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Show add 12/ the younger but most avid mountainmen, said. "When I started out a couple of years ago, I didn't have the money for fancy equipment. So I had to make my own. Now I wouldn't trade it for anything." His outfit consists of not only a hand-crafted gun and knife, but a complete buckskin outfit. Thirteen deerskins were tanned by hand to make the outfit. His hat was constructed from a beaver pelt he trapped and fleshed out himself. Elkskin made for warm gloves. Leggings were made out of rabbit fur. He's even added a buffalo robe, completely hand sewn. Other enthusiasts are so particular about their clothes that they only use hides from animals shot with black powder guns. Dave has become so engrossed in the sport, that it's become his way of life. "Unlike most men, I'm young and so I can make trappin' a career. I don't have a family or financial worries. Don't make much money, but it's a lifestyle I enjoy." A bonus, he said, are the survival skills one gains through mountainmanning. "More and more people are backpacking, taking off in the woods. Anyone who's had much to do with mountainmanning, will get by in the wilderness. "That's part of the reason we hold primitive rendezvous so the necessary survival skills are gained. We've also got trapping sessions and classes where we exchange ideas on tools and weapons. They're skills most people don't possess," he said. And besides all that, mountainmanning can be just simple fun. |