by Ron Foster
“I can see you and Sarah now, coming to visit on go-carts.” I said laughing and pushing a lawnmower off the ramp.
“Dang, no keys, I wanted to try one just to see if maybe it would work.” John said mournfully.
“You Boys want some more coffee?” Sarah called out.
“Sure, we need a break. “John answered and motioned for me to come on.
“Carry on teaching about snares and trapping, David.” he said and so I did.
“I know this is survival situation, but save a bit of your catch as fresh bait for your traps when you can, if you’re after meat eaters. Wear light cotton gloves to help keep your scent off the snares. Don’t urinate etc. in the vicinity of your traps.
Stay busy and alert checking your trap lines in mornings and evenings. This productive activity will relax your mind and get you more attune with your environment and the animals you seek to ensnare. Let me give you a little clue here to help you, which most people never think about; Man is the only animal in the forest that just blunders about blindly going to his destination. Man walks continuously with very little pausing. Every other animal moves a bit, then stops to listen and look around and take in his environment, always looking for danger or listening to other animal’s activity for signs of food.
Try it next time you are out in the woods. I don’t mean just pause and a few seconds later go back to crashing about and dragging your feet through the undergrowth in a straight line. I mean really listen and sometimes get on down to animal level and look at things from their height. You will start seeing and hearing things much more acutely and become a much more natural predator yourself.”
For the next hour or so I talked to John about snares and Sarah took notes for later use. John had some brass wire, as well as some picture hanging wire and we made up snares while we talked.
“Loop size and height should vary to match the targeted animal and also the conditions. Adjust the snare height to the approximate position of the animal's head If there is a lot of vegetation on the trail make snare a bit higher off the ground and most likely the animal will raise their head to slide their chin over the snare.
On some trails you can use sticks from the natural surroundings to narrow the trail a bit and direct the animal towards the center of the snare. You can also put a stick across the trail above the snare so that the animal will duck under it and into the center of the snare
Rabbits, muskrats, groundhogs, and other animals usually follow the same trails through meadows and forests and a good rule to follow is to make your trap's noose about 1.5 times the diameter of the head of the animal you wish to trap.” I said and paused to jot down some particulars on Sara’s notepad:
Coyote: 10-12" diameter loop, approx. 8-10" off of the ground.
Fox: 6-8" diameter loop, approx. 6-8" off of the ground
Bobcat: 8" diameter loop, approx. 8" off of the ground
Beaver: 9-10" diameter loop, approx. 2-3" off of the ground
Raccoon: 6-8" diameter loop, approx. 3-4" off of the ground
“John, you have experience hunting in the woods already, so I don’t think it’s necessary to have to go point out game trails to you. Sadly, I need to get on my way folks.” I said wishing I didn’t have to go.
John said rising “No, I got the jest of it, lets go hook up your trailer,” he said.
“I wish you could’ve stayed longer.” Sarah said, uncertain of what the future held and enjoying the company.
“I wish I could too, Sarah, but I have other responsibilities that need my attention.” I said smiling at the old woman a bit wistfully.
We hitched up the trailer and after about 8 tries I got the old rattle trap tractor fired up and idling. I decided to reload my gear back on the tractor itself, in case I had to dump the trailer to get around some obstacle or in case of some emergency I hadn’t anticipated yet, and turned to my highway castaways.
“Well, good luck John and happy hunting and fishing.” I said extending my hand to him.
“I appreciate all the tips. Now, you be careful out there, you hear.” he said gripping my hand and looking at me intently.
Sara spread her arms in a ‘come to Momma’ motion for a hug and said, “David, it’s been a real nice visit. You have a good life and we will be thinking of you.”
“I enjoyed it. Make John lots of Sassafras tea.” I said smiling and looking to where she’d laid her herbal primer that she’d been studying and learning about all the medicinal properties of her new favorite potion in Nature’s pantry.
“Oh, I will! I am going on a nature walk with my book later on today to find out what else grows around here.” she replied happily and taking John’s hand to hold.
“Well, good bye then, I’ll be off now.” I said mounting the tractor and putting it in gear. A final wave and I resumed the journey home.
21
On the Road Again
Just think in a few more hours, if this marvelous piece of junk holds up, and I will be home! I mused. Maneuvering around the stranded cars with the trailer was occasionally difficult, but mostly they were spread out enough to give easy passage.
There is a town or two like Tuskegee coming up that I’d just as soon not have to go through, even if the exits are few. I think its best to go the back way and although I would make better time on the interstate, I feel safer going the country route.
I had traveled some of these roads before and knew what to expect from summer vacation trips to Lake Martin. Humm, how would that be for a possible bug out location, if I ever needed on?, I started contemplating. Half the time, people didn’t use their lake houses and the year round residents were not many.
Fishing kind of sucked, because they constantly adjusted the lake levels according to power or water needs. Well, the State wouldn’t be tweaking on that for some time to come. I said smiling to myself, but unsure if I needed to consider the possibility of flooding because of this.
