Journal
Buck Paradise Journal
April 21/24 - Happy Birthday to our cook Ray today. It is that time of the year where we are getting excited to get the seed in the ground and welcome our bear hunters. We are at a crossroads in updating the journal as there is so much controversy in the world on sharing personal information and we want to protect our family. Although we have been posting less on website, please feel free to follow us on facebook and instagram where Ian is keeping yall updated on the latest trophies.
March 10/23 - Yes crew we are still alive and life is good. Had a very successful 2022 waterfowl and whitetail season and hope to repeat it for 2023. Bear hunt bookings are better than they have been for awhile and we are thank ful for that. Just brought in another 40000 plus pounds of bear bait in last week so Ian and Jared and are ready to start feeding them as we start to thaw out in a month or so. Things are good. Lana and I have been busy with some travel. Some with her work. Some with Buck Paradise. We are actually on Orlando as we won a Canola Yield Hero trip here. It has been so much fun and Pioneer Seeds and Corteva really know how to take care of there farmers. We will try hard to win it again next year. Pretty much booked up for Waterfowl and whitetail deer for this fall. Lana and I got to spend some time in Nashville last month visting a lot of our hunters there and enjoying the NWTF and SCI hunt shows. We really love Nashville and this year SCI broke record attendance for that show. It will be held there the next two years and from what I have heard Nashville would like to have it more than 2 years. We also had a very successful 2022 harvest and we are looking forward to see what this year brings on that end also. Thank you all who read this and sorry we dont come on here more often to chat but life is busy.. But again good :)
Take care everyone. If you want to chat give me a call anytime.
Grant
September 15, 2022 - Harvest time is here, days are getting shorter and evenings are cooler. We have had 15 days of successful waterfowl hunts, and as I type these I can look out to the harvested Pea crops around the house and see the geese. We are completely booked for Waterfowl and Whitetail for this year and taking bookings for 2023. 2023 Bear season is quickly booking up as well. Although it was a tough couple of years, I think the world is ready to travel again and slowly but surely the travel industry is getting staffed up again to accomodate and we cant wait to host y'all.
Last week Keith Beasley and Canada in the Rough were in camp filming and we had a great time with them as well as our new friends Cody, Jake and Brandon. You boys are the best and cant wait to hang out again with you soon.
Grant and the boys are busy in the field this evening combining canola. We do have 75 % of our crop still out, but the weather forecast looks good and we have a great staff helping with everything.
We had a very exciting year, this summer Ian married the love of his life Emalie, they were married in the yard on July 23 and it was a beautiful wedding and Grant and I couldnt be happier for these two. Not only did we get a wonderful daughter in-Law, but we love Ians in laws as well and cant wait to celebrate many more good times with them. Everyone had so much fun, you may have seen Ians tik tok video that went viral of him washing Emalies dress and legs at the end of the night with the pressure washer. It was priceless.
On August 12, Garet married the love of his life Rebecca, and they were also married in our yard. It was a perfect day for sure. My heart could not be fuller for them both. We were so blessed to have so many friends and family here to help with preparations and celebrations. I do believe we had some special guests here for 10 days. You will see videos and pictures soon on facebook for the wedding.
I am so proud of all our kids as they all helped out with everything for both weddings and made long trips to support one another. Between weddings, stags, staggettes and showers our calendars were very full.
We had 4 Kuypers weddings in 4 months, I am counting Grant and I as two as we got to have a US one and a Canadian one and then Ian and Ems and Garet and Rebeccas. For those friends and family that came to all 4, we have officially declared they get a Kuypers Wedding Grand Slam award.
Please make sure to keep checking Buck Paradise Facebook and Instagram for pictures of waterfowl, bear and whitetail.
May 4, 2022 - Spring is here and we are looking forward to our Bear hunters to start arriving in a couple of weeks. Grant still has a few openings if you are interested. We still have a little bit of snow and it is melting quickly with the sun and wind. Grant and boys are hoping to start in the field within the next week.
We have had the most amazing month, while visiting our friends in Louisiana beginning of April, Grant surprised me with a proposal and wedding. I had been at a conference for my work in Nashville and then we went to Baton Rouge. Our friends picked us up at airport and we had to stop at a hotel on the way to there place. Tommy told me, come in the lounge for a minute I want to introduce you to some of my friends, so I did and I knew them all. It was friends from home, friends from work, and friends from different parts of USA. I was pretty overwhelmed to have so many amazing people in one room from different aspects of our lives. I cant explain how I felt. Beyond blessed is the best I can describe it. Anyway Tommy told me Grant asked if he could invite some friends to the CrawFish Boil and of course Tommy said sure. The next thing you know the Crawfish Boil guest list grew. This happens to me all the time, Grant says 5 people are coming for supper and then there is 20, this is quite normal. I didnt think much of it, except how awesome it was as many people had been locked down for a couple of years so they were excited to travel and be together. I know Grant and Tommy and they both love people and they both believe the more the merrier. They are the best hosts and genuinely love every minute of it.
Anyway that evening, the guys all went out bow fishing and the ladies went out for amazing supper. It was so much fun as everyone got to know each other better and special bonds were made. The next day our whole group went to LSU tour and some more friends showed up to join, which was wonderful. That evening we all went out for a delicious supper at Lisa and Davids. They had decorated with Canadian Red and white lights and had custom American/Canadian flags made. My heart was so full.
The next day was Saturday, April 9, the day of the Crawfish Boil. We all went to the boil and more of our friends showed up. I truly feel so lucky to have such amazing friends. The band started to play and they asked Grant to come up and sing, he sang Folsom Prison Blues. Grant asked me to come up on stage to say Thank you to Tommy and Renee. I did and then he said I have one more surprise, and he got down on one knee and he told me with the blessings of my parents, I stopped to see them the day before we headed to the US, will you marry me. Of Course I said yes, then Tommy came up stage and said, Lana we packed your white dress and I have power in Louisiana to marry y'all and you need to go get dressed because you are getting married here today. And so we did and it was the most amazing day ever. We all danced every dance and then our friend Ed Goings, called the hotel and said keep the bar open. We are on the way. We all went back to the hotel and had some more fun.
