Moose ‘Homework’ pays off

By Gord Follett   Never have I put as much pre-season scouting and effort into a moose hunt as I did for the 2025 season. Each holding an either-sex licence for MMA (Moose Management Area) 35 – St. John’s – Tony Vinnicombe and I began mid-July – in between salmon fishing trips – hiking to…

Downhome Letters to Santa IV

We may not be the North Pole, but we here at Downhome like to think we have a link to the big guy in the red suit. Earlier this fall, our team called on kids and kids-at-heart to submit their letters to Santa, and boy, did you deliver! Our mailbags were overflowing! This is final…

Downhome Letters to Santa III

  We may not be the North Pole, but we here at Downhome like to think we have a link to the big guy in the red suit. Earlier this fall, our team called on kids and kids-at-heart to submit their letters to Santa, and boy, did you deliver! Our mailbags were overflowing! Stay tuned…

Downhome Letters to Santa II

We may not be the North Pole, but we here at Downhome like to think we have a link to the big guy in the red suit. Earlier this fall, our team called on kids and kids-at-heart to submit their letters to Santa, and boy, did you deliver! Our mailbags were overflowing! Stay tuned in…

Why do we decorate Christmas trees with tinsel?

By Linda Browne   The stockings are hung by the chimney (or electric fireplace) with care, Nan’s in the kitchen mixing up the Christmas slush, and the dustbuster’s going full tilt as you try in vain to keep the floor clear of all that tinsel. Love it or loathe it, there’s nothing like those sparkling…

Downhome Letters to Santa I

We may not be the North Pole, but we here at Downhome like to think we have a link to the big guy in the red suit. Earlier this fall, our team called on kids and kids-at-heart to submit their letters to Santa, and boy, did you deliver! Our mailbags were overflowing! Stay tuned in…

Adventures Outdoors: The Fly Tying Natural

By Gord Follett If there’s such a thing as “a natural” in fly tying, Dennis Quigley fits the bill quite nicely.The 38-year-old lifelong resident of Fleur de Lys on Newfoundland’s northeast coast started tying flies and fishing for salmon just four years ago, but he’s gone “all in” to the point where he doesn’t hesitate…

Out-foxed on May 2-4

by Gord Follett “Remember that May 24th weekend back in the early ‘80s, Gord, when the fox ate all the fish you caught?” my old friend Terry asked. “Ahh… it’s vaguely familiar,” I replied. “Was that up around Placentia Junction?” “No b’y, Witless Bay Line,” he answered, “not far from where your Follett grandparents had…

Trap Lines: To mark or not to mark?

By Gord Follett Any time we notice fluorescent tape markers indicating rabbit snares in an area where we plan to hunt rabbits with our beagles, we move to another location. If we see or hear that hunters and dogs got to an area ahead of us, again we move on. And on the handful of…

Sheep Sack Shenanigans

A few years ago I visited two friends who were shearing their sheep. They had the sheep up on the table and asked me if I could come and help them. I said yes, what do you need me to do? They asked if I could hold the sheep sack, so I said yes. They…