PUDDLE DUCKS,BIG BUCKS,THE BITE AND VINTAGE STUFF

    It's  been a great fall down home here on Salmon River so far this year and with the rifle deer season just around the corner,Kenny and I have high hopes that we will have some nice bucks on the ground again this year.
    Our 2011 moose hunt was a great success (see last post)and our annual duck hunt was a lot of fun,with all blinds taking at least a few during the first day. The pond that I hunt had less shooters this year because Dallas was guiding a couple of new-comers and Randy-Micheal was hunting with his father.That left Ken, Jamie and myself as gunners,along with a couple of gents who found our pond and didn't realize that we were hunting there. It just so happened that I knew Royden W. from his younger days in Chipman so we worked out a good shooting arrangement for the morning hunt. This could have been a difficult situation under different circumstances but I took some of my own advice and showed a little respect and sportsmanship and invited Royden and his son,Jamie to stay and shoot with us after they offered to leave. They stayed and shot with us and they managed to kill a few ducks but more importantly,young Jamie saw how quickly and easily sportsmen can resolve any differences they may have and have success and fun in the process. This was Jamie's first duck hunt and I don't think it will be his last. It's great to see young people in the field and two thumbs up to Royden for the super job he has done introducing his son to the outdoors. Jamie had a summer job with Fredericton Outfitters and caught his share of salmon and grilse while filming some video for you-tube,so he's off to a great start!
    The following photo shows Ken,Jamie,myself and the two retrievers hunting the pond on the first day.

 We got a dozen ducks or so between us but this year I was top shooter with a limit! Now I'll be the first to admit that my shooting skills have slipped a bit in the last few years but this year it seemed all I had to do was point and shoot and it rained ducks! No complaints here! Normally Jamie out shoots me but he was using a different gun this year and I think it threw him off a bit. That's what Jamie said, so I guess that's what happened. The next photo is a brace of ducks and Kenny in the background taken on the first morning.

 We had a mixed bag of ducks coming in to our decoys and we took blacks,blue and green winged teal and wood ducks during our hunt. All of our other blinds also took a mixed bag of ducks and had shooting all day long,just as we did. We had seen a lot of black ducks prior to the opener but many of them seemed to have left for parts unknown just days before the opener. Ken and I think that hunters out scouting during the days leading up to the opener caused these shy ducks to vacate the area. We have found that black ducks are very sensitive to human activity in their resting areas and won't tolerate being disturbed for very long. The following short video clip shows how we were set up in the pond on the first day.

Dallas and his group of new duck hunters did well with all shooters taking ducks,including a female shooter,Cora B. who said she didn't realize how much fun it is hunting ducks.I'm sure Cora will be back shooting with us next year and she says she will be bringing a friend along to keep her company. See you next year,Cora!

    With the rifle deer season starting on Monday,Oct.24th,Ken and I and the rest of the boys have been busy putting out apple baits at our spots close to town.We learned a long time ago not to bother trying to bait big woods deer with apples because it doesn't work.If the local deer herd isn't familiar with apples as a food source,they will ignore an apple bait and continue to feed on browse. We tried for years to draw them in to our baits but we gave up after continually bringing black bears in.This would be great if we were targeting bears but when you are after deer,you soon tire of carrying pails of bait to feed the bears. Nowadays,we just bait deer in areas where we know they will find our baits and come in to feed regularly. We have found that even if a bear does come in to feed on our deer apples in these areas,the deer will continue to visit.They just come when the bear isn't there. We have slowly been shifting our hunting areas over to the southern end of Grand Lake.The deer herd hasn't suffered quite as bad farther to the south and these farmland deer come to the apples much easier. We will continue to hunt our old big woods areas each year because there are still a few old bucks running around and we will be posted on the crossings for at least a few days of the season.

 Another buck that survived last years winter was a huge buck that we hunted in Coal Creek. One of my contacts in the area told me he seen this buck cross the road in front of him late this summer and he looks as good as he did last year. We had concerns that this buck might not survive the rigors of our New Brunswick winters because Ken and I both think this buck is getting old and won't be around much longer. We will be hunting this buck again this year and like the other buck in the previous photo,we will be hunting him over an apple bait.Look closely at his rack and see the nice mass this bucks horns carry.

