, 1889-09-12

faction Of hearing the breaking of
branches ahead of me, | had with mo
my short fowllng piece. loaded for a
deer, with three buckshot in II. The
charge would have been good for deer
AT snort range, but not for q moose, un.
less could hit his neck bone or cut his
jugular wanted to get shot at him
before my neighhors came M, as this
was q new find and not the animal
| we nnu iounu on Our first trip,
and u ! killed him would, in hunt
ers laws, ,bo all mine to dis.
pose, OF, and thought II could get u
good shot at him, if did not Kill, |
cou:u so cripple him that he could not
go iur before | could load up again with
strong charge of powder and single
BAH so ! workedl myself along on the
pain rs noiselessly as possible, and when
/ Witnin thick clump Of bushes | raised
up to take in the situation, had the
satisfaction of seeing the moose within
easy glnshot, but not on the beaten
path. lie was Just reaching up his long
hcau ana nose TO the top OF q small tree,
ON the branches and leaves of which he
| was ieeoing. had my suowShOe5 under
one arm and the gun in the other
| dropped the shoes as quickly as | could
and took aim at him, but he had either
scented or got sight of me, for in flash,
before could get my gun up, ho made
\ did not believe lac would go far, so
/ slipped my feet into the toestraps OF
| the snowshoes, and it was lucky
| for me that | dill not stop to fastcn
them on. followed on his track and
in q short time found he had got enough
OF the deep snow and crust and had
| stopped, with his head to mo and his
long ears projecting forward he did not
lturh TO run AZ ! advanced ON him, but
kept his 1obhing up and down, so that
II covered his front neck and breast. As
lac stood facing me | could hit nothing
but his face and forehead, and | waited
for him TO hold his head up long enough
for me 10 aim under, and as thought
had him right, let 10 at him. lie was
not more than fifty yards from me, and
could see in an instant what my buck.
shot had done for the moOic. Just aa
Hired he must have thrown his head
down again and got the charge in his
nose and face. one shot went through
his nose ana lodged in the jaw, giving
him the tOothachc; the other two struck
him fair In the forehead between the
eyes aud tiuttencd out on the bone.
My WASH he mad? II didn't take him
long TO take in the situation. Ic made
for me at once, giving me no time for
reflection or to reloati no time to climb
u tree or get behind one There was
nothing between HIM and me. All
could do WAS to turn and run. As
turned ! noticed a few rods TO my right
a large cedar tree that had turned up by
the roots and lay with its top at-an angle
some 10 or 10 feet up from the snow,
and was high enough at tho roots for
one to crawl under ! made for it. NJ
was a racetor l.c As | putmy hands ON
the tree, ! realized in one more jump
the sharp hoofs of the NOSE would De on
me unless | could get over the tree. |
fIa D.. 81.
cedar (therc were no limbs near the
roota) and turned q somersaut over the
tree and came down all right ON the
other side face To the moose. It was "A
close shave, for one of the suoW-shOes
struck him in the nose as ! Circlcd. AS
l went over the shoes drOpped oil
When | landed in the snow she crust
gave way and let me down nearly to my
arm pits. Before could get my footing
the moose was ON the other side of tha
tree. but IL was to high and too wide ior
him to get over. lie rose on his hind
feet ana put his tore feet down on the
bark hard enough to shake the dirt oil
from the roots, and his sharp hooE cut
through the thick tough bark to the
solld wood; he would reach over and try
to bite mo and the blood from his
wounded nose spurted ia my face, tho
two shot holes in his forehead did not
bleed much, but think they gave him
headache. lie could not paw the snow
from under the tree and | ut once began
TO dig hole to crawl under II he should
get over on my side. This he soon did. |
Finding lie could not get over or under
he took they way around the root. As
he went around went under and faced
him on the other side and had to do IL
quick; when | got my head up he was
on the other side, his head and neck
well over, every hair on his tLicA, short
idane, bistling with rage. Finding he
could not get at me on the other -ils /
with his fore feet, he turned around tail
too, just as you have seen mule do, and
for while he made the snow ny in INV
tace, and some of it hit hard; then when
he had trampled the snow down so that
he had q good footing he
turned and came at the
tree on the full jump. lie tried thi,
twice; the second time | thought
lie would get over, for his fore
feet hung over on my side, but / did not
hurry; found could go over as quick |
as he could go over. or get round, 20 |
watched him stamp and snort and kicl: |
and shake his head until ucw idea /
seemed TO strike him. He started oil /
for the top of the tree and began to make 1
his way back under the tree, but the 1
limbs were too thick and too large for |
him to break, and before he had time to
GO much was safely out of his way,
and could hold on and look at his eff /
forts TO get me down, when lac started /
for me. | got Oh top Of the log and |
walked out to whore the timber was |
thick and heavy, and 80 high up that he .
could not get at me, and | fixed myself /
until ho could have his mad /
out and go of and leave me, or until my |
neighbors should come up with the dog. !
As told you in the start, this moose /
was the biggest one | had ever seen. lie /
had ten spike horns that seemed to be |
very tender, for | noticed as | stood .
over him that when he tried the shaking
process on me he would strike with dis |
feet and shoulders and bite with MS .
Teeth, but did not use his horns. lie /
would stand up on his hind feet and |
reach up. take hold of limb and try to I
pull down, his eyes rolled so that
his lips turned up showing his teeth, his
mouth filled with foam and blood, and
as ] have said before, every hair ON his
body and name bristling with anger.
tell you he was an animal not 10 be
handled and TO be avoided with
care. lie was not disposed to
let me down in hurry, but kept
watch of every movement ! made.
could see my gun standing up in the
snow and my snowshocs were all right
below, but | did not dare make a start
for them. When the moose got tired of
lis useless tantrums he would lie down
DR. stand quietly under me, and when
'csted get UP and try the same motions
How long he Kept me up tree | could
rot toil--it seemed u long time TO me-
When noticed the moose in one OF his
luiet moods cock his ears forward as IL