The 'Great' McCreight turns 25

   

Show Icon, Norm McCreight

Celebrates 25 years with the All-Canada Show

              One of the most recognized icons of the All-Canada Show is Norm "The Great" McCreight.  For 25 consecutive years, McCreight has presented seminars on the show’s main stage.

              The 26th annual All-Canada Show, visiting the Twin-Cities, Friday-Sunday, Jan. 2-4 at the Minneapolis Convention Center, provides you an opportunity to meet this hunting and fishing guide.

"The Great McCreight" is an authentic Canadian outdoorsman and show guests just can't get enough," said Jennifer Young, All-Canada Show president. "He has an ability to communicate the incredible possibilities of the Canadian wilderness in a very entertaining manner.”

McCreight will be giving two seminars daily at the All-Canada Show. "The Art of Moose Hunting" will provide insights in moose habitat, calling and hunting.  "Big Pike Tactics" will provide valuable tips on how to find and catch Trophy Northern Pike. For seminar times, show details, dates and locations visit AllCanadaShow.com.

Although McCreight does more than his share of fishing Canadian waters, his main passion is hunting.  More specifically, he loves to guide moose hunts.

At the age of 26, he started big game hunting. "It was like someone opened a huge door and a whole new world opened to me."

He started moose guiding in 1985 and a few years back, a hunter from Milwaukee shot McCreight's 50th guided moose.  "I don't remember who shot my 10th or 20th but number 30 was Ken Gangler (currently a Manitoba lodge operator and hunting outfitter) and number 40 was Bernie Frelick from Wisconsin."

Born in Montreal, Quebec (McCreight is quick to point out it is pronounced "Kebec), he is approaching his 50th birthday this year.

"My dad was a canoeist and he was quite good at it.  In fact, he won many gold medals representing Canada with the Grand Trunk Boating and Canoe Club of Montreal."

McCreight didn't get into the outdoors as a youngster because his mother was ill for years and it required his father's complete attention.

In 1965 his family moved to Winnipeg and it didn't take McCreight long to meet "my best friend, Dave Robertson."  Robertson loved the outdoors and the two fished, camped, "and if it was outdoors, we did it."

When the two turned 16, they began to explore the outdoors in Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario.  Robertson went on to become an executive in the airline business.

“We did everything together in those early years and most of our adventures ended with the police chasing us! I soon learned that fishing and hunting provided an awesome time and they didn’t have to end with a flashlight in our face.”

At the age of 28, he quit his chosen field and started hunting and fishing full time. I always say to my three boys, “whenever I go into the bush I learn something new. And, it is true."

McCreight has bagged numerous trophies.  One year he accomplished what he called the "hat trick." He shot the biggest moose and caught the biggest pike and lake trout in Manitoba.

"One time I had the Manitoba record for rainbow trout for about two hours.  The guy beside me caught a bigger one the same day.  It made it to my rec room wall, but not the (Manitoba) record book.”

McCreight has fished throughout North America, from the Arctic to Texas and from the Atlantic to the Pacific.  Most of his fishing centers on Northwestern Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories.

Brush with death

When your office is the Canadian wilderness…the line between life and death can be thin. But in all Norm’s years in “the bush” only once did he find himself in a life-or-death situation.

Picture yourself clutching to a seat cushion life preserver, bobbing up and down in the middle of a cold northern Saskatchewan lake in late September all dressed up in hunting gear with your boat long gone and as far as you know, not a person within 100 miles.

              Not a pretty picture. 

              “I was convinced I was about to die,” is how Canadian guide Norm McCreight describes his predicament on the night of Sept. 10, 1998.

              McCreight was returning to camp from a day of scouting for moose on Scott Lake which is about a 40 mile diameter circular-shaped lake located in both Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories when disaster struck.

              It was raining and McCreight decided to pull the boat’s drain plug.  His cold, wet hand slipped off the tiller of his 55 hp outboard and “the boat went one way and I went the other.”                                

Hitting the freezing water was a jolt to his system, but not as big a surprise as what he saw when he emerged for his first breath of air. The bow of the boat was about to hit him straight in the chest.  It knocked him backwards and changed the direction of the boat.  Now it was the motor’s turn to go after him.

              “In those couple seconds all I could do was guard my body with my hands and push at it as hard as I could.  I pushed it so hard that the motor tilted up and the boat just kept going.”

              McCreight was treading water and decided to take a couple of minutes to get his bearings.  At this point he didn’t know his life preserver was in the water.  He took off his boots and decided to tie the laces together and hang them from his neck as he would attempt the 250 yard swim to shore and wanted to have boots to wear when he got there.

              “I kind of decided not to swim to shore and live for an hour and die of hypothermia but rather stay in the water and get it over with fast.”

              “I thought I was toast, but someone was looking after me that day.  I wasn’t clinging to the boat cushion for more than five minutes when I heard the distant hum of an outboard.  Is this real or am I dreaming?”

              “Another guide by the name of Ed (I can’t remember his last name) was on the other end of the lake and was also on his way home to camp.  At first he thought he saw a bear and came in for a closer look. It was me.”

              “Are you okay?” Ed shouted. “I answered yes and then he took off.  I started screaming at him.  Ed had noticed my boat not too far off slowly going around in circles and went to retrieve it.”

              The next big hurdle was getting a 250 pound guy with waterlogged hunting clothes into the boat.  “No easy task, but I finally made it. My next challenge was trying to navigate the boat back to camp before passing out.”

              “I was shaking so bad from the cold, I begged Ed to stop and build a fire.  But he said the camp was just three miles and thought we had a better chance doing it that way.  I managed to steer my boat behind his and just as my legs started cramping, I saw the light of our camp and just pointed that Lund toward the light.”

              “When we arrived, I got out of the boat and gave Ed a big hug and said, ‘you saved my life.’ I took a hot shower and then enjoyed some of the best cognac of my life.”

              To hear more of Norm’s adventures of the Canadian wilderness visit the All-Canada Show coming near you.

In addition to his presentations at the All-Canada Show, McCreight writes a weekly column on AllCanada.com.