Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1914-05-12
HUNTING Tk WOLF
In Russia the Vicious. Brute, if
 Full Grown, Is a Marvel.
FLEET. FIERCE AND STRONG.
He Is Often More Than Match Fer a Pack of Trained Hounds and Fairly Fights His Way to Freedom-An Ex- citing Chase With Grand Duke.

Fights His Way to Freedom-An Ex-
 citing Chase With a Grand Duke. Hunting wolves with dogs is one of the most expressing 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, foxhoundi pack, the borzoi,, or Russian wolfhound. and the bear hound, a type which is becoming rarers 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 A"O 'hAiCS VI hN' u pi N''SoaS HS "'' have outlasted the pace and staying 1 powers of his pursuers. but if not the | wolflNundS will have pulled him down. l They can make no impression on his l 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 l tOI I-0r ho oor hf,n 0yhihjfo fpyv days in captivity, when he is. turned
 loose to furnish sport at future time.
 In the London Times x. Kravtchen-
 ko tells of a. hunt in company with q grand duke in which one of these full grown vicious brutes proved too much for the hounds:
 We had reached our stutlous and be-
 waiting when far away was heard the
 voice of hound on the scent Soon a
 whole chorus joined in. and a little
 later the wood in front of us began to
 1ll with noise. and then suddenly. not
 far from us. appeared 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 q 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 fest and best borzois of the grand ducal kennel compelled one's respect
 and admiration.
 But now came whirlwind directly
 in his path-two borzois. dark as night galloping toward the pursued. intent at !. the risk of their lives to overturn him
 thought to see him torn to pieces in few moments. But it is not in vail, that according to the rules of wolf coursing 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 e 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 courscd the grown wolf. In
 twenty-five years the Pershino hunt r has taken only fifty.six of them. where : as the number of cubs and yearling
 wolves that have been taken by the
 grand dukes borzOis is 625.