I welcome John from Kansas to my Christmas contest! Very colorful piece, John, well done!! Who is going to win FIRST PRIZE AND A HUNDRED BUCKS? KEEP those entries coming, kids!

Hi everyone my name is Izabella Opsahl. I am 9 years old. Thank you for the contest it is fun!

SANTA BEAR




Once upon a time, there was an old trapperman named Odagar. Odagar loved trapping all sorts of things such as coyotes, beavers, minks, skunks, bobcats, raccoons, otters, weasels, bunnies, foxes, muskrats, opossums, and bear. Especially bear. On the night before Christmas eve, Odagar went out to set a trap. The next day, Christmas eve, he went to check the trap. There was a bear in it! That was the biggest bear he'd ever seen!! But something was weird. The bear had a Santa suit on!! Odagar was really confused. There was also a red sack full of toys right by the bear. Odagar thought (I wish I had my camera with me), so he ran back to his house to get his camera. He got back with his camera and took a picture of the bear to show his wife. Then suddenly, the bear talked!! It said "hello, my name is Santa Bear. I bring toys to all of the animals in the world! I can speak every animal language in the world! but it's hard to remember all of them, though. "Wow!!" Odagar said. "Well, I better get going now, it's Christmas eve. I'd hate to be late. It's a busy night for me tonight," Santa Bear said. So Odagar set him free so he could get ready for tonight. They both said good bye and Santa Bear left on his sleigh pulled by unicorns.



THE END
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

Hi! My name is Olivia Opsahl, I am eleven years old, I will be twelve on Christmas Day. I hope you enjoy my story!

There was once an old man named Alfred. He lived In the Hawk Talon Mountains on the very top of Frigid Peak, which was known for being perilous, snowy and cold. His best friends were his two trap line dogs who went everywhere with him, named Buck and Beau. He loves trapping with footholds, snares, and live traps. Many people assume that his house is abandoned, as he is rarely seen He never has to go shopping, because he traps and hunts for everything he needs.
One day he went outside with nothing but his rifle, snowshoes, and of course his dogs. He was checking for a coyote, and he heard somebody yell, "Help! Somebody!" He ran ( on his snowshoes ) to see who or what was yelling. When he could finally see the little girl fighting off a pack of wolves with a stick, he tripped on a stick and immediately fell into the five foot snow drifts. He struggled to pull himself out of the snow, until he used his snowshoes to pull himself out of the snow. When he went to go help the girl, his dogs were already helping her. Alfred then shot his rifle in the air to scare off the wolves.
After the wolves were gone Alfred brought the little girl, whose name was Cynthia, back to his house. He made her hot cocoa and let her warm up by the fire. As they were talking, a plan developed in Cynthia's mind. She thought that she could invite Alfred over for Christmas dinner. There was only four days until Christmas, so she said goodbye to Alfred, and asked if she could come over again tomorrow. Alfred agreed, and Cynthia headed off home. Once Cynthia left Alfred started crafting Christmas presents for Cynthia and her family The next day when Cynthia came back, she invited him over to her house on Christmas! When he heard this news, he was overjoyed! For the next two days Cynthia didn't come over. On Christmas day, Alfred gave Cynthia and her family his home-made presents. In exchange, they gave him presents too. From that day on, Alfred went over to Cynthia's house on Christmas. Then people started realizing that Alfred wasn't crazy just because he lived on a mountain, and that you should never judge a book by it's cover.

Merry Christmas everyone! Good luck to everyone!

The Legend Of Jolly Jed

Legend has it that back in the late 1800s, after the Civil War, there was a man who was like Santa Clause to many. His name was Jedediah Smith, but the locals called him Jolly Jed. Instead of wearing a big red suit he wore a raccoon fur hat and beaver fur vest, as he spent most of his time on the river trapping. He carried fur hats, mittens, scarves, and vests that he had made in a large trapping basket, instead of a big red bag. He also always carried an old leather bible everywhere he went. He enjoyed giving these gifts to families in the community near Christmas time. Instead of a big red sleigh, he traveled by birch bark canoe or big black horse named Boone, and he was always followed by his Jack Russell named Cypress.

