Habits, haunts and anecdotes of the moose and illustrations from life

ONE THOUSAND SIGNED COPIES.

No.

Jtfrs-^rT&z^?

Habits
Haunts

and

Anecdotes

of

The Moose

and

Illustrations from Life
By

Burt Jones

Founder of the
Rational Sportsman

To

1. &• S-

This volume is respectfully dedicated,

Copyrighted, 1901,

By
CHARLES ALBERT JONES.

Press of

ALFBKD MUDGE & SON,
Boston.

NOTE TO THE READER.

I wish to extend to the following well-
known sportsmen my sincere thanks for
their kindness in contributing to the
illustrated section of this volume : Mr.
G. E. Harrison, of the New York Press
Club; Dr. O. H. Stevens, Marlboro,
Mass. ; Messrs. Harry L. and Louis O.
Tilton, Newton, Mass.; Mr. George M.
Hough ton, Bangor, Maine ; and Mr.
John E. Barney, Canaan, N. H., who
9

NOTE TO THE READER.

secured the photographs facing pages
55> 61, 83, and 127, the one opposite
page 55 deserving special mention, as,
in my estimation, it is the finest photo-
graph of live cow moose and calves in
existence.

The entire collection is copyrighted,
and any infringement on the same will
be prosecuted to the full extent of the
law.

10

PREFACE.

" This is the forest primeval." " It
is my home." So spoke the moose.
Suffice it is to say, that a prize trophy
over one's fireplace is an object to be
admired by one and all. It brings you
back to a last hunting trip, and well -do
you remember, as you gaze thereon, what
a chase it had led you in life, through
bog and alder swamp, until at last an

opportunity presented itself whereby the
ii

PREFA CE.

deadly missile from your rifle sends him
to his death. As the blue rings of smoke
from your brier pipe float up and away,
you are carried in thought to the North
Woods wherein he roamed. There he
lived, a monarch of all he surveyed.
The excitement of the chase, while it is
on, knows no bounds, but at the death
it subsides, and you return to civiliza-
tion to recall the event only when the
time arrives that another pilgrimage to
the happy hunting grounds is in order.
On the other hand, you find him as a
subject for your camera. An excellent
one, too. Exiled in his domain for a
few weeks and a wealth of enjoyment is
yours, as, during the long winter even-

12

PREFACE.

ings, you may open your album and see
him before you as he was in life. The
smoke from the same pipe will float up
and away, and you can for a moment
realize what a happy pastime you have
enjoyed while a guest of Dame Nature
in the Haunts of the Moose.

TO HIS LORDSHIP.

" Deep in the silent forest, where oft I 've chanced to

roam,
The monarch moose inhabits, it is his woodland

home;

By silent lake at morning, by ogan, calm at night,
Majestic stands his lordship, stands motionless in

sight.
The north wind to him is music, the tall pines are

his friends,
The rivers madly rushing, o'er the rocks and round

the bends,
Seems to him a heavenly blessing, seems to him the

work above
Of a kind and thoughtful Father, and His beings He

doth love."

CHAPTER I.

HABITS AND HAUNTS. SECTIONS WHERE FOUND.
STILL HUNTING. CALLING. POSSIBLE EXTERMI-
NATION.

n^HROUGHOUT the vast depths of
the northern forests, bordered by
the virgin growth of a trackless wilder-
ness, often with an imperial fringe of
timber-crowned hills, lives the moose.
He is the largest, as well as the most
highly prized, live game animal extant
to-day on the American continent. For-
merly, this species was very abundant
throughout the region of country ex-
19

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

tending from the wilds of Northern
Maine westward through the wilder-
ness bordering on the Great Lakes and
far beyond; but great havoc has been
wrought, especially during the past
twenty-five years, in the supply of this
variety of game.

