This is a story written by Rev. H.J. Soltau, pastor of Brooklyn Center Methodist Church in December 1926. "To tell the experiences of a hunting trip of 15 days, with 26 hunters, a hundred miles from a railroad, snowbound, lost and hungry, with all the pleasant and unpleasant happenings, the evenings in camp when the fellows tell their stories of game they did not get, would make interesting reading if words could reveal realities. However, I shall try to tell something of the joy that has come to me in my association with as fine a bunch of fellows as ever went forth to hunt.
To begin with, we arrived in the land of big game late in the evening and stayed at Grand Marais that night. The next morning, bright and early, we started for camp and arrived with much difficulty. Fifteen or 20 people had registered during my absence, but the camps were clean with a good supply of fine dry wood and everything in place. The little sign on the door, "Make yourself at home but respect the owner's property," did the trick.
The location of our camps and hunting grounds was picturesque, nestled down in a deep valley with the great hills on all sides, right near the beautiful Cascade River emptying in to Lake Superior. It is not a simple task to get a camp ready for 26 fellows, and so the first few days were spent in preparation for the men who would arrive in time for the big hunt. Plenty of wood to cut, new bunks to build, radio to set up with good aerial, etc. A big supply of groceries was placed upon the shelves of the camp and Bob, the Indian cook, soon had everything in order. No one can really know how good food is, nor how tired one can get until they go out and follow a big buck from daylight until dark, and after hours of hunger and exhaustion they finally get back to camp. It's a glorious experience!
The day before open season was spent in scouting the woods to find out just where the best hunting could be found. There was not much question, for everywhere one could see many tracks of deer and moose. The first day is always a very active one, and the fellows were up early and anxious to go. It will not be possible to detail each day's hunt, only to say that on this first one, we did a lot of wild shooting, buck fever no doubt, for we saw something like 15 deer besides several moose. When all the boys were in camp and reported their bag, we discovered that we had three fine trophies with many valid excuses for not having more.
Needless to say, each day passed with new experiences. Altogether we killed 18 deer; 13 bucks and five does. Eleven of the bucks had very beautiful horns and head, and no doubt all will be mounted and enjoyed as hat racks for the different homes. The danger of accidents in a large group of hunters is always possible, but I do not think anyone so much as had his gun go off accidentally; at least I did not make use of my medical emergency kit once. Two of the boys were lost and had their fire made for the night when they heard the "lost" signal from camp and answered with two quick shots. Bob, the cook, went out and brought them in. Many of the fellows had to return home before the season was over because of business, etc. so it fell upon a few of us to break camp and get the game out of the woods. Two and a half feet of snow made this a real task. We engaged a team of horses to come in and pull out the deer and cars. The snow was so deep that the man who was riding on the hood of the car driving the team was pushed off by the snow. The only way the horses could get through was to walk in the trail we made with our snowshoes, and even then the horses would get down and we would have to unhitch and dig them out of the snow banks. After three days of this kind of task we arrived on the main road about 7 o'clock in the evening, loading our cars and heading home, arriving the next day about noon. To sum up the results of such an experience would be impossible, but some things are outstanding, namely an appetite that can not be satisfied and the ability to sleep and snore. We secured 18 deer and one red fox. Yours, in good sportsmanship." H.J. Soltau
Note: The Reverend and his band of men went hunting every year to provide venison for the church's annual "deer supper." Reprinted from the Camden Park Bulletin, December 15, 1926. Barbara Meyer Bistodeau
