Author: Eldred Woodcock

Publisher:

Published: 2017-11-04

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 9781979425179

"One of the truest and best sportsmen that ever shouldered a gun, strung a snare or set a trap." -The Pennsylvania Sportsman In this heroic life story taking place in the Pennsylvania back country, the hunter-hero of this autobiography emerges as a stalwart figure, an exemplar of rugged individualism, independence, and physical prowess, drawing a marked contrast to today's prevalent culture of entitlement. Fifty Years a Hunter and Trapper is a 1913 autobiography that contains a wealth of information on living in the wilderness in the interesting experiences and observations of Eldred Nathaniel Woodcock (1846-1917) during his fifty years of hunting and trapping. Writing from memory, Mr. Woodcock tells of incidents that happened during the fifty years (1855-1905) he spent camping, hunting, trapping and fishing in the wilderness of Northern Pennsylvania and several other states. Most of E. N. Woodcock's stories feature an interesting partner (who he sometimes refers to as "Pard"), and other local people who lived in the Potter County, Pennsylvania area. Many of the wild places where he made his camps are now State Parks and Forests. E. N. Woodcock tells his stories in plain language, about deer and bear hunting; trapping bear, wild cat, fox, marten, mink and muskrat; run-ins with porcupines and skunks; mishaps that happened to himself and his partners; and the everyday occurrences of camp life. He gives his opinion of state game laws and bounties, and his views on the need for conservation. The book also includes practical information on building cabins, camp fires and cooking, staying warm, finding bee hives, trap sets, building deadfalls, using baits, skinning, stretching and drying fur, tracking game, and types of guns and ammunition. In introducing the book, Woodcock writes: "I have hunted in many of the states of the Far West including the three Pacific States--California, Oregon and Washington. I killed my first panther or cougar in the mountains of Idaho on the headwaters of the Clearwater River. My first real experience in wolfing was in Southeastern Oregon. I met my greatest number of deer in Northwestern California. I have trapped of late years, in nearly all of the states east of the Mississippi river and also on the White River of Arkansas; also trapped bear and other fur bearing animals and hunted deer in Northern Michigan, also forty years ago.Another sport which I enjoyed was the "pigeon days." I have netted wild pigeons from the Adirondack Mountains in New York State to Indian Territory--now Oklahoma--trapping them in the states of Michigan, Indiana, Missouri, Pennsylvania and New York. My nature led me to the Trail and Trap line from early childhood and I have trapped bear and hunted deer in the mountains of Pennsylvania for more than 50 years--half a century." About the author: Eldred Nathaniel Woodcock was a famous hunter and trapper of Potter County, Pennsylvania. He wrote stories about his life and experiences which were published in the Hunter-Trader-Trapper Magazine between 1903 and 1913. His stories were compiled into a book titled Fifty Years a Hunter and Trapper, and published by A. R. Harding Publishing Company of St. Louis, Missouri in 1913. Eldred Woodcock was born August 30, 1846 in Lymansville, Potter County, Pennsylvania.