Father and son: Shawn and Chase Galea

At the recent Spring Fishing and Boat Show’s Conservation Dinner, among the folks sharing my table was Shawn Galea from Advanced Taxidermy & Wildlife Design. I’d certainly been aware of Shawn’s reputation as a masterful artisan when it comes to replica fish mounts. In 2002, in fact, we here at Outdoor Canada magazine named Shawn and his business partner, James McGregor, among the 33 most influential people in the Canadian outdoors (click here for the article).

The way we continue to see it, their incredibly lifelike mounts have no doubt played a significant and positive role in the catch-and-release movement. I’d never spoken to Shawn personally, however, so it was great to finally get to meet him.

You can learn a lot about a guy just by the way he talks about his kids, and sure enough conversation turned to children, and in particular Shawn’s two-year-old boy, Chase (he turns three later this month). Like any good father, Shawn speaks of his son with immense admiration. But what really struck me was how proud he was of his little boy, in particular his determination.

You see, Chase was born with quad cerebral palsy, as well as auditory neuropathy, a condition whereby the signal from the inner ear to the brain is impaired. But even at age two, Chase has shown a remarkable capacity to make the most of his life, his physical impediments notwithstanding—and Shawn’s admiration is palpable. “He does therapy five hours a day without one complaint,” Shawn told me, his eyes welling up at the thought of what his son must endure. “He’s amazing.”

Of course, it’s not cheap to properly care for kids with such disabilities—the therapy alone costs $1,000 a week, and then there’s the specialized and expensive medical equipment, such as walkers, hearing ads, bath chairs and so on. So, to help raise funds for Chase and others like him, as well as raise awareness about CP and the attendant financial burdens, Shawn and his family launched the Chase Galea Fund.

Among other things, they’ll be holding a gala fundraiser event—“Chase” the Dream—on March 27 at La Primavera in Woodbridge. Tickets are just $125, which includes giveaways, live entertainment, a four-course dinner and open bar. There will also be live and silent auctions.

So far, the response has been overwhelming. “I’ve been doing taxidermy for 25 years, but I didn’t realized how many people knew us—and were willing to help,” says Shawn. “I really didn’t expect it.”

Visit www.thechasegaleafund.com for complete details regarding tickets and donations.

Hall of Famers: (left to right) John Kerr, Reno Viola, Dave Mercer, Bruce Park and Angelo Viola

The first day of the Spring Fishing and Boat Show got off to a busy start before the gates even opened yesterday morning. Many of the who’s who from the fishing community were on hand at the annual industry breakfast to honour the latest inductees into the Canadian Angler Hall of Fame.

This year’s inductees include:

• John Kerr, conservationist, outdoorsman, Toronto Sun outdoors columnist and editor of Ontario Out of Doors magazine.
• Bruce Park, southern Ontario pro angler, fishing charter owner and founding president of Muskies Canada.
• Angelo and Reno Viola, founders of Barklays Outdoor Store, and the founding hosts of the Fish ’n Canada TV show and radio’s The Outdoor Journal show.

As well, the 2010 Rick Amsbury Award of Excellence was presented to Facts of Fishing host Dave Mercer for his work in launching the Casting for a Cure, a non-profit group raising money for cancer research.

Congrats to all.

To anyone heading down to the show this weekend (on through Monday), don’t forget to drop by the Outdoor Canada booth to check out our Rapala prize pack giveaway. Fishing Editor Gord Pyzer will also be on hand to sign autographs and hand out some valuable fishing wisdom.

The only thing I can think of that would beat going fishing this weekend is taking a trip to the International Centre out on Airport Road in Mississauga for the third annual Spring Fishing & Boat Show. Actually, the best scenario for this weekend would be to go fishing and go to the show.

Yeah, I’m banging our own drum a tad here—Outdoor Canada has a booth at the show, and our very own Fishing Editor, Gord Pyzer, is hosting the Master Angler seminar series. And let’s not forget the $50 Outdoor Canada Show Bucks, handed out hourly to lucky visitors. But seriously, if you’re into fishing, boats and some smokin’ deals, you can’t miss this show.

I was talking to show organizer Andy Pallotta this morning, and he was even more excited than he usually is. “It’s going to blow your mind,” he promised, described the various bells and whistles he has in place to great the public. Click here for a sneak preview.

And when you do go to the show, be sure to stop by the Outdoor Canada booth. Gord Pyzer himself will be on hand at appointed times on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday to provide one-on-one angling advice and sign autographs.

Plus, we have a great contest going: if you subscribe to the magazine (or renew your subscription) at the show, your name will go into a draw to win one of four Rapala rod, reel and tackle kits. Each kit will include a Rapala TS2 fishing rod, Rapala Volt fishing reel. Sufix Fuse fishing line and an assortment of Rapala, Storm, TriggerX, Terminator, BlueFox and Luhr-Jensen lures. Many thanks to our good friends at Rapala Canada/Normark for providing these great prizes.

Watch this space for reports from the show over the course of the weekend. I hope to see you down there.

Sweet surroundings: A great way to enjoy winter. Fish or no fish.

