WOLF TRAPPING AN ART.
By Captain Jack O'Connell.
For more than 40 years "Old Hank" Morrison has made his home in the
lonely cabin on the shore of a small lake miles from any human
habitation, in Alger County. I have often visited this strange old
chap, and although the frosts of 70 winters has bent his giant form
and silvered his hair, his heart is young. His past life I have never
been able to fathom, but to judge from the choice books in several
languages in his little cabin, I am led to believe there is a romance
in the long, long ago.
The writer slowly recovering from a stroke of paralysis, wishing to
get outside the confines of civilization, decided to drop in on "Old
Hank" recently. I made a trip despite the deep snow and the protest
of my doctor. When I pounded on his door it was rather late at night.
"Who in ----," and then pausing in astonishment, threw the door wide
open and held out his hand. "Hello Jack," he fairly shouted, shaking
my hand in real pump handle fashion, and with all the vigor of his
mighty frame. "Blest if I ever expected to see you again! Well! well!
well!" He helped me put the horse away in good shape, and then got me
a regular "bang up" supper despite the late hour.
Next morning after pancakes and coffee, the very first thing to
attract my attention, when I stepped outside was two huge wolf pelts
nailed to the side of the shack doing duty as the barn. I became
interested at once owing to the unusual size and freshness of both.
"Fifty dollars in one night is like finding money, eh," remarked the
old man.
I asked him how he managed to catch these cunning animals, knowing
that others had met with poor success elsewhere. Says he, "I didn't
learn the art of wolf trapping by mail--I have been afflicted with
the fad of wolf trapping for 30 years, and in pursuit of them, I have
learned a few things not observed by other hunters. I may not know it
all but I think I have the only successful trick of trapping these
cunning animals and any man who will try my suggestions will meet
with good success."
Wolves are very suspicious animals, and have a keen scent for human
beings. They will sometimes make a wide detour around a place where I
have blazed a tree for the purpose of marking a spot I want to again
visit. They are very observing and while the scent of a man's trail
through the forest is fresh they will not come within many feet of
his path. Hunters find in the school of bitter experience that it is
no easy matter to catch them in traps. Old trappers will tell you
that it is easier to catch the cutest fox than it is to snare the
dullest and most stupid wolf. I have followed the same method all my
life--I learned the trick from a half breed trapper in the far
Canadian Northwest.
I select an open place in the woods or on the edge of the forest. It
is necessary to have a knoll or mound near the center or edge of the
clearing on which to place the trap, and in plain view of your bait
which you propose to place there for the benefit of Mr. Wolf. A piece
of venison or ham is about the best bait to use. I hang this on a
sapling or tree and high enough from the ground so the wolf cannot
get it by jumping. Make no mistake, mind you, regarding the height
from the ground. I put it at least eight feet, for I can tell you a
wolf is no slouch when it comes to jumping, especially when the
reward is a good chunk of meat, and he happens to be hungry.
"Why not plant a trap under the bait," I suggested, in an effort to
appear wise. "Not on your life," says he. "Mr. Wolf is always looking
out for just such a joke."
[Illustration: A Northern Wolf.]
Continuing, he says, "I then cut a stake about six feet long--one
with a crotch at one end. I sharpen the other end for the purpose of
driving it into the ground. The ring on the end of the chain which is
fastened to the trap, I slip over the stake up to the crotch. I then
drive the stake into the ground so that no part of it is exposed. I
place the trap on the highest part of the knoll and then cover it
with leaves. I never take the leaves in my bare hands. I use a piece
of bark to carry the leaves in and always from some other place than
in the immediate vicinity of the trap, for, mind you, the vagabond is
quick to detect if the leaves have been disturbed, and will also
scent the presence of man if the leaves have been placed there with
his hands.
And remember, it is absolutely necessary that no part of trap, chain
or stake be left exposed to view. You see, if you leave the top of
the stake sticking out, showing where it was cut off, it is enough to
make the vagabond of the woods suspicious that there is a "nigger in
the fence" somewhere, and he will lose no time in getting into the
next township--instead of attacking the bait.
