The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-01-14
HUNTING WOLVES IN DAKOTA.
The Natives Find Great Sport on n
stony Island I'm Devils Lake.

stony Island I'm DEVILS Lake.
Devils Lake Letter in st. Louis Globe
Democrat.
For the past five years the citizens of
Devils Lake have celebrated New Years
day with a grand wolf hunt on Rock island.
Rock island Is an oblong tract near the
miles long and a mile and a half wide. 1t
Is barren of shrubbery, but scattered over
under which in the winter season the
prairie wolves find shelter. The fact of
that was evidently cast up from the midst
of the lake by a natural disturbance gives
rise to wonder. since one may travel for
miles and miles over the Dakota prairies
in all directions and not find a stone as
large as a hens egg.
The Dakota prairie wolf is not a danger
GUS creature to meet unless he happens to
be suffering from hunger and is backed up
by a number of his ilk; then he is apt to
to corner. The animals are a great pest to
the farmers and stock, men, for hey prey
to twenty, and they do the greatest dam
age on those wild. stormy nights when it
walk a dozen yards from his door.
1t is almost impossible to trap a wolf.
He is one of the keenest of four-legged ami
mails and will avoid a pitfall or a COW
cred steel trap as carefully as If he had
received secret Instructions concerning their
whereabouts. The farmers mike some
Roadway against them with poison. but this
method of determination is not approved
W CoidinSSIo Tie lives OI
valuable domestic animals.
In winter, when DEVILS lake is frozen
Is from one to two feet thick, the wolves
make their headquarters on Rock island.
They gather there by hundreds. and every
night the chorus OF their short. sharp yelpS
swings weirdly over the frozen lake. The
excitement attending the Dakota wolf hunt
to the nimrod, since the game is large.
wary. swift of movement and full of tricks.
There is an element of danger in it, too.
Tor Wnen the WOLVES ire cOrnarQ6 thew will
fight with the desperation of mad dogs. 1t
now and then happens that a wolf hunter
comes off the field with his clothes badly
torn and his flesh lacerated by the claws
or teeth of an Infatuated animal, but there
the sport.
The hunting party gets together at a
noon, and they come from all quarters. 1t
is not an unusual thing to see $50 men. en-
gagged in a wolf hunt. Each man carries a
rifle and a couple of revolvers. Some are on
foot and some on horseback. The horses
ridden are usually the little wiry Indian
pony or mustang, tina can run all night
and all day and not get tired. When the
party is ready to march it starts out across
the ice in the direction of the island. The
as near to each other as it is possible to
place them and complete the Gordon.
The men on foot form in the shape Of
the letter U across the island. Some of
them carry horns, others tin pans, and
when every body is ready the men move
in the direction of the boulder heaps blow
ing the horns. pounding the pans and Yell
ing Hike fiends. The racket rouses the
wolves lying among the rocks and they
dash from cover. Some of the animals are
in burrows. These are smoked out and it
is but a very short time before there is
plenty of game running around helter-
SHELTER looking for new cover.
At the northwest extremity of the island
is a clear spot and it is the aim of the
hunters to get the wolves into this open
space where they NAV completely surround
them. The men gradually advance up the
island. bowling and firing off their guns.
and the bew.ldered wolves flee before them
until they are driven beyond the rocks.
1t is not until the animals are surrounded
at the upper end of the island that the
real fun begins. They dash here and there
to find IN opening through which it is
possible to escape They are rendered
frantic bv the continued blare or horns
and the horrible yelling. and in their ex-
element snap and snarl at each other
like a lot OF surly ours. Occasionally a
hunter takes a shot at one and brings him
down and IN this way the ranks of the
beasts are thinned out until from a possible
thirty or forty but seven or eight remain
These are preserved for the horsemen or
the ice, who are generally the best marks
mn in the party.
The frightened beasts are given an on
p~o~tunity TO escape. The circle is broker
with the opening SO calculated that the
wolves will flee to the ice. They imme-
diately dash through and the horseTen re-
main inactive. until they have passed be-
vond their circle, then they give chase
The wolf with it's sharp claws is a swift
runner. even on smooth ice. and wher
the ice is covered with a slight coating Of
snow he is capable If making wonderfully
quick time. bat. as fast as he is. the little