CHAPTER IV. 

 Some Early Experiences. 



IN 1871 or 1872 I had several bear traps made by our local 

 blacksmith and I started in as a bear trapper and went it 

 alone. After being out with Mr. Harris I had taken some 

 valuable lessons on trapping bear and other animals. I built 

 a good log camp on the West Branch of Pine Creek and went to 

 trapping and hunting without either partner or companion, but 

 after being in camp the first season I bought a shepherd dog that 

 was a year old and broke him for still hunting and trapping. I 

 found that a good intelligent dog was not only a companion but 

 also a valuable one. I have noticed that some trappers do not 

 want a dog on the trap line with them, claiming that the dog is a 

 nuisance. This is because the dog was not properly trained. 



To get back to the bear trapping: In the locality where I 

 was trapping, bear were not very plentiful except in season, when 

 there was a crop of beechnuts, although there was but little other 

 shack, such as chestnuts and acorns. However, some seasons there 

 would be an abundance of black cherries which the bears are very 

 fond of. I set three traps at the head of a broad basin where 

 there were three or four springs and the next day I set the bal- 

 ance of my bear traps; then I built a few deadfalls for coons and 

 set a few steel traps for fox. 



As I had seen several fresh bear tracks crossing the stream, 

 where I had been setting the coon traps, on the morning of the 

 third day after I had set the first three bear traps, I thought that 

 I would go and look after them. They were about a mile and a 

 half from camp and when I came in sight of the first trap I saw 

 that I had a bear. You may be sure that I again felt like a mighty 

 hunter. I was more pleased over this one bear than I was over 

 the eight bear we had caught when I was with Mr. Harris, be- 

 cause now I was the trapper and not Mr. Harris. The bear was 



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