tfj porcsiitam s El rJtOF. E. S, CLEVENGER PublLshud by Missruri Keivnel Club Excelsior Sprini^s, Missouri 1925 •iis^fyfy X' c > ^^ ^ O c« (iJ) CI A 86 4,06 7 AUG - 1 1925 ^'"P'^Sht 1925 By Prof. E. S. Qeveng^r iU lilghts Reserved THE sportsman's HUIDE HOUNDS FOR SALE! Thoroughbred liounds, trained or untrained, for sale at reasonable prices. Pups for sale at all times. Address THE MISSOURI KENNEL CLUB, R. R. 2 Excelsior Springs, Missouri SINGLE COMB WHITE LEGHORNS! We have the best strain of thoroughbred Single Comb White Leghorn chickens, cockerels and eggs for sale. Address EXCELSIOR SPRINGS POULTRY FARM, R. R. 2 Excelsior Springs, Missouri THOROUGHBRED ITALIAN QUEENS I breed only the bright Italian Queens than which there are none better. Be sure to get our delivered prices. Ship on the day you name. No disease. Ship only the best. You to be pleased in every way or your money back. Satisfaction and safe delivery. Address ERIE S. CLEVENGER, R. R. 2 Missouri THE sportsman's GxnoE 3 INTRODUCTION Til is book endeavors to show the methods of discerning the trutli. in that which the mind receives wisdom from nature. The influence of human environment, education and language upon that which the mind imparts. The influ- ence uix)n religion of the inspirational or sug- gestive and of the literal or dictatorial, hunting and trapping for all kinds of wild animals or fishing or camping out or for taking recreation in life. It addresses the peoples' mind with good taste and appreciation of the finest in good health' and reading. Wholesome wisdom and a love of clean fun. It feeds the iiuman spirit with reverence, loyalty, honor, purity, high ideals and the fundamentals of character that make up the sum of a finer and happier manhood and womanhood on earth. It is a fine and touching book and those who read it cannot fail to understand the better methods of hunting, trapping and fishing and to resopnd more heartily to the unspoken appeal of those who have come among us deaf to our language, •blind to our book and ignorant of our way f>f living. It is an authoritative, practical and highly enlightening guide to people bothered with wild animals or hawks. Read this book and then set a trap and catch any kind of wild animals. Tlie l;>ook will tell you just what to do and how to set your traps right. It is written especially for the sports^man in clear, nontechnical language, which briefly and fasci- natingly reveals to you all of the mysteries of outdoor life and penetrates the wondeiiand with stories of wild animal hunting in the wilderness- It is the greatest and best book of its kind ever printed in the world to teach anyone to trap wolves or any otlier kind of wild animals and if you ever hunt or trap or fish you must 4 THE sportsman's GUIDE have a copy of this book, for it tells everything in the sciences that we find Jn outdoor life. It is dedicated to the universal humanities, a sea- son of love and charity, of gentle thoughts and tender greetings of peace and goodwill to the thousands of people who are interested in one of the greatest powers in the world, which is to kill predatory animals, so the stockman can raise more lambs, pigs, calves and poultry to help feed the people. The sportsman has attained a distinction and won a substantial appreciation which no other person has so fully and widely enjoyed among the enlightened people of the world. From Great Britain its dissemination has ex- tended to the continents, to Australia, to South Africa, to South America, Mexico and the West Indies, while they have almost a monopoly of the importation of North America in chasing the fox and in helping to kill wild predatory animals. During the past ten years they have risen with notable rapidity in public esteem, until they now hold firmly and safely a place as one of the best of all known men in America. They are much liked by farmers particularly in the hills and by stockmen on the plains. How well all these expectations have been realized, will be seen by the following pages, which combine all these features, in a conven- ient shape for ready reference in cases of emergency, from men of practical experience, excelling anything of this kind ever before pub- lished and to be found in no other work. Theory has been sacrificed where it clashed with actual tested experience and preference has been given to those methods which are common, often on hand or easy to procure and realize its value. It is my firm belief that AJmerica is in a position to take the lead in this direction. THE sportsman's GUIDE 5 There is already much camping-, hunting, trapping, fishing, canoeing, hilling, motoring, golfing, fox chasing and racoon hunting by in- dividuals and there are hundreds of clubs de- voted to variolas outdoor activities. 1 have met some of the wide world expe- rience in hunting and trapping as far north as wild animals can live and as far south to the end of living aniimals. Remember there is no other book like this printed, for all kinds of persons who want to spend a few days outing. Tell everybody about it. If they want to hunt or trap tell them to get a copy. The practical experience of scientific trapping has not heretofore been done in books on this subject. But few of the books published were practical. The heavy expense to the trap- per for the small amount of information that rhey would get from the book. We are now recognized among the fore- most authorities on the hunting and trapping of all kinds of wild animals in the world. From the beginning with a few drops of urine from the kind of wild animal you want to catch, just put out a trap, set right where the animal is and a catch is sure, if you put the bait in the right place. If I had known this twentyfive years ago. I could have been rich now. -, "Whereas the gi'eat supreme ruler of the universe has in His wisdom permitted to be born among us one of our worthy and esteemed fellow sportsman, Erie S. Clevenger, and "Whereas the long and intimate relations held with him in the faithful discharge of his duties in hunting and trapping all kinds of wild animals, make it eminently befitting that we record our appreciation of him forever for giving us the right methods of catching all kinds of wild animals." THE sportsman's GUIDE GUIDE TO NATURE HUNTING, TRAPPING AND FISHING The book with all the things have awaken- ed your amibition, which open your eyes to make you believe in yourself and may make a very large impression on the mind and will of people. Simple and direct methods put into operation by the persons themselves are the only real sources for killing predatory animals, for this is the boldest and most debatable of, the drastic remedies that have been urged to cure the ills of the farmers in general and the four largest farm organizations in the country have declared themselves for it and said "Let the farmers do their own catching and killing of predatory animals." We get' so many letters frojm persons who want the predatory animals killed. You all know that we cannot get men to catch wild predatory animals without money to pay for their time and trouble and Iskill. So we had this book printed for that purpose so the farm- ers could do their own catching and killing of all kinds of wild animals that were destroying their propeity or their neighbor's property. The whole matter being worldwide in its scope, dolmands such handling. The object to be secured should therefore 'be to promulgate a national policy in helping to kill all kinds of wild animals, which should not merely coordi- nate under f]ederal guidance all activities in behalf of outdoor recreation and learning how to hunt and trap all kinds of wild animals but also formulate a program to serve as a guide for future action without calling upon us. By combining and applying all the science THE sportsman's GUIDE 7 of hunting and trapping of the whole world together and putting in this book for everybody to read who wants to learn the business of hunting and trapping all kinds of wild animals and fowls. The positive statefments of fact in the following pages are for the benefit of those wh-o are willing to consider the subject with an open mind and sincere desire to know the truth. Let us put you in touch with reliable sources of information concerning the raising of beef, sheep, swine, horses and poultry. Science is knowledge systematized and ar- ranged. It is true that the practice of a great many people is reducible to no system and that the haphazard methods th^y practice produce no good results. But this does not prove any- thing against the existence of science. It mere- ly shows the existence of such a science and that it needs to 'be more widely taught. Science is knowledge. So an art is defined by a high authority as the "application of knowledge or power to practical purposes." Invention consists merely in observing things closely, analyzing what one sees and then using one's general knowkdge and expe- rience in effecting correction or improvement. An inventor is invariably a close observer and a thcroug^h student not only of the item of particular interest, but of all related subjects. JSuch a one could hardly work with any ill de- veloped process or industry without seeing ways where betterment could be effected. This guide will recommend itself to all who desire a complete rule and full information as to methods of hunting and trapping all kinds of wild animals. It contains all that is prac- tical and valuable in the compendium and all other kind of books that are printed about hunting and trapping of like character. It is 8 THE SPORTSMAN'S GUIDE a complete guide for hunting and trapping all kinds of wild animals that live on earth or in the water. Gentlemen, I want to tell you what has happened to the people of America and else- where. The predatory animals are catching and killing part of the lambs, pigs and poultry that the farmers and stockmen are tiying to raise to help feed the people and keep them from starving. I am going to tell them and show thetm how all kinds of wild animals can be caught in traps or shtot so it will increase our meat supply and help to feed the public and home folks. There never was in the histoiy of this country such a scarcity of hunters and trappers of predatory animals as there is today. What is the matter? I will tell you. I am absolutely sincere when I say that I do not believe there is an equal in hunting or trapping all kinds of wild animals withi a gen- uine or guaranteed proof. A very large book could be written on the subject, but my space is limited and I will have to select the most important things and handle them very briefly. I will try and give as clearly as possible the methods and observations of some twenty- five years experience in this line and the true science of hunting and trapping all kinds of wild animals and fowls. From my boytlood I have 'been a hunter and trapper and sometimes I use poison to kill wild predatory animals that I fail to catch in my trap or shoot, but I never use poison unless the wild animal is doing great damage to livestock and endangers the lives of the children of the neighborhood. There are no graduated animal hunters TBI SraitTSMAN'S GUIDI 9 and