 These two bucks,as well as a couple more slightly smaller ones are bucks we will be hunting close to town. We will also be hunting another half dozen or so bucks that cruise the big woods in our old haunts such as the Harley Road and the Pleasant Brook country. Be sure to read next months blog to see the results of this years deer hunt.

    The 2011 salmon season ended last week-end on the 15th of October and this year will be remembered as one that provided great angling opportunities over most of the season.The water stayed on the high side and didn't warm up during the summer months. There were good runs of salmon and grilse on most of the rivers and the fishing stayed good until the last day or two. The wind and rain pretty much blew out the last day but Donna A.and myself fished the MSW Miramichi on Friday and Saturday morning before the conditions deteriorated to the point were fishing wasn't feasible.Neither of us had any hook-ups but we rolled a few and had a couple of bumps and just enjoyed being on such a great river at the end of the season. I did manage to catch a very nice grilse in the Cains River a week before the season ended. This was the nicest grilse I have ever caught and he was very close to being a salmon,coming in at 63 cm.,right on the nose. This fish was a nice bronze colour and displayed the typical fall colors of a Cains River fish. The next photo shows me with the grilse.

 I also caught a nice trout while floating from Carroll's  Crossing to Doaktown when I brought my boat home for the year. I was alone so all I could do was get a picture of the fish beside my boot so you could have a reference for judging its size.I thought it was around sixteen inches. I released the trout after the photo because the season had ended and that fish was an incidental catch while fishing for salmon. These nice sea trout can provide great action when the salmon aren't taking and that can be quite often! The following photo shows the trout I caught that day.

   There are still a few rivers that remain open to salmon angling until the end of the month and the striper fishing is going full tilt at all the local hotspots. Muskie fishermen continue to boat some nice muskies in the water between the Princess Margret bridge and the bucket club in Fredericton. This area has proven to be a great spot for fishing large stripers, as well as muskie. Muskie seem to be expanding their range and I expect to see more in Grand Lake and the other connected lakes in the near future.These fish are a great sport fish and provide a lot of thrills when you hook a big one!

         I have picked up some nice vintage items in my travels lately and I left even more behind because I have been trying to slow down my pace of purchases due to concerns over storage space. It takes up a lot of room to store large collections and I've gathered up a truck load of outdoor items over the years. The first photo shows an English game plate featuring a mature stag and a hind standing with another young stag. This game plate is in excellent condition,with no wear to the gold rim decoration. This plate has an overstamp which means it was probably made by one company and then purchased in a lot by another company who then put their company stamp over the original manufacturer. I would age this plate to the late Fifties or early Sixties.  I will include a photo of the stamp and overstamp so my readers can see who the manufacturers were. If anyone is familiar with English potteries,you will recognize the names as manufacturers of high quality pottery items. The next item I have is a little gem of a thing that was spared from certain destruction from the burning tips of cigarettes.This little ashtray portrays a duck hunting scene with lots of action that I find quite appealing to the eye. This item is quite collectible in its own right but when you find the words ''Mercury Dealer'' in the advertising,then it adds a whole other area of collectors to the arena.This adds to the demand for the item and therefore ,the price increases. This little ash tray is in beautiful,unused condition and I would date it to the Fifties or early Sixties.

     The next little item I have is a hand tooled leather wallet that has a nice buck embossed on the front fold. I remember having one of these wallets when I was a kid and thinking ''When I get older,I'm going to get a buck like that'' and I've been trying ever since! I've come close but not quite like the one displayed on this nice unused leather wallet. These wallets were popular souvenir items back in the late Fifties and early Sixties and many times had names stamped on them like Niagara Falls or some other major tourist attraction. This wallet is circa 1960.

    I hope the readers of my monthly blog enjoy seeing some of the vintage items I collect. I realize that this stuff isn't strictly about Kenny and myselfs outdoor activities but this is a part of my everyday life and I like showing these great collectibles so people will know what cool stuff is out there on the marketplace. If any of my readers is interested in anything they see in my posts or would like a day on the river or a week in the bush in our area,just give me a shout and Ken and I and the boys will be at your service! This is Dale Bauer saying,''Happy Trails to You.....Until we meet Again!''

