My Last Hunt on the Kinzua.
As this hunt was about 1868, before there were railroads in this
section, we went to Emporium, Cameron County, Pennsylvania, and there
took the train to Kane, in McKean County, then by team and bobsled
route to camp. This making the journey much farther, we concluded to
go by wagon the entire distance, which would shorten the distance
nearly one-half.
This time conditions were different than on previous occasion. While
there were three in the party before and every one hunted on his own
hook, this time I had a partner and we were to share alike in profit
and loss. My partner's name was William Earl, and he had recently
moved from Vermont, or, as he would jokingly say, from "Varmount." He
was somewhat older than myself, and a man who was ever ready to carry
his end of the load at all times.
We hired a team and took a full line of grub and the camp outfit,
with about sixty small traps and eight bear traps. We went by way of
Port Allegheny, Devils Blow and Smithport, taking three days to get
to camp, as we had to cut out the road a good part of the distance of
the last day's travel. They had just begun to operate in the oil
industry in the neighborhood of what is now the city of Bradford, and
as they used wood altogether for fuel to drill with, there was a
great deal of wood being cut for the purpose. Bill, as my partner was
familiarly called, used to say that if we could not get fat on
venison and bear meat we would take a wood job, but we found plenty
to do without the wood job.
On reaching the camp the first thing noticeable was that the old
hollow elm that I had used for a dryhouse to hang up skins in, had
met with foul play, for it lay on the ground, having blown down. This
made it necessary to build a sort of leanto against one side of the
shanty to hang up our furs, as we did not like to have them hung up
in the shanty where they would get more or less smoked.
But the first thing we did was to enlarge the door, for it will be
remembered that we were obliged to get down on all fours in order to
get in or out of the shanty. As we had a good crosscut saw, it did
not take long to enlarge the doorway so that one could go in standing
up, man fashion. We next cut a window-hole large enough to take a
single sash window. Then we replaced the chinkings that the
porcupines had gnawed out, calked and mudded all cracks. When this
was done, Bill looked it over and said, "By gum, don't it look like
living?"
As it was only about the middle of October we went to work at once on
a good supply of wood for the camp. We did not quit until we were
sure that we had plenty to last the winter, for we intended to stay
as long as it was either profitable or a pleasure. After the wood was
cut and piled up near the shanty door, we next set the bear traps, as
we had brought bait for the purpose.
After the bear traps were set we next looked over the deadfalls that
I had built for marten the fall before, putting in a new stake where
necessary. We also set crotches and laid poles on them, then covering
with hemlock boughs to keep the snow from falling directly on the
trap. We fixed up the two deadfalls I had made for bear, as we wished
to get all the bear traps out that we could, as we had already seen
several signs.
We also built a number more deadfalls for marten on different ridges
farther up the stream where I had not set any the fall before. We
built a number of deadfalls along the streams for mink and coon. It
was now getting well along towards the last days of October, so we
put in a couple of days hunting deer, as we had to have bait to set
our marten and other traps with.
The first day's hunting we did not get a deer, though we each got a
running shot but missed. The second day I did not see any deer but
Bill killed a good sized buck before noon. We now began setting the
traps that we had built. Bill baiting and setting the deadfalls,
while I commenced on the steel traps. We had not baited and set any
of the deadfalls that we had built up to this time. The steel traps
we set for fox and wildcats, as there was a bounty of two dollars on
wildcats at that time.
In setting out the fox traps the knowledge that I had got of the
locality was of much benefit to me. I had kept a watch out for warm
springs and other good likely places to catch a fox or other animals.
After we had all the deadfalls and steel traps out but three or four
otter traps, we set one or two at the drift where I caught one the
fall before. The others we set where we found otter signs.
While setting the traps we got a marten or two, as well as one or two
mink and coon. We had had one or two little flurries of snow, but we
did not leave the traps to hunt deer. Now that the traps were all
set, we divided up the trap lines as best we could for each one to
attend to while hunting deer. In dividing up the lines in this way we
saved much time, as we would not both be working the same territory.
