Innholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2021 i American Frontiersman

American frontiersmen were some of the toughest, most resilient men to ever walk the continent. There, I said it. I never really thought about that much until I became the Senior Editor for this magazine and took a deep dive into the contents of each issue. I was reminded of that fact again in a recent mishap involving a tall horse, a young dog, a long check cord, hard ground, and, in the end, five badly broken ribs. Thanks to an ambulance, hospital, good doctors, plenty of pain meds and a helpful, loving family, I’m well on the road to recovery. But looking back, I can’t help but think how a frontier trapper or buffalo hunter would have handled a similar injury. Perhaps, take an extra swig or two of…

When we think about the new pioneers, we think about people leaving the East and moving to the Midwest or the far West. However, thousands of new pioneers are moving out of the cities and into the suburbs or just on the edges of suburbs in the East. Mike Monteleone of Westminster, Maryland, is one such pioneer who represents the latter group. Monteleone has learned an easy way to harvest endless amounts of protein for next to nothing on small properties in suburbia and has taken more than 50 deer. The properties he hunts on can be as small as 8 acres or as large as 400 acres. “I hunt those small properties that most deer hunters never consider hunting, simply because the property is so little,” Monteleone explains. “In…

› Masked Up: The common raccoon, Procyon lotor, is found across America. Raccoons are short-legged, heavy-bodied mammals that normally weigh up to 20 pounds. The racoon has a long, furry tail with alternating black and tan rings, but the most recognizable feature is the black facemask that gives the animal the nickname “masked bandit.” › Nosy Intruders: Raccoons are omnivores, eating both plants and animals. They use their nimble front paws to explore anything that might go into their mouths. They also use those paws for grasping food and climbing trees. Paws are one of the main ways that coons get information about anything unfamiliar. A raccoon searching for food, especially in water, will generally have its head up in the air and its fast-moving paws probing the bottom. ›…

1) Here is the completed frame of the wikiup. Notice the egg shape. This was the frame style Plains Indian tribes used for their tipi. 2) Laying the poles in the crooks created by your tripod will help to ensure they do not slip or fall out. 3) Layering your debris over itself will help to create a more solid shelter. 4) The first layer of your wall should be the ground layer. This will help rain roll off in the event of a storm. 5) A nice natural survival shelter will make your stay in the woods much more enjoyable.…

I have a lot of small gear and tools rolling around on the floor of my pickup truck. Annoying. “Where's that dang screwdriver?” I stuck a bunch of it in a shoe box a while back, but the box gets in the way of the seat moving around, and the unorganized pile is still a jumbled mess. Finally, I decided to clean things up by making a leather gear organizer to hang on the back of the driver's seat. The Truck Gear Caddy First, I measured the dimensions of the seat back, minus a few inches so it fits better. I just cut a square of veg tan leather and rounded the corners so they wouldn't curl. Use relatively stiff tooling leather, not suede as it’s too soft. The next…

FIREARMS were one of the most essential tools for people living on the American frontier. On a daily basis people relied on guns to feed and protect themselves. Guns were also used to financially provide for families living off the land. As a result of this dependency, many people on the frontier started handling guns at a young age. There are many stories of young men being given just a few shots along with instructions to come home with as much game as there was shot. It was a rite of passage, and you could imagine how much pride it gave a young person. It should seem obvious why this time period gave rise to some of the most famous marksmen and hunters in our history. While the frontier produced…

The Ranch at Ucross is located in prime pronghorn, whitetail and mule deer, elk and bear country in southern Sheridan County near the foothills of the Bighorn Mountain Range. The Ranch at UCross serves as a relaxing getaway for experiencing Wyoming’s wildlife, recreation and heritage. It functions as a family-vacation guest ranch from May through September and as an executive-retreat facility from October through April. Hunting operations are based on season dates. Six private sleeping room cabins offer refuge for weary hunters, and the food and service are five-star quality. For rates and more information, visit theranchatucross.com.…

THE SUMMER OF 1813 had been tumultuous for the new frontiersmen building homesteads along Bassett’s Creek located in the south Alabama wilderness in the fork of the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers. These vast woodlands were claimed by the Creek Indians. British agents had enticed many of the Creeks to join them in the fight against the settlers as part of the British southern strategy to defeat the United States in the War of 1812. The British aided the Indians in trying to drive out the settlers, for British military purposes and to recover tribal lands as a benefit to the Creeks. As the threat of an all-out Indian war was rumored among the isolated homesteads along Bassett’s Creek, it was decided in early July of that year that the settlers…

