He sees a straight line through the snow, and follows the line until he comes upon a cabin where he meets David Smallhorn and his family, fur trappers that work in the area. The next morning, he ventures out to find the source of the sound. One night, Brian hears the sound of a gunshot.

Later, after he follows a moose-not to hunt it, but to observe and learn-he witnesses a group of wolves eat the moose alive.

He hunts and kills a deer to replenish his dwindling food supply. The snowshoes, along with his warm animal-hide clothing, allow him to spend time outside and see and do things again, and he begins to think of the woods as home. As snow continues to fall, Brian fashions snowshoes to keep him on top of the snow as he walks. He prepares a Thanksgiving meal and gives thanks for the good luck he has had. The moose provides hundreds of pounds of meat for Brian.Īs the cold weather worsens, Brian feels stuck inside his shelter and misses the constant activity of summer. When snow comes, Brian ventures outside to hunt he kills a moose using his war bow and killing lance. One day, the bear returns in search of food, and the skunk saves Brian by spraying the bear in the eyes. Each day, the skunk comes and lifts its tail as if to spray until Brian gives it some meat to eat. After a bear invades his shelter, he fashions stronger weapons: a “war bow” (22) with the power to kill a large animal, and a lance, to defend himself against a close-range attack.īrian develops a kind of companionship with a skunk that lives near his shelter.

He prepares for the cold as best as he can, learning to make a small fire in his shelter and sew rabbit hides together to make a poncho. Now that the mild summer weather is ending, Brian faces a new challenge: surviving the winter. This guide refers to the 2017 edition of the book, published by Ember.īrian Robeson has been surviving in the north Canadian woods for almost three months, ever since a plane crash left him stranded.

Brian's winter book