Hunting the Grisly and Other Sketches: An Account of the Big Game of the United States and its Chase with Horse, Hound, and RifleRoosevelt, Theodore
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Hunting the Grisly and Other Sketches: An Account of the Big Game of the United States and its Chase with Horse, Hound, and Rifle
Roosevelt, Theodore
Hunting -- United States
Though, I have never known wolves to attack a man, yet in the wilder
portion of the far Northwest I have heard them come around camp very
close, growling so savagely as to make one almost reluctant to leave the
camp fire and go out into the darkness unarmed. Once I was camped in the
fall near a lonely little lake in the mountains, by the edge of quite a
broad stream. Soon after nightfall three or four wolves came around camp
and kept me awake by their sinister and dismal howling. Two or three
times they came so close to the fire that I could hear them snap their
jaws and growl, and at one time I positively thought that they intended
to try to get into camp, so excited were they by the smell of the fresh
meat. After a while they stopped howling; and then all was silent for
an hour or so. I let the fire go out and was turning into bed when I
suddenly heard some animal of considerable size come down to the stream
nearly opposite me and begin to splash across, first wading, then
swimming. It was pitch dark and I could not possibly see, but I felt
sure it was a wolf. However after coming half-way over it changed its
mind and swam back to the opposite bank; nor did I see or hear anything
more of the night marauders.
Five or six times on the plains or on my ranch I have had shots at
wolves, always obtained by accident and always, I regret to say, missed.
Often the wolf when seen was running at full speed for cover, or else
was so far off that though motionless my shots went wide of it. But once
have I with my own rifle killed a wolf, and this was while travelling
with a pack train in the mountains. We had been making considerable
noise, and I never understood how an animal so wary permitted our near
approach. He did, nevertheless, and just as we came to a little stream
which we were to ford I saw him get on a dead log some thirty yards
distant and walk slowly off with his eyes turned toward us. The first
shot smashed his shoulders and brought him down.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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