trappers, except those ^aduated from the long and hard school of experience, and it takes many years to become a national expert and one of consequence in hunting- and trapping. For you have no need to experiment with hunt- ing and trapping, for it has been done by others thousands of times, the best preserved and the failures cast aside. I will tell you their habits, haun^ts, rela- tivity, theii- interesting peculiarities or Instincts concerning mandred, mating, monogamy, poly- gamy and besides I will trace their ancestry, step by step, of methods of our animals of today back to the eocene period. I will tell you how and show you how you can be an expert in hunting and trapping, if you will do your best and do the way I tell you to set your trap and fix your bait. This is_ all you nave to learn to trap all kinds of wild ani>mals and become an expert. A guide for hunting and trapping, as vision of an expert in this line of worlr and fne instinct in knowing how to tell each other apart by their smell and the kind of animal, whether it is a male or female. I have heard old wolf and coyote hunters and trappers say that w^olveg, coyotes and dogs have the same nature but this is not true, for the Creator of all things is usually present, but wliere such faculties are not available, nature has to be called upon to remedy the deficiencv, for nature fixed the difference )>e- tween all animals and humans and every livmg ^ thing that it shall bring forth of its own kind. ■, For in the wild stage of all wild ani|mals you ; will leara for yourself by study and experience' that all things are made and bred after its own . kind and there is no wild animal that lives on earth or in the water today or ever lived in this^. world that will mix or crossbreed or inbreed.; with an animal of a different breed, without ^ the aid of man and this is the truth, in accord-" ance with the true law of nature and you will.i find that all hunters and trappers who follow^ this for a living or trade will tell you that theyj' know all about it or that no one knows any; more than they do, or know it all. But you^! will find animals that have been caught several ! times and got out of the traiT, that they will.'^ get wise to the? trap, so you ask an oldtilme hunter and trapper to tell you just what to do or how to fLX your trap to catch this veryt animal and have everything right to catch any| 32 THE sportsman's- guide animal at all times, must know something about the nature of all kinds of wild animals. You may find one hunter or trapper out of 500 who can tell you v4iat to do and never fail. All you have to do is to^ set your trap so the wolf does not know that you have 'heen around or have a trap set and when all smell ard- scent of you and your trap leave, then you will catch and not before. Solme wild animals have an instinct so strong and accurate that an ordinary man or person cannot catch one of these cunning animals. All persons are different and so are all wild animals. By this you will see that you must learn for yourself. . This book is the only guide to give you an idea as to how you 'must go about it to catch all kinds of wild animals and do the work right, if you expect to catch, for this book will tell you how to begin to liunt and trap -in the rig*ht way to catch all kinds of wild animals. A bachelor walked up to me and asked "Are you an expert?" I said "Yes." ''Then tell me how to catch these fast women !" I said "just wait until the right man comes along and then he will show you how easy it is done, for when the right p-f^rson comes around that knows something, it seems that everything is easy for hi|m, for it looks that way." And so you look, for the higher the" preson soars the lower they light. It does not pay to try to do somefhing that you cannot be interested in. A close study of the habits of furbearing animals may be made by taking a few traps along rivers and streams banks and in pastures and on the ridges, looking for animal tracks and signs of furbearing animals and net the hunter and trapper much valuable information as to where to set the traps. I aim recommendnig this to my friends and those who are troubled with predatory animals THE SPOKTSMAN'S GUIDE 13 eating and killing tlieir lam'bs, pigs and poultry which tliey are trying to raise to sell so the people can liave something to eat. , If this is your prediciiment do not imagine that it was "foreordained" or "inevitable," or anything of that sort. There are unscrupulous people' in every line of trade and profession you can name, so it is no wonder that we have some of til is class in the hunting and trapping business. You cannot play the game, but the other person, who has put in time and study can become an expert in hunting and trapping- wolves, coyotes and foxes and while you are hunting and trapping for them, you will catch all other kind of wild animals. The same set catches all kinds of wild animals, but in differ- ent locahties, such as along streams, hollows and then on ridges and mountains, for there is a difference in animals, as so^e live in the water and others on the land. Trapping in itself is an art. Many of the wild creatures are exceedingly wary and the boy, man cr woman, who wants to get furs must match liis or her reason against the in- stinct and natural wariness and knowledge of the animal. Naturally, the more one knows of the habits of the animals he is trying to trap,' the more successful he can be. Such intelli- gent ani^nals as the fox and wolf frequently prove a match for the most expert trappers, but you can get them, if you have patience and are careful in your work. So one of the first things to remember is not to touch the trap with your^ hand or leave any human scent around the traps and never leave any sign or disturbance to cause the wild animals to be cautious or suspicious when he goes around tlie trap you have set for the animal. Although it may take a httle time, still 14 THE SPORTSMAN'S GVTOB, it is time well spent. What you will want to know is never handle traps with 'bare hands or cairy them upon your shoulder, unless they be in a sack. "And the fear of you and the dread of yfou shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth and upon all the fishes of the sea, into your hand are they delivered," if you use our method of, scientific hunting and trap- ping of all kinds of living things or predatory or furbearing animals or fowls of the air, or fishes of the water. A new man cannot hope to learn every- thing in scientific hunting and trapping in a few days, but you can select some one animal as a speciality and learn everything possible a)>out it to start with. When you have thor- oughl}^ learned it, then select another animal and so on through the list. It will surprise you how soon you can master the details of the /business, if you take it up systematically, sub- ject by subject, as we have suggested. Their progress is slow— but certain — and few there are, young or middleaged or old, that escape them of the pleasure of this world and going to the grave without having some recog- nition in this old life. Can ycu afl'ord to continue physically be- low par — to see your earning capacity and usefulness diminish with your health and tlie comforts of body and mind go froim you with advancing years? "For you will be delivered to life in a world where, at the worst, no horror is now incredible, no folly unthinkable, ' no adventure inconceivable. At the best, you will have to deal and be dealt with by communities impa- tient of nature, idolatrous of mechanisms and sick of selflove to the point, almost of doubt- THE sportsman's GUIDE 15 ing their own perfections, in a world liereafter, or for a few clays outing, for America is a country of outdoors. It has the mountains, the lakes, the livers, all the ^wondrous diversified beauties of landscape, or air and sky and land. In northern Arizona, south of Adamanna on the Santa Fe railroad, is the Petrified national forest, one of the greatest natural wonders of America. There are twentynine national forest re- serves in the United States ol" America -for people to camp in or take an outing or recrea- tion. Today Tiien, women and little children in every walk of life, bankers, lawyers, doctors, merchants, farmers, laborers, druggists, news- paper men, manufacturers, rich and poor, from every conceivable vocation express daily, scat- tered over fortyfour states, Canada, Alaska, Australia and in foreign countries, who have found health as a result of outdoor life through- out the world. In every community are literally thousands of persons going down to invalidism and untimely graves as a result of the depreda- tions of their vital forces and yet not to ex- ceed in tlds whole United States liave been established for, or made any noteworthy success of restoring health to these afflicted people who should spend a few days out of doors each year — leave winter behind, leave your workaday self and your cires and your social obligations. The very atmosphere from the first day to the last you are assured of the supreme sei-vice that is the result of iifty years' of experience. ^ It's delightful to cheat the chill winds and escape to the sunwarmed gardens of the eaith! Come out with your family this sumhier and forget dull care, the heat and the sameness. You can get right into these friendly Ig THE sportsman's GUIDE mountains and know them. - You can answer their soulstirrmg appeal. And best of all you can enjoy this wonder- ful vacationland as you wish — do as you please, when you please. Feel the zest and thrill of the snow peaks and glaciers, the mystery of the caves and canyons, the lure of the big open spaces. Wind through the great evergreen forests, camp in the spots you've but dreained of. Fish,, hunt, chmb, explore, swim or golf as you care to, drive the wondiX)us scenic highways. Industrial, commercial and agricultural de- velopment should interest you, too, and perhaps some opportunity persuade you to remain and work where the living is planned just to your liking. There's the hdme for you! Love is that which makes the world go round and causqd the following statement: "Love is and ever has been one of the most powerful motives that rules the human mind. , In all history nothing has so wrung the paternal heart with grief as the belief that a dog and a child is undutiful, unworthy and unloving. Love has led to the greatest tragedies. It has destroyed cities and empires. In all ages, in song' and story, true love and unrequited love have 'been painted as the ruling passions of men and women. Life's a very funny proposition after all, Imagination, jealousy, hypocrisy and gall; Young for a day — then old and gray — Like the rose that buds and blooms then fades and falls away. Losing health to gain our wealth as through this dream we tour. Everything's a guess, there's nothing absolutely sure ; Battles exciting, fates we're fightmg until the curtain's call, Life's a very funny proposition after all! THE SKttT6MAN'S GUIDE 17 Plains where rang"ed vast herds of shaggy buffalo, mountains' valleys where the wild sheep grazed, forest glades where deer found pastur- age. Such, scarce more than a lifetime back. The world