Catching the Good Life in the Canadian Wilderness

Hello everyone.  As Jeff arrowed the last of Happy Camp’s bears late Monday night, it brought a close to our 2016 hunting season.  After many hours of hard work, we were able to have a spectacular hunt.

Early this morning, Jeff, Bing and I left Happy Camp Ontario to gather their stands and I cleaned up the bait sites.  As I drove out of the hunting area, I slowed and thought for a moment about all the wonderful memories we had this year!

Henry wandering down the trail looking for me as he started out our season!  Donna saying, bring the sled as she brought her beast to its knees!  The sweat, hornets and group track and drag on Tim’s enormous Bear!  To have the many laughs, talks, sweats and cussing that make Bear Camp special, it is over so fast!

As Henry and I traveled out Sunday night talking about Bing’s bear, Henry said, you know it is not all about the hunt, but the people, nature, wilderness and all that encompasses us when we descend upon Happy Camp for Bear Camp is what is all about!  Well said Henry, well said!  As Henry, Bonnie and Buddy loaded the truck on Monday morning, the sadness came over their faces and even Buddy was somber as he said goodbye!

So as we close our 4th Bear season, I have to stop and say thanks to all of you who continue to make our hunts so memorable.  I also have to say Thanks to my Dad for instilling the drive to continually strive for perfection and Never Giving Up!  After all, who knows what is right around the next bush, tree, log or under that cedar tree, right Henry!

As we look to the future, we do not know what the MNR holds for our bear hunts, they have not given the go ahead for anything in 2017.  But if we go ahead as we have, then we have our spots already filled and a couple on the waiting list, so if you are looking for an adventure of a lifetime, whatcha waiting for, shoot us an email or call us today to save your spot to Come and Catch the Good Life with Us at Happy Camp Ontario!!

Good Evening from Sultry Happy Camp Ontario, Happy Campers!  Catfish Chris with a brief update with whats going on in the region.

The heat is back, after some rain Friday and Saturday, it was cooler on Sunday, but today, the heat is back on and should last for the rest of the week, enough already!  This summer has been nothing short of hot and dry, we need rain.  The rain we got Friday made berries ripe and what is out there is being gobbled up by the Bears!

This week we have Bernie and his son Joe from Edmonton, Alberta in camp.  They have been spending time fishing and hanging out.  They have had some luck with smaller walleye, a few Jumbo perch and Pike.

Mike from Toronto stopped in on Saturday for coffee then he and I went for a drive.  We took his Jeep down the hill to Hillsport Lake, and after many tries, he roared it back up the hill!  What a sigh of relief that was as with my shoulder in the shape it is, there is no way I would have pushed that beast out of the sand!  Anyway, after that we tooled down toward Mann Lake then up South Pincers and found some Rasberries and lots of Bear sign.  After that we rode down to Bound Lake, checked on the boat and headed back home.  Mike and I chatted lots and it was nice to see my old friend again, sometimes an old friend stopping in is just what one needs!!

Bear hunting is on the horizon and the baiting is keeping me busy.  Just yesterday I saw a nice sized Sow with twins, sure were looking healthy with their plump bellies.  As I walked into a bait called the ROCK, I noticed a hole in the ground about the size of a baseball around.  I looked into it and walked past to the bait.  After filling the bait, I walked back down the trail, and looked into the hole.

As I got closer towards the hole, I noticed one, two, seven, thirteen and then like 742 of them, a whole SWARM of hornets were buzzing around in the hole working hard at something!  Oh my I thought they must have something sweet to chow down on!  Interestingly, I did not spend much time at the swarm and quickly got back to the Jeep!  As I baited the spot today, I looked again, and sure enough the SWARM was alive and well doing whatever they are doing in that hole!

With Bear hunters starting to come in tomorrow, we will be extremely busy until we end our hunt in late August.  We are looking forward to all of our old hunters as well the new who are coming from all over to have an adventure with us!  It will certainly be a wild ride and come August 15th, Bear Hunt 2016 will be upon us!

