KILLING TIME,THE BITE AND VINTAGE STUFF

  With February being a short month,most sportsmen are looking forward to the first signs of spring. In our part of the world,we usually see a change in the weather around the middle of March when longer days and temperatures above freezing starts to melt the snow pack and the ice along the rivers and streams. Although we are still about three weeks away from that time frame,we have already had a few days of spring like weather heralding better weather to come. But there is a down side to this warmer weather because although it may be melting in the daylight hours,at night the temperature usually drops below freezing and this causes a crust to form when we have a year such as this year with a lot of snow. This is the time when our deer herd suffers the worst,floundering through deep snow and tearing themselves up on the crust. At the same time,Mr.coyote, who had been having the same difficulty in getting around while foraging for food,is now able to travel freely on the crust at the same time as our poor deer are breaking through. This is the killing time for our coy-wolves. The deer are at their mercy and they will pursue them and kill them in their yards or wherever they can catch them. This year will be especially hard on the deer because of the deep snow and lack of cover on our crown lands. The deer are already in a weakened state and it doesn't take long for a pack of coyotes to wear them down and literally eat them alive.I was hoping the price of fur would be good this year because the only way to exercise any kind of control over these killers is by trapping,more specifically snaring. A snare works 24/7 and that's what it takes to reduce their numbers to a tolerable level. Coyotes are just too wily to effectively reduce their numbers by hunting. Our terrain is too thick to be conducive to calling and they like to come to a bait at night when it isn't legal to hunt them. I have to give credit to the game managers in Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan for imposing a bounty on coyotes this year. With the price of their pelts being so low,at least the bounty will provide a bit of monetary incentive to hunters and trappers to target this destructive species. What really upsets me is when the DNR spokespeople say that we can't eliminate coyotes by using a bounty.Who says we want to eliminate them? We all know that isn't possible and that's not what most sportsmen would want anyway. The goal should be to reduce their numbers so they don't have such an impact on our deer herd by their predation. This should be what our game managers are striving for instead of giving the public a smoke and mirrors type answer to a very serious problem.

   Ken and Dallas have been out fishing the hard water on Grand Lake in several locations with varying degrees of success. The boys have their ice huts set up at Cox's Point and at Bartons Wharf and have been catching some very nice burbot and pickerel using cut bait and live minnows. Although live minnows are a great bait for either of these species,Ken says the pickerel are giving them some grief by stealing the bait. This can be quite frustrating because it's hard to get minnows this time of the year and even harder to keep them alive and active. To combat this situation,Ken and Dal have switched over to using mainly cut bait because both of these species will readily take this type of bait without the hassle of constantly re-baiting. A good size burbot on Grand Lake will run between twenty- four and thirty inches and weigh in between four and six lbs. A trophy sized burbot will run up to ten or twelve lbs. and there are enough of them around to keep things interesting. The average size of the pickerel we catch is between eighteen and twenty inches,with the occasional twenty-four incher hooked. The following photo shows a few nice burbot up to thirty inches and an average sized pickerel that Ken and Dallas caught last week off of Cox's Point while fishing from one of their shacks.

On February 12 the village of Minto held their annual seniors and childrens ice fishing day at the Keyhole on Grand Lake. This event is always well attended and this year was no exception with about one hundred people participating including sixty-two  children registered. The Hargrove clan was well represented,with three generations in attendance! Although the Hargroves weren't in the winners circle,they managed to land a few pickerel around eighteen inches. Ol' Wes received a plaque for the oldest fisherman in attendance and I must congratulate all the hardy participants who braved some brutally cold weather for the three hour tournament. I know that both young and old alike enjoyed the hot-dogs and hot chocolate that was served up by the organizers. Young Kayla Hunter was the big winner with a twenty-two inch pickerel. Another large pickerel tournament was held this past week-end at French Lake and Indian Lake which are part of the Grand Lake system. This tournament is always well attended with sports coming from all points of the province to try and catch some of the large pickerel that inhabit these lakes. The winner is determined by adding the length of your two largest pickerel,which can be upgraded throughout the day but all registered fish must be returned live to the water.This is a good idea because it encourages live release of these great sport fish. I don't have any details on the tourney winners but I will try to include some information in next months blog post. Budweiser beer is one of the large sponsors of this tournament and they have some very good prizes for the lucky winners.

