The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1898-02-03
A RUSSIAN WOLF HI nj.

my LnlIu N-SlC 10 tue russian LIN
pire | was enabled, in accordance
with my long entertained and ardent
desire, to get rid for a few days of
business which chained me to either
! st. Petersburg OF Moscow and thor
oughly indulge my passion for the
chase. The days, or what Is more
exact, the nights, of pleasurable sport,
sport | enjoyed | owe chiefly to my
friend. Alexander P, whose po-
sessions are situated at the very feet
Of tne Waldai Mountains, which with
their profusely wooded slopes and
deep, ravine like valleys and marshy
plains, are the haunts of wild animals
Of every kind. In these mountains
are to be killed every species Of game
to be found lii European Russia, from
the wolf and bear to the rebtchik, a
kind of partridge, bat with the game
taste more pronounced.
notwithstanding the SOLDERING effect
of'a wolf hunt three years ago hard
Oh the Russo Polish frontier, the real
winter wolf hunting still had an ire
sistable charm for me As a rule the
wolf IS brought to bay in three differ
ent ways. When there is no SHOW
the game was driven to certain places
and there killed by the hunters. This
sport Is comparatively y tame and never
had more interest for me than hare
hunting III Germany The landlord
fixes one or several hunting days. in
vites a great number Of hunters, and
the peasants, who. by survival OF
serfdom, are compelled to join in a
wolf hunt at any time and without re-
| muneration, assemble in families.
The part Of the forest where wolves
| have been seen IS surrounded, q chain
Of shooters is formed and then the
! signal for driving is given. From 100
| TO 1876 peasants enter the woods and
raise an Internal noise by clapping
! pieces of flat wood together, striking
the trees and beating a certain kind
OF drum. The wolf likes the odds
| with him, and as be has no stomach
| for this ciatter, sneaks out Of the
woods and dashes through the Gordon
OF hunteas, who try their marksman-
ship on MIN. Those who believe that
the wolf attacks Il man under such cir
cnmstances may dlsabu5e themselves.
The frightened animal ruus away
when he can, and he who would hit
| the rascal as he dashes through the
brush must be quick and sure shot.
| But, as | said before, this kind of
sport has no charm for me. What
safe kind Of hunting it is, is best il
Illustrated by the fact that one day
! I 4 f hnIIcnhn1I
| accompanied us and we killed that
day not less than twenty wolves. |
have never heard that at any one of
these hunts wolf ever attacked a
| human beng.
The second way ofhunting the wolf
Is to lie IN ambush, to decOy the wolf
| by means of living or dead bait, and
| then send ball into him from your
hiding place But this, too, Is not
very exciting Many night have [
thus sat III the bitterest cold, to return
home finally without having fired
shot. But the third way furnishes the
hind OF sport that puts q heavier strain
on your nerves. This is hunting in
sled. If one sees a Russian winter
scene illustrated with a sled flying
swiftly over the snow covered space
lie Is instantly reminded of wolves.
SO, recently. child at an exposition
Of pictures, where everybody admired
a Russian winter landscape with q
"trUika flying over the snow, IS said
TO nave remarked to its mother: But,
mamma. this is not finished, where
are the wolves.
Apparently sled has more attrac
tive power for wolf than the bait
offered him in the wood. 1t almost
seems that the ogre suppOses the oc
cupauts of a sled Will prove especially
tickling to the palate. On a certain
moonIit night OF January we we're
assembled around the vaporlng Rus
sian tea kettle, after having had a
very substantial supper. At intervals
we drank the aromatic caravan tea,
OF slipped good Russian cordial,
when, at about l0:3O Ivan, my
friends huutSman, announced that
the sled was ready and that 1t was
time To start Once more we filled
the not over small glasses with the
ire water and then we set off on our
nocturnal venture. Owing to the
continuous snow fall of tie preceding
days, which formed snow and Ice
cover over foot IN thickness, great
many hungry wolves had made their
appearance in the neighborhood-
This was my first experience Of wolf
bunting in a sled. and | must confess
that my heart beat fast when | pct
ured to myself host of famished
wolves, blood thirsty assa!lants which
we could keep back only by quick and
deadly discharges, while our Sled
drawn by horses mad with fright was
flying over the snow like phantom
Quickly we exchanged our house
dresses for turred coats and boots
+ examined for the last time our gooC
: Wesley Richards centre fire shotguns
, and heavy Smith 4 Wesson revolvers
the sharp hunting knives fastened L
our belts, and soon we were out IL
the moonht night. While | was ac
customed to see an elegant sled OF
St. Petersburg make awaiting us un
der the porch Of the MAJOR, the long
bearded driver. weighing about 25(
pounds. his he&d covered with the
orthodox three cornered chapka OF
violet velvet, l now, on the contrary
beheld a miserable rustic SLED, worse
even than common isvowtchik, in
deed, Just about the kind of sled the
Finlanders use when visiting Peters
burg during the butter week. Before
the wretched vehicle stood two miser
able, rugged, sorry jades, one III the
curved shafts. the other on the side
= as a gallop horse, Ivan, the hunts
man, himself holding the reins. clat
as Russian cattle dealer The en
Z, tire outfit had the aspect Of a cattl,
dealers conveyance. The seats wert
half on the side and half on the bacl