I found out on this day that when we get back to Canada we would have a Canadian wedding in our community of Paradise Hill the following Thursday, April 14 with our family and friends that could not come to the USA. I found a dress in Jackson, Mississippi and carried it through 4 airports and we made it home late Tuesday night, we stopped at the mall in Sherwood Park to get Grant a wedding ring and made it home Wednesday afternoon in time to get marriage license so we could get married legally the next day. Wednesday night we had a supper with our family.
April 14th was the date we got married, this date is very special to the Kuypers family as 14 years earlier Grants Dad went to heaven, so it had been remembered as the saddest day of the year, and true Kuypers style they changed the way to think of this day as a good day instead of a sad day, as we could now celebrate our wedding. Grants Mom Paulette did the blessing for our wedding and she told the story of how my brother in law, looked in the pocket of his blazer on the way to the wedding and there was a picture of Leonard and we all knew he was with us on our special day.
The hall was packed with people that we love and our children stood up with us, Grant walked in first and then Rebecca and Garet, Brent and Brandi, Ian and Emalie and then I followed them. The song we all walked into was "The Rivers of Babylon".
Today we are celebrating Jared birthday at cabin so I need to go get ready to head over so I will continue my story tomorrow.
Dec.21/21 - Hello All. Grant here. Shortest day of the year today and we welcome the longer days ahead. Lana and I have been busy travelling with her job and I have been keeping busy with what I do. Weather has been cold. Typical December weather for Saskatchewan. We are looking forward to being with family throughout the Christmas Holidays. Just would like to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Take care everyone and be safe this Holiday season.
Grant & Lana
November 28, 2021 - Good Morning Everyone! Well thats a wrap for 2021 Whitetail season. Last night we had our staff appreciation get together. Whitetail is wrapped up and very greatful for our customers, farmers and of course staff. Thank you to everyone! Grant will be starting to take bookings next week for 2022!
November 18, 2021 - Good Morning Everyone! Well we have had an eventful two days weather wise. We had a winter storm hit Monday and it hit hard. All travel was not recommended and some highways were closed due to poor visibility and blowing snow. The snow was so high on the roads you couldn't plough through it without getting stuck as the snow drifts were so high. The amount of snow we recieved Monday and Tuesday was more than all of 2021. We do need the moisture however as we had record low rainfall this year causing many crops to have low to no yields. Anyway, Grant has been outfitting for almost 25 years and has never had a day when he could not get hunters out to the baits. The guides tried everything they could to get hunters out but mother nature was not supporting this plan and only two hunters could get to blinds with much persistence from there guide. And it was not without issues. We had one group hit the ditch as snow was so high you couldnt see the road and a farmer had to come and pull them out. All the guides had to work together and take care of each other so no one was left alone in the blizzard and everyone got home safe. For some of us we got to stay back at camp in warm, cozy cabin. The next day Grant pulled out his sled and was determined someway, some how he was getting hunters out. With so much work and determination all the guides were able to get hunters out to blinds. Lots of equipment was breaking down and this caused extra challenges including walking in deep snow out of bush adn quads blowing belts. Our guides continue to make me proud as they are constantly checking in on each other and making sure everyone is safe and ok and back at camp. As we had some quads down, Grant had to find a solution on how to keep things running for today so he had to go rent a neighbors skidoo and missed supper completely and arrived home at 12:30 last night setting everything up for success today. He was up again at 5:00 AM. His stamina and passion for this business is to be commended. Today he woke up and said it is going to be a great day as he does every day and off he went to help guides get hunters in bush and show our customers the best experience ever. Today the sun is shining and the day looks beautiful. We have had two hunters, Tommy and Alec that shot out before the storm on Monday with two awesome bucks. This afternoon our friend Tommy Barber is going to show us how to make homeade pasta and spaghetti and meat balls while drinking wine, I will post some pictures later. Sounds like so much fun. I am going to take a couple of hours this afternoon so I can join. That's all for now folks! - I hope you all have an amazing day and everyone is staying healthy and safe! - Lana
November 15, 2021 - Today we had our friend Tommy Barber from Baton Rouge drive up from Calgary early this AM before the storm. He arrived at noon had a bowl of soup and Grant brought him out to the blind. When they pulled up the a beautiful old buck was standing right there. He never even got into the blind and got his beauty buck. Great day! We also had Alex from Baton Rouge, got his first ever buck this AM and it was 11 point. So happy for y'all.
November 14, 2021 - We had one of the best weeks ever in camp, we were blessed with talented musicians and every evening was guitar playing and singing. So so much fun. Ryan played guitar every night and then Brett joined him for a couple of nights that he was in camp. The whole camp was signing songs and it will a night to remember always. Music is my food for the soul!
We had 6 hunters shoot out with great bucks and I am told the bucks are on the move, so it could be a surprise what you see come in. Grant guided Brett Kissel this week and it will be on the TV show "Backwoods, Backstage" on the Sportsman Channel. Although we only had Brett in camp for a short period of time, it was so great to be around his positive energy, drive, hard work ethic and downhome personality. His enthusiam for life is infectious. Brett has taken home Country Music Entertainer of the year, Mail artist of the year, Ford F-150 Album of the year and many other awards. Dont forget to vote for this years CCMA awards. Link is on the BP Facebook page. Everyone had to diversified the last year and half and Brett and his wife diversified into Vodka distillery, Deuce Vodka and he brought us the new flavours. If you are stocking up your liquor cabinet for the winter, we recommend trying them. If you like shooters, you can try the flavoured vodka and no mixing required. There is a wide selection of flavours.
We are looking forward to having hunters arrive today from Louisiana and South Carolina. Stay tuned for updated on Buck Paradise Facebook and Instagram page. Please check out Photo Gallery on our journal. We have also updated pricing for 2022 hunts on the info page.