Comparatively few are killed annually
in the United States, and those mostly
within the limits of Northern Maine and
the States of the far Northwest, where
the pernicious activity of the professional
hunters and self-styled sportsmen, who
kill the large beasts during the prev-
alance of deep snows, will, if not checked,
bring the moose into the list of extinct
species of American game before the
close of another decade.

No animal is so persistently hunted,

20

OF THE MOOSE.

and when killed, none considered so
grand a trophy as his lordship. Owing
to the comparatively small section of
this country that he inhabits they are
few in number, the Maine and Canadian
wildernesses sheltering by far more
moose than any other section. What
few specimens found in far-off Alaska are
world beaters in regard to size of body
and spread of antlers, one having been
shot in that territory whose horns mea-
sured over eight feet from tip to tip.

The best breeding and feeding grounds
are along the Canadian border, while
favorite localities for the sportsmen are
in the vicinity of lakes, ponds, and dead
waters throughout the aforementioned
sections.

In appearance the moose is large and

21

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

awkward ; its huge head and broad nose,
combined with its short, thick neck, giv-
ing it a rather grotesque appearance. In
color, he is brown, while his legs and
belly are grayish. His mane is almost
black, and at any approaching danger
rises upward, making him a most for-
midable foe to look upon.

The moose travels over the ground in
a swinging trot, exhibiting remarkable
speed. This style of locomotion is
adopted only when the animal is sud-
denly started. If the presence of man
is detected, while the hunter is yet
some distance away, the moose moves
off with considerable caution, often
selecting a course which the follower
can pursue only with the greatest diffi-
culty.

22

55 a
O es

05 «

81

OF THE MOOSE.

The endurance of the animal is such
that only the hardiest of hunters can
hope to overtake him in a stern chase
when he has once become alarmed.
The broad, palmate antlers are a distin-
guishing feature, and happy is the hunter
who can boast the possession of a head
as a trophy taken from an animal killed
by himself. While few are successful
in this respect the greater majority must
be content with perhaps a view of his
lordship at a distance.

Still hunting, or stalking the moose
in his native wilds, is a branch of sport
successfully followed by none except the
skilled woodsmen and hardy hunter.
The fatigue and countless obstacles to
be met with are such that comparatively
few amateur sportsmen attempt it.
25

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

More frequently the animal is driven to
the water by the guides and woods-
men, or attracted to such localities by
calling.

In Northern Maine and in the Cana-
dian Provinces, the moose is often hunted
during early winter by pursuing him on
snow-shoes. Jacking is often effectively
followed in mid-summer, along the lakes
and rivers. This method is considered
unsportsmanlike by those who possess
the requisite skill and endurance to adopt
the style of still hunting.

In size and weight he exceeds that
of the horse, specimens having been
shot that weighed over twelve hundred
pounds and stood seven and one-half
feet to the shoulder.

In the summer he is to be seen feed.
26

OF THE MOOSE.

ing in and near the streams on the lily
roots, of which he is exceedingly fond.
This is the time of year that he is easily
approached from a canoe as he stands,
with head submerged, eating that dainty
morsel. The black flies, at this season,
are also to a great extent responsible for
his taking to the water, as any of my
readers who have had a few of these
insects on them at one time usually feel
disposed to follow his example in their
endeavor to rid themselves of this pest.
As winter approaches he leaves the
lakes and streams, forming a yard or
runway by passing to and fro, beating
a track, and keeping the snow packed
down hard. These runways are always
located where there is good feed to be
had from young hard-wood trees, such
27

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

as the moosewood (a species of ash),
also poplar, birch, and mosses near at
hand. He does not feed from the
ground, and, owing to the great height
of his forelegs, he can reach from eight
to ten feet to secure his food Nor are
all these twigs tender, for his lordship
makes short work of biting off a sapling
an inch through if it is to his liking.

Moose bring forth their young in
May. Two calves are born, as a rule,
though sometimes not more than one.
The calf stays with the mother at least
a year, and often two. While the cow
moose is a timid animal, she is brave
in defending her young. A story told
by a trustworthy Indian guide illus-
trates this point.

