Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1890-07-11
POINTS ON CAMPING OUT.
INFORMATION VALUABLE TO SPORTS
MEN BY AN OLD HUNTER,


INFORMATION VALUABLE TO SPORTS
MEN BY AN OLD HUNTER.
The Wrong and tho Right Way to Choos'
a Camp S;te-Ot.ler Things as Importan
Water-Improvised Places of Shell
ter-How to Make a Fire.
To know how to choose the best possibl,
site for camp is one Of the most import
| ant parts of a sportsman's education
There are many old time woodsmen ant
professional guides who are sadly lacking
"a this faculty, and have seen civil en-
gRleers, biologists and other learned meI
act like boys 10 years old when they at
tempted to choose camping spot. Othel
men choose camp sites by what appears t
be inspiration. They seem to know at 4
glance what is the best spot in given sec
zion of country and never have to think
twice to decide where to locate This fac
ulty cannot be acquired by reading books
it is innate, like poetic genius; and YET
there are certain general directions thai
may be given and that, if followed, VIII
greatly aid the student of camp lore
Weather permitting always pitch your
camp on high ground. The top of ridge
is usually best, or, if this is too high fol-
convenience, select level bench on the
side of hill. The inclination to camp neal
the water is always strong in every mans
mind, and if the weather and the shape
and nature of the ground are such as tc
warrant it, it is pleasant to lie awake al
night and hear the brook babble, the river
roll or the waves wash on the pebbly beach
but frequently the ground is damp on the
creek or river bottom, whence miasmatio
vapors will arise, or there is there rank
growth of weeds that give off noxious odors
If the time be summer the mosquitoes
are likely to be much worse at the waters
edge than further away, and, in either case,
it is better to camp well up the HILL carry
what water you must use and do without
the aqueous music.
Again, if your camp be pitched on the
bank of western stream, you may go to
bed at night dry as toast and wake up be-
fore morning to find yourself and your
whole outfit being carried down the valley
on the bosom of food that has come from
cloud burst.
Always fill your canteens or casks at any
water you pass during the day, and then
you will be prepared for any such emery
ency.
A party going into the woods and expect
ing to remain for several weeks in one
place, especially in late autumn and win
ter, may find it necessary to build log
cabin. The limits of the present article
will not admit of my going into discus
sion of this subject.
AS to temporary shelters other than cab
ms and tents, there are great many styles
lvDo 70 Of wiz oh
be made decidedly comfortable, and with
but little labor. If possible, piece of can
vas or drilling should always be carried
along, large enough to form at least the
roof of a lodge; but where this is impossi-
BILE, dirt, bark, rushes or flags may be used
to good advantage.
A temporary open shanty, capable of
sheltering four men, may be made of thirty
six poles, eight feet long and about six
inches in diameter. These are notched and
laid up in the form of an open square, the
independent ends being held in place by
four posts planted in the ground at the
proper places, and each pair held together
at the top by ropes or withes. Other poles
are then laid as close together as possible
over the top, and covered with foot of
dirt or with green cedar or elm bark, or it
may be matched with straw, grass, rushes
or flags. II either of these are used the
roof should have steep pitch and the
thatch put on to depth of six inches or
more. 1t should be Tapped on the same
plan as shingles are and weighted with
heavy green poles, held to the body of the
shanty by ropes or withes.
If the weather be cold the cracks be-
tween the poles should be stopped with
moss, grass or boughs, and by keeping a
good log fire burning in front of the open
end, and three or four feet away, a party
may be comfortable in such shanty with
the mercury at zero.
A brush shelter, usually called clean
to" may be made by laying a pole in the
forks of two posts, set for the purpose, at Il
height of five or six feet from the ground
leaning other poles from this to the ground
at an angle of about so dogs. and covering
these with cedar or hemlock boughs or
bark or by matching, as in the case of the
shanty already described. If either style of
roof is put on properly it will shed heavy
rain. The ends may be inclosed with either
boughs or bark.
Another form of temporary shelter is
made by leaning pole, ten or twelve feet
long, against large green tree Tor by plac-
ing the upper end in the fork of a small
5ree), letting the other rest on the ground,
and leaning bark or boughs against it,
spreading them SO as to make the lodge FIVE
or six feet wide at the front end, and taper
ing to a point at the rear. The fire may be
built against the tree on which the pole
leans, but care must be taken not to allow
it to re;lch and burn away the ridge pole.
1t really requires good deal of mechan-
ical skill to build good camp fire.
The way to make a cooking fire is to lay
down two green poles, five or six inches
thick and two feet long, two or three feet
apart, with notches in the upper side about
ten or twelve inches apart. These we will
call the dog irons" or ''fire irons" Now
cut two more poles, six or eight inches
thick and about four feet long, and lay
them in the notches in your dog irons
Procure liberal supply of dry wood of
some kind, brush, split wood, bark or chips
and start your fire on the ground, midway
between your dog irons. Your dry wood
should extend the length of your forestick
and backlog, and the fire will soon spread
20 either end of these. The air will circu-
late under and through your fire, and your
forestick and backlog are just the right
distance apart to set your camp kettle,
frying pan and coffee pot on.
II you are going to cook more than one
meal in this place it will pay you to put up
4 crane. This is built as follows: Cut two
green sticks, two inches thick and three
feet long; drive them into the ground a
foot from either end of your fire and split
the top end of each with the ak. Then cut
another pole of same size and long enough
to reach from one of these posts to the
other; fatten the ends and insert them in
the splits. The posts should be of such
height that when this poleis passed through
the bail of the camp kettle it's bottom will
swing just clear of the fire. Now cut a
hooked limb that will hang well on the
pole, and in the shank of it cut a notch, in
which you can insert the bail of the coffee
pot, and in such position that it will also
hang near the free. O, Shields in New