November 10, 2021 - Good Morning! Today is magical. The snow is lightly falling. The ground is white and it is beautiful. I put up the Christmas Tree yesterday so the lights add to the beauty of the morning. The guides and hunters headed out very early this AM and played Cribbage until very late last night. We also had some talented guitar players in the lodge last night which is my favorite part of the day. My heart is full when the guitars come out. Anyways on to hunting, what everyone really wants to know about.
Yesterday was Stellar. Three of our hunters are tagged out with beautiful bucks and one scored over 180. Beyond excited and happy for our Southern friends. Garet took two brothers out Ryan and Tony, they tossed a coin for which stand they would be at for Day 1 and enjoyed the day in nature. Day 3 they traded stands and both had beauty bucks walk in. Our friend Jack also got a great buck yesterday about the same time. The rut has just begun and movement is picking up. So the shop was busy and the guides were busy. All our hunters had active stands and the beauty and peace and quiet of being out in nature is so soothing for the soul. We have many clients that come from high pressured jobs and running business where they have to always be on and charged up. Some times when they arrive they need these batteries recharged and sitting in a stand enjoying the Saskatchewan forest and fresh Saskatchewan air, they feel so much better. Saskatchewan is one the most beautiful provinces, but it always seems to fly under the radar. Some of the most stunning scenery in the world is right here in our back yard. We do not take this for granted and are greatful to get to live where we live and be able to open our hearts and home to our old and new friends and family.
We are now taking bookings for 2022 and things are booking up fast now that borders are open and everyone is excited to be able to travel again.
Tomorrow is Remembrance Day is Canada. Canadians recognize Remembrance Day every November 11 at 11 am. We wear poppies as a symbol of remembrance. Typically the Legions in the villages will have a moment of silence and program to honor and remember those who have given their lives during the First World War so that we can have peace.
This year we have had many customers from Marine Corps, Navy seal, Veterens who served in the Korean War and other positions serving our countries in both USA and Canada. We are greatful for you! Thank you.
Have a wonderful rest of your day!
November 8, 2021 - Good Afternoon BP friends and family! Well today the land border is lifted Canada to USA. This is great news. We have 6 hunters and one camera man in camp this week and another 2 coming tonight with cameramen. So we will have a full house. We have alot of J's in camp this week. 3 Johns and 1 Jack, 1 Jordan so fun and of course our guide Ian John. We have guests here from the West Coast Astoria, Oregon to the East Coast of New York. Great bunch of fellas and already had so many laughs with them.
We dont have any snow on the ground and I was able to clean the outside of my windows today as it was so nice out. I am sure the weather will be changing soon and winter is coming, but for now we are enjoying the sun.
All the guides, have great deer and lots of inventory, so we are so excited for our hunters to see all the activity and pick the buck they want. Our guides are working hard to make sure our hunters get the best experience ever. Sometimes it is a long quad ride and early morning, but the scenery and trophy is worth it. The evening socializing and great food and comfortable bed and hot tub are greatly appreciated at the end of the day.
Please make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instragram as here you will find instant pictures.
November 4, 2021 - Good Evening everyone! Today we had to say good bye to our new friends from Michigan, Dave and Tom, they headed out driving this AM. Tomorrow early our new friends from Ohio, Chuck and his nephew Brian will also head out driving back so we said good bye to them as well and we hope to see them all back next year. It never really gets easier to say good bye to people in this business. It's hard to explain the connection you easily get with people in a short period of time sharing meals and visiting in the evenings. So blessed for this life we live. The guides and some of there hunters went out in the bush today making sure trails and stands are ready for next weeks group. I was told there was alot of action on the cameras. So we cant wait to see what next week brings. With the weather being warm, the bears have not hibernated yet so they can cause havoc on the tents and we lose a few tents every year to them. When Grant went to check one of his baits today the tent was destroyed.
November 3, 2021 - Hi Everyone, I am so excited to get to journal today to tell y'all what happened yesterday. So we had 7 Hunters in camp and on Day 2 by 10:30 AM, all 7 of our hunters had shot beautiful bucks, even Bob :) and we wish we would had a camera watching the hunters, guides and bucks all pulling down the driveway simultaneously. It was something to see, the shop was buzzing with excitement all day and well into the evening. Some of the hunters in camp, had been with us 10 years ago and others were brand new. We had guests from Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Maine this week. So fun to meet them all and what a great bunch. One of our hunters was 82, and I sure do hope I am as young and spry as this young man when I have seen and done as much as him in my life. He drove with his nephew three days to get to us and I am so happy he was part of this wonderful experience we had at camp yesterday. Cheers to you Chuck!
You can check out our facebook page and instagram for pictures, I will get them on web page after work today.
I missed journalling last week as our Louisianna and Mississipi good friends were here, and I was very busy in the office during the day and looked forward to every moment I could spent with them in the evening, especially my guy Walt. :)
They had a great hunt with bow and muzzle loader and we were just so darn excited to have them back in camp. We are so blessed to have so many great friends in this business.
Some other exciting news, is that Saskatoon airport is going to reopen November 30th as International Airport, so this will make travelling to us easier with a few more flight options. I must stop here to Thank everyone who made the trek to Buck Paradise Outfitters this year as we know it wasnt as easy as it should have been, but Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for persevering and making it here. And going forward it will be alot easier, we are waiting for November 8th news as there will be federal and provincial updates for less restrictions as well, Canadians can now travel via land to the USA is what is anticipated. We will wait and see.
My work is allowing essential travel to the USA once again and I am so excited to be able to go see my customers in person. Our first conference back will be in Tucson, AZ so for all our friends around there Grant will be available for hanging out while I am in meetings.