cares nothing about what you don't believe— it is what you do believe that Cdunts. Being in touch with the Great Master and nature is what will give you life and set you going and set you free. If you feel dull, useless, Selfworn, sidetracked— now is your hour. Get busy, get a new purpose, motive, plan, idea. Arouse your -mind to it. Kindle your imagina- tion with intense- fires of entliusfasm and slip out into a new orbit of life's expression. You need a new path. You have pitched your tent in the desert of selfpity. Get out. take that old brain of yours and spread it out on, the threshing floor and use the flail of your will and then run it through the fanmill of common sense to blow away the chaff of everybody's opinion. The hour that you put positive thought into postitve action you are on your road to the goal of your infinite realities. You can vitalize the full stale stupidity in your real world with spiritual power. Drop that world into your mental crucible, fuse it with intense thought and you will have spiritual power to mold it as you please. Good health is the natural state of man- kind. All sickness is due to a violation of the laws of health. Most children are bom healthy. All would be, if their parents had never — through ignorance, indifference or carelessness —violated some of these rigid laws. The loss to the individual and to humanity, through ill- health, is so great as to be almost unbelievable. Millions of Americans go outing or gypsy- ing every year. Weekend trip and vacations of a day or two swell tlie multitude that are living outdoors some of the time. All of these 18 THE sportsman's GUIDE are adding- to the general sum of human health, and happiness. Living outdoors becomes so seriously, though. The president of the United States is so strongly in favor of the outdoor life, for the poor as well as the rich, that he has appointed a national policy committee on outdoor life, to coordinate under federal guidance all activities in behalf of outdoor recreation and to formulate a program to serve as a guide for future action. Nor are children to be neglected in the future. If so, don't imagine that you are the only one. There are thousands of others in the same condition. In fact, it's a national com- plaint, but that doesn't help your case — you want to find a dependable way to set a trap and catch wild animals of all kinds. "•You cannot expect any bait to lure animals to a crude or carelessly set trap, but if you use them as directed and which is to overcome the human ^mell on the traps and surroundings, you are sure to get results. An old successful and experienced hunter and trapper designed this valuable sportsman's device. We have instant access to practically every- thing a man could want in sporting and outing or outdoor life for the hunter and trapper. Hunting and trapping is simple, but not as simple as some people would think. A trap should be set so that the immediate surroundings be left as natural as possible. One should first go over the surrounding terri- tory, locating the most premising sites for the trap. In making new programs this year, bear in mind and remember that it is in just these ways that we can do the most ultimate good in hunting and trapping to save some of your or your neghbors' lapibs or pigs or poultry or THE SPOBTSMAW'S GUIDE 19 going out fishing- or just to go out camping for a few days for a rest and to get away from your daily toil or business. Anything that is an aid to the wide distri- ihution of exact knowledge is to l)e earnestly commended and it is by such books as this, books tbat are thoroughly accurate and extreme- ly cheap, that the average of intelligence is raised. The sublimest truths may as well re- main undiscovered as to be hidden in inaccessi- ble places. In presenting this volume, after months ot careful preparation, to an audience that never fails to recognize and reward merit, we know that we are furnishing a textbook to general culture and that never before in the history of bookmaking has so much that is valuable been obtained at so small a cost. Information upon game and fish subjects will be gladly furnished promptly upon applica- tion to the state gaime warden and fish com- missioner of each state. Game and fish, wild birds, also wild animals at all times belong to the state. The state reg- ulates the subject as it deems best, in any man- ner, not the federal law. Tlie United States game warden enforces the federal regulations, regulating migratory and game birds. Whatever you want to know and cannot find it in this book, look in the encyclopedia for exact knowledge of the anilmal you want to learn about and when you have learned all you want to know and then look in this book and it will tell you how to catch this very animal, dead or alive. When one glances at the shelves of a great library and views its array of encyclopedias in many bulky volumes and admirably complete, it would almost seem that there was nothing 20 THE sportsman's GUIDE further to be accomplished in the classified ar- rangement of the various dapartments of know- ledge for the convenience in reference and with respect to the needs of scholars this is indeed true. But something less discursive is required by the ordinary reading public, to whom con- clusions are of more value than the processes by which the results are reached. Much that is elaborately discussed in the great encyclopeias is of value only to the special student and the great standard works, by reason of their very completeness and conseqijent high cost, are little adapted to the wants of the large majority. An encyclopedia condensed and convenient and at the same time full and correct, has long been needed. One that should furnish an abbrevia- tion of discussion, but ijever of fact. One that should be wi1:hin the reach of every one's purse and in a form adapted for constant refer- ence. In compiling this volume, fullness com- bined with brevity has been the essential con- sideration and the many subjects which it handles afford a view of the success achieved. We feel assured that there has been con- densed into the following pages everything that the greater works contain of value to the gen- eral public. A comparison of the number of its subjects with either the Encyclopedia Britan- nica, Appleton's or Chambers' encyclopedias will prove the extraordinary amount of matter con- tained between these covers and its concise and pithy text will be the very essence of those celebrated works. We confidently invite the inspection of all the people of this country to the within work, as meeting a long felt want for a book of infer- ence which would tell them, just what they want to know, in the shortest possible time, devoid of vague theories and bewildering technicalities and at the sajme time be reliable, in the treat- THK SPORTSMAN'S GUIDE 21 ment given in concise and plain English, that it might become the farmers' complete advisor — that the instructions given makes the book the clieapest of its kind. It combines six books in onie, for the price of one and is a sub- stitute for many. A little outing will make you gay, And drive the daily cares away; It spreads the sunshine o'er the place, And biightens up your homiely face! And thiis is furnished by the most expert scientific hunting and trapping specialist in North America. Science has been applied to every kind of wild animal and the hunter and trapper who works scientifically has a great big- advantage over the fellow who follows the old style methods of hunting and trapping. But the professional hunter and trapper who de- pends upon his catch for his livelihood, will not take chances. The only thing you have to learn is to set your trap riglit and put the bait so that when the animal comes to smell of the 'bait the animal will have to cross over the trap. The bait must be aloout fourteen inches froim the trap, depending upon the size of the animal, on the side you think the wind will be blowing from when the animal comes to smell of the bait. If the wind is in the south, put the bait on the south side of the trap, and if the wind is in the north, put the bait on the north side of the trap-^r put the bait on the side you think is best. You can use anything to put the bait on, such as an old stump, stick, dry grass, rock, an old piece of wood, dry cokchip or dry horsetird. Be sure and don't let any human scent get on the thing you put the bait on, for if you do, you will not catch any wild animal in your trap. For if they simell any human scent they 22 THE SPORTSMAN'S ' GUIDE will not come around your trap, for that is a sure thing. Keep all human smell or sign from your trap and around the trap. Rememiber an examination of wild animals that each kind has an odor or scent of its own kind and every kind of animal has a different scent from each other. So if you want to trap wolves you would use the urine of a wolf, for bait and if you wanted to catch some other animal, you would use the urine of the kind of animal you want to catch. The urine of animal catches or lures the same kind of an animal, such as the mink, raccoon, skunk, opossum, muskrat, civet cat, coyote, wolf, beaver, otter, wild cat, marten, fisher, bear, lynx, fox, ermine, mountain lion, wolverine or panther and all other kind of wild animals that I have not men- tioned. Bear this in mind: Do not use all urine of wild animals jmixed. Be sure and have each separated from the other to catch the kind of animal whose uiine you use. Never mix the jUrine of one kind of animal with that of another^ kind of animal. Have a bottle for every kind' of urine. Remember that you must keep all human smell or scent from the bait or urine that you intend to use for bait. If you get any human smell or scent on your bait, the wild animal will not come near the trap if there is any husman smell or scent around. Don't- let the urine touch your bare hands or skin. One trap- per caught fifty mink in one season by using mink urine for bait, by using scientific methods in setting his traps without having ahy sign •or smell left, after he had set his traps. There is one general principle in regard to ibaiting animals that may as w^ll be recorded and explained here, as it is applicable to all cases. THE sportsman's GUIDE 23 It appeals most to men who feel that they can <>et best results with a bait used from the urine of coyoUe, for scent or smell is to be the best bait to lure more kinds of wild animals lo your trap than all other kind of bait that was ever used by the United States agriculture bu- I'eau of biological sui'vey, for they have used or tried all kinds of bait they ever heard of or heard about that would lure any animal to a trap or cause any wild animal to :':o around A\here a trap was settin. One hunter and trapper caught fifty foxes in traps in one season by using pure whisky for bait and by using the right method in set- ting his trap. I mean the way to cover your trap is with fine dirt and leave no human scent around your trap or the suiToundings. Pure corn whisky will not freeze in the coldest of weatl^pr and stay fresh for a long time, hence it is good to use in cold weather. I caught fifteen coyotes, four beavers and one wildcat in one night by using for bait one teaspoonful of ground cinnamon bark and two beavers castors put in one half pint of pure brandy and shaking well before using. By -keeping this fact in mind, the urine froan a dog is good bait. The older the dog the better urine and the louder it will smell. I went to a hotel and gtot the cham'bermaid to save, all the urine she could g^t from the female guests or the feimale human who was in 'heat'' and gave her 50 cents a pint. This is good bait for wolves, wolverines, bears, pan- thers, lions, lynx and all other wild animals that will eat husman flesh. There is no better bait to lure bees and find a bee tree and to watch them go liack to the tree or wliere the hive is. A very old person has the strongest and loudest and reddest urine of any human and it will lure more kind of fishi 24 THE sportsman's guide to your hook tlian all other scents. The next best is sweet anis oil for scent to go on your 'liook. So it is with all other wild animals. The older the better the urine is for bait. You will learn that the kind of animals that cannot talk have to go by scent and will go every time they smell urine right up to the place where it is and stand and sniff and step around. That is the reason you must bait your trap with urine of some kind, for all animals lose their heads when they get a whiff of some urine from a fejmale that is in "heat," or on a spree. This will cause all males to come to your trap ^and sometimes you will get a female. 