For Christmas, I got the EJ Dailey book by Scot Dahms. I was always fascinated with him, because of his involvement with Fur-Fish-Game magazine, and soon after I got a drivers license and a first ride, with my parents permission, I drove to visit him at his trappers supply shed, near Ogdensburg, NY. I was 17 or 18 at the time. While reading the book yesterday and today, I have figured out that EJ was about 75 when I met him. I remember that he was short, and walked in a stooped over position.

This book is very good. It's not a "how to" book like those of Mr. Dobbins and others, but more of a biography of his life. I am just truly amazed how EJ, and others from that era, did what they did and didn't lose their lives. I have now been several places in the Adirondacks where EJ trapped, and I know first hand how desolate, forbidding and cold it gets there. This was long before the modern day luxuries like Gortex, good rain wear, hand warmers, propane camp stoves, cell phones, GPS devices, ATV's, snowmobiles, etc., etc., etc.

EJ would hike miles to set traps, put up a pup tent, stay overnight and continue on the next day. Critters were skinned in the woods, for the most part, so only the pelts had to be carried out. According to the book, he would take as many as 500 traps in with him and set up his lines, all carried on a toboggan or a pack basket. He walked miles and miles.

As I dream back to my 20's or 30's, I realize that I could never done this. It is absolutely unbelievable what EJ, and other trappers like him, endured.

Another thing that really amazes me is the price he got for fur. In the early 1900's, he was getting $4 for Muskrats and $9 for Skunks. What would that be in today's dollars?? Here we are, a hundred years later and I don't think 'rats are even worth much more than $3.50.

This book is a true awakening as to the hardships and dedication that those early trappers had. It almost makes me wish that I was alive back then -- although, I would have insisted on having a side-by-side, a GPS, a warm skinning shed and a hot meal every night. On second thought--I never would have made it. I would have been one of those guys whose body was found, frozen solid, under a Spruce tree, the next morning!!

Ron

The Long Line trappers of that time period were some remarkable woodsmen. They understood wildlife and nature like few others.

I had the pleasure and good fortune to learn from one of the last of the long line by foot trappers, Harry Judkins of Bradford,PA. He would do app. 20 mile loops running 3 lines. It was how he and others like him made a living during the fall and winter and they worked hard at it. Truly amazing.

Another one that I enjoyed reading the exploits of was Wayne Negus

E.J. was my boyhood hero.

People today are "soft", compared to folks that lived 100 years ago. They had to work hard to survive. We've got it easy today!

I think about my Granddads, they were both born in the late 1800's. Think about the things that they didn't have.

We're very fortunate to have both of the family farms still intact, all in one piece and still family owned. Both houses were originally built from logs, and I'm sure the logs came from trees standing within sight of the house.

But think about this for a second. Those pastures and little fields were at one time, way before our time, woods. Timber.

At one point in time, my Granddad's told his family, we're going to cut the timber up across the ridge and make us a pasture. We'll be able to keep a few more cows.

Can you imagine cutting 5 or 10 or 50 acres of timber using a cross-cut saw?

Read a book recently called 'Give Your Heart to the Hawks' by Win Blevins. It's a tribute to the mountain men. These guys were the first trapper's to explore the new world, and then guided more of them. It was a fact that everything they encountered had a chance to kill them. From some Indian tribes, to the weather, to their diet, to the land itself. Hunting buffalo was the premium meal of the day, and a lot of areas were void of the animal. When found, the delicacy was 'raw buffler liver dipped in bile'. To say these guys were tough would be a huge understatement. Comparatively, we're all just arm chair quarterbacks, so to speak.

Frank.

I think that's what has changed. There a few trappers today who are actual "woodsmen".

That might be because a lot of the woods are gone. I usually sleep at home and my bush is wilder than a lot of others. I don't have to sleep under a tarp. Modern trappers also catch a lot more fur.

If you want to see woodsmen, check out bushcrafters and the like. But they do not compare to the old timers.