The bait and trap should be from 30 to 40 feet apart--gauge the
distance according to the lay of the ground where the trap is set.
When the wolf scents the bait, he will approach it with great caution
and endeavor to reach it by jumping. After several unsuccessful
attempts to reach it, he will proceed to the highest ground in the
immediate vicinity of the bait, where he will set himself upon his
haunches and set up a great howl, calling every wolf within the
hearing of his voice to the spot.
Your trap, you see, is set upon the highest point of this mound or
knoll, and a wolf is almost certain to get into the concealed trap. I
sometimes set as many as eight traps on a mound in the vicinity of
the bait, and I have caught from two to four wolves in a single night
in this way. This was in cases, of course, where a pack arrived
before the original finder of the bait was caught. You see if they
had found him in a trap when they arrived on the scene, they would
not come within yards of the place, but would cut out for tall timber
at once, even if they did get a whiff of the bait on the sapling.
Wolves are even more easily caught in the spring of the year than at
any other time. This is, of course, after the close of the hunting
season. They are hunters themselves and prefer to chase and kill
their own game and this accounts for the fact that they will seldom
ever touch a deer carcass left in the woods by hunters. When the snow
is deep they hunt deer by following their tracks for hours, even
days, until they finally get their prey into a place where the animal
can't run or defend itself. The feast is then on in short order.
Wolves kill more deer in this country than two legged hunters. If the
state is going to do the right thing to protect the deer, just let
them put a bounty of $50.00 on the wolves in every county in the
Upper Peninsula. Then the woods will be full of men with rifles, and
in a year or two there wouldn't be a wolf in Northern Michigan.
If the state did this instead of getting out a lot of swell books on
the game laws, we would have the deer with us a few years yet But as
it is now, the wolves alone will pick the bones of the last deer in
this whole Northern Michigan in less than three years from now. Mark
you these words, the state now pays $25.00 for every pelt, but it
don't seem to induce hunters and trappers to make a business of wolf
trapping. Even with plenty of wolves to catch, following the business
for a living is one of extreme hardship, but if they put the bounty
in the $50.00 notch, then there would be something doing and the
hardship would have no terrors to the men who took up the hunt in
earnest."
I spent a week with this interesting man. He has over 300 Newhouse
traps of all sizes and quite a pile of mink and skunk skins. He said
he never trapped for muskrats as he didn't consider them worth while.
His forte being mink, otter, skunk, fox and wild cat, with wolves a
side line--although it didn't appear as such to me.
He was greatly interested in my 35 caliber Automatic Winchester rifle
and when I fired it a few shots for him, as quick as I could, his
eyes stuck out like tea cups. "Say, Hank, you ought to get one." "Not
if I know myself, them pop guns is all right for dudes and those
fellows with that tired feelin'. Old Betsy is good enough for me." So
saying, he took down "Betsy" for my inspection. It was a Sharpe's
rifle and a good one, too. It shoots a 45-100 Sharpe's special with a
550 grain ball set trigger, open and peep sights, and weighs 12
pounds. And just to show me how she behaved, he blew a two quart jug
off a stump at an estimated distance of 500 yards. "How many deer
have you ever killed, Uncle?" I asked. "Well, I can't say, Jack, but
give me a dead rest and I can plug a dollar every time at 100 yards."
"Well, for heaven's sake, how many have you shot at?" "Well, I can't
tell, Jack, but I must have shot at more than 1,000 of 'em at not
over 50 yards."
As a pledge of my friendship, I gave him my Marble pocket axe and
knife. It was with a heavy heart that I grasped his honest hand to
say good bye--perhaps for the last time on this earth. If so, I
sincerely hope to meet him in the "Happy Hunting Grounds" to part no
more.
END OF WOLF AND COYOTE TRAPPING