e, which is a
fact, and took place in these same woods: The Warden was telling a
crowd at the hotel how his attention had been called to a doe that
some one had killed and hung up in a certain place in the woods. The
Warden said he went and found the deer and watched for ten days, but
no one came for the deer. A party standing by said to the Warden,
"Oh, that is a way we have of fixing you fellows--we kill a doe, hang
it up on the outskirts of the deer hunting grounds, then give you
notice of it, and while you are watching the dead deer, we are
killing the live ones." The Warden, after listening to the man's
story, remarked, "Well by Jonathan! that is one on me--come on."

The above joke was actually got off here at the hotel in this town.

The number of bears killed in this part, fall of 1911,
notwithstanding that the use of steel traps is prohibited, was larger
than has been in years. A party of thirteen from this place went into
the woods on the Trout River, and during the ten or twelve days they
were there, they killed seven bears--five in one day. And there were
several deer killed.

Now comrades, while we can't all agree on the justification of the
game laws, we should all join hands and try to protect what little
game we have left by getting the bag limit materially cut down, and
give fifteen days more time to the hunter. Then stand by the law,
or soon the game will all be gone with the exception of a few
cotton-tails and what game is on private reserves, and posted lands.

CHAPTER XXX.

Southern Experiences on the Trap Line.

Comrades of the trap line, I am not able to report a large catch of
furs the past season, 1910. I did not catch much fur, but say, boys,
I had a good deal of experience nevertheless. I will try to tell of
conditions as I found them in North Carolina.

I first stopped in Lee County, where I met Mr. A. L. Lawrence, one of
the _Hunter-Trader-Trapper's_ most ardent friends. After stopping
here a few days and seeing some of the sights in Lee and Moore
Counties, Mr. Lawrence, now my friend and partner, a gentleman whom I
had never known before, started for Bladen Co., N. C., where we
expected to be kept up a good portion of the night in order to keep
up with the skinning and stretching of the numerous furbearing
animals caught during the day. Well boys, I will say that we were not
troubled in this matter at least.

While there is more fur in that section than in the north, there are