man's covering should he warmest at his feet and 
diminish as it mounts upwards. 
Again referring to the lumber-jack we find him 
wearing rubbers as the only thing which will 
keep his feet dry in the melting snow of fall and 
springs. Not the feather-weight slip-on of the 
city but sturdy structures of gum and canvas as 
thick and staunch as sole leather. To these are 
sewn tops of light, oiled leather, with bellows 
tongues to keep out the snow and of a standard 
height of ten inches. Higher tops than these are 
made, but are mostly affected by “sports” from 
the cities. 
With these “lumbermen’s rubbers" the sweat 
problem again comes forward. It is met with 
three pair of heavy wool sox—changed daily. In 
practice it will be fflund that the perspiration of 
the feet will condense against the cold surface of 
the rubbers, wetting only the outer pair of sox. 
It is not unusual to find the outermost sox frozen 
stiff though the foot is dry and warm at the 
center of the bundle. Change to dry sox before 
turning in for the night and have those you take 
off by the fire. 
Not only do these “rubbers” insure dry 'feet, 
which means warm feet, but they are also the 
ideal shoes for still hunting. 
Those . shoes of silence, buckskin moccasins, 
may be more romantic. But their true time does 
not come during the hunting season, leastways 
not here in Minnesota. There are few days when 
the snow does not melt, at least at noon. The 
new-formed ice of lakes and rivers is generally 
covered with slush and the swamps are never 
securely frozen over. In six seasons I have hard¬ 
ly found more than three days when moccasins 
could be worn with comfort, and then only on 
the higher lands. 
As to the water-proof leather boot of com¬ 
merce. Aside from the fact that it won’t keep 
out the water of melting snow and that the 
grease with which it is impregnated is prone to 
freeze, binding it into distorted shapes which 
cause either blisters or chilblains, it is all right. 
Personally, I own a preference to mackinaw 
pants, worn over woolen drawers, and tucked 
into the tops of a pair of heavy, knee-high sox. 
I have yet to strike November weather when a 
pair of woolen “golf-gloves” did not afford ample 
protection for my hands. These wear out so 
rapidly “bucking brush”, that a reserve pair, or at 
least a darning outfit, is desirable if the hunt is 
years spent chiefly in the woods, I am hut begin¬ 
ning on my second mackinaw overshirt, and the 
to be of more than one week’s duration. Wliat- 
ever the head-gear is, be sure that it has a brim 
or visor ample to shade the eyes, for one may be 
sure that lie’ll have to look and, possibly, shoot 
pretty close to the sun. For this, and to ease the 
-tram from the snow-glare, amber glasses are 
Wearing the Mackinaw Over-shirt in the Dead 
of Winter. 
(Note: Lest anyone should guess, from his 
arms and accoutrement that my friend ' here 
pictured is a tenderfoot J’ll explain that the 
photograph was taken while lie was running a 
trap line which involved cutting across several 
bays of a large lake where he frequently got 
long range chances at wolves oil the open ice • 
hence the excess baggage of a rifle. The ax ami 
haversack hardly need be extenuated to a man 
who knows what trapping is. The pistol in this 
chaps competent hapd served to kill the diverse 
small birds and animals required to bait new 
traps and re-bait old ones.—The Author.) 
advantageous. Personally I cherish a little black 
felt hat, in the stage of disreputability, as my 
hunting top-piece. 
Garments such as I have described will last 
the occassional hunter indefinitely. After four 
first, the sleeves worn out against the brush, 
boasted sufficient sound material in the body to 
make a winter coat for the baby. 
With these clothes, and as little else as possible, 
a man is rigged to travel hard and far. His rifle 
he must have, of course. A box of twenty shells 
in one hip pocket is more ammunition than he'll 
really need, and far better than forty or fifty 
shells gathering verdigris in the loops of a leather 
belt. Knife, compass and matches in a water¬ 
proof box and a handkerchief nearly complete 
the list. Milk chocolate sufficient to stay the 
noon-day hunger of a normal man is a trifle to 
carry. A cocoa tin with a hay-wire bale in which 
to boil a bit of tea—it fits the hip pocket—is the 
height of luxury. 
It is doubtful if a man could possibly so dis¬ 
guise himself as to be mistaken for a deer by a 
deer. But it is a cinch that the man who invades 
the thickly timbered country in the hunting sea¬ 
son wearing gray, tan or olive drab garments 
ought to be court-martialed and shot at sunrise 
ot the opening day as a public nuisance. One 
such at large in any district is enough to keep 
every other hunter on the verge of nervous pros¬ 
tration. He’s all right so long as he keeps mov¬ 
ing, but when he sits down or stands still a 
hand’s breadth of his coat seen through a tangle 
of branches is good for a half hour of wasted 
watchful waiting on the part of the prudent man 
who don’t dare fire on a deer until it proves its 
identity by motion. 
Happilj the red-cap habit is becoming almost 
universal. Bright red garments are affected by 
the majority. Scare the deer? shucks, no! Red 
is not an abnormal color in the winter woods. 
Man’s scent, sound and manner of locomotion 
are what identify him to the deer—and Mr. 
White Tail would spot these quickly were the 
hunter dressed in deer-hide with the hair on. 
bor those who hesitate to dress up to resemble 
a forest fire, the commercial mackinaws offer 
many shades which are far from the taboo “deer 
colors.” Dark red, green and blue checked with 
black and solid black and blue are “safe” enough. 
T he man who’d mistake any of these for a deer’s 
hide would fire as readily upon a scarlet coat and 
ouote some poetry about “the good, red deer” in 
justification. 
In this, as in all else, the man who will use a 
little wise moderation and pay due heed to the 
customs of those who regularly live and work in 
the country in which he is to hunt, is the man 
who will find himself warmly, lightly and safely 
clad, to the end that he will get the full pleasure 
out of his outing. 
It is Comfortable Although it Does Not Look so 
