Late Season in the Great Outdoors

Seasonal changes are upon us, you can just feel it in the air and our fish and wildlife are greatly influenced by it.

Fish species like northern pike and muskie, which spent much of the summer in deep water, slowly begin to appear in shallower more ‘fishable’ water. Seasonal movement is observed among the white-tailed deer population as well. With the buck’s antler development all but complete, resident males will travel into open fields for the annual meet and greet with the boys. As the pre-season sizing-up period approaches, bucks congregate in groups to compare antlers size and establish the pecking order. Late summer can be one of the best times to observe critters on the move so be on the look-out, and have your camera ready!

Fish, Hunt & Ride magazine

I trust by now you have all found the summer issue of everyone’s favorite magazine, Fish, Hunt & Ride? Our summer edition celebrates, among other things, Ontario’s reinstatement of the spring black bear season with hunting adventures by several columnists’ including ‘Uncle’ Ted Nugent. Add to that more fishing, riding and hunting than you can shake a stick at and you’ve got Ontario and Quebec’s most comprehensive publication. Special note of thanks to Pembroke native and FHR columnist; Jordan Durocher for his work organizing the 1st Annual Upper Ottawa River Kayak Fishing Derby held Aug. 6. With a total of 28 participants, it was a darn good turn-out for its first year and Jordan tells me the event was tons of fun too! If you have upcoming hunting, fishing, or ATV/watersports events in your area you’d like to mention or advertise, drop me a line. In the meantime check-out our website: http://www.fishhuntandride.ca.

Lexus RX-350, luxury at its best

The completely redesigned 2016 Lexus RX-350 SUV I tried-out recently came with a 3.5-liter V6 under the hood kicking-out a more than ample 295 horses; and launching me soundly (and safely) up the Ottawa Valley to Cobden. Road-testing a luxury SUV is a new experience for me and I savoured the task to the very end. The new RX-350’s interior was very well-appointed with a high-end quality feeling throughout. The gauges were nicely laid out and quite user-friendly. This RX featured a joystick controller, which is much like a computer mouse and took some getting used to. Lexus is about quality and safety and the new RX-350 is rated as the safest luxury SUV on the market. Through the Enform App Suite located on the large centre console, you can stream music or listen to live radio once the app has been installed. Perhaps the most interesting feature I discovered; however, was the colour heads-up display where important parameters such as current speed, gear and RPM are projected onto the lower part of your windshield. I referred to it as the ‘hologram.’ This neat safety feature keeps the driver’s eyes on the road at all times and I found it absolutely succeeded. Oh, and the Mark Levinson Premium surround sound system is by far the best automobile sound system I have ever heard! It was much like sitting front row at a Guns & Roses concert and trust me I’ve been there. My time with the 2016 Lexus RX-350 was short but sweet and I was sad to give it up. For more information on the RX-350, check out: http://www.lexus.com/models/RX/technology

Arnprior fundraiser dinner

It was great this week to hear from my old pal Blake Corbin, host of Outdoors in the Valley Radio Show on the awesome Valley Heritage Radio (FM 98.7) in Renfrew. Blake wanted to give me the heads-up on the annual Arnprior Fish and Game Club fundraiser dinner being held on Sept. 10. For more information on Blake’s show on Valley Heritage Radio: http://valleyheritageradio.ca/meet-our-djs/blake-corbin/

Next time

Be sure to check-out my next column when I discuss the upcoming moose season.