While paddling on Chesuncook Lake,
28

OF THE MOOSE.

one day, the guide saw a cow moose
and a calf come down the bank and
enter the water. He watched them
until they had waded some distance
from shore, when his attention was ar-
rested by another animal coming out of
the woods near them. It was a black
bear. The bear was not seen by the
cow. He slipped easily into the water
and waded towards the cow and calf.
Presently he got beyond his depth, his
legs being much shorter than even a
calf moose's, and therefore had to swim.
He swam directly for the calf, and was
rapidly nearing it when the cow saw him.
The ungainly beast turned with remark-
able quickness towards the bear, whom
she attacked with her fore feet. Three
or four sharp jabs with her pointed hoofs
31

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

was enough to insure the protection of
her offspring, with whom she soon left
the water. The bear appeared to be
hors de combat, and the guide paddled up
to him, to find that his back had been
broken by the powerful blows of the
cow. The Indian dispatched the bear
with his knife and saved the pelt.

In size and strength the bull moose
is probably the equal of any antlered
animal that ever lived, one having been
shot in Maine with a spread of over
six feet. He sheds these splendid ant-
lers every winter, generally in January.
They are found sometimes by woodsmen,
but usually are gnawed and eaten up by
small animals as soon as dropped, as they
have a salty flavor that makes them pala-
table to squirrels, sable, and the like.
32

OF THE MOOSE.

Owing to the color of his coat, it is
hard to detect a moose sometimes in
" black growth," that is, spruce or hem
lock, for his upper part is brownish black,
and his legs tone off into gray or yellow-
ish white. The shanks are esteemed
by residents of the woods country for
making boots or " shoepacks," the hair
being left on and turned outward. Such
foot covering lasts indefinitely and sheds
water perfectly. The hoof is peculiarly
flexible, and divided farther, for example,
than in the case of the ox. This en-
ables him to walk easily on slippery sur-
faces, and through bogs, by spreading
the hoofs. It is said that he can pass
through a swamp where a man would
become foundered, while the speed with
which he passes over moss-grown bould-

33

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

ers, or masses of blown-down trees, is
remarkable.

It is most discouraging, after tracking
your game for hours at a time, to finally
have to give it up on account of dark-
ness setting in. Lighting your pipe,
you retrace your steps to camp and
await the coming of the morrow, when
the routine of the previous day is gone
over. It is the quiet, careful man who
succeeds in tracking, as the breaking of
a twig or the brushing of one's coat
against a tree will jump your game, and
in his fright he travels many miles be-
fore stopping.

He is an exceptionally keen-scented
animal, and mark you well as to the
general direction of the wind before
leaving camp, as to work along with it

34

OF THE MOOSE.

is fatal. Miles before you have seen
him he smells you and immediately in-
creases the distance from his would-be foe.
When the rutting season is at its
height, along about the first of October,
and the days warm, another method of
moose-hunting is brought into play, —
that of imitating the call of the cow with
a birch horn about eighteen inches in
length. There are many expert moose-
callers in Maine and the Canadian Prov
inces, though they have by no means
a monopoly of this accomplishment.
The sound is most peculiar, and can
only be acquired by long practice. The
most expert callers are those who have
taken lessons from nature, — that is, have
been close to a female moose when she
was calling the male. At least one in

37

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

three of the Maine guides can call
moose. With his birch horn, and seated
beside some lake on a quiet evening, he
sends back into the forest or across some
shallow logan the weird " woo-oo-oo,
woo-woo-oo " of the cow moose calling
the bull. If there be a bull within hear-
ing he will respond with a deep grunt.
He will then tear along through the
woods in the direction of the call, and
perhaps splash out with a great noise
into the shallow water where he expects
to find a mate answering his amorous
advances.