   I continue to pick up some nice vintage items in my travels and one of the things I found recently was a nice carving from the Chatam area on the Miramichi River. At first I thought this carving was a beaver but upon closer inspection I came to the conclusion it was an otter. Regardless,I think it is a very nice piece of folk art and was happy to find it and add it to my large collection of vintage items. The following photos show the otter and the artist information on the bottom of the piece.

  The following photo shows a decorative tile depicting a pair of red-breasted mergansers taken from a John James Audubon print. Although this tile was made in England,it has a stamp saying it was decorated in Canada.

The next photo is of a couple of souvenir ashtrays that I picked up at a local flea market.They seem to be made from a copper alloy and depict a large stag and the New Brunswick coat of arms done in epoxy.

I would date all of the items I have include in this post as being from the Fifties or Sixties but since they are not dated I may be wrong. If any of my readers can provide more information regarding their date of manufacture,please feel free to forward any information to the e-mail for my web site.

   Ken and I provide trips by the day or week in our area for whatever species are in season,so don't hesitate to call or e-mail me if you are interested in an adventure in the beautiful Grand Lake area.So until next time,Happy Trails to you.....Until we meet again!

                                                                                                           

MID-WINTER BLUES AND VINTAGE STUFF

The winter of 2011 started off pretty good,as far as New Brunswick winters go,but the last few days have jolted us back to reality. Snow and freezing rain and more snow and cold weather to come later in the week will challenge even the hardiest of outdoorsmen. Normally,we have enough ice to try fishing some of the back guts and ponds on the lower Salmon River but this winter has been so mild up to this point,we just don't dare to chance it. That will all change after the cold snap that's forecast for next week and hopefully we can get out and set some lines to break up the boredom that usually sets in at this time of the year with the conditions we currently have.

     Most sportsmen here in New Brunswick have been keeping their fingers crossed in hopes of a decent winter so our deer herd won't get hit too hard. Our deer kill has been down significantly the last few years because of the harsh winters we have been burdened with and despite having a very good winter last year,the nay sayers are forecasting doom and gloom already for next season. I will reserve judgement until a lat

er date because I usually try to stay optimistic unless it's just too obvious to ignore.
     There has been a lot of talk lately on New Brunswicks premier hunting forum,nbhunting.com,about how our crown lands are being managed.Many hunters are now starting to realize just how poor a job the big forestry companies are doing managing OUR forests.The big problem is the forestry companies are managing for wood fibre and practically ignoring the needs of game animals. As of late,this isn't setting too well with the hunters and fishermen in this province and the big forestry companies and the government of the day had better revise their game plan because the cat is out of the bag and the general population will no longer stand for this type of short sighted management philosophy. With QDMA getting organized in the province,I look forward to this grass roots group of land owners putting pressure on the powers that be to move forward and come up with a plan that includes something for the game animals as well as strictly fibre enhancement.Things are so bad right now that in my view,we can only move forward towards better management policies because there is nowhere to go but up and the status quo is certainly not acceptable to outdoorsmen as well as the general public.
     The one thing sportsmen can do to help the deer herd out is to target the coyotes during the off season.It's too bad the fur market is so depressed because our trappers here in New Brunswick would put a hurt on these deer killers in a hurry if the money was there to make it economically feasible to pursue them. Nova Scotia has a modest bounty on them and from what I hear,many trappers and hunters are really going after coyotes hard this year. The DNR in New Brunswick would do well to borrow a page from NS DNR's management policies regarding coyotes and implement some kind of bounty on these dirty buggers. Even contests for numbers and size of coyotes can make a difference and I see that this year there are different contests being sponsored in various areas of the province. This will help to keep the numbers down and at least prevent some deer from being taken down by our coyote/wolf packs.

