pocket knives, waterheads and David Crockett

The cobblers shop...check out the knife next to him...awesome image of a shop/house
John Dade 1755....sportsman image...Gotta make the leather spatterdashes...look how tiny the fuzee is..normal for period guns
Edward Hatley 1752 " A sports man" Thanx to Jim Mullins for this one note the belt pouch in the image. hmmmm hunting ideas from a age before our grandfathers might work?
Bullet box, Bark box both good for holding shot/ball and a french knife and penny knife by Jed wray...honestly this whole kit is awesome for hunting/skinning small/large game in Pa in a period manner.....kinda makes shot pouches make sense after awhile



“Thou canst not touch the freedom of my mind.”

SO
the past few weeks have been spent in a mix of weaving/sewing and traipsing
around the woods of central PA.I also spent a couple days hanging out with
friends at the “fine folk art and arms” show in Carlisle. The weather killed the
show but honestly there were a lot of great folks there showing off their wares
and I had a blast. Plus Jed and Code kept me on my toes…and Jed Also got us
lost in historic Carlisle too many times to count. The man is lucky his Paduk
handled knives are awesome or I might have stabbed him…to die by a knife you
forged…irony for a blacksmith.
Blankets coats seem to be all the rage and the
demand for colors other than black and red in weaving are at an all-time high. Together these are both awesome in their own
weird way but I’ve also been able to spend more time in the woods which is why I
do this weirdness.
I have declared total war on the local
squirrel population and a turkey got a reprieve because of a misread in the
game laws on my part. In all honesty if the day had gone as it could of it
would have been a massive middle finger to the idea of you can’t hunt and do it
by the 18th century numbers so to speak. A total “Davey Crocket”
moment but I’ll take what I got and smile because it was still a day a in the
woods. I still shot some game and above all….I wasn’t pulled into some internet
weirdness.
Right off the bat I had stalked up
a ridge to a clearing that is bordered by massive oak trees. I slipped in behind
a few trees covered in grapevines and was able to watch a massive doe for a few
minutes graze her way towards me. Ok so here is the point the modern world
comes in…In Pa If I shoot a doe in early muzzle loader season I cant go after a
regular season buck. Yes I I cant eat horns but I have some criteria that needs
to be met before I shoot a doe right now. 1 it needs to be huge 2 it needs to
be fawn free (I’ll make orphans later in the season) and 3 It needs to be Huge.
Well this was a really big doe and I watched it for about 20 minutes graze and
look away (I was at about 25 yards) I Kept my G on it and followed It move
broad side from me. I had a chewed ball loaded with 60 grains so I knew It’d be
an easy shot. Then when I thought about pulling the trigger a fawn bounded in
next to it.
Ok SO criteria 2 are shot. Say what
you will but I do have younger brothers and the quest for a rack is a true
problem. You haven’t met my youngest brother….We compete, and he’s ugly. SO I
sat in the vines and waited while these two grazed off the ridge. When I felt
they were gone I walked across the ridge and dropped down to another shelf.
Midway I spotted two squirrels chasing each other. I stopped and dropped 8
buckshot ontop of the load and wadded it with some leaves. I waited a few
minutes while they ran back and forth and slip in behind some trees.
In a few minutes I shot one of the
squirrels and speed loaded the second shot ( a handful of powder, a handful of
shot and a leaf wad) but the second squirrel was long gone. I tied the squirrel
off on my game carrier ( a hemp finger woven strap) and dropped down along the
next shelf. I moved to a point that allowed me the best view of both the shelf
I was on and the lower two shelves. As soon as I started to clear the leaf
litter to make a quieter view point I heard something coming towards me in the
leaves to my right. I chirped a few times (sucking against the back of my
teeth) and heard the sound speed up. A
few seconds later another fox squirrel popped up from behind some logs as I pulled up
to shoot the trees to my left shrieked. I looked quickly and on the top of a
dead tree another squirrel was ratting me out. How he moved there without me
seeing I don’t know but I took a few steps forward and shot the squirrel on the
ground as he paused on a log. I then turned and ran towards the tree with his
friend. I palmed down some powder and shot and finished ramming it home as I
came to the base of the tree. The squirrel had jumped to a nearby tree and as
soon as he paused I shot. He fell from the tree a few yards in front of me so I
ran up and stepped on it (is this ever a good idea in mocs?) Picked him up and
ran back towards the first shot. I found him next to the log I shot him
on. I tied both squirrels to my strap,
Put in a new chew and started walking down the ridge.
I spent the next few hours walking
the trails of my camp and seeing deer in the distance. The time seemed to fly
by. When I felt it was time to head home I turned and started heading back up
the ridge. I spotted a squirrel posing on a log about a 100 yards away. First
thought was “take the 100 yard chewed ball shot and show you are an amazing marksman
of Tim Murphy status” then I thought “your
gonna miss him jacka$$ get closer” (I
had a chewed ball load in with 13 buckshot wadded on top of the ball at this
point) So I stalked in as quiet as
possible. Well The squirrels pose wasn’t just for fun as he kept moving ahead
of me and taking the same F..U..pose at every chance.
He then Moved up over the lip of
the ridge to the point I couldn’t see him. SO using the breeze I stalked up the
hill slowly and staying low. This is the point I remind the reader you need to
know your local game laws. Especially if you feel like following them…like you
should. I could hear leaving moving more then they should in the breeze so I
dropped and crawled up a little closer. When I peaked my head up over the crest
I could see turkeys about 10 yards from
me. I dropped my head down and thought…
“is it turkey season? I know it
comes in soon. is it this this past weekend or next. Do I shoot one of these
guys? Is it the 5th or did it come in around Halloween?” (I look
back up at the turkeys) “jesus just shoot!t look at them all” This is when I
start to fall into my brain pattern of the period “kill it kill it”…..then its
followed by “If dad is bow hunting on top of the ridge when I come walking up
with a poached turkey He’ll freak” (yes I’m almost 35 and am still scared more
of my father then the game warden…you should follow game laws but….dad’s are always
scary. I have a lifelong self-crisis between how my grandfather taught me how
to hunt and how my father and the law tell me what I should do.
SO I laid there until the turkeys
passed through. I then crept up the ridge and out of the woods without seeing
anything else. And for the record…It was turkey Season. I got the trapping
season and turkey season mixed up in my head. SO I could have shot a doe, turkey
and squirrels all in the same trip pretty crockettesque in my mind.
Ok so what gear had I switched up
for this trip? Well In my otterskin bag I had dropped my turn screw for a
Jamblet kife made by Jed Wray. The knife was awesome for changing a flint as
well as skinning the squirrels (the guy makes a great knife) I have switched to
carrying my shot in a birch bark box made by Gene Tesdal “HenRI”. My shot snake didn’t seem to match my mindset
of what I should carry. The box fits into my coat pocket or shot pouch and is
an easy/quick way of getting to shot. Oh
and I need to reread the game laws….yeah it’s pointless to know how many
stitches per inch are on the Caldwell clout when you need to know if you can
shoot a turkey or not.
So Part of the blog I've attached a pic of some of my new gear. A jamblet (spelling doesnt matter its a great frenchified knife lol) and a Penny Knife made by Jed Wray. the man does good work and they have held up. One shot box of birch By henri and one based of an example in the Neuman collection by Matt Stein. The example by Matt is awesome for use as a bulet box as well. Matt is a guy who makes a ton of quality items so check out his site : http://www.matthewstein.com/New/Default.htm

