"50 Years a Hunter and Trapper "

I've just finished the book with the above title. It is a compilation of the writings of E.N. Woodcock. He was a fur trapper and market hunter in the late 1800s and up to 1910.
Every time i hear an argument about the best deer rifle i think about how men like Woodcock nearly wiped the landscape clean of deer with anemic little black powder cartridges. He hated high-powered cartridges.

Anyone else read this book?

Yep

1846-1917
Potter county, PA

I'll be hanging around on this one, be interesting to know what firearms he used.

As a PA boy with a camp in Potter County and having frequented many of the same areas Woodcock did, I found it very interesting. I've read it twice so far.

He followed cartridge development pretty closely. In a chapter dedicated to cartridges he told a story about obtaining his favorite deer rifle by chance and necessity. It was a .38-40 Winchester.

I liked it.

Another good book in similar style and set in the same general area is Pioneer Life or Thirty Years a Hunter by Philip Tome.

His elk hunting adventures and live capture of elk are amazing. His relationship with Cornplanter and other Seneca/Iroquois chiefs is very interesting.

My uncle had a 38-40 his had the octagon barrel.

I read his book many times as a boy. I dreamt about his lifestyle and his hunting and trapping adventures. His stories on bear trapping was second to none.

If you have not read his book, please do. You will not be disappointed.

Any idea how developed Porter County is in the area that he talks about ?

He talks about storing his traps out in the woods under trees and stumps. What a find it would be to locate one of his traps.

This book is free on kindle fyi

Liked it twice.
Especially since my father was raised in central Pa.

Great book.

I was most impressed by the amount of pure work that was required to do what they were doing. He talks about building a cabin in a day then spending several days chinking and caulking and building a fireplace and chimney. All in the wilderness with minimal tools and no horses.

I read the book way back when I was a pup. Hard to imagine the countryside the way it was back then.

No doubt that the area is more developed than during Woodcock's times although it is still one of the most sparsely populated areas in Pa. He would have lived through the height of the logging boom in northcentral Pa which brought in lots of people and saw huge tracks of land clear cut.

Today there are still large tracks of land privately owned by timber companies (properly managed timber these days) and large tracks of state forest and state game lands in the area. Those areas are not so different from when Woodcock roamed them.

Coming across one of his traps sure would be a great find.

Yes I have read it. Very interesting stuff from a different era.

I really lovr that book. Ive read through it a few times and still enjoy browsing it while at camp n

Good book!
Woodcock reminds me of Virgil Lynch(he used a .40-60 or 82 ?)

they nearly wiped the landscape clean because they didn't have to do it in 7 days they hunted any time they saw game not the hand full of days . they also didn't sit in a tree for 5 days watching wolves pass them by, nor worry about every 5 and 10 acre parcel being owned by some one else. and everyone hunted or allowed people to hunt.

they worked together during deer season 8 and 12 man drives move deer , you get good at shooting them on the run , but close they hunted for meat and not trophies

people complain about deer in their gardens now , eating their shrubs , used to be they just shot the deer and canned it up that deer never ate their garden again.

my great grandfather was known for taking meat deer while working the orchards he thought 22 hornet was the best deer gun around it was flat to 100 yards you could reach clear across the orchard and put a bullet right in the neck and they fell over . light , not too long , not too loud


WI is a great modern example of being able to hunt deer out , in 2003 the state started offering unlimited doe tags for every doe you shot you got a buck tag, season lasted October to January it was getting so that unless you were near a bunch of 5 and 10 acre house plots you didn't even see a deer. then people realized , the DNR is never going to thin out deer where they need to be reduced. metro areas , and 5&10 acre house plot areas the DNR stopped the program of 4 doe tags a day for free with your base license and the deer started coming back to other areas and fairly quickly. we are almost back to what we were seeing for deer in 2004

Woodcock's Trapping Methods

He tells stories of hunting and trapping behind where my cabin is now. It's a great read and really neat to think he's talking about the same areas I hunt.

You should do some wondering around your area. You may find something interesting that was once his.

Does he mention elk or lions?

While looking for a hardcover edition of the above book I came across a first edition (1854).

Pioneer Life, or Thirty Years a Hunter

The price tag is $4,250.00. But it's only $12.00 shipping.

I suggested to my daughters that it would make a nice present for my upcoming birthday.

I am from McKean Co. and my sister lives in Potter, just outside of Coudersport. Woodcock's grave is across the road from North Hollow were my sister lives. I did a video visit to his grave marker last summer. I would post it but I can't figure out how to post videos on TMan. The clip is on my computer, not on any other platform. I have read Tome's book also. It is interesting to imagine what the country was like back then. Woodcock talks about trapping marten.

Would love to see it. Could any members help with posting?

John, I don't think you can load a video directly to Tman. I upload them to YouTube then they can be shared here.

My camp is about fifteen miles north of Coudy, a few mile west of Millport. I would like to see that video and also see the grave sometime.

Great book! There was an article a few years back about a person who found one of his bear traps.

Please let us know if and when you post the clip. Would love to see it.

Lugnut, Thanks for the reply. That's what I was afraid of and I'm not going to mess with putting it on YouTube. I haven't trapped up there for several years but hope to get back up trapping after my wife retires and I quit teaching. I do get up for Little Valley Convention.

Woodcock's grave is on the road going south across from North Hollow and the Coudersport Hospital. It is on the west side of the road back a street toward a small nursing home (I think). The cemetery is tucked behind a row of Norway Spruce (or at least evergreens) and the grave and marker are on the extreme west end of the cemetery.

Thanks for the info John. I'm heading up to my camp the first week of May to hunt spring gobbler. I'll have to see if I can find the grave site.