2011 MOOSE HUNT,THE BITE AND VINTAGE STUFF

    Fall is upon us once again here at home on Salmon River and the maples on Moon Island in front of my house are ablaze with different shades of red,orange,yellow and some green that is still hanging on. This is the time of year that many of us wait for faithfully,those first outings to the bush,starting with the moose hunt and then to the duck meadows for our annual duck hunt.Both of these outdoor activities are long-standing traditions with both the Hargroves and myself. If our duck hunt goes as well as our moose hunts did,we'll all be grinning from ear to ear and giving out hugs and high fives! As I mentioned in my last post, ol' Wes Hargrove got drawn for a moose tag,as well as his nephew,James. To say the Hargrove Clan had a great moose hunt would be an understatement and as luck would have it,I got to go on a moose hunt as the designated hunter.

This was the first time that Wanda Doherty,wife of good friend Stephen Doherty,had ever been drawn for a moose tag and since they both have such tight schedules,they thought I should come along to do some scouting and help Wanda during the hunt because Stephen was having a hard time juggling his work schedule. I've known Stephen and Wanda for years and I wanted Wanda to be comfortable and enjoy the hunt,without having to work too hard. I checked around and scouted some areas around Chipman and much to my surprise there was a couple of spots about ten minutes outside of town that held good numbers of moose. Stephen and I kept a close eye on the two spots we had chosen to hunt and we were seeing fresh sign each time we scouted the area.One thing I really liked about these two spots is there was a large bull hanging around the choppings in each area we had chosen to hunt and we would eventually decide to hunt a cutting that overlooked the Coal Creek Valley. A more scenic spot to hunt moose would be hard to find,especially with the fog hanging over the valley at dawn on the first morning. Stephen and I thought it would be a good idea to invite our long-time friend and fellow guide Allen Davidson along on the hunt to call for us a bit and cook up his tasty lunches at dinner time.Stephen and Wanda's daughter Chelsie rounded out the hunting party on the first day. After coffee and discussing some strategy,the Dougherty's started off down the road at legal shooting time,looking carefully into the choppings for a black shape that might be a moose. Allen and I stayed back on the crest of the ridge so we could call out over the valley in hopes of bringing in a big bull.The following video shows Allens calling sequence on the first morning.We called all morning and a big bull must have answered us fifty times with grunt after grunt but he wouldn't come out.Allen thought the bull was with a cow and he wouldn't leave her and I think he was right.After a while,during the height of Allen's wailing and the bulls grunting answers,the cow he was with took to wailing too,for a short time,as if to say 'Yes,I'm here and he's staying here with me'! That's just exactly what they did.Those two moose never moved from their spot all that first day. The next morning,I went to meet the girls and Stephen had been sick all night and couldn't get out of bed and Allen had other commitments so it was me and the two ladies striking out for our moose hunting area.After coffee and some small talk,we started down through the choppings,stopping once at a slough hole to call,then moving on to the last chopping at the end of the road. The girls and I stood on the road and I called twice and was peering off into the distance straining to hear a bull that was grunting far off in the distance when Wanda calmly said'Dale,there's one right there'. I couldn't believe my ears but as I slowly turned,sure enough,there stood a young cow facing straight on to me with it's ears up like a german shepherd. I didn't like the shot and Wanda told me to come over by her because she could see it well from where she was standing.I said it was a little small,should I shoot it? Before she could answer,I remembered what she had told me. She just wanted a moose,any moose,so I just said 'we can't fool around' and I laid that young cow moose down low. The girls and I were very happy to have our moose and we had just been standing waiting for the help to arrive when a huge cow came out and crossed the road just as Allen and Stephen were coming down the road. Chelsie later said that she saw the moose's ear flicker and motioned to her mother that the moose was standing there looking at us.That's when Wanda whispered to me that the moose was there.The following photo shows Wanda and I with her moose shortly after it was taken.This young moose was a dry cow and it dressed out at five hundred and eleven lbs. I already had some tenderloin and it was delicious so I would expect the rest of the meat to be very tasty after it has been hung for a week and then cut up. The next photo shows Chelsie and her mother with her moose before we dressed it out.