There was plenty of game and water, lots of empty houses to scavenge, it sounded like a good idea. I guess it would really depend on the neighbors, because those lake places were built so damn close together, but with 750 miles of coastline, surely I could find something suitable.
I wonder if the lake house I rented off of my friends Jenny and Lyle would be empty. Hell, they could be stuck there, but I doubted it. They lived a pretty good distance away from there and rarely went to the lake. It’s not like I could call to find out. I angrily thought, considering how the whole technologically oriented world was now all topsy-turvy.
Just then, a huge mutt came running down the driveway chasing my trailer and trying to bite at the tires.
My shouts of, “Go away and GIT” didn’t faze it a bit, but it soon tired of the game at the end of ‘his yard’ and he trotted back. Don’t forget the dog problem, David, I reminded myself. It won’t be long until strays and packs will be everywhere. It’s a shame, David considered, he really loved all animals but he needed to be thinking on how to protect himself and his loved ones from them.
I think when I get settled, I better minefield around my house with snares but that would have to wait until he saw the true condition of the city. I sure don’t want to trap a neighbor’s dog by mistake.
I started thinking about how I should’ve told John and Sarah about the possibility that dangerous feral dogs could threaten them in the future, when I saw a two car wreck up ahead blocking the road.
Damn, no getting around this, I thought, nothing to do but get turned around and find another way. If I remembered right, there was a road in back of me that headed in the Lake’s direction, but I wasn’t sure quite where it ended up.
Stupid map I had did not show all these little roads. Oh well, I guess I travel by dead reckoning for a while. If I get over lakeside, I can figure out where I am and cut back over, or maybe I could go check to see if Jenny and Lyle are up at their Lake cabin. The cabin’s way out of my way, but that sounds like the best plan. Who knows, they might need a ride to Mo
ntgomery, although they still lived about sixty miles from it.
Would they want to go? If I were them, would I? They probably only had brought enough food with them for a few days and not much else, so the idea might be attractive to them. I bet Lyle at least had a 72 hour kit with him.
He was a Fireman and contingency planning sort of man in his blood, so they had at least that to help them get by. I wonder what he has in his. Certainly not the crap I normally lug with me when I go up there I thought thinking dreamily of my own setup at home that contained a Henry .22 survival rifle and an emergency snare kit. Hell, just having those two items would influence whether I stayed or went if given the chance to evacuate out of the same situation into the unknown or known dangers of the city.
I bet Jenny has her .357 with her though, but knowing Jenny probably only has six rounds for it, I was considering when I spied a couple walking down the road.
Humm, do they look safe? Hard to tell from here, but best to be careful. I thought adjusting my .380 pistol. I had it loaded with a nasty round called a Magsafe, which basically acted like a regular bullet as it penetrated and then opened up like a shotgun releasing pellets everywhere.
I thought about the company’s literature on them. The now -famous Strasbourg Tests put MagSafe on the map. To Summarize what nearly everyone already knows, over 600 live French Alpine goats (their bodies are very much like humans) were shot under controlled conditions: no anesthetic, same shot placement form animal to animal, and with blood pressure and heart rate monitors to determine the Incapacitation Time (measure of how long it took a goat to cease functioning after the single shot was delivered).
MagSafe Ammo worked - better than anything else.
However - and this is where things get interesting - there wasn't a jacketed hollowpoint bullet in ANY caliber which dropped the goats faster than MagSafe's weakest .380 load!
MagSafe's .380 beat every .45 ACP slug, every 10mm, every 9mm (including police-only ammo), every .40 caliber - no matter who made it - Cor-Bon, Remington, hydrashok etc.
So Basically, I had turned my puny .380 into a 45! I remember you are not supposed to put them in light frame guns like Kel-Tec but that Sig could take the heaviest loads of anything with no problem
“Hello Folks!” I said slowing down and applying the brakes.
“Hi, how did you get that thing to run?” asked a sunburned man his thirties carrying a small cooler.
“Long story. Where are y’all headed?” I said looking over at the profusely sweating heavy set woman with a garbage bag full of clothes.
“We got a cabin about 15 miles from here and we were heading there for vacation when this crap hit.” she said looking anxious.
“I need to let this thing cool down.” I said killing the engine “I might be able to take you there or at least get you a lot closer.” I allowed.
“Oh, that would be a huge help. Thanks, my name is Randy and this is Sue,” he said extending a sweaty palm in my direction.
“How far have you come?” I asked while motioning and telling them to put their meager possessions in the trailer.
“About thirty miles, I guess. I don’t know, we been traveling down this road for days.” Randy declared leaning up against the trailer.
“We just don’t know what to do and some of the people living around here have just been so mean.” she said looking at me imploringly.
Randy said “ We have been run off from more than one house, when we asked for help. First couple days people seemed willing to help, but as time passed the mood seemed to change.” he said dejectedly.
“And one of them had a GUN!” Sue interjected looking horrified.
“That guy scared the hell out of me.” Randy said looking back up the road to be sure nobody else was coming.
“How far back?” I asked becoming concerned.
