August 2011 – The Outdoors Guy

August 24, 2011

Outdoors Column returns to Ottawa SUN Sports Section

Ok folks so here it is, the BIG announcement I mentioned last week…hopefully I haven’t built it up too much.

And no, its not free products for all the readers and I haven’t won the lottery either, if that’s what you’re thinking.

Starting next Thursday – following a 2.5 year absence – my Outdoors Column will be returning to the Ottawa SUN Sports Section! (in print & online)

Having the outdoors column back is great news, not only for me, but for every hunter, fishermen & conservationist in Eastern Ontario and Western QC, and not to worry, the Blog isn’t going anywhere!

Anyone who followed my SUN outdoors column from 2002 – 2009 pretty much knows what to expect. Hey, you will probably even see your name mentioned in there now and again, plus the latest in hunting and fishing news, gossip, reviews, tips and more. For now it will be running every second Thursday.

You could say getting my SUN outdoors column back is like have one of my children return, after having gone missing for over 2 years, and you wouldn’t be far off.

I would like to thank SUN Publisher Rick Gibbons, Editor-in-Chief Mitchell Axelrad and Sport’s Editor Tim Baines for the opportunity to return to print on a regular basis.

It’s great to be back and right before hunting season too – it must be a sign!!

Outdoorsguy

August 19, 2011

Meet my backyard boys

I know these guys pale in comparison to Rick’s giants, but they’re still nice to look at.

I now have three bucks coming to my place on a regular basis. One is a two year old 6-point; another one is an 8-point three year old and finally my old pal Garfield who’s also a three-year old.

As you will see in the photos, Garfield experienced some real difficulty with his symmetrics this year. One side of his rack is a typical 4 point but the other side has gone all wonky. I can only assume he sustained some sort of injury during early antler growth.

Rick, any thoughts?

You may recall this buck from last year, as the one who had part of his main beam broken off in a fight. From what I know, that breakage last fall would have no effect on this year’s growth, although it is ironic.

The weird antler growth has had no effect on Garfield’s attitude; he is still most dominant of the three bucks.

Still no sign of my ‘Granddaddy’ – I have not seen him since February actually, but he tends to hide most of the summer anyway.

Outdoorsguy

I have been able to follow this buck, I call Garfield, the past three years with help from his distinctive white legs patch, front and back, and a shoulder scar which is also a give-away.

Meet Savage Joe’s buck – he and McDan suspect this is the same deer Savage missed out on last fall walking to his stand.

Here’s a sideview of the ‘Savage buck’ which appears to be a nice clean 5X5. I wonder who (if anyone) will get to see this bad boy during the season?

Here’s a nice shot of mom and the little one stopping by McDan’s Bushnell Trophy cam for a lick.

August 18, 2011

Incredible big buck images

Thanks to Rick for sharing these incredible images of two bucks feeding in a west-end field earlier this week!

This is the smaller of the two bucks. Rick says he has lots of small points on his left side.

Here’s the big guy – a 5X4+1. Too bad his left didn’t match his awesome right side!

Rick grabbed these fantastic images off his high-magnification video camera.

These pictures just go to show the awesome gene pool we have here in the Ottawa valley!

Thanks to Rick for being in the right place at the right time.

Outdoorsguy

August 17, 2011

Ontarios first elk hunt in a century

Has anyone heard news about Ontario’s first Elk hunt in over 100 years?

No, well me neither and its starting to bug me!

I know there has been tag allocation arranged for a select number of specially drawn tags, but I have yet to hear the results nor have I received any press material from the MNR on the subject.

The open season is said to be one week long running from September 19 – 25 and more information regarding the background of the elk hunt an management strategy can be found here:

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodconsume/groups/lr/@mnr/@fw/documents/document/stdprod_068304.pdf

I officially invite anyone with information on the elk hunt to please stop by and enlighten us with some details.

Outdoorsguy

August 9, 2011

Three year old buck takes a quick bite

After a 6 week absence this nice looking 3 year old, 8-point buck (I call Garfield) returned to my feeder last week for a quick bite.

My Bushnell Trophy cam captures my old friend as he tentatively approaches the feeder; trying to decide whether or not to sneak in a nibble.

With the trusty trail cam set on ‘2 photo burst’ on 30-second intervals, his every movement is recorded as he nears the feeder; grabs a mouthful of feed and then moves on.

God bless the glorious trail camera!!

Outdoorsguy

August 8, 2011

Triplet fawns a promising sign

Our friend Sureshot-Dave has captured some rare images of a whitetail doe and, get this, three fawns!

The images were taken with Dave’s new Bushnell Trophy Cam from one of the favourite spots on his property near Carleton Place.

He calls the area the “honey hole” – which boasts an awesome funnel along the corner of a lake where he’s taken many deer over the years.

Looks like Dave will have some new ‘up-and-comers’ over the next few years.

Thanks for sharing the great images as the sight of three healthy sibling fawns can only taken as a good sign!

Outdoorsguy