October 21/2021 - Good morning. Grant here. Thought I would come and do a little blog before i set out to take our hunters to there field for there morning hunt. First off, I want to thank Lana for keeping this journal up. I know you all look forward to reading what she has to say and she does an excellent job of putting it all together. It takes time and lots of thinking to put it all together as often as she has been. So thank you Lana for this and everything else you do to keep our ship floating. Also big thanks to all our staff. Jared, Blaine, Julian, Jace, Jory, Ray, Sharon, Noella, Garet & Ian. Thank you for all your hard work and enthusiam you have brought forward to this fall. Our hunters have appreciated you all so much and the praises of our staff are plenty. Thanks again and keep up the great work. I have been spending more time in the field for both waterfowl and whitetail this fall. I have really enjoyed getting back at it. Thankfully mother nature gave us great weather for our harvest and we finished early making it so I have more time to help my crew. I spent last Saturday with Corey Jenkins up in the bush putting out our stuff and we had a great day. Corey is very busy with his current mechanic job and will be unable to join us this fall. He will be missed but Blaine and I plan to fill his very big shoes. Like Lana mentioned we are getting some very good bucks on camera and we are excited to start hunting these guys. Also as Lana mentioned this will be our last week for waterfowl. A BIG thankyou to all the landowners who let us hunt on your land. We could not do this without your permission and believe me it is so much appreciated. It has been a great waterfowl season. I say the best that I can remember in a long time. Our new format of only one group in camp per session has been great. Limits of dark geeses and ducks and a lot of white geese where harvested this fall. All the meat was donated and we have people waiting for more of it. Well, I better go warm up my truck. Getting chilly throughout the night. It will be nice to be done waterfowling but again as Lana mentioned we have whitetail hunters coming in this weekend for bow and muzzleloader hunting next week. Take care all. Keep an eye on here for more of Lanas great readings and check out her photo gallery of all the great waterfowl hunts we have had.
Grant & Lana.
October 20, 2021 - Good Morning Everyone - As I sit down to journal today, I can hear the shots in the background of our new group of hunters from Nashville shooting geese. They are hunting in a field close to home and hopefully going to limit out every day they are here. This will be last week of Waterfowl and our Whitetail hunters will arrive this weekend. Our guides are in the bush everyday getting ready. We are seeing some Big Bucks for sure.
We are going to start anhydrousing our fields this week and harrowing so we will be ready for Spring planting. By doing this extra Fall work, we will save time in April and May when we want to be getting ready for Bear season.
We are so grateful that border is open and our last group that came in said it was very easy and they were welcomed to Canada with open arms. It is long overdue and we cant wait to get our business back on track. It will take a few years to recuperate but we are able to keep our staff employed this year and that is very important to us. We know there is so many businesses in similar situations and some are not doing as well and my heart breaks for these companies and situation of the world right now.
We choose to take it one day at a time, count our blessings and continue to have faith that things will turn around. It is sad to see so many families and friends divided due to government changes and pandemic rules and restrictions and we look forward to the uniting and rebuilding of the world.
Our crew has just limited out! Yeah! Anyway it is time for me to get in my office and work. The sun is shining here and going to be a great day and tonight we get to enjoy a Turkey dinner with our friends from Nashville.
Have a wonderful day! - Lana and Grant
October 13, 2021 - We just said good bye to a great bunch of hunters from Tennessee and Texas, they left happy campers as the birds were plentiful. They did have some challenges though, one morning there was snow on the ground, frost on the decoys, no wind in the air and this group of hunters still shot there limits and had so much fun. It was so much fun to join them at supper time to here about the days events. Never a dull moment, lots of laughter and fun, just what the heart and soul needs these days. Our next group is visiting from Pennyslvania and Virginia and Texas. Our staff cant wait to show them a terrific time and great hunts. We just heard some good news today, as I am sure y'all do if you still watch the news. :). The land border from Canada to United States will open on October 21 which is great news as things are going in the right direction and we are excited for the pandemic to be under control and the world to open up. We still have some spots open for whitetail this year if you are interested. These deer have not been hunted for a year so our guides are very optimistic to see some Big Bucks. Please reach out to Grant if you are interested. We do have the 2022 Waterfowl schedule ready as well so you can start booking for that as well. It looks like SCI, Shot Show and NWTF are all lining up for January and February and we will hope to see some of you there. We will do our best to attend. I have added some pictures to the Gallery tab and Ian is adding pictures to Instagram and Facebook to show off the great hunting this year.
We celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday and Raymond made us a Turkey dinner with all the trimmings. We count our blessings everyday to be in this wonderful business and we look forward to many good times ahead.
October 7, 2021 - Yesterday we all headed up into the bush to get ready for whitetail season, even I went. Grant showed Blaine and I how to set up our first camera and feed for the deer. It was a beautiful day and we seen some amazing country I had never seen before. The scenery was stunning. We have had so many hunters with high pressure jobs that have told me that coming up to Northern Saskatchewan to go hunting, is the time they can relax, restore and rejuventate as there mind can have a break as they are out in nature and doing what they love. I understand that now after seeing where they spend the day with nature and a thermos of hot soup and sandwiches Ray prepares for them. Grant is booking up Whitetail hunts now that the border is open and he currenlty has a few openings, they are as follows: October 26-31 (4 openings), November 1 - 6 (1 opening), November 8-13 (2 openings), November 22-27 (1 opening). We currently do not have hunters coming the November 29-December 4 work, however if you want to come in with group of 5-6 we will make that happen.
We did not have any waterfowl hunters in camp this week, but we will have group arriving Sunday and we will look forward to that as the birds are plentiful this time of year so Jared and Blaine have great hunts lined up for them.
Ray has gone to the city to pick up more groceries for our new groups coming in and see his sister, so he he is off the colony for 24 hours, so I guess I am in charge of cooking tonight so I better get at it.
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to you all! Have a wonderful weekend.
October 4, 2021 - Yesterday we said Good bye to our friends from Nashville that were up hunting waterfowl. They had a fabulous hunt every day limiting out for geese and ducks. We were sad to see them go home, but we are going to head to NWTF convention and see them all then. If any of our Buck Paradise followers want to meet up, we will be in Nashville in February and possibly shot show if they have it in January. This week we have plenty of birds, but no hunters so our guides are going to start getting ready for whitetail season. Please check out our gallery for pictures from this years waterfowl hunts. Also continue to follow us on Facebook and Instagram as Ian is updating pictures regularly.
