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2021 Make Plans for the Outdoors

January 4, 2021 / galen / Camping, Fishing, Hunting, Outdoors

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.

Saskatchewan Camping Online Reservations Open

April 17, 2017 / galen / Camping, Outdoors

Online camping reservations for all Saskatchewan Provincial Parks are now open on the Sask parks Reserve-A-Site page at: www.saskparks.net/Reserve-a-Site.

Fees have been increased this year but with plenty of hype around the Canada 150 celebrations, expect demand to still be strong for camping spots this year.  The fee increases are across the board including individual campsites, group camping and seasonal campground reservations.

The dates for online reservations opening are:

  • April 4: Blackstrap, Pike Lake
  • April 6: Echo Valley, Rowan’s Ravine.
  • April 7: Duck Mountain, Good Spirit Lake, Greenwater Lake.
  • April 8: Crooked Lake, Moose Mountain.
  • April 9: Cypress Hills.
  • April 10: The Battlefords, Saskatchewan Landing.
  • April 11: Meadow Lake.
  • April 12: Bronson Forest, Chitek Lake, Lac La Ronge, Makwa Lake.
  • April 13: Candle Lake, Narrow Hills, Great Blue Heron.

We Bought a Cabin

August 22, 2016 / galen / Life at the Cabin, Outdoors

Episode #1, We Bought Cabin

And so it begins. It’s late summer of 2016 and we have become cabin owners. We are also the owners of a 5 year project list to overhaul, renovate, update, and change every square inch of the property, from the lake shore, to the yard, to every surface and fixture inside the cabin. We think we are reasonably handy, semi-crafty, and quite resourceful. We shall see how the project list goes. I’m hoping to chronicle some of the experience here. In the event you find it interesting, while I’m glad to have entertained. In the event you find it helpful, well I’m glad to have provided the value of my experiences. In the event we never see you again past this point in the first episode, well, thanks for sticking it out for almost a paragraph.

Why Episode #1?

I’m a marketer by trade so to follow the format of today’s popular streaming services, Season x, Episode Y just seemed to be a natural fit with how people are now consuming content.  The word episode also captures what I anticipate to be a series of successes and a few failures.  The 5 year project list seems to be guaranteed to deliver a few minor injury reports, a few marital disagreements, and a great deal of good times that far outweigh the pain, sweat, and dollars it’s going to cost.  By the way, when we got serious about this particular property, my project list had about 16 items on it.  The official list, including my 16 items, has grown to about 50 items.  I still contend the original 16 were enough.  Oh yes, 5 of those items were definitely to take off the months of June through August and enjoy our progress, 1 for each year of our 5 year project.

The Back Story

I’ll save you most of the details of our personal lives leading up to the cabin purchase, most of them.  Even though I’m sure you would find them fascinating (we consider ourselves the world’s most interesting people based on a sample of 2).  By the way, I’m incredibly humorous and my wife agrees, seldom, but often enough to keep me trying.

Not our actual trailer, but this looks a picture out of the family archives.

For many years my wife and I had talked about the mutual desire to own a cabin. She grew up with a cabin in the family. I grew up with family camping trips in a tent trailer. My in-laws sold the cabin, the year before we were married. I only had the opportunity to experience it as a visitor, not as a semi-resident.  We did both the tent trailer camper experience and the cabin rental/borrow experience enough times to know we enjoyed both.  The cabin experience was far above the camping experience for us.  Busy jobs and busy kids, with sports activities that kept us driving to every hockey rink, baseball field, basketball court, wrestling meet, volleyball court, and football field in all of the land, made it obvious to us that we did not have the time to fully immerse ourselves in the Life at the Cabin lifestyle.  Instead we bought a sport boat and made day trips to the north, south, east and west to spend time on the water when we could.   Often we would brings friends with us, or meet up with family and burn through a tank of gas, or more, and return home at the end, exhausted and happy.

The New Boat

Family at the Lake

 

 

 

 

 

 

The planets started to align when we had the first two kids in university and our third (and last) in grade 11, with the end of high school and minor sports over the horizon and around the bend, it was close enough. We started to get serious in our talks about about cabin ownership.  Also aligning was our financial ability to afford a cabin.  The house mortgage was on it’s last few months, money we could redirect into retirement savings, or into life enjoyment now.  We choose a real estate investment with the potential to be both.

