Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1895-07-17
DAKOTA WOLF HUNTS.
Some Lively Times at the Annual
Devils Lalke Roundup.

In winter, when Devils lake is frozen
over as smooth as barn 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-
element attending the Dakota wolf
hunt, says the st. Louis Glohe-Demo-
crat, is probably not equaled by any
sport known 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, for when the
wolves are cornered they will fight
with the desperation of mad dogs. II
now and then happens that a wolf
hunter comes off. the field with his
clothes badly torn and his flesh .ac-
Grated by the claws or teeth of an in
Infatuated animal, but there has never
been fatality resulting from the
sport. The hunting party get together
at given point on the shore of the lake
about noon, and they come from all
quarters. It is not an unusual thing to
see one hundred and fifty men engaged
in a wolf hunt Each man carries n
rifle and couple of revolvers. Some
are on foot and 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. .s'-
When the party is ready to march II
starts out across the ice in the direction
of the island The horsemen are sta
toned around the island, as near 20
each other as it is possible ~ place
them and complete the Gordon. The men
on foot form in the shape of the letter
Uacross the island. Some of them carry
horns, others tin pans, and when every
thing is ready the men move in the di
rection of the bowlder heaps blowine.
the horns, pounding the tin pans, anu
yelling like fiends. The racket rouscs.
the wolves lying along the rocks, and
they dash from cover. Some of the an
imals are in burrows. These ar
smoked out, and it is but very shor,
time before there is plenty of gamo
running heller SHELTER, looking for new
cover. At the northwest extremity Of
the island is 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 bew:ldercd wolves flee 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 find an opening
through which it is possible to escape.
They are rendered frantic by the con-
tlnued bIare OF horns ana the horrible
yelling, and in their excitement snap
and snarl at each other like lot of sur
ly ours. Occasionally hunter takes q
shot at one and brings him down, and
In this way the ranks of the beasts are
thinned out until from possible thirty
or forty but seven or eight remain.
These are preserved for the horsemen
on the ice, who are generally the best
marlIsmen 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
their 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 slight coatinr.
of snow, he is capable of making wo.I-
derfully quick time, but, fast as he IS,
the little mustangs are able to kc>p
close to his heels in a straightaway
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 horse
is proud of his craftsmanship, and it is
the aim of each to shoot an animal in
the head, which, from horseback, is nc
easy matter. To shoot one through the
body, these men claim, requires no skill
and so it often happens that several
hours are consumed in the wild chase
OF the wolves before the remnant of the
pack is destroyed, and it is not infre
quently the case that one man succeed:
in killing the greater number. Wher
| the last wolf nacn moo ~. 10 49,. ~,