The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1914-04-09
HUNTING The Wolf
In Russia the Vicious Brute, if
Full Grown, Is a Marvel.
FLEET, FIERCE AND STRONG.
He Is Often More Than Match For
Pack Of Trained Hounds and Fairly
Fights His Way to Freedom-An Ex-
citing Chase With Grand Duke.

rack OF lTaiI1SO T1OuHOS anOrT AIRY
Fights His Way to Freedom-An Ex.
citing Chase With Grand Duke.
Hunting wolves with dogs is one Of
the most engrossing and exciting Of
the winter sports in Russia. and in the
pursuit of the full grown wild beast
three types of dog are used-the ordi-
nary foxhound pack, the borzoi, or
Russian wolfhound, and the bear
hound, a type which is becoming rarer
all the time. The Russian imperial
hunt, which is situated at Gatchina,
about thirty miles from st. Petersburg.
is the scene of most of these sporting
events.
The method Of hunting is to employ
a ring" or locate the animal by means
Of his tracks in certain portion Of the
forest, the mounted huntsmen remain
ing quietly about, with groups Of bor-
zois in leash. three together. The next
step is to send the foxhounds into the
forest to force the wolf to break cover.
and on his appearance the wolfhounds
are slipped. If the quarry can survive
two miles Of hard pressure he will
have outlasted the pace and staying
powers of his pursuers. but. if not the
Wolfhounds will have pulled him down.
They can make no impression on his
hide. however, but must wait until the
first hOrSeman comes up. The wolf is
either killed then by knife, or his legs
and jaws are bound up, and he is
taken back home and exhibited a few
days in captivity, when he is turned
loose to furnish sport at future time
In the London Times N. Kravtchen-
ko tells of a hunt in company with
grand duke. in which one of these full
grown vicious brutes proved too much
for the hounds:
We had reached our stations and be-
came accustomed to patient, motionless
waiting when far away was heard the
voice of hound on the scent Soon a
whole chorus joined in, and little
later the wood in front of US began to
fill with noise. and then suddenly, not
far from us. appeared a huge full
grown wolf.
he seemed to be absolutely undis-
turbed and trotted off as if nothing par
ticular was occurring, but in reality he
was travelling at great speed and had
almost covered half the distance when
the grand duke unleashed upon him.
Like lightning the wolf turned and re-
treated. but the dogs were quicker
LET go!" shouted the grand duke and
my leash quickly followed Every mo-
ment thought the dogs would roll the
wolf over and pin him. But the task
was evidently no easy one. The wolf
went on and on. Now and then he
would turn his head when some more
enterprising hound pressed him with
his attentions. It seemed that there
was nothing particularly menacing in
the act. but so quickly did the mighty
jaws snap that we could only tell as
one hound after another fell away
with ripped sides that it had been far
more than mere head shake. The in
credible strength and agility of the
beast and the apparent ease with
which he dealt with six of the might
lest and best borzois Of the grand
ducal kennel compelled ones respect
and admiration.
But now came a whirlwind directly
in his path-two borzois, dark as night,
galloping toward the pursued, intent at
the risk of their lives to overturn him
l thought to see him torn to pieces in
a few moments. But it is not in vain
that according to the rules of wolf
coursing a grown wolf has the honors
Of the whole kennel-all the borzois on
the field must be unleashed-for be-
sides his strength the grown wolf is
extraordinarily agile and intelligent.
All these qualities he displayed to the
full before me. For the first time saw
a grown wolf at bay, and l was no
longer disposed to feel any surprise
that so many dogs should be unleashed
against one beast Without changing
his course or his gait, suddenly, under
the very noses of the borzois that were
rushing upon him, he turned to the
right and headed straight toward US.
Some dogs. trying to turn quickly, fell,
but jumped up again and gave chase.
But the wolf, it seemed, continued on
his course at the same quiet gait, as If
he felt no need to expend his strength
on such foes
Not far from me the dogs almost
overlook him. thought that one had
gripped him, but he turned his head,
and those terrible fangs Of his again
did their deadly work. Saplings of
birch and oak, the outposts of the for
est, were already nigh. The dogs made
last desperate effort and almost sur
rounded him on the very edge of the
wood. We saw how they all came to-
gether, and then we heard the howl Of
one dog after another as the wolf snap
ped them off and his gray body disap>
peared in the thicket. Then the borzi-
atniki began to call their dogs together
and to gather up the wounded.
So we coursed the grown wolf. In
twenty-five years the Pershino hunt
has taken only fifty of them, where
as the number of cubs and yearling
wolves that have been taken by the
grand dukes borzois is 625.