December 23, 2019 – Merry Christmas!
Hi All,
I would like to start by saying sorry for the long hiatus. It was a busy fall closing up camp, and got even busier once we got home.
To go back since my last post, we had mixed results during our moose hunt this year. The three archery groups in camp all saw lots of animals but weren’t able to close the distance and get a shot. The one animal that was in range and of the right sex was spooked by a vehicle coming in the road grouse hunting, very frustrating. The rifle hunters however, had better success. we only had two tags in camp this year as it is getting more difficult to draw a tag, but they were both filled on opening morning. Below is a pic of Scott Hallowell and his group with their cow.
We had an unseasonably warm fall which was a very pleasant change from the snow and cold we had last year. It made shutting down the camp a breeze and we were moved out of camp only a couple of days after our last hunters. Since then, we were having a very warm winter without much snow. That changed for about a week and the temps got very cold, down to -40 C some nights. It has since warmed up a bit though and we have gotten some more snow providing some very nice conditions for ice fishing.
The Norm creek bridge, the first bridge on the way in to camp, was replaced this fall. I went for a drive up after the work was done and it looks awesome. The work was paid for by a joint effort between Resolute Forest Products and the MNR. We have been told that there will be logging operations off of the Valora Rd in the near future, and seeing work done on the road is a good indication they will be following through with that. I will be sure to provide updates to everyone as we learn more. If they do start actively logging I would expect to see some maintenance and brushing work on the road performed by Resloute, but we will all be sharing the road with log trucks.
After getting home I did some travelling around to visit friends and do some deer hunting. It started with a trip to the Fort Frances area for a couple of days. I wasn’t successful there but had a great visit with some friends I don’t get to see enough, and they were able to take a couple of deer to bring back to Southern Ontario with them. After that I went to Michigan for a week and was able to shoot a nice doe. I saw lots of bucks and passed a pretty nice one opening morning, that of course ended up being the nicest buck I saw all trip. Not a problem at all though, I was very happy to take a doe and again do some visiting with friends.
Shortly after getting home from Michigan I closed a deal on a 80 acre deer hunting property with a small, rustic log cabin near Fort Frances. Our deer season closes on December 15, and I closed on the property about a week before that. I had time to make two trips down, the first cutting some firewood and putting out some bait, and the second to hunt. I didn’t end up getting a deer there but after about a week of baiting I had at least 7 different deer and sign everywhere. Despite not getting a deer I was very happy to just spend some time on the property and was very happy with all the pics on the cameras. I am very excited about future hunts down there!
Mom is doing very well. She has been busy with her usual winter volunteering, which keeps her out trouble and my mind at ease – haha! She is looking forward to after Christmas as it has been a very busy month for her. We are both looking forward to January 5th as we will be going to Mexico for 12 days with friends and family. I will be sure to make a post with some pictures after the trip!
We would like to extend a big thank you to everyone who stayed with us this year and years prior. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
Ryan