So I'm back to weaving...I need to gather more hides for my CLA Squirrel hide pouches/mocs maybe I can untan enough to make them worth the $200+ I see so many roadkill bags go for. Sorry to make that negative but man its weird to see so many ugly bags sell for so much. But then again if a horrible fingerwoven bag can go for 1300 then anything is possible. But ya got to wonder when a bag like that sells in about 15 minutes if it really sold. hmmmmm maybe it'll pollute a table near me and you soon like the other garbage some folks seem to collect. Or at least collect for the upper echelon. Thick pipes, weird research,hemp and bleeding cloth..why do they gather in Gettysburg, Pa? Bad spirits run the show I guess...Love of filthy lucre and lack of knowledge in some circles seems to keep water heads in charge..or at least in charge of their own horror show .

“Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.” Milton
Hmmm This idea to me has more to do with "art" then I think some wil have. Maybe soon this will be an idea that people who practise arts from the age of reason will grab ahold of......art free of capital...art for the sake of keeping the art alive. maybe not.....


God I went off the rails with this one. Lets keep this happy. SO My next blog I'll do a product interview ...SO I'm gonna talk to OG Tom Conde...I'm gonna find out how rooster cogburn went from killing men to weaving ;)

Matt Steins chairs and other goods
http://www.matthewstein.com/New/Default.htm