Ordinarily the moose is a silent ani-
mal,, being very careful not to make
a noise. Old guides have said that
in spite of his great spread of horns
he will pass quietly through a thick
38

OF THE MOOSE.

growth. Generally, if seen in summer
at the edge of a lake or stream, he slips
noiselessly into the woods, but when the
rutting season begins he casts his discre-
tion to the winds and responds to the
call of the cow with noisy disregard of
consequences. He is also quarrelsome
at such times, and should another bull
happen to trespass on what he consid-
ers his territory there may be trouble.
The rutting season is generally over by
the first week in October, and the bulls
will not answer the calls after that, un-
less the weather should hold very warm.
Most guides claim that during the rut-
ting season the bulls have a wide range,
but that the cows remain in one neigh-
borhood.

While yarded moose are very method-

39

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

ical in their habits : they have, however,
a single eye to one object, the detection
of any intruder, therefore it is only by a
knowledge of their habits that they can
be approached by the hunter. It is
their keen sense of hearing and smell
that are to be guarded against, for as a
rule, when the animal can see the hunter,
he can also see the moose, and his
capture becomes simply a question of
marksmanship. It is certainly a unique
sport and has few successful aspirants.
Of the two, still hunting is usually
the more successful and the greater
number of moose are secured in that
way. In the late fall, the coming of the
first snow doubles one's chances of suc-
cess as every step of the animal is shown.
In tracking he usually goes through the
40

- ?

X c

OF THE MOOSE.

worst places possible for him to find,
which adds to one's discomfort and les-
sens one's chances of a shot.

Nature has bestowed upon him meth-
ods of passing through underbrush or
blow-downs silently where a man in
following makes a noise ten times as
loud. The very silence of the forest is
noisy. The wind whistling through the
tree-tops, the bushes grating against one
another, both contribute to make noise.

Those of my readers who have heard
the low, weird grunt of the bull moose,
and have listened to the music of the
crashing of the underbrush as he forces
his way through in answer to the melan-
choly and drawn-out| bellow of the cow,
will understand full well when I say
that it cannot be described, but must be

43

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

heard to be appreciated, and is certainly
worth all the hardships it entails to be
listened to only once.

I remember well of a time that my
guide called from the edge of a lake at
sunset, and received an answer from
a large bull on a mountain a mile or
two away, where we could hear him
coming nearer and nearer as the mo-
ments wore on. After a half hour had
elapsed he had reached the other side
of the lake, and was so close that we
did not dare to repeat the call for fear
he would detect the artificial from the
natural. He did not venture nearer,
and as it was too dark to see him across
the lake, we returned to camp, but that
fifteen minutes will live long in my
memory.

44

OF THE MOOSE.

To hunt moose successfully one must
" rough it," and sleep without a fire, as
the best time to hunt is at sunset and
daylight, and with their keen sight and
scent a fire means no moose.

In his visits to the Maine woods half
a century ago, Thoreau made copious
notes about the moose, which was then
slaughtered indiscriminately, by Indians
and others, for their hides. This
slaughter, which could not be called
hunting, shocked the gentle naturalist
from Concord, who made the prediction
that " the moose will, perhaps, some day
become extinct, and exist only as a fossil
relic." This may be true, but the animal
has judicial friends, and so long as they
protect him, it does not appear as if
the moose could become extinct from

45

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

slaughter. Indeed, it is claimed that as
many if not more moose are to be found
now than fifty years ago.

46

LARGE BULL MOOSE ON MUD POND BROOK.
(West Branch Waters.)

Photographed from Life. Time exposure.

48 .

CHAPTER II.

THE PROVINCIAL MOOSE. A BATTLE FOR SUPREM-
ACY. LUCK AND ILL-LUCK. THE JUDGE AND
THE BANKER.

/~\NE of the greatest moose regions
in the world is that portion of land
drained by the tributaries of the St. John,
Miramichi, and Restigouche rivers. It is
true that portions of Nova Scotia, Que-
bec, and Labrador are roamed over by
herds of these magnificent animals, but
the best specimens of the race are found
within the compass of Eastern New
Brunswick.