Okay, this report on Saturday’s ice-fishing outing is a bit late, but I’ve been toying with how best to sum up the comedy of errors that resulted in me coming home with just one fish for the smoker. Anyway, here goes:

Problem 1: The 4:30 a.m. rendezvous at Highway 404 and Aurora Road north of Toronto. I went to bed at 2 a.m. What can I say? It was poker night.

Problem 2: I got to drive Gordie’s vintage Skidoo. I do believe it is seven years younger than my 46 years. Don’t get me wrong: I got it going on the fourth pull, and the motor still runs great. The steering, however, well, that’s another story. Halfway to the lake (all I can say is that it’s just outside Fort Irwin, and just south of Algonquin Park), the steering went. As I stood waving my arms at the steadily shrinking dots that were Gord, PK and David on their machines, it soon became apparent that I’d have to call on my inner-MacGyver. I popped the casing and quickly discovered the cotter pin holding the steering arm to the whatsit had sheered off. By the time I tied it back on with the rabbit snare wire from my SOL survivor kit, PQ roared up on his vintage ’89 Cat. He came up with a much better fix. Now I don’t have an O-ring on the lanyard for my line clipper.

Problem 3: So, a couple of hours in we’re fishless (which is perhaps the real Problem 3) and I leave my jigging hole to go get a cup of tea at the campfire, about 75 metres away at the shoreline. Yeah, I did it: I propped my rod against the fold-up stool with the line in the water (bait of choice for our targeted rainbows and splake: a creek chub tipped on a single blood-red hook hanging off a spoon). You can guess what happened. Let’s just say my tea survived the sprint with me to the escaping rod, but got dumped when I dove and shoved my arm down the hole, the cork butt just millimetres from my grasping fingers. I figure the thief was one of the lake’s resident five-pound rainbows.

Problem 4: Perhaps sensing my despair over losing my set-up (Gordie, on the other hand, was poking much fun over the incident), David graciously lent me his jigging rod. As I re-rigged his rod, I left my tip-up unattended, falsely confident that Gordie’s circa 1958 buzzers would let me know if a fish hit. Then, the fish gods, perhaps rewarding David for sharing his gear, set off his buzzer. He pulled in his line and the hook was bare—but snagged on another fishing line. So he pulled in that line and found a nice splake on the end. Long story short: it was the friggin line from my tip up. Apparently the fish hit and the line sheered off on the crust of ice over the hole, all without tripping the buzzer.

Okay, to sum up: comedy of errors equals some good stories (and some good excuses for not catching a whack of fish; I usually do well on that particular lake). All was not lost, however. I did have a nice smoked trout to share with my neighbours at our local Super Bowl party. And best of all, I had a great winter day in the outdoors with some great fishing buddies.

Gordie’s ribbing notwithstanding.

Outdoor Canada magazine’s penchant for sometimes going beyond the typical hook-and-bullet fare found in most other outdoor magazines has struck a chord with news watchers in northeastern Pennsylvania.

In our recent Winter 2010 issue, we ran an exclusive investigative piece by Charles Wilkins on the controversial shooting death of American Mark Harshbarger during a 2006 hunting trip in Newfoundland. The Meshoppen, Pennsylvania, man was shot by his wife, Mary Beth Harshbarger, who claims she thought he was a black bear. She is currently fighting an extradition order to face charges in Canada.

While news of the incident has been reported in the local Pennsylvania media, the Outdoor Canada story is garnering attention for revealing previously undisclosed details of the shooting. So much so, in fact, the NBC affiliate WBRE Eyewitness News recently ran a spot on the article. Check it out here.

Fishing heaven has a beauty pool with your name on it

UPDATE: Field Editor Jake MacDonald, one of Paul Quarrington’s longtime fishing buddies and friends, will be providing a fitting tribute to Paul in Outdoor Canada’s upcoming March/April issue.

———————-

I can’t really write this properly right now. I just learned my friend, fishing buddy and favourite writer has passed away. My buddy Bill Shields e-mailed me the sad news this morning; I picked up the message not half an hour ago, sitting here in the Vegas airport.

Paul Quarrington. Please be in Fishing Heaven.

Here’s a photo of Paul, that happens to be sitting on my laptop.

And here’s a link to a blurb on our last outing: click here.

Damn. Paul, Jake MacDonald and I were supposed to have lunch this month.

Damn.

Fight cancer, people.

Sorry, I’m too upset to write more right now.

Honoured: The NRA's Scott Olmsted (left) accepts the first annual Ian McMurchy award from Glen and Darlene McMurchy

Well, that’s yet another SHOT Show finished for me; I fly back to Toronto tomorrow. I put a lot of miles on my soles, met lots of people, did some networking, saw plenty of cool new gear and caught up with some old friends—just what SHOT is all about from my perspective in the media.

The highlight today was the presentation of the first annual Ian McMurchy Award from Nikon. If you are an avid reader of Canadian outdoor magazines, including Outdoor Canada, you’ve surely read at least one of Ian’s articles over the years. The widely published writer and photographer was also an accomplished marksman and expert on firearms, as well as a member of Nikon’s pro staff. Sadly, Ian passed away in late 2008. To honour Ian and his contributions—and to award outdoor writers who exemplify his passion for the outdoors—Nikon presented the inaugural award today to Scott Olmsted, editor of the National Rifle Association’s American Hunter magazine. Congrats, Scott.

