The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-21
WOLF HUNT IN DAKOTA,
An Annual Roundup and Shooting
in Devils Like

From the st. Louis Globe-Democrat.
In winter when Devils Lake is frozen
over as smooth as barn floor and the
ice is from one to two feet thick. the
wolves make their headquarters on Rock
Island. They gather there by the hum
dred, and every night the chorus of their
short sharp yelps sound weirdly over the
frozen lake. The excitement attending
the Dakota wolf hunt 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. 1t now and
then happens that 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 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 quar-
ters. 1t is not an unusual thing to see one
hundred and fifty men engaged in a wolf
hunt Each man carries a, rife and a couple
OF revolVers. Some are on foot and some
on horseback. The horses ridden are US
ually the little Wiry Indian pony or mus
tang, that can run all night and all day
and not get tired.
When the party is ready to march it
SldTlS out across the Ice IN the direction
of the island. The horsemen are stationed
around the island as near TO each other
as it is possible to place them and COM
plete 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 everything is ready the men
move m the direction of the bowlder
heaps, blowing the horns, pounding the tin
pans and yelling like fiends. The racket
rouses the wolves lying among the rocks
and they dash from cover Some of the
mir Is a HI
out and il 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 the clear space
where they may completely surround
them. The men gradually advance up the
island drumming, bowling and firing off
their guns, and the bewildered 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 ind an opening through
rendered frantic by the continued bIare
OF horns and the horrible yelling and
their excitement snap and snarl at each
other like a lot of surly ours. Occa-
sionally 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. Theses are pre-
served for the horsemen on the ice who
are generally the best marksmen in the
party. The frightened beasts are given
an opportunity to escape. The circle is
broken with the opening so calculated
that the wolves will flee to the ice They
Immediately dash through, and the horse
men remain inactive until they have
passed beyond their circle; then they give
chase The wolf. with it's sharp claws
is a swift runner, even on smooth ice
and when the ice is covered with a slight
coating of snow he is capable Of making
wonderfully quick time, but, as fast AZ
he is, the little nuisances are able to keen
close to his heels in a straighaway race
the wolf has the advantage of being
able to make quick turns, and that *
what he does.
Every wolf hunter mounted on a horse
is proud of his Workmanship, and IL Is
the head-which, from horseback is no
easy matter. To shoot one through the
body. these men claim, requires no skill
and so il often happens that several
hours are consumed in the wild chase
OF the wolves before the remnant Of the
pack is destroyed, and Il Is not infre-
quently the case that one man succeeds
In killing the greatest number When
the last wolf escapes or has been killed
the party returns 10 the town with their
trophies and the affair winds up with a
banquet and ball, which is looked upon
ar the event 81 the season. The man
who has proven himself the most expert
marksman Il designated as the leader OF
the hunting party Tor the next season