Barry Willis

Very nice to see, good going.

Every day for the past twenty years since we moved into this house I have watched Merlin falcons from the patio. In fact just saw one a few minutes ago looking for his supper. I've never actually seen one take a pigeon but there have been times when suddenly there's a cloud of feathers floating down into the back yard. I have found dead pigeons mostly in back alley's that a falcon has taken and consumed half the breast and never returned to feed on the rest. There are two guys in the neighborhood that have and raise pigeons and the falcons nest not far from them. It must be frustrating for these guys to lose so many to the falcons. Two years ago one of the guys was going door to door offering a $300:00 reward to anyone who knew where his white female pigeon that he just purchased was located. He must have payed a lot of money for that bird which to me makes no sense as he has to know of the falcons in the area.

Yes, casting from shore. next time i will be taking the boat, it's quite a big river with lots of islands where I can beach it and fish from the shore of them and even camp for a night or two.

Have they ever gone digital. Not surprised though.

Very true!

I actually enjoy the same thing out here Spiel, along with Osprey, my favorite, fishermen just like us.

You won't have to tell me twice.

Well I finally dusted the cob webs off myself and my fishing gear and got out and got the stink blew off me, Hahaha, first time in a little over a year, and three years previous. I must thank Crowman for this. I don't know how, but some how, he detected that I was in a rut, and I was, big time, and he mentioned that I needed to get out and go fishing. It took a while but I finally heeded his advice and sure glad I did. Can't wait to get out again. If it wasn't for your advise Rick, and I thought about it frequently, I'm not sure I would have. Thanking you very much just doesn't seem like enough. The wind in town here was 40 gusting to 60 out of the west which would have been perfect but when I got to my fishing hole, the Bow River, just 75km SE of town the the wind was brutal and out of the SE right in my face and the water was dirty but still managed to get my Kamlooper out far enough to get this brown. Not a big one but a nice looking one. Not the best picture as I didn't want to spend too much time with him as I intended to release him which I did of course as I do with most all my fish, but it sure made my day and broke the ice for the first fish caught on my new rod and reel. Thank You Rick.

That is a Lynx Lew, we actually get a lot of bobcats in the sw corner of the city where it is closest to the forest and Fish Creek, they follow the creek that feeds Glenmore Reservoir for our house hold water into the city and take up residence under peoples decks, sheds etc. and give birth. Any house cats outdoors don't last long. Tended to the trail cams today. Dozens of deer and a pine marten that climbed the tree and out of curiosity stuck his nose to the lens of the camera, what the heck is that thing in my living room. Hahaha. A very beautiful wolf that was so close to the camera I unfortunately didn't get all of him. There was a pretty good snow fall up there last month. Don't pay attention to any of the dates aside from the last one. I haven't set them.

Just a few random pics I came across by accident, forgot I had them. Tending to the trail cams Tuesday so hopefully I'll have some better stuff to post.

I have one, like brand new, rebuilt 60hp Mariner but you'd have to make the trip out here to Calgary to get it, Haha.

Good going Brian, I don't think you will be disappointed in your decision. Not that you need it but good luck on your fishing adventures.

Jealous is an understatement. Good going guys. Beautiful fish. Brings back very pleasant memories of the good old days when I lived on Georgian Bay.

Not only that guys, I would think snow, being one of the best insulations there is it could cause the ice to melt somewhat, as the water is not as cold as the ice, it would take some time but still. I've seen many times where lakes didn't freeze over with very thick ice when there is a substantial amount of snow on it in the early season preventing the cold air to make ice. Years ago I was ice fishing on Ghost Lake west of Calgary. We had a pretty good snow fall. I was out fishing a couple days before the snowfall and the ice was a good ten inches thick. When I drilled my hole after the snowfall it was about six inches thick and two more days after that it was down to about two or three inches and soft. Scared the you know what out of me standing over 70ft of water. Keeping in mind there was a bit of a current which may have played a part as I was about a kilometer or so down from where the Bow River enters and feeds the lake. I don't know, but It still boggles my mind how quick it melted.

Thanks Bill, I plan on going out again next week and place some trail cams in the area where it will take shots of their vehicle including the license plate and hopefully the crime in progress. The problem is to have trees to attach the cameras to so I will have to leave them where they are and have a coupe others facing the road I wish I could afford the trail cams that would notify me on my cell phone every time it takes a picture or video and sends them to me, (it's a four hour drive one way from my house) That way I could call report a poacher and hopefully Fish and Wildlife Officers could catch them and put an end to this Bull. It's only a matter of time before these deer wind up being poached at night. I'm surprised they are still there.

These trail cam pics were take near an old abandoned farm out on the bald prairie, any where you see trees out here, they were planted by man. If you look close there is a light in the back ground that the frisky guy is looking at, the light itself at that distance more than likely wouldn't bother him unless there was noise associated with it which by the position of his ears and body language tells me that he did pick up on something. the light shows up in some of the other pics periodically throughout the same night as well but not in the same place. There are no other farms or dwellings of any sort as far as the eye can see in any direction which leads me to believe it to be that of poachers. Perfect place for them to commit their crime with no one around for miles and miles to witness it or hear the rifle shot. Another reason I believe it to be poachers as these deer are 100% nocturnal. There have been reports from honest hunters years ago of poaching here during daylight hours. Even chasing them across the prairie with their trucks to get close enough for a shot, sickens me. If it wasn't for their tracks in the snow you would never know deer lived in this area.

Haha, it's very rare but some white tail doe's grow antlers. My dad harvested one on Strawberry Island, Manitoulin Island back in the early thirties still in velvet and had the head mounted, my younger brother in Owen Sound. has it hanging on his wall. The antlers are very similar compared to my dads but this is obviously a buck as to where the frisky buck is smelling him.

Hey Spiel, stag film, that's a good one Haha, you are absolutely right, the last time I tended to this camera I had it on stills and video and switched it to stills. he did this several times.

I didn't know that deer are this way. Doe's must have been in short supply during the rut Hahaha. Last is sunset at Fort Macleod.

Very nice Shag, that's a dandy. Looks like something I'd catch Haha, wishful thinking on my part. I can't remember the last time I fished for Lakers through the ice, just kinda got away from it for some reason. Having seen that awesome picture of yours and read your story has rekindled the fire. Thanks for posting

Congrats, we done the same thing, Matty in black and Georgy.

That isn't as uncommon as one may think. I've seen all kinds of critters on the ice.

11000:00 above that was the MSRP. So yeah, a Hell of a deal in my books.

I looked for hours for these yesterday. I can't help but laugh at our little dinky doo tv and the VCR on top of it. We had a bigger tv in the 70s, much bigger house too LOL. My boy Harvey wanting a treat, as usual.

You're not alone Glen.