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!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..
Santa Claus Parade at Russell
local businesses put together a great Parade with lots of floats and Santa bringing up the end… Many local residents braved the cold to watch and cheer on the Christmas fun.
Local MWF competition
Every year ear after the hunting seasons are complete we meet and show off our trophies, tell great white hunting stories of the ones that got away. Youth and adult largest deer, 40 in Northerns and 29 in walleye. Our whitetail herd slowly rebounds after the cold tough winters which some animals did not survive. But 15/16 winter has been a very easy winter on the deer , even some hilltops are showing grass for them to pick at.
Manitoba whitetail Buck Night
Russell Big Buck Nite over 20 heads were brought in to be scored and for show.. Some great animals masses of 3.5-4 inches is always great to see on our trophies. Our past winters and the pressure of predators has had a negative effect on our whitetail herd of late.. the Conservation has limited our season to 2 weeks with only Bucks to be harvested, hopefully giving our herd a chance to rebound.. Now just finished the second year we are already seeing the results of this.. Bigger bodied animals, larger horns, but our numbers still have not rebounded to the numbers we would want in our area. We have a good number of Youths showing up with nice horns so our hunting enthusiasts are still in the field, young and old…
Yamaha Viking is our Choice!
If you know Tom of Big Grass he is up to the MAX. We got the Viking in June, then in November Paul of Yamaha offered him these tracks and we ordered a Blade.. Well now he has become a Monster. I did request a few trails to snow shoe on, well few became trails everywhere… the power that Yamaha has with the tracks is amazing, Well Paul said beware Tom dont wreck it.. but I do love the new trails the girls and I can snowshoe and walk on.. Yamaha is our Choice!!
Red Tailed hawk sits on a bale waiting for a mouse or something to move so he can have some dinner.. we have many Red Tailed Hawks in the area, they are great to keep rodents down but they are very hard on the small Sharpe Tails and Ruffed Grouse in mid summer..
Mikes group returns
Oct 3, Mike John from Mn,, and Dave from Wy, return again for the 7th time.. They love to hit the honkers and Ducks.. Mike always says we like to shoot but the Ducks is what we really like to hunt..
Stealth trail camera
Over the summer the Stealth has captured some awesome pics of what is happening out on the back 40. This Big old Bull moose in late September rubbing his horns on the small willows at the beginning of the Rut.. After a crazy windy day in Manitoba a tree was blown over to fall in view and this sassy Magpie spent a lot of time in view. then the capture of this lone coyote while Sassy was on the branch… And earlier in the summer this doe checks to see who else is visiting the area… Clean trucks in Manitoba for Big Grass
Woweee and we have clean vehicles.. Dodge Ram was caked with mud on the under side , wheelwells and all over… Our last days of hunting were wet and the Mud seemed to STICK… But now Tom has it all Cleaned up!