Grant and crew finished up harvest on Thursday, I took this week off on holidays from my job to help get caught up at home and BP. The weather is still beautiful so there is time to get land sprayed and harrowed and set us up for success in Spring when we start seeding.
We have less than 10 openings for Whitetail 2021, so if you are interested please contact Grant and book your spot. We also created 2022 Waterfowl schedule so make sure to reach out to book your spots as they are going fast.
Our focus is to make sure every customer is 100% satisfied with our business providing high quality hunts led by talented guides, as well as luxury accomodations, delicious meals and leave here with memories of a lifetime. Word of Mouth is the best advertising a business can ask for and we thank y'all for constantly doing this for us. Thank you so very much. We greatly appreciate the referrals.
September 25, 2021 - Thank you Buck Paradise Followers for checking out our website, facebook and instragram pages. Today Grant took load of Barley to elevator first thing this AM. When he gets back, Grant, Ian, Garet and Blaine will try to harvest oats and if they are not ready they will try canola. We have 7 good days of harvesting left to go. Weather looks good which is a blessing. It was such a beautiful morning out with no wind and I had the day off work, so took dogs for walk. I missed my friend Mary White who I got to walk with last week while her husband was out hunting with his friends Ned and Carol. Mary texted me this AM and they made it back to Louisiana driving and had no troubles crossing at the Border. I really wanted to do a shout out to our staff this year for Waterfowl, we are so proud of them and the experience and talent they bring to our business. Jared and Blaine are passionate about making sure our hunters have the best possible experience hunting as possible. These boys put in long hours and they work hard and play hard. They are also busy training helpers Jullian, Jace and Jory this year and they are enjoying learning and are a great addition to our team. These boys are hard working, polite and willing to learn and we are so happy to have them on board. Ray is amazing chef as many of you following have experienced. His daily homeade bread and desserts are second to none. He always prepares lots of food and it is always delicious and top quality. Sharon and Noella are our hostesses and they make sure all our guests are well taken care of and have alot of fun. Couldnt ask for better, they are Mother hens and look after us all and help out wherever needed. Ian and Jared also guided Bear hunters when we had bear and waterfowl combination hunters this year and the hunters were super impressed with the bears they harvested and the guides attention to detail and the way they made sure that every hunter is comfortable in everyway.
Its been a year and half since the pandemic rocked the world. We are choosing to not dwell on the negative affects that we are all dealing with and try our best to we take one day at a time and be greatful for living where we live and thankful everyday and count our blessings. We hope and pray that you have also found some time to reflect on the people and moments that are most important in your life and that your physical and mental health is still intact. We are all in this together and please continue to be kind and respectful to one another and look after each other and your selves and reach out if you need a friend. Love you and Miss y'all! - Lana and Grant
September 24, 2021 - Good Morning Friends. Hope this finds you all well. We are having excellent waterfowl year as far as birds go. Please check out our Facebook page and Instagram for pictures. We are working with our web page manager to have pictures added to our gallery, apparently the pictures have too many pixels as they are such good quality it is more difficult to download to website, but we are working on it. Unfortunately we had several cancellations due to border restrictions. The hunters that have made the trek have had had fabulous hunts. We do have full staff to accomodate, actually more staff than customers but we will always maintain five star service for our guests. We do not have anyone in camp right now, but lots of birds in the sky. Grant, Garet, Ian and Blaine are busy in the field trying to get harvest done before our next hunters arrive.
We have had guests, from Maryland, California, Colorado, Idaho, Tennessee, Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi and Louisiana and we have had so much fun with these amazing people. They had good experience at borders, but only brought carry ons and rented guns when they arrived, this helped with timing between connecting flights. While airlines are figuring out restrictions, flights have been delayed so if you are travelling up here, our recommendation is minimum luggage and we can hook you up with what you dont have. We do have COVID kits here on site for the trip back home for convenience to our hunters and they are similar to a pregnancy test and are efficent, quick and accepted at border so this to will help your travels between Canada and USA.
We hope you are doing well in these crazy times. Focus on the step in front of you, not the whole staircase.
Cheers!
August 14, 2021 - Hello Everyone Borders are open -- Call 1-833-784-4397 or webiste canada.ca/coronavirus for more information on this. Grant is busy combining peas as birds love the pea stubble and we have open water as well that is optimum for waterfowl. We have few vacancies left and this is the year to come and you will not be disappointed. Going to be lots of birds in Northern Saskatchewan this year. Please give Grant a call at 780-214-4638. As soon as Grant gets off combine, he will journal and catch y'all up.
July 28/21 - Hello everyone. Grant here. I am up in Alaska fishing with the Brian Bowers. No Kings as numbers are to low and Alaska Fish & Game have shut it down. I new that before coming up and as much as I miss fishing those big Kings, I still love catching the sockeye. The other reason I made the trip is I wanted to 1st hand experience travel in and out of the US. I made it to Kenai, AK no problem. They did not ask for proof of my covid vaccines. All the wanted was a negative covid test which I had got the day before at Shoppers drug mart in Lloydminster. So the trip went well except for Air Canada never got my luggage to Seattle. Missed my flight. Got on the next flight but still as I write this, no luggage over 24 hours later. Hopefully it will show tomorrow. Sockeye fishing is great. Looking forward to next few days. I will see how my flights back to Canada go and will let you all know. The boys and Blaine are busy getting harvest equipent ready and Lana is flat out with month end with her work and is heading to Denver, CO. next week for meetings. She is excited to see all the people she deals with as it has been awhile. Thats all i know for now. More news on travel to come soon. Thanks
Grant
July 19, 2021 - Please check out CBC.ca News today - Fully vaccinatd tourists will soon be able to visit Canada again.
"Fully vaccinated US Citizens can enter Canada August 9, 2021, other travellers September 7"
Travellers are directed to take mandatory COVID 19 Test after arriving on a international flight at Pearson International Airport. Starting August 9 fully vaccinated US citizens and permanent residents living in that country will be able to visit Canada without having to quarantine for two weeks.
