We have been experiencing a relatively nice winter so far with reasonable temperatures and very light snow. Word from Kuujjuaq is just about the same and in fact the Koksoak River as of last week was not yet frozen and this is very unusual. Caribou finally moved into the vicinity of Kuujjuaq sometime in November and caused a lot of excitement – the residents of this isolated community certainly look forward to harvesting caribou when the opportunity arises. 

We experienced a great past 2010 season and reports from the field indicated that our hunters saw more caribou then ever and the caribou seemed bigger than usual particularly in their antler formation. We experienced steady caribou from August 19 to October 02 with most of the concentration being in our more northerly camps. Our easy access to the Leaf River Caribou Herd certainly makes all the difference in providing successful hunts for our hunters.

Sorry for the delay in keeping on track with my blog.  I am a little primitive when comes to computers, internet, etc.  Nick, my son is always kidding me with my lack of modernization. I was born in the forties, love old planes and my favorite car is a 49 Ford Coupe – what can I say! Well – you’re never too old to learn and I am trying my best and improving slowly!

Just finalizing my office work and will be flying up North this coming weekend with my Beaver - if the weather improves.  My boys up North have been complaining of extremely warm weather for the past couple of weeks and down in the Montreal area it’s been raining every other day. Up North,  it looks like we are going to have a repeat of last year – good warm weather for July & August and fair weather for September.

The caribou are doing well and are scattered to the West of Kuujjuaq for the moment and should be moving to the East in the next couple of weeks.  They are already showing good horn growth and it should be a banner year for trophy racks. Rivers are low with the lack of rain but that can all change in a few days.  I have seen the George River rise as much as 10 feet overnight. Salmon have started entering the river and should be up at our camp at Helen’s Falls in full swing at the next high tide during the week of August 2^th.

Got back from a great snowmobile trip on the Labrador coast on March 31 – great weather and the trails were smooth particularly with all the snow they got in early March. Had a chance to spend some time with good friends and staff. Travelled inland with Fabian Kennedy of St. Augustine helping him close his trap line for the season. As usual Fabian had adventure on his mind and took us further inland to a secluded cabin he built during the winter. Got into some ptarmigan, had a good feed of fresh caught fish and took in some great scenery.

Visited the boys and girls in Old Fort Bay – Peter Wellman, his wife Yvonne, son Nathan, Jack & Don Buckle as well as Richard Woodland and family, Jason Bilodeau and Gordie Buckle. As usual I was received like family – they are good people and great hosts. With the majority working for me for over 20 years we are definitely family. But when it came to their pre-planned poker game with the boss they did get a surprise when I won which only really helped to slightly reduce my cost for the refreshments I supplied. As the saying goes on the coast “It always tastes better when it’s free particularly when the boss is paying”.

On my return to Montreal I only had a day before Sabrina and I left to attend our last show for the season in Augusta, Maine. Met many of our past friends and clients but like most areas the economy is certainly affecting this great State particularly with the wood industry.  Overall our business is doing better than I expected with the present global situation and I attribute this to having a very good following of past clients and repeat business.