As I try to often, we can not thank you enough for choosing to come and spend time with us at Happy Camp Ontario!  Each and everyone of you brings something special to Happy Camp and we are truly grateful for each of you, thank you!  Also, thank you to our partners, RayoVac, ThermCell and now ScentLok Enforcer for working with us to make our Hunts the best they can be!

That’s all for now folks, take care, keep in touch and whatcha waiting for, give us a call or shoot us an email today to save your spot to Come and Catch the Good Life with us at Happy Camp Ontario!!!

Good Morning Happy Campers!  Catfish Chris here at Happy Camp Ontario with a late July update.  Where has July gone, it seems like a blur, but then again time always seems to fly at Camp! The sun is shining brilliantly and the temps have finally cooled a little to morning lows in the 50’s, and afternoons in the 80’s.  Yesterday while Bear Baiting it was hot, reached almost 90 with little breeze.  It seems that the Black Flies have lessened, but there are buckets and buckets of Mosquitos!

Speaking of buckets, the berries are ripening quickly, Blueberries are coming along nicely and the raspberries, while small, are plentiful and winding down.  I do not care much for raspberries, but my dad who is not with me anymore, seemed to like them very much along with Blackberries which we would always go and pick near Navarino, Wisconsin when I was a kid.  Ha, many of you still think of me as a kid, guess I am but just a lot bigger now!

Fishing is going well, we could use some rain as the lake level is dropping quite a bit now.  Lots of Pike, some good ones too, have been eager to hit most anything.  Walleye up to 27 inches and Perch over 13 inch came into camp this week.

This week, Happy Camp Ontario hosted Take a Vet Fishing and we had a full crew of vets from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Tennessee and Alaska.  Thank you to all the vets for serving for me and the great USA, there is no place like it in the world.  We had lots of laughs, experiences and getting to know all of you a little was fantastic!

Joe, a vet from Chicago, was in charge of keeping the fish shack clean.  Well one night it was late, maybe 11:30, and the fish just got done being cleaned.  I could not find Joe, and Ed, another vet from Milwaukee, came and told me about the fish guts ready to go to the dump.  As Joe was sleeping in Cabin 1, I grabbed my trumpet and played Reveille for him to get up and get to work!  The other Joe, from Tennessee, came running near where I was playing wanting to report to duty!!

There have been a couple of Bear in camp and this week they have been in the dump.  Well some of the guys went along with me numerous times to look but never saw them.  Late Wednesday night, Joe the fish shack guy, and Aaron, took the guts to the dump.  It was shortly after 1 a.m. when they got back.  Aaron who is maybe 30, comes up on the north deck and yells, “Hey I saw my first Bear, I saw my first Bear”!

Finally, on the northwest part of the Lake there is a log sticking up out of the water with weeds on either side.  Don, Joe and Aaron found fish there everyday and while it was a good spot, Aaron spent quite a bit of time throwing lures and getting caught on the log.  In fact, one time Aaron cast over the log and a fish hit his lure.  He set the hook, but was caught on Obama Log!  Aaron with all of his military background, was not going to let this happen again.  Aaron stood up, jumped out of the boat, got to Obama Log, got the line off and caught the fish!!  Way to go Aaron.

Well can anyone guess why the Vets coined the name Obama Log?  Well each time the Log is visited, one or more of the fishermen donated to the log with a lure.  So as the free hand outs were put on the log, it was given the name and justly so!

Bill from Illinois played Pinochle this week, it has been so long, but good to get playing again!  Sherriff Tom Kern, I could use your pinochle, wine and bear baiting skills up here at camp, haven’t heard from you this year, What’s up with that?

Bear hunting is on the horizon and the baiting is going well.  This week I ran into Mr. 278 and yesterday 3 bears were waiting for their lunch when I stopped in!  So the activity is high and the anticipation is starting to grow.  We also have one guy who likes to sleep at the bait for a couple of nights.  He put on quite a show all night and he certainly is a boy if you know what I mean?

