02 Feb 2012  Happy Ground Hog day. I didn't hear if the ground hog seen his shadow or not but if six more weeks of this weather is what is coming we'll take it. Today it was 29f. Another week of the same or warmer coming. Yhis must be one of the mildest winters on record. I know we broke a few records. We did have a cold week just after the middle of January. My thermometer read 39 the coldest night. Previous to that the coldest weather was the 3rd week of Nov. We also have only about 5 inches of snow. We had almost that much the second Sat. of Nov. Warm weather and time has beat it down as a little more  comes once in a while. This will definately be good for the deer. Last week when I had a few days off I saw deer in the farmland fields just like in the fall. They looked just as good a shape as they were last  the fall too.  Looking forward to a good season next fall. One of the guys at work found a moose shed that I rolled out with my dozer. Big and really heavy. No more than a couple days old. Work is going well. Had four days off since Christmas. There is no scheduled days off on this job. The dozer work was done so had days off. The grader operator took days off so am now running the grader till he comes back. Then I don't know. Foreman has other work but I would rather stay here. We are north east of Fort McMurray Alberta. I gps the far end of our winter road and are 32 miles from Fort Mac. I will go out this way next time I get time off and will spend a day with Keith and Jilion. About One month from now Keith and Jilion will be new parents and Vicki and I will be grand parents for the first time. A special time amd year for all. Alicia, Ashley and April will be aunts too. Alicia was at Times Square in NY to bring in the New Year. It was qyite an experience for her. Had to be there 10 or so hours early and couldn't leave or would lose their spot. She said there were soooo many people. Saskatchewan girl in NY city. Quite a difference. Asley and Norman were in Florida for a week last January. Norman had some John Deere training down there. They really enjoyed their time there. They went to Disney World and Ashley really liked Daytona beach. They did more sight seeing as well. April and Vicki held the fort down at home. Keith has a new manager at work and he has cut the overtime for all the staff. This will mean a smaller paycheck for Keith until the manager figures a few things out.  I do apologize for not always returning phone calls and emails in a timely manner. Cell service, although good now in camp, has not always been good. We've all heard of good intentions. After 12-13 hours of work and supper I run out of energy even though my job is not physical. I will catch up when I can.    I will call it a night now. Take care everybody, stay safe and healthy. Thanks for getting the deposits in. Wayne, Vicki, Keith  

01 Jan 2012 HAPPY NEW YEAR everybody. May 2012 bring you health happiness and prosperity. Hope Christmas was good also and that Santa made it down your chimney.  Any New Years resolutions?  We had a good Christmas. April was the first to come hom, about the 20th. after she was done for the year in university. Alicia came home 23rd and Ashley and Norm came home on the 24th. The 23rd evening we had Christmas at the manor where my mom lives. She was not feeling the best and didn't want to go out to the farm. My two sisters were there with there men and two of Carol's sons Brad and Todd. My aunt Dorothy was there too. We had a Christmas supper and exchanges gifts. The 24th for church service Vicki and I were asked to dress as Mary and Joseph and greet at the door. We were happy to do this and got many compliments. After church we went home and played cards. I still had some gift wrapping to do so had to stay up a little later. April and Dean came from his folks' place about noon and we had brunch then started in on tearing paper. We did miss Keith and Jilion though. First Christmaas Keith has missed. Keith said they will come sometime in January. The 26th we went to Spruce Lake where the local community hall is rented for the use of Vicki's family. There are 8 in Vick's family. One of her sisters birthdat is the 25th and her mother's is on the 26th. It is a good time when all get together. That evening Ashley, Norman and April, Dean went to our country boxing day dance just three miles from home. They had a good time and saw a lot of people they maybe only see once a year. The next day Ashley and Norman headed back to Martensville. Alicia also. Alicia didn't feel too good the day before but felt better. Alicia and a friend are heading to NY city for New Years EVE's big celebration in Times Square. Can't wait to here how that was. A real treat and different from any past celebeations for sure. Dean was heading out to go fishing with friends. We all were hopeing to do some ice fishing but there just wasn't enough time to go around. I headed back up northern Saskatchewan to work. I came up on the 15th came back on the 22nd. Four days off and back at it. First time I've not been home for New Years. We are getting a road in place for the neighboring oil company that want to haul gravel across our lease to theirs. They will be hauling about 70 miles. Lots of curves and hills to navigate on these snow/ice roads we built. It is good work. I do like the work in the bush. There are lots of Ptarmigan this year. Saw some fox, some guys have seen moose and quite a number of Lyxn too. We will have this road built likely in a couple weeks and then only maitenance. I am not with my usual company on this job but am told I will be kept on in some capacity after my job operating dozer is done. It has been a very mild winter weather wise. Not enough snow to run a skidoo yet. We have maybe 5 inches of snow. Temps on different days have reached above zero c. A real easy winter to take. Next couple of weeks cooler but not much. Easy on wildlife too. The big old bucks can get reserves back in the mild temperatures. Camp is booking up nicely and deposits are coming in now. Thanks for that. Well not much else for now so will sign off. Stay safe everyone and enjoy the holidays. Wayne, Vicki, Keith  

14 Dec. 2011 When Christmass comes. You've all heard the phrase and Christmass is coming too. Here is the latest update.  Week 3 we had Phil from Nevada. Phil shot the big one last year and this year passed. Tough to shoot after taking such a good one. Phil had one close, a heavy 10 but a little short in tine length and no special character. Any sticker or something to add just a bit. Ray put his time in a d on day six, 10 AM pulled the trigger on an 11 pointer that he had seen a few days earlier. This was a wide deer, mature with a split g2 on the left side. I saw this deer one when baiting and said to myself  "this deer will have a rough time making it if he shows when some one is waiting. He showed. Next trip up Ray wants to shoot earlier so he can help Ashley and Norm get their deer. On Sunday after Rays arrival we all ( Ray, Keith,Ashley, Norm and myself took a little drive. We sa w what I thought was a decent buck crosss a little clearing in the bush. Keith, Ray and I pushed this smaller piece of woods in hope of Ashley and Norm getting a chance at this buck. The two does ran past them but the buck doubled back between Ray and I. Ray said it was a pretty good deer. That's how hunting goes sometimes. We made another push for this deer but he had went farther than we thought. Big because they are smart. Right.  Norm took a deer the next day. A good first buck. 9 points. Nash came mid week and took his buck Wedsnday the next week. It turned out to be the biggest of the last week, a 164. A heavy 10. It had previously broke off a point that would have made him an 11. George JR and Sr from MI harvested deer on Monday and Tuesday, Pat and Andy, also from MI took deer on Wedsday. Team Michigan taking the first four of the last week. Team Florida, Charlie and Mike had their deer on Thursday leaving Greg to go till Saturday. Greg did get his buck on Saturday AM. Greg's in the higher 140s and the rest around 140 plus minus. In the end it was a good season. All the guys in camp were great and a pleasure to have. Thank You to everyone who hunted with us this year. All have a Merry Christmass and a Happy New Year. Health be with you all.    We are all a year older than we were last year and more and more we appreciate our health.   The weather has been very easy to take. Today, and other days in the recent past was up to 28f. We got the bulk of our snow (4inches) on the 12 of Nov. If I remember right we had it very warm the next day and lost a lot of it. We don't have any more than that now. The open fields have even less than that. The rest of this week is supposed to be warm also. Not as warm as today but not that cold. The beaver this year have small feed piles compared to most years. I guess they think it is going to be either a short winter or a mild winter. Would be nice to have an above average winter. Normal is ok but above normal is better.   We left a lot of deer that we have on camera. A lot of bucks that are on camera Nov. 1 don't show up again some where till Dec. 1. I have one very recognizeable buck that I have liked for the last three years. He has a regular 5 on one side and a beam on the other side with three tines on the bottom and three at the top or end. He is two years older then he was 2 years ago and of course much heavier every year. He will be super buck next year. He is around lots end of Oct. then takes off and doesn't come back till Dec. We did get pictures of him about the first of Dec. and only had one day to hunt him. Of course he was a no show. Next year. Ashley, Keith and I will aim to harvest early next year. Keith had a 150 on his bait but in his limited time to hunt only had him on camera but did see him once when he went in to hunt. 20 minutes earlier would have been perfect.   The  big moose that Stu and I saw in Oct. survived the seaso also. We will be looking for him next year.  Will be heading out work again this winter. For now at least going back up to Oil Sands Quest in northern Sask. I do prefer to be in the bush rather than the farmland when working. This is true for hunting also and for Keith, Stu and Joe. Excellent job guys. Everyone did a good job. All good reports. Vicki and Helen did  awesome in the kitchen as usual. I have to watch myself as I have all this good food in front of me for five weeks.  We all enjoy what we do and always know there is more to see and learn.  Time to go and put the tractor away before it cools off too much. To all those who hunted with us, to all the staff, Thank You, Merry Christmass and a Happy New Year. Good Lord willing we'll see you all next year.  Wayne, Vicki, Keith        I'll write again on the family and holiday plans soon.

23 Nov. 2011 Hello everybody. Hope the fall season is going good for you. A brief update on what is happening here at HorseHead Trophy Hunts. As you know things are busy here so I will be fairly brief. Week 1 we shot 6 of 7. High light being the 168 and change taken the first morning by Joyce. Beautiful buck with 19 scoreable points, heavy and lots of character. Husband Bruce took a mid 140s deer, a good 10, Joyce beating Bruce again. Next year different Bruce says. Tom took a heavy mature 8 pointer, Monte, Ed and Dave all harvested deer in the 140 range. Tom and Ed and Dave were here for the first time this year. All had a good hunt and will return. Thank You for hunting with us. Dean has hunted with us for numerous years and sat waiting for the big one to present himself in daylight. He did show very late in the day but always concealed himself behind another, not offering the clean shot. Dean did get to see the big one though.  Thank You everyone for hunting with us. WEEK 2, we started off by taking 3 mature bucks the first day. Jason with 5x5 with split brows scoring 155, Angelo with a wide heavy deer scoring 165 and Rod a heavy 8 pointer, one of the heaviest taken here in the last 5 years. The score doesn't do these deer justice as they are very impressive heavy deer. Wait till I get the pictures on and you can see for yourself. Rod and son Chad were here for the first time this fall. Great guys from PA. Chad was taking the place of Steve who was here in 07 and couldn't make it due to health reasons. Will be back with Rod next year. Get well soon Steve. We are thinking of you. Pat shot Saturday, first time to sit that long, Steve M,  Kevin with their humor kept the camp entertained with their back and forth antics. Kevin offered a prayer that we be successful on Sunday night. Takes some credit for our first day success. Pat, Chad, Steve Kevin all took bucks in the 140 range, plus minus a few. Phil didn't see a mature buck of size to harvest. Phil hunts long and hard and will be rewarded for his time spent with a good mature buck. Week 3, slower than I expected with new snow and cooler temperatures. We didn't shoot first till Wednsday with Phil taking a respectable 8. Son Luke took a 10 the next day, decent for the first time to Saskatchewan. Dennis, long term with us, took a good 6x6 on Thursday, tines were wavy or kind of riply. Never seen any quite like it. His friend Perry got lucky on Saturday and got the big the big one that had been eluding us for so long. 14 points. Phil J also shot on Saturday collecting a 4x6. All good deer. Joe saw a good buck but was back in behind the brush, sly old buck. Scott saw a 145ish but not yet mature. In passing the younger deer makes a bigger better buck for next year. We'll have a chance at him next year. Bill saw lots of deer and again not the mature bigger buck that he was looking for. Thank You all for your hard hunting. The first three weeks everyone is reporting good numbers of does and bucks alike. As many as 9 nine different bucks a day on stand. The population is good with lots of deer for the years coming ahead. Now if we can coax a few more of the mature bucks to show themselves. They have been rutting and were still rutting yesterday. Maybe when the rut is all but done they will present themselves. Time to get back at it. An old friend of the family used to say "time waits for no man and dam few women"  Will update again when the season is wrapped up. Till then  Safe and Happy hunting. Wayne, Vicki, Keith

26 Oct 2011 and all is well. Hi folks, hope everybody is doing well. Best wishes for anyone not feeling well. A quick rundown on what is going on around here. The weather has been a few degrees warmer than normal till now. Last three or four nights it has froze, down to as much as 15f and highs around 40f. This weekend it is supposed to warm up a bit and nights only to 30f. Very little preci[itation. A couple tenths back a week ago and some snow flurries last Sunday. Melted right away but in the hunting area more. The roads there are still damp.    The deer have been hitting the baits quite hard for this early and warm as it is. Good sign, shows good numbers. We are seeing scrapes and rubs for a while now too. Have seen a few good bucks in our travels but mostly does and fawns. Big ones dont show themselves so much. We are seeing more bucks on camera again after taking a bit of a break. One stand there are two buddy bucks, one with a regular 4 on one side and a long beam up and out with 3 points at the end. The other is a regular 4 and the other side has just a 4-5 inch point going out and down. They are there lots but like a lot of the others took a break for a while. There was a couple days when there wasn't a buck on camera. Must of been a convention of some kind. Keith  arrived yesterday and is out baiting and setting out the last of the blinds today. He is all excited and anxious, just like everyone else. Stu has the day off to get tires put on his truck and get other things looked after so they are out of the road come the season. Joe is back to his regular job today and will be back next week. Vicki is making pies and cookies most nights and weekends. No one will go without their deserts. Other deserts and will be made fresh. Smells good in the house. Brought the beef home from the butchers the other day. Alicia, Ashley and April are busy at work and in school. Today I am working on the trucks and quads, getting them ready. Just changing oil on three trucks and one set of rear whell bearings on my quad. Nothing serious but takes time. Tommorrow we will be back in the bush, we have cameras to move, put out more bait and check out the wettest trail. I checked it out more than a week ago. It was dry to the beaver run and then as much water as ever. I will make a stab at getting through with the track machine and a quad. I am suspecting that I may have to wait till freezeup. Might not be too far away. Stu and I went down one of long trails to see how wet they were. We got through the bog holes but got stuck 3-4 times. Not much fun. Won't go back till its froze. It took and hour to get to the truck from up there. Yesterday while out baiting I found a 6 point shed. I scored it this morning and cone up with 177. Hopefully we get to see this deer this year. As soon as I get my pictures sorted etc. I will get some more on. I will put on the 2 buddies I was mentioning earlier. The horns in general this year are heavy and mostly dark. Have some other good deer, 160" so far. Well I better go, need a few parts from town.     Stay safe everyone and we'll see you soon.    Wayne, Vicki and Keith  We enjoy the calls and emails. Keep them coming     

