Catching the Good Life in the Canadian Wilderness

Good Day Happy Campers! What a whirlwind we live in, it certainly is interesting to say the least. As we try to move forward in every facet of our lives, from Covid to Peace, Winter and much, much more, I can only say one word to me that encompasses it all, Respect!

If all of us have respect starting with ourselves from within and then everything around us, the world will become a much nice, better place again. Sure we can not turn back time, but we all can do our part, as little as it is, to help shape this change. It doesn’t matter if you are Canadian, US, Black, White, Native, Asian, Man, woman, child, dog, cat or Guinea Pig, we all have a place in this world! So, how about taking a huge breathe of fresh air, exhale and start with you. After all, it all starts with just one, doesn’t it!

So life on the northern Prairie goes on, day to day. Magoo and I have been fishing, and actually had a fresh fish fry last week, ooh it was so good. Nothing like Happy Camp, but was tasty never the less. We did use a batter called Andy’s, it was in a small reddish bag and created a little Kick to the taste.

Late yesterday Magoo and I went out for a romp on the prairie and although the Pheasant season is over with, Magoo certainly flushed them up. She flushed about 10 birds, some nice Roosters and then on the way out a bunch of Hungarian Partridges flushed, that certainly created a release of Methane, WOW!

As we look to 2021, we certainly hope to be up at HCO and see some of you and be once again in the bush, and can not wait for the adventures. From Jamies, “Best Place in the World”, to romping on Shadow Island, playing in the BMA, and taking the girls for a swim or as Sadie says, a “Paw Dip”, in their favorite pool, it will all bring a smile not only to our faces but to our hearts for we go north to heal and the Happy Camp Wilderness certainly heals me, that is for certain!

I did hear tell of a Wolf pack in the area, that certainly would be worth trying to hunt not soon enough don’t you think? Also, the girls say it is time, so lets all do our part, take care of ourselves and ones around us, and come and catch the good life with us at Happy Camp Ontario!!

Finally, to the Packers, you put on a hell of a show last week, we can’t wait for the encore, Go Pack Go! Take care everyone.

Good Morning, Happy New Year and a New Beginning! Hi everyone from Fog filled northern North Dakota, Catfish Chris here with a brief update, welcome to 2021 everyone. We hope you are hanging in there looking forward to this year. While it will take time to put this behind us, we hope the pandemic will slow down and allow some “normalcy” to return. Our fingers are crossed in hopes of that.

We ended 2020 in our bubble and are hopeful to get out one last weekend to Bird hunt. Southwest of here there is a nice winter group of Canada Geese that are always a challenge so the plan is to head there once the fog lifts and roads get less slippery. So if the plan works out, I will be plucking a couple Geese tonight, time will tell.

Alexa wakes me each day with the sounds of WTCH, a radio station coming from Shawano, Wisconsin. This is the sounds that I was raised on and they play much older music, some good, some bad. I very seldom listen to the song, but as I put coffee together, this song came on and I heard the words. I didn’t just listen, but actually heard the words. The sweet sounds of Charlie Pride help, but the words actually make sense to Pay it Forward. Sad so say, not enough of this in the world today, never enough.

So as I end this bit, I wish you all a pleasant day, and a great start to 2021. We do hope to see many of you this year, shoot me an email or call to book your spot in the great Canadian Wilderness. Below are a couple links to the song and another in memory of my Dad who we lost way too soon, miss you Dad!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Hi everyone, the holidays are soon upon us! Actually 2020 seems like such a blur and while when we turn the page to 2021, one would hope that we can put Covid behind us, but as we all know this is hardly the case.

2020 will mark the first time I will not be with my family for Christmas, Magoo and I will be isolated in northern North Dakota. I would hope that you are spending your holidays with whom you live with and follow the guidelines to hopefully slow this soon and get Happy Camp going in 2021!