If anyone has ideas how to relieve pinched nerve in neck, shoulder and arm, please give me a call or email me.  I have tried many things, including this week getting acupuncture, and I can tell you I am not a big fan of a needle stuck into my neck, especially when not much help happens!  I did contact my old back snapper, Dr. Dean Gerard, in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.  Dr. Dean is so great, and while distance makes seeing him impossible, he did offer advice and suggestions that I am trying!  Dr. Dean, you are the BEST, thank you man!

With that, the dogs are restless wanting to go eat some blueberries, so gotta take them out.  Thanks again Vets for a great week, and as we usher in August, we look forward to fishermen from Alberta and our Bear hunters who will come into camp soon!  So take care and whatcha waiting for, Come and Catch the Good Life with us at Happy Camp Ontario!!

Good Morning Happy Campers!  As many of you know, I teach music and soon will be returning to North Dakota to keep building our music program in Rolette!  Big Muddy is a Jazz festival in southern North Dakota that I aspire to attend with the musicians that I am teaching!

As I drove Bear Baiting yesterday I crossed the Fraser River, and as I did I looked to the left and noticed the river was very muddy.  I thought wow they must have gotten a lot of rain in the past day.  Then as I looked past a blow down laying in the river, a Bull Moose lifted his head out of the weeds and looked at me!  Aha I thought, there is where the mud is coming from!  So as the Bull romped out of the river into the bush, I named him Big Muddy and immediately I thought of the students and festival!  As I turned the corner onto the trail north of the river, my thoughts quickly changed back to baiting but believe me kids, music thoughts run rampant in my mind and soon we will be working hard to make the Hills alive with music again!

Last weeks fishing was tough to say the least.  Mayfly hatches, weather and wind continue to make fishing a roller coaster.  Woody from Indiana pulled in a beautiful 26.5 inch Blue walleye to top the week and Dave was close behind with a 25 incher.  Thursday the guys did pretty well, then yesterday the fish seemed to slow again as some local chaps got only a few Pike for their efforts.

Bear Baiting is in full swing, all baits are being hit on a daily basis.   Our hunters are starting to see the Bear on the cameras, hope they continue to travel to the baits as the Berry crop is starting to ripen.  I picked the first Blueberries of the season, they are small, but looks like a good crop, time will tell!  There appears to be a Mom and baby Bear frequenting the dump, so watch out if going to drop off some stuff, the little fellow just might poke his head out of the pit, that could get very interesting to say the least.

Until next time folks, take care and whatcha waiting for, Come and Catch the Good Life with us at Happy Camp Ontario!!

Good afternoon Happy Campers, this is Catfish Chris with an update.  Before any update, it is the eve of the passing of my father back in 2001.  So often I am reminded of how I was raised and I can’t thank them enough for putting me into the water, woods and bringing me into the wonderful world of nature.  As I played on the ground with young Angus this afternoon, it reminded me quickly of how short life is, how precious life is and how wonderful it is to experience all we have here in the Happy Camp Region with all of you who choose to come to Happy Camp Ontario.  Thank you Happy Campers!

Fishing has been up and down this week, but we did have success on shallow and deep, in the mud, weeds and rocks.  In fact, many Cisco are near the surface in the evening devouring the end of our Mayfly Hatch.  Walleye, Perch and Pike continue to roam all over as we did as well.  The MNR is currently taking fish out of the lake and Cisco were seen in the nets.  In addition, we did get out after some Speckle Trout this afternoon with Jeff, Don, Larry and me, and we caught a nice mess of fish.

A couple of times this week we ventured to BeaverCross Lake searching for cool looking rocks, first with Larry and today with Don who is a Geology teacher in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  Don said the BeaverCross area is a spot called Glacial Till where the Glacier stopped and left all kinds of different rocks.  All I know is the shoreline is really cool looking.