Now business began to get quite lively, and we were seldom in camp
until after dark, and we were up early and had breakfast over and our
lunch packed in our knapsacks. The lunch usually consisted of a good
big hunk of boiled venison and a couple of doughnuts and a few
crackers, occasionally the breast of a partridge, fried in coon or
bear oil. Sometimes the lunch would freeze in the knapsacks and it
would be necessary to gather a little paper bark from a yellow birch
and a little rosin from a hemlock, black birch or hard maple tree and
build a little fire to thaw the lunch. This, however, was quickly
done, and was a pleasure rather than a hardship. I have delighted in
eating the lunch in this manner for many a winter on the trap line or
trail, as have many other hunters and trappers.
Bill and I always had our lunch packed and ready to take up the trail
at the first peep of day. Sometimes when we would get in late, tired
and wet and our clothes frozen, I would suggest to Bill that we shut
up camp and take a wood job, just to see what Bill would have to say.
He would say that there would be time to take a wood job in the
spring or after he had killed a certain large buck which is usually
called "Old Golden." There were but a few days but what we either
caught some fur or killed a deer, though sometimes we would have a
bad streak of luck by wounding a deer, or having some animal take a
foot off and escape, but this would make us all the more eager to
follow the trail or trap line.
[Illustration: WOODCOCK ON THE TRAP LINE.]
As we had gotten by this time several deer and had caught three bear
(one in one of the deadfalls that I had built the fall before, that
Will Howard called that "dashed dinged riggin'," when he found the
bear in it) we wanted to get them out to Kane, that being the nearest
point to a railroad. We started early one morning, Bill taking an axe
and I carrying the saw, so that if we found any large trees across
the trail that we had cut out the year before we would have the saw
to do it with.
After carrying the saw some distance and not finding any trees of
much size across the road, we left it and only took the axe. We found
but very little in the trail to cut out.
We got to Kane in time to engage a man with team to come to camp the
next day and take out the venison and bear and bring in some
necessary commissaries that we were getting short of. It was only a
few days after this that I found that a bear got in one of the traps.
The trap chain having a swivel that was pretty well worn, broke, and
the bear went off with the trap. I followed the trail until the
middle of the afternoon, when I became satisfied that Bruin was
disgusted with that locality, as he had continued his course nearly
due east without a stop. I could see no signs that led me to think
that Bruin intended to stop for the next fifty miles.
So I gave up the chase and went to camp, getting there long after all
good boys should have been in bed. Bill was up and out at the door
listening if he could hear a gun shot or anything to indicate what
had become of me. We held a council of war before going to bed, and
decided to give Bruin another day's rest or travel, as he saw fit to
do, before we started on the trail. We would go to all the traps that
had not been tended to in the past three or four days and then take
up the trail of Bruin and follow him to the end of his trail, no
matter how long the trail might be.
There was but little danger of the trail becoming snowed under or
lost, as there was nearly a foot of snow on the ground, and the trap
would make a broad trail in the snow, which was quite easily
followed. The next day, as intended, we put in a full day attending
the traps and got some fur, but I do not remember just what. We
started out on the trail of Bruin with a three days' ration of the
usual lunch, boiled venison, ham, doughnuts and biscuits.
After following the trail about two hours from the place where I had
left it, we came onto a man's track that had taken the trail of our
bear. This roiled the temper of the Vermonter somewhat, and if I did
not say anything, I had a mighty think on. But we had no cause for
alarm at this time. The man after following the trail for a mile or
two gave up the chase as a bad job, I guess. He stood and stamped
about for some time (we judged by the tracks he had made) and then
started back nearly in the same course that he had come.
We followed on until dark when we came to a wagon road. Apparently
several persons had seen the bear trail, for there was a beaten path
for a few yards on either side of the road. We knew nothing about the
road or where it went, but finally concluded to take the road leading
south for a little ways. If we saw no signs of habitation then we
would camp, as that was what we expected to be compelled to do when
starting from camp and each had taken a blanket for the purpose.