Oct I have to read the last journal to see where I left off. Hello everybody. I had Aug instead of Sep last update. It is now October and we are still having great weather.It will cool down down before too long. It is much nicer doing outside work though. We have got the harvest completed. Yield was good. Oats 120 or a little more. My renter had good crops also. I got the hay and straw baled that I wanted and have all the bales hauled in. Long time since all this was done this early. (back in September). We are weening the calves tommorrow and that is one more job out of the road. I swathed some hay and left it in the swath to swath graze. The normal swath grazing land was too wet to seed this year until late late. I have the alfalfa bales for the deer in place and the oats peas cleaned and bagged. Yesterday was the first full day in the bush. We have been out to a few stands earlier and set up a few cameras. Once stands are baited we will get back to changing cards next time around. Have got a couple pictures now and will get  them up next week. Might have some more buy then. Starting to see quite a few deer in the fields now. Seemed like October 1 they started coming out. See moose regular now too. Speaking of moose Stu and I saw a big bull this morning when we were out baiting. What you see when you don't have your gun with you. My fault. I will have my rifle with me from now on. Keith will be here tommorrow and we will see if we can be lucky enough to run into this bull again. I think he is hanging around the same local for the most part. Elk never showed themselves to me but I did get some elk on one of my cameras. I had set it to hopefully locate where I sometimes see elk sign. I did get a picture of two cows and one smaller bull. He will be bigger next year and I know where to start next year. This is our Thanks Giving this weekend and all the family will be home by Saturday night or Sunday morning. Not often in the year that this happens. Always good to have the family together. Alicia has just come. April and Keith tommorrow and Ashley and Norm likely Sunday am. Hey by the way, Ashley and Norm are now engaged. Congradulations Ashley and Norm. We are happy for you both. I will go now but I will return sooner than last time. Take care everybody. Thinking of you Steve.   Wayne, Vicki and Keith  

08 Sep 2011 Pretty soon you'll be tired of looking for something new and not. Not too much exciting but I will bring you up to date. Every morning when I get up I notice less daylight. This means that fall is nearer every day. With fall comes the hunt season. I can't wait either. The leaves are turning on the poplar trees, the leaves are falling off the black poplar trees, the geese are doing their fly by's looking for forage, the crows are all bunched up soon to head south. All are signs of fall. Just yesterday our consultant Tim informed me that his brother took a bull elk with the bow yesterday. But, the weather is not fall weather. It has been70 plus for a week, up to 80 and is to be for another while. Saskatoon records 20 years old have been broken. Some of the warmest weather we've had all summer. You can sit outside in a t shirt till ten and be confortable. Tommorrow's high 26 C. Cooling off next week. I work in an air conditioned cab so notice the heat till I get out at the end of the shift. Thank goodness it will cool for when I will be working ont of doors. Very little rain in the last month which is fine as we had way above normal all summer. The ground has a lot of reserve moisture. This weather is good harvest weather. We will start the oats next week. A good crop to bring in. I am working for another week in Alberta then home to get things ready for the bush. Have to get the trucks and quads ready, trailers etc. Some work to do in the lodge also. Vicki has done painting in the kitchen and other work. She is and has been busy bringing in the garden produce. Good garden this year. Lots of cucumbers, beans, some peas, tomatoes ripening on the vine. Not very often that happens. And it all tastes oh so good. Alicia got a call a day or two ago to drive a VIP car this weekend or Monday. She was in Ottawa a while back taking training for such an occasion. Alicia and April play ball in LLoydminster tommorrow then Alicia has to go back to Saskatoon to prepare for her VIP driving. I'll let you know when I know how that goes when she fills us in after. April got the summerfallow cultivated and disced in the last two weeks or so. Did a good job as always. And is now back in university for one more year. Ashley and Norm are doing good. Norm harvesting and Ashley busy with her job. She spent a night with Vicki last week as she had a job close for the next day. They got their sod laid and fence built this last month. Vicki and I will make a trip to Saskatoon in the next month to pick up some of the supplies for camp so will see the changes then. Vicki, April and I up to Fort McMurray to see Keith and Jilion a few days before his birthday. We left Sat. morning, spent Sat., all day Sunday then left Monday noon for home. It was a welcome break from work and good to see Keith and Jilion. We built a deck on the back of their house. That was three weeks ago and it was hot that weekend also. Before we leftI got to drive Keith's GTO. Brings back memories. Vicki's knuckles were white from hanging on so tight but her voice was fine. Felt good to hold the reins on all those horses under the hood. I have just started with cameras and have more on order. Will put them out when I get home. Yesterday morning on the way to work a deer ran across the road about 4-5 hundred yards in front of me. I was busy watching it so see if it had horns. A voice in my head said you really should take a break and check the other side of the road to check for others. When I turned there was another deer but directly in front of me. It gave burst of speed and braked and swerved and we avoide a collision. It was really closer than I make it sound. Elk season just around the corner. I'll keep posting as that goes on. Keith will be here for a few days for moose in October. My two typing fingers are beginning to fight over which has rights to which key. If you see a typo it's because left got there first or visa versa. I 'll update sooner this time. Promise    Take care everybody.  Wayne, Vicki and Keith.  Hello to Ray and family    50 more sleeps Dean  

01 Aug 2011  Hello everybody, hope everybody is fine. All is good here. We are enjoying very warm weather, in the eighties last few days and the seventies before that. We have had rain most days till about a week ago. Some days not much rain rain but maybe a shower or a little sprinkle. But it's haying weather now. Ashley and Norm, April and Dean are at my aunt's Dorothy's cabin at the lake. They usually go up there on the Aug 1rst long weekend Vicki and I cut the grass in a hurry yesterday and went up for cards and supper. A lot of memorys in that cabin. My aunts have had this cabin since 1954 I think. There are so many of my cousins and I that stayed here for swimming lessons or for a few days in the summeror just visited for the day with family. There were 12 kids in dad's family and all summer 5 or six would show up and fill the cabin. It is so nice at the lake this time of year. With just a gentle breeze birds singing, all the smells of flowers still blooming and the water, it is truely a place to want to be. Not as nice at three in the morning here at home. A quick storm came with high winds,  lightning and thunder along with some rain. Crash, bang, it shook the house. Short lived, not lasting long though. This morning 3 more trees down. I'm getting quite a pile of wood put up. The wind and rain storm that blew through in five minutes on July the 3rd took 19 trees down in our yard. April and I were fencing in the pasture and we were on our way home when it hit. It rained hard and the wind blew hard. When we turned south the wind was blowing the rain straight sideways across the road, just like it will do with snow. Vicki was in the basement when got home. The five minute storm really took its toll on the local resort, taking down big mature spruce and poplar also. There is a lot more room to park rv trailers etc now that all those trees are gone. It was amazing that there was not muvh damage done. Some awnings of course but I think only one trailer and a couple of cars were hit hard.   The cameras I had out didn't produce much, some doe picture, a few bucks, some blurred and some empty. The animals are not restricted to trails much with food supply everywhere. I will put the cameras back out again at a different location and maybe get some better pictures. A lot of water this summer with all the rain limits where I can travel easy. Elk season in six weeks so I will be out more as that gets closer. Vicki has been cutting grass almost non stop. Growing every day. Will be nice when it slows down. The lawn, which gets a little larger every year is beautiful though. I bought an older combine a month ago and Dale and I went and got it home  last week. We had to makr two trips as a fuel leak developed the first day and by the time we got it repaired there was not enough daylight to get it home. We went the next morning and got it home without incident. Talked to Keith the other day and he and Jilion are doing fine. We all plan to got to Fort McMurray to help Keith put up his deck. Always nice to see Keith and Jilion at there place. An anual trip. We all look forward to that. Alicia might even be able to make it. Keith has got the transmission and clutch back in his truck. He was wiping off his tools. He said he was pretty confident as he had not tried it before putting away the tools. Alicia is doing fine in Saskatoon. Vicki and I took my mother out for brunch yesterday after church. Quite an appetite for soon to be 89. She is doing well. Jim and Roxie from NY phoned last week, always good to here from them. Dennis phoned after he seen a tornado warning for our area on the weather network. We didn't have any bad weather right at home. I take that back. The wind picked up the umbrella from our patio set, must have slammed it down on the table before carrying down the driveway because the glass was in a million pieces on the deck. Minor,  but in Lloydminster, an hour west-North Battleford, an hour and 15 south, there was some damage. In Lloyd there were some roofs that lost the tin and shingles. One home in between lost the whole roof. Lots of grain bins this year tipped over, rolled around and the likes. I saw one that blew to  the other side of the road. They really don't travel well. Thanks for calling Dennis. On the animal side Dale and I saw a dark cinnamon bear on the way back from fixing the combine. Near where Bruce and Joyce were last spring. Vicki and I saw a black on the way to the lake one day and Ashley saw four on one of her work days in this area. Sask. outfitters Asso. says there are a lot more bear sightings since the hunting preasure has been down the last number of years. The DNR may extend season dates or maybe even bring in a two bear per season. A larger bear population does take a  bit of a toll on the moose population as they catch young calves. Not much else right now so will sign off. Take care everybody, stay healthy,  Wayne, Vicki and Keith

05 Jul 2011 I'll start where I left off. My cousin Kim cooked breakfast for us and made sure we had lunch for bear season. Being  a musical family she brought out her two youngest daughters to sing for us. They were great. Last day of our season she brought three daughters to play and sing once again. They composed their own lyrics and were great. We all applauded as we were amazed. The reference to shed hunting. Bruce and Joyce were going shed hunting one morning and Kim wasn't sure what shed hunting was. She thought maybe garden shed hunting or the likes of garage sales.   Keith didn't make it home for the golf reunion but made it a few days later. Too much going on right then. He bought a couple year old toy hauler/ camper locally and came to pick it up. Nice unit, capable of hauling a quad or similar and of course all that is a camper. In the couple days that Keith was here we went to Meadow lake to pick up a Mac cab that matches his gravel truck at home. He wanted it for the doors that are in good shape compared to the ones on his truck. On the way home we picked up food for the bears and fed three stands. We picked up the tree stans at two and the third we picked up the quad on tracks. I had left it in the bush to cross this one wet spot. Thought I had better get it out of the bush before the bears decided to chew off more than just the seat. The next day we took the doors off of the cab and loade them into his truck. Keith took a 125 Honda I had in storage with him too. His neighbor and friend does work on bikes, quads etc. Keith took this bike to town when he was about 16. He got caught and one ticket he recieved. I think that once was enough. He did get a ride home from the RCMP. Alicia is in Ottawa for a ten day training session. She was reccommended for the RCMP from Saskatchewan to recieve this training. This training was to learn the ropes of driving in a vip motor cade. Quite intence to say the least. She did well and passed. She did wipe out in training though. That way you know the limit. Alicia brought three of her ball friends to join April and the rest of her ball team for a local ball tournament. They won the tournament in fine stile. April has a summer job with an accounting firm in LLoydminster. She is likeing it and has one more year left in university before she will in the work force. Ashley is home for the night as her job with SPCA has her working close for a day or two. Ashley always stays here  when she is working close. Her and Norm are going to start the fence around their yard where they live. Vicki cuts grass after work and looks after garden and flower garden. With ample rain in the last 2-3 weeks the grass has been growing non stop. We had rain in April which started the grass and greenery off to a good. This also gets the horn growth off to a good start. We are seeing good deer numbers and horn growth for some time now. See lots of fawns now too. Our dog Blazer keeps all wildlife out of the yard but one day she was caught sleeping. She answers the coyotes all night and is more active at night when is cool so was sleeping too soung this day. Vicki saw two deer come into the yard and were within forty feet of the house before the dog woke up and gave chase. Vicki said it was quite a sight. Dog and deer were both taken by surprise. I have three cameras out. One on the bear stand where the blonde bear was and two on trails in the bush in hopes of getting pictures of deer, moose and elk. Versatile place. Keith is coming up for a few days for the October moose rut. There are quite few moose where the cameras are and hopefully we can locate a good moose. Last fall I called a bull within bow range so hopefully Keith can get another chance with his bow. Maybe a good elk will be in the area also. I saw a couple here last spring. And of course like to monitor the deer and their horn growth. I will change cards out next weekend. I am back to work operating scraper, grader and dozer. Haven't had much experience operating a scraper so am likeing the opportunity for that. I will get more pictures up as I get them. I don't know if the last ones are all up yet. The cerealcrops and peas all look good. They took the few nights of freezing in early June quite well. The canola didn't like it so much. Some froze off and that which didn't freeze is slower growing than normal. Is doing much better now with the warm temperatures. 70- to low eighties lately and more coming.We are all healthy and hope the same for all out there. Will sign off now. Take care everybody. Hope the fireworks and hloiday was good.   Wayne, Vicki and Keith. Hello to Dennis, Jimmy and Rob  

Two days in a row. That can't be. Let me see. It is June, I can officially call this the June journal but I won't. That wouldn't be fair. I can add to the last journal and tell of today. Not that exciting. My sister Elaine came on Friday. She helps me every year with the demolition derby at the  town fair. Unfortunately the fair was cancelled. The snow melt and run off and rain flooded ou track and some did not ever dry out. The chuck wagons could not run "too soft" in the soft spots so the decision was made to cancell the fair. Right decision. The weather was cool this weekend and cool weather does not bring out the crowds especially without the wagons running. We went to church this morning. (Vicki and I), Elaine, Steve and mother were there also. We went to mom's for brunch a good visit. Steve told us of a 9 LB pike last week in Wandering River. They are spending part of their holidays near Nipawin Sask. fishing. Keith is coming for the reunion this weekend and has an extra day off so is looking to go fishing with cousins. I told him we will make arrangements at the reunion. I am game for that. After brunch Vicki's sister Sheila and Mitch came over. Mitch and I went to the pasture and closed a gate after the cows had moved themselves to the correct pasture and moved the other cows to the next pasture. Old Blazer buddy (my dog) and the cows took turns chasing each other. The dog was out numbered so was not going to win any time soon. Pastures have to be rotated or alternated to keep the grass from getting mature at any time. This afternoon I took a couple pails to a bear stand that had not been hit all spring. I did bait this stand about a 10 days ago. I had a camera there, checked the card to find a blonde bear has been there. I will send the pictures out tommorrow. Camera was not working proper because I had only three pictures of this bear and four of me. The bear is prettier than I am I guess. This was not the bear that tipped the barrel over. I changed the card and will monitor. I took bait to another stand also with the intention of sitting in the ground blind there. This is the stand where I  park the quad about a half amile from the bait and then take the track machine to the stand. I have been lucky till now. The bears have found the quad on tracks and chewed the seat off. When I get to the stand they have flattened the ground blind. I kinda expected that though. I did set it back up and sat about 1 minute. I had left my thermacell behind. The mosquitos were saying (its good to go , lets get him). I packed up the blind and left. There were a couple rabbits under the truck when I got back. I will go back, with a thermacell in hand. I think about the wildlife that has to live with the mosquitos. Glad I have a choice. I will get some pictures sent off tommorrow. Promises promises I know.  Shed hunting, breakfast with entertainment. What do they have in common? I will tell of next time. Till then take care. Wayne, Vicki, Keith Hello to Steve and hello to Roxanne. Journal fans 