I hope all of you are being safe, healthy and doing all you can to cope with the Covid and resist the urge to grab your cup of Covid and spread your Holiday Uncheer with others. 2020 was a mess, like the narrator in Rudolph holding his umbrella during the blizzard, then saying brrrr in hopes it was over, we could only hope, right?

As you know, we continue to try to get Bear hunt area closer to Happy Camp, but Wawa MNR has turned us down again stating there are too many bear harvested in our zone 21B. With that said, one only knows how the Moose season will shake out too? So for now, we have our same bear area and hope for the best, we shall see how mother nature dealt with the Bear area when we are able to get north.

News from south of the border, not too much. We still teach virtually with no end in sight. Waterfowl hunting ended way too soon, ice up came around October 15th, only 2 months before the end of the season. Sure it warmed a bit, but no migration from the north happened, so Magoo and I are going to the Missouri River. Hunting honkers is ok, still a few days left in that, but not the same as your home turf. Pheasant, Hungarian Partridge and Sharptails have been seen and harvested, but there’s nothing like the ducks, Magoo and I agree!

We did see a Snowy Owl perched on top of a fence post today, have not seen one of those in years, so cool! As of this writing, we are getting some snow, but only a few inches are on the ground. Locals are ice fishing, but far too warm for us, we shall see what the next few weeks bring.

As we close 2020 and look to the future, all of us hope you are looking forward to Happy Camp as much as we are. For 2021, our prices will remain the same as listed on our site. Should you want to make a reservation, shoot us an email at getthenet@wi-net.com or phone me in the states at (715)-630-4444. We look forward to hearing from and seeing all of you real soon!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Happy Campers!

Good Morning Moose hunters, soon the Hillsport bush will have you there in search of Bullwinkle. It is our hope that you have a fantastic time, the weather, food, drink and stories are great, you enjoy the wilderness, perhaps see some Moose, Grouse and other critters along the way.

We wish you all the Best of Luck in your escapades, wish we were there to share the stories, but not to be as we work to keep Covid at bay.

Be safe, take care and have fun everyone! Hope to see you in 2021. Time will tell.

Hi everyone. It is with deep sadness that I am posting that we have lost one of our fellow Moose hunters, Tom Boucher. Tom passed away earlier today after a lengthy illness.

Tom was part of the Seagull Crew which were one of the first to ever come to Happy Camp and Moose hunt. Tom always had a smile on his face, a fresh biscuit for Magoo and truly a class act and Tom was more of a friend than a customer, so sad to see him go.

Perhaps Tom is sitting along Thomas Lake Road watching for the Great Eternal Bull Moose, shoot straight Tom!

To Tom’s family, especially Brian, please remember you are in our hearts and prayers, and the light will always be on for you at Happy Camp or wherever I am!

Below is Tom with the crew, Tom is the hunter in the far right, behind the long bearded fellow known as Seagull, one of Tom’s buddies!

So as 2020 Moose hunt is upon us, I would hope Happy Camp Moose hunters would raise a glass in honor of Tom. Thanks Tom for a lot of good times and God’s Speed.

Hi everyone, it is the end of August and Fall is just around the corner! Here on the northern Prairie of North Dakota, this morning Magoo and I awoke to a balmy 38 degrees. To Happy Campers whom don’t know, this is about 2 Celcius!

September is coming in quickly and with that more thoughts of hunting come around. We sorely missed all of the Bear hunt, but perhaps 2021 will be a banner year. If any of you have thoughts of giving this a try, shoot me a message or phone me. Soon the moose hunt will begin. It has been way too long for me to catch up with all the old hunters and some new, but you all are simply the best. I do hear that Seagull is doing ok and that brought back eating the Moose Tongue and his famous Spaghetti! If Dan, Paul or the Bouche’s remember, his sauce was second to none! Take care Seagull.

