Personally I have never been lost, but I have been turned around so often that I no longer try to keep track of my directions while hunting, but trust to my woods man ship to get me out of the woods after I have bagged my deer or have abandoned the chase. It always has thus far. Some emergency equipment should always be carried by any man who enters the woods. Besides a compass, there should be included an ample supply of matches in a waterproof container, a good heavy sheath knife or belt axe, and a lunch of some sort.



Years ago I was present when a guide dressed a deer. He had a beautiful hunting knife on his belt, but when he started to dress the deer, he reached in his pocket for a well-worn pocket knife. When I asked him why he carried a hunting knife and didn't use it, he told me that he preferred the pocket knife for dressing game and carried the larger knife to use in case of an emergency, more as a hand axe than a knife. He could use it to cut poles and brush for bed and shelter, to cut poles for a tent, to make splints in case of broken bones and to cut and split small wood for a fire. He also said that it makes a guide look more professional if he carries a good hunting knife.

I have a pocket knife with a three-inch blade which I have used to woods-dress perhaps twenty-five deer and I have often used this same knife to skin and cut them up after taking them home. I find that it is plenty large enough for this, and that it is much easier and safer to use, cutting by feel, when I am removing the viscera of a deer. I like to have a hunting knife with me for emergency use.

I have started on a day's hunt many times without taking a lunch, but find that something to eat at midday makes the afternoon hunting less tiring and more enjoyable. I usually carry a couple of sandwiches, but when I am in the big woods, I prefer something more lasting. Often I have carried a few bars of chocolate and/or a box of raisins. These are well known rations and there seems to be a surprising amount of energy in a handful of raisins or a bar of chocolate.

If a hunter will go for hunting, he must prepare the kits and carry them with him. Pocket knife, emergency equipment, compass are some of the kits that a hunter needs to carry with him.