This morning as Don and I, along with trusty Magoo walked the shore, a couple of Loons were swimming along the shore.  I said, hey Don, look at the Loons.  Next a Bald Eagle soared overhead and I said, hey Don, look at the Eagle.  Soon it was apparent that the eagle was hunting something out in the lake.  The Eagle swooped low but did not connect and soared upward.  Out of the blue 3 Arctic Terns came into sight and they were bombarding the Eagle as it swooped down again toward something on the lake.  It was a Baby Loon and the adult Loons were now near the baby as the Eagle swooped again towards the Baby and the Terns Bombarded the Eagle.  The Eagle lifted up again and the Terns flew at the Eagle and it left the lake and perched high on a tree along the shore!  To watch this act of nature was simply priceless and something that Don, Magoo and I were very lucky to be a part of!

So this week I have seen Moose, Bear, Grouse and the Bird show on BeaverCross, all simply priceless.  Thanks Dad, you have no idea how much I miss you everyday, but your spirit lives alive here at Happy Camp Ontario!

As I close, our open spots are slim, so if you want to come experience the true wilderness and all it can offer, shoot us an email or call us today to Come and Catch the Good Life with us at Happy Camp Ontario!!

Hi everyone, Catfish Chris here at Happy Camp Ontario!  The fishing still has its ups and downs with heavy Mayfly activity and hot and cold making it tough to figure out a definite pattern!  Yesterday we had a tough time catching fish but were able to put enough together for a wonderful fishery with our guests from Wisconsin.

As Larry and I were drifting along some structure, I heard a weird sound and said, Hey Larry do you hear that?  Larry did not say anything, and I started to say, It sounds like a Moose, when I look to the shore and see not 1, nor 2, but 3 Moose standing in the water!  Larry and I watched them for a few short moments, then they hopped into the bush and disappeared!  What a beautiful sight!

We also have a Bear near camp, he was sighted in town and this morning as we left to head to Kapuskasing near Hillsport Lake.  Jeff, Larry, Angus and I traveled to Kap to have Angus, Jeff’s new beautiful hunting dog checked as he has been sick!  Great vets at MCM in Kap, and Angus appears to be well onto the road of recovery!!  In fact, just before coming in the lodge to write up this update, Angus was raising cain jumping on Larry and biting with those razor sharp puppy teeth.  That a Boy Agnus!  Speaking of hunting dogs, of course Agnus is a Lab, the only hunting dog, right!

The woods is alive with baby Grouse, we have Spruce and Ruffed near Camp, no Sharps yet, but they prefer the more wide open areas.  They certainly have enough bugs to eat, heck I think there are enough bugs for like a gazillion Grouse!!

Good berries on the bushes now, so if timely rains and heat keep coming, we should get some picking, that will be great!

As we settle into summer, we stop and say thanks to all of you who have made our 5 years fly by, where have they gone?  I guess time flies when you are having fun, eh!  We have a couple of spots left open, so if you are looking to book an adventure, shoot us an email or give us a call to reserve your spot and Come and Catch the Good Life with Us at Happy Camp Ontario!

Hi folks.  A short update on the partner that has joined forces with Happy Camp Ontario!  Late this afternoon we reached a deal with Scentlok Enforcer to provide the opportunity for our Bear hunters to try the Scentlok Enforcer, a revolutionary ozone system to eliminate scent from clothing!  So, with them joining our force, we now have ThermCell, RayoVac and Scent lok Enforcer to use as tools for success in Bear hunting!

I am extremely excited about this opportunity and as anyone who has come to the Happy Camp Region knows, I tell it like it is and only promote a successful product that we use ourselves!

Rain for 2 days and today Brilliant sunshine with temps in the low 70s.  Heavy Mayfly hatch has left carcasses all over the shoreline.  Water has dropped a bunch so the dock was moved out about 20 feet today.  Summer fishing patterns should set in very soon with fresh weeds developing!

Until next time, keep your eye on the prize and whatcha waiting for, Come and Catch the Good Life with us at Happy Camp Ontario!

Good Morning Happy Campers, Catfish Chris here with an update from the Happy Camp Region!  The wild weather continues to raise havoc with the fish, bugs and of course the Campers!  We have gone from highs in the 90’s to just above freezing.  Yesterday while in Hearst it was well into the upper 80’s but as Magoo and I made our way back to Happy Camp Ontario, the rain came and heavy clouds and windy were the norm.  As nightfall came, the wind continued and heavy storms pounded us all night.  Early this morning the rain stopped and as I write the sun is shining and the wind is subsiding a titch!