31 May 2011 I am going to cheat a bit. It is June but I will call it May, otherwise I did not update my journal in May. Hello everybody. A past friend of mine said many times " time waits for for no man and dam few women". Time definately does not wait for me. My aunt Dorothy turned 90 on the 28th of May. I talked to her today for half an hour. She says that time hasn't slowed for her either. Every year we have a "Madden golf tournament" This started when aunt Dorothy turned 75. If my memory serves me correct. 10 years ago we had a big family reunion. It is planned to be big this also. I had supper and a visit with Alicia yesterday and she is coming Friday, the evening before the golf reunion. Keith and Jilion we come on Saturday and leave after golf and supper. It is Saturday night that the stag for Keith's best man is being held in Edmonton. Ashley and Norm, April and Dean we be here also. The whole family we be together. It is nice to have our family all together, even if only for a day. Keith is getting the transmission back into his gravel truck. A few snags but he will get it. A little about the bear. Once the bears got their appetites they hit the baits hard and regular. Slowed for a week or ten days when the grass turned green. They are going pretty hard again now. You guessed it, they were slower when we were hunting. We hunted one week. Bruce and Joyce were here from NY, Joyce as an observer. They sat the whole week at one stand. Saw a total of fourteen bear, six or more beaver, various ducks and a moose at twenty yards walking or swimming neck deep in the beaver pond. Bruce was looking for a bigger bear or good coloured bear. I had four browns on camera and saw one in person when baiting but no coloured while Bruce and Joyce were there. They did see three trophy black bear. One a mother of two yearling cubs. A good mother no doubt so she was passed. Two big boars. Neither presented that pose for a perfect shot. With all the bears seen everyday and all the other wildlife seen Bruce and Joyce considered this a sucessful hunt. I think it was a vacation as much as anything. Dave came a couple days early from CA. Dave was hunting with a bow. He saw three shooters bears.Two of the three would not offer the proper shot either.One of these a good coloured bear. I think the bigger coloured bear in the misc. 2011 The one good bear that could have been taken was rubbed too bad. I respect and appreciate Dave and Bruce's decision tonot  take a chance on a not so good a shot. Like Dave said that's hunting. Neal and sons Dan and Tanner were all sucessful in harvesting a bear. All were black with excellent coats. Dan tagged out first on day two with biggest bear a little over  300 lbs. He said the bear came in, walked sreaight to the camera for a picture then went to the bait. Before and after pictures. Young Tanner scored the next evening with a 200 LB bear. Neal and Dan were surprised that  Tanner could sit still in the stand that long. Neal got his Early Saturday afternoon. This was the third stand for Neal. First stand seen enough bear but not quite big enough. Second stand the shooter bear was rubbed. Third stand acturally Neal and Dan and Tanner all sat together on the ground. I don't think they were there for for an hour when Neal connected.  We cleaned the two skulls of Dan's and Tanner's. They took them home. with hides. We all enjoyed the week together. We ate good, the weather was warm for sitting. It did get quite cool a few nights though. Keith took Neal, Dan and Tanner fishing one day. They brought home 6 Pike and one Walleye. We had a good fish fry that night. We ate the back straps of Tanner's bear that night too. UM um good. Haven't had  fish since Keith and I caught a few last March. I put the tracks on the one quad. It does go through the mud well and stays up on the soft muskeg. It is slow though and steers hard. On rough ground it rides rough too. Only use it now to get to one stand. Will use it lots in the early fall. Neal and his sons saw a deer with a foot of antler growth already. Keith seen some antler growth also. I see quite a few deer when baiting in the bush some fields in the farmland we see lots. I think the herd came through the winter well. Looking for a good season again this year. We had rain in April which got the grass green early. This supplys early nutrition for the deer to get their body condition and antler growth off to a good start. Today I moved the cows from one pasture to the next and saw that the last two cows have calved. Both in the last day or two. 22 calves in total. Vicki and I checked on them tonight. There were no mosquitos (unusual) so I was able toscratch all my pets. 5 or 6. The bull came over for a back scratch too. It doesn't get dark here till after ten. Most days don't come in till then. Makes a long day. No shortage of daylight now. The one night we finished skinning the bear at 3;30 AM and it was starting to get light out.      Got my crop seeded early this year and it is up and looks good. This week I hope to get the rest of last year's crop to market then back to work. Near midnight and my typing is getting worse. Will sign off and promise to not take so long next time. I'll tell about the one long trip in and out of the bush while baiting. Also the bear fights seen. I know there is more to mention. Save for next time. Stay healthy everybody. Wayne, Vicki, Keith. Hi Dennis

18 April 2011 It's been a month already.A quick rundown of the last month around here and some there. Hope everybody is fine. Spring is here. The birds have been here for quite a while now. Geese, crows cranes and segulls. They are the later to come. We have a little snow left in places in the bush but gone in the farmland. Mostly bare ground in the bush except trails. See lots of deer in the fields now. Did make a trip out with the ski doo to the bush about 2 weeks ago. Saw one bear track. Have been taking out bait since last Tuesday. Gary came out with me today. He always likes to come when he is not busy. Had to cut the day  a little short. Went to pick up more bait. Picked up some quad parts also. Vicki and I went to Saskatoon to see the girls Friday . Spent the night did a little shopping after brunch and headed home. Was nice to see them again. Got to see Ashley and Norm,s house for the first time. We liked it. Character will be gained with landscaping and decorating. I brought the quad that I bought home when we left. Put a new battery in it and it works fine. Keith found a set of tracks for one of the quads. I will pick them up tommorrow. I think when the frost comes out after the snow hAS ALL MELTED WE WILL NEED A TRACK MACHINE TO GET TO THOSE ACROSS THE WET AREAS. Will come in very handy in the fall when we start baiting. Keith was down for funeral of a neighbor friend. Haven't seen Keith since Christmas. We went fishing for a couple hours the next day. Caught a few and then went home for a fish fry. I went to a SCI chapter show and banquet in Hinckley Minnesota. I was very impressed with show and espescially the hard working people that make it all happen. Countless hours of preparation and hard work go into putting a show like this on. I left on a Wednsday got to the border and was turned back. They didnt like my (made in China hats) and I had too many shed horns. I had them only to show at the banquet. I wasn,t opting for a textile import permit for the hats so I headed back to the nearest town and put the hats and shed horns on the bus and sent them home. I stayed with my cousin in Tioga ND that night, then to Fergus Falls for lunch with Neil and Dan. Neil is treating his sons to a bear hunt up here in May. It was good to meet them. Broke up the drive too. Got to Hinckley about eight. Got unpacked, showered and relaxed after all that driving in the casino for a bit. 5 dollars short at the end of the night. I did get it back and forty more Saturday night. Took a different road home on Sunday, through Grand Rapids and Grand Forks. Had lunch at a little pub called Madden.s Pub. Couldn't pass that opportunity. Took some pictures also. A few years ago we went to a very little town in Alberta named Madden. Have the picture for there too. Made it home Monday eve. There were two calves when I left, four when I got home. Now we have 15. All has gone good calving wise.  Well everbody, work and play hard and safe. Till next time. Wayne, Vicki, Keith  

17 Mar 2011 Happy Saint Patrick's day to all who celebrate this day. I also did celebrate to what extent I could. Was working in Alberta so went down to the local pub and tasted a few, and then one more. I was working in a college town and there were lots of college students wearing green shirts, hats and whatever else. It was good to see. I have a few days off and will try to catch up what has not been done or put aside. Have only had three days off in the last month and a half. Lots of those days were away from home. Worked north of Fort McMurray for a week (counting the drive up and back). Stopped at Keith and Jilion's on the way up and had a late lunch with them. They are fine. I told Keith I would spend a day with them on the way home and help with garage ceiling or something else. Four days into the job we were told we had three shifts left. The next night at beginning of shift we were informed this would be our last shift. With only 12 hour notice of being done I could give Keith no notice so simply drove home after work. I had three people ride most of the way home with me. Normally everyone rides in a van from the shop headquarters to the job. 7 hours. As I went up after shift change I drove my truck all the way and rather than wait for the vans they rode back with me. I did enjoy the company of Darrel, Jerome and Lori who drove a rock truck hauling clay to me to spread with a dozer. There were 8 rock trucks (4 operated by women) three track hoes, five dozers and grader working on each shift. Sometimes more trucks. Last two weeks around Vermilion and area. Drove to Saskatoon one day and looked a quad that insurance had up for bids. It was in excellent shape nother than the instrument dash/ front light was busted offf. Parts about 400 parts to fix and a couple hours of my labour. Ok maybe three or four hours. Alicia is going to pick it up and I will pick it up at her place on the way back from Minnesota early April. Weather wise, the sun is shining bright and the temp is around 0. It is supposed to be warm the rest of the month. On the warmer days+3 or 4, in the sun the snow really went down. With this warm trend the snow will melt and settle without a crust. This is good. Bettter than really warm the sub zero. Will get my snow mobile out later this month if there is still enough snow and go for a cruize. Check out the deer and maybe find a shed or two. Might find the elk bull herd by chance. Would be so nice to locate them and pick up there sheds. Bruce is going to do some shed hunting when he is up for bear. Hi Pat. Pat emailed me to tell me to update my journal. It has been a while. Thanks Pat for the reminder. Tried phoneing people I haven't talked to in a while but I think most everybody is out enjoying the sun or visiting family. I heard reports of Canada geese sightings and gophers digging through the snow to get out and see the sun. These are for sure indicators that spring is just around the corner. The beaver last fall did not put up great amounts of feed and that indicates a short winter. I won't say that winter has been short but maybe spring will likely come early. April is coming home this weekend and since I am home we will cut some wood for the furnace. I moved some snow so that we could cut some dead trees. Without moveing the snow it gets sowet as the snow sticks to the wood when it is so warm. April is bringing acylinder up for my loader. Will put that on also. Cousin Dale has been looking after the cows for me. The cows start calving the middle of April. Will be baiting bear by then also. Vicki has supper ready so I better go. Smells gooood. Roast beef. Stay safe, may the sun be on yor face and the wind on your back. Till next time, Wayne, Vicki, Keith     

07 Feb 2011 Wow, time does go by in a hurry. Been busy at work. Good intentions of getting so much done when I get home. It seems like a good supper and the energy just goes. Any way it has been a while. Lets see, everybody is good. Vicki has had a cold that comes back every once ina while but for the most part is good. Weather has been like a yo yo. One week warm the next cold. Right now it is cold. Tommorrow starts the warming trend.A week of near melting. Then cooling again. The cooler weather is not that cold though. Last Friday it was plus 3 or 4., no wind, sun shining. Should of went fishing instead work. Next day warm but windy. And a litttle snow. I put up a yardlight on Saturday. When I was up the ladder Monte from NY phones. Monte hung the yard light for me last fall on the barn. After that was done I put a new headlight bulb in my truck. Stu came along so we went to the bush and I walked into one stand and picked up the last camera. The batteries lasted till the 6th of Jan. Ther was one good 7 pointer and a young bull moose, plus all the regular smaller bucks and does. Snow is about a foot and a half deep. Normal. Ground hog says 6 more weeks of winter. It was warm on the second so six more weeks of that would be easy to take. April was home about ten days agoand we cut three loads of wood for the furnaces. Ashley was home last Wednsday, for the night. She had work close and stays when she is close. Her work gets interesting at times. Alicia is gone to Ontario for some job training. Acturally Ashley and Norm are going to Florida for a week of training for Norm. I talk to Keith regular. We are trying to decide what kind of track machine to use next fall before the cold weather freezes everything up. Any suggestions? Tracks on a quad, argo, or some kind of track machine. I f you know some one that has a machine that will navigate wet boggy terrain, let me know. Good or bad. Roxie sent us a cd of her singing. Wow were very impressed. Record label next? Went for a drive last Sunday afternoon. Checked out the logging south of our lease. Lots of logs piled up. They are cutting south of our lease and using an old logging road to haul through our lease to the mill. Found a new ridge to scout when the snow goes down. Always scouting new stand sites or places to relocate to. We had 150 bales left to haul, got them in ten days ago. Once those bales were off I let the cows off of their swath graze field so they could come home. They stayed for two more days before they came home. They are in good shape. Most of the calves go to market tommorrow. All Beef is a good price now. Hello Bob. Will sign off for now. Take care everybody. Wayne,Vicki, Keith

16 Jan 2011 First update for 2011 HAPPY NEW YEAR everybody.New Years we went to the neighbors place for a small house party. About 15 of us. A good time we did have, played cards, visited with friends and neighbors and ate good of course. Have been working most days. Close to home.  Even in the winter, time does not slow down. Less than three months we will be back in the bush feeding the bear. Bruce and Joyce are all excited about coming up. Talk to them quite regular. Weather has beeb seasonable, which means mostly normal. We have been getting snow regular, about 16 inches now. Temps until a week ago have been very friendly. Now we get down to 10- 20 below. Next week the weather is supposed to warm up to 20 above and maybe even a little warmer. Warm is nice but I,d sooner save the warmer for spring. If we don't get any colder it will have been a good year. The warmer weather is supposed to last till Feb. We will see then what lies ahead. The ground hog will have his say. Not that he is so accurate. Our kids are all doing fine. Alicia likes her new position with commercial crime in Saskatoon. She just finished a week long course in Regina. Keith has been working hard and then on days off working on his garage. We plan on going up Keith and Jilion's place after bear season for a break and help out building a deck or whatever might need to be done. Ashley is likeing her job as an animal control officer. Puts in lots of miles and time. She has always liked working with animals. April is doing well in commerce university. April is home this weekend. We went to the hockey game last night. Our team "St.Walburg Eagles" won 7-0 over the opposing team. They have a few shut outs this year. Vicki had a bit of flu but is fine now.  I have a few more phone calls to make so will make them before it gets too late. Roxie, I got your cd but haven't had the chance to plug in yet. Thank You and will call. Till next time keep you head up and your stick on the ice.  Wayne, Vicki, Keith