1 see by looking over all the books that are printed on hunting and trapipng and find that most of the pictures showed that persons setting traps are sitting down on their knees on the ground or sitting flat down. Th9.t is not the rig'ht way to set a trap, for you must stand on your feet ail the time and don't make too many tracks around your trap or signs of human beings and don't handle anything close to your trap with your bare hands. Alwaj^s have on a pair of gloves while you are out set- ting traps. The gloves must be clean and free from smell or odor of any kind. The rig-'ht way to set a trap is for you to stand on your feet all the time and don't lay down or sit down close to your trap, if you want to catch all kinds of wild animals. You must remember that for catching all kinds of wild animals you must put your trap in the ground or cover the trap with fine, dry dirt or sand so that nothing can see tlie trap or any sign of the trap. All traps must be covered at all times and out of sight of the eye of a living animal, if you would be sure of a catch at all times. THE SFOKTSMAK's GUIDE 25 One of €ur friends said recently '*I am thinking- more and more of your Best Condition- er every year when comparing its work with that of others." With this understanding- of th(e matter, confidence anust l)e established as to the enter- prise being: genuine, laudable and respectable and when once that feeling becomes prominent with you the occupation will assume all the advantages of responsibility. Unless you can realize tliat your position carries with it all these qualities, it were better that you did not attempt it until you can say conscientiously that you believe all this to be right and the truth. When all is said and done — seeing is be- lieving. Also reputation is not what we say about ourselves, but what others say about us. Consequently we have published just a very few of the hundreds of statements as to our ability to hunt and trap wild animals. The road to success is wonderfully full of little crooks and turns and there is no "short cut" to the goal. You may have heard it said that "hunters and trappers are born, not made." That is not our theory. We believe that sportsrnen can be educated, just like school teachers, doctors, lawyers and carpenters are educated to their profession or trade. Trapping is one of the few things from which one can derive both pleasure and profit. It affords plenty of outdoor exercise and insures a rugged constitution in addition to being highly profitable. It brings people face to face with nature. People must make a study of nature, the woods, the waters and the ways of animals. I am pleased to say that I have taken the information given under this heading wihich has been carefully prepared. 26 THE SPORTSMAN'S GUIDE As conditions in different sections vary con- siderably, the trapper 'must necessarily use his ovvn best judgment, but whether you are a be- ginner or a regular trapper, if you will read the suggestions through carefully, we believe you will get information that will be of consid- erable, value to you and help you increase your catch of furs. These methods and suggestions have been selected by some of the best trappers in North America. The different methods are made as brief as possible and it is not intended to be an exhaustive treatise of the trapper's art. There is 'but one sure way to combat this most treacherous and insidious of trapping and that is by keeping a true record of everj'' trap set and the way the trap was set and when the trap was set and in what kind of a place and what was caught in the trap, or what kind of animals visited the trap while it was setting in that place. After you have dug a hole just to fit the trap and deep enough to put the drag and chain under the trap and cover it up with fine dirt so that the scent of the trap will not be smelt through the fine dust, then brush over the trap and surroundings until • you cannot see where your trap is setting or any sign of the trap. Then put your bait about fourteen inches from your trap so that when the wind blows the scent from your bait will go over the trap that is hidden in the ground and when the animals come to smell of the bait must walk over the trap. Don't put fresh bait or urine at the trap for at least four or five days, unless it rains. Where your territory is practically unlim- ited, it is well to lay traps in a circular line, which enables one to set out a maximum num- ber of trap and travel is minimized. This is particularly a good idea when the trapper*s time THE sportsman's GUIDE 27 is limited, as it enables one to cover several miles in a few hours. More and more wqmen each year are tak- ing to trapping- in their spare tiime as they can put a trap line out and take care of it without a great deal of! trou'ble and make good profits each, year, so they can be outdoors some of the time. Trapping furbearing animals is no longer a difficult problem:. It is really a very easy matter. It is simply a battle between a man's brains and the aninial's natural instinct. The greatest difficulty in trapping is to get the ani- mal to the trap, for when this has been accom- plished the rest is easy. Of course no one can catch animals where there are none. An animal's keenest instinct is his sense of smell. Deprive him of that sense and he is far more helpless than were he to lose both his sight and hearing. We are informed that tests made by the United States governjment's bureau of agTiculture biological survey have determined the fact that a male wolf has been attracted to a female wolf's urine that was in heat •or dogging and the water caught and put out for bait and the wolf caught who was twenty miles distant When it first smelt the urine of the female wolf. This, we believe, is an extrefrne test and could only be successful with the wind blowing in a favorable direction, yet it surely proves how acute is the animal's sense of smell. Coyote or wolf urine will lure all kinds of wild animals if taken from a female coyote several miles away, as a male coyote will come twenty miles and a coon will go two miles to smell of the. urine or a mink will come one mile to see what it is and will cross over the trap to smeU the bait and a fox will travel five milrs to have a whiff of the bait. So you see that the 28 THE sportsman's guide right kind of bait will* do the work in hunting and trapping. A good bait to use to bait your trap with if! you want to catch all kinds of wild animals. We will assume that you ^nust believe these things. There must ))e no doubt about any of them in j^our mind. If there is, the first thing to do is to investigate and get your mind settled clearly one way or the other, for complete success is impossible to the representa- tive who lacks faith. The next step is to learn as much as pos- sible from the exa;mples of other successful hunters and trappers who have preceded you, so that you may avoid at least some of the obstacles which they have stumbled over and get the benefit of some of their bright ideas, for bright ideas are to be the tools with which you will work and you , must have at least some of them, if you ar6 to succeed from the start. Right here we want to inake a few sug- gestions that will apply, no matter what aninials you are trapping for. To begin with, care should be taken in the setting of the traps and all traps should be handled with gloves, so there will be no human scent on them. Preparing the site for a trap is another important step. There is no luck about hunting and trap- ping business. Vou do things ri^ht or you dot them wrong. The result always corresponds. Here you should bear in mind that fur- bearers are very suspicious of any change that is made in their accustomed haunts or the trail of wild anijmals. Many years of association with the re- (luirqments of the animal at large, have enabled us to understand and supply more successfully THE SPORTSMAN'S GUIDE 29 than has been done before the need of an a))soliitely modem preparation for the scientific hunting and trapping of predatory animals and if you walk to your trap, don't forget that one trapper recommends the nailing of a board about a foot wide and three feet long, to the bottom of your shioes and fasten your shoes at the mid- dle of the board, one board on each foot or shoe. I have used a block of wood two inches thick and one foot square to stand on while I set my trap and rode a horse to keep the human scent off the ground at any trap and surroundings. I never touch anything or let my clothing touch anything close to where I am setting my traps and carry off all the dirt after I have set the trap and when 1 leave I fix the ground and suiToundings as if I had never been there or a trap had never been set there and put my bait so that when the animal comes it must cross over the trap to smell the bait. We want to be ready at all times to meet straiglitforward, honest competition in hunting and trapping predatory animals and for this purpose I recommend a reliable trap as impor- tant to the trapper as a good gun is to the liunter. Number three Newhouse trap with a chain four feet long and an iron drag fastened to tlie chain is the only trap that is absolutely reliable and dependable under all conditions. When you catch an animal you can go and find the animal or some piece of the animal. There is nothing that costs less than to tell the truth and this is yoar guide to know and begin Imnting and trapping in earnest. With this information on hand and know- ledge of wild animals you will be able, or will enable any person to become a successful hun- ter and trapper. If you want to catch wild animals the rules and methods will be found by