January 03, 2008 by Gildas Paradis

We had a great holiday season and now it's back to work. We have been busy planning our spring hunts and booking trips. It is very warm right now and i worry that the deer will have a hard time if the snow makes a thick crust. The wolves will be able to run on top and the deer will have to scratch for food. This is not normal for January but what is normal anymore?

My plans are shaping up for our baiting this spring but it seems winter is flying by. That is ok with us, winters can be long and hard. I am looking at trading our argo off on some 4 wheel quads. The argo is a good machine but it has it's place. We have owned it for 4 years and rarely use it. If you have 1 you need 2 or more just to comfortably travel anywhere, because if you need to recover a broken down machine the only other vehicle that will get to the argo is another argo. Plus they are slow and rough, very rough, very slow.

They make up for the lack of speed in some areas because of where they can go, but it takes so long to get there that a man on a bike could build a bridge or cut a portage road around the bad spots and carry on. I suppose if i wanted to retrieve an animal from a one time bad spot the argo is great but i am never alone when hunting and 2 or more guides can make quick work of an animal if it is down in a bad spot.

We have broke trail to some baits and to the Drake Outcamp, which will freeze into a nice packed trail now once it turns cold again.

The deer have congregated close to the lodge again this winter. Now i just need to watch for the wolves to find them. As soon as we bag a few i'll post some pics.

Next month we will start shed hunting. By what i saw left on the hoof this fall there should be some nice racks to look for.

Stay tuned.