We had not gone far when a man with a sleigh overtook us, and we
learned that we were about one and a half miles from what was called
Bunker Hill. The man gave us a ride. We went to a boarding house and
stayed over night, rather than camping on Bruin's trail, though we
got plenty of camping on the trail of Bruin before this hunt was at
an end.
The next morning we were out early and had breakfast at 6 o'clock and
started for the trail which we reached before daylight. We had gone a
little way when we heard voices coming along the road. We listened a
moment and saw that it was a party of three men who had come to take
the bear's trail. We waited until they came up to us and one man
said, "What in blazes are you fellows doing on this bear's track?"
Bill replied rather sharp, "That's our business, but what are you
here for?" Then they said that one of the men had seen the track the
evening before and as there was no one after it, they had come out to
follow up the track and kill the bear. They insisted on going after
the bear but after some talk we convinced them that we did not need
any help and they turned back.
We took up the trail and followed it pretty lively for a time, as we
did not know but those men would cut around and take the trail ahead
of us, though they did not do so. We were now on the waters of Potato
Creek and there was a good deal of laurel and here we found the first
place that Bruin had stopped and made a bed.
It is usually the case that a bear that has a trap on his foot will
not travel any great distance before they stop and make a bed and
then move a short distance and make another bed. Bruin now began to
act more natural, to his family. We began to think that we would soon
come to fresh signs at least, but were disappointed for we did not
follow the trail far, after we came onto his bed before two men's
tracks fell in and took up the trail.
After following for some time on the trail of the men and bear, we
came to where the bear had made another stop and we could see that
the bear's track was much fresher showing that it had stopped some
time. We expected that the men would divide here, one taking the
trail while the other worked on the side, but both men continued on
the same trail. After following the trail for three or four hundred
yards farther, we came onto another bed and this time the bear went
out on the jump and Bill said some cuss words about the men. It is
possible that I did too.
The trail here turned north. This took us into a section more thickly
settled and hunters more numerous. The greater part of the time there
was from one to two men on the trail ahead of us and all that was
left for us to do was to follow on as fast as we could. The second
night we were on the head of Salt Run and we followed the trail till
dark. We now had the bear trail to follow instead of the men as all
the men had left to go to their camps or homes. Bill said that we
would sleep "dash-dang" close to the trail after this, so we soon
found a large log to build a fire against. First we would build the
fire out a few feet from the log after scraping the snow away. Then
we would throw a few hemlock boughs over a pole laid in crotches and
then move the fire down against the log, throw a few boughs on the
ground where the fire had been moved from and the camp was complete
in a very few minutes.
We now began to fear that some one would get in ahead of us and kill
the bear and we would lose bear, trap and all. Bill said that we
would follow so "dash-darn" close that we would be up in time to
attend the funeral. We were so close up that we were no longer
bothered only a little while at a time as we would soon overtook any
one who hit the trail ahead of us and followed it.
The bear again turned east which took us across the road which runs
from Coudersport to Emporium in Cameron County. We were now back in
Potter County and only 15 miles from home. Bruin here turned south
and true to his nature, led us through all the windfalls and laurel
patches to be found and occasionally would break down a few laurel
and act as though he intended to camp for a time but apparently would
change his mind and go on again.
We were now on the waters of the Conley and night was fast coming on.
The trail led across a little bog and we were looking for water and a
suitable place to camp, when Bill called my attention to a man
standing on the trail watching us. When we came to him it proved to
be a neighbor of ours. Mr. Ephraim Reed, who was hunting in there and
said that his camp was only a little way down the hollow and asked us
to go down and stay over night. We were glad to do so. Mr. Reed said
that there were a good many hunters in that locality so we were up
and on the trail before it was fairly light.
