A HUNTER'S METHOD OF TOTING DEER 



321 



ized on all occasions if a horse is at all 

 procurable. 



There are other ways of bringing 

 deer into camp, such as by canoe, boat 

 or bateau, or wagon, but as they call for 

 no special devices in the saving of labor 

 I need not touch on them nor on the 

 well-known methods of loading them. 



I feel, however, that if I give a de- 

 scription of the popular ''go devil." 

 "road boat," or "jumper" — these being 

 some of the names of the rig that docs 

 most of the "toting" in the north woods, 

 and which we used in and out of camp 

 — that the same may prove of service to 

 the occasional hunter. 



An axe and an augur represent the 

 necessary tools required to build one, 

 though if a few additional ones be used 

 to assist in the work, the easier and 

 more finished will be the product. 



It is built entirely of wood — not a 

 screw, nail or bit of iron being needed 

 to make a complete "go devil" ready for 

 the use of woodsman or hunter. 



The experienced builder first fells a 

 couple of trees, preferably of hard- 

 wood ; out of them he gets two lengths 

 suitable for his needs, tapering the ends 

 so that they will mount or slide over 

 stones, logs or frozen lumps of earth. 

 Cross pieces or bolsters are laid across 

 these and fastened down to the sides 

 with wooden pegs, and the floor is se- 

 cured in the same manner to the bol- 



sters. The latter are flattened on the 

 top with the axe, and the floor on both 

 sides in a similar way. The pole is a 

 tough piece of ironwood morticed into 

 a stout chunk of the same kind of tree 

 This is tapered of! towards the ends. 

 and the latter are inserted into holes 

 bored in the front part of the runners. 



Such is a brief description of their 

 construction, and there are thousands of 

 them in use that have not a bit of iron 

 about them, and which were put 

 together with simply an axe and an 

 augur. 



Under the hardest usage they will last 

 several years, will go anywhere, earn 

 all that can be put on them, and pub 

 with as little exertion as anything else 

 that has been brought into use under 

 similar conditions. The deer hunter will 

 find them invaluable in getting from the 

 "front," be it railroad or steamboat, to 

 his camp, and again in returning with 

 the trophies of his skill. 



Should circumstances render it neces- 

 sary for the hunter to build one, he can 

 do so in a few hours' time, providing he 

 has an average amount of skill and can 

 get the proper kind of wood. It will be 

 indeed a poor section that cannot fur- 

 nish the latter, and the knowledge of 

 how to go about it may save days of 

 time which would otherwise be lost 

 were he compelled to wait a more civ- 

 ilized conveyance to carry his outfit. 