reading this guide. It is the only true guide 30 THE SPORTSMAN'S QUIDB to catch all kinds of wild animals. I stand for equal rights and justice to all persons in all stations in life. You have spent hours, perhaps days or weeks, months or years, trapping, hunting, tramping the vsi^oods and fields, splashing in freezing strealms and swamps, cold and tired, but ever anxious to do your part in gettmg more fur and now when the result of all your hard work comes in, to this book you are more vitally interested than in any other department,- for here your fur is valued and the reward for your labor is fixed, but it is a good way, an easy way and an economical way that has stood up under the test of years and is growing fevery year into wider popularity. I spent a good deal of the time duiing the summer studying the habits of wild animals and their individual and general characteristics, meeting with many disappointments as well as successes. But as I was never disposed to ac- cept adversity as bad luck or as the will of the Lord, I simply had to find out what caused the failures and study out a way to turn them into successes. If you believe from what I have written that I know thie hunting and trapping business and that this book is not a compilation of clip- pings, but is written from personal experience, then you must know that what advice I have given is good advice to be followed. Nature has a "^vay of her own in looking after her children. She often seems indifferent. The strong prey upon the weak. The death of some means life to others. Even those ancient predatory animals of Egypt must have thought that birds, lambs, pigs and poultry were made for them to catch and kill and eat. When one thinks how this sort of thing has gone oil age after age, he wonders that there are anything THE SPORTSMAN'S GUIDE 3X leit in the world. Valuable as they are, no one will dare say there miglit not be too many living- tilings on earth, lor there must be some way to cause the death of one means life to another and cause the death of the otiier. I can say no more. But I said that I would be orief and tell all the itqms uf interest with utmost thought. Now, you want to know how to put out poison so the posion will be eaten by all kinds of wild predatory animals and to learn to put the poison in meat and fix the meat so the wiU predatory animal will eat it and not taste the poison and will eat the poison like hot cakes by a hungry dog. Get some fresh beef suet and cut into one mch. squares and put these squares in boiling water until they are soft. Take the*m out and put the poison in the middle of these squares and cover tiie poison up good. Fix the poison in the middle of the squares so that you cannot see any sign of the poison. Tlsen lay the squares out to cool. When they get cold and hard fmelt some beef suet in a cup that ;is clean and free from smell or taste of any kind. Get yuu a clean, long handle spoon and take every one of these squares in the spoon and dip tiiem in the melted beef suet. Don't let them stay too long lor they will melt and let out the poison. When you have dipped them in the melted beef suet lay theim out to get cold on a clean paper, without any hiuman scent touching the paper. These squares can- not be touched now only with a spoon provided for tliat purpose. Never let the spoon touch any human flesh, for if you do the wild preda- tory anmials will not eat the squares. Now put them away until you are ready to use them. You can make poison bait out of hog meat and it makes good bait to put the poison in. You must know that any part of the hog will not 32 THE sportsman's guidb do to put the poison in. The strip just down the backbone, about- four inches on either side you can use. Cut this meat into one inch squares and onefourth of an inch thick. Spht the piece in tine middle until you have come al- most to the other side, then stop and open it and put the poison in between the two sides and squeeze them together tight all around the edge. Then look and see if, you can see the poison. Be sure and have all the poison on the inside of the piece of meat so thtat the wild predatory animal will not taste the poison. Have some boiling water and dip these squares in and be quick, so that the hot water will not cause the squares to open. I have a wire just the size of the squares to hold them together, so the poison cannot get out while I dip them. When you have dipped them lay them out on some clean white paper to be used when you are ready to put out the poison. Do not let any human scent get on the • squares, for wild animals will not eat them if they have any human scent on thqm. Now, you are ready to poison predatory animals and always put enough poison on one piece of meat to kill any animal. Put just about as much poison on as you can get to lay on the little blade of your pocket knife. That is enough to kill any wild animal. Put the poison bait or meat where you see the wild animal you want to kill — at some dead animal lOf any kind, for wild animals are hard to poison. You must use every means you can think of tot keep away human scent from your poisoned meat or poison bait, or meat that you put pgison on the inside and see that no one comes near youi- poison after you have put it out. You must have everything clean. Use no tobacco lor spit on the ground. Get a clean sack with fresh meat and 'blood in it and ride a horse and drag the sack all around over the country and THE sportsman's GUIDE drop some of those i>oisoned meat pieces along where you drag this sack with bloody meat, or drag an old dead carcass to the head of a deep hollow and throw it in close to the bank and then put some pois?)n around close. This is a good place fior your poisoned m-eat or make a pile of brush on the trail of predatory animals and drag the sack of bloody meat around this brush pile and drop some of the poisoned bait in the path where you drag the sack and leave the sack on top of the brush pile, or you can drag the sack with tl'.ie bloody meat to some place and drag it in a circle and drop the poison bait in the path where you drag the sack and then lay the sack on the ground and pile brush on top of the sack and leave several pieces of poison Ijait or pieces of poison 'meat fourteen to twenty feet around the outside of the brush pile. Now, you have the waj'^ I make poison •bait and the way I put it out to get results. Now, I am going to leave this with you: Keep all human scent from your poison bait or poison meat, by using a clean spoon to 'handle the poison meat with and ride a horse to put out the poison. Don't put your feet on the ground while you are putting out poisoned meat around a dead horse or dead cow or dead hog or dead sheep that lias been killed by a predatory animal. Be careful with poison and keep it out of the reach of children, or cats or dogs or chickens. Any. wild animal that eats this poison bait will live just thirty minutes — ^if it has a full stomach. If, the stomach is empty it will take effect in ten minutes and will die right now. Some wild animals die running or run until thiey fall dead and some die without a fit or pain, if they get to water the first thing afterdating the poisoned meat or poison bait. How to make poison so that it ^viH kill all 34 THE sportsman's guide / wild anijnals quick and not get far from j'-our poison station or where you put out the poison for predatory animals: Put equal parts of calomel and strychnine, half and half, mix well. This will do the work for you. It did for me. Crows are awful bad after poison bait and you should look out for them. Crows sometimes get your poison meat or bait. All you have to do to kill a crow and lay close to your poison bait or put your poison under a dry cowchip or cover it over withi dead grass or an old bone so the crows cannot see the pieces of meat lOr poison bait, for they are white and anything can see them a long way off. Be sure and don't let any human scent get on any cowchip or dead grass cr anything you put poison on and always use a spoon or ha)^ a clean pair of gloves on your hands when you go to put out poison bait. Don't let any scent of any kind get on your bait or any odor. How to use poisbn to kill such animals as chip monks, ground mice, jmoles, gophers and gToundhogs (woodchucks) or prairie dogs. Striped and ground squirrels may be con- trolled succesfuliy by the use of calcium cyanide or by poison bait, or by letting foxes live. Calcium cyanide, in the form of flakes, granules or dust, is perhaps the most effective. Locate the burrows by means of a long handled spoon and place about a tablespoonful of the flakes or granules as far down in the burrow as possible. Close the burrow jtvith soil or grass. , A good poison bait v/hich *may be placed in the burrow can be made as follows: Dissolve one tablespoonful of laundry starch in a half cup of cold water and stir in onehalf pint of boiling water to make a thin muscilage. Mix one ounce of powdered strychnine with a simi- lar amount of powdered bicarbonate of soda and f TH« SPOKTSMAN'S GtHDE 85 stir the mixture into the hot starch solution to make a smooth papte. Stir in also onefourth pint of heavy corn syrup, one tablespoonful of glycerine and finally one scant teaspoonful of saccharine. Apply to twenty quarts of clean oats nnd mix thoroughly to coat the kernels evenly. Be sure and tell everybody that you are going to put out poison, so if they have any- thing they don't want to get the poison, they can take the necessary precaution and keep it up for if anything gets this poison it is sure death. There is no cure. All things that get this poison bait will die, except hogs. Poison bait will not kill a hog, but will kill all other kinds of wild animals. In hunting wild animals you must know that you have to boar in mind and deal with tl;e wild animal's keen instinct. If you get a shot at a wild animal of any kind you "must go slow and easy, looking carefully, watching to see if you can locate or find or get close to any wild animal by creeping slowly, easy, watching and looking carefully that you make no noise to frighten the wild animal so that it will not run off" before you can get close enough for a shot. Always hunt with having the wind blowing you in the face all the time, day or night, when you are looking for signs or tracks of wild animals, for all wild animals that roam at nigtit sleep in the day tiime, so you must use great care if you want to slip up on the wild animal and find it asleep and shoot it before it wakes. All wild animals sleep after noon. If there is snow then you can track them and shoot the wild animal right where you find it asleep, if you have the wind on the wild animal all the time, as all wild animals go mostly by smell and fowls go by hearing and seeing. I want to say right here that you must 36 THE sportsman's guide look and see if your g*un is ready to shoot on a moment's notice or in -other words, 'be ready to shoot if you see anything to shoot at, by having the shell in the gun. Fox, deer, coyote and bears are easy to track in the snow and finding them asleep on some sunny hillside or where the wind does not blow. Always have the wind blowing you in the face while