Photo by the Author 
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Bruin in trouble 

“Modern Trapping Methods 
Outfitting the Mountain Trapper—Part 3 
NE of the important things in 
trapping is the size and num- 
ber of traps to .be used. Even 
when one knows the’ country thor- 
oughly, the kind of game there, etc., 
it is no easy matter to figure how many 
traps will be required. For marten 
trapping at least a hundred small steel 
traps, preferably size 1142, should be 
employed. Three dozen larger traps, 
say No. 3’s, will come in handy for 
making fox, lynx or wolf sets. In case 
one traps bears in late fall and early 
spring, a couple of No. 5’s will be nec- 
essary. 
While prospecting for fur pockets in 
mountain country many trappers use 
pack horses or burrows, and they are 
more than necessary when it comes to 
getting in the grubstake and outfit. 
The cost of pack horses, saddles, pack 
covers, ropes, etc., depends entirely on 
local conditions. Sometimes it is 
cheaper to hire one’s stuff packed in 
than to lay out money for such things. 
But these things have got to be counted 
in, both ways costing money. A tepee 
or tent is a mighty necessary thing 
By RAYMOND THOMPSON 
when rambling through mountain coun- 
try looking for fur signs and it may 
be used in an emergency for a side 
camp, some winter. If you want any 
degree of comfort a wall tent and sheet- 
iron camp stove is the proper combina- 
tion. The writer has spent some pretty 
wild nights under a shelter tent though, 
the kind that is entirely open at one 
side, heat coming from a campfire out 
in front. 
TOVES are a mighty important 
item in the list of the mountain 
trapper’s outfit. Let no man think he 
can “rough it” before an open fire. It’s 
all right, in an emergency, to camp out 
and try to warm up the whole forest 
but usually it leaves one with a bad 
taste in the mouth; especially around 
New Years. When you can lay so close 
to a fire that buttons on your coat will 
shrivel without your body feeling un- 
comfortably warm, you can be sure 
“Siwashing” is no game for tenderfeet. 
In the main camp you will want a 
fairly passable cookstove, one that you 
can bake bread in. A combination 
cookstove and heater of the folding type 
is excellent for the purpose. A good 
stove of this variety will furnish ample 
heat for a twelve by sixteen cabin. The 
average mountain trapline will have 
from four to eight line camps in addi- 
tion to the headquarters cabin and all 
of them must be heated. 
A VERY good makeshift stove for 
the side camps can be arranged 
with very little trouble if one has some 
good heavy sheet-iron, a rectangular 
piece, two by three feet being about the 
proper size. The sides and back of 
the stove are made of stones and mud, 
the sheet-iron being used for the top. 
A few sections of pipe will be necessary 
in order to provide for a draught as 
well as an exit for the smoke. 
In a pinch, some sort of fireplace may 
be used, but they are generally unsatis- 
factory. I would sooner make the rest 
of the cabin than to have the construc- 
tion of the fireplace shouldered onto 
me. One must have clay that will bake 
hard or the job won’t be up to snuff. 
The idea is to build a pole frame, on 
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