Boone Was A Excellent Hunter When He Was Young

Boone spent his formative years in the frontier region of Pennsylvania, frequently meeting with American Indians. Boone received his hunting instruction from local settlers and Native Americans. When Boone was twelve years old, he received a gun for hunting. He spent the entire day out on animal hunts. Animal furs were in high demand at the time, both domestically and in European markets. He spent all of his earnings during the first three weeks of hunting. Due to his superior abilities, Boone could have continued to hunt for the rest of his life. He then developed the ability to navigate well due to his active memory of every road he had previously taken.

By the time he was fifteen, he was known as one of the area's top hunters. Despite that, he never wore coonskin cap. Boone's hunting prowess is highlighted in many accounts of him. In one story, the young Boone and three other lads were out hunting in the woods when all save Boone were scattered by the howl of a panther. As the panther pounce at him, he calmly cocked his rifle and shot it through the heart. The anecdote might be a folktale, one of many that contributed to Boone's well-known reputation.

During these years, Boone worked as a market hunter and trapper, gathering pelts for the fur trade to feed his expanding family. Boone would go on "long hunts," lengthy forays into the wilderness lasting weeks or months, almost every autumn despite the turmoil on the frontier. Boone traveled alone or in small groups, gathering hundreds of deer skins in the fall and winter, as well as beaver and otter traps. The long hunters sold their catch to professional fur traders when they came back in the spring.