30 Dec 2010 After losing six pounds over the deer season I think I gained it back over Christmas season. Hello everybody and you had a very Merry Christmas. Wasn't the turkey good? and all the fixin's. Alicia and April arrived Christmas eve with presents and good cheer in hand. We celebrated Christmas as usual but later on Christmas day. Ashley and Norm, Keith and Jilion  arrived about seven for our big dinner.  A good Christmas we did have. Boxing day we we Keith, Jilion Norm and I went fishing for a few hours before we went to Vicki,s mothers for her birthday. Keith and I each caught one pike. A little slow but we didn't have much time. The weather was so nice. Just below freezing that day and warm on either side of boxing day. Vick's mothers birthday is on the 26 and every year we rent the small little local hall to celebrate her birthday and visit with family up for Christmas. The evening of boxing day we enjoyed a round or two or   three of cards then headed off to a dance held in the country hall where Vicki and I had our wedding dance. Just three miles from home. We drive by it every day on our way to hunt. The 27th is the day when my mother, sisters and their family get together at the lodge for our meal and little gift exchange. Lots of fun. Alicia went back to Saskatoon after supper. She was back to work the next day. Keith and Jilion, Ashley and Norm headed back the next day. Eveybody back to work including me. We have about 8 inches of snow, temps have been decent, easy to take so far. Roughly from 0 f-25f. Cold tonight and tommorrow and then a warming trend. Not too warm I hope, save the warm for spring. See quite a few deer from the roads and three moose on the way home from work. They look good. Saw a couple coyotes today, one good the other carrying one foot and looking a little rough.  Deposits are coming now and it looks very good for 2011. Once we get to the new year and every gets back to normal etc. I will be phoning to pass on good wishes for the New Year. So before I drag on I will wish every body a healthy, prosperous and espescially HAPPY NEW YEAR    Wayne, Vicki, Keith 

06 Dec 2010 Week four a slower week. Mark and Scott hunted hard for five days. Scott shot a good 4x4 with a brow tine broke off and Mark didn't see bigger than a 145 and did not shoot. Mark and Scott drove up from MI. Last week everybody shot 145-150 and change. All good mature deer. Steve's had an extra tine off one of the bases which added character and inches. I will have the pictures on soon. Charlie and Mike from Florida both shooting on Day three. Heavy, the way I like them. Nash shot on Saturday, asked me how my tracking skills were. "lets start where you shot" I said. Nash said when he shot all the deer  ran off. His deer did not run off but went only down, right where he had shot. Had me going for a bit. All in all a good season. I am pleased. I would like to THANK all those who hunted with us. We enjoyed everyone that came through camp as always. All the extras we did this year really make for good memories. Joyce who hunted with us, Jim and Roxie,  who had their system of what to do and when down pat. Lots of fun. The beaver trapping with Bruce, Monte and Steve. We took a coyote on the way to the beaver pond one day also. Keith and Rob took a coyote also. All the gang from the second week who accompanyed me on my short quest for the monster of the day. A few shots fired. And no, I missed. First time out with my muzzleloader. Got us all reved up. Bill said the highlight of the week. Was fun. Highlite of the third week was Phil taking his big 183. A true trophy. Very deserving. Kevin taking what he called a management buck. Turned out to be crowding 160. First time here Scott and Phil. Very impressed with the number of deer and new bucks everyday. Scott's more than 160 and Phil's in the 150's. We tracked his a bit and we caught up to him. Acturally good to keep up the skills once in a while. Doug, Mike and Chipper, three brothers from Virginia. I am very impressed with three brothers who get along so well and enjoy so much. I sequestered there assisstance after they had shot. I had them push a piece of bush for me while I waited in hopes a moose of stature would present himself. Not the case. We were amazed at Doug's ability to cover so much ground, crossing in front of both Chip and Mike.   Last week Chris took Mike and Charlie on a tour to see some of the diverse terrain we have here. Not all flat and forest. Mike was impressed with the Saskatchewan River and its banks and the inhabiting white tail and mule deer. A few moose were seen over the season. Charlie spotted a wolf in the farmland while on tour. Thanks again everyone for gracing our camp and good hunting. Thanks to the guides, my son Keith, who takes off from work to guide, Chris, his third year with us and Joe who did very well first year with us. Lots of good comments. My wife Vicki and Helen for all the wonderful meals. None better. Much appreciated everybody. It takes a team effort to make this all work.   I have lots of emails coming and being so busy I don't get them answered in a timely fashion. I will respond though. Thanks for your patience, I will get the rest of the pictures on soon and some trail camera pictures on also.     Chritmas just around the corner we would like to wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR       Wayne, Vicki, Keith

23Nov2010 My last update got lost. Sorry folks. A brief rundown of the season so far. Will provide more details as time permits. Week one a sucess, all shot. Ranging from high 130s to high near 150 best an 11 pointer. Week two everybody shot but Roy who came late and will come back the last week for a couple days. Once again ranging from 140 to mid 150s. One of these 150s buck was an 8 pointer plus a 2 inch sticker off a brow tine. A 155 full of character and knarly. Week three mostly in the 150 and two that scored at 160 and monster 183. Wait till I get these pictures on. Week four under way. Some of the extra activities included trapping beaver with Bruce and Monte, calling coyotes, my own search for a trophy deer. I had the guys involved on this adventure.   NOTE Jim Benton's show is set to air on ESPN2 Sun Dec 19 at 6AM. Watch for it and let me know how you liked it.  I will be back soon.   Wayne

25 Oct 2010 It's raining it's snowing the old man is snoring. The old man may not be snoring, it may not  be raining but it is snowing. It started out as rain yesterday am then turned to snow last night about 10 pm. This morning there was about 2-3 inches on the ground. I took the 97 to Paradise Hill to have some minor work done. Chris and I then headed to the bush. We each had stands to bait. All the stands are hit hard and that will continue more so that there is snow on the ground. I saw deer on most stands when I went in. Was not that cold but that makes the snow sticky and that makes it wet. The snow was stuck on all the shrubert type willows and bent them over the trails. Travel was through the trails not down them. I'm sure we looked like snow men coming through the trails. I was wet all the way through when done. I will be glad when it is cold. On a positive note, we are now getting back around and able to check cameras. Today we have some good pics. One stand has as many as a dozen different bucks. Ranging from spikes and fork horns to 5x5s. I think the best here was a 5x4. Another stand has a good 4x4. Related to the good 4x4 taken last year. The high light " made my day" a 6x8. 6x7 with a split g2. Looking closer I think it has a scoreable point on each base. NICE. One more good 8 pointer. We are out again tommorrow. Maybe have some pics.  Check the website for new pics. Time to rwst mine eyes. Till next time.  Count not sheep but deer jumping the fence,   Wayne   

20 oct 2010  the weather has been awesome here, everyone is pretty well done harvest.  We're done combining and baling and busy in the bush baiting.  Thankgiving weekend we were in Edmonton, Keith and Julion were married and everybody had a good time .  I welcomed Julion into the family by explaining hunting season starts Nov1 this year so she's now married into the family she has to come down and help cook. Just joking! The happy couple were bugled into the hall by an elk caller and some of the uncles and cousins wore dressed in camo for the occasion. Keith will be down next weekend to start helping with the hunting season. Chris, wayne and joe have been busy in the bush putting out feed, putting up cameras and moving stands. Joe Lukan will be guiding for us this year as Dennis is busy building cabins this year and can't make it. Joe has helped us in the past and will be a great asset to us. Lots of big deers being seen in the farmland good to hear.  Before we know it hunting season will be here only 11 days to go. We are very excited to get the season started and welcome back old friends. talk to you soon  Wayne and Vicki

04 Oct 2010 Hey the weather has been pretty good as of late. A lot of the harvest has been done. Yields have been good and a lot of the crop is in good condition. Dale and I combined the bareley I had yesterday. It is dry and ran decent. Baled the straw yesterday also. Have some oats to take off yet but they will be a while yet before their ready.      Fall is here in most respects. Leaves are all but off. Temperatures have been warm, above normal. Is supposed to be that way for a week or so and then just below normal. More water in the bush since all the rain this year. Makes it a little tougher to get around but it is also what makes the grass so lush and green and ultimately what promotes horn growth.      Last week Brian and James from Houston were up and took a couple of fine black bears. One of the weeks high lite was one day Brian and James were sitting together. Brian had already shot and was sitting with James. Mid afternoon a bear came down the trail to the stand right towards Brian. This particular stand is on the ground, across a creek from the bait. Brian and the bear were both startled. Sounded like Brian jumped over James ot get out of the road and the bear turned and left. Don't know how fast because no one was in position to see him leave. I joingly told Brian he should have acted as bait si James could get a shot at the bear. The quad was parked a mere 20 yards away and guess what, the bear had chewed the seat off of the quad while  Brian and James sat and watched for bear at the bait.   That big chocolate bear made a very brief appearance, no chance at a shot. Brian is already looking for more to come back with him and James next year. Had a good time. We called a couple coyotes out only to warn them off. A magpie near the lodge was not so lucky as the coyotes.      Update on my quest for elk, if you can call it that. I did make it out four or five evenings or mornings. I saw one elk cow. I saw at least three moose each time out and of course numerous deer. One in particular caught my  eye for sure. It is time to start baiting and put cameras. I saw pictures that a friend had on his camera. He had one that had a regular 5 point on one side and then the other side had a brow tine, one more point and then a cluster of points at the tip. On another camera (a frind of a friend) he had a monster.       It is good to see that there are some good deer out there this year.        Tommorrow holds a few phone calls to make, and work down some pasture land we had broke up earlier.       Keith and Jilion's wedding day is not too far away any more. Thanks to all who sent good wishes for their special day. Still time to email and I will pass them on. Doug and his two brothers are getting excited to come up. I talked to Doug a week or so ago.     Talked to Jim and Roxie from NY the other day. They are so looking forward to coming up in Nov.   Dean, Jim and Steve will be here the 28 or 29 of Oct. A couple days early to have a few days to travel and bait with us. Just relax a bit before we get into the thick of things.    Hope all is well with everyone, see you soon.     Wayne, Vicki and Keith say Hi to everyone       

15 Sep 2010 Fall is here. Today is 10 degrees below normal. It is cold one day warm for one, rainy for two but it is definately fall. Weather will change and warm up, at least for warmer than normal. Actually normal would be good as normal is about 65.  Harvest has been very little. Much dismay to the bird outfitters as they have very few fields to hunt. Not that many geese and ducks from the north yet but starting to come. Our bull elk season started yesterday. Wanted to get out but my scope was so far off I couldn't get it on the paper. Keith bought me a scope last Christmas so I put it on today. It  has a  30 tube so I had to go to LLoydminster to get it mounted. Bought some ammo for my rifle and muzzleloader. Came home and put it on paper, a minor adjustment and I'm good to go. Plan is to go out tommorrow AM. I was out scouting for elk a few days ago and saw some trails used regularly. Looking forward to this hunt. Saw another good buck when scouting. From what I can tell the deer will score 10 inches above last year on the average.  Hey, we got the extra shower installed in the lodge yesterday. My plumber cousin Dale came out  and with his expertise we got it in. Looks good. I will put up some cedar to finish it off. That 97 F350 that I bought a couple years ago now has a much less  experienced motor in it. Looking forward to having it in the line up. Keith has already claimed it. Wants to lift it but I said it is high enough already. I will let him put some step rails on though. Have been baiting bear for month now. Joe from SW Texas was up a week or so ago and shot a nice black bear. They have really haircoats as fall approaches. Joe could still hear the quad in the distance when he shot. We had baited one stand then Joe sat on the second. I went back to sit in the first stand. The bait barrel had already been hit and I must have scared the bear up the tree about 20 yards from me. 20 minutes later he came down. Hard to tell how big with all the leaves on the trees. Joe really enjoyed himself up here, all the trees and nature, the mounts in the lodge. Good to have you up Joe. Brian and company comes a week from Sunday for a bear hunt. The bear coming to the bait good now as the blueberrys are all but done. They have a big appetite this time of year and go to the easyest food source. Keith is getting married  in Edmonton Oct. 9. I have extra invitations and anyone who would or could come, get ahold of me for details and maybe we surprise Keith. He would really be happy if some one very unexpected did come. Also you can email good wishes for Keith and Jilion to me and I will see to it that they are read at their reception. Please take this as your invitation to be a part of Keith and Jilion's special day.   I will lt you know how the elk hunt goes.  Counting the days.   Wayne

20 Aug 2010 It's not raining today. Acturally it hasn't rained for 4 days. I take that back, it did rain for an hour yesterday. Not hard but it rained. The rain that came early and often and plentiful is almost not as welcome as it usually is. Rain is good. We whave enough now and would like to finish the haying season and move on. Very little hay has been put up without rain on it. The last hay has been out for nearly two weeks. Moving on. I was out to the bush a week ago Tuesday and Wednsday and set up two new bear baits and baited 5 favourite stands. I had a camera out at one bait since spring season and finally read the cards yeserday. Four different bear on this stand before the batteries went too low. Chocolate reddish and three black. One good size. The chocolate/ brown or reddish was pretty good too. We have so many variations in colour it is hard to know what colour to call them. Another card that I missed looking at had a variety of bear. Pictures of bears in the tree, standing and looking in the tree, brown, black and a cute little one sitting and looking in the barrel. I always get good pictures at this stand because of the scenery and the way the sun shines in here. It is almost like the bears put on a show for the camera. I will put some of these pictures on the website, hopefully next week. Have been working in Alberta and will likely be here for a while yet. Seen another good deer the one day I eas out baiting. He let me look at him just long enough to see him and then took off just like those big old smart bucks in the fall. He was a dandy. My foreman at work has seen a half a dozen really good deer this summer. A lot of good to better deer seen this year already. Gonna be some good deer come in this year. Ashley, April, Norman and Dean were home last weekend and spent two nights at the cabin at Loon Lake. Vicki and I went up and had supper and cards with them. Men against the women in cribbage. Game 1 for the men. Game two the women skunked us. Game three we one again. Was a lot of fun. We are eating a lot of cucumbers out of the garden and tomatoes too. Have had new potatoes and beans from my 87 year old mothers garden. Another plus for this time of the year. Crops look good but need hot dry weather to get them matured and dried down for harvest. I talked to Dean today from WI. Informed that he will be here in 74 days. I always appreciate anybody that keeps track of how many days till the hunt. Dean is not the only one.  Better quite with the update or won't have as much for the next one. I have a few hunters for fall bear have room for more if anyone wants to come up. We can do a spot and stalk also. Maybe Ashley will have a weekend off and be able to hunt bear with me. Well folks, till next time stay safe and healthy and positive.     Wayne and Vicki.  Oh and Keith says Hi to everyone.   Hi Bob