As we are on the prairie, I do need to update all of you that Magoo seems to being on the mend after her surgeries. She is walking pretty good, running some and getting ready for the hunt, she deserves a long, great hunt after the last few years on her knees. The other morning while walking on the prairie, a small flock of Honkers flew over, and to see Magoo’s head spin, watch and follow them as they went by, simply priceless. As they flew off in the distance, Magoo look back like saying, “What the hell man, shoot them, I need feathers in my mouth, what is wrong with you!”

Not much else to tell except we miss Happy Camp, the lakes, wilderness and all of you! As the sun is shining here, I can imagine the beach, waves crashing into the shore of White Otter and in the distance the train making its hoot through the woods.

Enjoy your hunt everyone, be safe, take care and we hope to to see you once again in 2021!

Good Morning Happy Camp Bear Hunters, the day has come and passed for our 2020 Bear Hunt! Sadly this will mark the first time in 10 years we are not out in the BMA after Bears. It certainly is a huge change, we have tried everything to divert the thoughts of the hunt, but none have worked! We know that Donna is missing the Bear hunt and all of you too as she made a slideshow with clips from the BMA, brings back many memories of the years. Hopefully 2021 will start new memories with all of you and that can not come soon enough!

Last night on opening night, I watched the sun go down and waited for the nighthawks to appear, but none have come. August 15th is their first day for the migration, has been for years, and they are not around, what is up with that? As for other items, leaves are starting to show signs of fall coming around. Last week I took Mom up to her land near Saxon and signs of Fall have arrived there. While it was really hot, almost 90, it was nice to smell the forest, but not like Happy Camp!

With fall upon us, Magoo is getting ready to hunt and chase birds. Although her recovery has been long and extensive, I hope she can romp and play like a few years ago. She did have to meet a new vet in the northwoods as she had some ear issues, but that seems to be all taken care of. Along with that, we are starting to see Algae Bloom and if you see that do not let your dogs go into as it can be lethal.

Enjoy what you can away from Bear Camp hunters and look forward to 2021 when we will start new memories! Take care and Be Safe!

Good Morning and Happy Bear Hunt 2020 Happy Campers! It is surprising that although the hunt has been postponed for the year, the heat, humidity and Deer Flies have still found their way to where the Bear and Mast Baiter are at!

The northern US has been littered with people, and the Deer Flies, well they are dig deep. I can not imagine how they hurt on a dog or bear’s nose! Speaking of Bear, we have Betsy whom has taken up company near here. She is a young, plump girl who so far has been respectful in eating and not wrecking any feeders.

Speaking of wrecking, I wish I could say the same for Hillsport. With the lack of bear baiting, there is a group of Bears wandering around. We were told that they tore into some fiber board, perhaps looking for glue to replace the sweets they are not getting? Our only hope is that they are taking care of business on the nasty people and leaving the nice people alone. So far, Bev and Roger are fine.

We so miss the far north and all of you, and now it is Bear time. It has been great to hear from some of you that you too miss us and Bear Camp, and that Bear Camp 2021 is clearly in our sights!

As we begin the countdown, we will get in search of Berries to eat and enjoy. They seem slim, but the girls are looking for them. Magoo seems to like them more than Sadie, I think that the Blackberries are not Blueberries and the seeds are not to her liking!

What are all you up to this Covid 2020? Please stay safe and healthy everyone, make good choices for yourself, take care and keep in touch!

Good morning Happy Campers from Sultry northern Wisconsin. As we pass the hump of Mid-July, we also have officially started State Stupid here in the US. As you know, the Corona is out of control in almost every state and there seems to be no end in sight. As it goes up, more people have not followed the simple guidelines to slow this, and the border will be closed.

PM Trudeau clearly stated a day ago that the border will remain closed until late August and then they will review it. But since all of Canada has about 300 cases per day, there is no way that they will let visitors from the south in the midst of Stage Stupid into their country.

So the best we can hope for is to have a miracle and have the border open for Labor day and then get up to Happy Camp for our Moose season, time will tell.

