Fifty Years a Hunter and Trapper: Autobiography, experiences and observations of Eldred Nathaniel Woodcock during his fifty years of hunting and trapping.Woodcock, E. N. (Eldred Nathaniel)
General
Fifty Years a Hunter and Trapper: Autobiography, experiences and observations of Eldred Nathaniel Woodcock during his fifty years of hunting and trapping.
Woodcock, E. N. (Eldred Nathaniel)
Hunting; Trapping
The trail here turned north. This took us into a section more thickly
settled and hunters more numerous. The greater part of the time there
was from one to two men on the trail ahead of us and all that was
left for us to do was to follow on as fast as we could. The second
night we were on the head of Salt Run and we followed the trail till
dark. We now had the bear trail to follow instead of the men as all
the men had left to go to their camps or homes. Bill said that we
would sleep "dash-dang" close to the trail after this, so we soon
found a large log to build a fire against. First we would build the
fire out a few feet from the log after scraping the snow away. Then
we would throw a few hemlock boughs over a pole laid in crotches and
then move the fire down against the log, throw a few boughs on the
ground where the fire had been moved from and the camp was complete
in a very few minutes.
We now began to fear that some one would get in ahead of us and kill
the bear and we would lose bear, trap and all. Bill said that we
would follow so "dash-darn" close that we would be up in time to
attend the funeral. We were so close up that we were no longer
bothered only a little while at a time as we would soon overtook any
one who hit the trail ahead of us and followed it.
The bear again turned east which took us across the road which runs
from Coudersport to Emporium in Cameron County. We were now back in
Potter County and only 15 miles from home. Bruin here turned south
and true to his nature, led us through all the windfalls and laurel
patches to be found and occasionally would break down a few laurel
and act as though he intended to camp for a time but apparently would
change his mind and go on again.
We were now on the waters of the Conley and night was fast coming on.
The trail led across a little bog and we were looking for water and a
suitable place to camp, when Bill called my attention to a man
standing on the trail watching us. When we came to him it proved to
be a neighbor of ours. Mr. Ephraim Reed, who was hunting in there and
said that his camp was only a little way down the hollow and asked us
to go down and stay over night. We were glad to do so. Mr. Reed said
that there were a good many hunters in that locality so we were up
and on the trail before it was fairly light.
We were in a section where there was a great deal of laurel and Bruin
continued to make camps but as often would change his mind and move
on and Bill thought he had concluded to go to the can brake in
Virginia. Often when he would go into a wind jam or laurel thicket,
we would separate, one taking a circuit on one side of the thicket,
the other on the other side, meeting on the opposite side from where
the trail had entered but we would always find that Bruin was still
on the go. We were in a locality where there were apparently a good
many deer and we saw signs of marten quite often.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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