Ottawa now says that - starting August 9 at 12:01 AM ET - fully vaccinated US citizens and permanent residents living in that country will be able to visit Canada without having to quarantine for two weeks
Please check it out! We are so happy to hear this great news and look forward to seeing everyone soon.
Cheers for now!
May 18, 2021 - Hello everyone! Sorry it has been so long since we have updated our journal. The weather has been so beautiful here and we just finished seeding our crops. We have seeded lots of peas this year which our waterfowl hunters know the geese love. We also seeded canola, oats and barley. We have had great staff helping us out including Blaine, Jared, Tammy, Noella, and our family of course. It has been really fun and weather cooperated as well. Its dry but weather forecast shows rain is coming so we will pray it is accurate. The last few months our therapy for avoiding all the craziness in the world was to upgrade lodges and trailers as well as landscaping and painting. We are so excited for you to see the results. While the border is closed, we are diversifying our cabins to host family reunions, weddings, seismic crews, and others. We also have incorporated campsites for those that prefer to bring trailers. The lodges have been renamed; Big Cabin is the Big Moose Lodge, Little Cabin is now the Buffalow Bungalow and the Cabin between the two is now called the Mallard Inn, as you can watch the Mallards come in on the field behind it. We have another cabin behind the shop that is called the Bears Den and it is a perfect hideway to hibernate in. Upstairs at the Big Moose Lodge we put in new flooring with noice reduction underlay, I know our guests will love it. When our hunters and/or guests are ready to relax in back yard we have installed horse shoe pit. We do have other backyard games available as well. We love the new flags we have installed in the yard and know you will too. If you would like to check out pictures, you can have a look at our facebook page called Buck Paradise Hideway and Campgrounds. Tonight we are so happy to be watching Jordan Eberle playing for New York Islanders in the playoffs, we were fortunate to have him in camp this fall as he is a Canadian resident. It is sure nice to be able to watch baseball and hockey again on TV. We are trying to be patient waiting for restrictions to lift in Canada and praying the border will open soon.
Ian and Jared have some great bears on camera and we are excited to have some Canadian hunters coming into camp next week.
Lana and Grant
March 17/21 - Time flies as the weather starts to warm doesn't it... Well here is what has been happening around these parts. Just had to go Maverick shit as I think he now knows how to open the door with a knob on it. He could easily get in with the handle and so I am like I will fool you and put a knob on it. Well, now he paws harder till that opens. Drives me crazy so we just have to get used to locking the door but I don't think he will ever give up. A lab's determination to be close to its owner and other people is crazy.... Oh well, could be worse things I guess :) We had our Skidoo rally on March 06th. What a great turnout and day for that it was. Over 300 registered and a $5000.00 1/2 the pot our little community raised over $10000.00 that day. Thank you to everyone that came and enjoyed our awesome trial and to all those that helped to put it all together in a safe manner. We had online registration. Waivers were text to everyone and had to be signed and text back to our administrator. Everyone had times to depart with 10-minute increments between the allowable group size. RCMP joined the rally and it was great to have their presence on it also. Again was a great day and I think people were excited to get out and enjoy the fresh air and the beautiful terrain around our area. Lana and I along with here daughter Brandi and her BF Taylor headed out the next day to clean up a few of the trail markers on the trail and again with another beautiful warm day we stopped and made a fire and cooked up some smokies. Love doing that a lot. The following Tuesday, March 09, Garet and I and buddy Kim Mccubbing and Larry headed back up to our cabin by the Key Lake Mine. The weather had cooled down a bit but still not bad. We had some trouble along the way but not that bad in the end. We had a trailer tire in pretty rough shape by the time we got to Pinehouse. Luckily there is a tire shop there and we were able to put our new spare on and found a good used tire to put on the rim of the bughered up tire, so we were safe with spare to keep on rolling. No more tire trouble and we headed to the staging area and started to unload. We had my side by side with tracks on and my Skidoo that Garet drove and Larry's Skidoo. We were bout a mile from camp when my side-by-side made a pretty load snap and we stopped in our tracks. Blew a belt. Luckily I had a spare, but not the proper tool to spread the clutch to get the new belt on. The old belt was basically disintegrated. We fought with it for over two hours but with lots of determination and grunting we got the new belt on and away we went. Our hopes of fishing that afternoon were diminished so we just unpacked and organized and had a nice hot supper and hit the hay. We fished hard for the next four days. Weather was cool but it was beautiful. I got onto a lake with my skidoo that I have been looking to get on for a long time. Anyways to say the least it was the toughest fishing I have ever had. We caught 1 lake trout and about 6 pike. They just were not biting. That's fishing:) was a great time and I loved every minute of it. We headed home last Sunday with no problems and it was great to see my girl who had a delicious meal of ribs and veggies waiting for me when I got home. The last couple of days I caught up on office work and got pretty much everything cleaned up, organized and put away. Few more things to tidy up today and I will be done. Blaine & Tammy have been here and painting, building cupboards and all sorts of cool things around all the accommodations that we have. Lana has been very busy with her job as usual and manages to ace that and keep everything else around here flowing nicely. Garet is back to opening the bar in the AM and Ian bought himself an old single cab dodge truck that he is rebuilding. So everyone is keeping busy. Spring is so in the air and a lot of our snow is disappearing fast. Just a nice thaw. I hope everyone is doing well and we still have no clue when our governments are going to open the borders for our US friends to be able to come join us... We can not wait. If I hear anything I will post on here ASAP. Have a great day everyone. From the home of GIANT WHITETAIL DEER and GREAT WATERFOWL HUNTING and GREAT BEAR HUNTING IN SASKATCHEWAN you all have a great day.
