By Remi Tremblay, Creativa Village / Kanata Photo Safaris

Canada is a hunting country. Individuals from around the world travel to this vast northern wilderness to experience the excitement of hunting. But, more and more people, including me, are uncomfortable with a sport that kills innocent wildlife, especially for the joy of trophy-making.

Nevertheless, despite this growing discomfort, we are all hunters deep within our genetic makeup. For hundreds of thousands of years, the human specie hunted for survival needs and spiritual aspirations. Eating its catch was not only to feed its body, but also to feel the primordial excitement of the wild, connect with life’s spirit and celebrate nature's gifts.

Amazingly, photographing wildlife also reactivates this ancestral genetic urge deep within us even if we do not kill for food. Photo-hunting plunges us into a visceral exhilaration found nowhere else in our technological civilization.

Even as a nature lover, I do recognize that there is a primal thrill in tracking wild animals. Our senses heighten to astonishing levels. We hear every sound, smell every scent, and see every movement. Our body embraces the natural world at an intensity rarely experienced by most modern humans. A meaningful resonance is produced deeply within our psyche, making us feel at home in the wild.

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By Darren Susin, Trail Canada

The joy of photography is that you can never stop learning. There are so many techniques, hints, and tips that one could live to be 100 and still not know all there is to know. Perhaps this is what makes it such an enriching hobby for many of us. The outdoors is a perfect place to hone these skills and really learn a lot about photography and your camera. Our list is by no means everything you need to know about taking great photos outside. However, perhaps it will help you next time you hit the trails or go for that canoe trip you’ve been planning.

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Introduction by Brenda-Lee Olsen

Kierstin is a 12 year old homeschool student from British Columbia. She enjoys writing and is challenged by putting thoughts into words. When she received the assignment to write a tall tale in the style of those told around the camp fires of the Old West, she came up with this version of how Big Joe spent a season or two with the elusive Spirit Bear of Northern BC. Note, in the early days of western canada, Alberta and Saskachewan were considered a part of the Northwest Territories.

Spittin' Ain't Fittin' (Kodie Kermode Meets Mufferaw Joe)
by Kierstin A. Olson

One summer, when Big Joe had had just about enough of Paul Bunyan and his Big Blue Ox, a kindly voyageur suggested Big Joe take a trip out west to the Skeena River. Big Joe had never heard of the Skeena before, but he figured that any place far from Paul and Blue would be a good place to be. Besides, that voyageur had regalled Big Joe with tall tales of the mighty Douglas Fir, and Big Joe was just sure that the Skeena would be a gold mine for a lumberman like him. So he packed his trusty ole ax, filled his knapsack with some provisions like flour, coffee, maple sugar and beans, climbed on his frog, and headed out to cross Ontario, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories to New Caledonia.

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That's all for now!

See you on the trail,

James Shearer
Trail Canada Editor

Canada's most popular independent travel guide
www.trailcanada.com

Part of the Trail Canada Travel Network
www.trailcanada.net