Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1895-10-31
DAKOTA WOLF N
Some Lively Times at the Annual
Devils Lake Roundup.

Devils Lake Roundup.
The Hunters Ride VIry Little Mustangs
and Have Great Sport In Chasing
and shooting the
Pirates of the Plains.
In winter, when Devils lake is frozen
over as smooth as a Darn floor, and the
Ice is from one to five 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 sounds
weirdly over the frozen lake. The ex-
citement attending the Dakota wolf
hunt, says the St. Louis G~lobe-Demo-
crat, is probably not equaled by any
sport known to the nimrod, since h
game is large, wary, swift of movement
and full of tricks. There is an element
Of danger in it, too, for when the
wolves are cornered they 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 lac
Grated by the claws or teeth of an in
Infatuated animal, but there has never
been a fatality resulting from the
sport. The hunting party get together
at a given point on the shore of the AXE
about noon, and they come from all
quarters. 1t is not an unusual thing to
see one hundred and fifty men engaged
In a wolf hunt. Each man carries a.
rifle and n couple of revolvers. Some
are on foot III some are on horseback.
The horses ridden are usually the lit
tie, wiry Indian pony or mustang, that
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 horse1nen are sta
toned around the island, 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
thing is ready h men move in the di-
rectioq of the bowlder heaps, blowing
the horns, pounding the tin pans, and
yelling like fends. The racket rouses
the wolves lying along the rocks, and
they dash from cover Some of the IN
imals are in burrows. These are
Inoked out, and it is but a very short
time before there is plenty of game
running heller 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 space, where they may com
pletely surround them. The men grad
ually advance up the island, drumming.
bowling, and firing off their guns, and
the bewildered wolves fee before them
until they are driven beyond the rocks.
1t is not until the animals are sur
rounded at the upper end of the island
that the real fun begins. They dash
here and there to ind an opening
through which it Is possible to escape.
They are rendered frantic BY the con-
tinued blare of horns and the horrible
yelling. and Ia their excitement snaD
and snarl at each other like a lot of sur
ly ours. Occasionally a hunter takes a
at n and brings him down, and
in this way the ranks of the beasts are
thlnned out until from a possible thirty
Or forty but seven or eight remain.
are preserved for the horsemen
the ice, who are generally the best
marksmen In the party. The frightened
beasts are given an opportunity to es-
cape. The circle is broken, with the
opening so calculated that the wolves
will flee to the ice. They immediately
dash through, and the horsemen remain
inactive until they have passed beyond
circle. Then they give chase. The
wolf, with his sharp claws, is a swift
runner. even on smooth ice, and when
the ice Is covered with a slight coating
snow, he is capable of making won
derfully quick time. but, fast as he is.
the little mustangs are able to keen
to his heels in a straiehtawav
race, but the wolf has the advantage of
being able to make quick turns, and
that is what he does.
Every wolf hunter mounted on a horse
Is proud of his craftsmanship, and it is
the aim OF each to shoot an animal in
the head, which. from horseback, is no
matter. To shoot one through the
body, these men claim, requires no skill.
and SO 1t often happens that several
houFs are consumed in the wild chase
Of the wolves before the OF the
is destroyed, and it is not infre-
4uently n case that one man succeeds
IN killing the greater number. When
last wolf escapes or has been killed |
party return to town with their
trophies, and the affair winds up with
q banquet and a ball, which is looked
upon as the event of the season. The
man who has proven himself the most |
expert merksman is DESIGNATED as the
leader of b nhunting party for the
next season.