you are tracking wild animals. The only thing you have to do is to be a good shot to get all the wild animals you care to kill, if you have the wind blowing in your face all the time while you are out hunting, for hunt- ing is like everything else, you must learn how. There is but one right way to hunt to make you a successful hunter. , If you want to kill fowls you must learn to call the t^owl you want to shoot. You can mock some fowls so perfectly that they will come right up to you and then you can shoot as many as you want to. You can mock crows and- they will comis around you like bees after a queen. I knew one person who could miock crows and call them up and kill seventyfive in one day. I am an expert in calling wild turkeys up to ime and I have called wild ducks and geese up and killed them by making a blind along some river on sandbars close to the water. '' How would you like to toe able to go to the bottom or roots of a tree with a big coon in a tree that you could not climb and have four or five good coon hounds barking on the ground, dying to get hold of Mr. Coon and then make a noise and the coon would jump out right now? That is easy. All you have'to do is to malcjei a noise just like a coon with two or three dogs fighting the coon. The coon screams like it was the last breath was alimost gone. Tlie coon that is in the tree will come right /,; THE sportsman's GUIDE 37 down right now. I have learned several coon liunters how to scream and make, the noise that IriRhtens the coon out of the tree. To mock a rabbit is one way to kill sereral kinds of wild animals and that is to climb a tree and have a good gun loaded and be quiet and go like something had caugiit a rabbit and if there is any wild animal close it will come un- der you to see what had the rabbit. Then you can shoot the ani(mal. Or tie out a wild female coyote that is in heat and climb a tree close to where you have the coyote and be still and wait for some wild animals to come up so you can get a shot. While you are out hunting always look for tracks and signs of wild animals and if you can find the signs and tracks then you will not have much trouble in getting to shoot them, lior all you have to do is to keep the wind blow- ing in your face all the time while you are out hunting and make as little noise as possible and keep your eyes open, watch and look all the time fcr wild animals. . If you have duck caller, or a goose caller, •or a turkey caller and practice until you are perfect, 1 tracked up foxes in the anow and killed six one day, finding them askep in the sun where it was warm and the wind did not blow on a cold winter day. Was you ever put on a stand when a pack of hounds were running a deer at full speed? A stand is a place wl;ere a person gets to kill wild game and the person must hide themselves good and bfe quiet and never move while on the stand, for wild game will see or hear or smell you. Always have the wind blowing you in tlie face Lrom thje way the game is coming. A stand is a place between two hills or where several hollows come togeth- er or wiici'o several fences cross or where low 38 THE sportsman's guidb land, called lowgap, between two peaks. The driver can have hounds or boys or men to go around over the country and make noise all the time and to go where the persons are on the stands and scare the wild game through the stand so when the person hid can shoot whatever kind of game comes close. The driver can run deer, foxes, coyotes, turkeys and wolves through the stand. This is one sure way to g'et g^me. I have killed one coyote and four foxes on a stand myself, by using houiwls to run the gamp through the place where I was hid or where I gpt and kept still. You want to be sure and get where you think you can get a shot at some kind of game every time you go out driving for game. This is a good place to kill rabbits on a stand, if you keep quiet and don't make much noise to scare them off or frighten away the gaime. A really wild animal, when disturbed, ran like a Jeer. He put every ounce of energy into ihis speed and endurance. He did not give up. He was either subaued or completely exhausted. It took a fast horse to catcu a wild animal, even in a fairly open country. I have known wild animals to run until they fell dead. It might be just as well, after you have fully made up your mind to take on a deer hunt by having hounds to chase the rabbits around where you are standng. At sundown the deer will come out to feed in the prairie, often close to the road. now to be an expert marRsman in shoot- ing and to hit the spot everj^ time you shoot and never miss anything you shoot at. It don't take a steady nerve or to keep the gun still or to hold the gun without having it wdbble from one side to the other, or to let the gun go up and down. All you have to do is to hold the THE sportsman's cuide 39 i-jun long enough on the spot to pull the trigger of your gun. Now, just practice pulling the trigger when you get the sights of your gun on the object you want to shoot. Tiiat is all you have to do or to learn to be an expert in shooting or in marksmanship. Hold the gun with a mind and will, so that when you have the sight in direct line with your spot or game, pull the trigger. Now don't wait until you let your gun wobble off your spot or gattne and all you have to do is to pull the trigoer when tho sights of the gun are in a direct line with the game or spot. That is all. Nevei- think of wobbling your gun or missing the spot. Just aim at the spot and when your sights get in line pull the trigger. Now, don't wait. Have 3^our gun ready to shoot at all times. Keep a clear mind and a level head, with the thougiit that you are going to kill the first thing that comes in sight. Study about the game or the spot you are gx)ing to shoot at and wi^en you shoot you must have in mind an intent to kill or hit the spot. How to shoot all kinds of wild animals so the animal will not get away from you. There are two ways to shoot to kill. Tho first one is to shoot the animal in the center of the animal's forehead so the bullet will go through the brain and into the marrow of the backbone. This shot kills instantly. Sometimes the animal never moves after you shoot. This is a safe place to sho<;;t to kill all kinds of wild or tame animals. The second place is to shoot through the shoulder blade or through the backbone with a highi power rifle then cut the ham string or throat. The hounds that run every day or night in the hunting season of each year or at a big 40 THE SPORTSMAN'S GUIDE hunt of any kind, must be fed so the dog, will stand the running and be the gamest to the finish or catch the wild animal. The bestr food for a dog or hound that is hard at work to keep healthy and free from disease that the world has ever found out is two handfuls of rice and two strips of bacon boiled and one pint of cooked beans for eaeh dog or hound given at night. Be sure and boil good and cook done, for you want to know the best food to feed your dog or hound that all sportsmen and mail car- riers who use sleds with dogs hitched to them to go over the mountains in deep snow in the arctic rdgions. This is the kind of food that I fed my dogs and hounds and I found they ran faster and longer and stayed to the «nd of the chase, or finish or catch. This diet is found to be the only food was iboiled rice with a few pieces of soft bacon mixed and the dogs fed once a day, cooked to a pala- table consistency. Where persohs arei tr|o^bled with wild animals and some persons in the neighborhood are trying to keep you from protecting your property and want you tO' let wild animals de- stroy all the pigs and lainbs and poultry you are trying to raise, just tell them to stay off your place. This is your place and you can kill all the wild animals you wa:nt to on your own place or rented land in season. Just kill the wild animal while it is after your property. That is all you have to do to beat the law out of season. "■ Fox hunters must kill all the wild wolves and coyotes, for they will catch and kill or eat all kinds of wild game. The wolf or coyote will kill and eat all the foxes, coons, rabbits, quails and squirrels that they can find. Foxes will not stay very long in any neighbor- TRB sportsman's GUIVB 41 ho^)d where there are any wolves or coyotes. One way to get rid of red foxes is to get a pair of coyotes and turn them loose in the neigh borhotvd and when the coyotes run off the foxes or kill them, all you have to do is to kill the coyotes and then you will not have any f-oxes left. If the fox hunter wants any foxes left to run they should get busy and help to catch and kill all the wolves and coyotes and wildcats, so the stockmen and farmers can raise [more lambs, pigs, calves and poultry and when all the wolves and coyotes are caught and kilkid we think the stockmen and fanners will let the poor foxes live. Foxes are the greatest hunters, catchers and killers of moles, gophers, chipmonks, ground mice, ground squirrels, snakes and rab- li>its. These animals destroy lots of grain, fruit trees and valuaP)le land by causing washes, gulleys and deep hollows in the middle of the ^Hs. A female fox with a den of young ones is worth #1,000 to a neighborhood in catching moles that will take up a field of com in a week. Ground mice will dig out corn that has been planted. So mW the chip monk and ground squirrel. I went to a fox den and found dead that the foxes had caught, killed and carried in to feed the little foxes twentyfour moles, nineteen of the moles were females, two gophers, one ifetnale, six ground mice, five females and one fe- male ground sqiiin^el. If the fox had let these animals alone in five years ti'me and all the females had had young ones and all the young ones had lived, and their offspring had lived, there would have been 75,000 mice, 100,000 moles, 1,500 gophers and 5iO ground squirrels. This was only one night's catch which kHlcd :i 95,000 animals. . Foxes oifgflilt not to be caught and killed, 42 THE sportsman's guide for they do more good and skve more than all the rest of the wild animals put together in helping the farmers to raise their crops oi- fields of grain. If the fetmale fox with a den of young ones bother the farmer's chickens or any other young stock, all you have to do to move the fox den is to put a white flag two feet square at the den, or peel a ix)le ten feet long and put it in the den where the young foxes live and keep putting tins ix)le in the hole and keeping it up as long as the foxes are bothering anybody. If you -move a female and her young to a n&w neighborhood or cause the foxes to move, they will not bother any farmer until they hunt, catch, kill and eat all the moles, mice, chipmonks ' and rabbits in the neighbor- hood, then Tnove their den to another neighbor- ihood and when the foxes clean out that neigh- borhood they move tO' another and keep this up as long as the old foxes have to feea their young. Foxes will not eat any poultry or young stock if they can get anything else, and you see to cause them to move their young to a new neigihiborhood will help all around and he gxx>d for the fanners. Say, if we could get the fanners to see how