The Savannah morning news., 1904-01-13
1T is MOOSE MURDER.
"CnlIing" Is So Termed by "a Well
known New Brunswick Guide.


From the Kansas City Star.
"Still hunting for sport; moose
calling for the man in search of
trophies This is the maxim of the
guides of New Brunswick as exem-
plified in Uncle" Henry Braithwaite,
dean of the faculty of moose hunters,
trapper of 80 years experience and
bosom friend of every possessor of red
corpuscle that ever trod trail by his
side. Cunning against cunning, brain
against brain, endurance against en-
durance; that is real hunting" Braith-
waite declares: Calling a moose is a
poor way of getting one, for the poor
beast is heavily Handicapped, lending
to the hunter all the lust of his ami
NAL nature at the mating season when
caution is thrown aside and the pur-
suit of the female overshadows all else
in the mind Of the king of the north
woods Tradition and most of the book
writers maintain that moose calling Is
a fine art; but the guide and trapper
know that 1t takes a very poor imita-
ton of the natural call to bring a
moose within reach of the rifle. In their
hearts all true woodsmen feel that a
moose called up and shot is a moose
murdered; but man must live, and
since the recurring autumn brings
fresh hunters to the chase so the guide
must see that trophies are taken out
or be content to half-starve through
the winter. Many a time l have cursed
inwardly when the twisted barn horn
has brought a fine bull through the
thick woods into the clearing.
The still hunt is a very different
kind of game. When the mating sea-
son is past and the leaves are off the
trees; when the first snow carpets the
earth and footing is good Though the
big woods then the hunter has to
match his sagacity against that of a
c1ear-brained and swift footed animal
No tyro can play against a full grown
bull moose and still less against the
caribou. Every pair of antlers won at
this matching of wits is full fairly
earned and many pair that are lost
have given sport enough in the pur-
suit to satisfy the men who came off
second best in the contest. There is
no sitting comfortably and waiting for
the quarry to be called into sight.
only by hard, persevering and relent-
less tracking by night and by day
can the l1ursuer secure his coveted
target"
Up on the little southwest branch of
the Miramichi river Henry Braith-
waite reigns over one of the choicest
hunting grounds of New Brunswick.
Here year after year he meets old
friends from all the big centers east of
Chicago. Theodore Roosevelt as a
young man sat at the feet of this Gam
aliel of the backwoods to learn much
of the habits of big game. OFFICIAL du-
ties have never allowed the president
to make & second trip to the Miramichi
country, but Mr. Roosevelt is still a
name to conjure by with Henry. Full
of the lore of the woods, Henry Braith-
waite knows the habits of wild crea-
lures as the scholar knows his books
Winter and summer he lives among
them, finding his livelihood in the heart
of the woods. A keen reader of all
books that deal with animals, the old
guide is a somewhat caustic critic of
their authors.
That ThomDson-S Seton man is close
to being right" he said to the writer
not long ago, but Charley Roberts, he
ought to know better than to write
what he does. Never was a panther in
the New Brunswick woods and never
will be, unless it escapes from a cir
Gus. Charley was brought up in the
woods and he surely never saw ONE"
BY Charley Roberts the veteran means
c. G. d. Roberts, who shares the hon
or with Henry of being a native of
Fredericton. N. B. Never was freed
by moose and never expect to be- he
continued. whats more I never 60 ~
a man who was: at any rate, not any
man who knew his business. The only
way man can be freed by a moose is
by fooling round the tree.
If there's one thing a moose won't
stand it's to see another bull rub it's
horns against the trunk of a tree. To
moose this is a deadly insult, a chal-
lenge direct, and no self-respecting
bull is going to stand it long. To
his nature anything that looks like
this challenge is something to sail
into, and he isn't slow about getting
under way. Once he gets something
up tree he's going to keep it there
until he gets a fall out of it or is kill
ed" New Brunswick SHOWS and eli
mate in the late fall and winter do
not admit of comfort in the open air,
and a man may very easily lose his
life through exposure. So a circle of
huts is established and kept supplied
with grub enough to last several
days. Younger assistants make it
their duty to see that no subcamp is
left with an empty larder. The huts
are built of stout logs, with the
chinks stuffed tight with moss and
clay. A rought fireplace and some
hunks complete the furnishing and the
man who cannot be content with this
has no welcome on the branch.
Under Braithwaite's system his
hunters run no risk of stopping a
careless bullet. If two parties are
out on the branch the location of
each is known to the other, and Meth
err is within fifteen miles of bull
let range. Most of the New Bruins
wick guides work on this system, and
laccidents are unknown. No guide
encroaches on the others preserves, a
rule that is maintained strictly, to
the good of all. Nothing but stress
of weather will induce a guide TO
break this rule. and no other excuse
is accepted. Breaches of the rules of
etiquette are very liable to cause a loss