfortunately. The boys did manage to get a handful of birds that kept the dogs busy for awhile but there were no limits in any of our blinds this year.

    My neighbour across the river had good field shooting the first couple of days for geese. Their group of four hunters took nineteen geese the first day. They continued to shoot geese all week as his fields were being harvested. He has a great set up and never fails to get a few good goose hunts in as his fields are being cut.

    We are seeing good numbers of grouse, especially spruce grouse during our travels. The woodcock are down a bit in our area but that may be just a local thing in our coverts. The rabbit population is on the upswing in our area and I like to get a couple of rabbits and a couple of spruce partridge and make a stew. Real tasty on a cold fall day!

 

    As I write this piece, the bow only season for deer has ended and the gun season is in it's first week. Our deer herd is producing some nice young bucks on the private ground in the southern part of the province. This is where the numbers are and the south is where you have your best chance of getting a nice buck. New Brunswick has the ability to produce some nice racks on three and a half year old bucks. These bucks in good habitat will weigh in at 170-180 lbs. field dressed and can have a nice 8-10 point rack. Not too shabby but we just need more of them! The next couple of photos are of nice young bucks that were taken by residents with a bow.

 The best bow buck of the season that I seen was a nice drop-tined buck that dressed out well over 200 lbs. A very nice trophy for this resident hunter. This great buck was taken during the first week of the season which should dispel the myth that big bucks can only be taken during the rut.

 This is a mature New Brunswick whitetail that is showing some good width in his rack. There are some great opportunities for bow hunting in New Brunswick during the early season. During the three week long season, hunting over bait can really increase the odds of taking a decent buck. Every year bow hunters and rifle hunters take big bucks over bait. If done right and in a good spot, hunters can really increase their odds of taking a nice buck. Patience is key because many times a big buck will only come in during daylight hours while tending a doe in heat. Don't complain if you have does and kids eating your apples because sooner or later the big boy will show up.

 

    Even though the gun season for whitetails is only days old, there have been some nice deer taken already. The next photo shows a nice ten point buck taken by a resident hunter earlier this week.

 This buck dressed out at 190 lbs. I would guess this deer to be one of those nice 3.5-4.5 year old bucks I was talking about earlier. New Brunswick can produce big bucks if the weather would co-operate for a few years by keeping the snow pac to a manageable level. The next photo shows an old warrior that survived a few seasons before being harvested by another resident hunter in the Woodstock area.

 This bruiser of a buck was taken on the first day of gun season this year and dressed out at 260 lbs. That's a huge buck by any standard and it's probably no coincidence it came from farm country.

    Kenny's nephew, Jamie was driving home from an area north of Chipman when he noticed a white patch on the side of the road. It piqued his interest so he turned around and when he got back to where he had seen the white spot, out of the ditch stepped a nice albino 8 pt. buck. Jamie got a quick photo of it as it took off. You don't see these animals very often!

Jamie got a nice high tined buck last year that was in the 2.5-3.5 year old bracket. If this buck had lived another couple of years it would have been carrying a super rack around. I think Jamie was still quite happy to take this buck. The next photo is his 2013 buck.

 We are getting lots of does and kids on our cameras but the bucks still aren't around yet. The next two photos show two young bucks that we will be looking for this year.

 Both of these bucks will be on our hit list this year if they show up. With all the does and kids we have at our bait sites, we're pretty confident one of these bucks or perhaps one of the real trophies that frequent our hunting area will show up eventually.

 

Again this month,  I regretfully have to report the passing of a well known gentleman in Chipman, forest ranger Wayne Burpee.  All I can say about Wayne was that he was a very nice guy and always gave a helping hand whenever called upon. Besides being a ranger, Wayne was also Deputy Chief of the NBSPCA.  He was very witty and loved a good laugh. Rest in peace Wayne.

 

I have been finding some very nice outdoor items in my travels around the province. The following photo is a great piece of art done in relief on a sheet of copper. The scene depicts the classic hunting scene of a stag and hound. This piece is signed by the artist W. Esser and is dated 1984. It looks as if the artist also made the chip carved frame specifically for the piece.

