Bears are very fond of fish, and in the North, when fish are in the streams, spawning, the bears spend much of their time fishing, at the foot of the falls. The sucker is the first fish to spawn, and as soon as they are gone, the pike come, and the bears fare well for a couple of weeks. After that they feed on the leaves of the poplar, insects, berries and nuts, and whatever meat they can find. In some sections they remain in the same locality during the entire year; in other places they migrate on the approach of cold weather and do not return until spring.

The bear becomes prime about the first to the fifteenth of November, and remains in good condition until late in the spring. In northern sections they do not commence shedding until June fifteenth, and sometimes even later. The best time to trap them is in the spring just after the snow is gone, but many are trapped in the fall.

The most common method for trapping bears is the following: Make a sort of enclosure of old logs, brush, etc., in the form of a V, about eight feet long and two or three feet wide at the entrance. It should be three feet high, behind, but it is not necessary to have it so high in front. The bait should be fastened in the back of the pen, and the trap set in the entrance. Take a small, springy stick, about eight inches long, and spring it under the pan of the trap, to prevent small animals from being caught. To do this, stick one end firmly in the ground, and bend the other end down, and hook it under the pan. The trap when set, should support a weight of twenty-five pounds, but it is my opinion that most trappers allow the trap to spring too easily.

Always turn the loose jaw up, and work from in under, for the sake of safety. Now drive down a couple of stakes on each side of the trap, so as to leave only a narrow passage; cover the trap with leaves or moss. It is a good idea to put a good sized piece of moss over the pan. To cause the bear to step in the center of the trap, some trappers put sharp sticks around the outside of the jaws, others lay a stick across the mouth of the pen, about six or eight inches high, and close up to the jaws. In stepping over it, the bear is more likely to put his foot in the trap. The trap should be fastened to a heavy clog of hardwood. For the Black bear, the clog should be about six or seven feet long, and just small enough to go through the ring on the chain. The ring should be slipped on to the middle and fastened with a spike. For the grizzly and other large bears, the clog should be larger.

This is the best method, but if you nip a bear once, you will have to try some other method, and it is not likely that you will catch him, even then, as they become very cunning. Do not set the trap at the same place, but find his trail, and make a blind set; preferably where the trail leads through a pool of water. Of course you must be sure that no person will travel on the trail. Some trappers prefer to hang the bait about six feet above the trap and do not use any pen.

Bears may also be trapped successfully with snares and deadfalls but the objection to these traps is that the animal is killed instantly and if the traps are not visited daily, the skin is likely to spoil.

For bait, there is nothing better than fish, but pork, mutton, beef or any kind of large game is good. Even the flesh of the bear makes fair bait. Beaver, otter or muskrat meat is also good. Honey is very attractive.

The track of the bear is easily distinguished from that of other animals, because of its large size. Ordinarily, the bear’s mode of locomotion is a shuffling walk. The footprints of a large black bear will measure about eight inches in length.

SKINNING AND PROCESSING OF PELTS

However successful the trapper might have been in taking animals, he would not secure the full reward for his labor unless he knew how to take care of the skins.

Skins that have been riddled with shot find little favor with the dealers; neither do skins that have been cut in stripping off, or that are encumbered with remnants of flesh, or that have become putrefied before drying, or that have been incorrectly stretched, or that have been dried too fast, or that have been neglected and exposed after being cured. Great quantities of valuable furs are rendered nearly worthless by bad treatment in the process of preservation. So:

•   Be careful to visit your traps often, so that the skins will not have time to become spoiled.

•   As soon as possible after an animal is dead and dry, attend to the skinning and curing.

•   Scrape off all superfluous flesh and fat but be careful not to go so deep as to cut the fiber of the skin.

•   Don’t dry a skin by fire or directly in the sun, but rather in a cool shady place, sheltered from the rain.

•   In drying skins it is important that they should be stretched tight, as though on a drum-head.

There are two ways of skinning fur-bearing animals: casing and skinning open. The weasel, mink, marten, fisher, fox, opossum, muskrat, civet, skunk, wildcat should be cased.

The raccoon, bear, beaver, badger, cougar, wolf, wolverine, and coyote should be skinned open.

To case a skin, cut it loose around the feet and rip down the back of the hind legs, to and around the vent.

Peel the skin carefully from the hind legs and skin the tail by slipping a split stick over the bone, Then grip the stick with the right hand, holding the bone of the tail between the second and third fingers, draw the skin downward from the body, keeping it as clean of flesh and fat as possible. To facilitate this process the animal may be suspended from the limb of a tree or other projection by looping a strong cord around the hind legs after they have been skinned. The skin should be drawn from the front legs and when the ears are reached they should be cut off, cutting downwards towards the head. The skin should be cut loose about the eyes and nose, and it will then be in the form of a long pocket, fur side in.

The weasel, mink, marten, fisher, fox, skunk, civet cat, and wild cat should be skinned in this way. The otter must have the tail ripped open its entire length on the underside, and as they are a difficult animal to flesh, it is best to skin them clean with a knife, leaving no flesh or fat adhering to the skin. The muskrat and opossum should also be cased, but as the tails of these animals have no fur they should not be skinned, the skin being cut loose about the base or where the fur ends.

To skin an animal open, cut the skin on the belly from the point of the lower jaw to the vent, down the back of the hind legs and on the inside of the front legs across the breast to the point of the brisket. Animals that are intended only as furs may have the feet cut off, but bears, mountain lions, wolves and wolverines should have the feet skinned out to the ends of the toes, leaving the claws attached to the skin. The skin should be peeled from the body, using the knife whenever necessary.

In skinning the beaver, rip the skin from the point of the chin to the vent and around the base of the tail and cut off the feet, but do not rip the skin of the legs. Skin the animal perfectly clean using the knife everywhere, as it is a really big job to flesh a beaver after skinning. No flesh or fat should be allowed to remain on the skin.

After all burrs, lumps of mud and blood clots have been removed from the skin it is ready for fleshing. For fleshing all cased skins prepare a narrow tapering board of sufficient length to accommodate the longest skins and plane it perfectly smooth, rounding the edges slightly. Draw the skin over this board flesh side out and scrape all flesh and fat from it, using some blunt instrument, such as a square edged knife or a hatchet. Turn the skin occasionally and do not flesh on the edges of the board or you may score the skin; be careful not to damage it in any way. Always turn the fur side out before laying it down, so as to keep it perfectly clean.