New Year-consider keeping a journal

[JMatthews]

Many of you will be making (& breaking) resolutions for the new year. I encourage all of you to keep a journal for your hunting and fishing trips, life at your cottage or a simple daily journal to record what has happened. Once our cottage was built over 27 years ago, I started keeping a daily journal every time we were up at the cottage. The journal will have weather information, information about unusual sightings and also information regarding fishing and hunting activities. Every once and a while I also complete a bird count and record what birds were seen.

Over the years we have also made improvements to our property that include planting of trees, clearing of paths, food plots, trail camera sightings near mineral licks, etc. I also recorded information about my children and other family members.

In July 2012, my wife and I retired up to our "cottage" and this habit is now part of my daily routine. I start with morning temperatures, winds, rain, etc and at the end of the day I sit down to reflect on what happened that day. Some days very little is written down and other days there will be several paragraphs. Along with this, I also keep track of what has happened by taking lots of pictures.

While I am away on a hunting or fishing trip, I also record weather, # fish caught/animals seen and shot and other information regarding the trips. It's nice to go back to these journals to reflect on what happened years ago and what changes have occurred over time.

A little while ago, I transcribed a few years of this information and shared it with my grown up kids. They just loved seeing what we all did over the years. This winter one of my projects will be to finish this for the rest of my journals. I'm doing this as much for myself as them and really enjoy reading what has happened over the years.

All the best to everyone in 2016 and I hope some of you decide to keep a journal for yourselves and others.

[DJG]

Been doing it since 1975. Love going over years ago.The G/kids love it too!!

[Downwind]

We do it for our family cottage, and its fun to read the old entries from my grandfather 60 years ago, the walleye fishing and grouse hunting seemed to be a lot better back then! I also do it now each time i go hunting and i think it has made me a better hunter.

[muskokaguy]

I've been doing it for decades too. Insects, moon phases, weather, flora, birds, snow, you name it. If it happened or we encountered it, it's in there. A guest book is also fun to look back on.