04 Aug 2010 Hello to everybody out there. July 2010 is gone and Aug is here. Summer is closer to the end than the beginning. An old friend of the family used to say I'm a lot closer to the end than the beginning. He was right. This was about the age of 70 and he died ( God rest his soul) at the age of 82. With summer ending fall will follow and of course fall brings the hunt season. That's where we put our wares against the smart old whitetail bucks, put our time in and hopefully the stars line up for us. There has been numerous sightings of good bucks in the area. More and bigger, on the average, than the two or three years previous. With lower hunter #s the last couple years, that reduces the presure. Looking forward to a more than good year. Weather has been relatively normal for temp and above normal rainfall. No shortage of grass or hay this year. Crops are very good also. Farther south in Saskatchewan they have too much rain. A lot of acres not seeded and some fields were flooded later and some now. Different sities/towns have had flooding problems. Usually what happens is that there is some hail at the start of the storm that plugs the storm drains. Then the water builds up and runs down the street to the low spots. Not too much fun. Keith and Jilion were home for a few days from Fort McMurray last weekend. Keith's grad class had a small reunion. They took that in Friday and Saturday. Was good to see them. April was home the same weekend. She mowed lawn, whipper snipped on Saturday then on Sunday I had the disc ready so she disced till it was time to go. It always helps when we get some help around the yard and in the field. Ashley and Norman were home this last weekend. Again we got help around the yard. Saturday we worked an area of the yard that was previously poor grass. Once we had it worked up nice we harrowed and seeded new grass. Sunday we went to Turtle Lake to visit some of Vick's family. We went fishing for a couple hours ( Garth, Ashley, Norman and myself ) We caught quite well. We kept 5 the biggest at six lbs. We threw some back, lost a few and had a good time. My first time on the water this summer. Will have to go again. Norman and I carried a shower unit upstairs in the lodge. It is ready to install when I get a few days off work. Adding another shower will be welcomed. Work is a little slower this week but the phone just wrang with more work. I guess I better get going. Will be back on soon. I saw a good buck the other night when I was out, close to 160. Take care everybody,       Wayne     

 14 July 2010 We've all the expression "my how time flies" and for the most part that is true. Hello everybody. Hopefully time is not travelling too fast for you. Deer season only 3 and a half months away. Not that far any more. Guys are getting anxious, can't hardly wait. Got an email from Joyce and Bruce the other day and they as well looking forward to Nov. Brief on the weather. I may be repeating but last winter was mild and no more than a foot of snow. March warm weather took care of the snow. Acturally there wasn't much left for March. April and May above normal temps with ample rain to get the grass and foiliage growing early. June and Jul normal temps but above average rain. Hay crops, pastures and grain look really good. All the makings for the deer to grow excellent horns. Got the age results back from the jaw bone samples. Last year from 3.5-5.5 in age. One was 2.5 but you would think that it was a mature deer by the rack.  Crop has been in the ground for a month or more and looks really good. Oats again and some barley. I seeded a plot of about two acres this year for the first time. Seeded peas, oats and Brasicus Napus or Argentine type canola. Will put out cameras later and see if I can get a few pictures. Speaking of pictures my bear pics are not up yet. I sent them out a while ago. Will follow up to get them on. Have been back to work operating a dozer building oil leases. Long days. 12-14 hrs. Then there is a lawn mower waiting for me saying fix me. I worked on it different nights and yesterday got it back together and operating. The grass has been growing fast due to the rain and warm weather. Second saturday in June we had our annual golf tournament. Once a year cousins from twelve Madden original  get together for a good time and see how everyone is doing since the last time we have seen each other. For some this is the only time I see them. Weather was good, golf was good, food was good and all went well. If you look in the 2009 misc gallery you will some mule deer. Two of them big. I saw four bucks a couple days ago on my way to work in the early AM. Same place and I am sure that the two big ones were the samr two as last year. I didn't get a picture but will be watching for them. They look good again this year. Last week we had a family of four from NY stay a day and night. They sat in a bear blind one evening in hopes of seeing a bear. The bear didn't show up this evening. The next morning after breakfast we had some target practice. Targets cans and bottles. This was a unique experience for Lindsay 16 and Joao 9. Mother Karen shot well also. Gareth probably shot the highest average. There were a few bottles taken home as souvenirs. Gareth acturally has realatives up from nearby Frenchman Butte. There was a 125 year annivarsary of the Riel rebellion, some of  which took place on some land that his grandfather once owned. Imagine Gareth phoning from NY and me knowing his realations here and of the place where the ceremony was taking place. This was at Fort Pitt. There is local history here. I guess as most everywhere. Well I will sign off now. Stay healthy and may the wind be always at your back. Wayne   

Happy 4th of July

May 2010 I didn't realize it had been so long since I last updated my journal. First order I guess is the bear hunt this spring. Gordon from NJ came up the 10th of May and took a nice black bear on Tuesday. This bear had the nicest white patch on his chest. It had a black dot in the middle of it. Gordon spent time with me baiting the stands, farming and also spent some time shed hunting.  I saw a big smile when after a few hours of shed hunting came out with a big heavy single horn with six typical points. Had a nub of a seventh. Also found a couple smaller ones. One of which when we were baiting. I really enjoyed Gordon. He is planning a trip back up here as he had a good time.  Week of 17 May brought Dean, his two brothers, Scott and Todd. Their father James/ Fuzzy came also.Dean has been up here numerous years hunting deer. It was Dean that I stayed with last year in Wiscounsin. A very special week, father and three sons. Very close family. First night out Scott and Todd had a bear so close to the ground bling that they could have touched him. This bear was nick named Victor as he had a very prominant v on his chest. Needs another year or two to grow. We will be watching for him next year. Todd saw a beautiful cinnimon bear but it had a little black cub with her. He did shoot a handsome chocale coloured boar. All of 325 lbs, skull only a few 1/8 from making the record book. We didn't hardly celebrate that night. Father Fuzzy was the next to shoot. Dean filmed him shoot. A fun video to watch. A good black bear. Fuzzy always made sure the fire in the pit was going every night and was often there in the morning before breakfast enjoying his coffee. Scott shot black that kept running off  a chocolate bear. Scott put up with this bear long enough. The chocolate will be able to enjoy supper without being harrassed. He seen two seperate sows, both big, one with four cubs and one with two cubs. He said the two little cubs ccould of fit in his boots. Dean saw the same sow with four yearling cubs every day but one. She was legal to shoot but Dean let her go. This was good of him because these sows are what reproduce to make more. Assures us of a future population. This was also the week that Jim Benton and his 17 year old son Nickolas came up for the spring bear hunt. Was a pleasure having them in camp. A lot of new things for Nick to see and experience. Nick helped me cut firewood for the nightly camp fire, got to drive quad and see all the country side. One afternoon we all shot some clay pigeons. Nick did very well. Jim and Nick sat together so that Jim could film.They hunted hard for six days and the highlight was a big cinnimon coloured bear came into view, gave opportunity for some great footage but never preaented himself for that perfect on camera shot. We all felt bad for Nick. While Jim was filming ( Nick ready)  was not able to shoot because ther was a willow blocking Nick's line of sight. Unfortunate but thats why we want to do it again next year. Keith took out the gang for some gopher hunting 2 or three times. Wasn't much competition there amoungest the brothers.  All in all a great week with father and sons. I will get the pictures on next week. Next week will come before Christmas. I promise. I will talk about the weather and deer next time. My two typing fingures are near worn out. Be back soon. Take care everybody.            Wayne      

22 Apr 2010 Spring is definately here. Frogs came out in full chorus about a week ago. Nothing can beat the sound of frogs in the spring. We have had super weather this spring and especially this last few days. In the 70s for days on end, well three or four anyway. Has been good since the 15th. We had a couples of snow but soon melted as it was mild even during the snow. It will cool off some what tommorrow and maybe rain. The snow a week or so ago gave us needed moisture. It is amazing how quick the grass is greening. Where I was setting up a new bear stand the leaves were acturally starting to come out. Yesterday and today I was setting up for bear in an area I had not used before. I did a lot of scouting where I wanted these new stands and was very happy, when yestweday I found the track of a big bear. I am excited about hunting this stand. Bears are coming into the baits but haven`t got their big appetites yet. That will come fast as they get used to eating more and more. Imagine sleeping for six months and thinking you can resume eating the way you did before you went to bed.   I found my first elk shed yesterday while baiting. I was quite happy about that. I keep a watch out for horns all the time now, more than ever and find one nearly everyday I am out baiting. Dale said that 10 point that is coming in still had his horns a week ago. His smaller buddy lost his three weeks ago or so.     The other evening coming home I had a moose that wanted to race me. He was determined to run down the road in front of me but wasn`t happy unless he got to cross the road because I guess the trees were greener on the other side. I should have some new pictures next week. I got some more pictures put on the web last week. Check them out.   Ashley and April will soon be done school and looking forward to their jobs and what summer brings.  Time to go.     May the wind always be at your back and the sun on your face.   Wayne  PS Vicki says Hi to everyone

Check out the specials we have in the prices. 

09 April 2010 Hello everybody. Hope everyone is fine. All is well here. Cooled off from what it was yesterday. Yesterday about 65, wind came up and now 30 degrees. Some snow coming also. Maybe 3-4 inches the weather man says. Ground is warm so is and will melt in short order. Took out some bear bait again yesterday. Getting anxious for the up and coming season. The bear have been up and around as it has been unseasonably warm and no snow for quite some time. A good season for sure. Seen a lot of deer yesterday also while I was out baiting. They are in good shape this spring. Was a very mild winter and not much snow. It is easy to see on the deer. Being in such good shape for this time of year we can expect some good horn growth. Unlike the previous couple of years. The deer have finally shed their horns and are already started new growth. My cousin Dale and I took some pine logs out of the bush the last days of March.    We hauled them home and will saw them up soon. We turned the sawmill 90 degrees the other day. It was pointed mostly west and when we sawed I was standing in  sawdust all the time as the prevailing wind was never in my favour. Now the wind will blow any sawdust away from me. I will saw this pine into 1 inch lumber and plane it into v joint to put on the walls of the lodge. Also will saw some white poplar and some black poplar for the same. We are started calving now and have five calves. Has been realy good weather for calving.  Will get some more pictures up soon. I missed some from last fall. Put them where I usually don't. Jim Benton of Jim Benton's Outdoor Adventures is bringing his son up for bear. Jim was here for deer last falland took a big buck home and we are glad to have him back for bear.  Our local hockey team won the provincial title and are now in the league play offs down 3-2 in games. Not much else in the way of news. Always good to hear from readers with comments, questions or just to say hi. Feel free to email or phone any time. Till next time, take care. Wayne and Vicki and Keith

19Mar2010 Hey I did have lunch with my dear old mother.and again when I got back home again this time. Hi everybody I am home again. Work up north has come to an end. Mostly because the weather was too warm. Warm it was. It has been warmer up north than it was home at most of the winter. We had two or three small creeks to cross to get out of the bush and we were worried about them. They stood up better than all the roads though. The roads lost all the snow and ice but the crossings held their ground and stayed froze and solid. The snow at home was all but gone until we had some snow and cooler weather come in a few days ago. This is good though. With the ground bare and exposed it would dry out. The rain and snow will moisten and seal ground from drying prematurly. Ashley is doing her practical time at the local vet clinic. She goes back to Saskatoon most weekends and last Sunday on the way back here hit a deer near Edam and totalled off her car. She was not hurt but was upset about losing her car. I asked if it was a doe or buck. Strange questions at this time of year because they would be normally hard to differentiate without horns. She immediately replied it was a buck. We found the deer dead as the car but both horns were gone from the impact. I have a camera out just lately and have numerous bucks carrying their horns. I also saw two mule deer bucks the other day with their horns intact. All a result of the mild winter. I got a logging permit the other day and today my cousin Dale and I went to the bush and brought home a load of Jack Pine. We are going back tommorrow for another load. If the sun shines or if it warms up we will have to quit as there is barely enough snow to skid. We are only skidding a 100 yrds as it is. We will saw this into boards  and plane them into v joint for the lodge walls.  Getting a couple of deer mounted. One of Keith's from a few years ago and one of mine from a lot of years ago. Also my antelope from Wyoming. Cousin Gary saw a fresh bear track the other day. Spring is earlier than normal this. We will start baitng as soon as the weather gives us the go ahead. Our local senior hockey team is going strong advaning one more round. They are playing in the provincial final beginning tommorrow near Regina. They also start their league final next week. Well I will go now but won't take so long to update next  time. Till then stay healthy and safe.  Wayne, Vicki and Keith.  Speaking of Keith, he is doing well, been back to work and going hard. Keith and his fiance Jilion plan to marry in Oct. Offer him your congrdulations.   

22 Feb 2010 Hello everybody, hope the winter has not treated you too badly and everyone is in good health. When in camp (8 hours north of here) I have only cell service for an hour in the morning before off to work and for a couple hours in the evening after work. This is 5:30-6:30 am and 6:30pm-9:00pm CST. I cannot retrieve messages left on my cell phone at any time. I cannot access my email but am going to get an air card so I can get satalite internet. This will enable me to stay in contact better. I hope so.  The weather has been very nice ever since Christmas. We have days near 30f. Still only 6-8 inches of snow. Acturally the snow has been losing ground with the sun shining. The warm sun does settle and burn it down.  Reports of deer and moose sightings is positive and everyone says they are in good shape. Ther are deer still carrying their horns. This is a sign that they are not too stressed by winter or health. Stressed deer will shed their horns earlier. In 06 one mature buck that we took in the last week knocked a horn off we he went down and the other came off as he was pulled in the skinning shed. This was early Dec.  There are no deer where I am working, only moose and woodland caribou. Not a lot of them either. We are aprox. 60-70 miles NE of Fort McMurray.  This job will end in Mar. April is scouting and setting bear stands and baiting. I am looking forward to the coming bear season. More bookings are coming in. Still have an open week 31 May-5 Jun. Maybe a couple spots the week earlier. Will know in a few days. We can hunt longer or later in Jun. if we get more bookings. Also could go earlier in May if some one can't fit their schedule for later. Not much else for news but if you have any questions please feel free to get ahold of me any way you can. I should be able to check emails but Vicki for sure can and then let me know. I do enjoy the emails and phone calls that come in. Went to our local league hockey game last night. St.Walburg Eagles beat the Turtleford Tigers three games straight to advance to the next round of play offs. Rory, one of our guides from 07 plays for the Tigers. One of their star centers. It was a good game. We beat them 6-5. Will report again when I have some w orthy news. One more reminder WHEN BOOKING AIR LINES BE SURE TO ASK IF THEY WILL TRANSPORT YOUR TROPHY HOME ON THE PLANE. There are always costs involved to get your trophy home but the best is with you. I am on my way to have lunch with my dear old mother.  Stay safe and healthy everyone and hope to see you soon.  Wayne, Vicki and Keith Happy Hunting   

19JAN2010  Weather has been very warm for the month of Jan temperatures are usually around +4 C or 40 degrees F. Not much snow maybe two inches. Busy doing books getting ready for the accountant  if that's ever possible.  We don't have to use very much feed for the cattle this year as it's been so mild.  Keith and Jilion made it back from their trip to Hawaii had a great time I'm sure they have lots of pictures to show us.  Keith was called for his hernia surgery a few weeks before Xmas so we're glad he didn't have to wait any longer.   Vicki hit a deer with her new truck and the deer lost out. I'm also driving cat again this year in the oilfields I get home about every three weeks.  Glad to see the hunts are busy getting booked up am  we're already excited about 2010 hunting seasons. Anybody bookings flights for 2010 don't book with United as they won't allow your horns and capes on the plane.

