A day in the life of a guide...

I have heard a lot in conversation with clients, friends, and those I just met how lucky I am to be a guide.  I often smile into those wistful looks and think to myself "Buddy, you have no idea".  Don't get me wrong, I do so love what I do - as I love the outdoors.  However, it is a great deal of hard work, long hours, and sometimes filled with dangerous conditions.  Here's a sneak peak of one day last month, in a remote tent camp hosting bear hunters (generally 4-6 clients at a time, with 2 guides):


Arise at 0330 to mix and cook my secret family recipe of bear bait (I use only all natural ingredients...sorry bears, no donuts in my bait!).  This can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours, not including cooling time.  Then its time to gather firewood, skin bears harvested the night before, and begin making breakfast, all before 7am, when most people begin waking.  Breakfast was served to our groggy clients at 8am.

From there, there were camp chores to be done - more firewood, dishes, making & packing bag lunches, showing clients spots to fish (the area in which I guide bear hunters contains excellent fishing opportunities), cleaning out ashes, sweeping dirt of the the canvas tents, and so on.

At noon, we begin moving clients into the woods for the evening hunt.  From the tent camp, it can be anywhere from 30 mins to 3 hours to get all of our clients into position, traveling over logging roads into even more remote areas.  With all of our clients in place, it was time to bait the unwatched bear baits.  Generally, we have between 40-100 bear baits out at any one time.  The process of baiting these baits can take up to 5 hours.

By the time the baits have been baited, its time to start picking up clients at the stand sites.  Again, this can take several hours - longer if there are downed bears to retrieve & dress.  We arrive back at the camp about 11pm, and promptly begin to cook supper.  With supper completed, we fall into our sleeping bags after midnight.

Still want to be a guide?  Ok, so its not all bad...but neither is it a walk in the park, either :)

Coffee Can Stove

As the weather starts to turn colder, and my time outdoors increases, I'm inclined to start dragging out my winter camping gear.  One of the little devices that I like to carry around for a quick fix of something hot while out in the wilds, is my coffee can stove.

I found the idea for this little stove came from an outdoor magazine, and I am quite sorry to say that I have forgotten which one, otherwise I would be happy to give the author his/her due.  It's quite an ingenious little invention, simply a coffee can with a 1"x3" slot cut near the opening (what will become the bottom of the stove), and a 1/2"x3" slot cut in the other end, opposite side from the first slot.

The larger slot becomes the vent for the stove, as well as an area to be able to place more fuel on the fire, should you need it.  The smaller slot is the "chimney" of the stove, like so -

With this setup, you can quickly boil a cup of water, soup, hot chocolate, coffee, etc.  Flipping the cup upside down on the stove, you can even bake a biscuit!

One quick recommendation - don't try to use any branches or twigs larger in diameter than the diameter of your pinky - they do not seem to burn well in such a confined area.

Proposed bear hunting ban opponents finally unite!

See the press release from the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife here