The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1898-05-21
D. DAKOTA g, WOLF lL HUNTs.
Some Lively Times at the Annual
Devils Lake Roundup.


T-- y ~
sInwint4e. when Devils lake Is frozen
over asAmooth asa barn floor, and the
ICE is from one to Ave 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 Globe 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 1t, too,, for when the
wolves are cornered they will fight
with the desperation of mad dogs. It
now and then happens that a wolf
hunter comes of the field with his
clothes badly torn and his flesh lac
Grated by the claws or teeth of an in
infuriated 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 wolf hunt. Each man carries a
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.
When the party is ready to march +
starts out across the ice In the direction
OF the island. The horsemen 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 the men move in the di-
rection OF the bowlder heaps, blowing
the horns, pounding the tin pans, and
yelling like fiends. The racket rouses
the wolves lying along the rocks, and
they dash from cover. Some of the an
imals are in burrows. These are
smoked out, and it is but very short
time before there is plenty of game
running helter skelter, 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,
howling, and firing off their guns, and
the bewildered wolves fee before them
until they are driven beyond the rocks.
10 Sxt
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-
tinued blare of horns and the horrible
yelling, and in their excitement snap
and snarl at each other like lot of sur
ly ours. Occasionally hunter takes
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.
These are preserved for the horsemen
on 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
their circle. Then they give chase. The
wolf, with his sharp claws, is swift
runner, even on smooth ice, and when
the ice is covered with slight coating
OF snow, he is capable of making won
derfuliy quick time, but, fast as he is,
the little mustangs are able to keep
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. 20 a.
Every wolf hunter mounted on horse
is proud Of his Workmanship, and it is
the aim of each to shoot an animal in
the head, which, from horseback, is no
easy matter. To shoot one through the
body, these men claim, requires no skill, |
and so 1t 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- |
luently the case that one man succeeds |
n killing the greater number. When
,he last wolf escapes or has been killed
he party return to town with their |
;rophies, and the affair winds up with |
! banquet and ball, which is looked |
lpOn as the event of the season. The |
nan who has proven himself the most
expert marksman is designated as the
eader of the uhunting party for the
,ext season. ... Ja