Jolly Jed went to the Miller's small log cabin, right outside of town, on Christmas Eve. during the late evening. The father had died a few months earlier, as he had fought in the Civil war and had lost his left leg in the battle of Gettysburg. They had two children, an eleven year old son named Lucas and an eight year old daughter named Samantha. Jed gave Lucas a fox fur hat and Samantha a pair of very soft muskrat mittens. Jed also gave Mrs. Miller a mink fur scarf. They were all so thankful, they hugged him and sent treats for his dog Cypress.

Late on Christmas morning, Jolly Jed went to the Brooks' big house in town. Mrs. Brooks had smallpox, so Jed could not go inside to see her. He gave Mr. Brooks a beaver fur vest for himself and a fox fur hat for his wife. For their two year old son, Jed made him a beaver fur blanket. Jolly Jed also said a prayer for Mrs. Brooks' health.

Late that afternoon, Jed headed to see the Daniels in their small wooden shack on the banks of the Sangamon river. Jolly Jed floated down the river with venison in his canoe. Jed met with his friend who had two horses and a wagon to give them as a gift. When they arrived, they gave the Daniels their gifts and Mrs. Daniels invited them in for Christmas dinner. The four children were so happy to have horses to take care of!

Now, just remember, Christmas is about giving not getting, just like God gave us his Son on Christmas day. I am thankful for Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, so that we can live in Heaven with Him one day! Jolly Jed gave to many people and his kindness is still talked about today.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!
By Cody Lynn Edwards
Age 11

Once upon a time, when Santa was a kid he liked to trap. His favorite four animals to trap are raccoons, weasels, otter, and muskrats. He was clumsy when he was walking on water. One day he hopes he can teach his kids to trap. He catches his finger in some traps sometimes. He likes to journal about his catches. He counts down till Christmas. He thinks about what he is going to get his family for Christmas.
He is going to catch a beaver to make a blanket for his wife. He is going to catch an otter to make a hay for his son. He is going to catch a weasel to make a bandana for his daughter. He will try and wrap them. He will trap a coyote and give the bones to his dog. Trapping is his second favorite thing to do. He hates coyotes a lot. He has a lot of trapping bait and meat for his family.
From Gage Simon Age 9, Minnesota

When trapper Santa was little, her Dad liked to trap. Santa went with her dad to check traps. One day after school she saw that her dad caught a muskrat. She got done with her homework to help her dad skin. She learned how to skin animals. She continued to help her dad check traps and skin animals. Her dad set some mink traps. Later they went to check them. In less then 24 hours they had a mink.
The next year she gets dog proofs for Christmas. When trapping season came, she set her dog proofs. Her dad mixed up fish food, fruit punch packets, liquid smoke, and blackberry flavoring. She sets the traps and puts them in her trapping backpack. She picks a spot for the traps and stakes them. The next day she checks her traps. She has a huge boar coon! She bikes back to the house to tell her family. They drive to the coon and her mom takes pictures of it. Then her dad shoots it. That day she out traps her dad.
By Allie Simon Age 11, Minnesota

My name is Garret Schneider, I live in Herman, Missouri. I am 14 years old and my cousin Dale Brehe is my trapping partner.

This is my story of the first Trapperman Santa;


The first trapperman santa was an old mountain man named Ezra. Every fall he would trap the high country of the Wind River mountain range. He would wade the freezing waters of the Sweetwater River as he set traps for the silky beaver. For several months he would work hard trying to get as many pelts as he could before winter set in. Ezra got really dirty and smelled of beaver castor. But, this did not bother him because he knew he would have all winter to rest up as a guest of his friends, the Shoshone Indians. It was important for him to protect all of the equipment that he needed to live and trap, but the most important treasure he had was the gifts he got at Rendezvous the summer before.

It was amazing how much stuff a few beaver hides could be traded for. There was ribbon, and beads, and sewing needles, for the girls and ladies. All the young boys just hoped that he might bring them a little knife or hatchet. Some sweet candy added to the celebration. Ezra always tried to make it to the indian's winter camp in the PoPo Agie River valley on Christmas Eve. The children could hear him laughing and singing as he came down the mountain. But, the happiest person in the camp was the widow lady that would become the first Mrs. Trapperman Santa.

WOW!! All I can say I am FLOORED by the great entries so far!! I want to welcome new entries by Izabella, Olivia, Cody Lynn, Gage, Allie and Garret!! This is going to be TOUGH, TOUGH, TOUGH to judge!!! WHEW, this contest is HEATING UP!!! GREAT JOB, KIDS!!!