Grant
Feb.28/21 - Onto March we go tomorrow. First off Lana and I would like to wish my beautiful sister Lenora Selk a Happy 50th Birthday. Here is too many many more Lenora and we wish you happiness and joy as you deserve it so much. I had a good week, it went by pretty quickly. Monday I was off to the dentist to get my 3 implants in. They feel awesome and it is sure nice to have all my teeth back. Lana came to Lloyd with me that day as she had a dentist appointment also. We picked up a few things and headed home that afternoon. Tuesday I picked up Lana's Dad, Dennis and we headed to Martensville to pick up a beef we bought and was taken there to get cut and wrapped. Great store and we picked up some goodies while we were there. It is called the Smokehouse and I really like their meats. We picked up my buddy Larry on the way also from Battleford so the 3 of us had a great visit. Wednesday I headed to Edmonton. Lana had some box springs ordered there and they were ready for pickup. We also got a new bed for ourselves. It is great. So that was a full day of driving in and out of Edmonton, then I stopped back into Lloyd and picked up a new hot tub lid for over at the cabin. When I got home I cooked Lana and me a steak from our beef and we are sure happy with it. Going to cook another couple up for supper tonight also. Thursday I worked in my office quite a bit. Friday, Lana & Garet & I headed to Edam with a bed for Lana's folks and some furniture they wanted also. So we got that moved in and had a nice visit and headed home. Yesterday our Skidoo rally crew met up here and we finished flagging the Skidoo rally trail that will happen next Saturday. Was a fun day and we ended up here at the farm for a few drinks and snacks after the day. Today has been a slow one. I took the dogs on a good hike and watched a really dumb movie called Barb & Star go to Vista Del Mar. I got through it. Lana couldn't. It had a few funny moments but I do not recommend it. Well, thats about all I know for now. Got a load of seed barley coming tomorrow. Weather is supposed to be nice this week so looking forward to that. We had some spring-like days last week but it got cool again yesterday and today. All good. Have a great upcoming week everyone. Chat soon.
Grant SASKATCHEWAN WHITETAIL DEER OUTFITTER :)
Feb.19/21 - Well it is starting to warm up. The first morning in a little while that it was under -20C for temp when I got up this AM. It was actually -16 and is suppose to keep warming up and get in the plus temps on Sunday & Monday. Amen to that. So this past week has been pretty busy with some fun stuff and some work stuff. Monday was a holiday and it was cold so Lana and I did not do much that day. On Tuesday Lana was back to work in the office and Ian and I laid some flooring down in what we call Cabin C. There is a little left to do today but I need a saw to finish so my good friend Blaine Paul is bringing his table saw over and we can finish that project. We purchased a washer and dryer that will be moved into Cabin C as when we get hopefully busy soon again we will have more laundry capacity which will be great for the girls especially on our turnover days. So Garet and Blaine and I will get that moved over and then our plumber buddy Neil can get it all hooked up. We have Noella here this week and another young lady who goes to School in Walburg. They are busy purging and detailing the cabins and getting everything totally organized and ready for whenever we will be able to use them again. I don't think we have ever been so organized and cleaned in a long time. Thank you, lady's for a great job. The fun part of my week is that when I met my good friend Kim last week at Cosco we quickly said we need to get together for some ice fishing. So he called me last Sunday and we made arrangements for him to be here Wednesday at 7:00 AM and with Garet, we headed North East and picked up Barcley along the way in Walburg. We headed to Beatty Lake to try for some splake. Fishing was very slow for the 1st hour so we moved and then we got into some action. Splake is tricky to catch and Garet had the touch that day as he landed 3. I missed 3 or 4 and Barcley a couple. Kim, I don't think got a bite, but we had a great time and lots of old stories came out in the shack. It was -30 when we got up there that morning, but no wind and blue sunny skies it was a great day and we were very comfortable in my fishing shack. We fished till about 6:30 and then made the 2-hour trek back home. We visited with Lana for a bit and then hit the hay. Kim spent the night in our basement and yesterday we broke in Ians camper ice fishing rig that he fixed all up. It worked great and was warm and very comfortable. We just went to 1/2 moon lake which is 7 minutes from the farm. We put out a few tip-ups and fished from inside Ian's camper and it was again very slow. We managed to catch one when we were pulling the tip-ups out and lost one other on a tip-up.. But I guess we never got skunked so all good. Ian and Emalie are taking their camper to turtle lake today to fish with some family and friends, so I hope they have some good luck. Garet is coming out to help with some projects today. Lana and I are going to the Vawn Ski-doo rally tomorrow so that will be fun. We are going to take the side by side with a heated cab so we won't be roughing it at all, but sure will be good to get out and see some other people. Looking forward to it. Our Paradise Hill Community Center is putting on a skidoo rally for March 06 and on Sunday we are going to start making the trail. Thats about all I know for now. Take care everyone.
Grant
Feb.12/21 - Good morning everyone. Lana & I got back home yesterday. We stopped in Edam to visit her folks Dennis & Barb and enjoyed some of Barb's homemade soup. Was great on a cold day. The weather has warmed up a little bit and I think we are over the worst of the cold snap. A couple more days of above cold weather and then back to some normal temps. We enjoyed our trip to Moose Jaw. Enjoyed the spa there and we were happy to see things were pretty busy there. Restaurants were open and shopping stores and it was nice to see people out and about. We left there Wednesday around noon and headed to Saskatoon. We spent the night there and Lana and I enjoyed a great bottle of wine and a steak supper for Valentines. Yesterday morning we met up with our good friend Larry Antenko and had breakfast with him as he was in Saskatoon grabbing a few things. Lana and I packed up and made a Costco run. It was busy as usual and met our great friends Karen & Kim Mccubbing in the parking lot when we were leaving. We had a short visit as it was too cold to stand outside for too long to visit. Anyways it was a treat to see them. I was up early this AM. Our security company called me at 4:30 AM to tell me we had a low battery on one of our doors..... I was like Ok. Thanks.. They must headquarter out East or something, anyway, no big deal, I may have fallen asleep for a little bit after that. So I sit here writing this. Enjoying a coffee and watching the day wake up. No big plans today as it is still pretty cold outside with the wind. But I have some tip-ups I want to get a line on that I have been wanting to do for a while and today may be the day so that when it does warm up I will be ready. Ian is back in the shop. He has sold his sled. Record on this one as I think he had it damn near 3 years. He will look for a good 2nd hand one probably to ride around here the rest of the season and then plans on snow checking a new one for the 2021-22 season. He has me tempted to do the same but I better wait till we get some hunters coming back. While I was in Moose Jaw I spent a day at my computer and redid our Waterfowl schedule. I will be sending emails out to all our hunters. There will be 15 hunting sessions. No overlapping. We will only be running 1 group per session and will start hunting from Sept 01 till Oct 24th every day. I am sure hoping the borders will be open for this hunt. We will see I guess and if I hear any news I will report on here, but as of right now it is closed and not open soon. Our SCPO CEO and directors are working closely with the government on support for our outfitters through these times. Garet & Rebecca are off to Edmonton this week to spend some time with Brandi and enjoy the city for the weekend. Much deserved for the both of them. Take care all. Later....