 The next photo is a hand painted tray that was used as a wall hanging. The scene shows a pair of blue winged teal at rest and it is signed with the artists initials S.F. I would date this piece to the "60's"

 Finally, I was lucky enough to pick up a pair of coasters depicting Canada geese in flight. These coasters are made of copper with porcelain inserts and fit a drink glass perfectly. I know because I tried them out last week-end with great success. I would say these two items are from the "50's" and I really like them!

 In the coming months I'll be offering the readers of my blog links to other pages about outdoor antique and collectible related items that I am familiar with. What started as a hobby over twenty-five years ago has evolved into a way of life and lately I've been getting an urge to write and share my experiences about this fun pastime. New Brunswick has a wonderful outdoor heritage that should be celebrated!

 

    If anyone has any questions about spending some time with us in the Grand Lake area, please contact me through the channels provided. We can arrange a trip to fit any budget but we will always provide sports the best service we can.

 

Until next time, this is Dale Bauer saying "Happy Trails to You.....Until we Meet Again!"

 

 

 

THE HUNT BEGINS!

    The weather has been kind to us here at home on Salmon River lately and water levels have finally receded to normal summer levels, although about a month late. This has made for some fantastic pickerel fishing with pros and amateurs alike hooking and landing dozens of trophy sized pickerel on every outing! A cold front moved in towards the end of this month and this slowed things down a bit but if you had the right bait you still had multiple hook-ups. This photo shows Ken with one of eighteen pickerel he landed during a two hour outing we had a few days ago.

 We also had a sighting of a nice salmon making it's way up river past us. Although it didn't jump, it was moving a lot of water in it's wake and Ken and I estimated it's weight at twenty lbs. or more. Nice to see because we haven't been seeing too many the last few years. Here is a short video clip of Kenny pulling a nice pickerel out of the weeds.We kept one good sized one for a feed and if you can figure out how to get rid of the Y-bones the fillets are delicious when cooked up. One pickerel can yield enough meat for two people if you are having a shore lunch with potatoes and beans. Ken and I are both big eaters so it's best to have something to go with the fillets but one pickerel will give you a dinner plate full of fillets if you prefer to eat just the fish. I like to fry them in olive oil with a coating of batter. Talk about good!

 

Salmon season is slowly winding down and the consensus is this year was one of the worst on record for returns of Atlantic salmon to our rivers. I really feel sorry for the outfitters on the Miramichi river because the spring season was pretty much a blowout and then having to deal with the low returns this summer. There has been a glimmer of hope recently with a run of fresh fish entering the system the last couple of weeks. Water temperatures have been very good but we need a raise of water to really improve the fishing conditions on our salmon rivers. With some rain in the forecast for next week, I hope to get on the Cains river to finish off the season. The fall colors are spectacular on the Cains and if any readers get the opportunity to wet a line they should take full advantage because even if the fish aren't co-operating, the scenery is spectacular and you will get plenty of "Kodak" moments.

 

    New Brunswick's annual moose season has just finished and under the new five day season, a record 3,690 moose were tagged. This slight increase was expected and most hunters said it was a much more relaxed hunt with the extra days this year. I have always found that a three day hunt could be quite stressful if something like poor weather or crowding occurred during the shorter season. Our station in Chipman registered 14 moose on the first day and 70 moose overall during the five day season. The three top bulls were estimated at 955 lbs. each. The best bull had 21 pts. and was taken in zone 18.The other two bulls had 14 and 11 pts. respectively. The following photo is of a great old bull that I chased for two seasons but failed to connect on. This old bull had a footprint that was unmistakable. It seemed to be as big as a pie plate. This bull was starting to go the other way so I was happy to see some local boys harvest this nice trophy.

 The following photos show a variety of bulls taken from different parts of the province.

 This nice bull had 15 pts and a 53 in. spread.

 This 18 pt. bull dressed around 875 lbs. and was taken near Gordonvale.

 

 This nice bull was a 22 pt.

 This big bull sported 23 pts. and dressed out at 863 lbs.