We were in a section where there was a great deal of laurel and Bruin
continued to make camps but as often would change his mind and move
on and Bill thought he had concluded to go to the can brake in
Virginia. Often when he would go into a wind jam or laurel thicket,
we would separate, one taking a circuit on one side of the thicket,
the other on the other side, meeting on the opposite side from where
the trail had entered but we would always find that Bruin was still
on the go. We were in a locality where there were apparently a good
many deer and we saw signs of marten quite often.
We were now on the head waters of Hunts Run in Cameron county and we
decided to make that section our next hunting ground. While the trail
would wind about some, yet bruin's general course was south. Often
when bruin would vary considerably from his general course and go
into a thicket or wind jam, we would feel sure that this time we
would find him napping, but we were disappointed each time. Once when
we were circling one of these thickets, I drove a deer out and it ran
to Bill who gave him his finish. We were near a lumber camp and sold
it for ten dollars and our night's lodging and some grub. We were now
getting pretty well down to the railroad near Sterling Run. We were
sure that bruin was going to cross the railroad so we left the trail
and went down to the railroad and followed along the road until we
came to the trail.
The bear had crossed the road during the night and no one had noticed
the trail. Here I suggested to Bill that we take a train to Kane and
go to camp and go out and take a wood job, but Bill thought that we
had about all the job on our hands that we were able to attend to. He
was right, for as near as I can remember, the trail led us nearly a
half day's tramp before bruin made a stop. The foot that the trap was
on began to bleed considerably. We began to fear that the foot would
come off and bruin relieved of the trap would escape after all.
We now had some more help, two men took the trail ahead of us
following it until nearly dark when they apparently held a council of
war, judging from the way they tracked about where they left the
trail. We were now in a pine slashing and concluded to camp on the
trail, though we knew that we were not far from a lumber camp as we
could hear men chopping and driving oxen. We were lucky in finding a
good place to camp and water close at hand. As we had a small tin
pail with us and coffee, we made a pail of coffee and ate our lunch
and fixed our bunk, then we sat down before the fire for a time and
talked over what we thought we might do the next day. Then we rolled
up in our blankets and it was time to get the coffee boiling again
before we were hardly aware that we had been asleep.
Bruin now began to act more like a sensible bear and would zigzag
about from one thicket to another. We now got close enough to him so
that we heard him in the brush several times. Bill said that he
thought that bruin was about to make up his mind to let us take off
that handcuff. He proved to be right, for it was not long before
bruin's trail led down onto the side of a steep ravine. The sides
were not more than one hundred yards apart and were quite clear (only
for the piles of pine tree tops) from fallen trees, that had been
taken out for logs.
We were standing a little way down the side of the ravine, laying
plans as to our next move, as we had come to the conclusion that
bruin had either turned down along the side of the ravine or had gone
into camp. We had planned that one would go up around the head of the
ravine while the other waited on the trail until the one that went
around should get on the opposite side. While still laying plans, we
saw bruin come out on the opposite side and began to climb the hill.
We had followed the bear for six days and this was the first time
that we had seen his lordship. He would go a few steps and stop and
look back. We watched our opportunity and when he made a stop, we
both fired. Bruin made a jump or two up the hill then tumbled back
down again and the fun had ended. We took the entrails out and left
him lying across a log and went down the ravine to where there was a
lumber camp and there we found that we were on Dent's Run, a branch
of Bennet's Branch and in Elk county.
This was the fourth county we had been in since we had taken the
bear's trail. They told us at the lumber camp that there would be
three or four teams go down to the railroad station at Driftwood the
next morning with spars which they were hauling to the river to raft.
We got a man with a yoke of oxen and a bobsled to go with us and get
the bear and the next morning about 5 o'clock we got the bear
strapped onto one of the spars and started down the stream to the
railroad and we shipped it, without removing the skin, to New York,
where we got either $26 or $28 for it.
We took the train to Kane where we stayed over night. The next
morning we went to camp and found all well with one exception, that
being, that the shanty was swarming with "deer mice" and a porcupine
had tried hard to gnaw his way through the door. The following day we
stayed in camp and rested before starting out to see what would turn
up the next day.
