San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-05-31
HUNTING LARGE GAME.
A LIVELY SERIES OF ADVENTURES
IN A MAINE FOREST.

An Old Hunters "reminiscences OF Thirty
Years Ago-The Magnificent Moose-A
Bear They Didn't Get and Wolf they
Laid Out After q Fight.
When we came in sight of the big deer my
friend was wild With excitement and declared
that it was a moose. l laughed at him, and
told him that it would take four such deer to
make good sized moose. 1t took us the re-
mainder of the day to dress and convey our
game to camp. The next day we went to the
settlement and engaged man to haul our
meat out of the woods. There was long
piece of road, out of which many windfalls
had to be cut 1t was quite an expensive job,
but as my friend had full purse, he cheer
fully paid the bill We stopped at the settle
ment one night, and then returned to our
camp, arriving there near night As.we were
about to retire we heard strange noise that
sounded at first something like that produced
by driving piling with a heavy maui We
stepped quickly to the door and at once
knew that it was a moose calling" The
sound was very loud, and not far from us,
and at one time we plainly heard his great
horns clashing among the trees. The next
morning we were up early, and very soon
had a smoking pan of fried deer meat upon
the table When breakfast was over we de
cided not to shoot any deer for day OF two,
but try the moose
A SIGHT WORTH SEEING.
We started out in the direction that we
heard the moose calling, and after we had
Travelled about one-fourth of a mile came to
his tracks. The tracks were very large, and
we only wished that we could see his shaggy
hide We followed them only short piece,
for the ground was so hard it was very diff
cult to tell what course he had taken. We
followed along the edge of the green land for
nearly mile and came to a little brook, and
feeling the need of water, we stopped to
drink. Ny friend started a little ahead of
me- We passed from among the green trees
that shaded the brook and were ascending
little hill My friend had gained the top
when all of a sudden he dropped the breech
of his rife upon the ground, and pointing
with his hand, exclaimed
my God! what is that"
looked across a small heath about fifty
rods wide, and upon high bank stood the
largest moose | ever saw. 1t was evident
that he saw us, as his great head and horns
we're turned toward U.s. 1t was a fine sight
and worth travelling fifty miles to see As he
stood with his head high in the air, the dis
lance from the ground to the top of his horns
could not have been less than twelve feet
NV friend for a moment was dumb with
establishment. Heavens and earth" he at
| last exclaimed, lis that moOsep told him
| it was one of the largest. The moose was too
| far off for a shot, and as he saw us, we had
| title hopes of getting nearer We dropped
back behind the HILL and endeavored to get
to the leeward and approach him. but the
| wary creature was not thus to be deceived.
| for when we again emerged from the low
| land, he was gone.
During the morning we had seen a number
| Of deer, but as our appetite was so strong for
| moose we had not attempted to shoot one.
| Now, however, as we did not expect to get
shot at moose, we were ready to shoot deer
| AS we were a long. piece from the camp, we
turned our steps in that direction The
| ground was literally plowed by the hOofs
| If moose and deer We moved cautiously
llong, but saw not living creature. Our
course now led us over strip Of land some
| what broken by small nils and each one
crowned with large oaks. We were care
| fully scanning every clump of trees and
| bushes for some animal to shoot, and in fact
| we were very eager for a shot, if at nothing
more than another poor old porcupine. We
now arrived at point where the oaks were
| quite plentiful, and some Of them very large.
FRIEND IN NEED.
We stopped to take a view of the surround
| ing country At this moment we heard
rustling among the leaves. 1t was so faint
| we did not detect the cause or the direction
| from whence it came. Our thumbs were
upon the hammers of our rifles in a moment.
| We scanned every nook and corner; but, oh,
| if we had only looked upI We did, but too
late; for again we heard leaves rustic, and
| on looking into one of the oaks, an old bear
| was Just dropping from the limbs. He was
| about twenty feet high, and dropped like
plummet, striking upon his hind feet. Our
| rifles were brought to our faces that instant.
| but the roughneSS of the ground favored him
and we did not get a shot. He evidently had
| climbed the oak for acorns, which they are
| very fond of.
There are ups and downs in all business,
and we began to think that the latter had
prevailed so far during the day. We blamed
! ourselves for our careleSsnesS was the cause
| of our i'll luck.
We sat down and resolved to watch for
some time, many hunters adopt this mode
of hunting in preference to any other We
| had sat but few moments when we saw Z
small deer running past us, and few rols
behind large wolf in pursuit. The de-!
was neaSy run down, we knew, because it,
mouth was open and its tongue protrudmg
For a moment we saw them, as they were
soon hidden by rising ground. Again they
came in view, and this time nearer. In 4
| moment the deer turned and came toward