top) guns ready, sitting in the boat waiting for ducks to fly by. james, and wayne rideout are pictured here. mervin yellowback had left us to try and spook some birds into flying our direction.

second from top) mervin came back and started calling some geese in. even though it is hard to tell these pictures are taken from inside our boat which we have pulled up onto the ice and covered in spruce trees. we also have decoys sitting in the water in front of our boat.

goose is the number one bird that people go for, and goose soup is super popular, but a bit of an acquired taste. there was a special signing here in the community for an all weather road to be built and some people from winnipeg flew in. there was a big community meal and everybody was fed goose soup. the outsiders were at first excited for the clumpy goose broth with flour, but thier faces were priceless as they politely forced themselves to finish their bowls. i went by later to offer them seconds, they were quick to say no.

second from bottom) a shot of our boat/hunting blind and decoys. lethal.

bottom) i think i probably knocked these ones down as wayne doesn't have much of a shot, but he looks good holding them.

top) east end lodge, where neil lives. neil is a very interesting guy, he lives out in this cabin in the middle of nowhere and guards a fishing lodge in the off season. his place is a popular drop in center for hunters fighting the elements as he makes a mean cowboy coffee. he reads a lot of books, smokes a lot of cigarettes, and enjoys company when he gets it, a real bushman.

second from top) on a trip to east end lodge and after a coffee and cigar with neil, he took wayne rideout and i to his shed where he had a frozen wolverine carcass. wayne needed me to take a picture because he said it would be worth a thousand drinks in newfoundland. it was a very interesting animal to examine, strong wide paws, and thick rounded canines, not sharp, but exceptionally thick; you could imagine the crushing power their jaws would have. neil talked about how smart and difficult to kill they were.

second from bottom) i went for a long walk; the frozen lake was so extremely wind blown that i had no trouble making ground on the hard packed snow. no snowshoes required. this shot is of a little island that mainly housed dead birch trees.

i was recently reading an article on traditional canadian landscapes rarely being snow covered scenes, as it does not serve justice to the beauty of the canada's diverse environment. the article compared snow to a blanket covering what our landscapes should represent, i would call bullshit.

bottom) the magic school bus, formally a place for men working on the winter road to warm up. no longer in use. the front window has also been totally ripped off by a bear so i don't think people would really be able to get warm in the weather ol' jalopy. looks good.

top) max hastings with the biggest and only fish caught during the ice fishing derby, 1st place $500. i had one on earlier, but lost it. max was two holes down from me, and i truly believe that this was the fish i lost. the only thing worse than loosing a fish in a derby is loosing a fish that would have won you $500. i did however win a raffle aftwards and got $60, it helped take the pain away.

bottom) wayne sparkes, one of the high school teachers has spent a good amount of time up in the north. he wanted a picture of him fishing even though he wasn't actually fishing. i gave him my rod a snapped a few. the derby was not on a warm day, and the lake was whited out with snow drifts, but the whole thing was fun, tons of trash talking; as you can see nobody needs an ice hut. in the true north you embrace the cold.

top) cleaning the two bou. we took out the hearts with axes (one of the teachers likes to stuff and bake them), and i took a nice fur to clean and use as a little decoration in my relatively empty housing. everybody got some, we called down some other teachers, and a couple of friends to help clean and divide up the portions.

2nd from top) just another nice sunset. after we got our caribou we checked for more tracks a little further down the lake, nothing, but still fun. p.s. when you are out on a frozen lake where the temperature can drop to -40 on a dime and you still have to get back to shelter, unless you want to freeze like arnold in batman and robin, when the sun hits this point it is good idea to start high tailing home. the best is when your ski-doo breaks down and you are dragging a big tasty dead animal and there are wolves everywhere. i do not trust ski-doos.

2nd from bottom) money money...
bottom) MONAY

i went out today with my friend jeffrey. it was awesome. we both had a ski-doo and an SKS, (a new favorite gun of mine). about 20 minutes out of the community we found a small herd of caribou, and managed to separate a couple, and pick them off. one each, shooting with our left hands and from the hip, full-speed on ski-doos. pretty cowboy. jeffrey's actually turned on him after he shot it and he ran right over it. very cowboy.

top) mine, with jeffrey dragging his in from the distance.

2nd from top) closer.

2nd from bottom) here they are.

bottom) jeffrey with the kills.