The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-28
PERIL IN HUNTING MOOSE.
GREAT ANTLERED ANIMALS OFTEN
DISPLAY SPLENDID COURAGE.

ence to Running Away-Plucky
Fight of an Indian Hunter With
One Leg BrOkcn-How Young Hum
ter Was Aided by Ice Incline I'm
Making n Capture.
From the Bangor Wing AMI Courier.
| small army of American sportsmen
| are now resolutey pushing their way by
| pirogue or bark canoe TO the headwaters
| of the woodland rivers of New Brunswick,
where moose and caribou abound. The
| season opened on Sept. l for all kinds of
| game except the ruffed grouse, which has
a period of grace until Sept. 20 The prop
er time for calling moose with the birch
en- horn is later in the month This is
/ the method most approved 10y sportsmen
| for capturing the bull moose Experience
has shown that the period when moose
/ can be successfully called eAt2nds from
about Sept 20 to Oct. 10.
Practically there are two calling sea-
sons the first before the bull has found
its mate, the second a week or Two later,
VIXEN the honeymoon has waned ana the
| f:ckle pair has strayed away. When the
! sui is accompanied by COW he VIII sell
dom respond to the simulated call Cases
kave occurred however, where an entire
moose family have advanced, as if I'M
peleG by curiosity, to the callers hiding
! place. 1t is not uncommon Tor two or
even three or four bulls to answer a skill
full caller at the same time, their hoarse
| eiunts proceeding from various points OF
the compass as they swagScr 70 the i'm
| agnary trystng place. Sometimes the
| bull comes up in utter stealth and silence.
| More frequently he brings the woods with
him, as the guides say, herdlding his ad-
! vance with a tremendous ohligato of grunts
and striking the trees and branches with
! his horns.
Fighting for the Mastery.
This is not a matter of reckless haste on
! the part of the moose, but ratheF DEM
onstration of defiance to a possible rival
Few are the hunters, whether amateur or
professional, who have ever seen that
spectacle the combat of two frenzied
bulls for the mastery. The onset is a des-
/ perate one, the roars of the contestants
boom through the woods for miles around
and horns are shattered and wounds in
flicted that frequently result in death.
These terrible fights are not confined, as
is commonly supposed, to the mating sea-
SON They occur at all times in the fall
of the year until the moose are firmly
yarded in the deep SHOWS. Impressive in
size and crusty of temper though he is
the bull moose is not really a dangerous
animal unless cornered Nevertheless,
Chief Gabe of the Milicete tribe relates
a miraculous escape he once had from
being trodden to death by a bull moose.
He was calling one moonlight evening
in September in company with an Eng
lish officer on a small barren in Casper
eauX county. A moose responded down
the stream that traversed the bog, and
another was soon heard from fire-scath
ed ridge across the stream As they APP
preached the still night air was punctu-
ated with their impressive grunts, and
their lines of travel seemed to converge.
Suddenly their notes of challenge ceased
and they We're heard ripping the trees
with their horns a few rods from each
other.
Soon this feature of the programme
! ceased also and was succeeded by ire
mendous roars as the rivals rushed from
their shadowy shelter of trees and met
on the open bog Gabe then told the Of
| ficer to come on and the two advanced
/ quickly to the scene of battle. The OPP
posing. partirarchs had locked horns in
deadly strife. Aiming as carefully as ne
could by the light of the moon, the officer
fired at the nearer bull and brought him
down.
Charged His Hunters.
The next move made by The second buil
was a startling one. Instead of seeking
refuge in flight, he advanced with ire
/ mendous roar upon the hunters The Off
Ger fired again, but missed, and in an in
saint the bull was upon them. The In
dian stood fairly in the pathway OF the
furious animal In attempting to leap 10
{
tussock and fell pront upon the ground.
The moose rushed over him breaking the
Indians leg with one of his massive
hoofs.
The moose ran only few rods and then.
| turning about, began to below and paw
up the bog. Though suffering intense
pain, the old chief lay motionless on the
bog and uttered no sound Just then the
moose scented the officer, who, having
dropped his rifle, was crouching behind
bush With lowered head the moose adj
vanced to the attack. Death was staring
his patron in the face, when Gabe. crawl
/ ing swiftly on hands and knees, recov-
cred the rifle and shot the animal dead.
One of the youngest guides in the To-
bique country had a novel experience
with a monster bull last December. He
was following a line of traps near the
head of Trousers lake and about two
miles from camp when he struck the track
of a moose. This he followed about 200
yards and then he beheld an enormous
moose looking at him across "a wudfan.
about twenty-five yards away. Twice his
rifle missed fire.
At the third attempt he shot the moose
in the shoulder, whereuDon the animal
/ staggered and then, recovering, galloped
off, leaving a trail of blood in the snow.
| OgilVie followed the moose about half
mile and then saw him across a small bog.
watching his back track. The boy fired
again, when the moose snorted and rush.
ed straight at him. with name erect and
shaking his head The boy retreated and
leaped behind a big tree. The moose came
within sixty feet, snorted and bumped up
his back as though inviting his enemy to
close combat.
A Fortunate Shot.
Ogilvie fred a third time, but another
snort and snake of the head were the
only visible results. The boy then leaned
his rifle against his tree for refuge and
aimed straight at the monsters breast.
| The immense animal reared on his hind
legs at the report, made a futile attempt
to charge, fell backward against a pop
lar tree and was dead before the lad could
reach him. The horns of this moose meas
ured fifty-eight inches and but for an in
jury they received when in the velvet
would have gone over five feet. The
moose was very gray in color and showed
signs of extreme old age