In the meantime, we are wearing masks, practicing social distancing and trying our best to keep busy in the northwoods. While it has been nice to retrace some steps from years gone by, the area has changed forever and not for my liking. As any Happy Camper knows, a few people who love nature are great, but having all kinds of people all over the place just doesn’t cut it for me, that is why Happy Camp is such a special place for me. For example, as we fished a weed edge the other day, I thought wow in the far north of Happy Camp, there would be fish sprinkled all thru the coontail and cabbage, but not in the northwoods, just few fish left which is sad, very sad but realistic because of the amount of pressure the lakes get as well as how technology allows almost any fisherman to locate and catch fish. I can not stress enough people, take a couple for a meal, and let the rest go to grow. Also, let the fish go quickly, the water temps at 80 are hard enough on the fish, net, unhook and let go forget the pictures, only take a mental snapshot! Fish are just too precious to worry about taking a photo of yourself with the fish and putting it out for social media.

Speaking of precious, a few bright sides of this mess are some nice sightings. To sart with, there are 5 Phoebe’s that are crammed into a nest built along the rocks at the front of the house. It is amazing how those little eggs have hatched and they mouths open waiting for bugs from momma.

We have a night visitor who shows up to eat some suet and birdseed. The Bloke is maybe 130 pounds, but has a nice white Spirit mark developing. I guess he is lounging down in the swamp near the mudhole that used to be a lake before irrigation tool the water away. As the berry crops are coming along, he will soon be devouring those with corn in the fields. But for now, as along as he keeps up his manners and does not wreck anything, he is welcome at our feeder. But our hope is that he gets here earlier, showing up at 1 a.m. is quite late, unless he is just closing down the bar?

Finally, as I wrote, near the wood edge an odd creature walked thru the edge. A Ferrell Cat(NO), a Lynx(NO), but a young Bobcat with muddy feet from coming out of the swamp. He walked along the wood edge, so beautiful and at the edge of the woods, he turned and went north, vanishing into the woods. Now that is a first for me, only seen pictures of them before! As I recollect on animals I have seen, just this week I have seen Bear, many Deer with Fawns, Geese, Eagles, Loons, Bobcat, Water Moccasin, and a huge Snapping Turtle on the south end of Little John the other night. Interesting how the turtle seemed to be swimming near the young Geese but the adults honked and it disappeared.

The bugs certainly seem to be much less here, but perhaps we have found a solution and hope to try it in 2021 at Happy Camp Ontario. As I think of bugs, I also miss the wilderness, freedom, our campers and all they bring to the area and the excitement I would be having this day as we greet new campers but also the adventure of Bear baiting and travels. We do hear that a bear is tearing up the barrels at Happy Camp, but there is nothing we can do but hope he doesn’t get a piece of plastic stuck in his mouth!!

The sun is out, heat and humidity are here as well as storms later today. Time to get rumbling for the day, take care and Please be Smart not Stupid!

Good morning Happy Campers! As always, we hope you are healthy, being safe and enjoying the summer, where ever you are! For us, we are in the sultry heat and finally last night rain came. But alas, we should reach 90 for the next 3 days at least. Our hope is that this will break and be the end of the heat.

As you know the Covid rages on in the US and with no end in sight the window of opportunity is getting dimmer by the day. But we shall see what unfolds in the future!

Last night I spoke to Rooster and Elaine from Manitouwadge. Rooster is slowly on the mend and we did speak for a little bit. As he continues to recover, if anyone is in his area, they certainly would appreciate some fresh walleye fillets or just a stop by to say hi and chat outside as he does not get many visitors. With the Covid, they have stopped any home therapy and they are on their own, so anyone stopping by would be greatly appreciated.

The wilderness is certainly missed by all of us on a daily basis. To hear the silence and only hear the breezes cut thru the trees, the faint call of a Loon from a nearby lake or the drip of water off a paddle from the canoe, they all bring much needed sanity and comfort that only comes from the far north for the Happy Camp Crew! So until we see you all again, take care, be safe and keep in touch!