    In my last post I mentioned that Wes Hargrove,Kenny's father,drew a moose tag for zone 18 . James Parker,Wes's nephew,also drew a tag for the same zone.Having two tags in the family meant this hunt was definitely going to be a family affair. The crew of hunters stayed at the Smith camp in Salmon River and from what I was told,they had a great hunt and had some great meals during their stay at the camp. Ol' Wes told the boys right off that they weren't going to shoot any cows or calves on the first day and they held good to their word as they seen a cow and a calf the first thing Thursday morning and let them walk. Friday morning Dallas had a good chance at a four point bull but his scope fogged up and he couldn't see to take the shot.Dal was still fuming about that boo-boo the next day. It was getting down to the crunch on Saturday and as luck would have it,Dallas and James stopped back at the camp so Dallas could go to the toilet.After answering natures call,he stepped out of the toilet and looked down the river and there stood a cow and a nice bull.Well Dallas threw himself together and sprinted back to the camp to get James and they carefully stalked to within seventy-five yards of the standing moose.Dallas told James to wait until the moose stepped up on the bank before shooting and as the moose cleared the shore,they emptied their guns into the two moose. The hunt had ended successfully and everyone in camp was in a celebratory mood. Drinks all around and a good time was had by all!This photo shows Wes standing in the background and James in the foreground,with Kenny standing in the middle with their moose.Ken told me that they really hunted hard and he felt they were very lucky to have taken their moose in such warm conditions. James's cow dressed out at five hundred and sixty-five lbs. and Wes's nine point bull dressed out at six hundred and eighty five lbs. The next photo shows Wes standing beside his 2011 bull.

In summarizing this years moose hunt,I would have to say that overall,the conditions were not very good because of the very warm weather we had.Many hunters were in their t-shirts during the afternoon and the moose were mainly moving at night and staying in the green woods during the day.Many hunters complained that the moose were not calling or answering during this years hunt but It seemed to depend on the hunters location and probably the callers ability to call. There were only three more moose killed this year than last year,in spite of over eight hundred more tags being issued.Our station in Chipman registered thirty-two moose this year with the largest coming in at over one thousand lbs. and having sixteen points.This moose was killed by Kyle Jenkins of Cumberland Bay on the second day of the season. Although the conditions were far from perfect,some very nice bulls were taken all around the province and the Chipman area produced some outstanding trophy bulls for several of the locals.

    Although the trout season has ended,we still have some very good pickerel fishing here at home on Salmon River in the tidal waters. The water is just getting down to a good level for fishing pickerel and fishermen still have time for an outing or two before it gets too cold. There are tremendous numbers of fish in the MSW Miramichi and most salmon fishermen are expecting a big finish to a great year of fishing on this world class river. The fall run is just starting and the Cains River has fresh fish in the lower river that are slowly making their way up to the pools in the headwaters. This has been a great year for many salmon rivers and lets hope this trend continues well into the future. The striper bite is starting to heat up and some nice fish are being taken in all the hot -spots on the Saint John River system. Quispamsis is holding its annual sturgeon contest soon and there is a muskie tournament in the city of Fredericton for you guys that like to throw the heavy hardware.

    Our annual duck hunt is coming right up on the first of October and it looks as if we will have a good hunt again this year. There seems to be good numbers of ducks around and I think they had good nesting conditions this past spring. Look for my next post in October to see some video and photos of the duck hunt.

    I have been collecting outdoor magazines for some time now and I have amassed a large assortment of these magazines that date back to the early nineteen hundreds.I try to get ones that are in very good condition and they must have a desirable picture on the cover with the date displayed prominently.I do make an exception to that last rule but only if the cover is exceptional. The next photo photo shows a large bull moose about to be taken by a sport.Note the date on this magazine,December 1959. The next photo shows a cover in which a black man is being attacked by a lion while a white hunter tries to save him.The date on this one is January 1936.The last vintage item I have to show in this months blog is a souvenir item from Minto,New Brunswick. I believe this is a piece of Blue Mountain Pottery formed into a canoe with a native paddler navigating the canoe.I would say this piece is from the late sixties or early seventies.