     As I am sitting here at my computer writing this months blog,I glanced out the window after some movement caught my eye and there was a nice pilated woodpecker hammering on one of the large trees in my front yard. I've always admired these large colorful birds with their jungle like call but they haven't always been as plentiful as they are right now. The spraying of DDT back in the 50's and 60's nearly wiped them out.How rare were these birds back then? Well,I had experienced woodsmen tell me they didn't exist and that I was seeing things! That's how rare these birds once were. Since those days,these beautiful birds have increased their numbers to the point where they are regularly seen in any old growth forests left,where they forage for insects.Here are a couple of photos I snapped while my visitor posed for me.

This month I have include a couple of souvenir items from my collection of vintage stuff I have collected over the years as well as another TV or stand lamp.This lamp was probably made during the "sixties" in a crafts class or by some industrious person who made crafts such as this in their spare time. This lamp was made as a fireplace with actual stones used in the construction,as well as a hand crafted shade made from pieces of wood lathe.

The next photo shows two souvenir items I picked up recently.Although they were considered as tacky items in their day,nowadays people collect this kind of thing just because it is kind of tacky!Go figure.Regardless of motivation,there is a growing segment of the population that likes collecting this stuff.

I will end this months blog with a reminder to outdoor folks interested in a day or week in beautiful New Brunswick to give me a call or drop me an e-mail and Ken and I will arrange an adventure to our part of the province on Grand Lake that you won't soon forget! Until next time,Happy Trails to you,Until we meet again!

THE YEAR IN REVIEW AND VINTAGE STUFF

The year 2010 is coming to a close and for sportsmen it was both a good year and a poor one,depending on the species being pursued. We had a very good ice fishing season last year with many nice pickerel and burbot being caught,as well as some land -locked salmon and brook trout. As usual,we caught some smelt and a few yellow perch,although we don't usually target this species.We certainly have them in abundance in our home waters of Grand Lake and Salmon River but most anglers here don't bother with them. We do get a few Frenchmen from the north that really like catching them and some sports take home buckets of them to fillet and freeze. Although perch are a prolific species in our waters,we have noticed in recent years that they can be fished out in certain areas with too much pressure. It never ceases to amaze me that some people can over harvest fish from an area and think it has no effect on the numbers left to angle. Our resources are NOT infinite! Sportsmen must harvest conservatively or the day will certainly come when the fishing or hunting will suffer. I have seen this scenario played out many times in our woods and waters over the years and there is absolutely no need of this occurring.

