Big Bear Outfitters – Nova Scotia, bigbearoutfitters.co
A Squirrell and a Nutjob
Hello again, back to another story from the Squirrell’s nest. This is one that will forever be etched in our minds. Everyone has a dream to fly into a remote spot to fish or hunt. We all want to get to that one honey hole, where the waters are untouched or the land has not had the pressure from fishermen and hunters.
My bud, Rosebud and I talked about getting a fly-in charter with a local pilot. To bring the cost down, we talked to a couple other friends, Ray and Paul G. We had heard about this pilot, Paul B. out of Rice Lake, and how he had flew some locals to a great lake for pickerel, about three hours away from Kawartha Lakes. We all know that money does not grow on trees, even for a Squirrell and his friends. Rosebud and I worked many hours at the local juice company. We all saved our hard-earned dollars, and finally, the time had come to book this trip. We were pumped.
We were very excited in the days leading up to this adventure. As fly-in trips are not cheap, we expected great results. The pilot assured us of stringers full of pickerel in this remote virgin lake; it was only accessible by plane. We could hardly sleep the night before the big day. So, as per usual, we were up before the alarm clock went off. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we headed to this paradise.
The weather was great for the flight, and as we landed, we could not believe the size of this lake. It was calm and perfect. Like the calm before a storm. Our pilot said he would pick us up in six hours, and off he went. Little did we know, this trip was about to catch us something wilder than we ever could have anticipated.
We were about twenty minutes into our adventure, getting some really nice hits but no big catches, when we looked up and saw this old fellow paddling his canoe right toward us. Odd, considering this was such a remote location.
As he approached our boat we greeted him with a friendly “hello.” However, he was not friendly at all. Out came a double-barrel shotgun, and he said, “This is my lake, and you do not have permission to fish here!”
We told him we had paid good money to come in on the trip. He told us to get our poles out of his lake.
For the remaining 5 hours we were held at gunpoint. When our guide landed and saw us held at the end of a shotgun, he called the local OPP (Ontario Provincial Police). When they arrived the old man was immediately arrested. We then tried to explain to him that he may own the land around the water, but no one, other than the crown, owns the water.
I never did hear what the outcome was in court, but the OPP explained to us that he was not all there and that this was a very unfortunate incident. Honestly, at the time we were held hostage, we couldn’t tell if he was just threatening, or would have actually pulled the trigger on us. A Squirrell and friends held at gunpoint by a nutjob.
Now, the thing that bothered the four of us most was that we were not reimbursed one cent or offered a make-up trip for what we had been put through. Not nice of that pilot.
This was one fishing trip that, to this day, I remember as a living nightmare. I can still see that old double-barrel shotgun pointed right at us. And no, we did not want to see if it still worked.
With that said, be careful when booking your flight to any remote location, ask a lot of questions. Also, stay away from old men with guns who think they own the lake. That was a very long day!
Another hunting tale from the Squirrell’s Nest at Big Bear Outfitters – Nova Scotia from Brian “Bear” Squirrell your hunting and fishing guide for Nova Scotia.
