, 1889-09-12
A MOOSE HUNT.
An Old Hunter Gives a Stirring
Description of His Early
Experiences.
A Wounded and Maddened Moose
on the Warpoth--A Narrow
Escape and Final Capture.
IFrom thN MinneapolIs rrihnno.l |

rp"i PuPcr nave ever seen live moose Z
AT the exposition held in Minneapolis,
Mimi, last year, In the exhibit of the
Northern Pacific railroad, there was q
magnificent stuffed specimen of a full
grown bull moose, and thought as
stood looking ut 1t, that 1t was the larg-
est one had ever seen mounted with
such spread of antlers, and said to
my companion that / had seen and
killed q great many moose at all seasons
OF the year (whcn they were in order)
but had never seen but one larger, and
that one had no antlcrs, only two short
spike horns, and that one got mad at
me and "trced me-" and tried his hest
TO get up the tree and shake me oil. NV
friend had neyer seen q live moose and
lac replied, 'do you mean to- say that an
an animal as large as that, with those
wide branching antlers, can live i'm the
woods and make its way with any speed
through the thick underwood, and can
climb tree?
"fes," replied, "they have a way of
throwing up their heads so that the
hntlors rest on their shoulders and they
can trot oil faster than any hound can
follow, and you can hear them as they
60 bang, bang against the trees, lony
distance off; and as for climbing trees,
they can't get up very high, but when
mad they will try and do it, as know
from personal experience" "When
and where was that; just tell us; |
thought there were no woods or trees i'm
the country you have been living i'm
'Oh, it want out there in the banana
belt, II was in the northern part of the
old Pine Tree state, over forty years
ago; can't tell 1t here. it is long story.
You come up TO the house some evening
and Will tell you and your wile how ii
happened 10 this he assented and we
moved on, and q few evenings after
told this story.
ou must bear in mind that when
wife and | first started out for our own
home and firesidc, we went on To "A new
township of wild woods land, with but
one opening or clearing ON itson the OK
rreme verge of the settlement. On three
sidcs of our little clearing was an tln-
broken wilderness extending on the
bouth for over fifty miles. on the west
twelve miles to the state road and then
still hurther west for 100 and more miles
to the settlements on the headwaters of
the Androscoggin river and on the
north way up TO the Madawasco settle.
mcnts on the st. John river, all was ono
vast wilderness of woods, streams and
lakes, only broken by the camps of the
iumbermen along the streams and rivers
1t was great hunting-ground, abound
ing i'll wild game, such as the moose.
deer and carinoe, bears and wolves, LYNX
.'luciiers, wildcats, Every few panthers),
foxes and small game. Beavers on the
streams, otters, sable, mink, lots of fish
IN the lakes, so that we were seldom
without game of some knd--wild
pigeons and partridgcs right nj the door.
Although unused to roughing il we
soon accustomed ourselves to the situ-
Htion. | took TO the ways of the woods
very easily, and became quite a hunts !
man and explorer | never was "lost, |
but once, (and that in snow storm. |
my bump of locality was large and I /
carried the map of the country for miles
round 'in my eye" | have hunted |
and camped out with the Indians CPen- |
bbscot and Alicmac tribes), run the |
rapids and shoots of the rivers, and pnd- |
hled round the lake with them in their
birch canoes, and when it came winter
and the snow got deep so that travelling j
through the woods was almost impossi, 7
BILE, | could strap on my snow shoes |
and travel oil with the best of experts, |
white or Indian. Fresh meat at times |
was not TO be had, so our only depend |
ence was the game in the woods, and |
thus IL happened that one day in midi (
winter | started out with two of nv |
neghbors on show shoes for tramp In /
the woods. The snow was light and not !
packed hard enough TO bear us up.
The snowshoes would sink down and |
load up with snow, making 1t very hard |
work to walk. We had TO follow one
another in single file, taking turns In |
going ahead; this way OF walking made |
u broad and good path. We found MANY ,
signs of deer, but did not succeed In |
getting shot at any. In the afternoon
II was so. mild that the snow began 10 |
melt on the shoes and made them very
heavy and we were obliged to turn back
and get out of the woods, following our
track in. We were some miles from the
clearings, when | found unmistakable
signs of "A moose yard. | was then on
the lead. Immediately turned back
Rnd signaled 10 my companions 10 be
want 10 lrighten the moose and make
them leave the yard. "FYard, what *
that?" | was asked. "When the snow
0egins TO get deep the moose will pick
out good feeding ground abounding
with thick underground of soft maple
moose wood, mountain ash and elder
for they feed on the bark of twigs Of
these trees. They then travel all around
The yard, tramping the snow down and
making good paths through the snow
This they do after every snow, so that
no matter how deep the snow gets. they
nave good feeding ground and do not
have TO wade in the deep snow outside
Sometimes three or four twill get together
N one yard. i never found more than
iour together, always alone. They are
very keen scented and quick to hear, and
II is almost impossible to get near enough
TO get shot at them In the yard, and US
Il WAS late in the day and we had no dog
With u.s. we knew the moose would Get
tway from us If we started him, and
rould run q long distance before he
+Gould stop for Il new feeding place. So
Ne turned back and got home as quietly
rs we could, intending, if it turned cold
md the snow stiliened hard enough TO
bear up my dog, to start again
n the morning and try for the moose;
)ut with the morning the mild weather
continued, lasting several DAYS, set.
ling the snow, and then it cleared
Dfl with n heavy damp snow of over
foot, on top Of the other snow, and
made no crust hard enough to hunt with ,
deg. About week afier we came
,sak. the snow had SO packed that Ii ,
vas agreed that we would try again
The morning was not yerv PROMISING. |
for fair day. | could not find my dog: ,
ne had gole to visit the ncighbors. {
waited until out of patience for my
companions TO come, and then | started {
alone, leaving word for them II they !
ramc to take the dog and start in on our ,
path we had made. would 10 out to
Dyer brook and wait for them, ! found /