b PREFACE. 



long time and under many and various cir- 

 cumstances that can be trusted to advise. 



Like many others, I at first studied the 

 works of Newhouse and other theoretical 

 sportsmen, but met with comparatively little 

 success, until, by my own experience, I had 

 acquired a thorough knowledge of a real 

 sportsman's work. I do not consider the 

 dressing of skins and dyeing of furs to be 

 any proper part of this, although some 

 writers give very elaborate instructions for 

 these processes. The hunter is nothing if 

 not a man who loves the woods and fields 

 and fresh air for their own sake, and cherishes 

 a hearty hatred for factories, dye pots and 

 tan vats. What the true sportsman needs 

 to know is the nature and habits of the 

 animals which he hunts, the best bait to at- 

 tract them, the surest traps to hold them, 

 the most efficient gun for his use, the proper 

 mode of caring for game when captured, 

 and enough about the best means of stretch- 



