onditions that a trapper
meets with in this region are far different from what they are in the
East. The trapper who is planning a trip in that section before
starting out should examine his feet close to see that there are no
tender spots on them. The man who makes a success of trapping in this
region must be a man who can stand grief and hardships a plenty, for
he will run up against it often. He will find the mountain streams
hard to get along; he will have but little use for a boat as the
streams are rapid and full of boulders. In most cases the trapper
will be compelled to take his outfit into the mountains by pack
horses, and in many cases it will be necessary for the trapper to be
the horse.

The trapper to succeed in a financial way must take in a supply of
provisions to last at least until the first of June, for it is during
April, May and even June that he must do his bear trapping; for the
bear holes up or goes into hibernation down in the lower land and
does not show up much in the mountains until spring.

The trapper must provide himself with a good number of traps of
different sizes from the No. 1 for marten to the No. 5 for bear; and
that means a whole lot of packing and hard work. He must have at
least one pair of snow shoes, and should have an extra pair in case
of a mishap, in the way of breakage. One good gun is all that is
likely to be needed, and don't load yourself down with a lot of
revolvers, hunting knives, etc. A good strong pocket knife is all
that I have found necessary, though one should have more than one
knife no matter what kind he may use.

Here I will say a word as to a gun especially for the trap line. The
manufacturers of guns have as yet failed to make it. The Marble
Game-Getter comes the nearest to it of any now made, but that is not just
to my liking. We would do away with one of the barrels, and have a
single barrel, 44 caliber straight cut, with cartridges for both ball
and shot with 15 inch barrel, skeleton stock, similar to the Stevens
Pocket shot gun. Mind, I am speaking of an arm on purpose for the
trap line, and this kind of a gun would do the work and be light to
carry.

Now the expense for an outfit to go into the mountains for a season's
campaign is necessarily a considerable item. It is quite necessary
that the trapper has a number of camps on his line at advantageous
points, for the trapper cannot cover sufficient territory from one
camp to make it pay; besides, a