 This bull had a 63 in. spread and dressed out at 1055 lbs. That is a nice bull anywhere!

 This first day bull had 18 pts. and a 50 inch spread.

 Tyler S. of Doaktown with a zone 12 bull with 20 pts.

 Local hunter Shawn S. and son with his zone 13 moose

 Another zone 13 bull with 16 pts. that dressed out at 723 lbs.

 Gary L. and his son Tim with another nice bull taken this year.

 Two trophy bulls taken this year. It doesn't get much better than that!

 A 73 year old hunter took this 16 pt. bull in zone 16. It had a 56.5 in. spread.

 Nice bull taken in zone 25 in the southern part of the province.

 And last but certainly not the least was this tremendous bull taken in the northern half of the province. This bull has 40 pts. and a 67 inch spread. Many think this bull will be the new record for moose in N.B. and I have to agree. What a trophy!

    As you can see from these photos there is no shortage of trophy bull moose here at home in New Brunswick. Good management practices have led us to this point and lets just pray that our new Liberal government has the wisdom to carry on this tradition during their term. While on the subject, I want to congratulate David Coon on being elected to the Legislature under the Green banner in what has proven to be a historic vote here in New Brunswick. His voice should help to strike a balance with the strong industrial lobby that exists in New Brunswick.

 

    Readers should remember that New Brunswick isn't ALL about hunting and the harvest. We have many good photo opportunities during any foray into our game rich province. I want to include a couple of great photos taken by local amateur shutterbugs. The first photo is a great shot of a loon taken at Douglas Harbour on Grand Lake. .

 The next photo shows a group of turtles sunning on a log in the Coal Creek stream.

 Visitors can expect many photo opportunities such as these when staying with us during your visit to the Grand Lake area.

 

As I mentioned in my last post, I lost my good friend and fellow guide Alan Davidson this past summer and it will be hard for me to enjoy my hunts this fall without him. We had so many good times through the years. I know I'll miss his great lunches he would cook up at dinner time during our hunting and fishing trips. But I know Alan would want me to make the best of it so that's just what I'm going to do. I'll be out there Ally and I'll try to get a big buck for you but I doubt I'll be able to match any of the great bucks he took during his lifetime. Here is a short video clip of Alan cow calling on one of our last hunts together.

 

With the main hunting season about to start I would encourage any sport looking for a good hunt here in the Grand Lake area to contact me for more information. We aim to please and you will get 110% effort on the part of your hosts and guides.

 

    Until then, this is Dale Bauer saying '' Happy Trails to You.....Until we Meet Again ''

 

