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Kudos and memories of the year

As we close in on the 46th anniversary of these weekly outdoors columns, I think more than I usually do of the people that have always made it possible, and particularly those who have helped in the year just ending.
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Mule deer does stay alert in the Yule-time woods.

As we close in on the 46th anniversary of these weekly outdoors columns, I think more than I usually do of the people that have always made it possible, and particularly those who have helped in the year just ending.

More and more the column has to note the passing of giants: the past year was not as bad as some recent years, yet I am thinking of the families of Tom O’Keefe, one of the legendary past presidents of the Alberta Fish and Game Association, and of Dennis Johnson, publisher of several Alberta outdoors books, including two of mine.

Elmer Kure, now of Innisfail, the oldest living AFGA past president, recently celebrated his 90th birthday, and that leads me to thoughts of the whole Kure clan and the tips, hints and help the column and I receive from them, as I do from so many readers each and every year.

The AFGA is my heart and soul; the Alberta Wilderness Association is my conscience, and at this time of year I recall their executives, staffs and thousands of volunteers and all they do for the outdoors we all love so much. Then there are all the people involved in Partners in Habitat Development, the best practical “put it on the ground” program I know of.

A majority of the executive of the Outdoor Writers of Canada are Alberta writers. These professional colleagues are always helpful: T.J. Schwanky, Duane and Adrienne Radford, Brad Fenson, Don Meredith, Al Voth, Ken Bailey. And how could I forget friend Neil Waugh, outdoors columnist of The Edmonton Sun, who advises “when you got skunked, but still have a column to do, just change the subject.”

To Dr. Val Geist out on The Island, who is unfailingly helpful with the straightest of “poop” on such subjects as mule deer, predators and the inanities and insanities of game ranching. To Jim Stelfox, fisheries biologist, who sends scientific studies that address angling issues and questions.

The column and I are decidedly not Luddites, but like all humans who make their moves on computers, we have our “down” times; two, maybe three times this year the techno-gents at Red Deer’s John Wayne Computers have quickly and magically got us up and running again.

To do an outdoors column it is basic; skunked or not, you have to get out there, and, as I get older and more stove up, I appreciate more than ever the people and good friends who help me do that: Ken and Denise Short, Dwayne and Marcie Schafers, Garry and Connie Pierce, Robert Short, Todd Irwin. More mundane, but of vital importance, are the contribution to my mobility of the folks at Red Deer Toyota and Don’s Tire.

Medical doctors have an increasing role in keeping one up and running as the bodily warranty expires: Drs. Williams, Bailey and Ferries in Red Deer, Culver and Savage in Calgary. Dr. Dugan, DVA and son John look after my most constant outdoors companion: our also aging Brittany, Beau.

Then there are other gents of a certain age who also persist in getting out there, some surprisingly still active in their hunting and fishing: Mac Johnston, Dr. Jake Reimer, Don Hayden, Lotuslanders, Gilles Patenaude and George Landry. Out west in November I missed Reg Wickens and the amazing Reg Morley who slightly beats out John Horn as the oldest active hunter I know.

This past season, visitor to the Stump Ranch, Brendan Marple, reminded me of how much I enjoy kids who are besotted by fishing, hunting, and the outdoors generally.

Recent emails and pictures from Don Cahoon of Calgary, self-styled “Old Fart,” evoke the pleasures of breakfast at the Chuck Wagon Café in Turner Valley and remind me of an excellent breakfast and dinner in November at the Heartstone at the Prairie Creek Inn, south of Rocky Mountain House, operated by Terri and Larry Cameron.

The more I wonder if we’ll ever de-register the long gun registry, the more I think of Bud, Dot, Linda and all the folks at Bud Haynes and Co. Auctioneers Ltd., and superb federal firearms course (which will endure) instructors, Vinny Chocholacek and Ward Robinson, Jr.

Cherished among readers are the surprising numbers of women who tell me they are fans of the column, but apologize that they neither hunt nor fish, but love the “issues” and the food and the foraging — the mushrooms — stuff. They are in good company, because my own beloved Herself is not only likewise inclined, but has always aided and abetted the activities that go into and the production of the column.

Finally, to the first readers of each column and every column I write: Rick Zemanek, Annette and Diane at the Red Deer Advocate, Jamie Nesbitt at The Brooks Bulletin, and Rob Miskosky at Alberta Outdoorsmen magazine.

To everyone and everything mentioned, to those I forgot, and to all the readers, the most important part of any column: COMPLIMENTS OF THE SEASON!

Bob Scammell is an award-winning outdoors writer living in Red Deer.