ight without killing any deer. I had seen a number of marten tracks
during the afternoon. The next morning it was thawing and the boys
feared they would lose the tracking snow, so Charley and Will hurried
to localities where they expected to find deer. I sliced some strips
of venison from the fore-quarters, or rather what was left of the
fore-quarters, of the deer Charley had killed the first day out. I
made tracks to the ridge where I had seen the marten tracks, and I
lost no time in putting up deadfalls at the best pace I was capable
of getting into.

In the afternoon on my way to camp I came to the creek some ways
below where I had set the mink traps, so I put up two or three more
deadfalls for mink. I also found a big flood drift which otter were
using for their feeding grounds. I selected places to set the other
two steel traps which were in camp, and then went to camp, looking at
the mink traps on the way, but found that none had been disturbed.

When I got to camp I found both Charley and Will there, and each had
killed a deer. Will had killed a good sized buck close to camp, so he
dragged it down to the shanty to dress and hang up. The boys gave me
the laugh because I had not killed any deer. I told them to hold
their breath and I would get into the harness after a bit. In the
morning the snow was all gone and the boys were afraid that it was
going to get so warm that their venison would spoil. Cuts were drawn
to see which one of them should go to Kane to get a team to take out
their venison. It fell on Charley. They tried to have me join in the
draw, but I told them that I did not see where I came in as I had no
venison to spoil.

The weather kept warm for several days, so I kept building deadfalls
on the different ridges for marten and along the creek for mink and
coon. Charley and Will continued to still hunt, killing several deer.
When the snow came again I had all the traps up I intended to build,
but it turned out that later I built two deadfalls for bear. I now
put in my time still hunting, shaping my course as much as possible
so as to tend to my traps. I killed a deer occasionally as did the
other boys. I set the two steel traps on the drift where I had seen
the otter signs, and the second time I looked at them I found an
otter tangled up in one of the traps.

I was also getting mink, marten and coon now and then, and
occasionally I would get two mink or marten in one day. I would cut a
long slende