“Oh, that was sometime yesterday.” he said giving me instant relief.
“So you’ve been sleeping out in the open?” I asked grabbing a bottle of water off the tractor and offering it towards them, but Randy shook his head and produced one from his own cooler.
“No, we been sleeping in abandoned cars at night” she said looking worn out by the ordeal.
“Can you show me on this map where we are roughly.” I asked.
“About right here.” Randy said studying the map
“But that map doesn’t show all the crossroads and lake drives that go to our cabin.” he informed me while handing me back the map.
“Look, I will pay you if you can take us all the way.” he said fumbling for his wallet.
“Not necessary, I will take you there. But you are going to have to really holler early if I need to turn. It’s going to be hard to hear you back in that trailer.” I said indicating where he and his missus would be riding.
“That tractor is pretty small.” he said looking at the single bare metal seat I had.
“When we get closer, one of you can sit up front and give me directions.” I said still considering the map.
“That will be fine.” a greatly relived Randy said escorting Sue back and arranging them in my trailer.
“Takes me a minute.” I told them as I went through the elaborate start up procedure for the tractor.
“You ready?” I hollered back over my shoulder and with a lurch off we went.
We got about 6 miles down the road with me missing most of the pot holes and not throwing them around too bad as I swerved back and forth changing lanes to avoid the occasional cars.
Randy shouted directions occasionally to me and I started slowing as I approached a small gas station and looked it over slowly as I passed. The glass door of the front of it was busted in a one window was smashed and I speeded up and kept going down the road. Well, somebody has already looted that and I am not going to be the one accused of doing it this far out in the country where everyone probably knows each other. Randy hollered at me to pull over, so he could help navigate the twists and turns of the road back down to their lake cabin, as we crowded each other with him sort of perched on one fender, as his wife getting bounced all over the place in the trailer.
“It’s the fifth drive on the left.” he hollered over to me as we navigated the gravel road on the shore of the lake and I turned in.
“Home sweet, Home.” said Randy cheerfully, as he climbed down off the tractor and then helped his wife up from the trailers bed.
“I am not complaining, Dave, but that was a hell of a ride!” she said looking even more of a mess than she did when she got on.
I laughed and said dryly she should, ‘tell the county to fix the road’ and we walked towards the cabin.
“We got some food in here, David, but we left most of our groceries behind in the car.” Sue said forlornly.
“Yeah, stay for supper, Dave.” said putting down the ice chest and opening a rancid freezer. “PHEW! We need to get this shit out of here right now!” He said grabbing a garbage bag and empting the foul smelling contents into a bag.
“Get it outside, but I got plans for that, so don’t go chucking it in the lake or anything.” I said watching Sue looking through the kitchen cabinets.
“What plans?” she said looking up at me speculatively.
“How many hooks you got? I want to build and run a trot line I said.
“Great Idea! But I don’t think I got any line heavy enough to support it.” Randy said.
“Oh, we will find something.” I said eying the Venetian blinds.
“Oh, no you don’t, David.” Sue protested seeing the direction my thoughts were taking.
“I was just thinking things through, your blinds are safe. I would say we could consider your neighbors, who don’t appear to be at home, but I would give them several days to possibly arrive before messing with their stuff.” I said peering out the window.
“Looks like we might have this point on the lake all to ourselves.” she said joining me at the window.
“Well, that clothes line over there can stan
d to have one strand missing, if they do come home.” I said looking inquisitively at her.
“Oh sure, get that, they shouldn’t mind.” she said and I went to get the nylon cord. As I was walking back, Randy called out, “Dave, how about a glass of wine?” while holding up an empty glass in one hand a bottle in the other.
Bleh I thought, I do not really like wine, hot wine at that, but it does contain alcohol.
“Yes, thanks.” I said and joined him and Sue at the table.
“Want to try for a fish fry tonight?” I asked holding up the line. They looked hesitant, so I added. “I don’t mean to impose on your hospitality, but I saw a hammock over there that would suit me for the night, if you want to try some night fishing?”
Looking relived not to have a stranger overnight in her house, Sue said that arrangement would be fine.
“Grab your tackle box, Randy, and I will start rigging a Trot line.” I said while sipping the wine, while trying not to make a face.
“That stinking meat will be good for catfish, but I will put a few hooks a bit shallower in case it appeals to a bream or a bass, too.” I said while measuring off monofilament line and tying it to the clothes line. “You can sink some of that meat in a can or something to attract fish while I make this thing Randy.” I directed.
“I hate even getting around it, but ok, let me go find something. He found a old paint can with some dried pant in it, added the meat and bent the lip over and tied a line to it and proceed past us with it held at arms length to the dock and threw it in. “ Nasty stuff.” he yelled up to us while washing his hands in the lake. Then he turned and came back to the table and reached for his wine.
“I’m going to tie this to the front of your boat and paddle it out a ways and anchor it. If you got enough rope I can use the cleat on the boat to make a retrievable clothes line like they use between building in New York, so nobody has to go swimming again to retrieve the fish.” and then proceeded to outline my plan.