As we all know, 2020 was not a good year for many activities, many businesses, and many people. With 2020 in the rear view mirror, we can now look forward to plans for 2021 and making plans for finding a way to enjoy our favourite outdoor activities. In 2020 we were bombarded with terms such as pandemic, social distancing, restrictions, and more. These are all still relevant, likely quite deep into 2021. So we can’t forget about critical health safety measures, but we can safely get involved in hunting, fishing and camping activities in 2021.
The group gathering guidelines are a moving target so we will simply say make sure you know the guidelines for your province. Knowing that, you can still make plans for getting outdoors in 2021. When you get right down to it, getting out on the ice, out on the lake, out in a field, or in front of a campfire, can all be done safely and keeping our distance from other groups.
Sometimes the reality of the situation can be a bit discouraging. I’d like to plan my spring fishing trip up north with our regular group of 8 to 10 fishing buddies. Reality is that we can’t plan this way, but we can make plans with our own families to get outdoors. So maybe the groups are smaller, but for good reason, so that we can get back to our larger group activities soon, and safer.
I often spend a number of days in the fall, getting to the field 2 hours before dawn, laying out four or five hundred decoys, setting up the blinds, and knocking down a mixed bag of snow geese, ducks, and Canada geese, maybe even a prize specklebelly goose. I don’t have the manpower within my family circle to do as often, but with with myself and another family member, we can put out a decent decoy spread and still enjoy a morning or an afternoon hunt. Maybe by the time fall comes to the calendar, we will have the pandemic under control and the size of the hunting group can expand. Until then, we need to stay safe to contain the health risks.
2021 and the health crisis carrying over from 2020 should not prevent you from enjoying your time outdoors, but your planning might need to be done with smaller groups.
Stay safe so we can all get together again in a better future.