Ryan Duliba Age 10

On one very cheery day Elfus the elf woke up to the willful howls of his papa’s (Santa’s) coyotes and to his delight he remembered it was Christmas. He ran as fast as he could to get dressed and down the steps. As he got to the bottom of the steps, he found his papa standing in the old house next to the little tree. The same house that he was born in, the same brick fireplace, the same pelts, the same traps hanging on the walls, the same sleigh was polished and the coyotes were harnessed to give Elfus his first ride ever later that day. But first, they had to open presents. There were two presents, one for Elfus and one for Papa. When Elfus got his present in his hands, there was no stopping him.

When he got the lid off, what he saw took his breath away. There on his lap sat a brand new toy train with tracks and everything. He quickly jumped down and started to build the train track. As soon as he had built the track, he began playing with the train too. He went around and around with the train and he had so much fun that he didn’t realize that his Papa had laughed so hard that he fallen on the ground! Santa told Elfus to get his cold weather gear on. When Elfus asked why, Papa chuckle and told Elfus that he was going to allow Eflus to ride on the sleigh with him. Elfus jumped up and down he was so excited! He yelled “lets go now!”

Papa and Elfus got into their cold weather gear and they were off. When they got to the sleigh the coyotes were howling like crazy, anxious to take flight. They climbed up in the sleigh and cracked the reigns and took off. The next thing Elfus knew, they were in the air. Elfus and papa soared above the clouds and they flew around the town and then circled back to the house. When they got back, Elfus’ toy train was still out, and he played with it for a long time and for all I know he is still playing with it to this day! Merry Christmas!

Evan Duliba Age 7

So as you can see, there is a barn with coyotes in it and a house with Santa in it and it is Christmas Eve!

Katelynn Duliba Age 13 and two weeks

On the morning of December 16th, Santa ate his breakfast then bundled up to go outside and feed his reindeer. To his dismay when he walked through the door of the barn where he kept his reindeer that he needed very soon, they were GONE! He couldn’t believe his eyes. He stood there, in the doorway, blinking in disbelief. All the rest of that day he looked for his precious reindeer everywhere he could think of that were to pull his sleigh in just nine days. He looked until late afternoon when he could no longer. He went back to his cabin, feeling sad and depressed. He realized that the hope of finding his lost reindeer was fading rapidly. Sant quickly decided to save Christmas with no reindeer. He would set traps for animals and harness them to his sleigh on Christmas Eve. I will use coyotes he thought they will be strong enough. That night Santa got out all his old traps and lures that he had used before he had become a Santa.

And so, the next morning, Santa woke up bright and early to set traps. All that day he set traps as fast as he could to have more of a chance, but he still had some leftover to set the next day. That night Santa was so tired that he went to bed as soon as he could. To his delight and surprise, in one of his traps, the next morning was a dark, beautiful coyote. He was so excited that he had caught one that when he went to put it in a cage it almost got away! Santa set all the rest of his traps successfully without setting a trap off on his fingers. By that night, Santa’s hopes were so high that he had a broad smile on his face when he fell asleep. When he woke up the next morning, he didn’t snooze his alarm as usual but jumped right out of bed. That day he had caught only one coyote, but he was still overjoyed. Santa put this coyote in the stall next to the other coyote.

The next morning on the 18th, Santa jumped out of bed, (he can’t really jump, but he got out of bed very quickly) and went to check his trapline. He was very disappointed to find that he had caught nothing. For the first time in a few days, Santa fell asleep with a very grim face. On the 19th, his frown continued to grow until he discovered that he had caught no just one, but TWO coyotes. The smile returned to his face that night. With hopes still high, Santa went to check his traps once again. He couldn’t believe it he had caught another two coyotes. By the 21st, Santa had six out of eight “reindeer” that he needed before he checked his traps. When he checked his traps, he had caught another, which made seven out of eight reindeer. On the 22nd, he was extremely disappointed when he had not trapped a single coyote. The 23rd was just as much of a disappointment for Santa because he didn’t snare any other coyotes. On the 24th, (the night when he needed all eight coyotes) Santa had so little optimism and had so little motivation to check his traps that he snoozed his alarm for an entire hour. When he finally heaved himself out of bed to check his trapline once more, he felt what he thought was all the joy on the world when he had caught the necessary coyotes to pull his sleigh. Many children were made happy once again that night, but none knew what animals had flown their presents from the north pole.

