Let’s Build A Better Future For Waterfowl
Wetlands are vital for waterfowl reproduction. Unfortunately, encroachment by industry and humans is harmful.
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Could You Survive In The Backlands?
If you drove to the forested backlands, could you actually survive a month, a week or even a single day? Yukon Survival.
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Knowing the Canadian beaver
Back in the 50s and 60s, before many of my readers were even born, as a conservation officer I had the pleasure of undertaking many
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Looking back (way back)
My interest in ancient archaeology happened when I turned 62. True, it was a little late in life to go back to life studies, but I was digging in my garden back in north central Ontario when I came upon some old bone structure.
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Carrying Capacity: one of the most misunderstood factors
Too many or too few of a species can be a disaster for any animal. Take deer for example. Too few can spell disaster when you consider possible recovery time and all conditions the population faces.
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Game on
One thing you know for sure about wild meat is that it hasn’t been loaded with chemicals and growth hormones to get it to market
What we can learn from the passing of the passenger pigeon
On Sept 1, 1914, the passenger pigeon went extinct. Considering the bird’s once-plentiful population, have we learned anything from this.
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Anti-hunting lives on
History of bloodshed has led some to associate firearms in war with hunting. There are misconceptions and misunderstandings about firearms.
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Factors in wildlife management
Look at a section of forest that has been harvested. A group of conservation-minded people entered the cut and made a number of bush piles. The bush pile becomes a safety net for rabbits, squirrels and other such creatures, but let’s not stop there.
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Know the age of fowl meat when cooking
There’s a big difference between cooking the meat of wild animals and cooking the meat of domestic animals. Domestic meats contain a wide variety of chemicals, including growth hormones, while wild meat has none.
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Black bears and pike
After considerable thought, I can’t come up with any similarity between black bears and pike except that a lot of people won’t eat either. That is sad, as both are delicious and easy to prepare.
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Salmon, twice as good
It’s hard to say which of these two salmon recipes is the best because both are delicious. The bonus is that each one is pretty simple to prepare.
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All about the red fox
Foxes have a number of colour phases. Mainly, we see the red and white, but additional phases include all-black, and black and red. No matter what colour, these foxes all have two things in common.
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Vaxxing for canines – protecting your dog from rabies
In many communities across Canada, all dogs must be inoculated with the rabies vaccine. It is not only wise to stop the spread of this deadly diseases to other animals, but to the protection of all people.
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Getting the best out of wild meat
Murray Martin with his first ever moose, shot with a bow and arrow in 1963. It was recorded in the Pope and Young World Records.
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The perfect canoe paddle
There are many canoe paddles on the market today, made in many styles, of many materials. The key to buying one to fit you personally
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The life of a conservation officer
Murray is seen here as a young conservation officer in Ontario In the autumn of one’s life, one often sits back in the easy chair
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The unknown life of a butterfly
Like most, I used to just take the butterfly for granted. Like most, I never gave it a thought other than that it was nice
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Living the life of a porcupine
Living the life of a conservation officer is truly a blessing. I doubt very much if any other occupation can bring you so close to
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Walking stick – what you see, but don’t see
There is an old saying, “I can’t see for looking.” That could be very true when it comes to actually seeing a “walking stick.” The
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The history of the canoe
Back in the early 1970s I wrote a monthly outdoors column for an Ontario outdoors magazine. One evening, after a day spent hunting moose, we pulled
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The amazing creatures – Little Brown Bat
Part 2 of 2 As mentioned in last week’s column, bats across the globe have an undeserved reputation. The little brown bat that inhabits this
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The amazing bat
Part 1 of 2 Back in the 1930s and 40s, many weird stories hung from the tails of bats—they would get tangled in your hair,
A stew to go hunting for
This is one stew recipe that I picked up more than 30 years ago. It has yet to be outshone by any other wild game stew I’ve made.
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Nuts to the red squirrels
Red squirrels are a fascinating part of the outdoor life. They also can be an intentional nuisance to your pet dog. We often watch Red,
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Deer hunting recipes
With hunting season once again upon us, it’s time to attempt to read those hurried, scribbled-down notes of some great wild-game recipes that I have received from many of the big-game hunters I have met, or hunted with, over the years.
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Nature versus hunting
How can I go out and shoot an animal? It might surprise you that many animals that go through meatpacking companies are actually shot with
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Getting to know bears
If I had to say which member of the bear family I mistrust the most, with little hesitation, I would say the black bear. This
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Telling a fish’s age
Once you cut a tree down, you can count the number of years it has stood by counting the annual rings around the stump. It
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Sport fishing and the future
Fish management is an ever-changing science. With climate change at hand, it will present many unanswered questions about the future of fishing.
