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Show add 13/ Ever watch a guy shoot the big toe off a foot-shaped target while propping the gun atop his own foot? Or have you ever tried to knock someone off a log with a bag of straw? There are such adventures as the tall tale contest where the mountainman who can spout off the biggest, most outlandish yarn walks with top honors. And for the more adventurous, there is the wrestling free for all, more fun than actually fighting. All contestants just "wrestle." The last man left standing is the winner- Prizes consist of homemade items tossed in a blanket. The winner gets first choice. But everyone, including the last place finisher earns something -- usually a handmade piece of equipment --- a knife, powder, belt buckle -- to add to his outfit. Concern that everyone comes out a winner spreads even beyond their own ranks. When two men were killed in a black powder factory, mountainmen from across the nation held memorial shoots to raise funds to help out the families. "Nobody even thought much about it. It's just something we automatically do," Pokiee said. "Don't matter what your race or what you do for a livin1. You build up a bond of trust, almost as strong as in days past. You feel good about your fellow man. When you're out mountainmanning you're not uptight about the world, money or home problems. You just concentrate on being Americans' modern mountainmen with old ideas." |
