510 
NE of the enjoyable features of a well-spent summer outing is 
the pleasure of living it over again around the fireside. 
“Do you remember the night,” young Bob said, “when that bunch of thugs 
held me up as I sat at the camp waiting for you to return?” 
“They found you ready for them, didn’t they,” said the old man, “and we 
sure were proud of you as you sat coolly covering the leader of the outfit with 
my Colt and they stood there with their hands in the air not daring to move.” 
“Don’t praise me for that,” said Bob. “That was your good old Colt and the 
target practice that you had given me with it. I knew the Colt was absolutely 
reliable and I guess they did, too, and that 1 knew how to use one.” 
The old man’s revolver Bob used on this occasion is pictured here. Your 
preference may be for a Colt automatic pistol. 
We would be glad to send you illustrated literature descriptive of Colt’s 
Firearms which your dealer will 
show you. 
C^T’S 
No. 6 of a Series 
Colt Army Special 
Double Action Revolver 
Caliber .38 
Send for 
** The Romance of a Colt^ 
COLT’S PATENT FIRE ARMS MEG. CO. 
HARTFORD. CONN. 
FIREARMS 
A 
Pacific Coast Representative, Phil. B. Bekeart Co., 717 Market St., San Francisco, Calif* 
ITHACA WINS 
C. G. (Bill) Wil- 
liams, Gun and 
Ammunition Edi- 
tor of Out Door 
Life, has hunted 
from the Gulf to 
the Arctic Circle, 
from the Atlan- 
tic to the Pacif- 
ic. Bill says: 
“My old Ithaca 
has had 25 
years of hard 
use. It’s as tight 
and shoots as 
well today as it 
did 25 years ago.” 
Catalogue Free 
Double guns for 
game $37.50 up. 
Single barrel trap 
guns $75 up. 
ITHACA 
GUN CO. 
Ithaca, N, Y. 
Box 25 
Tefever 
New Lefever Nitro- 
SpECIAL only $29.00 
O. K.’ed and purchased in 
qua ntities by the U. S. 
Navy. Well finished, 
considering the 
price. Built to 
shoot right and 
stand as much 
use as the most 
expensive gun. 
Most durable 
lock ever 
put in 
gun — 
first lock 
fired 
Every 
gun proof- 
tested with an 
extreme load. 
A standardized 
gun built only 
in 20-ga. 28 in., 
16-ga. 28 in., and 
12-ga. 28 and 30 in. with 
14 in. stock and about2j^ in. 
drop. A Lefever won the world’s 
championship at the Olympic 
games in London. Lefever has 
stood for service and durability 
for over 50 yrs. Write for Catalogue 
Lefever Anns Co., Ithaca, N.Y. 
over 
77,000 
times. 
PAINTED TRUE TO LIFE 
"Gtand Ptix Mallard” 
WE RAISE WILD MALLARD DUCKS and make 
our Wood Decoys so true to life that they fool the wild ones. 
(Trade Mark) Only * 'FEATHERWOOD* ’ Used. Will not split. 
SOLID OR HOLLOW 
Only woodworking plant in the 
world owning its own Lakes— to 
raise Wild Mallards. 
J.M.UAVSWOODPRODUCTSCO. 
Dept. -40, Jefferson City, Mo.. U. S. K 
JEF PERSON CITY.MO. 
HAYS. 
ON EACH DECOY 
Forest axd Stream 
DAYS WITH A BEAVERj 
TRAPPER I 
{Contniued from page 487) 
it grow up in willow, alder and cotton- 
wood, and again will the beaver repair 
his dam, build new lodges, and occupy 
that which, in wasting for himself, he 
made useful for man. 
In good beaver country one will see 
smooth, worn, vertical paths leading 
from the stream to the top of the bank. 1 
Such paths are known as slides and are ' 
used by beaver in going to and from 
feeding grounds and to their soiling 
places ; for they have regular places upon 
which to soil. During the spring and 
summer, beaver come out about twilight, 
or a little before, and remain out during 
the night. They will cross over the dam 
to the creek below and travel up and 
down the slides. These habits were the 
trapper’s guide in setting his traps. 
One evening we put out in the canoe 
and set six traps, five of them being at 
slides and one at a dam. The latter was 
set on the pond side of the dam, at a 
place where the signs indicated beaver 
were accustomed to cross. Great skill 
is required to set a trap. Two objects 
must be accomplished : the beaver not 
only must be caught, but he must either 
be drowned or the releasing of the trap 
from the leg must be rendered impos- 
sible. If the beaver can do so, he will 
wind the trap chain around driftwood 
until he is able to break the bone in his 
leg and twist the leg off. How to set 
a trap is the measure of the trapper's 
success. I was told of an inexperienced 
trapper whose catch for one season con- 
sisted of three beaver and seventeen feet. i 
Picture in your mind a straight, 
smooth slide up the bank of a stream. 
It gives every indication of frequent use. 
Boughs overhang the bank. After not- 
ing such favorable conditions, the trap- 
per gets a piece of driftwood or cuts a 
bough two or three inches in diameter 
and eight or ten feet long. This is known 
as a clog. He ties one end of the clog 
to an overhanging limb ; to the other end 
he fastens the trap chain by a half hitch 
and drops that end into the water. The 
trap is then laid in the water at the foot 
of the slide, to a depth of about five 
inches. Stakes are driven at either side ; 
of the trap for the purpose of inducing 
the beaver to pass directly over the trap. 
Two or three willow twigs or a cotton- 
wood stick from which a beaver has par- 
tially removed the bark, are laid on the 
slide for bait ; the scent used by the trap- 
per is also set. To make this scent, my 
companion put a beaver castor into a 
bottle and covered it with alcohol or 
rum. When he sets his trap, he dips a 
small twig into this vicious substance 
and sticks it into the ground near the 
trap. A beaver swimming in the stream 
either intends to go up the slide or is 
lured to it by the bait or scent. He turns 
toward the slide, passes between the 
stakes, reaches the shallow water, steps 
on the trap and is caught. At once he 
makes for deep water or the current. 
The clog springs back and forth as he 
struggles and holds him under the water 
until "he is drowned. However, should 
7(1 writing to Advertisers mention Forest and Stream. It icill identify you. 
