Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1895-03-15
A WOLF HUNT.
NOVEL SPORT WITH LOTS OF
EXCITEMENT AND DANGER.
Tho Gamo IS Wary, Swift aud Full
of Triclfs-A Gordon of Crack
Shots-Chased Over the
~ leo on Mustangs.
. OCK ISLAND is IN oh,on


It is barren of shrubbery, but scat.
tered over it are heaps of hugo bowid.
ers, among and under which, in tho
winter season, tho prairie wolves find
shelter. Tho fact of these bowldore
beinS on that spot Of land that was
--.uyn:iy cast up from the midst OF
the lake by natural disturbance
gives riso to wonder, since ono may
travel for miles and miles over the
Dakota prairies in oil directions and
not find q stone Gs largo as hens
egg.
Tho Dakota prairie wolf is not n
dangerous creature to meet unless no
happens to be suffering from hunger
and is backed up by number of his
Tx; then he is apt to mako it warm
Tor a man whom he manages to corner.
The animals are n great post to the
farmers and stockmen, for they prey
upon their calves and pigs unmorci-
fully, They generally prowl in packs
OF from six to twenty, and thcy do tho
greatest denngo on those wild, stormy
nights, whom it is worth mans lifo
almost for him to walk q dozen Yards
from his door.
1t is almost impossible to trap n
wolf. He is ono OF the keencst of
four-logged animals, and will avoid n
pltiall or covered steel trap as caro-
fully as if no had received secret in
structions concerning their where
nbouts. Tho farmers mike somo
headway against them with poison,
but this method of determination i,
not approved generally, for it endan-
gers tho lives of valuable domestic
animals.
In winter, when Devils Lake ia
frozen over MS smooth "a barn floor
and tho ice is from ono to threo feet
thick, tho wolves mako thoir head
quarters on Rock Island. They gather
there by hundreds, and every night
tho chorus of their short, sharp yelps
sounds weirdly over tho frozen lake.
The excitement attending tho Dakota
wolf hunt is probably not equallcd by
any sport known to the nimroi,
since tho gamo is large, wary, swift of
movement, and full of tricks. There
20 an element of danger in it, too, for
when the wolves nro cornered they
Eill fight with tho desperation of mad
fogs. 1t now and then happens that
wolf hunter comes off tho field with
his clothes badly torn and his flesh
ltceratcd by tho claws or teeth of IN
lnfuriatod animal, but there has never
been fatality resulting from tho
sport.
Tho hunting party gets together ut
given point on tho shore of tho lako
nbout noon, and they como from nll
quarters. 1t is not an unusual thing
to soc $50 men engaged in wolf hunt.
Each man carries riflo and % couple
OF revolvers. Some are on foot and
some on horseback. Tho horses rid
den are usually the little why Indian
pony or mustang, that can run aIl
night and all day and not get tired.
When the pnrty is ready to march it
starts out across the ice III tho dircc-
ton of the island. Tho horsemen are
stationed around the island rs near to
each other as it il possible to place
them and complete tho Gordon.
The men on foot form in tho shape
of the letter U across the island. Some
of them carry horns, others tin pms.
and when everything is ready the men
movo in the direction Of the boulder
heaps blowing the horns, pounding
the pans, and yelling like fiends. Tho
racket rouses the wolves lying among
the rocks and they dash from cover.
Some OF the anipals arc in burrows.
These are smoked out, and it is but q
very short time before there is plenty
OF game running helter-skeltcr, look
ing for now cover.
at tho northwest extreme of tho ISL
and is clear spot, and it is the aim
OF tho hunters to get tho wolves into
this open space, where they may com
pletely surround them. Tho mon
gradually advance up tho island drum
ming, bowling, and firing off their
guns, and the bewildercd wolves fec
before them until they are driven bo-
yond the rookie.
1t is not until the animals are sur
rounded ut the upper end of the island
that tho real fun bogins. They dash
here and there to find IN opening
through which it is possible to escape.
They are rendered frantic by tho CON
tinued blaro of horns and tho horrible
yelling, and in their excitement snap
and snarl at each other like lot OF
surly ours. Occasionally O hunter
takes shot at one and brings him
down, and in this way tho ranks of
the beasts arc thinned out until from
n possible thirty or forty but soven or
eight remain. These are preserved
for tho horscmen on tho ice, who arc
generally the best markslnen in the
purity.
The frightened boasts are given IN
opportunity to escape. Tho circle is
broken with the opening SO calculated
that tho wolves will Aeo TO tho ice.
They Immediately dash through, and
the hoysemen remain inactive until
tney have passed beyond their circle T;
then they give chase. Tho wolf, with
its sharp claws is swift runner, oven
on smooth ice, and when tho ice is
covered with slight coating of snow
he is capable of making wonderfully
quick time, but, as fast as he ia, the
little mustangs are able to keep close
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