We first looked at the bear traps, tending what small traps came in
on the way. On going the rounds of the bear traps, we found them all
undisturbed except one, which might better have been as it only had a
porcupine in it and we did not see any signs of bear. We began to
think of taking up the bear traps as we thought that bruin had gone
into winter quarters. We did not get around to take them up for
several days, being busy tending the smaller traps.
It was now getting along into December and the snow was quite deep.
We concluded to put in the time hunting deer as we wished to get all
we could, to send out with the team, when we had it come in, as it
did not cost any more to take out a full load than half a load. The
law closed on deer the first of January, although allowing the
hunters 15 days to dispose of his venison after it was unlawful to
kill deer. We hustled from early morning until long after dark, when
we would get to camp and there was hardly a day that we did not kill
at least one deer and some days two or three between us.
I will tell of a little scrape I had one day with a yearling buck
that I thought to be dead. I was following the trail of three or four
deer along the side of a ridge, expecting every moment to catch them
feeding, when I heard a noise behind me and looking back, I saw this
little buck coming full tilt right towards me. The deer saw me about
as soon as I did him and wheeled to run back when I fired and he went
down. I set my gun against a tree and started to cut the deer's
throat. I took the deer by the ear and straightened his back. About
this time that dead deer began to get pretty lively and was trying to
get on his feet and as I could not reach my gun, threw myself onto
him, thinking to hold him down.
Well I held him about as long as lightning would stay on a limb. When
I got through gazing at the hole in the brush where I last saw him, I
found that I was sadly in need of a new pair of trousers and vest, as
well as a jack knife. I searched a long time in hopes of finding the
knife, but did not. I had another knife at camp and after about a two
hour's job with needle and thread, I managed to get the trousers so
that they were passable in a pinch and all the time that I was
repairing the trousers, Bill sat there laughing at me. Now this was
the first time that I had supposed dead deer come to life and give me
the go-by, though it was not the last time.
I had given him what is called a fine shot, that is I had shot him
just across the back and the ball had struck one of the joints or
knuckles of the backbone as it proved. I had the satisfaction of
killing the same deer two or three days later or at least we thought
it was the same one. We had three or four days of mild weather and as
we had not been the rounds of the traps for several days, only
tending those that came handy while hunting deer, we thought we would
reverse the plan and go over all the traps and pay but little
attention to deer hunting unless we struck a hot trail. We thought we
would take in those traps first in the direction where the bear traps
were and go to the traps farthest from camp and bring in some of the
traps. We did not expect to get any more bear as it was too late in
the season for bear to travel until they had their winter's sleep.
We were in luck this time for as we had usually tended the bear
traps, the one that we went to first would have been the last trap to
come to. When we came in sight of where the trap was set we saw that
there had been a bear dance going on. As the snow was several inches
deep, we saw at a glance which way the bear had gone and we only had
to step to the brow of the ridge and look down the hillside a little
way to see bruin fast among some small saplings. He was rolling and
tumbling about trying to release himself.
He looked like a great black ball as he rolled about. We lost no time
in putting him out of his trouble. We skinned the fore parts and hung
them up in a sapling to use for bait for fox and marten and took the
saddles to camp, skinned them out and stretched the skin on the
shanty. Later we shipped the saddles to market.
The next day we looked at the balance of the bear traps but found
them undisturbed but we concluded to leave them set a few days
longer. On going the rounds of the smaller traps, we got a fox or two
also a marten or two, but as I remember it, we got no mink or otter
at this time. We now had the traps all looked after, so we put in the
time hunting deer as the time for deer hunting was soon to close. The
weather had turned and frozen so that it had formed a sharp crust and
we were compelled to use the driving method of hunting. One of us
would stand on the runways, in the beds of basins and in low places
on the ridges while the other would follow the trail and drive the
deer through to the hunter. I wish to say right here, that I do not
like this way of hunting deer but little better than I do of hounding
and running deer with dogs. The dog is all right but I want no
dogging of deer for me.