49

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

It is a country of hill and dale, cedar
swamps, hardwood ridges, and barrens,
where the blueberry, the hackmatack,
and here and there stunted tamaracks
break the general sweep of waste coun-
try. Along these barrens the moose
loves to roam. Here he finds the moss
of which he is so fond, and here, too, he
gets the young shoots of various shrubs
on which he feeds. He can also keep
a weather eye on the approach of danger,
and as he feeds, he occasionally throws
his massive head in the air, and takes a
sudden and piercing glance around the
landscape. If satisfied, he gives a short
grunt of evident pleasure and proceeds
with his feeding.

The best horns are secured in the
months of late October, November, and
50

OF THE MOOSE.

early December. In January the horn
begins to get soft, and soon falls off. It
is said by hunters that the largest animals
lose their antlers weeks earlier than the
younger bulls. It is also claimed that
the natural color of the moose-horn is
white ; that this is the color when the
velvet comes off, but that contact with
the trees, and rubbing against the bark
— something which the moose appar-
ently delights in — causes the horn to
take that pretty shade of antique oak.
There is all the difference in the world
in horns. Some have a multitude of
points ; some have wider webs ; some
have stouter horn stems; some set more
gracefully on the skull ; some lie more
horizontally than others ; so that when
the term a " choice head " is used it
51

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

means that nature has given the bull all
the beauty of antlers in profusion.

With far greater agility and cunning
than any other animal of its weight, the
moose is a formidable opponent when
attacked. Some narrow escapes have
been made by hunters using the old cap
gun, but now with the breech-loader the
speed that guarantees security is given.

I have seen a great curiosity in the
form of the horns of two moose inextri-
cably interlocked. The story these horns
tell is that a duel to the death had taken
place in a forest glade between a bull
moose of eight hundred pounds weight
and a .younger one of perhaps four hun-
dred pounds. The larger had an antler
spread of three feet eight inches, the
smaller, that of three feet. In the shock
52

2

54

OF THE MOOSE.

of the conflict, the horns of the'younger
had fitted snugly into the many branches
of the other set of antlers, and the heads
were as solidly and as perfectly fastened
together as if bolted with iron.

That the fight had been long and
stubborn the horns showed. Where
they had come together they had been
rubbed and worn to the depth of half an
inch.

The younger had died first, whether
from exhaustion, or a broken neck, or
starvation, is not apparent, but the con-
dition of the flesh when found showed
that he had lost the fight ; and the victor
did not long survive. Fastened to his
dead competitor he could not feed with
this weight of four hundred pounds
attached to him, and must have suc-

55

HABITS, 'HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

cumbed to starvation. A similar case
is reported, and is thus described : —

" No mortal eye witnessed what must
have been a prolonged and fearful con-
test ; but when their bodies were found
in the lake the story of what had taken
place was easily understood. The
ground for some distance from the lake
was torn and trampled where the fero-
cious animals had charged upon each
other, and when the bodies were exam-
ined the antlers were found to be so
firmly interlocked that it was impossible
to separate them. In order to secure
one good pair the finder sawed the other
pair away, it not occurring to him at
the time that the interlocked antlers
would be of considerably more value
than many pairs in the ordinary condi-
56

OF THE MOOSE.

tion. In this instance it was evident
that the stronger had gone to his death
because of his strength. One of the
two was much stronger than the other,
and under ordinary circumstances this
would have secured him the victory.
As it was, the advantage was fatal. In
rushing at each other, the antlers of the
two locked together, and it was then
that the larger moose thought he had
the smaller one at his mercy. So he
had, as far as the ability to push him
about and force him back was con-
cerned, but when the larger animal
forced the smaller into the lake, both
were indeed in a common peril and
shared a common fate."

