To read the birch bark letter click on the image

Now you can purchase my books in a variety of e-book formats from Kobo Books. To purchase the e-book Poachers, Beans & Birchbark e-book from Kobo Books here is the link.

For those of you who read Poachers Cranberries & Snowshoes, my first book, you will recognize this introduction. Little has changed and the stories are as interesting and varied as before.

My career commenced on December 16, 1963 , at the Strathmore Fish and Wildlife office. For me, the prospect of any new job had always been exciting; this one proved to be a real dandy! I was one of the lucky 400 applicants for only 10 vacant positions. May of 1964 saw my wife and I move north to Barrhead, the move occurring between stints of in-service training at the Forestry Training School in Hinton. The stay in Barrhead lasted until 1966 when I was transferred to High Level.

North we went, my wife, one infant daughter, and myself. High Level was home until 1970, then off to High Prairie for five years, this time with a second infant daughter in tow. By the time we were transferred to Edmonton for a further five years, our now not-so-infant daughters were not so sure about all this moving stuff. In 1980 we saw one further transfer to Rocky Mountain House. This one would see me through till buyout and retirement in 1995.

Just click on the links below to read the stories.

 TABLE OF CONTENTS for POACHERS, BEANS & BIRCH BARK

1. Birch Bark
2. Ice with Personality
3. Human Anchor
4. Whose Side Would You Be On?
5. You Pull Your Way I'll Pull Mine
6. Appreciate the Little Things in Life
7. Friendly Glow
8. Running Reputation
9. Fork Those Fish!
10. Beaver Is Where You Find It
11. The Sting
12. Preshrunk Trailer
13. Keep those guns unloaded
14. Ticklish Fish
15. Hide the Lynx
16. Fish Trap
17. Unexpected Journey
18. One Happy Trapper
19. It Never Pays To Know It all
20. Mud Hole
21. Paranoia
22. Trapping- an honorable Profession
23. Lynx In Your Bed
24. Patience Has Its Rewards
25. Watch Those Fines!
26. Bistcho Lake

My time in Strathmore was interesting enough particularly in terms of meeting many of the people who were actually doing the job I aspired to. All of them bar none had the most fascinating stories to tell and I began to wonder if I would ever become involved in such incredible situations myself. It was all a far cry from writing my first ticket for unattended traplines, I was more than just a little nervous. Although it was not very exciting but it was a milestone, and a prelude to a great adventure.

The stories in the book are not in chronological order. Rather they are a collection of memories that I put on paper for my grandchildren, family and anybody else who might enjoy them. They recount actual events without any glamour and glitz. Fancy that now I have stories to tell. So I hope you enjoy the book.

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