Lets begin by saying happy New Year to all the followers of Moose Knuckle’s adventures. Unfortunately, at this time we still have no hard water with which to begin ice-fishing adventures on. So desperate for ice, I went so far as to call Crossroads Outdoors in Chestertown, New York; receiving a report of marginal ice in some bays. Fine conditions if you want to join the Polar Bear Swim Club on New Years Day.

As we continue to pray to the god of snow and ice (does this even exist?) and do a little dance of the hooligans, designed to make the jet stream bring in a frigid Canadian air mass, the team has resorted to other sources of entertainment. Recently we have discovered Native American Indian History and decided to pursue the subject matter to exhaustion.

One of our friends gave us a hot tip from New Jersey lore, and we gave it a go. The Leni-Lenape were the indigenous people of the area, they tended to occupy natural rock shelters in the limestone forest regions near trails and waterways. At one point there were probably several thousand inhabitants in the region where we went exploring.

Searching the dense forests and cliffs for the elusive Indian rock shelters, we found a hunter’s snare trap, be careful when walking through the woods! As we circled the trap careful not to walk through it it, we spotted a long crevice between two boulders. Approaching for further inspection, we stumbled upon a rock shelter morphing into a cave at the rear. I gave my father a flashlight and told him to crawl in and investigate. This shelter and small cave, likely was an encampment for early human occupants of the area.

Please remember that when searching the woods to always ask permission before venturing on private property. Further note it is against both federal and state law to remove, disturb or deface any artifacts you may find on public or private lands.

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