Grant - Saskatchewan Whitetail Deer Outfitters. Canadian Whitetail Deer Outfitters. Saskatchewan Waterfowl Outfitters. Saskatchewan Bear Outfitters
Feb.09/21 - Well its been unbearably cold here the past few days. Like -40 and colder with a wind chill. I have heard up to -50 with the wind chill in places. Lana and I have taken off the past couple days and spent some time with her son Brent in Regina. Garet & Ian are holding down the fort at home. We are now in Moose Jaw and working from our hotel and at a spa resort here. It is very nice and we are enjoying the heck out of it. Got to keep this one short as we are off to dinner with our friends Rion & Amber White from Orion Taxidermy. He has his shop here in Moose Jaw and we are excited to see them. Things are good - the cold weather. I will chat more when we get home. Thanks all. Stay warm to all my prairie friends.
Grant - Saskatchewan Whitetail Deer Outfitters. Canadian Whitetail Deer Outfitters. Saskatchewan Waterfowl Outfitters. Saskatchewan Bear Outfitters
Feb.06/21 - Saskatchewan Whitetail Deer Outfitters. That is part of what we do. Sorry, I am trying this out as our tech who does our website says I should have a link to our site saying this so that when hunters google that saying it will take them to our site. So I am going to mess with it a bit to see if it does help get us higher in those search engines. Anyways it is -38 outside this AM. Yep damn cold, but no wind and I enjoyed a beautiful sunrise with a hot coffee this AM. Lana and I went into Lloyd late yesterday afternoon. I had to take my side by side to get a modular program for it as we put the tracks on it and the only thing this modulator does is correct the speedometer. Without it programmed I rack up a bunch of kilometres on the odometer that are not happening. Anyways took the side-by in there as they said they would need the unit to program and all for nothing as they could not program it. Anyways they ordered me a new Module so hopefully, that will work when it arrives. Other than that we picked up some flooring as we are going to redo a room in Cabin C or what we used to call Rays cabin and then we headed to Barcleys for a glass of wine and a couple of games of crib with him and his son Logan. Barcley has a great place and he had his woodstove going and Lana & I always enjoy going there to visit. Not sure what today will bring with it being as cold as it is but right now I think I will go refill my coffee and enjoy our fireplace for a bit. Have a great day everyone and if your from around these parts stay warm.
Grant
Feb.04/21 - Good morning. Well, again we are blessed with blue skies and sun. About -18 C out there this AM. Still warm enough to take the dogs for a hike sometime today. Garet & I have a meeting with our Agronomist this afternoon and then I am off to Lloyd to pick up an Island/Chopper block for Lana's kitchen that she has purchased. Yesterday was another good day. Lana busy as usual with her job and everything else. Noella was here for the day and prepared another awesome lunch for us and cleaned up the cabins. We then headed to Just one More in our shop and had a beer and a good visit with our friends Pookie & Blaine. Ian's first day in BC sledding with his buddies and I hope they have deep snow and sunshine. I have always enjoyed sledding there and maybe I will make a trip with the boys but we will see. I am just about happier to head north to our cabin and do some sledding and ice fishing up there. Hopefully plan a trip sometime in March to do that again. Watching the news a bit this AM and see the travel restrictions are ridiculous but what can you do. Lucky we have a great province to enjoy and that's exactly what Lana and I plan to do when we can. Well that is all I have for today. Take care everyone and chat again soon.
Grant
P.S - Note: Please follow our Buck Paradise Page on Facebook & Instagram. Also if you like follow my Personal Facebook page and Lana's Facebook page. Much appreciated. Grant
Feb.03/21 - Hello February. Hope everyone is doing well. Sun is shining here today. Little cool out and suppose to get colder but still pretty darn nice out as no wind. Ian and his friends are headed to BC for a few days of mountain riding. He took a newbie with him so that should be interesting and fun. Last weekend we had Brandi & her BF Taylor and GF Jessica come up and spend the weekend with us. It was Brandi's Birthday over the weekend and we were happy they came to share that with Lana & me. We ate fish and other great foods and played some games and visited. The weekend went by fast and as soon as they arrived it seemed they were leaving. I did go up to Round Lake myself late Friday afternoon. Never caught or seen any Splake. I may go back and try again as they are in there. Ian bought an older camper. It is in great shape and he basically gutted it out and is turning it into an ice fishing trailer. He built a stove and seats in there and it looks really good and I am excited to go fish with him in it. Lana is very busy with work and taking care of family and the farm. She never stops and I need to get her out of the house. Wish these borders would open for so many reasons. We are used to being on the road this time of the year. Not that we don't love it here but when you are used to being on the go it makes it hard. Anyways we are making the best of it. Cleaning, organizing, fixing, there is always something to do. With that being said that is why it would be nice to take off somewhere as when we are home all we do is work. Work is a good thing but just need a break away so we will see if we can figure something out. Come spring time we can hook up our fifth wheel and go do things but that's a few months away yet. Today I am going to