Back to Today, Buying that Cabin

We knew our criteria, we had a budget, we had a list of properties to explore.  I suppose everyone has their own list of criteria for a cabin property.  We certainly had ours:

  • * lake front
  • * 4 season
  • * within 1 hour drive
  • * 3 bedrooms
  • * no stairs
  • big deck
  • wide open yard
  • move in ready
  • dock and boat lift included

‘*’ the must have list

Our search began. We soon found out that our “enormous budget” didn’t put us in the category of walking in, no worries, and just relaxing.  We saw cabins that were best renovated with a Wylie Coyote bundle of dynamite, cabins with endless stairways from cabin to water, cabins that were nearly perfect, minus a must have from the list, an

First view of the property

d cabins that were perfectly suited for other families.  On about cabin inspection tour #3 we had a couple properties lined up that had possibilities and we stumbled across a for sale by owner cabin that was not listed online anywhere.  With no one home, we took a walk about and overgrown yard told us a couple things.  The owners didn’t there very often and we had to get our real estate agent on this one.

It had that “cabiny” feel to it, the “cabiny” look, and the potential to be the one.  A brand new two level deck also had our interest.  After all, you don’t buy a cabin to spend your time inside.  I can do that at home quite nicely.

A week late and our real estate agent had the keys we had our inside look at the property we eventually bought.  It was during that inside tour that the project list grew, grew some more, and extended past cutting the lawn to a 5 year list of renovations and overhauls.

In Episode #2, The Clearout, our discoveries begin.

 

Add A Campground Rating

December 2, 2015 / galen / Camping, Outdoors

Did you know you can add your opinion to the Campground ratings section and help other campers? On our provincial camping pages we include a campground rating and comments area.

Did you like your campsite? Were the facilities clean and modern? Was the firewood dry? How was the playground? Is the fishing good at the nearby lake or river?

Your opinions and comments will help future families and other campers pick the campground that is best suited to what they want from their outdoors adventure camping experience.

  • Alberta Campground Ratings
  • Saskatchewan Campground Ratings
  • Manitoba Campground Ratings

Outdoors Songs

July 28, 2015 / galen / Fishing, Hunting, Outdoors

Of all the topics in the world to write songs about, the great outdoors seems to have been mostly overlooked. It’s just plain difficult to find a song, let alone a good song, about hunting or fishing. Yes, there are a few “joke songs” out there, songs that rank up there with “Snoopy and the Red Baron”, and hunting or fishing show opening songs, but actual songs by actual brand name artists are hard to come by. It’s not hard to find songs about girls, songs about boys, songs about cars, and summer, and parties, and all other popular topics. So, we have scoured the internet and our own personal music libraries, to give you a list of songs for hunting and fishing. Some of these are great, some are crap (personal opinions), but you know what they are about by the titles. Some of my personal favorites come from Ted Nugent, who can quite regularly be found on outdoor shows having a great time shooting black bear in Saskatchewan with his “Wackmaster” bow or shooting ducks off his back porch in Michigan. If you want a great album, pick up “Spirit of the Wild” which includes many of the songs listed. A few of these songs take the light hearted approach, such as Brad Paisley’s “I’m Gonna Miss Her”. We have a second list of songs that might be considered, but aren’t really, about hunting or fishing, but mention animals, or lakes, or forest, or such.

 

  • Fred Bear – Ted Nugent
  • I Just Wanna Go Hunting – Ted Nugent
  • Gone Fishing – Downchild Blue Band
  • My Bow and Arrow – Ted Nugent
  • Spirit of the Wild – Ted Nugent
  • I Shoot Back – Ted Nugent
  • Tooth Fang and Claw – Ted Nugent
  • I’m Gonna Miss Her – Brad Paisley
  • Mossy Oak Song (Pass It On) – Tracy Byrd
  • One Damn Deer – from the Bob and Tom radio show
  • Mighty Manly Hunting Men – Da Yoopers
  • Thirty Point Buck – Da Yoopers
  • 2nd Week of Deer Camp (part 1) – Da Yoopers
  • 2nd Week of Deer Camp (part 2) – Da Yoopers
  • Deer Hunter’s Widow – Da Yoopers
  • Gone Fishing – Brad Paisley
  • Fish Fight Song – Da Yoopers
  • 40 Pound Crappie – Da Yoopers
  • Too Drunk To Fish – Ray Stevens
  • Fishing On T.V. – Brian Regan
  • Mama’s Got The Catfish Blues – Tom T. Hall
  • Hunting The Duck – Buddy Wasisname and The Other Fellers

 


The songs that didn’t quite make the list:

  • Take Me to the River – Al Green
  • Catfish Blues – Jimi Hendrix
  • Of Wolf and Man – Metallica
  • Sweet home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
  • The Trees – Rush
  • Bullfrog Blues – Dave Hole
  • The Spanish Archer – Deep Purple
  • The Hunter – Free
  • John the Fisherman – Primus
  • Barracuda – Heart
  • Great White Buffalo – Ted Nugent
  • Hibernation – Ted Nugent

 

Bonus Day

April 12, 2015 / galen / Outdoors

I’ve been practicing the idea of Bonus Days on business travel for a couple of decades now. Here’s how it works.