Moose are not secured in a day. In
fact, the greater majority of sportsmen

57

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

require several trips to the woods to
assure them success. There are excep-
tions to this rule, however.

I recall the case of a sportsman who
went into the wilderness for a two-weeks
stay with his wife, and brought down a
moose the first day out. He had no
thought of getting one when he started,
but it being his wife's birthday, he in-
dulged in a dream and told her that she
would be presented with a pair of moose
antlers by him for a birthday present.
This naturally pleased her ladyship, and
her liege lord took his gun, his guide
and canoe, and started out to try to
fulfil his promise.

When the canoe emerged from the
stream into the pond the hunter and
guide were surprised enough to see, at
58

'

V;

60

OF THE MOOSE.

the edge, in shallow water, a large bull
moose. The animal was up to his back
feeding on the lily roots, splashing his
great head about, and having no fear,
in his lonely retreat, of being inter-
rupted by hunters. The wind, being
in the right direction, gave the men
an advantage, as the moose could not
scent them. The guide approached
cautiously, never taking his paddle from
the water as he propelled the light craft
along.

Suddenly the moose heard something,
perhaps the gentle splash of wateragainst
the canoe, that made him look around.
For a second he gazed silently at the
two men sitting in the little craft, now
scarcely a hundred yards away. Then
he swung his great body slowly around

61

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

(as there was soft mud on the pond
bottom, and he could not make way
swiftly in it) and started for the bank.
The hunter held his fire, fingering his
gun-lock nervously, until the moose had
reached firm ground. It would not
have done to shoot him in the mire, for,
the water being shallow, half a dozen
men could not have extracted the body ;
but with the first step the great beast
(with mud and water dripping from his
body) took upon the shore, a bullet
pierced him in the neck. Then there
was a succession of shots, and little jets
of blood spurted out on the dark brown
coat of the forest giant, who by this time
was making rapid way along the rocky
shore of the pond. A dense cedar swamp
lay inland from the shore, and into it
62

OF THE MOOSE.

the wounded moose did not dare to
plunge. He must retreat under fire, like
a general with the enemy on one side
and a river on the other.

At last he disappeared in a thicket.
The hunters had gone ashore and were
after him, coming up just as he sank to
earth. A bullet behind the ear dis-
charged his debt to nature.

That night a noble head adorned the
camp of the hunter, who had unexpect-
edly made good a promise his wife never
expected him to fulfil.

Contrast this experience with another
I have in mind, and the two sides of
moose hunting will be illustrated. For
three seasons a good hunter from a
Massachusetts town had gone into Maine
to get a moose, and three times he had
63

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

returned home empty handed. He
scorned to shoot deer. He hardly would
have brought down a bear had one pre-
sented himself to be shot. He wanted
moose. It was a hard country for hunt-
ing, a place of boulders and blowdowns
and stumps, — a desolate waste. He saw
moose tracks, and he was there to follow
them, which he did long and wearily,
for a day, and at night he slept in an
abandoned camp. Again on the next
day he followed them, seeing them some-
times on the soft, green moss, again at
the side of a stream, or in some boggy
place. At times they were lost on a
rocky slope, or in a region of hard
ground. There was no snow to aid the
hunter, and the tracking of moose in
such a country without it called for the
64

BULL MOOSE IN DEE I' SXOW.
Taken during January, near Eagle Lake.

Photographed from Life.

66

OF THE MOOSE.

best traits of the seasoned sportsman, —
patience and endurance.