    The spring salmon season was very good this year with many large salmon being taken.There was a very large run of msw salmon in 2009 and this was the reason so many large salmon were caught in the spring of 2010. Not all guides and sports experienced good fishing but if you had the right flies in the right pattern,the salmon were taking well. Although the run of sea trout was very early this past spring,there were very good numbers of large trout in both the Miramichi and Cains River systems. The fishing for brook trout in the early summer was also very good,with pan sized brookies taking everything being tossed at them.
    The fishing for bright salmon started off well but quickly deteriorated as the temperature rose and we experienced a heat wave that took its toll on both the salmon and the fishermen who angle for them. There was a large kill on the Miramichi because of the soaring temperatures and prudent outfitters and sports left the fish alone until the temperatures moderated and the fish weathered the storm,so to speak. There was some  excellent fishing if you were lucky enough to be on the water during these brief periods of opportunity but the timing had to be right. The same could be said of the fall fishing.The run of hook-bills was late arriving and it was only the lower stretches of the Cains that held some of the large males that Cains River anglers love to hook. The fall fishing on the Miramichi River was rather disappointing because of the high water conditions at the end of the season but there were some fish taken.           
     The striper fishing on the Saint John River was good again this year but you have to know your stuff or you could spend a lot of days going fishless. Good electronics combined with the right bait and gear usually produced fish for sports and guides who know the river.The musky fishing below the headpond was virtually non-existant because of the low water conditions and high water temperatures. The Mactaquac Headpond did produce some muskies in the Woodstock area but the fishing was still poor overall.
    There were good numbers of grouse and woodcock available for the upland hunters and Jamie and Dallas took full advantage of this fact by bagging many grouse while out scouting.
     If there is one species in New Brunswick that would be a sure bet to bag, it would have to be black bear. The province is overrun with these beasts and while trophy animals are a little harder to take,bagging an average sized bear is pretty much a slam dunk. This is the only species that I would say pretty much carries a guarantee to harvest. That's how good the hunting is in New Brunswick for bear.
     I wish I could say the same thing for white-tailed deer but I would be lying. That being said,there are still good opportunities for trophy white-tails,but you really have to work at it and Lady Luck must be smiling on you. The deer kill for the 2010 season was about the same as the 2009 season which was at the low end of the scale. The weather played a large part in the harvest figures with warm temperatures and high winds coupled with lots of rain keeping the numbers on the low side.
     We had a very good waterfowl season this year in our area. If you look back at my previous posts,you will see some photos of our group out hunting close to home on the first day of the season. Dallas and Jamie also had some good goose hunting during the early season in some private fields. I got a nice wood duck and it is at the taxidermists right now getting mounted.I've wanted to get one of these beautiful ducks done for some time now and I finally got a specimen worthy of mounting. The colors on these ducks are simply stunning.

     On a more personal note,I was fortunate to have won the 2010 Chipman Summer Festival photography contest in the wildlife category. The following photo is one of two puffins I took off of Grand Manan Island during a tour I took while vacationing on that little jewel of an island. I would recommend a tour of the island to all those looking for a relatively unspoiled natural paradise to vacation in.I really love Grand Manan and have visited there many times during my life and I will certainly be back there again.This little island has a good population of white-tails and many islanders were bemoaning the fact that an invasion of Frenchmen from the mainland landed there this deer season and since the island is pretty much private land,the inevitable hard feelings and ill will come to the forefront and many islanders are vowing to post their land to make sure another repeat season doesn't happen again. It will be interesting to see what happens next year on Grand Manan.                                                                                                                        

Although we are experiencing some unusually mild and wet weather right now,we are looking forward to some good ice next month so we can get out and do some ice fishing.This can be very enjoyable if you are well equipped for the weather and know the area you are fishing.We have ice shacks that are wood and plastic that we put out on Grand Lake,as well as portable huts for day trips on Salmon River,which has more sheltered coves to provide some cover from the winds that are always present at this time of the year. Our rates are very reasonable and if you require accommodations,the Pioneer Lodge has cabins very close to the lake where we fish.

This month I have a couple of very nice vintage items to show my readers.The first photo is of a folk art carving from a Quebec artist of a trout that has been mounted on a plaque.This carving was done at a studio and is signed by the artist. I am not certain of the year it was done but I am guessing the "60's".

The next item shown is a photo of a rifle I recently purchased with the help of a local antique dealer who picks outdoor items for me when he comes across them.I was absolutely thrilled to get this gun as it was done by a local who is now deceased.It is a "sporterized .303 British built by the late Moses Weaver of Coal Creek near Chipman. Moses or"Mosey" as he was called by many who knew him,was a guide who also did gunsmithing as well as carving and paintings of outdoor scenes during his lifetime. As of late,his folk art paintings are in high demand and commanding some fairly high prices,if you can find them. This is in part due to his living relatives seeking them out and offering high prices for these hard to find paintings,especially the larger ones depicting action hunting scenes. Moses also did a lot of guns for his American sports who visited each fall as well as doing carvings on guns for locals wanting a personal touch such as a deer head or a moose to decorate their favorite firearm. I feel very fortunate to have purchased this gun and I look forward to hunting with it next fall during deer season.By the way,its mounted with a Weaver scope. It only seems fitting.

In closing,I would like to wish all my friends and acquaintances a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Happy trails to you......Until we meet again!