You have an upcoming business trip, the business portion of the trip begins on Day X and ends on Day Y. You add another day to the trip, after Day Y, and schedule some outdoor activity for that day. It’s a great way to unwind after a week of meetings, or a conference, or whatever your business requirements happened to be.  The great thing is that the majority of your personal expense is already covered by your company, and the additional expenses you will incur yourself are minimal compared to footing the bill yourself.

Where it Started

I’m sure I’m not the first one to come up with this idea, but here’s how it came to me.  I was at an international dealer conference for the company I worked with.  Three days of meetings and presentations along with social functions, requiring that I, and my co-workers, were on the clock from dawn until midnight.  The conference was at a very nice resort on the Mexican Mayan Riviera.  My wife came along for the trip, relaxed on the beach, or by the pool, with a cool drink by her side.  Other spouses were along and they had a great time while I watched the palm tree sway in the breeze through the windows, made presentations, and lead dealer forums.  The final night of the conference was the big awards gala.  Next morning we packed up and headed to the airport, passing beach resort after beach resort.  I realized that the company has paid my way, airfare being the biggest expense, and I paid them back working 18 hours a day.  The next conference was already being planned, in a similar location, and I had a brand new plan.  My wife and I added a couple extra days, at our expense, to the end of the trip the following year, went snorkeling, toured the Mayan ruins, and drank rum on the beach.  It was the cheapest breach holiday ever.

Before or After

I know some people that have the same Bonus Day idea as I do, but they take the Bonus Day before the travel.  Often when I travel I have a substantial amount of new material to develop or prepare, and every day/hour/minute of preparation is often needed, especially last minute changes and pre-meeting run through.  This makes the idea of a Bonus Day more attractive, as it’s the prize after the hard work, it feels more like I have earned it at that point.

The Bonus Day Plan

Now the Bonus Day Plan is part of my regular travel routine.  It’s not hard to find an outdoor experience near to where you are traveling.  Here are a few examples of Bonus Days I have added:

  • snorkeling at Turks and Caicos
  • golfing in Scotland
  • fly fishing for trout in Alberta
  • Skiing in Ontario
  • catamaran and snorkeling trip in Jamaica
  • golfing and carousing in Vegas
  • relax on the beach in Bahamas
  • desert tour in Hummers in Phoenix
  • mountain tail quad trip in Puerto Vallarta
  • surfing in Hawaii

For all of these Bonus Days, the out of pocket expenses to my self have been limited to a hotel bill, meals, plus the cost of the activity itself.  It has been a cheap way to do a few things that would otherwise cost me a few thousand dollars.

What is your Bonus Day Plan.  Don’t you think you have earned it?

Thoughts on Turning 49

February 18, 2015 / galen / Outdoors

So I turned 49 today. Mathematically that puts me one year short of a half century. Am I old or am I young?

Ask me 25 years ago as I approached a quarter century, before I had kids, when most of life’s accomplishments and events were still ahead of me, and I would say that 50 (or 49 as I am today) is old. Now my perspective is changed. I’m going to say I am at the perfect age, a combination of wisdom and experience, the physical ability to hunt and fish, the passion to get outdoors, and still the daring to act like a fool on occasion.

I live in a perfect time, when classic rock is free on internet radio, the song playing right now is She’s So Cold by the Rolling Stones. I had the Emotional Rescue cassette tape. It’s a time when shot shell amunition companies are coming out with “tracer” shells, which I can shoot in my trusty 1985 Remington 870 Wingmaster pump (my most reliable gun), or my Baretta A300 semi-auto (the one my wife is hopefully giving me today). I have a Zebco 404 reel mounted on a 5-1/2 foot matching rod, from the late 1970’s that I use to jig for perch off my boat or dock. I also have 3 fly rods and reels each worth over $500 for when I really want to fish. I’m a new age redneck, a combination of high tech and outdoor mixed with an adventurous spirit. I can call a duck within range, shoot with a 35 year old gun, get my 5 year old dog to retrieve it, and post a picture of it to Facebook with my IPhone 6. Perfect time for me,

I live in a perfect location. I have world class lakes within 2 hours of my driveway. I have Canada geese that fly 30 feet high over my house. I live 45 minutes from where the Hanson Buck, world record whitetail, was shot. I can hunt snow geese in flocks that fill the sky and troll the waters for 30″ walleye and 4 foot pike. If I had a snowmobile (or 4) I could follow hundreds of miles of trails or go cross country over thousands of acres of open fields on farm land where I know all the owners.

It’s my birthday so i mixed a little Bailey’s in my coffee this morning, because I wanted to, and now I’m sitting in my home office writing a blog post. Feels pretty good to me. 49 is the perfect age, until next year when perfect is spelled f-i-f-t-y.

Tobin Lake Walleye

   Tobin Lake Walleye

Two Fists Full of Mallards

Two Fists Full of Mallards

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