NO DOG DAYS THIS YEAR

    This month being August, we can usually expect to get some hot, muggy weather with low water conditions in our streams and rivers. Not so this year. If anything, this August has been the opposite of a " normal " year. The weather was cool this month with enough rain to keep the local streams and brooks from getting to their summer low. This is good news for most species of fish especially cold water species like salmon and trout because this is usually the time of year when they suffer with warm water conditions. This month has seen a series of raises in the water levels in the Miramichi River and her tributaries, as well as the northern salmon rivers. Salmon fishermen should be jumping for joy but instead many are once again lamenting a lack of fish and poor fishing in our salmon rivers. This is a very serious situation and the outfitters must be feeling the pinch. News travels fast these days and sports won't book trips if the conditions are poor. They will go elsewhere or not at all but you can bet they are doing their homework before they spend upwards of $1000 per day to fish for Atlantic Salmon in New Brunswick or elsewhere, for that matter. I'm sure most of the outfitters were hoping for a good summer with lots of fish after the disastrous spring season. This summer is proving to be very slow for all participants of this " sport of kings ",from fishermen to guides and outfitters to fly shop owners, they are all singing the same tune. No fish....to speak of. One prominent outfitter on the Miramichi has been bantering about a radical solution to the poor numbers of Atlantic salmon returning to that watershed. His ideas have been met with mixed reviews on some forums, probably because it is a departure from traditional thinking but sometimes that's what it takes to make something work. This is a very complex issue but I do believe that science and lovers of the sport will prevail at the end of the day.
    Every year at the start of fishing season for bright salmon I re-stock my fly box with some flies that have been lost or abused and this year I decided I should visit an old acquaintance from Minto. Being born and raised in Minto,  I first started buying flies from Fred Dufour who ran a general store on the Ridge Road. The flies I bought from Freddie were the ones that came tied on a leader and were mounted on a cardboard strip. I loved to go with Dad when he got our order each week and I could always manage to pick up a fly or two to use on my favorite trout stream which happened to be a short walk from home. Grizzly Kings, Coachman, Royal Coachman, Parmacheane Belle, Montreal and Red Ibis were all part of my repertoire when stalking trout. After having great success with a small bucktail that looked very similar to a black nosed dace that I wore completely out, I decided to visit Ralph Goodwin to see if he could duplicate the fly. Ralph lived handy to Newcastle Stream in North Minto and tied flies out of a small shop beside his home. I was just a kid and Ralph wasn't much older but he tied me up some nice flies and I became a satisfied customer. Ralph has been fishing salmon and tying up a storm ever since those early days of my boyhood. Ralph is both an expert tier and salmon fisherman and  his expertise has been noticed by the Ledges Inn in Doaktown and Ralph has been guiding and tying  for them for the last few years. Ralph has tied a few originals with great success. The Belly Dancer and the Mintonian are two of Ralphs patterns that he developed over the years. I hadn't seen Ralph in years but he still remembered me. After catching up on what we had been doing lately, I started picking out some flies that Ralph had on hand. The next photo shows Ralph at home in his shop.

 After picking out a handful of flies and a promise to return, I got my flies home and arrange them for a photo.

 If any of my readers would like to check out Ralphs lineup of flies just click on this link http://www.goodfly.ca/ . I'm pretty sure Ralph will do orders through the mail so don't hesitate to contact him if you want to purchase some well tied flies in a variety of popular patterns.

    Although the salmon fishing is off this year, Salmon River was very good this month for both pickerel and white perch. We had some great fishing for white perch this year and I think a person could still get enough for a feed. They seemed to stick around longer this year,  for some reason. The water in Salmon River has been unusually high this summer and as I write this it is about 2.5 ft. above normal. That can sometimes make for some hard fishing conditions when pursuing pickerel. We use our standard set-up to start out but if it gets tough, we have a couple of tricks that will usually get us some fish. Pickerel are such fierce predators that they can usually be coaxed into taking something.
    We were happy to once again have Sgt. Ryan Cains come down from CFB Gagetown on New Brunswick Day to fish with us. This is the third year he has fished with us on New Brunswick Day and what a day he had! My son Curt loaded the boat up and they headed up river to a couple of hot spots and they caught a lot of fish. Sgt. Cains said it was his best day of fishing-ever! Curt told me that they landed twenty or so pickerel and lost that many again. He said it started a little slow but then they really started hammering it. This is a photo of Sgt. Cains landing a nice pickerel.

Here is another photo of him with an average sized pickerel.

 Curt said when they started fishing one honey hole, they were getting strikes on nearly every cast. Pickerel put up a good fight when they are first hooked but they will tire quickly under steady pressure. This next photo shows a nice pickerel thrashing the water near the boat.

 Curt said after fishing pickerel for a few hours, he asked the Sgt. if he wanted to try for some white perch. Curt told him he would fillet them for him and he would write out a recipe for cooking them up . They motored back down river and stopped at a deep hole and started catching nice sized white perch on nearly every cast. After getting enough for a feed, they headed back in. The next photo shows Curt and Sgt. Cains with a nice bag of white perch.

 After a short visit,  Sgt Cains headed back to the base but he promised to come back again soon. In the meantime, he said he was going to try out the fillets Curt had done up for him. They sure are tasty!

 

    I managed to get out for an evening of fishing with Donna Aguillon and although the water was three feet higher than normal, we still managed to hook up with a few fish. With water conditions like that you have to cover as much water as possible and push in close to the shore. I think we landed around a dozen and lost a few nice ones. The next photo shows me with a good sized pickerel.