Dave Wenger was born to the anvil and the “riddle of steel.” As a young boy, he was obsessed with anything having to do with the Middle Ages, swords and knights. Early on, he began making shanks and dirks out of anything he could find with handles fashioned out of electrical tape from his dad’s shop. He made his first samurai sword by flattening out a metal conduit he “liberated” from his father’s tools, cutting a pointy tip on the end with a hacksaw and crafting an elaborate athletic-tape handle, creating a katana that any samurai would be proud to wield. His 99-year-old grandfather, who was a blacksmith, gifted him his first anvil fashioned from an old iron railroad tie, and set him up with a cold forge. This started…

lack plastic ABS pipe and black plastic polyethylene water line pipe can be formed into cheap, durable and easy-to-make scabbards for any knife. They won’t win any beauty contests, but they won’t mold, mildew or rot on you either. The natural spring tension in them safely holds the knife without the need for a keeper strap, and the knife will not cut out of them if you fall on it. As the old Dutch Boers would say, “She’s not pretty for nice but she’s hell for stout!” The scabbards are made by heating the plastic pipe until it is soft and then flattening it by squeezing it in a vise. The marks from the vise jaws will remain in it. The pipe can be heated with a propane torch or…

Ruger’s Hawkeye Hunter was a good companion in the Last Frontier, and loaded for bear in the hot, new 6.5 PRC. As dawn broke over Alaska’s Kachemak Bay, fellow writer Cork Graham and I motored across the mirror-smooth water on the first leg of our journey to a distant mountain-top blueberry patch. The early September berries typically attracted black bears like a magnet, and the annual congregation of bruins is what drew us to hunt the area. Boat anchored safely against the massive Alaskan tides, we donned our packs, slung our rifles and began the six-hour climb. Selecting Ruger’s new M77 Hawkeye Hunter in 6.5 PRC, I wanted a rifle that would reach out and kill cleanly. The trim rifle carried well as we put on the miles. The steep…

• 9-pound Boston butt (pork butt) bone out • Kosmos Pork Injection – follow directions on package • Apple juice • Frag Out Flavor: Constitution Rub and Red Line Rub • Apple wood and peach pellets (fruit wood) • Trim excess fat off of your butt. Mix injection powder with apple juice, follow directions on the bag. Inject butt and rub with Frag Out Flavor rubs. Place in foil pan and refrigerate overnight. Set smoker to 250 degrees. Smoke until internal temp reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Add about a cup of apple juice over the top of the butt and cover in foil. Continue to cook until internal temp reaches 205 degrees. Remove from heat and let rest, covered, for at least 30 minutes. Pull and enjoy.…

There is no greater love than that of a dog. A dog is ever forgiving. Even when mistreated, a dog still comes when called, looking to please and offer their unending affection. The beauty of dogs is that they do not care who you are, what you look like, your gender or your status, they are simply accepting. I have been fortunate enough to have had dogs of some sort my entire life. I am a bonafide dog lover and cannot imagine my life without one in it. My wife and I recently lost our loyal comrade, protector and pure joy, Trapper. She was a purebred longhaired German Shepherd gifted to me by a coworker when just a pup. I got the pick of the litter. She was a little…

Even though I am an avid reader, I have no interest in considering myself a literary critic. The immense pleasures that come from books I like stem from personal tastes. Nothing more. If this collection leaves out one of your favorites, I’m sorry. If you disagree with the rankings of the books, again I’m sorry. But if, like me, you’re always interested in finding books that hold you hard, page after page, you’ve come to the right place. That’s especially true if, like me, you find tales of mountain men irresistible. These can all be found on internet sites such as Amazon, at many retailers and perhaps your local library. —Lamar Underwood 1. The Big Sky By A.B. Guthrie, Jr. Houghton Mifflin Co.; many reprints A stranger arriving in…

A horse is not an easy thing to turn into taxidermy, much less decorate it with equipment correct for the 1830s, but Drew Turner is a master of bringing history to life in three dimensions. Each step of the path from building his first log cabin at the age of 15 to the 21st century when he does living history with Caitlyn the horse has grown from events that have happened before. Drew Turner calls this building process “complementary creativity.” “My love of making things by hand started when dad brought home a Foxfire Book when I was 10 or 11,” Drew said. “There were so many ways to make awesome items in the book, I got inspired to try some of them. Then the movie Jeremiah Johnson came out,…

