Deerhill Farm

At the end of March, we took a drive up to Fairview to see what we could see of our purchase. The snow was still too deep to walk in but we were able to follow an old snowmobile track up the right-of-way alongside the west side of our quarters. We did manage to make it the mile up to the creek that borders the north quarter but that was it. By the time we got there we were done. Even Jazz, our 1 1/2 year old Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, had had enough and was eager to make her way back to the car.

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On April 23, 2008, we received title and the deal was done. We took possession of the 320 acres we soon began to think of as the Deerhill Farm. There was about 50 acres that had been cleared and cultivated at some point but the land hadn't been hayed or worked in years. The previous owner had also run a small sawmill in the southwest corner some 15 years earlier but it had been abandoned. All he had been using the land for in recent years was grazing about 20 head of cattle. For buildings, all that was left was an old derelict outhouse on an old cabin site at the far northeast corner.

Deciding we needed accommodations whenever we visited the property our next move was to find and buy a trailer to park up there permanently. In mid-April we purchased a 1995 Nomad Skyline 3230 Travel Trailer in Edmonton. As I didn't have anything that would safely haul the heavy brute that far, I borrowed my brother's old Ford diesel pickup for the job. On April 28th, my BIL LeVerne and I hooked on and made our way north. When we arrived at the farm, we walked in to see what I'd bought. We made it all the way to the far north boundary and the old cabin site. We decided that was where the trailer should be parked but there was still too much snow and the ground was too soft to get it in. So, back to the road and into Fairview where we found a storage yard to store the trailer in. That done, we checked in to a motel, crashed for the night and back to Edmonton the next morning.

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This is Brandon's cabin 1/3rd of a mile east as the crow flies on the next quarter. He's my closest neighbour, lives on an acreage on the way to Fairview but uses this as a getaway for him, his bride and new baby.

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Although we took a couple of day trips north between April and July, it wasn't til the second week in July we were able to get away for a week. The only access within the property was along the pasture on a cow trail following the east boundary fence line. With the trailer in tow, we bounced off across the pasture and navigated the one mile to a location above the creek in the far northeast corner of the quarters. This where we set up. The spot was on a slight rise looking back south across a half mile of pasture. The fence line to the next property was 50 yards to the east and the treed creek gully was right behind us to the north. 100 yards to the west was a cutline through the bush that gave us access to a small pasture in the far northwest corner. Perfect! One mile from the county road and we even had a view.

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Jazz, our Toller, really took to country life. No fences, no leashes and no restrictions. She was living the dream.

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The only project we tackled that first summer was building a raised platform to pitch our wall tent on. Our intention was to set up the 12' x 14' canvas tent and use it as our hunting camp. We were still hauling our trailer in and out across the bumpy humpy pasture every time we came up for a stay and didn't want to continue that in to October and November. The wall tent even was also quite handy through the summer as we used it as a guest house several times when we had guests stay over.

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Even though the area was rich in game, we never connected that fall. Had a couple of really great hunting trips with Harold and Craig, my long-time hunting buddies. We did take on one project in mid-October. Harold and I were in for a week of hunting and action was slow. We had permission to hunt the two quarters to the north of us that also gave us access to crown land to the north and west north. However, the creek behind us was impassable and it was a five mile trip around by road and cutline to access the quarters. So, we decided to build a bridge. Chainsaws in hand we downed a couple of 40' spruce trees to span the creek. Where we were planning on putting the bridge, there was an old hay wagon frame the previous owner had pushed into the creek with the intention of using it as a base for a span. Long story short; it didn't work. It was a bit of a challenge getting our logs placed and anchored, but once they were in place it was deck time. For deck boards, we commenced a salvage operation at the abandoned sawmill site. We managed to salvage enough scrap rough planks to span the creek. Once completed, our hunting forays were a lot more convenient and pleasurable.