Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-09-30
a RUN FOR LIFE.
A Hunters Exciting Race With . Cow
Moose in the Maine Mountains.

A Hunters Exciting Race With . Cow
Moose in the Maine Mountains.
81 was out moose hunting once. sew
eral wears ago. said Mr.. Moore. IA
nous Maine hunter 81 had compan-
ion, and just before night we tracked
two moose on the light snow into yard
well up in the mountain. 1t was get
ting too dark to hunt, SO we went
back and camped for the night The
morning was excellent, for light
snow had fallen. We started on as
soon rs we could and came up to them
in about an hour or two. Both of
them were up hill from us when we
first saw them, one being about fifty
rods from the other. They saw us
about as soon as we saw them. The
bull moose started straight down the
hillside, when the COW moose made an
angle so as to meet him about at the
foot Of the hill. never saw any ami
NAL 90 as the bull moose did. Half
down the side of the hill was big
spruce that had been feiled across the
edge of Il rock, so that between the
edge of the rock and the tree there
was a space of several inches. The
moose was going fastest at this point,
and just here | saw him catch and 90
over in the air and strike brOadside on
the snow. He got up quickly and made
for the foot OF the Hill, leaping a rod at
leap. Twenty-Five rods farther he
went into the yard and turned. fired
and he fell, thrashing his head. On
going up to him l saw that his fore-leg
was as big as a tea-kettle and all
smashed to finders, with pieces of bone
sticking out. l then saw what made
him jump and leap so coming down.
hill. He had caught his leg in the
spruce and had broken it.
I've then left him and went after
the cow. We found her where she had
slipped, but from the yard to where
the moose lies down there is a hard
beaten road which the moose makes.
She had left no track on this, but lit
tie farther we found where she had
gone on, and we followed. A little
ahead of us we heard the dogs bark.
and We knew they were on the moose
We found her in an open place, about
two rods wide, surrounded by thick
cedars and pines. Near here was the
mooses' beds. They never lie in the
same place but once. The snow being
soft, their warm bodies melt it and
after they rise the melted snow freezes
into ice and is too hard for comforta-
BILE bed after that. Beyond the icy
places where they had lain was an
open with the snow from eight to ten
inches thick.
down our gun eases and made for her.
l settled myself along the road that led
into The open place where the moose
s:ood 1T bay. The dogs made for her
and she came out. | never saw a cow
moose SO ugly before. She was terri
bic mad. Her eyes giared, her bristles
were on end, her ears were laid back.
1t is not often that YOU see such sight.
Bad business said to myself, if that
critter gets at us.
"A funny thing now happened. In
stead of making for the dogs, as in
nine cases out of ten moose does, she
made for me. | was in the middle of
the road, wearing snow-shoes. and had
over my arm, waiting. | knew if /
got sight at her and my gun went she
was as good as dead, for in those days
missed nothing. | waited until she
got where could see the little mark
to shoot at on her breast and l pulled
the trigger. There was no report! The
hammer fell with dull sound. and the
next minute had risen to my feet and
was going down the hard road with
the moose coming rod at a jump.
Just then the other man fired and
broke the moose's fore leg. 1t didn't
stop her even for a minute. She
jumped wilder than ever after me.
Between me and the opening were
the mooSe-beds. If could cross them
and reach the snow l could run away
from her on my snow-shoeS. but there
was great danger in crossing the icy
beds, where the moose had been lying,
of being tripped and of falling. 1t
would have been death to fall under
the moose's fore feet. l made for the
opening, though, and it was the aw-
fullest run ever made. l could touch
the critters nose once just as / struck
the snow. Once her fore foot hit my
snow shoe behind and almost tripped
me. ! won by six inches, and once in
the snow she gave up the chase and
turned back. looked at my rifle and
found that dry twig had caught over
the tube and had broken the force of
the hammer, and had made it fail me.
We killed the moose five minutes
afterward. "-LcwiSton (Ne.) Journal.