Russell Manitoba the place to be!
Can you believe all these photos? What would we do without our Iphones? 50-60 mph winds blows the flag straight out, then driving along and within 1 mile we went from not snow to 4 inches and in 10 miles 12 inches,, Connies Drive in it the place to be March 31 in gusting winds the customers are lined up for burgers, chicken, fries, and soft ice cream!! and the last one a cyclest in Manitoba is a Chilly ride with temps dip to 10-25F during the day. then gusting winds but he had the WIND ON HIS BACK not a bad plan when you have no cab and only peddles for steam.Critters behind the scenes
Wile we are not looking outdoors never stops, White tailed deer, the doe with her 2 fawn we watched all summer, Mrs Fox at the bird feeder at Christmas and now farther out back, the yote who is always calling to his mate, then a little surprise last Friday. Bear print in the snow. we have a den in the neighbours scrub pile along fence line, and I guess we had a couple of very warm days and he thought oh Spring is HERE! but now we have temps below 0F high winds some more snow , plus they are threatening blizzard conditions for the next 3 days. Mother nature must know what she is doing but it seemed the beginning of March we would be sewing the garden by first of April.. Yep April fools.. We continue to use cameras to see what we cannot see and it is really amazing.
Feeding Birds in Manitoba in the spring
Every winter Judy spends hours sitting at the window by the bird feeder. We take time in the morning to see what is coming Blue jays, siskins, chickadees, Downy and Hairy woodpeckers, nuthatches, Red poles, Grosbeks Evening and Pine. Now spring is in the air, many have left, Grosbeks are gone and we are seeing the odd Ruffy grouse scouting past the feeder. on the left this Ruffy roaster struts his stuff trying to attrack a girl in the area. Canadian geese are sitting out back clucking away trying to impress their partner and beginnings of making nests have begun. we put a couple bales out back on the big slough for the geese to make nests on. hopefully I can use digital camera and get some good shots of the gosslings. 
Baiting bears at Big Grass
Beavers is the main food of a Bear in the Spring prior to grass turning green, the beaver may be out cutting trees or the bear will dig into a beaver hut to access the beaver kits for food.. We are lucky to know Elzivar who traps fur in the winter and spring. Just the other day he called to say he had a bunch and would like to bring them over as he doesnot have a deep freezer and temps outside are rising. here are 20 carcasses he bought over, and he will continue to trap till we arrive in the area for our spring bear hunt. We chop the beaver in pieces and wire the pieces to the so bear will have to work away at trying to release it to eat it..This gives the hunter time to determine how big the bear is and to get a good killing shot. We also use oats and grease for bait along with meat scraps, sweets and a scent control to spray hopfully covering the scent of the hunter in the tree, plus this scent is an attractant. Snow Geese hunting in Spring Migration
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Local whitetail deer
Manitoba Ice fishing season
Time is running out , temperatures are rising and March is slipping away. Forecast states temps to the low 40F by mid week, so we chose to take our shack off before we turned it into a pontoon boat.. lol.. Tom has it set up just to just hook it up, turn jacks, drop wheels and away we go. over all the water levels of the Lake have dropped over 12 feet by looks of the shore. We had no problems getting up the ridge and onto road off the lake which was GREAT> Judy is a little stressed when it is her job to remove the shack.. Sammy and Jazzy got to go for a ride and all were happy…
Manitoba Ice Fishing Derby in the Russell area.
Our 7th annual Ice fishing Derby on Lake of the Prairies held Feb 27, Judy did the photos at the derby.. You know the Papparazzii thing she is always got the camera.. Well 556 people attended 1200 holes were drilled, we caught 39 fish, Northern Pike, Walleye, and Perch.. largest fish 68cm Northern Pike took home $12500. second fish 64cm northern $5000, Winners choice raffle tickets and she took home a Polaris Side by side.. not bad for a little ice fishing derby here in Manitoba. If it wasnt for our volunteers and our local sponsors we would not survive.. but it brings some Tourism $$ in and some good fishing stories of the one HE didnt catch.. but all have FUN IN MANITOBA!Big Grass Chessy Girls
Sammy Joe and Jazzy both just waiting for a crumb or a cookies!
Greetings from Big Grass
Happy Holidays to All; We again come to this time of year busily trying to get all the parcels, and baking done for the ONE day.. Tom has been trucking this year except during hunting time, Judy has been home rehab after hip surgery. A new member to our life is Sammy Jo a now 4 month old Chessy, as Bailey and Fudge both went to Doggy Heaven over summer.. Our new Yamaha Toy behind is making trails for Judys snow snowshoeing and pushing snow in the yard.. Tom has been having fun to see how high he can go on snow pile.. We are wishing all our past and present hunting friends a prosperous and healthy New Year..