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Fish actually have ears
Although fish have ears, they do not have eardrums like humans and other wildlife A number of years ago, while writing outdoor columns for some
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Surviving (and thriving) in the great outdoors
You are also cold and you need to find a way to make a fire and warm up. If you have followed the motto of the Boy Scouts, “Be Prepared,” then survival is on your side.
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The life and times of a bear (and being ‘bear aware’)
Other than facing a mad wolverine, I would say that the black bear is the most mistrusted creature in all of North America.
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The life and times of a beaver (and steadfast overachiever)
In Canada, the beaver is the largest member of the rodent family. The largest beaver I ever live-trapped was 63 pounds.
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Fending off bloodsuckers with sweet-smelling spray
Apparently insects hate the scent of marigolds.
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Cooking with moose meat
A successful hunt means cooking moose. Murray shares some meat pie and quiche recipes to try with the moose meat from a successful harvest.
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Birds ‘on the fly’
One of the best-tasting meats comes from game birds. Stripping the bird of all of its bones should be your first step … and the next step, after cooking, is to enjoy.
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Know your firearm
The first thing you should do after taking a hunter safety course is to go to the nearest shooting range and ask for help in getting to know your rifle.
Let’s go fishin’! – 3 of 3
On land we have voracious bears that will eat almost anything. In the rivers and lakes, without a doubt, the most voracious fish in North America is the northern pike.
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Watch out you wascally wabbits!
I would say there are as many ways to cook rabbits as there are all other game recipes combined.
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Get stuffed!
Stuffing for fish, birds or game should never be overpowering. When preparing stuffing, make it moist and fragrant.
Lost and found in the woods …
Do you have a dial watch? You have a compass!
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Many ways to eat moose
Now that you have your moose or deer meat in the freezer, it’s time to get serious about cooking it the outdoors way, inside.
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Get the best out of the fish you caught
One of the best ways to assure the very best taste of your fish is to kill it immediately after landing it. Throw away the fish chain and any containers that just hold water. Just don’t use them.
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Cooking and freezing wild meat
I received a question on just how long you should extend the freezing time of wild, big game meat. There are lengths of time that
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My fishing buddy, the chairman of the board
When one walks along the rim of the autumn of one’s life, they can’t help but to look back to the yesterdays – the “good
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Winter’s white on white
Before I was married, and my wife Lisa and I moved to the Yukon, my home was built on the northern borders of the Township
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Knowing the beaver
Evolution is an amazing thing and for the beaver, it has taken millions of years. Once almost 8 feet long some thousans of years ago,
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Knowing the beaver
Picture this: an animal that lived in our waterways, here in Canada that was close to 8 feet long, big chisel teeth and could swim
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Not Just a Dog, But a Best Friend
My dog, who I called The Barron, had an all brown head and a brown patch on his shoulders, but otherwise, was all white and, shall we say, not really accepted by the rich and mighty of the bird dog organizations.
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Bringing Up a Family the Old Fashioned Way
What has bringing up children in outdoor experiences and enjoying the life of camping, fishing and hunting done for the children?
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It Is Not That I Hunt, But That I Go Hunting
Last week I met a husband and wife in a local grocery store. The kind lady said she liked my columns on kayaking and the
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Don’t Cook Big Game Meats as You Would Domestic Meats
I got my real initiation in cooking wild meats when I first joined the Orillia Fish and Game Conservation Club, in Ontario. We had about
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Thunder and Lightning
Thunder and lightning do not seem to be as common here in the Yukon as in southern Canada. However, lightning strikes are probably the most
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The Life of Rabbits and Hares
Growing up in the 1930 and early 40s was tough times. First, there was the Great Depression, followed closely by the Second World War. For
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Big Game Cookery
With the hunting season upon us, it’s time for some special big game recipes. First of all, there is just about no part of a
Gone Fishing
As a Conservation Officer in Ontario in the late 1950s through the 1960s, I patrolled the St. Lawrence River to the Quebec border. I came
The Exciting Bird Migration Period
Back in the early 1960s, I was involved in the capture and banding of waterfowl and consequently receiving the follow up data on just how
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Fish
It will not surprise many that this little planet called Earth is covered by seventy percent water. What may surprise many is that the water
Golfers and Duck Hunters Have Something in Common
The golfing season and duck hunting season have something in common. I am convinced that if a person took up both sports their problems would
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What You Might Not Know About Ducks
Back in the early 1960s, I spent a couple of years banding waterfowl in one of the newly-created marshes of the hydro project in Lake
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Bison: From the Edge of Extinction
People driving down the highway may see a few bison, and never realize that this animal was at one time on the very edge of extinction.
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Want the good news or the bad news?
According to the Canadian Cancer Society Advisory Committee on Cancer Statistics, Canadian Statistics 2015, one out of every four Canadians will die of some form
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