03Jan.2010 Yesterday we went fishing. My daughter April, my sister Elaine and her man Steve. We caught zero and only one bite between us collectively. My ffishing sucess as of late has not been good. I will check the calender and local reports before the next outing. I am glad the holiday season is all but over and things will return to normal. April went back to Saskatoon this morning so Vicki and I are once again left to hold down the fort. Going to cut wood tommorrow for the furnance and before that i hace to repair a leaky hose on my loader tractor. Not anything big planned for January. Stay warm, stay safe. Wayne

01 Jan. 2010 Happy New Year everyone. May this coming year be all that you could want. Almost wrote 09 for the year. Will be back in a few days. Till then all the best in the New Year. Wayne, Vicki and Keith 

29 Dec. 09 Hope eveyone has had a Merry Christmas and not gained too much weight. Hard to do with all the good fixins and turkey etc. Santa Claus has come and gone. Will get back to a more normal schedule soon. We did most of our Christmas unwrapping yesterday as this was when the whole family was home together at the same time. It is always good to have everyone home. The kids and Vicki bought me, amongst other things, an ice pop up ice fishing hut. Works great. We went out to the lake today and tried it out. Was not a real good fishing day. A little breezy, a little snow but the wind made it cold when it picked up. The fish wern't biting either. Only a few bites and lost bait. Will try again ina few days. Hopefully not too cold. Tommorrow my two sisters and family and our  mother wil have a get together at the lodge. Eat a big meal again and exchange small gifts tied to a game. A good time for sure. Weather wise has been a lot milder than it was two weeks ago and still not a lot of snow. Maybe eight inches. Easy to take. I will try to phone everyone sometime during the holidays and into the new year. Bookings are coming in steady. Lots to do for year end. Will go now so eveyone have a Happy New Year 

23 Dec. 09 More on the deer we took the last week. Ray's deer, Steve's deer, Al's deer all scored mid 140s. All were heavy and mature. Notice on Steve's deer the thickness on the tines. Jim Benton of Jim Benton's Outdoor Adventures was here the last week also. This was the last stop on his Canadian white tail blitz. Hunting Manitoba and Alberta before coming here. After passing good deer with broken tines during the week took a 150 on Saturday AM. This deer also had two broken tines. Put them back on and this deer scores 165 or better. When you see the picture you will know what I mean. Pictures are coming and so is Christmas. Will get the pictures up tommorrow hopefully as my three daughters are coming home tonight. They are the whiz around computers. I manage but am slow when it comes to down loading and sending pictures etc. Keith will be home on the 28th. Thanks to all who hunted with us this year, everyone have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and prosporous New Year. If I haven't phoned yet I will early in the New Year.  I had better go wrap a few preseants. Happy Holidays    Wayne, Vicki and Keith

Week three; Phill came on Sunday, sat with Ashley and I in our favourite blind and seen only three smaller bucks. This is basically what Phill saw most of the week. Not a deer to make  140.  Nash came in to hunt Thursday. Shot a 149 on the next Wednsday. The third week of Nov. we set record highs two days reaching nearly 60 degrees f. We all know what that does to the hunting. There was no snow and in fact there was no snow till Dec. 2 or so. The deer had easy foraging. All the snow that had fallen in Oct. was long gone. Beacause of the snow in early Oct. the leaves stayed green and stayed on late. The deer like green leaves and really slacked off on the baits. Fourth week was better. All shot but Bob who also didn't see a buck that would make 140. Nash with his 149,, Ray shot a good ten early Sat. A mature heavy dark horned deer.    Last week all shot. Steve shot a heavy ten on Wednsday,  had two big round knobs or bumps on two points which added a lot of character to this heavy buck.Jim and Al both shooting on Sat. both tens. More to come. It snowed about  Thursday and cooled off on Friday. With the cold weather coming and the ground covered with 4-5 inches of snow the deer really started coming in Friday and Saturday. I am satisfied with the quality of deer we harvested  but disappointed with the number of hunters that were ablr to make it. With the markets gaining some there is optimism. The phone is ringing and people are booking for next year. I thank all those who came this year. The more people in camp the better chances of bigger deer coming in. The weather has been mild this fall so far ( it is winter now) and EL Nino coming this winter the deer should have a mild winter. Everybody booking and wishing to hold a spot please send your deposit. 2010 price is as follows. 4500 for the hunt but if you don't shoot I will put 1000 towards next years hunt. Moved the cows home yesterday to some swath grazing. They were quite happy on some acres we had oats on. Ashley shot a 4x4 on Friday last. Not a high scoring deer but heavy and mature. The Wildlife horn scoring was tonight and I took in Ashley's 4x4 and was good enough to make third in the women's. There wern't as many horns as usual but there were some good deer. A couple in the 180's quite a few in the 60s etc.  Enough for today. Sorry to take so long to update. Hope to have pics up by the end of the week. Hope everyone had a good fall. Till next time, keep your stick on the ice.   Good hunting  WAYNE 

Week two. Four hunters in camp, all shooting out. Bucks were from 141 148, 150 and the highlight of the week , a 161 4x4. No stickers or broken points, good  just a solid 4x4. Jimmy from NY took this deer after filming it breed and getting good film footage. This buck was tending a doe and not going anywhere. I couldn't have waited so long. Weather is warming up and of course that slows down the deer. Today was a little slower than it was last week but it will get better latter. Nice weather to sit in though. Rut is in full swing now.  I will get the pictures on by mid week. Till then straight shooting.  Wayne

11Nov. 09 No excuse fot taking so long, right. I know you are right. Been busy but. Results from week one. Team New York took a pair of 1

deer scoring 148 and 154. Joyce taking the bigger of the two. Bruce took his on Monday late and Joyce holding out for a deer they had nicknamed black horn. She took him late Wednsday. Wide deer, 19 and 21 wide. Bruce's had a crab claw on one side. Bruce and Joyce sat together in the same ground blind. Bruce would sleep for a spell while Joyce had to keep watch. Thursday when they were tagged out they sat in another stand to see what was there and I think they both slept. However they did see a big 4x4, a good ten and even bigger bruiser at dark. We have sent pictures to be put on the site so should be on in a day or two. We are seeing good deer on camera and in person. Much better than last year. Four hunters in camp this week . I'll update at the end of the week. I have emails to send out so will go for now. Shoot straight. Till next time. Wayne 

20 Oct. Just got back from the bush an hour ago. I was out sooner but stopped for a visit with Gary. I headed up to the bush today without loading ramps. Gary lives right close so I borrowed his ramps. We have been baiting for a while now and the deer are readily coming to the bait. Helps when you have snow on the ground. It snowed here about the 3-4th, as much as six inches east side of Turtle Lake. Maybe 2 inches at home. Deer were mostly all hunkered down when I was out but made a few tracks in during the snow. It snowed or rained most days of the first 15 days of October. Never seen the sun for more than an hour till the 16-17. Harvest one day then wet. Harvest another day then wet. Frustrating. On a more positive note I picked one of my cameras and was pleasantly surprised to see does of course, a nice bull moose on the 15th, acturally a pretty good moose, a very high, long tined 8 point. I am pleased with this deer. Only an eight but if this tine length is the norm we are in for some high scoring deer. Two days later a bull elk walks past. Deer, moose, elk all in three days. Tommorrow Dennis and I will be be baiting again, the rest of the stands.  Let you know what we see or do. Chris and I went ou the other day and less than hour later had ball joint come apart. He was on my quad and thought I had set him up. Any way I will try to update more often. Bring a friend. Wayne   

3 Oct. 09 Just got back from the antelope hunt in Wyoming with Trey Aars of Double A outfitting. Keith and I made a quick trip down to Moorcroft Wyoming, leaving on the 29 Sept. Keith hunted with his bow on the 30 and I had Trey's crossbow. We madesome good stalks on those sharp eyed antelope but always they came around the rise from the wrong angle, or busted us or were poorly presented. So close and so many times. The wind was also blowing which did not help.    A good day just the same. For Keith and it was a different hunt than were used up here. All the open ground. I really liked all the planning and plotting anticipating where they would travel, the setting up and watching the plan come together. We enjoyed a steak supper thar evening, a few drinks and relived the hunt from last fall up here and last springs bear hunt. Brandon and Casey were able to come over also. We laughed as we reminiced. Keith and I were only there for only one more day so took the rifles the next morning. Mother nature wanted us to pay our dues so brought in a cold front with high winds, snow and rain. The antelope that were near bow range yesterday were now not hardly tolerating a second look through a scope. The wind really had them scittish and flighty.  After a few sneaks and setups a group came past Keith and he was able to get his antelope. Was a great setup with Trey glassing and moving Keith into position. Congratulatory hand shakes and big smiles from all. When taking pictures we spotted a buck with his herd on the other side of the lake. We knew we could stalk this group. We went around to the other side and stayed low in a small wash, made our way to where we could crawl over the edge and glass our trophy till he was in position. I had a good rest and put him down in one good shot. High fives all around. We had a good hunt with Trey. It was good to meet Trey,s wife Lacey, there nine month old son Easton Trey's mother Nancy. I think we gained a pound or two with all the fine food that Nancy and Lacey prepared for us. It was nice to meet  Brandon and Casey's girlfriends too. All in all the best  people you could ever meet. Plans are already in progress for next springs bear hunt. We will going back but we will definately take more time.  Thanks Trey for everything.  An update for here. The weather here is cool and rainy at times. Fall colours on all the trees now. Quite a few leaves off now that the wind has blew enough to get some leaves on the ground.  I am getting as anxious as everyone else is to get up here to hunt. One more month. I am forgetting something but I will have an excuse to update when I remember. It's getting late. Till next time ,Take Care and make another x on the calender to mark off the days remaining. Wayne  

16 Sep 09 Does time fly or what. A month since I updated the journal. First the weather, it has been above normal for most of the last month. We did get the mid eighties that I said was coming and is expected to reach 80 for a while yet. The crops are mostly mature now and are being harvested. We beat the yield robbing frost. We were concerned for a while. Yields are good. We should be harvesting here next week. Peas look good and the oats as well. I will cut some of the later seeded oats for cattle feed. Dollars per acre is likely as good as grain oats. Vicki, Ashley, April and I went up Fort Mcmurray for Keith's birthday. Spent a couple days there in their new house. We were all impressed with Keith and Jillion's new house. Well designed, beautifull inside and out. Large bedrooms, living and dining room. I really like the kitchen. It rained enough when we got there that we couldn't work in the yard. Keith and I are heading to Wyoming to hunt antelope with Trey Aars of Double A outfitting. He and friends were up last fall for deer and this spring for bear so now we are going down there. We really enjoy Trey and the gang. I put some more hardwood down in the lodge. Laundry room and one closet that didn't get done last time. Looks good. Also giving the garage a bit of a makeover to give more room and more comfortable. Work to do on the quads yet and a little on the trucks. Got some cameras out weekend before last and will change out cards this weekend. Was going to do that last weekend but Ashley and April were home to offer their services as needed. Couldn't turn that down so stayed home to assist. They will be back on the 25th to help out some more. Elk season will be on so Ashley and I will have to take a morning and or evening or two and see if we can round up an elk. I am within range of some ranch elk and most mornings I can hear them call as I head for work. Work is done now so I can concentrate my efforts on getting ready for fall. We put out some more food for the bears, change cards etc. I will let you know what I see on the cards. When Keith comes we are going to spot a stock one of the bears in my oats. I will try and video. I have since the last update seen 5or 6 good bucks. All would make 150 plus. One big old mature buck. This is good as last year I hadn't seen that many good deer before the season. I also saw two mule deer bucks that would make 180. I got a couple pictures but so blurry as they were a ways away and I had to zoom so much and not steady enough. This year will undoubtedly be better than the last two. My opinion. If anyone is interested if there are openings following the week of your hunt you could spend another week if you like. Check this fall's deer prices as I am lowering my price or may have a special of some kind. Better go now and I will not be so long to update my journal. Every body take care and stay healthy. Till next time Wayne      

17 Aug 09 Tomorrow took 10 days.  Weather has been very average,  not hot but warm and cool at night. Lots of people are worried about frost coming before the crops are mature. The weather is supposed to get to 85f by the weekend. That is what we need to get the crop off. The crops look good. Coming home from Turtle Lake last Saturday I just about had a mule deer on my hood. His horns wern't quite big enough I guess. He was definately playing dangerous. I see quite a few deer in my travels but the bigger bucks don't move as much this time of year. Some have been seen though. Tomorrow Gary and I are going out to the bush to feed the bears. We have some interest in fall bear. I want to feed them every so often so that they check out the stands on their rounds. Going to set out a camera also. On a deer trail to see what kind of pictures I can get. Lots of high and thick gras etc. so any well used trail should show up. Getting my quads lined up and ready for fall. Need tires on one, winch fixed on another, sway arm bearings on another and the list goes on. Need a motor for the one truck that I bought a year ago so I am looking for a donor truck so I can get the engine. Cheaper than going to the repair shop. Their labour rates have reached 100 plus dollars an hour some places now. Can't overhaul  an engine in a couple of hours. I am putting some more hardwood down in the lodge. Cutting grass on weekends. We are going to Keith's for his birthday later in August. Vicki hasn't seen Keith and Jillian's new house. I haven't either but was there for the basement wall pouring. That was last October. We had a bbq last week and had all the guides and cooking staff over for eat and drink. Good to see everyone again. Ashley has one week left of work and her job ends. April has two weeks left and then they go back to school. I will work another two weeks or so then will finish getting equipment ready and head to the bush. Can't wait to spend most of my days in the bush. Anyone want to come and join me? Kubasa on a bun cooked over an open fire is the daily lunch special. I know you are jealous. Small fire by the creek, Whiskey Jacks waiting for crumbs, squirells running about, maybe the howl of a coyote or call of a loon. Like I said, I can't wait. I want to move a couple of stands and scout for one or two new ones. This is an annual process. Always trying to improve or adjust even just a little. Sometimes a stand only has to be turned or moved a hundred yards or so. The enviroment changes a little every year too. Not much else for now. Although phone calls to make. Stay safe. Wayne    

7 Aug 09 My how time flies. A month already. I've been working operating grader for the local RM, same as county. Hope everyone is doing fine. Work slow at the worst. Markets are improving in most sectors but for sure there are cutbacks etc. Similar here. Enough about that. WEATHER has been cooler than normal but we are getting sufficient. rain.  That is good. Everything is green and growing but we do need some warm or hot weather to mature our crops so we can get them off.  The crops are really good, espescially  the peas. Watching the deer they have a hard time getting through them as they are all vined and tangled together.  Gotta go but I will be back tommorrow.

