Drift with me down a muddy water canal in this no-talking ASMR kayak paddle—just clean, natural sounds: paddle dips, soft ripples, water dripping off the blade… and a sudden moment when ducks take off right ahead. take 2 min to just listen or watch and listen and practice some deep breaths. Best with headphones. What you’ll hear Paddle strokes + gentle water movement Kayak glide + small splashes Natural canal ambience Ducks lifting off and flying out ahead

June is Men’s Mental Health Month (Canada) — let’s talk about it. And here is a 5 min of me trying to avoid the use of ahhhhh, eumm and just focus on the message at hand. Heck the last to Prime Ministers of Canada do it so I think I can get a pass. Here are to important tid bits of information I have for you. I’m posting this because men’s mental health still doesn’t get talked about enough… and the reality in Canada is hard to ignore. Fast facts (Canada) According to the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA): Men in Canada account for nearly 75% of suicide deaths Men die by suicide at three times the rate of women That’s not “a few people.” That’s our brothers, dads, sons, friends, coworkers, neighbours. The part people don’t always see A lot of men don’t show sadness the way people expect. It can look like: shutting down / going quiet irritability or anger working nonstop drinking more than usual pulling away from friends “I’m fine” (when they’re not) And a lot of the time, it’s not because they don’t want help — it’s because they don’t know where to put it, or they don’t want to feel like a burden. You can reach out to me If you’re struggling, or even if you’re just not feeling like yourself lately, you can message me privately. I’m ASIST trained (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training). I’m not here to judge, and I’m not here to “fix” you — I’m here to listen, take you seriously, and help you find the next step. If you don’t know what to say, start with: “Hey man, I’m not doing great.” That’s enough. A few simple things that can help (small steps matter) These aren’t magic solutions — but they’re real, practical steps that can help you get traction again. 1) Find purpose (even a small one) Purpose doesn’t have to be some huge life mission. It can be: “I’m going to be there for my kids.” “I’m going to get my health back.” “I’m going to build something I’m proud of.” “I’m going to stop doing this alone.” Sometimes purpose is just one reason to get through today.

This weekend, I’m trying something simple: slow down long enough to notice the small stuff. This morning it was a dragonfly—just hanging out on the screen like it owned the place. No rush. No agenda. Just… present. And it hit me: our kids don’t always need “more.” More activities, more gear, more plans. Sometimes they just need space to look closely and feel curious again. If you’re heading into the weekend feeling a bit cooked (or your kids are bouncing off the walls), here’s a tiny reset you can try: The “Dragonfly Minute” (60 seconds): Step outside (backyard, balcony, driveway—anywhere) Pick ONE living thing to notice (bug, bird, leaf, cloud) Ask your kid: “What do you notice first?” “What do you think it’s doing?” “What would you name it?” That’s it. No lesson. No pressure. Just connection. If you spot something cool this weekend—a dragonfly, a frog, a weird mushroom, a perfect stick—drop a photo in the comments. Let’s build a little “small wonders” thread. Have a good one out there, families. 🌲 —Patchy

Hunt camp is special because it’s one of the last places where learning, belonging, and real rest all happen at the same time. What makes hunt camp so special? Had one of those moments last weekend at camp where my heart just went: “Yep… this is what it’s all about.” In these photos you’ve got: our honorary senior member (who had marksmanship training in his youth during mandatory military service) and our youngest camp member, learning the basics of shooting And because the bugs were absolutely brutal… we made a special exception: We lined up the secure shooting lane so we could shoot from inside the camp — a mostly bug-free zone. But the real point isn’t the shooting. Hunt camp is a place for learning. A place to relax — but a different kind of relaxing. It’s the opposite of doom-scrolling / bed-rotting (which, honestly, can be needed sometimes). Out here, the relaxation comes from accomplishing something: learning a new skill, fine-tuning a project, getting one more thing dialed in. And that sense of accomplishment? It leads to the kind of sleep that hits different. We’re fully off-grid, and the work never ends — but we’ve got a philosophy: Every time we go to camp, we leave it upgraded somehow. We sit together, talk about what we want to improve, sketch a loose plan… and someone volunteers to take it on. Solar power upgrades. Rainwater catching. Surface well drilling + pump. Wood shed builds. Food plot seeding. Tree stand setups. Shooting lane cleanup. Waterfront landscaping. It’s never-ending… and somehow that’s what makes it so rewarding. Watching the oldest and the youngest learning side-by-side like this filled my heart. I wish I could share this with every kid and teenager I come across.

Turkey season’s officially done for me — and I’m walking out of it with no harvest. But honestly…It was still a successful season and here’s why. 1) “No harvest” doesn’t mean “no progress” Spring turkey hunting has a funny way of teaching you that the win isn’t always what you carry out — sometimes it’s what you learn, what you notice, and what you bank for later. Frustrating at times, as the least intelligent animal I hunt gets the best of me hunting wise. Their instinctive survival awareness is simple something to admire. On the bright side, this season, I put in the time, got the reps, and sharpened the kind of awareness that pays off long-term and got reminded why I love being in the bush so much. 2) The real surprise: deer sign I can use this fall 🦌 While I was out chasing turkeys, I stumbled onto something that immediately flipped a switch in my brain for fall: Deer rubs on a tree, in fact a whole trail worth of der rubs. That’s not just “cool to see” — that’s information. That rub tells a story: A buck was here He was active in that area He was leaving sign that can help me map movement and patterns Deer rubs are when a buck marks his territory using his handlers and visually marks trees and leaves scent from his orbital glands around. So even though turkey season didn’t end with a bird, it absolutely gave me intel for deer season — and I’ll be coming back to that spot with a different plan when the time’s right. 3) First season using a slate call… and I loved it 🎶 This was also my first season running a slate call, and I’ve gotta say… I really enjoyed it. There’s something about it that feels more hands-on and “in the moment” — like you’re actually part of the woods instead of just passing through it. Even without sealing the deal, I learned a ton just from practicing: cadence tone when to call vs when to shut up how the woods “responds” (or doesn’t) That’s experience I didn’t have before this spring. 4) Biggest win of all: turkey season got me out in the bush.