With all the wild weather, the fishing was up and down all week.  Some days the fish would be very sluggish but others they ate like crazy.  While at Bound we would pick one off of a spot, then have to move to get another and the Pike were no where to be seen.  At White Otter one night in the trough, they were stacked like cord wood and eager bite often as the bait settled to the bottom.  Holy Hot Dog Ray and Dale, that cord of fish was so big it was hard to think there was any room for water!!!

We now are in the midst of the May Fly hatch.  In fact on Bound Lake the large brown ones are all over the place while on Ichi and White Otter the small ones are just starting, the bigger ones are still to follow and the Hexegena’s  seem to mark the end which maybe in a couple weeks if the weather shifts to more of a normal pattern! Weed development is behind schedule and the fish are still quite dis-oriented as this result.

Speaking of normal, the bugs have shown up with Black and Sand Flies along with Mosquitos peaking just near dark then slowing down while at the campfire.

Magoo and Sadie want to thank Lexi Young for her time and playfulness the last few days.  The 2 Happy Camp Girls certainly do miss you already as they look onto your deck with tails wagging waiting for you to come out and play!

So we will close out the month of June getting our hunting stuff going,  we may have another partner to join Happy Camp Ontario to assist our hunters in continued success, stay tuned for updates!

We have a few limited spots so whatcha waiting for, shoot us an email or give us a call today to save your spot to Come and Catch the Good Life with Us at Happy Camp Ontario.

Good Morning Happy Campers!  The Happy Camp region has seen brilliant sun and heat the last few days, in fact yesterday it reached 90, and with little wind, it was HOT!!  The forecast is for more of the same with the heat possibly breaking on Tuesday.

Fishing has been sporadic, with smaller walleye being the quarry.  Mayfly hatch has started in earnest and weeds are coming along slowly.  I have not been out in a few days, but our last time out we caught about a dozen walleye in a couple hour.  The bite seems to vary from very shallow to around 25 feet, which is very odd but That’s Fishing!

With little rain in the last few days, we tried to get into MooseSkull lake and all was fine until the last corner and I looked at the mud, walked in and thought best to back out the mile or so as we sunk in almost immediately!

Dale from the KeyStone State(Pennsylvania) showed us his tree cutting skills as he downed the last of the dead trees in the yard.  As always, something interesting happens and the 1st tree got caught in the top of another tree, we watched him work the saw and then we twisted it down with the ATV.  So the trees are down, and we cant thank him enough for doing that for us!!  Thanks Dale!

Jim from Michigan, Magoo and I traveled up to the north to look at some cabins yesterday, and while we did not see any Moose, we did see a couple of Bear, lots of Bunnies and birds.  Tried to fish in a couple of Beaver Ponds without any luck.  Jim did catch nice Brook Trout in a nearby creek, way to go Jim!  As we walked in the bush towards the cabin, Magoo saw a Female Goldeneye loafing near the shore and she immediately plunged into the lake after it.  A nice swim led Magoo back to us and then she encountered a Red Squirrel in one of the cabins and that was a hoot as the Squirrel dodged and ducked around eventually getting outside of the cabin, perched itself on a branch in a nearby tree and scolded Magoo!  Magoo sat looking at the Squirrel making waiting, but as luck would have it, we left before the Squirrel came down.  We also have Baby Ruffed Grouse near the lake that are about the size of a Ping Pong Ball, but as they chomp the bugs they should grow quickly!

So as you read, our adventures continue at Happy Camp Ontario!  I hope to trek into a pond I found last Moose season in  hopes that it has some fish swimming around, guess we will not know until we try do we!

Until next time Happy Campers, take care, enjoy your adventure and whatcha waiting for, Come and Catch the Good Life with Us at Happy Camp Ontario!

To combat the onslaught of Canadian bugs, Mother Nature blessed us with these precious dragonflies to fight back on our behalves. Here you see them on the back of the dusty trailer waiting to take off on their missions. Thank you, O Dragonflies!!!