Four forked poles should be first driven into the ground, about six feet apart, in the form of a square, the forks being four feet above ground.  Lay two poles of green wood across the forks on the two opposite sides of the square, and cover the space between them by other poles laid across them, an inch or two inches apart.  On to this mammoth gridiron the strips of flesh should now be spread, and a steady fire of birch or other clean, fresh wood should be kept steadily burning beneath for about twenty-four hours.  At the end of this time the meat will have reduced much in size and weight.  The salt will have been thoroughly dried in, and the flesh so prepared maybe kept for almost any length of time.  In its present condition it is excellent eating, and it is always at hand for frying, and may be cooked in a variety of ways.  Moose and bear meat may be dried in a similar manner, using a proportionate amount of salt.  Fish may also be prepared in the same way, for which purpose they should be scaled as usual and afterward spread open by cutting down the back, the bone being removed.  We cordially recommend this method of preparing both flesh and fish, and no trapper’s “recipe book” is complete without it.

In localities where wolves abound, the nocturnal invasions of these creatures often render the keeping of fresh meat a very difficult task, and in this connection it may be well to give directions for the preservation of game desired to be used either as fresh meat or for purposes of drying.

The spring-pole is most commonly and successfully used.

Select some stout sapling, bend it down, and cut off a limb several feet from the ground.  Hang the meat in the crotch thus formed, and allow the tree to swing back.  By dividing the meat into several parts it may thus all be protected.  When [Page 238] a moose or deer is killed at such a time or place, or under such circumstances as render its immediate dressing impossible, its carcass may be defended against mutilation by another means.  Wolves are naturally sly and sagacious, and have a wholesome fear of a trap.  Any unnatural arrangement of logs and stones immediately excites their suspicion, and the trapper takes advantage of this wary peculiarity to good purpose.  Laying his dead game near some fallen tree or old log he strews a few branches over the carcass, or perhaps rests a log over it.  Sometimes he hangs the entrails of the animal over the body, on a forked stick, anyone of which devices is said to have the desired result.  The wolverine is another pest to the trapper, and not being so sly as the wolf, never hesitates to pounce upon any flesh within its reach.  The former method, therefore, is always the safest plan for absolute protection against all animals.