I hope the readers of my blog enjoy seeing these items I have collected over the years and if anyone would like to purchase something they see here,just send me an e-mail. I will ship anywhere in Canada or the US.

    If anyone would like to spend a day or a week on the water or in the bush with Ken and I,just give me a shout and we will get you set up for a trip you will long remember! Until next time,Happy Trails to you....Until we meet again!

   

SALMON WARS,MOOSE HUNTING AND VINTAGE STUFF

A photo taken from the Priceville Bridge last fall.

    Summer is slowly winding down here at home on Salmon River and the large volume of water we have continues to play havoc with our outdoor excursions. I'm not going to complain about this situation because I would much rather see lots of water in our river systems than a drought. It has really helped the salmon and trout stocks but it has made it much harder to catch the warm water species such as pickerel. With the high water we have this summer,the top water lures have not been working as well and we have found that good sized spoons will work much better but you will have to try and cover  more water because the fish are spread out over a much wider area. Although the water conditions continue to be excellent for the salmon and their pursuers,the catching has dropped off this month because many of the fish have been in the system for a while and they tend to get a little fussy on the take.

This photo shows Donna A. of Carrolls Crossing fishing in Carrolls last fall.

    I got a very disturbing report this month from the Carrolls Crossing area above Doaktown.Now I frequent this area quite a bit during the spring and summer months and I know a lot of the locals that live in this area and they are all a pretty good bunch of lads up that way.As a matter of fact,a few can be said to be good Christian people who wouldn't dream of doing wrong or hurtful things. One of these gents, who shall remain anonymous,is a life long Christian who also happens to love fishing and has been fishing the open water in his area for well over thirty years.This gentleman and his son were out in their boat fishing a pool that is open to the public, just as they had done for years prior, when a couple of guides from a salmon club based in the area showed up. This club has been in the area for many years and they own some very good water in the area of the club,as well as good water in other spots along the MSW Miramichi. In years past,when the water conditions are such that the fish are moving a lot rather than holding,the members of this club would sometimes come to the open pools to fish rather than fishing their own private waters.Why they do this I can only speculate on,but I'm assuming they feel the fish are taking better in the open water rather than in their private water. Many of the locals feel this is unfair but most grit their teeth and try to be cordial to the guides and their sports.After all,it IS open water and that means it's open to ALL fishermen! These two brothers who guide for the club,one who is the head guide for the salmon club,was carring NO FISHING signs and proceeded to post this open water! When the local protested that he couldn't lawfully do that,the guide said they owned the adjacent land and they were posting the water to keep out the 'outsiders' but seeing that the local had fished there all his life and lived in the area,he would allow him to continue fishing.When the local protested that the water was open to all fishermen,the guide said OK,you aren't going to fish either! The local said ' You will have to call the police and physically drag me off of this water before I'll leave' and believe it or not,this guide did call the RCMP,who showed up a short time later. After hearing both sides of this story and calling the local DNR office,the RCMP said the local was indeed within his right to be fishing that pool and the signs were taken down. I know this local personally and I also know he is a mild mannered gent who lives a Christian life but I hear he was so mad he was about to burst a vessel. I have to admit that I too was absolutely outraged at the antics displayed by this supposedly professional guide who was in full knowledge of the actions he was taking.At this juncture,I can only say that I am very glad to have missed this little drama because I just don't have the stomach for it at this point in my life.Let me state right now that if I employed two guides who behaved in this fashion,they would be fired on the spot! They displayed bad manners,as well as being downright dirty! I'm getting angry just relating this story but I felt it should be told just to illustrate how easily things can turn ugly on the water. I want to also state that not all lodges in the area behave in this fashion.As a matter of fact,one outfitter in the Macnamee area goes out of his way to keep the peace with the locals and many times has offered up a days fishing on their private water to locals that have done him a good turn.And that's the way it should be! There is nothing worse than having a day on the water or in the bush spoiled by some oaf who doesn't have the good sense or manners to conduct himself like a gentleman while pursuing his outdoor sport. These kinds of antics aren't restricted to just the salmon waters.I recently read a bit of blog from a writer who was fishing pickerel near Chipman who had another party crowd him while fishing from his canoe.Why would you pull up within fifteen feet of another boat when there is,quite literally,acres of very fishable water around you? The simple answer is ignorance! There is often another human trait that comes into play while afield and that is GREED,the deadliest of all human sins. Many times greed leads to another undesireable human trait and that is bullying.Most of the open water has at least one guy that thinks he owns the pool and always throws his weight around,especially to any new comers.All this does is ruin someones day and sully the name of good sports who are just trying to have a pleasant day of fishing. As I end this rant,I would like to remind the readers to try and remember the big picture.It isn't the sport fisherman who is the enemy of salmon.It is big business trying to make big money, whether inland or offshore,that poses the greatest threat to salmon stocks in our rivers and we must remain vigilant to their destructive practices in their pursuit of profits.

