The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1878-04-04
Manitoba Moose Hunting.

teur spOrtsmen TO approach the moose
is In the early spring. Then the sur
face of the snow, thawed by the sun
during the day, is frozen into a firm
crust by the sharp night frcsts. This
IL strong enough to bear a man on snow
shoes, or a dog, but breaks through
beneath the weight ofthe moose. When
pursued by a dog, the animal tries to
escape; but sinking up to the hooks at
every stride, and wounded about the
legs by the sharp crust, he soon turns
to bay, and is easily shot when the hun
ter comes up. This is almost the only
way, except by watching their bathing
places in summer, that this wary ami
NAL can be killed by any but the most
skilful hunters. Few half-breeds and
not every Indian arc expert enough to
track and kill a moose under ordinary
circumstances, and 1t Is a saying among
them that a man may follow a moose
all his life and not catch sight Of one.
Frequently In the bushy lowlands,
where he can be seen only when close
by, his sense of hearing is so acute that
the swapping of the smallest twig or
the cracking Of a dry leaf is sufficient
to give him warning. The advent Of a
chronic cough has brought many a
noted moose hunter to the. brink Of
starvation, and compelled him to seek
some other method of obtaining subsis-
tence. A wild, windy day offers the
best chance of approaching him, when
the noises of the woods drown the
stealthy footstepsof the hunter. Never
theless, l have been told by Indians that
on such days, when they have sighted
a moose, they have sometimes happened
to tread on a dry stick and break it, and
although many branches were cracking
and waving in the wood, the animal
started at the sound, distinguishing 1t
from all the natural noises Of the for
est.
The moose Is up to so many little
games, is so constantly on the alert,
that to hunt him requires years of study.
Sometimes, when about to rest, he
WdlhS III ~ ClIClC anu lICo uO"h "a
It, close to where he started. Thus, the
hunter, following the track. uncon-
s~ciously passes close beside him as he
lies concealed, and while his pursuer
follows the trail ahead, the moose
dashes away on one side unseen. Aga in,
feeding on the aspen buds, or the gray
and golden willow tops, as he walks
leisurely along, his track Is marked
deep in the o and soft mud. When
the early morning comes. and he begins
to think of resting for the day, he rec
objects the plainness of his trail. So,
carefully retracing his steps, he breaks
OFF suddenly to the leeward side, and
lies down within a bow shot of his
receding track. He knows that In this
way he must get the wind of anyone
following his trail.
When, In the morning, the Indian
hunter sets forth to look for a moose
among the willows, he strikes the
spreading hoof trail and follows it. AS
he proceeds, he stops every now and
then to examine the tops of the willows
and the low branches of the aspens, or
the hoof marks, when long experience
tells him the moose has been feeding
there in the night. After a little while
he quits the trail, bending away in a
deep circle to the leeward. Stealthily
he returns to the trail and as s%tealthily
bends away from it again. His outgo
ings and incomings make, as 1t were,
the semi-circles of the letter b, suppos-
ing the perpendicular line to indicate
the trail of the moose. At each return
to it he examines closely the willows
and the hoof prints, and so judges his
proximity to the game. All this is done
with excessive wariness; every step
is carefully weighed, and no twig even
allowed to brush against his person.
At length the Indian hunter Is so
near as to know to an absolute certainty
that his game is lying hid in a little
thIcket ahead. Then comes the SUI
preme m~oment-the time of all times
when caution Is necessary. A mistep,
u broken twig, the rustic Of leaf even,
and all his labor would be for naught.
Quietly he divests himself of all cloth
Ing that might cause the slightest noise
In his progress. His capote goes first:
then his cap, his mittens; then he takes
an extra hitch in his gaudy sash, and
stuffs the fringed ends into his trousers
to prevent their catching on the branch
es; next goes his moccasins; and then,
clad only in corduroys and shirt, he adj
vauces to the final stalk. ,
Now every bush Is examined, every
thicket and hillock scrutinized. The
hunter snrinks within himself, in the ,
curious ludian fashion, and appears
only halfhis full size. He screens him
self behind the smallest objects. Sud-
denly he stops. You who follow him
look, but you see nothing. lie smiles,
and points significantly at a willow
copse a little distance ahead. You
scan it closely, but can discover nothing /
He cocks his gun silently. You look
again and again, but you still see moth
ing there. Suddenly, as If to relieve
his hand and breaks a little dry twig
from an overhanging branch. Itmakcs
but the slightest sound as it snaps and
falls to the ground. But 1t Is enough.
In an instant, right In front, thirty or
forty yards away, an immense dark