Sharp County record., 1888-06-07
THE WOLF CHASE.
Exciting and Popular Sport OF
Hunters IN the West.

Chasing wolves with horses and
hounds where these animals abound
in the West" said Benjamin Reed. OF
Lvcoming County who recently re-
turned from a thirty years residence
IN the Northwestern Territories. 'has
crown TO be. next to COursing anteloDe
with grevhOunds. the favorlte sport ot
the hunter for pleasure. The wolf
chase is especially popular I'm Idaho.
In fair stand-up fight p gray white.
or black wolf will whip any dog. no
matter how bold or game he is. These
species Of the wolf know their own
powers. and seem to ike nothing bet
ter than 10 have a set-tO with dog. 1
never knew gray wolf to run from q
single dog in all my experience. But
the cov0te. or prairie wolf is IN en-
tirelv different product BE is too
cowardlv to engage in a fight with
even mongrel cur, and [ have seen
him more than once scamper away
with his tail between his legs Gt the
approach Of a playful months old
puppy Dogs that have been any
time in camp come to know the differ
ent characteristics of the wolves and
do not hesitate TO 90 ont sInglv and
rive chase TO q whole pack Of coyotes.
but thev will never voluntarily attack
singlv 4 gray wolf and it is rare, even
with the presence and encouragement
of the hunter, that q single dog can
be urged to mOlest the dreaded gray
wolf A pack of three OF more
hounds. however. will not hesitate TO
give the wolf chase, and the wolf will
not try the gage Of battle with more
than one dog at time unless brought
at bav and forced TO fight, and then
one or more of the pack Of dogs will
bite the dust before the wolf is killed.
II was one of q party hat camped
between the head waters Of the Nc
Arthur and Malade rivers, near the
base of the Salmon mountains, in
Idaho, in the days when buffalo was I
still plenty, but wolves were 50 nu- /
merous in that region, and we found /
the chase Of them on horse back so ex-
citing. that many q buffalo owed his .
life at our hands to that woltish pres
ence. It seems hardly reasonable
that hunters should have given the
chase Of such grand game rs the but-
falo the go-bv 10 hunt an animal so
much despised as the wolf but there
was variety and fascination in fol-
lowing the hounds on the trail Of
flving vulpine Drowler that did not
attend The ride on q buffalo trail |
fierce and dangerous as was the dash I
over the prairie after some laundering /
old bull.
The Idaho method ofhunting wolves
is exactly a counterpart of the En-
glish sport Of fox hunting depending
for its full enjoyment on excellent
horses, feet strong-scented hounds
and the ever-present spice Of danger
attending a break-neck charge across
q rough and ever-changing country
Then. there need be no sentimental /
feeling of pity, that will now and then
arise on being in at the death of toE.
accompanying the running to earth
and killing Of p wolf for while the
wolf hunt has all Of the elements Of
exhilarating sport that the fox hunt
has. its results are beneficial and q /
service to the community, rs the wolf |
is the greatest Of all enemies Of The I
ranchman and stock raiser and per- |
sistent and successful destroyer Of all !
kinds Of wild game.
II remember in particular one wolf
hunt we had while Camped in the
Salmon Mountain region We we're
mounted on the sest butfal O-hunting
horses we could buy, and when a
horse is 4 good buffalo hunter he is as
good as a horse can be. Our pack Of
hounds was large and every dog n
thorough bred foxhound. The season
was early fall Our route led to the
rocky rises Of the Salmon range. which
are famous lurking places for the
grav wolf. the rocks and dense UNDER
growth giving them the best of shelter,
and the numerous streams atfOrdiug
them unusual opportunities to capture
game animals that seek the water 10
drink and feed on the tender roots
AMI plants that grow on the borders
of the streams
I'VE had ridden several miles
through this rough country before the
dogs succeeded in starting a wolf but
at last they gave tongue in a thicket
off to the right, and quickly followin 2
the excited baying a very large but
gaunt she wolf with a litter of whelps
tumbling after her broke into the
opening. She dashed past Us ike
fash, and her litter Of young ones hud-
died close to her, evidently finding no
difficulty in keeping pace with her,
although she went like the wind As
the wolf passed US she was so close
that pistol shot could have dropped
her, but not man raised his hand
agsinst her, There was a stretch of