Wayne  

5July09 Hello and Happy Independance day to all those who celebrate it. We just finished celebrating Canada,s birthday July 1. Lots of festivities and fireworks. Last week I went to the bush and picked up all the tree standa we used for bear hunting and took out the last of the bait. Fresh meat scraps don't stay fresh very long in warm weather. Lots of aroma if nothing else. I took my time and just enjoyed all the beautiful scenery. The peace and tranquility was soothing and relaxing by the creek as the recent rain had more water flowing over the beaver dams. The birds singing, frogs and water animals making there presance known reminded me of those relaxation or spa music cds that you might see in a chain store or department store. I have seen quite a few deer in my travels now and they look good. They are more reddish this time of year. I see some bucks sporting newly growing horns and  young fawns with there mothers. Time is flying as hunting season is only four months away. We,ve had quite a bit of rain this last week or ten days. Very welcome as rain is what gives the vibrante life to all the plants and all the animals that eat the plants. Including the deer. Keith is well and working a lot of night shifts. We are all planning on going up Fort McMurray sometime in August. It is hard to all have days off at the same time to do this. It will work. Keith says Hi to everyone. The girls are all busy with there jobs. Alicia is on holidays soon and is buying a truck. She hit a deer a month ago the insurance wrote her car off. Ashley and April both busy at there jobs earning and hopefully saving for another year of university. On another note Dale and I will haul home the logs that we took out last spring. As soon as it dries some. Then we will have to find a small crew to help saw them into lumber on our mill. Got the greenfeed and swath grazing in and is coming good. Finished calving a week ago. Cows are enjoying being out on the range, except matbe when the conditions are right for the mosquitos. They acturally aren't bad this year. Anybody has any questions, comments feel free to send me a note and I will respond. I will get more pictures up soon. Till next time. Wayne 

21Jun09 Back by popular demand. We finished our bear hunts a few days ago and what a great season we had. We had six hunters up from Wyoming. Trey, Brandon, Casey and Matt were here last fall for deer and came up for bear this spring. They brought father and son team, Tim and Logan. All six were hunting with a bow and all six shot out. WE shot some big bear and some coloured bear. All the guys were impressed at the number of bears they had seen. As many as seven different bear in one evening. Also at the number of colour phase bears. Four out of seven, two out of six and the like. Black, brown, cinnamon, chocolate and one blonde. We had a great time from morning till night, before and after hunting. I think everyone now likes Pilsner beer. Saskatchewan's preferred beer.  Trey has been to Saskatchewan hunting three times took till Saturday to shoot and this hunt shot on the first evening. Was also the heaviest bear. Netted Trey a bottle of XR CROWN. Brandon and Casey shot cinnamon, brown coloured bears and Casey's had the longest, thickest and softest fur I have ever seen on a bear. Matt shot a charcter bear, we nicknamed the bear as Mowhawk because he had longer fur down the middle of his back from mid back to his tail. A real aggressive bear, chased off every bear in sight. Tim and Logan shot first and last day both with real shiny coat black  bears. All in all a great week with great guys. All have a new bunch of stories to tell. I must commend them all on their shooting abilities as we had only one bear make to a hundred yards. Makes recovery a lot easier.   Other news; the crop is all in the ground. I seeded some peas this year. Also some oats and I seeded some oats and peas together. I will harvest this at the opportune time and use for deer bait this fall. It is raining now, the most in a while. On the way out hunting one day we saw a buck that had log main beams already. Quite a bit for this early I thought. Maybe this year we can get some more of the bigger horned type. Alicia and Ashley, my two oldest daughters celebrated their birthdays on the 18 and 20th. We had a small party on the 20th. Ashley and April, my youngest daughter played ball in a nearby tournament this weekwnd. I watched them play. I do enjoy watching a good game of ball. They played hard but didn't take home any prize money. Next time. Well better sign off for now. Stay healthy everyone. Wayne 

I didn't know it had been this long since I had updated my journal. Just a quick update on the logging that I had planned to do. My cousin Dale and I did get to the bush and we took out some white spruce and some black poplar. Iwanted to take out more than what we die but spring came on hard and fast. The thaw and running water chased us out of the bush. The frost came out so fast and we were to get the logs dirty. We have enough for now anyway. Hope to saw them before too long. MORE current. We are inthe bush baiting bear. Most baits are hit hard, things are looking good. I have two chocolates that I haven't seen before. I will get some pictures on soon. As I am writing this it is snowing. It will melt right away but it has been unseasonalbly cool. Warm weather coming in a few days. On the farming end, my crop is in the ground and waiting for rain and warm sunshine. Some greenfeed and swath grazing to put in a little later. Most of the cows have calved and are looking forward to a summer on the range. Well better go for now. Watch for pictures to come soon. We have openings for bear yet next and the week after. All inclusive hunts. Fishing included. Remember. The Great Saskatchewan wilderness adventure bear hunts happen only in Saskatchewan. Wish you were here, Wayne

20 Apr 09 My father and 10 of 11 of his brothers and sisters were born in Edmore North Dakota. The first of 12 was born in 1900, number 11 in 1919 and the last, number 12 was up here in Saskatchewan 1921. My grandfather and oldest uncle came to Saskatchewan in 1919, bought some land and my uncle homesteaded a quarter. They went back to Edmore and returned with the whole family in 1920. When I stopped in Edmore (about 250 people now) I went to each of the local taverns for information. There is no town office in Edmore or county office. Records are all kept in Devil,s Lake. In the second tavern I talked to the waitress and an older patron and explained my quest of perhaps going to the land where my grand parents lived and my dad and aunts and uncles were born. Even if there was no one living there or no buildings left. The waitress gave me the name of a local women who had done all the research and compiling of information for there 100th birthday. Low and behold her son walks in. He phones his mom and asks if she remembered the Maddens. She of course did. Her son took me over there and introduced us. She and her husband acturally owned the land that once belonged to my great grandfather and knew where my grandfather and his family lived. They had an aerial photo (1966) of my great grand fathers place. I took pictures of this picture and then Rodney and I went to these two propertys and I took more pictures. This was a big deal for me, to set foot where my great and grandparents had once lived. Both of my grandparents were deceased when I was born. There was two old grainarys left from old on my great grand parents plave and two planted spruce and other trees in my grand parents old yard. Thanks so much to Gail and Rodney Melland for there time and trouble. Much appreciated. I then left for Saskatoon, arriving at 2AM. Lots of driving that day. Other hunting news coming soon. Three more deposits in Thanks guys. See you soon, Hope I didn,t bore you too much. That came from Vicki. Till next time stay healthy.       Wayne  

16 Apr. 09 Hope all had a good St.Patrick's day, we did. Keith made it home from Fort McMurray and we all went to aunt Dorothy's for supper and drinks. We had a good time as there were lots of cousins and friends there. I went to a show in Wisconsin. Met lots of people interested in coming up for a Saskatchewan hunt. Lots of people attended and there were lots of booths from every aspect of hunting and fishing. I did enjoy the trip there and back. I stayed with Dean and Lori. Thanks again for your hospitality. When I left (31 Mar.) it was quite warm, must have been 40. Tuesday was nice and also Wednesday. Thursday was nice but not real warm, barely melting. That's the way it was pretty much all the time I was gone. I stayed with my three daughters north of Saskatoon on the way back. Arriving at two AM I didn't notice the snow. Acturally there was not any snow to notice. It had been warmer here at home than it was in Wisconsin. There was more snow in North Dakota then there was at home. Thursday after returning home I loaded up the skidoo and headed for the bush. I haven't spent hardly any time sledding this winter and there was still enough snow in the bush I went for one more trip. I was checking for a new location for a deer stand. I must have been excited about the trip because I left home with only pen and paper. A spare spark plug would have been reallll nice. I told myself that a few times on the six mile walk back to the truck. I had my cell but I wasn't in cell range where I was. Glad it wasn't 10 miles. The deer were still mostly bunched up in the pines, less snow. Lots of bare ground in the evergreens. Spring may have been a week late coming but when it came the snow went in a week. The snow never did crust or get hard which was nice. Five days after walking Gary and I took his quad and my little trailer to get the sled. Not enough snow to sled all the way out. When we got to the skidoo I dug in my pocket only to realize that I had left the new plug on the seat of my truck. We had to take the long way around because we could not cross the creek. Water was running hard already. We tied on to the sled as it was too far to get the plug and we had to haul it half way any way. we hooked on and towed it to the trailer amd loaded it and carried on. I t did take time though. Amazing how the snow had gone in those five days. We burnt grass around the yard today after supper. Has been too windy during the day. Only a few days left for burning and it will be too dry and dangerous. On my way too check to see if hasn't started up after we put it out for today. Next time I will tell you about mt stop in Edmore North Dakota on my way home from Wisconsin. Hey, the bears are coming out. Till next time.  Take it easy, Wayne

16 Mar. 09   Happy St. Patrick's Day tommorrow to all those who celebrate the 17 Mar. Last update I had commented on the ground hog predicting , on the 2nd of February that there would be 6 more weeks of winter. Well other than a few warms spells he wasn't too far off. We have seasonable temps and warmer weather on the way. The sun has a lot of strength in it now. I have been driving a dozer for the last couple of weeks clearing land. That will last a week or two yet. Good to get back on a dozer. We are clearing fence lines and similar. It is bush work and I like the bush. Seen a moose yesterday pass by the service truck as I was approaching with the cat. He must have been checking it out. Keith will be home tommorrow for a few days. He has been busy in McMurray. Works long hours and days then to his new  house  for a few more hours. I think it is time for a break. I think maybe fishing is on the plate, at least for one day. Oh yes we have to celebrate St. Patrick's day. That's tommorrow. I missed a coyote last week. I had a good shot and missed. I think it is the gun. The same onr that Dean missed with last fall. My hunting daughter Ashley was home for a few days a while ago and she too missed, but had a long shot as the coyote sensed that something was up and had taken off. She was using her old favourite gun. The one that she shot the big deer with.  As far as taking out some logs I saved some bigger spruce and some Tamarack from the last job. Hope to get some black and whote poplar yet. With work and soon fishing and snowmobiling yet to do I may not get everything done thar I wish to. Better go now. Het one more thing to add to the list of what I want to do is do some trapping for beaver and muskrat. This is abou t the 10 Apr. Interested in coming along give me a call. It will be fun. Now I will go. Let me know what you did for St. Parick's Day Wayne

02 Mar 09 Spring is on the way. Weather is warming. Temps will reach the twenties F this week. Makes me want to go fishing. I said I would give a report on the last fishing trip with my two youngest daughters. Here it is. We each caught one fish. Two were Northern Pike and one Yellow Perch. We were late getting but had a good time just the same. Bookings are slow but steady.  Thanks to all those who booked. Keep them coming. This winter is much better than the last two. Not too much snow and it is soft. I've been up to the bush to check things out and so far everything looks good. The deer appear to be in good shape. I will be up there more in March to do some scouting. I am also going to take out some logs. Check out Uniglobe Travel fot flight prices. They are usually quite a bit cheaper than the others. Not much else to report on at this time. Want to know something in particular let me know. Stay positive.

Wayne   

6 Feb. 09 Hello to everyone. Don't believe what you hear and only half of what you see. Heard that before? Me too. The ground hog says there will be 6 more weeks of winter. If this is winter bring it on. The weather has been very mild again for some time and no change in the near future. Yesterday I passed on two fish for the day offers. Other business to be done. Today the same but tommorrow my two youngest daughters and I are heading for the lake to catch some fish. Can't wait. Feed cows and adios. Just got back from a show in Casper Wyoming. Good show, well recieved, and a lot of interest shown. I am happy with the outcome. I am looking into going to the show in Minneapolis. Trey and friends from Wyoming are going. Not much else for news. Bookings are slow but still coming. I have lowered my prices by 300 dollars. I realize that the economy is tough right now. It is getting that way here. We have so many jobs dependant on the oil price which is way down and all expansions and exploration has been pit on hold. I will let you know how fishing trip goes. Till later,take care,  Wayne

22 Jan. 09We just had a break for old man winter. 10 days of warm weather we had. Most of those days made it to 30f. Nice change  Today though the wind is in the north and guess what that brings. That's right more winter. Not as cold as before and only for 3-4 days then warming again to normal values. The printers are in the process of printing up brochures and cards and then I am heading to Casper. Looking forward to that. Everything else is pretty much on track. Reminder to all those wanting to come up to send in the deposit if you haven't already. I'll give a report after the show. Wayne

 12 Jan 09 Happy New Year to all. All the best to come in this new year. I'd like to thank all the hunters who hunted with us last fall. A decent season considering the weather and the previous rough winters. This year shows more promise as winter didn't come till into December. That was 5 weeks of winter that we didn't have and cannot be taken away. We have had winter since though. Temps cold but bearable, not too much snow till now and the forcast promises warmer weather next week. We are looking forward to that. We had a good Christmas. All the kids were home. Keith only for three days but the girls for a week. We cut some wood, ate lots and even went fishing one day. The weather does give a warmer day once in a while and we took advantage. The lake that we fished had no previous traffic on it so we were the the first to travel by truck on the ice. I knew that with the cold weather that it would be safe and it was. There is this one narrows that we usually travel through to get to another favorite spot, usually has a spring in it so I checked it out. I drilled holes in a line through the the narrows and the ice was as thick as anywhere else but you could tell that the ice just over had just froze not long ago because there was no snow on it. I didn't drive through and a good thing because pulling the ice hut in to where wanted to fish resulted in a boot full. Where the snow had drifted a bit there wasn't ant ice. We caught only a few Pike but it was a good trip out just the same. Bookings are slow but still coming. A reminder to get deposits in to secure your spot. I realize the economy is rough for most and I hope it can improve before too long. The economy is slowing here now also. Everything here is so dependant on the price of oil which is now down around 40 a barrel. Fuel is cheaper but a lot of oil expansions and exploration has been cancelled or scaled way back. I am heading down to Casper Wyoming to a show. Will meet with Trey, Casey, Brandon and maybe Matt. Thwy hunted with us last fall and we had a good time together. They all harvested deer up here and will lend their horns for the show. Much appreciated. Makes travel a little easier. Most pictures from 08 are on the slide show part of the web site. We will get them moved to the 08 gallery and get the rest on. Still feeding cows and so must get them fed. I have to get my truck to garage to get it to shift proper. Electonic box on the side of the transmission giving grief. All the best in 09. Wayne     

DEC 07

I would like to thank all of you who hunted here this past fall. I enjoyed all of you; just a great bunch of hunters. May all the best come to you and yours during this Christmas season. May 2008 bring health, prosperity and happiness in everything you do.  I won't get to talk to you all before Christmas but I  will as soon as I can. Thank you to those who are rebooking, for the new guys coming and to all who inquired about our hunts. We have only a few spots left to be confirmed for the 2008 hunt.  For those interested, I can have your name on a waiting list in case of a cancellation. We have room for 14 bear hunters for next spring. Have you ever heard the saying "Christmas is coming" ? Yes me too. My pictures are coming and so is Christmas. Till next time, Merry Christmas to all.