The painting takes place on the third day

I wish to welcome Ryan, Evan, and Katelynn to my contest! Way to go, kids, very nice efforts from you all! Looks like we have a total of 18 entries so far! This is going to be very difficult to judge. It's not too late to enter, so you kids who are still working on yours, be sure to post them by 9:00 pm EASTERN TIME TONIGHT, NO EXCEPTIONS! I am going to ask Mom and Dad to step in and remind these kids about the deadline. I'd hate to have an entry not count!

Good Luck and Merry Christmas!

Joe Goodman

Trapper Santa
By Jasmine Ford “11”

There once wa a man named Santa, and he was a trapper. He had several traps around a forest on the edge of his property. He lives in a place where there is a great population of: deer, bears, squirrels, birds and raccoons. He got a bear and a couple raccoons and squirrels. He takes the animal skins and processes them. Then he uses them for many things like blankets and rugs. He may put the skins on his walls or make them into clothes. When he got something he would always use as much as he could of the animal and then pray to say his thanks. He would not ever waste any part of the animal. He would use the meat to eat, the bones for his hunting dogs and any extra meat he would freeze and give to his two dogs as if they were treats.

The following day, Santa and his dogs went out in the forest to check on the traps. There was nothing in any of them. They went back home when suddenly Santa remembered that he still has one more trap to check in the deep woods. He told himself, “I will check it tomorrow”. He also did not want any suffering for an animal before it died. Then he said to himself, “I will check it later instead”. Evening came and Santa grabbing his gun, called his dogs. When the dogs came they went into the deep woods.

When they got to the deep woods they found a trail. They followed the trail until one of the dogs sniffed and started barking. The dog started to run at the direction he pointed to bark. That was when the other dog ran with. Santa kept watching, waiting. Santa started to move closer. He saw brown. He was wondering if it was a buck or a grizzly bear. He saw red blood and white fangs, so he knew it was a grizzly bear. The dogs were biting, barking and growling. They got off the bear and it stood up and roared. Santa got his gun and started to pull it up, and as he did that the bear looked at him. Santa froze! He shot at the bear three times, bang, bang, bang!!! It was still alive and standing, Santa (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) at it again, bang, bang!! It was still alive, but not standing. His dogs pounced on the bear. One dog got back off and was whining. The bear had bitten the dog. The other dog was just scratched. Santa went and shot the bear in the head. They went on to find the trap. Then nightfall came, they forgot their flashlights so they had to be quick. Santa’s dogs started sniffing something. They followed the smell to the trap. As usual there was nothing in it. On their was home the dead bear was still there.

They brought the dead bear home on a sleep they built with a vine and wood. It weighed at least 700 pounds for the male grizzly they took down. They soon got home and and left the grizzly on the back porch over night. The next day, Santa processed the the bear and the bear hide was special. He put it on his wall and put a sign above it saying, “A Great Bear Of The West Living His Best Life”.
The End.

Merry Christmas!

Welcome to the contest, Jasmine!! Nicely done!!! Well kids, tick tock, tick tock.....the hours are counting down. We have just a little bit less than 4 HOURS TIL THE CONTEST ENDS!!!!!! You better get a move on if you haven't finished your entry yet!!! REMEMBER, no entries will be accepted after 9:00 PM EASTERN TIME!!!!! GOOOOOOD LUUUUCK!!!!!!

One snowy morning I was walking the woods checking my traps when I came acrost a set of tracks. These tracks were like deer but the size of moose. I have never seen tracks that size before so I started following the tracks to see what animal was making them. I was feeling like I was getting close when I saw a flash of brown as something BIG dissapeared into the trees. I was terrified and ran back to my trap line. As I finished checking traps I came up with a plan. I would find a spot in the morning and see if I could see what was making those tracks. I finished my line and headed home.
I woke up early and checked my traps, then went and sat in a Bush about thirty yards from were the tracks were. There I saw it flying down thought the trees towards me. It was a reindeer! And it had a man riding it! There was also a trapping basket strapped to the reindeer. That's when I realized the man was Santa and the reindeer was Rudolph. Santa got off and lead Rudolph straight towards a Bush. He tied Rudolph to it and then went behind the Bush and after a little bit he came out with a red fox. In stead of putting it in his bag he put it at the base of a small tree. Then he pulled out a pen and paper and scribbled on it then stuck the note to the tree. With that done he untied the reindeer and the two of them flew off into the sky. I when to investigated what he did I saw the note and found it was addressed to me! It said Merry Christmas, you have been trapping all year and haven't caught very much so here is a fox for you. I know this because Santa knows all. Merry Christmas. I picked up the fox and started to leave when I thought "where did he get the fox at? He had nothing when he went behind the Bush!" I dropped the fox and went back to look behind the bush. There was a catch circle and that's when I learned Santa was a trapper.