useful the foxes would be if they could only live, the farmers could save the foxes from being killed and I don't think there is a farmer living that would have a fox killed for any sort of money value if "they knew how valuable foxes are to save fann produce. Foxes are the most useful animal on the farm. Why not let the foxes live? Foxes catch and kill and eat- enough of the other animals that do great damage to pay for all -the damage the foxes do themselves. Foxes do not go near a farkn house where the farmer keeps a dog. Foxes are easy animals to move THR SrORTSMAH's GUIM 43 from one neighborhood to another. We think with the aid of the farmers, true lox hunters and sportsmen that the foxes can be kept on some broke« country where the tox hunters can go and have a fox chase with all the hounds runninir at full speed, wiH make a noise that sounds sweeter than any music Mian ever heai'd. Who will help to save all the foxes so that w« can run them to the full desire of each one's heart •? What do we get out of hf« any way.' Why not enjoy scjme of this world's pleasure while we live? So save the foxes! Foxes are the farmers' best friends. Many farms have 'been greatly damaged, if not utter- ly ruined, by washes which were started by moles and pocket g<)phers. In fact probably 60% of the washes that have damaged or ruined f^rms can be traced to the ravages (»i t^-ese pests. Protect your foxes and the like. 90% ot whose food consists of moles, pocket gcrphers, ground squirrel and similar pests. Then you will have few or no washes on your farm. This i^ the advice of the government agricultural department at Washington and the assurance of many farmers who have received the hrst copies of the edition of this book. The chief object of the book is the enhghtenment of fai?mers as to the splendid service rendered them by foxes and the like, in destroying farmers' pests— enemies of agriculture. There is certainly need of e^lucation along this line and we are sure that a wide reading of this book will accomphsb' much among the farmers who are now protecting their foxes because of the good they do. ^ , 4. Windswept farins. the largest contributor ' to the present leftlalation can submit to its edict for harmony's sake in the hope that the legislature will fintJ its head and feet. So can 44 THE SfORTSMAN'S GUIDK and will all faiislg-Hted fox killers, for they are more devoted to the idea of a competent National legislature than thoy are to any protection system €n earth, but dearer still is held fair play and the square deal to secure these. They trust that there are enough levelheaded men in the present legislature, with tolerance and regard for the rights of all and for the greatest good to the greatest numbed. It is to be hoped that all such will cast the next majority vote taken in the sunlight after candfH, open debate to set the industry on sound business principles before the public and to make for prosperity, security and good fellowship within its ranks. My experience with foxes lead me to believe that stockmen in the United States are letting a gold- en opportunity slip by when they permit other fellows to kill theif foxes out of season. It is in my opinion, strictly a stockman's job and the big money in it should go into the farmers* pockiets and not inif> the pockets of hunters, trappe*^ and town sportsmen who pursue it as a vocation. The farmers feed and raise the foxee. Then wfiy should a f^f&i^r let a person kill young or old foxes out of season, just because the fox is a wild animal and can be chased with hounds and when the hide or fur is not worth anything and just because someone finds a fox den and then get a gun or steel trap and see how many they can kill? What do they get out of this kind of work? S®metimes they get a full day's work digging out a fox, just to kill some harmless animal and if you want to do what is right and just you will move the foxes. But who will d£> this? God knows. I don't. It is a shame f^t the farmer will let a person gt) out on their fai^ and diff out or trap out a fox deri or silioot out 'ox kill Some little fcwes, just because they can — and for no other reason THB SeORTSM Air's QUIOE 45 than the meanest reason. No ono can do so much to preserve fame as the farmer. If h^ limits or reduces the killiHg he is helping save game and the sport of hunting for his children. If every farmer would allow^ only half as much game killed oti his farm the supi>ly \vx)uld inci'ease rapidly. But gsr»e cannot stand the slaughter now !.>emg made each year and increasing. It goon will he like the buffalo, the eastern prairie chicken, the ruffled gi'ous^ or pheasaiit aaad othftr almost extinct game. America'? wild fowl are in th^r last datys, wnJess their j^slaughter by sportsm(?n 4b very largely curtimed at once. Thjis is the statement otf a noted naturalist arid defender of wild life. 46 THE sportsman's GUIDE HOW TO HUNT AND TRAP WOLVES AND COYOTES. Know all persons that the methods herein are the best found in print by the experience of the most expert hunters and trappers of wolves and coyotes who have ever lived in this world. Wolves and coyotes are so destructive in kill- ing and eating lambs, pigs, calves, poultry and sometimes children,, what a great Iblessing it would be if every person who is l>othered with wolves and coyotes would get a copy of this book and tell eveiybody about it. Gentlemen, right here is where I am going to tell you about the way you must do to trap wolves and coyotes by the science of the present day methods that must be used to successfully hunt and tiap wolves and coyotes. ^ How to set a trap so that it will catch; every time that a wolf or coyote comes around your trap, for that is what a person wants to know. For if you cannot set a trap right, how do you expect to catch wild animals in a trap, let alone a wolf or coyote, which are the hard- est wild animals that lives to trap. But it is easy, if you do it the way I say and no other way will do it successfully and that is to set the trap in tlie right place and have the trap set right and covered right with fine dry dirt or dust and the finer and drier the dirt the better you can set your trap, because wild animals cannot smell through fme dry dirt or dust and when you use the fine dry dirt so the wolf or coyote cannot smell your ^cent or the scent of the trap you have set for the wolf or coyote. Now, you must get the outfit to use to set the trap and keep off the human smell or scent so the wild animal will come to the trap and not be afraid to get caught or hurt. You need THK sportsman's GUIDB 47 a 'small ax or hatchet to dig a hole in the ground to put the trap in and a piece of cloth about three feet wide and five «eet long to put the dirt on that you dig out of the hole for the trap and to stand on while you are setting the trap. This cloth can he used to place the trap and lay on all the things that you use to set the trap with, and all the dirt you take out of the hole where you dig to put your trap, chain and drag so that nothing touches the ground. ffhen you need a cover to put over the pan of the trap so the dirt cannot get under the pan of the trap while you are setting the trap or while the trap is setting to keep the pan from working or let anything get under it. You can use almost a^y kind of old cloth that has laid out on the ground or weatherbeaten or any old ciinvass without grease or smeH or scent of any kind. IVLike a good cover to gp over the pan of the trap. The cover must be cut out so that the trap will work right. The proper way to cut out the cover is to turn the trap upside down on a piece of white paper and then take a lead pencil and mark around the jaws of the trap on the inside of the jaws of the trap and then lake a sharp knife or scissors and cut around the mark and cut a notch where the trigger goes, then turn the trap right side up and lay the pattern on the trap and see if tlie cover will go on the inside of the jaws of the trap and put the notch that you have cut in the pattern over the trigger and try the trigger and see if the trigger comes up without touching the cover, for if the trigger touches the cover it will sometimes throw the wild animal's foot out of the trap, but when you have the pattern cut right it will let your trap work right. Then you can cut out all the rest of your covers by this pattern. You will never get too many covers made, for you will need 4d THE sportsman's GUKME about twentyfive covers on hand all the time, free from the smeU of the human scent. You must wash off all the dirt or smell and human scent from the ax, covers, cloth and the traps. Now, put in hot water that has sonie lye in the water, not very strong and ,wash your ax, covers to the traps and the cloth that you muai use to stand on or put your dirt on, or any- thing you use or touch that is used in setting a trap in this water and don't touch anything* with your hands. Use a stick or something to keep the human smell or scent from getting on the ax or cover or the pan of the traps or the cloth that you are going to put all the stuff on thjat you use in setting your trap with and the dirt you take ou^ of the hole that you dig to put your trap in, for wolves and coyotes or any other wild animal tba4; you are trapping for arid make the ^ter strong enough with lye so the lye will taj^taff the rust, grease, smell and humaii scent off the traps and whetti 3|i>u have washed them in the water with lye gocfi, then rinse in clear hot water two or thr^ times and change the water every time you rinse and have clear, clean hot water every time you rinse your traps or things you use In setting your traps and after you have washed and rinsed your outfit lay them out to dry on a clean, dry board to dry where they cannot get any scent or smell or dirt or touch any living animal or beast or human being. I mean that children must not touch anything with their bare hands that is used in setting traps with, if you want to catch wolves or coyotes or any other wild animals in traps. When dried get a clean sack or bag that has no smell or Imman scent about it, then i>ut the ax and cloth in a bag together and have a small box to put the covers of the traps In to keep them free from human scent and there rtmtit not be any temelS %it any kind aboat fh« box and be sui« not to Couch the covers with your b«re himda at atiy time. Then put th« traps in a clean weal sack or bag of flom« cloth! free from grease smell or scent of any- thing and don't let any person touch or handle the traps with bare hands, nor a dog, eat i?y <-hildreu touch the traps nor the Inaido of the sack where the traj>fl are and put the traps wliere nothing can touch them. Put the traps in one sack and the ax in another sack or bag njude for that purpose and never carry them Joo6e on your back nor in your bare lianda at any tinao. You must never ]tmt your traps in a hcHa unleBS you dig it yourself, for it you put a trap m where the wild animal lives, the wiM aninxal knows you are trying to trap or catch it Wild animals are not fools and they will leave the place. That 13 the reason so many persons fail to catch them. Any person can put a trap in a hole. But, say, wild animals