On hand for the ceremony was Ian’s widow, Darlene, as well as his children Glen, Joey and Katie. It was nice to finally meet Darlene, as she was extremely helpful late last year in digging up photos of Ian from his last African hunting safari (a piece Ian wrote for Outdoor Canada before he passed away was finally published in the recent Winter 2010 issue).

You know you’re at the SHOT Show when:

A. Your dogs are dead tired and sore from walking the show floor.

B. You run into fellow Canucks from the outdoor media industry.

C. You find yet another new product (and then some) well worth telling folks back home about.

D. You can drink that first end-of-day beer in less than 10 seconds.

E. All of the above.

The answer, of course, is E. Yes, the beer part is true. I ran into Outdoor Canada Field Editor Brad Fenson around 4:30 and we made our way up to the Sportsman’s Lounge, a private oasis set up by Field & Stream and Outdoor Life magazines at the SHOT Show. There we found F&S Editor Anthony Licata and a tub of ice-cold beer. I recommend the Fat Tire brew out of Colorado. But I digress. We had a good chat with Anthony before finally calling it a day and heading back to the hotel.

And yes, I saw lots of cool new products today. One thing I can safely bet will be included in Ken Bailey’s roundup of the best new gear for 2010 (due out in the May issue of Outdoor Canada) is the new Omni-Heat outerwear lining from Columbia Sportswear Company. Put in their wigeon and big-game jackets for 2010, Omni-Heat promises 20 per cent more heat retention, a real boon to guys sitting for hours on end in the duck blind or treestand. As Columbia General Merchandise Manager Joe Boyle put it, Omni-Heat is a “game changer for the industry.”

Also somewhat revolutionary in the outdoor garment category is the new Scent-A-Way technology from Hunter’s Specialties. Without getting into too much detail, HS says the new silver antimicrobial fabric yarn will remain active for the lifetime of the garment (wash it as much as you like) and keep the human stink at bay. For 2010, they’re offering Scent-A-Way socks, gloves, toques, caps, travel bags and base layers. The way the techies at HS see it, this new scent eliminator will take over where carbon scent reduction systems left off.

There was piles more great stuff, of course, and I expect much of it to be included in Ken’s May roundup (for example, I thought Quaker Boy’s new, smaller diaphragm turkey calls designed just for females—with pink foam, no less—were a great idea). Stay tuned for more.

Firing form: Walsh tears up the range

First, the hunting gear highlight. Today at the Bass Pro Shops Media Day at the Range (the hands on warm-up to the SHOT Show kicking off tomorrow), Hunting Editor Ken Bailey and I shot the new Beretta A400 Xplor semi-auto. Two words: sweet and light. We were shooting Federal target loads, so there was no real need for the Kick-Off system, but it was clear the two oil hydraulic absorbers inside the stock can more than the trick when it come to all but eliminating recoil. Ken liked the Xplor so much he’s as much as decided to include it in his round-up of the best new gear for 2010 (to appear in the May issue of Outdoor Canada magazine).

For Canadians like us who enjoy things that go bang, it was a real treat to fire some of the stuff we normally don’t get our mitts on—namely, handguns and fully automatic rifles. We shot the likes of Glocks, revolvers, the .410 Judge, some cool Ithaca offerings and several different ARs from outfits such as Steyr and Sturm Ruger. Bucket list item #43: Shoot machine gun. Check.

We also made our way over to the long-distance range, where both Ken and I went two for two, ringing the bell at 880 yards with the .338 Lupwa, the same round preferred by U.S. snipers in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was something else to ping a target I could barely make out with the naked eye. No wonder the bad guys never know what hit them.

Finally, what would a day out in the desert be without peeling through the hills on a quad? Yamaha suited us up with boots, gloves and helmets and let us tool around on the latest Rhino side-by-sides, as well as the new Grizzly 550s and 700s with auto steering. Smooth rides all, and no bones were broken.

All in all, it was a cool way to spend a cool (and wet) day in Nevada. Thanks to Bass Pro Shops, the numerous suppliers and the Boulder City Pistol and Rifle Range for putting it all together. Now, time to go lose some money on the tables…

My apologies to regular readers of this blog; I haven’t posted in a while due to the Christmas break and the fact we’ve been extremely busy at the office. Or, more to the point, I haven’t had much to say of late in terms of outdoor-related pursuits. Things are about to change, though.

This Sunday, for starters, I’m heading down to Las Vegas for the massive Shooting, Hunting and Outoor Technologies Show. Joining me will be Outdoor Canada’s Hunting Editor, Ken Bailey, and our crack sales team of Rose and Randy. Things kick off early Monday, when Ken and I head out to the desert for the annual Media Day at the Range to try out the last hunting firearms. Oh yeah.

So, be sure to watch this space for updates. I’ll also be Tweeting from my brand new Twitter account. Please visit my Twitter page and sign up for an RSS feed of my Tweets. Talk to you next from Vegas.