Wayne, Vicki, Keith    

 01Jan08

Happy New Year to all. Not much in the way of news. I finally got some of my pictures on and will get some more on soon. Weather is pretty much normal for this time of the year. Forecast for tomorrow is minus 3-4  roughly 25F. Christmas came and went without a hitch. Keith our son (and guide) made it home on the 28th and is now headed back up north to work. We ate lots of turkey. Looking forward for tjings to get back to normal as I imagine that's the way it is for most of you. Till next time, take care out there.   

19 Apr 08

I bet you thought that you'd never hear from me again. Well I'm here. To bring everybody up to speed on what is happening around here I shall begin with the weather. Winter was basically pretty normal for the most part. We did have a colder than normal stretch for about 10 days in Dec. The weather warmed before Christmas,which was nice. Got to do a little fishing. Never caught much but was nice to get out just the same. Jan., Feb. pretty much normal,not a lot of snow in Feb. Most of our snow came in Dec. and Jan. The first part of Mar. was quite a bit above normal, getting the water poised ready to run. Then it cooled off some. First half of Apr. decent. We had very warm weather, temps around 65 or so, in the middle of Apr. That took care of most of the snow. Places in the forest still has some snow. Yesterday it cooled off and the forcast is for cool weather. Highs most days only reaching the melting point. Also cool for the next five days. The spring birds have been here for a long time for some already. Geese were the first to arrive, 21 of Mar. we seen them on the way to go fishing. My two youngest daughters and I tried fishing on two different lakes. Skunked on both. Well I should't make this too long for now or I will have nothing to report for next time. I be back on soon. Promise and I will tell of what it was like in the bush  when I was up the last couple of times. Till next time stay safe. Wayne

5May08

Seems like it takes a long time for me to get back here. Well I'm back for an update. As I said I would give a eport of what we saw when up to the bush. Middle of April or there abouts, we headed off to the bush to visit a couple of stand sights that we did't get set up last year because of high water. On our travels we saw 8-9 deer, which is good for the amount of time distance travelled that we spent in the bush. We also seen a lot of tracks. About a foot of snow left at that time. Since nearly melted away then a storm came through about the 20th of April and left a foot or more of snow behind. That has pretty much melted now except where it can really pile up out of the sun somewhere. Have been in the bush baiting bear and they have been slow to come out because of the snow that the storm left behind. No reason to come out when there is a bunch of snow to look at. Always see deer and lots of tracks when in the bush. My neighbor lady down the road had a skunk hanging around and asked if I could trap it. I said sure and off I went to trap this skunk. Two days later I had this skunk. Pretty proud I was.It has been a while since I have done any trapping. I am going to try to do some more trapping. Trapping is a lot like hunting and fishing, you get to spend more time in the bush, on the lake with mother nature. Beats the heck out of holding the couch down. I better get going, I think the cows are waiting to be fed. The cows and I arte all looking forward to green grass. Coming up next, some fishing stories. Ice fishing on opening day 3 May.

Till next time take care. Wayne 

7 July 08  Hello to everyone out there and happy summer. Happy 4 th of July to those celebrating the occassion. Summer officially came on the 21 th of June and also literally. We have had some very warm/hot weather since then. Temps reaching near 90 F.  The deer now have their fawns and they and mams look good. We have deer going through our yard quite regular looking at our apple trees. Our new Lab. pup I think just watches or maybe isn't aware that the deer are even here. That will of course change as he gets older. He has lots of ambition and will surely give chase. The deer are growing their new antlers. A little early to tell for sure but indications are that they will be as good as ever. Deer populations are good. This last winter was a normal winter for the most and the deer and deer hunting I expect will be as good as we could expect. There are a lot of deer out there that we don,t see. Not much else in the way of news. There are a few openings left if anyone is interested. Doug from Virginia just called and booked two hunts. Thank You Doug. Hey, if you have any question out there let me know and I will be happy to respond.  I can smell my soup on the stove. Gotta go. Till next time, Wayne

 27 Aug 08  Hunting season will be here before we know it. We can feel fall in the most mornings and some evenings. It's time to get a little more serious about pre season scouting. What I have seen so far has looked  good and local sightings have come in and there has been some excellent deer seen. Numerous bear have been seen in the berry patches picking berries with the berry pickers. There are lots of blue berries this year so there is lots to go around for bear and man alike. As far as deer openings we have a few left and hope to have them filled for the fall. Let us know if you are interested as soon as you can as we are getting calls regularily. We are building a couple ground blinds that can accomodate two people or for some one who is not comfortable climbing into an elevated blind. I will give an update when I have more to report. Stay in shape and count the days. Yours Truly Wayne 

It is the first of October, the leaves on the trees have turned all there brilliant colors and are still mostly hanging on. A big wind and that will all change. We have had very little for frost. Three or four nights the temp went down to 30-32 but only for a few hours. Nothing serious. Temps are above normal, setting record highs for this time of the year in some places near by. The temp got to about 78 today and has been up there for a few days and we're not done yet. Hard to think that hunting season is just a month away when the weather is so nice. Don't worry, the weather will soon be be normal, frost, cold, windy and most likely snow by the first of Nov. The little bit of baiting that I have done so far has been cleaned up surprisingly  well for being this warm. The grass in the bush is still mostly green and most of the leaves are still on.  My endeavers to come up with an elk came up short. They were not in there usual spots like in the past. I guess they get to write the rules once in a while also.   I thought it was getting easy. Wrong. But there were some nice elk taken this year. Next year. Will now put resources to whitetail and moose. This year they let out , I think 25 tags for moose in this local zone. I saw the horns in the the back of a truck already on Monday. Also a cow taken near here. Everybody here is well, just that Vicki has a bit of a cold right now. Keith and Jil are busy getting ready for a their house that is coming later this month. Fall is a busy time of the year but is my favorite time of the mostly because of what is coming. Besides always looking for deer and stand locations I have also been scouting out trapping areas and beaver houses to trap and locals for coyote stands. I want to trap some beaver and take some coyotes as time allows. Will report when I have some more news etc. Later Wayne  

28 Oct 08  Where has all the time went. For lots of people the time flies and for some, actually quite a few , time won't go fast enough. This is our third week in the bush and it will be a busy week as were the preceeding. The deer are coming in good, cleaning up the bait. The deer are cleaning up the second cut alphafa good and of course the oats. I put a camera up on one stand just to see what kind of deer were there and in five days there were 11 bucks 8 pointers and up, one of which was definately a shooter, some nice 8s and a half dozen 6s and fork horns. Rest assured there are some good deer out there. Locals have seen some good deer in the farmland. We have a few stands to put up yet  but will wait till it freezes as there are too many deep muck holes to get through. These stands will come on strong for later. The weather is cooling off now. Freezes every night. The ice on most smaller ponds stays all day now. Won't be long before the muck etc. freezes up solid except for the springs which take a little longer. Oct. has been very nice as far as weather goes. Earlier on we had temps. up near 80f. Lots of days above normal for October weather. Todat is supposed to get to 52or 3 today, tommorrow near 60. That is above normal again. Some people say we are going to pay for this nice weather but September was cooler than normal, so maybe we already have paid for this nice weather. The muskrats seem to be building big houses, maybe a sign of a cold winter. On the farm side of things, we finished baling, the bales are hauled in, tommorrow I hope to seperate the calves from the cows and wean them. Have to get this done before the season starts because the calves will be calling for their moms and would keep some sleeping. The season begins here next Monday. To all those hunting whether here or there have a safe and successful hunt. Wayne   PS anyone reading this please feel free to send an email with questions and/comments. Thanks

Hello to everyone out there looking for an update. I'll give you a run down on what has taken place since I last updated my journal.  30 th of October Dean and Marty arrived from Wisconsin, driving straight through in 22.5 hours. Friday and Saturday they rode with guides and set up there archery stands. Those few days before the season are always fun. Not the business of the hunting season itself. John, Larry and Mark, also from Wisconsin also drove up on Saturday before the season. Good guys. We picked up Bruce,Monty and Andy in Saskatoon. All were  excited and ready to hunt. Everyone saw lots of deer, some big and some small. Does and bucks. You know the story of the big one got away. Well we have one of those. He was seen on opening Monday, fired upon and missed. Buck fever? Hard to say. He made himself available later in the week but came up one step short of exposing vitals for a good shot. Not wanting to press his luck he has decidded to lay low for most of the week. One of our guides seen him this morning, sneak across the trail. We'll be watching for him. We had a pretty decent week though, all shooting except for Bruce who needed for the deer to take one more step. Dean took a 151 with the bow. Marty took a super tall 8 pointer. Monty got a good buck also and after a week of not seeing anything of quite good enough bucks he got a 145 on Saturday. A happier man I've not seen in a while. First Saskatchewan buck. Second week was rather slow. Mike's brother Doug bought him a hunting trip for his 50th birthday, and he broke the ice with a 149 wide heavy buck. Very impressive looking deer. More to come but I think it's time to check out the inside of my eyelids. This I,m hoping will take a while. Hopefully tomorrow I will carry on where I left off. Later Wayne  

Tommorrow never comes, or at least it seems that way for those who check for journal updates. The balance of the second week went slow we thought, blaming that on the warm weather. Rob, hunting with a bow took a nice 151 on Friday. Got tp give him credit for sitting 6 days patiently and diciplined for that length of time in the Saskatchewan outdoors. Paid off as that was the biggest buck of the week by an inch or two. Jimmy and Dennis both shot good deer on Saturday, Jimmy,s was a 7x7 but had three points broke off. Dennis came in smiling with a 144 ten pointer. Doug who bought the hunt for his brother never had the chance at a shooter buck.

Week three we expected things to pick up but bsically much the same as week two. Brandon though, was not going to pass on the big deer that offered himself to Brandon on Monday morning. He turned out to be a high 140s. Matt shot a heavy main beam on Tuesday scoring 140. Trey and Casey both shot on Saturday afternoon, after we had moved them because of the wind change. Both taking 140 class deer.Trey,s a nice 8 and Casey shooting a deer with split g2s. Trey, Brandon, Matt, Casey  are all from Wyoming. We had a lot of fun together. Tom, Mac and Nash all from the Houston, Texas City area had sucess as well. Nash shot a very unique deer with the g  sticking straight behind rather than up. He said that was what got him killed. Mac shot a heavey 8 pointer on Thursday scoring in excess of 145. Tom held out for a bigger trophy and is holding till next year. Not everyone can pass a decent buck in wait of a more sizeable deer. Next year Tom and the rest of us expect the deer to exceed the horn size of this year. Only three hunters this week. Steve from Ohio shot on Friday, after seeing lots of bucks in the previous days, took a 153 and change. This buck had dark horns, a brow tine and sticker, that would have been 3 inches long were broke off. Would have crowed 160 had they not been broke off. A very fine deer for sure. Sometimes a point broke off shows character and representation of our Saskatchewan late season bucks. Roger from South Carolina also shot on Friday, a 9 pointer that snuck in after the moose offered themslves for picture taking. Dave also from South Carolina opted to wait for a trophy larger in size. Not this year. There just wern,t as many big deer out there as other years. Week 5, the last week we had groups of two and eight all from New York with the exception of one from New Jersey. They took eight of ten. The biggesr came from the same stand as the bigger one the week before. A 155 that could of passed for the brother of the one from the week before, and likely was. Same kind of mass and characteristics. That was shot by Jason, the son of Patrick,  who also shot on Wendsday. Big Gus took a wide heavy 8 pointer with long brow tines. A most impressive deer. All deer taken this week were heavy horned and dark. Mature deer, what we like to harvest.

All in all not a bad season. We had all hoped for better results. Last winter I think, was harder on the deer than I thought it was. Last winter was not real cold, not a ton of snow but it was a long winter. All animals can tolerate the cold and or snow but it gets rough when is a long time coming. The warm weather throughout November and into December would have slowed derr travel also. The warm weather that somewhat hampered the hunting this year is also making the coming winter five weeks shorter. This is part of what we need to have a healthy herd next spring and into next fall.

Thanks to our guides,Keith, Dennis, Chris and Gary,   and cooks, Vicki and Helen.

I'd like to thank all those who hunted with us. We enjoyed all of you. Thank You for rebooking and to those who are considering coming to our camp next year. If you don't hear from me before Christmas, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

From the management and staff of HORSEHEAD TROPHY HUNTS  Wayne, Vicki, Keith  

PS Pictures coming next week  

23 Dec. 08 The Saskatchewan Outfitters had their meetings  a week ago in Saskatoon. They all went well with Government and Sask. enviroment and commitee representation present. Some new resolutions were put forth. When I hear how they were recieved I'll let know. Weather has now turned to winter weather, cold but bearable. Not much in the wyt of new snow which is good for the deer. Supposed to warm up after Christmas. My daughter April and I are heading to the bush today to get a Christmas tree. I found some real good ones while baiting last fall. Vicki says no more Charlie Brown Christmas trees. Talk about leaving that to the last minute. I still have a gift or two to pick up and wrap for Christmas. Better go now and feed the cows so I can go for the tree. We'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us here at HORSEHEAD Trophy Hunts, Wayne Vicki and Keith. Pictures will be later. Thank for your patience