 We caught fish and had strikes regularly over the two hours we were on the water. Here is another photo of a nice pickerel.

 Donna had her turn too but she told me she doesn't like handling them so I helped her out with her fish and returned them all back to the water.

 The next photo shows the biggest pickerel we caught that night. I lost one when it wrapped up in the weeds that was a bit bigger than this one.

 

With a provincial election coming up next month the government has been handing out plums to the hunters in hopes of winning their support. First it was a five day moose hunt this year. Then it was an extra bear tag. Now, just recently, the government announced a limited turkey hunt in 2015. This is all good news but I wish they would have only allowed one tag in each of the bear seasons, spring and fall. The Tories under Alward are desperate for votes after losing support steadily over the last year because of its stance on fracking and the controversial New Forest Strategy. Do they really think that these small initiatives are going to make hunters change their vote? I am predicting the Alward Conservatives will be ousted and the Liberals will form the next government. Hopefully, a minority government. As things are put back into balance,  Big Brother will lose its stranglehold on our province. The battle for the hearts and minds of New Brunswickers has been lost by the present government and big business. This ruling elite is so arrogant that they are ignoring the writing on the wall and actually forging forward on their narrow path of destruction and all the while expecting voters to swallow their BS and endorse their selfish actions. Sorry if I rant a bit. Like most New Brunswickers I want change and I want it for the better. Period.

 

    We have been seeing lots of game while travelling our hunting areas. Partridge numbers are good and there are a lot of rabbits around. While fishing, we have been seeing good numbers of ducks but not quite as many geese as other years in our area. The high water level has curtailed the growth of duck oats in many of the ponds here at home on Salmon River so we might have to look for ducks back in the more remote,  smaller ponds. Moose numbers remain high and I already mentioned it's a five day season this year. Most people think this will make for a better hunt, including me. I found three days to be a bit stressful sometimes especially if the weather was bad. The deer population did suffer a bit last winter but we are still seeing some deer where there is good habitat. There are plenty of bears around but I don't like the idea of getting two tags in either season. By having one tag in the spring and one in the fall the pressure on the bears would be spread out more in the hopes of increasing hunting numbers during the fall hunt. That's where you want the increase. Time will tell how this change pans out. Here is a photo of some turkeys on the number 10 highway taken this summer.

 

    On a personal note, this past month has been a very difficult one for me. My best friend of thirty years, Allan Davidson, passed away on August 11th, 2014. He was sixty-eight years old.

 Allan and I first met thirty-five years ago when I lived in Minto. Five years later, when I moved to Chipman, I met up with Allan while walking home at 5:00 AM in a snow storm that had big flakes falling softly at that quiet time of the morning. As we walked along, we chatted and found out we had a lot of common interests. We both loved the outdoors and we were soon hunting and fishing together at every opportunity. Our personalities just seemed to jell and we always had a great time with lots of laughs. Our deep friendship lasted until his passing and even as I write this I find myself choking up. Allans daughter asked if I would write something for Allans eulogy which I gladly did. That proved to be one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. All those photos and memories came flooding back to me and I was overcome with grief. I managed to finish writing his eulogy and Allans brother Glenn delivered the eulogy that I had written and he did an excellent job. I knew I couldn't do it. Rest in peace, old friend, your earthly work is done.

 

    I picked up a couple of nice items this past month that I would like to share with my readers. The first item is a pocket watch and watch fob from the National Sportsman Magazine. The fob is circa 1930 and the watch itself is a little more recent vintage but has a nice hunting scene on the watch cover.

 Finally, a picker friend picked me up a nice model of a white-tail buck made from chalk or plaster of Paris. I have two other identical pieces that are lamps but this one is made to be either an ornament or possibly a door stop because it is quite heavy.

This type of ornament was often given out as a prize at fairs and exhibitions back in the day. I would date this piece to the 50's.

 

There are lots of adventures waiting for visitors to the beautiful Grand Lake area so just give me a call or send me a message to make arrangements for a day or a week on the water or in the bush. Until then, this is Dale Bauer saying "Happy Trails to You......Until we Meet Again"