Noah Fetterolf 15

Pennsylvania

Sorry about the name and date! I forgot to post them!

Thanks for the opportunity and your generosity, Joe and family. See you next year!!

Blake Brochin
13 years old
Indiana
I am TrapperManBlake

Santa wanted a nice fur hat. He went to Indiana to trap some coyotes. He found a good spot that had a coyote problem. The land was very hilly.
The day was very nice and the night before was a very nice time for the animals to be moving. He was using Montana #3s special modified foot traps in dirt holes. He was using Top Dog predator bait with red fox urine and a mixed bag of lures.
Santa was trapping early in the season, so he could make hats and gloves for gifts. He caught his first coyote November 20th in a dirt hole set with Top Dog predator bait, Vixen Elixer lure, and red fox urine. Before he came he stopped by Hoosier Trapper Supply to get baits, lures, and supplies.
It was a colder day. The geese were all flying and looking for a good body of water or corn field to land. The other coyotes were marking their territories and howling.
He caught a big male coyote with beautiful fur, and it made a good wall hanger and decoration for Mrs. Claus. He also caught many coyotes, coons, muskrats, beaver, and fox. He made all kinds of garments with the beautiful fur he caught and tanned. He gave it to Mrs. Claus and all the outdoorsmen boys and girls for Christmas.

OK, FOLKS, I made a mistake earlier. The contest WILL be open until midnight tonight as first stated in the rules on my initial post. FYI. So anyone who posts an entry from now until midnight EASTERN time WILL be accepted into the contest. Sorry for any confusion!!

Joe Goodman

We need the NAME and AGE of the youngster who posted this. Please reread the rules and post so we all can know and enjoy who submitted this nice story and drawing!