We would get a deer nearly every day. It was now the first of January
and time to get our venison to camp or out to the road where we could
pick them up on the way out to Kane. After we had gathered up the
venison and had gone the rounds of the traps that had not been tended
while hunting, we went to Kane. Here we engaged a team to come in
after the venison and bear and bring in a grub stake to last us until
the middle of March when we would break camp and go home. We both
went back to Kane with the team to assist in getting over some of the
rough places and see that our venison and bear meat was tagged and
shipped all right. Then we came back to camp to put our entire time
in tending to the traps which we did to good advantage. We had found
other good warm springs while hunting, and some that we thought were
lasting springs, had gone dry or had frozen up, so we shifted a good
many of the traps to the other springs.
Then we took it a little easier only going the rounds of the traps as
we considered it necessary and on such days as the weather was
favorable. We waited for February when we knew that the old dog coon
would begin his rounds of calling on his friends.
We managed to pass the time away fairly well as we would get a fox,
mink, marten or something nearly every day so that we busied
ourselves. About the middle of February we had several warm days and
the time had now come for us to get busy and we were out as soon as
it was light. We would follow up all the spring runs until we found
the trail of a coon, then follow it up until it went into a tree.
Sometimes it bothered us which tree to cut down for the coon would go
from one tree to another so that it was hard to tell which was the
tree that was the home of the coon (some call it a den). One day we
chopped down a great large oak, three or four feet in diameter and
nearly sound all the way through and nary a coon to be found. I asked
Bill why he did not say cuss words and he said he thought we had
spent enough wind in chopping the tree down, without wasting any
unnecessarily.
Well, as I said, the coon had been up and down so many trees that we
did not know which one was the most likely one. We went to a large
basswood tree that had only one track going to it and one away from
it but when we pounded on it with the axe, we saw that it was very
hollow. I suggested to Bill that we chop it down. Bill thought there
were no coon in it and I had but little faith myself but I told him
that as he had been wanting a wood job, here was his opportunity and
Bill agreed with me, so we laid off our coats and went to chopping.
The tree was only a shell. We soon had it down and to our surprise,
coon began to run in all directions. Not having had much hopes of
finding any coon in the tree we had not prepared ourselves with clubs
to kill the coon. We used the axe handle as best we could but one
coon got away and went into a hollow stump which we had to cut down.
We got five coon. We then took up the trail of the coon that left the
tree and after following it about a mile it went into a large hemlock
tree that had a hole in it close to the roots. Pounding on it we
discovered that it was hollow.
There had been several coon tracks both out and into the tree. We
circled around some distance from the tree and found no tracks
leading away from the tree farther than a small spring a few rods
away. As it was getting well on towards night we did not fell the
tree but went back to the old basswood where we had left the coons
and took them and went to camp. Bill said that he had a dash-dang
sight rather chop wood than to tote those three coons. I carried two
and told Bill not to complain and I would let him skin all of them
when we got to camp. He said, "Oh, you are a clever jade, aint you?"
We skinned the coon that evening but did not stretch the skin until
the next afternoon after we had gone out and cut the hemlock and got
three more.
We kept up this coon hunt as long as we could find any tracks. It was
now getting along into March and we had written home for a team to
come in and take our camp outfit and furs out. As we had not been out
over the road through the woods, the way we came in, we made a trip
out to the main wagon road so that the man who came after us would
have no trouble in following the trail to the camp. We now began to
spring all the deadfalls that we had set for marten, mink and coon
and take up all of the steel traps as we had written to the man to be
there about the fifteenth of the month. I think it was a day or two
later when the team came and our hunt on the Kinzua was ended.
We got some thirty odd deer and either five or six bear and I think
four otter. I do not remember the number of fox, mink, marten and
coon, but we did well for there had been but very little trapping
done in that locality at that time and furbearing animals were quite
plentiful. I have never been back to that camp since. I gave the camp
to a man by the name of Ball.