    On a more positive note,the salmon runs continue to be good in most rivers and I am glad to report that I have seen more salmon in Salmon River this year than in the last twenty! I can only hope that this trend continues and we see more fish in the future here at home. Just last week I looked out my window around 9:AM and saw a huge salmon jump that left a ring as if someone dropped a fifty pound stone into the river! I'm assuming that some of the 30-40,000 land-lock salmon that were stocked in Grand Lake will make their way up the river.One of the bioligists said a certain percentage of these fish would just naturally travel up the river system,perhaps not to the headwaters but up several miles from the mouth at Salmon Harbour. A couple of years ago,Kenney and I were fishing the mouth of  Sisson Brook and Ken got a landlocked salmon and missed a second one.We were quite sure they were landlocks because there had been recent stockings  in Grand Lake and the body profile is much leaner on the landlocked salmon because they are not going to sea to feed up in the rich salt water environment. It was also mentioned to me that trout fishermen fishing at Big Forks stream were catching a lot of salmon parr,so that tells me our river isn' dead to wild atlantic salmon runs yet and we still have breeding adults going up Big Forks. If there are salmon still in Big Forks then a lot of the other feeder streams should still have a few. It would probably be a good idea to take a count sometime if for no other reasnon than to see where the Salmon River stands today,in terms of numbers,as compared to former traditional numbers that were taken in yearly counts over thirty years ago.I had access to the run numbers for several years running years  but the last time I tried to find them,the secretary at the cache couldn't find it on the computer but I do remember that the numbers were 6-8,000 for Salmon River and thats not counting the Gaspereau River which has its own run of salmon. Back in the late 70's and early 80's many local salmon fishermen filled their tags right here on Salmon River and her tributaries and only took an occasional trip to the Miramichi or the Cains River in the fall,just for a change of scenery more than anything else. It would really be something to see those days again and you never know,Mother Nature has a way of healing herself,all we have to do is do our part as stewards of the land to help her along.

    My son Curtis was out on the lower Salmon River a couple of weeks ago guiding a Cape Bretoner stationed in Gagetown. Sgt. Cain had some experience fishing for trout and salmon but had never gone pickerel fishing and after listening to some of his army buddies talking about how much fun they had catching them,he asked Curt to take him out for the day. He couldn't have picked a better guide for this species. Curt grew up right on the shores of lower Salmon River and he's fished these things since he was a baby! As I said earlier,the fishing has been challenging for pickerel this year because of all the water but Curt was up to the task and the Sgt. caught enough pickerel that he had a big smile on his face when they landed back that evening.The following photos show Sgt. Cain landing a few pickerel.