Joe Goodman

From Caleb Bonine, Age 13, North Dakota



Santa and his new coat

Once there was a polar bear called Eeny, an arctic fox called Meeny, an arctic hare called Miny, and a rare arctic muskrat called Billies Toe. The four were good friends even though Eeny often tried to eat Miny and Billies Toe.
The four were very good at escaping hunters. In fact, none of them could exist without each other.
Eeny being a bear could fight hunting dogs (and made a snack out of some of them).
Meeny being a fox (and if you know anything about foxes you'll know that they are very clever) could cover their tracks and disable electric fences
Miny being a hare (and if you know any thing about hares you'll know that they have long teeth) could chew through snares and bob wire fences.
And Billies Toe being a muskrat could burrow under foot traps and set them off there. But even with all these survival skills nothing could prepare them for the day that they met the master trapper Santa Claus himself!
Of course if you know anything about Santa you'll know three things. One: he has eight reindeer to pull his sleigh (Rudolph died of frostbite which explains why his nose was so red). Two: he travels all over the world leaving presents for good girls and boys (And often left Comet to clean the kitchen sink). Three: he has a red coat (which is red from landing on far too many burning logs). Of course his coat wasn't always red, in fact, it was once white, whiter than snow, perfect for going trapping unseen by animals. But after landing in so many burning fireplaces that he couldn't continue trapping without being seen by all the animals, so he finally gave up in the 1930s. He retired to giving presents full time but up until now he missed trapping, and hunting, and almost got angry when he saw old paintings and pictures of him in his old white suit and kept hearing the cries of frustration through his seriously secret camera system (which is how he monitored all the children of the world. Of course he didn't do the monitoring he had at least ten elves doing the monitoring for him) Santa simply couldn't bear to see his fellow trappers suffer (pardon the expression Eeny) and when Mrs. Claus said that his coat was almost mahogany colored Santa finally gave in and said “That's it. I don't have any more patience for this coat. It's gotten far to dark, I must have another coat or I'm going to be seen by those people again and I can't risk that.” Mrs. Claus agreed, but how he was going to do it unseen was a different matter.
Then Mrs. Claus decided to see what the elves were making and found an invisibility fur. This fur turned whatever it touched invisible, however it wouldn't work more than twenty miles away from the North Pole so it didn't solve the coat problem, but it gave Santa the stealth he needed to hunt animals. So he oiled his traps and set them where Eeny, Meeny, Miny, and Billies Toe lived.
And so our story begins: that night Eeny smelled something strange.
Miny heard something strange.
Billies Toe felt some strange thudding in his burrow.
The next morning the four saw some very strange footprints and if that isn't strange enough none of them knew what they were to.
Eeny suggested that they were to a reindeer because the scent was thick with apples, straw, and fur. (Santa spent a lot of time with his reindeer) But Meeny stamped that out saying, the track is far too long and not split down the middle as a reindeer track ought to be.
Meeny however didn't have a clue as to what the track might be. His first idea was that the tracks were human, but decided against this for two reasons. First: the tracks were far too deep, (Santa's fat) and second: they weren't like any human tracks that he had ever seen (he had never seen boot tracks before, just snowshoe and ski tracks)
Miny and Billies Toe both agreed that what ever it was it was heavy (like I said, Santa's fat).
So they had a wide range of guesses from Eeny sleepwalking to a long hoofed reindeer, but they finally settled on an apple eating, land living walrus (Meeny had never seen a walrus track before). But Eeny pointed out that it might not be a walrus track and that the only way to find out is to follow the track until they found the walrus or what ever it was.
So they followed the track all morning until they came to an enclosed area (the type schools use for a playground) seeing the walrus went through a gate they followed unaware of a security camera attached to the gate.
An elf who is part of the seriously secret camera system saw the four in the yard, hit a button to shut the gate, then phoned Santa saying this is SSCS 06, You've got your coat materials right outside.
Now there is about half a miles distance between the house and the gate and Santa was out of practice with a rifle and the first few gunshots they decided the walrus had been killed and there was no point in pursuing it further. They turned around and saw the gate was closed, but then Eeny felt something ruffle his fur and realized that he was being shot at.
“We have to get out of here now!” He charged the fence and found himself twenty feet away from the fence. He obviously got a bad shock. He shouted “Great! Meeny, disable the electric fence. Miny, Billies Toe, start digging a way out. I'll draw his fire!” and the he immediately ran around the yard and the gun fire seemed to follow him. Santa saw Eeny running and chased him but unfortunately for Santa he wasn't fast enough to keep up and quit as soon as Eeny was on the other side of the yard.
Meanwhile Meeny found the power box but could not quite get his jaws around the massive clamps. Miny and Billies Toe weren't much better. They kept getting zapped. When Meeny finally got one of the clamps off Santa made the mistake of leaning on the fence and didn't get zapped. He realized that he'd better check the power box but when he got there he found two things. One of the clamps were off the power box and a fox was caught in a snare next to the house. Santa quickly scooped Meeny up in a net and fixed the clamp. Then he heard a scream. Miny had just squeezed halfway under the fence just when Santa turned it back on he got out a bag and scooped up Miny. Billies Toe scrambled to catch up. Santa was getting close to the house and Santa had just put Miny the bag. Billies Toe heard a snap and felt something painful on his tail. He turned and found himself in a rat trap. Santa heard it too. He found Billies Toe and put him in the bag too.
“Now” said Santa, “Where is that polar bear?” He didn't have to wait long to find out. He heard a snap almost immediately and an angry roar. Eeny had stepped in a foot trap next to the house. “Don't shoot me.” he pleaded “ I'm innocent what did I ever do to you?
“Well,” said Santa “you have made life difficult for lots of hunters. You and your friends have set off the traps, destroyed the snares, and killed the dogs of my fellow trappers. However your fur isn't looking so good since you ran into that fence and all of your friends seem burnt. On the other hand, I think you will be so much happier with me, and I can guarantee that my fellow trappers will be so much more happier without you destroying everything. Very well I will let you and your friends go, on the promise that you'll never go within a mile of their hunting grounds.”
“I promise Santa. And if we ever go near them again you can hunt us to death. Deal?”
“Deal.” said Santa “Now, how about we let your friends go.” and he did, and even better no one hunter or Santa ever saw them again.