Spent a beautiful day on the ice on Lake Superior yesterday.  It started out a bit brisk, with the temp at -25C when we left at 8am, but it turned into a beautiful day! It was sunny, calm and the fish were cooperative.  We got some nice whitefish, and had a blast with a few schools of herring, at one point catching 7 herring in about 5 minutes, all right under the ice!  I laid down on the ice and watched down the hole, which is super entertaining!  Had to be 20 at one time swimming around the bait!

The whitefish made us work, but we ended up with a good collection at the end of the day.  We had to work them with the electronics, and once again they proved their worth!  The Helix 5 got us right on my waypoint, letting us setup on a little patch of weeds on a big sandy flat.  It has quickly become my favourite sonar for ice fishing, although I still bring along and use the Ice 55.  The hot baits for the day were the Williams Ice Jig, a small swedish pimple, and at the end of the day when they got really finiky, tiny baits like a single hook forage minnow were doing the trick.  I tipped spoons with a litte chunk of fire brined smelt to make the offering a little more enticing!

We had a great Whitetail season this year. Things have settled into a nice Groove at home with our little girl, allowing me to get out and spend some time in the deer stand! I had a great fall, with lots of exciting encounters, and closed the deal on the last day of my holidays in mid-november on a beauty buck. He came out to the doe bleat, running around the field searching for that doe! He looked like a warrior, had a broken G3, a fresh big gouge just under his right eye and plenty of cuts and torn hair on his head. He had been in the thick of it for sure!
My wife also had a great fall, she spent a few days in the blind with the crossbow, hunting solo. She put in a solid effort, was rattling and calling, and made a perfect shot on a buck. The little one and I came out for the recovery and she got to see her first deer (and see where all our meat comes from!)
It was a memorable season, with plenty of ups and downs. I played the game with a giant buck with a sticker on his G2, that tormented me throughout November. I love cell trail cams but they are also a curse........knowing he was staring at my camera in daylight while I was at work or at home!
Was a great fall and already looking forward to next year!

A friend came from near Dryden to hunt bears this weekend.  We hunted together here last year, and saw a handful of bears, but he was on the hunt for something big last year.  We had a ton of fun, but didn't kill a bear.  This year, he wants sausage, so we were after a bear, nothing in particular.  I had a number of small baits setup, mainly in farm country, where I'd been seeing bears cruising the edges of agricultural fields.  We hunted one particular farm one evening, with no action, and returned the next morning.  I had 2 different bears visiting this site regularly, on perfect eater, and one seriously large, perfect looking bear.  On the first morning, within 5 minutes of slipping into the blind, the small bear appeared.  He was rather hesitant, and came in and snuck away several times befor he stood still long enough for a shot.  A 60 yard shot from the 30.06, and he didn't make it ten yards.  A fun and successful hunt!

This spring turkey season was one for the books!  With work commitments and baby, I wasn't sure I was going to make it, but sure glad I did!  My wife, baby girl and my dad joined me on this trip, and we had a blast!  We had some of the most epic hunts, including a double on big toms with my dad and I, with him shooting a bruiser at under 5 paces!  It was a great trip, with fun hunting, great times with family, and a little trout fishing mixed in. 

I'm trying to get caught up on the blog, things have been rather busy!  With the addition of a sweet little girl to our family, I've spent less time fishing, and far less time looking after this page!  Now is time to catch up!  We got out with the little one for some late season ice fishing, and had a blast!  We fished a couple different spots on Lake Superior for whitefish, steelhead and lake trout, and weren't disappointed!  We may not get out as much, or go as for or for as long, but we had a blast!  Especially bringing little Harper along on our adventures!

So ice fishing for crappie has been on my list a long time, and we finally made the trek to go catch some.  My wife, daughter and my dad headed out to Nestor Falls, and stayed at Sunset Cove Resort, and spent a few days fishing lake of the woods.  It was nasty and cold, and thankfully we had a shack to hide in (or it would have been short days!). It was a fun trip, and we all got fish.  We caught crappie, jumbo perch, sauger and herring.  Was a ton of fun to explore, and finally cross ice fishing for crappie's off the bucket list!

Ice fishing is a rather unique hobby, that you really need to be passionate about. Living where I do we need to embrace winter, although at times I find myself questioning my sanity.....
With my sweet new baby girl this fall, I'm fishing alot less, but got out close to home with friends for a couple hours this past week for lake trout opener.
The lake we fished isn't terribly productive, but has big fish potential. This trip however, we got skunked, and encountered some epic slush!
But I'll be still back there soon.......

Spent an afternoon with a friend chasing snowshoe hares in the snow. Always a fun hunt!