are not such fools as you think they are. And now please do not bo found guiity of putting a trap in a hole where wild animals live to trap or catch them, for if you want the wild animals to leave, just put a trap in a hole where it lives and that wild animaS will leave right now. Say, you keep that ax and cloth separate that you use and carry the traps separate from the ax and cloth in a sack or bag that is clean and free from smell and odor of any kind. Now you are ready to learn to set a trap the right way to catch a wolf or coyote or all kinds of wild animals. There is but one true and right way to set a trap, but th^re are lots of placea where you can set; a trap "and catch all kinds of wild animals, but you must set the trapt? where th«3 wc*f and coyote runs or Uretj, before you can mich them, for they will 60 '^B STOftTSAtAjfB (ittniE not come to j'^our trap, but you must take the teap to the places where the wolf and coyote stay and catch; wild animals of all kinds the right way. Then you get all of yorar outfit and everything- you need to set a trap the rig^ht way together and set the trap in camp or set traps at home — one several times or set several traps until you have learned to set a trap good. Now, when you go to set a trap you must have a pair of clean gloves. Then spread out the cloth where you are going to set the trap and get on the cloth, with your feet and stay on »the cloth and turn the springs of the trap on the side that the trigger is on and put tins side to the place where you are going to put the bait and then lay the trap in the place where you want to have the trap set and take a stick and mark out the trap and dig the hole just as big as the trap and have the hole same size of trap, no bigger or any smaller. After a little prac- tice you will learn to dig it just right to fit. Now dig your hole for the trap deep enough; so you will have it)om to put the chain and drag' in the same hole that you put the trap in. When you have put the drag in the hole, put the chain on top of the drag aijtd cover viith dirt or put dirt on top of the chain and drag until the trap will come to within one half an Inch of the top of the ground and then put dirt all over the springs and around the jaws of the trap on the outside of the trap and tlien take a stick and rake all dirt or anything you find under the pan and fix the dirt so that none will get under the trap, then put the cover on the trap that you have made for that pur- pose to keep the dirt from getting under the pan of the trap and then piit the cover on the trap over the pan. Just fix the notch, that you cut in the cover for the trigger so the trigger will eome up without touching the cover. Tlieij xtat BPorrsMAif'e oum 51 ^ft fine dirt all over the cover and trap until the place where the trap is setting is full and then you want about oneeighth of an inch of fine dirt on the cover. When you quit brushing over the ground where the trap is setting, put all the dirt you take out of the hole on this cloth and everythinp- you do not want left and carry it off over 2(H,) yards away and be sure not to let any dirt you dig out of the hole touch the ground or any of the things you use to set the trap with. Now, you want to learn to fix the ground so the wild animal will not see any sign of you or smell or any scent or ajiy disturbance of any kind, just leave the place as if you had never been there or anybody else. You can use dead grass for brushing over the trap and surroundings of the trap. Some use turkey wings, an old foroom or weeds to brush around the trap. Now, you set the trap justi as I have told 3'ou. It don't make any difference in the animal or place. The only thing you must do is to keep all human scent away from your trap and the surroundings and set your trap so the animal cannot see or smell the trap. Have the trap well hidden and covered, but not too deep, for if it rains a crust will form over the trap eo hard that the animal cannot break through to thj-ow the trap and sometimes when it rains the ^sun shines so hot as to bake the top of the gmund so hard over the trap that the animal cannot break the crust over the pan of the trap and so you had better look about your traps after every rain and put fine dry dirt all aroun.i and over the trap without hav- ing any human scent left alx)ut your trap. When you have set several traps around home and learned to set a trap i%ht, then you are ready to go out to set traps and try your 'S0 vtm mmemeAt^ smm luciL on wild emimalB* Be sure that yo& set every trap as good as ^ou cm^ for the better you set the trap the quicker you wiii catch. You vdll soon learn that you must set your traps right if you catch' and if you set your traps right and fix the sunwuhdings right and remove all human scent and signs from your traps and put the bait in the right ^ace the wild animal wil! come and put its foot In your trap every time it gets a whiff of the bait and I am gmng to tell you how to fix your bait so you cannot misg the right way to bait your traps* How to get your bait mtd what kind is best to use to catch wild animals of all kinds. Eacbi anima! has a smell of itself. Wild animals have a way to distinguish each, other and to know each other. Wild animals use scent to com- municate to each other or ^follow each other. They want each other to know when and wtefe they are. When a new animal comes into the neighborhood, each wild ani^nal will urinate on something in the path where they travel ami every time an animal comes along it will urinat© on the! same thing. So you see that the urin» of an animal will be the best bait for catching wild animals. To giet the ^Imil you have to catch the wild animal you want to get the bait from. WheTi you catch the animal tie the animaFs mouth tight so that it caimot bite you. -Tie its legs together across each other and carry it in. When you get in take some water in a cup and untie its mouth, open its mouth and pour all the water down its neck that you think the animal can hold. Then tie its mouth again with a stout cord or string* so the animal can- not pull off the cord you tie jiround the place whfere the water comes out. If the animal is a mal© Uei a cord or ^jout Effering around the AntumVfii penis so that it ml) not slip off, for K^omotimes the water gets in there so tight it pushes the string off the penis. If the animal is a female tie a cord or stoat string around ihe animal's vagijia or volva so tight that the animal cannot get the string off. Let the string remain on for eighteen hours before you kill the animal by choking to death or putting tho animal in a sack and drowning it. When dead untie the string, or cut it and have a can or cup and hold tho can or cup under the place where the water cojraea out and catcii it Bon't let any of the urine waste oi* spill. Be sure and do each animal this way to get the water or uriuB from the animal you want to Qjso for baft When you skin the animal cut in the tanimal and gjet ttie bladder and take all the water out of the bladder. Put the water or uiine In a bottle and cork it tight and keep in a cool place. Don't, let tlie urine freeze. Tlifs is the way to get the urine that you are going; to use for bait, from a coyote, fox» mijik, coon or just any other animal that you can get your hands on. If, you cannot do any better, use the urine from eb old dog, which will catch any animal that you want to bait from to start with, but as soon as you get any wfild animal you can get the urine from it, so that you can have better bait. Save all the urine you can from a coyote, for their urine makes the best bait of any wild animal. 1 keep a tame coyote for its urine, ao tihat I can have fresh bait at any time I want to catcha wild animals. Now, you have yimr bait ready to set your traps the right way and have the right kind of bait U) caixdi tho wild animals. Thore are «everal kinds of bait to am to UMich diilereut lKind«i of wild animal/^, liut tbre §4 THE ^ORTSMAW'S GUIME I best bait is the urine ©i" a coyote. It wiQ lure more kinds -of wild animals ta your trap thao any o^her bait. The next best 'bait is the urine of the animal itself or thfe urine of the same kind of a wild animal. Some think that two beaver cartors and one teaspoonj;ui of ground cinnamon bark in one half pint of brandy, put in a botfele and shake well before using is good bait. I have used it myself and had good lucfe in catching wild anijnnals. Whiskey makes good bai^ if it is pure old com whiskey. If you have a wild animal or a dog that you ddnt want to kill, make a crate and put the animjal or dog in it, so you can catch the urine. Thjd with a trap on the top end of the pole* Have your trap set all the tlm© and fix the hfen and chickens so that a hawk eannot get any of them, for thert^ are ftCX) bin& ol; hawte In the world. A trap fehiat will catch all Mnds of wiicS animals alive so you can bring them home alive ivithout doing', the animal any harm or damagre?. Ail you hme to do is to find the animal in fit hoks or cave and thien make a wire trap with a funnel in one end and fasten up the other end so the wild animal cannot get out and put thia trap in the hole or cave and fix tke trap so that the wild animal cansiot get around or out of the hole or cave without, going through the traij. The bigger the animal the larger and strongear the wire must be. This is a good way to cysitch foxea or any- other wild animal. One weilknown sportsman got a bear by tracking it into a cave and put a wire trap madef iit number nine fencing wire, four feet high, doubled in the mouth of the cave smd let ft staj* untjil the bear came ont or starve out or get so hungry that it cam© out* Put feed or fresh meat in the trap. This trap must be made Just as the mnskrat chicken wire trap~^ne of best traps on earth for catching wild animate alive. After you can confine the \\?ilcl minimal ta a small place or in a hole or cave or m iMe water and use whig,^ to k^ad. the animal or &iH into the trap. Always keep several nice trapa (m haxid at all timea to put iia hioi&m m ^ vmt fill ojE gwetjual m^rts of igood whi3k©.v irjrtkeB a s^ckkI trail »co,t\f. and iSah and fi*ii worm^y- 3;:«;t. in a ja? and with a light. lid ab*3ttt two mo.otJ(8 iUoi'Di^'j you intiead ifx lisa for scent ia gtJ^Ki luiit; j>>i" moiks- Oil of AWiMit aai&o is %lflo i3*ged by !»om« ilitjnters and tmppeirs f^f .•..,.,.r,(: <.-, iin.v, .j^nri aaiitmis to their trnpB^ ,^-~r ;i^re»^e or aineU ^nd it migbt pay tc> wAsh your tmpa In strong .iyt) water once a inontli, if it muia much, for trapa «et rusty l» tli« water md .strong !y« will take off ruflt. Never greiaee % trap, but rmso your trap well and m^mr kt aiiy huuiis^n twjcut g«l on your trai>« and li? it. fhyea, yoij go now and wash them in Btrong lye wni^r «iiid by setting your traps you can ©eo in a few fiiiy.:J whether you have set your trap right and free from ihjoman scent arotind r,he trap. I don't see why persons that have wild animalft on their places don't h^iy thia i?uide and stop persons from h'mting and Snipping or runniuj; through their f^Jacen ?> ag gatct^ open and tearing iigo i« the l>ait» Why not, c&ijch the wild animals and Jiavo ail tJie fur and ifxmnty for yourself? Beai