The Wrangell sentinel., 1922-11-16

amattuI, new al iAe SdAO, lhSh should say that il would be mistake 10 try the real wilds, unless you go with old, experienced companions, and have plenty of means to see you through the winter. Try it year or two in nearer civilization then il you still enjoy the hardships you will meet with that way and are not dis couraged too easily then try winter in the wilderness. You will meet with a good many things that are very discouraging to any one, bad weather, floods, sneak thieves, acci- dents and poor catches. You will also have to change many Of your methods of trapping, as in some par ticulars it is altogether different trapping in the wilds than it is trap ping around the settled places. Still, the experience that you will have from two or three seasons trapping close to civilization will help you a great deal. You should also have enough money to see you through one season in case you fail the first
  ally lucky you are not apt to make much of showing on your first at tempt. There are cases, to be sure, where man, or a man and his part her happen to run on to extra good fur pockets and come out with good profit the first season, but these cases are exceptions and cannot be counted on. A man has to stick to il even in the face of good many dis couraging things sometimes, to make good. And if your heart is in your work and you like to trap better than anything else, you are bound to sue ceed, just as other men have made good in the different vacations they have chosen, after many disappoint- ments and hard work.
 There is something, that, after a man has put in season on the trap line, lures him on season after season. Something like the gold fever that keeps the old prospectors of the West seeking year after year for the rich lode that is somewhere waitig for him. There is something new every day, the excitement and anticipation of looking at your traps each day, the unexpected things that happen and the unexpected catches you make, that something, that never grows old.
 I notice that every month a great many people ask the HIT where are the best places to go to trap, where to find good trapping grounds, if such and such place would be good for trapping and what kind Of fur-bearers are found there, and how plentiful? In some cases the HIT may be able to give you a general idea to some of these questions, but the only way to find out these things is to go there yourself, look the ground over, then you will know be- yond doubt just what you can expect. You will have to find your own trap ping grounds, and there is only one way to do it, and that is to take prospecting trip to wherever you have in mind. And it is a good thing to go as early as possible before the trapping season opens. If where you are going is located long ways from you, then go early in the summer, if not so far away, then go about the first of September, and if the loca- tion suits you, build your cabin or cabins if you are going to put out an extensive line and will need more than one, have your fire wwod all cut and ready for use and youP trap lines blazed. It is absolutely necessary when going into a new territory, one that is strange to you, that you should go there quite awhile ahead of the open season and get familiar with the country. for the better you know the ground you intend trap