Sgt. Cain did a tour of Afgahanistan recently and I was amazed at the level of maturity this young man showed.He said he had a great time and he     would be back again soon for another day out on the water.Ken was also out guiding a young couple from Collingwood,Ontario. Lucas Parker and his lovely girl-friend were vacationing in the area and wanted to do some trout fishing and Lucas's girlfriend really wanted to see a moose.Ken told them he knew a spot where they could catch some pan-sized brookies and probably see a moose during the trip. They packed up lunch and all their gear and headed for the upper Gaspereau River. After fishing a few spots and catching some nice brookies up to twelve inches long,Ken took them to a spot on the Gaspereau that has a lot of moose and sure enough,he rounded a turn and there was a nice ten point bull moose standing off in the clear cut.This young bull was quite co-operative and stood around and let Lucas walk up on him and he got some great video footage. A short time later,three bears ran across the road in front of them,so Lucas'girlfriend got to see some animals up close and personal. After landing back home and having a nice lunch,it was time to sit back for a bit and just relax a bit with your favorite beverage and reflect back on the days events. Both Lucas and his girlfriend said they had a great time and they thanked Ken and told him they would try to be back again next year.Unfortunately,Lucas' girlfriend was running the camera and the video footage and photos went back to Ontario with her but if I get it sent to me,I'll edit this post and insert the footage and photos of their trip.

    We have started to do some scouting for the up-coming moose hunt and the signs and numbers of moose we are seeing is encouraging. There is certainly no shortage of nice bulls in zone 18,where Ol' Wes hargrove has his tag. We have three very good spots within an area of about 50 sq.mi. and we will call and travel between the spots until Wes gets the shot. There are some real trophy bulls travelling in our area but I would expect we will see a younger satillite bull coming in to the call. Then again,if lady luck is with us and we hunt hard, Wes could be pulling down on one of those big old bulls that we know hang around in our chosen hunting area. We are all getting excited and we will do everything possible to get a nice moose in front of Wes. We may have another tag for our zone if Duane Hargroves son-in-law isn't training for a new exercise in the Canadian Armed Forces. We're keeping our fingers crossed in hopes that the young fellow can get the leave. We'll scout as if he is coming and the worst that can happen is we will have more spots for Wes to check out. I'll be sure to get lots of footage and photos of our moose hunt and I will include them in my next post in September.

    The annual duck hunt follows close on the heals of the moose hunt and Jamie has been at me to get out to the marsh and look things over. Every year it is the same ritual.Jamie and Dallas chomping at the bit to get out in the marsh and slog around seeing what we have for ducks. And me saying"What's the rush? We can just sit down front on the beach and watch the flights in the evening to see what's coming and going and what kind of numbers we have''. Then the boys will usually humor me and sit for a few nights and watch the flights as they come in to feed. I've participated in this little ritual for the last twenty-five years I've lived here on Salmon River and I never tire of it.Hopefully,we will be doing it for many years to come because we really have a great time on our duck hunts.From the look of things,there should be lots of birds around because there was lots of water during the nesting period and all summer, for that matter. We have a couple of flocks of geese practically feeding in the yard and we will have to get our neighbour, Floyd,to cut his field just before the opener to try and keep them in the area.We usually get a crack at them and I would expect this year will be no different. This photo shows me walking the island near our hunting spot on the first day last year.

    I have some nice little vintage items to show my readers this month and there is no shortage of goods out there,if you go to the right spots. One of these spots is the annual Flea Market in Sussex that was held recently. I always find tons of stuff at this sale and my main problem is being able to carry the stuff around for half the day! One of the items I found this year was a very nice vintage fishing board game called''HOOK-EM!'' It has great graphics and is in very good condition for the year,which is 1947.Here is a photo of that game.

I collect all kinds of board games but I don't come across hunting and fishing board games so I was very happy to get this item.

    The next item shown is a nice trout planter or nick-nack holder.This item is called lustre ware because of the shiney wet looking finish applied to the pottery. This piece was made in Japan in the 50's and is marked Shafford,hand- painted.

The last item I have to show is a pair of duck book-ends. These book-ends were also made in Japan in the late 50's or early 60's and is marked ESD,hand-painted. What I really like about these book-ends is the super condition they are in considering the type of paint and the delicate construction.The paint on this type of item has a tendency to flake and it is prone to chipping because it is quite fragile.

In closing for now,this is Dale Bauer saying ''Happy Trails to You,Until we meet Again!''