Fifty Years In The Northwest: With An Introduction And Appendix Containing Reminiscences, Incidents And NotesFolsom, William H. C. (William Henry Carman)
History
Fifty Years In The Northwest: With An Introduction And Appendix Containing Reminiscences, Incidents And Notes
Folsom, William H. C. (William Henry Carman)
Minnesota -- History; Wisconsin -- History
MOOSE HUNTING.--The lake and surrounding country offer unrivaled
attractions to the sportsman. The lake abounds in fish, of which the
lake trout is the most abundant in number and delicious in flavor.
Specimens are frequently taken weighing from ten to fifteen pounds.
The forests at that time abounded in wild animals, chief of which was
the moose, the largest and the homeliest of the deer family. With his
long, narrow head, small eyes, donkey-like ears, pendant lips, the
upper one curling like a small proboscis, with his high shoulders and
giraffe-like hips, with his short, round body, long and clumsy legs,
he is as distinguished for his want of grace and comeliness as the red
deer is for its presence. No animal is better adapted for its own home
and mode of life. Their heavy coat of hair adapts them to high
latitudes. With their curved upper lip they take hold of the branches
of the trees, and with their strong teeth and paws they are able to
peel off the tender bark of saplings and small trees. The moose, when
attacked, is fierce, resolute, defiant, and defends himself in a
masterly manner, striking with his fore legs with such precision that
the hunter is obliged to keep at a respectful distance. The male moose
wears a remarkable pair of horns of annual growth, to which each year
a prong is added. The home of the moose is the northern part of the
North Temperate Zone.
Moose hunting is a healthy though laborious pastime. The hunter must
be an expert, and it requires years of practice to become skillful. He
must build his camp in the wilderness, packing thither his food,
blankets, camp utensils and gun. With his pack of dogs he starts out
in search of a moose yard. This is generally in some well timbered
district. The snow in winter is generally from three to six feet deep,
but the moose has broken paths through this to facilitate his
movements through the forest, and here he roams about in fancied
security, browsing on the young shrubs, but the hunter finds his
hiding place. In such case he conceals himself in the snow near one of
these paths and waits patiently till the moose passes, when he fires
upon him. If the moose is killed at once the hunter waits patiently in
his hiding place till another and another comes up to share a like
fate. If the moose is only wounded he starts off as rapidly through
the snow as his long legs will carry him, pursued by the hunter and
his dogs. The hunter has all the advantages of the position, being
mounted on snowshoes, thus being able to move with comparative
swiftness, while the moose plunges heavily through the snow, and at
last, weakened by loss of blood, he is overtaken and easily killed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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