NATURE ISN’T NICE. Keep that thought in mind when dealing with any critter outdoors. Of all the wild animals, raccoons are among the most likely to cause problems and get close to people. Raccoons are a triple threat to property owners: They ravage crops and fruit, especially young corn, they gobble the eggs and the young of nesting birds, and they carry a cornucopia of diseases that can be transmitted to people and other animals. Plus, the ring-tailed marauders often show little fear of humans. They’re infamous for their ability to break into garbage cans and chicken coops. Worst of all, they move into and homestead in buildings, have babies and cause damage that can cost thousands of dollars to repair. A Pest Predicament “At first, it was kind of…

In fall, nothing wicks away body heat like a cold rain, raingear or not. A simple modification can make the poncho and liner combo even more versatile—and it’s a tweak plenty of GIs made to their woobies over the years. Take the liner to a tailor or a dry cleaner that does alterations, or someone you know who is really good with a sewing machine. Tell them you want an 18-inch hidden plastic zipper sewn into the exact center of the liner. That’s going to be a head hole so you can wear the liner and put the poncho on right over it. You can do this with the liner and poncho tied together or as separate pieces if you’re in a rush to get it on. Use the…

During the American Revolution, the lands known as the Adirondacks of upstate New York were recognized for their mountains covered by thick forests of spruce, pine, hemlock and deciduous trees. The Ice Age thousands of years before had stripped the land as the ice sheet receded, leaving the earth sandy, acidic and unsuitable for farming. For that reason, not many people chose to settle there. To pay Revolutionary War debts, much of that land was sold by the new government for pennies an acre, and some lands were given as payment for services rendered fighting the British. Lumbermen moved into the interior and, with very little in the way of restrictions, cleared vast tracts of land. Regardless of the massive clear-cutting, in 1800, much of the area still remained forested…

It was T-Minus 24 hours and counting until the opener of spring turkey season. The morning was like most others. I got up about 30 minutes before sunrise to let my two Labrador retrievers out for their morning run. As I stood on the front porch with the day’s first cup of coffee and watched the dogs circle the front pasture, a loud tom’s gobble rattled my eardrums from just beyond shotgun range. A mature gobbler was roosted with a half dozen hens just behind my garage. The first gobble I had heard near my house in almost a year gave me a smile and bode well for tomorrow’s opener. Opening day of Tennessee’s spring turkey season would have a twist this year. I would be hunting with a new…

Would I cause consternation, even disbelief, by stating that one of the best-kept secrets in the way of bolt-action hunting rifles resides in the Thompson/Center(T/C) product lineup? The standard-bearer for single-shot rifles, muzzleloaders and handguns is a serious contender (pun intended) for best bolt-action sporting rifle. Any hunter should cast an eye at the moderately priced T/C Compass II. The specific role to be filled is up to the end-user. The comment about price is not made to excuse or justify any shortcomings; it is to get readers’ attention that something special is afoot. Everyone can benefit from having an accurate rifle in their safe. T/C started out with a mission statement during initial development of the Compass bolt action, which the company further enhanced with the new Compass II…

Tex runs into Big Jim and declares, “Hunt camp tonight—spread the word. We’ll gather at sundown. I’ll have the fire started.” Big Jim smiles and heads off to tell the others. Tex is one of those natural-born leaders who men admire and women desire. He exudes confidence, and he’s one of those rare individuals whos equally respected by his peers, subordinates and those of higher authority. A real man’s man, if you get my drift. The sky is colored orange as the Earth’s star sets on the horizon. Everything is big in Texas, and Tex honors his homeland with a giant bonfire that leaps toward the heavens. Big Jim arrives with five other men who share one common passion: hunting. The men shake hands with Tex and then grab a…

Horace Kephart is perhaps the best known of the 20th century American woodsmen. Mention his name around a campfire or in a hunting lodge, and most there will tell you they know the name from the knife he designed, or for the many outdoor books (some still in print) he wrote in the early 1900s or as one of the founders of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. However well-known his name, there is much we haven’t known about the strange little man—that is until now. The University of Tennessee Press has just released a huge, 707-page book titled Horace Kephart Writings, which reveals much about Kephart that had either been forgotten or never made public. The book is edited by Kephart scholars George Frizzel and Mae Miller Claxton. In…

From the Lewis and Clark Journals , this encounter with a grizzly while the expedition was still on the middle Missouri, sets the tone of what would be many bear adventures to come. The misspellings are typical of those throughout their Journals . [Clark, May 5, 1805] …Capt. Lewis walked on Shore this morning and killed a Deer, after brackfast I walked on Shore Saw great numbers of Buffalow & Elk Saw also a Den of young wolves, and a number of (frown wolves in every direction, the white & Grey Brant is in this part of the Missouri I shot at the white brant but at So great a distance I did not kill, The Countrey on both sides is as yesterday, handsom & fertile—The river rising & Current…