The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-11-09
MOOSE HUNTING IN MAINE.
II Is Necessary Now tn Go Into the Forest
"A Great Ways to secure the Game.

eIsat
Many New York and New England
sportsmen are now in the wilds OF
Maine hunting moose. Reports recelv-
ed from them thus far indicate thai the
game is scarce this year, although
some of the parties which have gone
ont are meeting with success. 1t Is nat
ural hat the moose should grow
each year before the onslaught OF SO
many devotoes of the gun, especially as
firearms grow more deadl win on
slant Improvement. The repeating rife,
smokeless powder, s~oft-nosed n hol-
.low-pointed bullets and similar devices
are fast telling the story of extinction.
Formerly moose were so In
the Maine woods as TO be secured cas-
lily almost at any time. even by the
noyic Nowadays IL has become neces-
sary to penetrate the most inaccessible
Businesses of the wilderness in order
10 be reasonably sure of success, ana
ever then success cannot be counted On
as a foregone conclusion.
Few Of the sportsmen going into the
Maine woods in these days depend up
on their own skill to find the where
abouts OF moose or caribou. the as
sistance OF native or Indian guides Is
now Indispensable. A more devoted SET
OF men tina they are can scarcely be
found, and their kill in woodcraft IL
wonderful. Their first care Is TO convey
the party under their charge into prom
Using country. This is sometimes no
easy undertaking. The novice is unable
To understand why mile after mile
should be traversed. wen day after day
spent in travelling further and further
into the woods. while an unbroken
stretch OF forest OF many miles in *
tent has already been placed etwce
him and the last vestige of civilization,
He wants to stop right where he Is and
begin hunting at once, n II require
a deal of tact and patience on the part
of the guide to urge his charge on into
promising country. When ne mas once
reached the ground there follows the
ceaseless restraint and the endless
round of precautions which must be
placed upon the unskilled huntsman lest
he ruin his chances in advance by some
improperly against the rule or the
game fields. loud talking, unnecessary
exploding of firearms. and so on. Ana
when at length the hour for the hunt
a arrived. the visitor must be placed
In advantageously and the process OF
finding the quarry begun.
There are several Ways of accomplish
ing this end. but perhaps the most re-
markable Of all is by calling. The con-
ventional call Of the guides Is a trum-
pet of birch bark some two or three Zee
long. with which n believing sound Is
produced truly weird and overawing IN
the silence OF the woods. This call mas
TO be produced with great exactness
and at precisely the right intervals OF
time. or no response will follow. The
willy bul o Is not easily to be Trick
ed. n any unnatural circumstance II
connection with the guides Invitation
Is detected at once and many a long
mile placed between the unfortunate
huntsman and his intended victim.
Finally. after the game has been To-
Gated. In this or some other a there
IL the uncertainty "a to the I'll ano
aim OF the hunter. He may be takei
with buck fever" or shoot wild and
wide Of his mark. or lose his ~self-contro
and TAIL TO fire al all. The guide take;
as much pride and satisfaction In TINS
success Of his charge as though IL were
his own. and to come out of the WOODS
empty-handed is as much Of n disap-
pointment 20 him as to his employer
for he feels hat his reputation IS Al
stake. and is as anxious TO acquit him.
self creditable "a the practitioner o.
n other craft or trade.-New forh
Sun.