Modern Trapping Methods 
Specialized Fur Harvesting—Information for the Trapper of 
Mountain, Stream and Marshland 
OUNTAIN trapping is without 
M doubt the hardest of hard trap- 
ping and should never be in- 
dulged in by any but physically fit men. 
The roughness of the country is re- 
sponsible for this of course and in ad- 
dition most mountain regions are sub- 
ject to excessive amounts of snowfall. 
The hazards of the ordinary wilderness 
trapline are multiplied ten-fold in the 
regions bordering the Rocky and Cas- 
cade Mountains of this western country. 
When you get up to an elevation where 
it is impossible to boil beans, then you 
are tasting the real dyed-in-the-wool 
“sweets” of the professional trapper’s 
career. But in defense of mountain 
trapping we cannot but remark that no 
other form of the game has such a 
deadly fascination for one who is really 
a lover of the wilds. 
Who can depict the sensation that 
overwhelms one, when, after days of 
indescribably hard work, a strange new 
country is sighted, dotted with great 
towering snow-crowned giants — the 
ragged ranges of the Rockies! The lure 
of exploring unknown lands compels 
one to go yet onward, to 
climb to yet another height, 
with still a far, seemingly 
unattainable horizon 
stretching ever before. 
The mountains present 
such a barrier to most men 
it may be safe in predicting 
that many years will yet 
elapse before this final re- 
treat of wildlife is dese- 
crated by wholesale  kill- 
ing. I recall the reading of 
an article some time ago in 
which a certain writer sets forth the 
opinion that inside of fifteen years 
ninety per cent. of the furs produced 
in North America would be farm- 
raised; in other words the wild animals 
would be practically exterminated. 
1f HAT man does not know the west 
and the north as some of we fel- 
lows out here. Certain it is, that wild 
life of many districts is decreasing in 
numbers rapidly, but we _ personally 
know of many thousands of square 
miles of wilderness where these same 

By RAYMOND THOMPSON 
lefivae Jit 
forms of wild folk are holding their 
own in a remarkable degree. The dif- 
ference between countries being actu- 
ally trapped out and the animals dis- 
appearing from these same regions 
through natural causes, will later be 
discussed. And, don’t get all excited 
over the statement of knowing districts 
where the furry denizens still thrive— 
these places are pretty well trapped by 
men who don’t do anything else. Of 
course there is room for more trappers, 
but just where and when is a matter 
depending entirely on local conditions. 
OR the reasons cited, these western 
mountains undoubtedly are inhabited 
by more fur-bearing animals. per 
square mile (or angular mile) than 
any other territory in North America. 
But don’t tackle the game without pre- 
vious experience in the less strenuous 
branches—at least have your eye-teeth 
cut by less-painful methods. Of course, 
if you can foot the bill, a genuine west- 
erner or northerner will be glad to take 
you as a pard and this is the cheapest 
way in the long run. 
Now it must be under- 
stood that by the term 
“mountain trapping,” as 
applied out west and in the 
north, we refer to opera- 
tions carried on above the 
three thousand foot level 
and from that height on up 
to the timberline. Now, 
three thousand feet isn’t so 
tall as compared to Mount 
Everest, which is close to 
ten times higher, but to a 
man who has been used to 
rambling around the plains in a flivver 
it is quite some tall. 
H OW is one going to get to the seat 
of operations? No elevator is in 
operation, there is no air service (ex- 
cept plenty of fresh air), and often the 
trails, if any, are too steep for any but 
the most expert mountain horses or 
burros. So the way up is mostly by 
foot. 
Mountain climbing is dangerous 
work, as witness the annual death toll 
taken of pleasure seekers who think 
golfing is too tame. The danger is in- 
tensified as the snow becomes deeper 
for the unwary may slip off a precipice 
in an unguarded moment because too 
much confidence was placed in a hang- 
ing bank of snow. 
HE weather man who controls 
mountain climate can change his 
mind quicker than a woman can comb 
her bobbed hair. Never, under any cir- 
cumstances during mid-winter, leave 
your mountain cabin or dugout for any 
length of time without being prepared 
for a sudden drop of the mercury, ac- 
companied by raging winds. 
One of the most interesting studies 
of nature is that of noting the ceaseless 
war that has been carried on through 
countless ages between the elements and 
the far-flung battle line of trees. In 
all mountains that have an elevation of 
ten thousand feet or more, there is a 
certain point beyond which no trees can 
grow. The cold is too intense, the rag- 
ing winds twist and dwarf them un- 
mercifully. Certain trees like the hem- 
lock will grow to a certain height and 
because the warring elements will not 
permit of more perpendicular growth, 
they spread long scraggly branches in 
every direction. A storm in the moun- 
tains, anywhere near the timberline, is 
at once the most awful and inspiring 
sight one can possibly witness. 
spe be caught out in one of these 
storms, any great distance from a 
camp, will result in considerable hard- 
ship to say the least, while the danger 
from falling trees and great chunks of 
half-ice and half-snow may be readily 
imagined. The north country, especi- 
ally on the easten slope of the Rockies, 
does not have this later menace for the 
mountain trapper, at least not in a 
marked degree. In the Cascade Moun- 
tains and all Coast ranges, where the, 
snowfall is often soaked with rain, the 
snow clings to the branches and freezes 
into sizeable cakes which, falling from 
any height, would knock a man silly, if 
not killing him outright. Believe me, 
my friend with the trapping fever, you 
will find mountain traplines highly in- 
teresting, to say the least. 
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