Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-09-11
HUNTING RENDERS.
CHASING THE FLEET FOOTED
OVER ALASKAN SHOWS.
Running Down Moose on Snow
Shoes-ExcitinS Work Bag
ging" 1000 Pound Game.

| father, A. NJ. Johnson, who resides at
Rockford, H., will be found interesting;
NUsuAGAK (Alaska), April 7th.-Spring
has commenced to appear, though the
country is still covered with heavy coat
of snow. l was informed this morning
| that a ship had been seen down the sea-
coast. The islands and the upper part of
the river are covered with ice, though L
expect few good warm days will raise the
| ice and carry it out to sea. Perhaps little
moose or reindeer hunting would interest
YOU will tell you about a trip with a
Russian, from which | returned few days
since The Russian started the day before
| | did, and fshed up the river some twenty
miles for small fish found there-a kind of
smelt. The next morning l overlook him,
and we started over the tundra, or level
and rolling country. We had not gone tar
some two or three miies-before we
sighted something far out on the tundra;
After few minutes watching 1t proved
! to be
HERD OF REINDEER,
And they seemed to have seen us about
| the same time for they made OIL over the
| country So Paul, for that is his name, a
Young fellow about my age, and l started
for the deer on snowshoes, with our Win
chester repeating rifles containing twelve
or fourteen cartridges in the chambers. We
travelled for over two hours, and at last
got sight of them We found they had
| been running in a circle quite around us.
| We soon started afresh after them. They
ran off two miles or more, and We headed
| for the sleigh. We found the deer were
going the same way we were, and so we
! thought we would wait for the sleigh to
come up. We had gone down into little
gully, and by the time we got out on the
| level again the deer had come back to US,
and were within third OF mile OF us.
| As Paul and l were separated some thou
sand yards and the deer were so near, we
| thought our chances favorable for shooting
some of them. He went one way and |
| the other. tried hard to get near them,
but could not-only falling heels over head
in trying to creep with my snowshoes on.
| Just then the deer separated-three going
! towards Paul and seven toward me, or
rather passing before me, though at about
SOO-yards range. They began to run, for
Paul had commenced to shoot. They
passed within 100 yards of him, though he
| never hit one | had better luck. saw
could get no nearer, so after l fell |
conclu led l would sit where | was and
shoot. l raised the rifle sight to 800 yards
and fired low,
| KILLING ONE THE FIRST SHOT.
He ran $50 feet and fell dead. shot
through the small of the back. | fired
some two or three times more, but did not
stop any more of them, though | am conf
dent / hit another, as one Jagged behind.
| Paul picked up bullet in the snow. 1t
passed through the deer without touching
bone, and is not defaced in the least.
That night we slept in u deserted sod house,
whose tenants had flown. 1t was just the
thing, for it was dry and comfortable, and
had cook stove and two couches to sleep
on. Snow set in. and it showed all night.
told Paul to have the Esquimaux take
the bait for foxes and set them back in the
woods, so that the dogs would not be likely
| TO get any of them. as used strychnine on
| the bait This precaution was without
avail, for one dog soon came back and
| keeled over in front of the door. The next
morning the Esquimaux brought in a fox
and at night one more dog-pretty good
luck so far. The first dog was magniii-
cent specimen, in fact the finest | ever saw,
exactly like wolf. We stayed at this
house for three days, as rain set in on the
second day and il looked as though we
were going to have a soft spell, but it grew
colder during the night. In the morning
we set out. 1 was ON Pauls sleigh with
him. The morning was cloudy, but in the
afternoon it cleared up, and while on the
way up the river we
RAN ACROSS MOOSE TRACK.
1t was about time to stop and feed. We
soon made a fire and had tea, and were
ready for the moose chase. The track was
an old one, but that made not the least diff
ference as long as we could follow it. We
followed it for half an hour, and it just
happened that where the winds had not
sifted the snow we saw the track of snow
shoes. OF course that was enough. Esqul-
maux up the river had been after him. So
we went back and ran across another lead
ing back to the woods. After losing and
finding the track q good many times, at
last we found it in the woods, and then il
ran over hills covered with spruce and
through ravines, the most zigzag course an
animal could take. 1t scrubbed alongside
of trees and between everything 1t could In
order to elude US and hide from man or
beast. 1t was quite a job to follow it, as
the dogs and sleigh were along. We fol-
lowed it, however, all that day, but the
track grew but little fresher We camped
that night The day had been beautiful,
bright and sunshiny. We passed through
several beautiful groves of spruce just like
parks. 1t reminded me of the Golden Gate
Park at San Francisco. That night we sat
round the camp-f fire talking over the events
of the day and of what the morrow would
bring forth. The first thing in the morn
ing was breakfast-reindeer steak and
toasted bread with tea. That over, camp
was broken and we were off. The day
promising to be fine, we travelled over hills
and holiows, through dense woods, going
down hills at break-neck speed, and some
times the dogs could not keep from being
| RIM over nv the slpiGhS 1t last
THE MOOSE STARTED OCT
On the tundra. as his track plainly showed
After following it few hundred yards we
discovered where another had met it and
turned back into the woods again. That
was more encouraging. After following
the track for a half mile or so we came to
where they had stopped to browse on the
trees, and they seemed TO think nobody
would be likely to disturb them. The
tracks were very distinct, though not very
fresh. The snow was about three feet
deep, and we were quite certain they would
not move far. We Embossed four of the
best dogs, told two of the Esquimaux &c
stav by the sleghs, and took the third who
was the Oldest, with us. He had a single
barrel shotgun. We had been gone some
bali hour and Paul and l had got separated
a hundred yards or so, when all at once
saw the dogs throw up their heads and run
| knew well what was i'll the wind, and
started on a run but one cannot run very
fast with snowshoes on in the woods.
heard the dogs bark and knew they had
come upon the moose but could not see
them. Paul was quite close to the animals
and pretty soon | saw the big fellows tear
ing through the woods, paying no attention
to what was in their way. They sank
down in the snow at every step three fee
or more, while the dogs ran on the snow
breaking through only now and then. A:
soon as the dogs got chance they would
NIP THE MOOSE N THE FLANK,
And that would cause them to turn around
When we caught sight of them we fired a
them while running through the brush
AS soon as we fired they turned round anC
came back. We both ran to get shot a
two-year old.with small horns. l fired a
him as he turned 10 charge ON the dogs
and broke his right hind leg, and down b,
went. heard the dogs baying al another
and as had stopped the first thought
would try and stop the other also. l got {
running shot. So did Paul. This moose
was a big fellow. His back was higher
than my head. He turned and ran between
the Esquimaux and US, and Paul though
he was coming for him l kept a tree be