The trail led uphill at last, and after
following it up the base of a mountain,
amid scrub growth and blowdowns, the
hunter was rewarded by seeing at long
range a large bull. The moose scented
the hunter almost as soon as sighted,
and stood not upon the order of his
going but sought a lower level. It was
at this juncture that the resource of the
experienced hunter came in. He did
not stand and watch the animal disap-
pear. Not he! Sending along a lead
missile to announce his intentions, he
set out in hot pursuit. There began
such a chase as hunters seldom engage
in. The moose had an advantage over
the man, for he could take long leaps
67

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

over depressions in the ground, and
over fallen trees and big rocks. The
hunter had to jump, run, slide, and bound
along as best he could. He saw nothing
but the moose, and he saw him only as
one sees an express train disappearing
in a fog. Whenever, by some change in
the course of the animal, or a favorable
turn in the ground, a shot was offered,
the hunter fired ; then he would pump
another cartridge into the chamber of
his rifle, and resume the pace.

Thus tearing at break-neck speed
down a rough mountain side, the sports-
man, followed by his puffing guide,
gradually came up to the moose. The
bullets had taken effect, though not in
a vital part, and the animal was weak-
ening. But moose and hunter plunged

68

OF THE MOOSE.

on, through woods and under brush that
grew at the bottom of the mountain,
and at last, after what seemed a chase
of a dozen miles, but which in reality
might have been three, the hunter came
into full sight of his anticipated prize in
a clearing. This time the animal was
in a position for a telling shot, which
was sped with good aim, and brought
the great beast to his knees. Another
ended his career, and the hunter, out of
breath, sat down to wipe his brow. He
had lost his hat and mittens in the
chase, his clothing was torn, and he was
battered and bruised. This counted for
nothing. He had brought down his
moose after four seasons' work. It was
necessary to " swamp " a road, that is,
cut one through the woods, for a mile to
69

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

get the carcass to a logging road over
which it could be hauled to the river.
As the first snow of the season fell that
night the moose was brought out and it
was comparatively easy work to get him
to the railroad station on the next day.

One more moose story may not be
amiss. It has to do with a party of
sportsmen, consisting of a judge and a
banker, who went into a famous moose
country to try their luck. They fired
but one round during their stay in the
woods, and with a guide brought down
in that one volley three large bull moose.
The story is fully vouched for and the
heads of two of the bulls may now be
seen in an Aroostook town.

These two hunters, like the first one
mentioned, did not expect to find moose.
70

§1

7-

OF THE MOOSE.

They thought luck might take a turn in
their favor, but were ready to sustain
themselves in hope deferred if it did not.

The judge and the banker went into
the woods from a little settlement on
the Aroostook River. They travelled
a good sixty miles by horse-sled in the
snow before reaching the place where
they were to engage guides. It was
another twenty-five miles to the camp
where they put up on their first night
out, a "depot" camp, where lumber
crews going in and out stopped to rest
and sleep.

On the morning after their arrival the
two hunters set out in the snow with
their guide to look for moose signs.
They walked half a dozen miles with-
out finding any, and, getting tired, went

73

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

back to camp, leaving the guide to pur-
sue the quest, and let them know when
he came up to a moose. This was not
thoroughly sportsmanlike, they knew,
but they were a pair of worthy men,
past the meridian of life, and they
did not stand on the ethics of the
hunt.

That night the guide returned and
told them he knew where there was a
yard of moose. Next morning, in the
sharp air of a snappy-cold dawn, they
set out to find the moose, and had
walked but a few miles when tracks
were found in the snow. Then, with
the guide leading them, stopping as he
went to avoid low branches laden with
snow that hung across their way, or
bending aside some twig to avoid noise,

74

OF THE MOOSE.

they half walked, half crawled for up-
wards of a mile.

They saw moose signs that seemed to
them good. At last the guide held up
a warning hand, and proceeded more
slowly than formerly.

After many cranings of his neck and
changes of position, he drew aside a
branch and told his followers by signs
to look in the direction he indicated
with his snow-covered mitten. They
looked, but could see nothing special at
first. The guide patiently pointed out
to them a clump of bushes against which
he could see the heads of two moose.
The animals were lying down, with their
heads to the wind, as is always their
custom. The hunters were for firing
precipitately, but their ardor, so quickly

75

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

aroused, was dampened by the guide,
who motioned them to wait. There
was a good wind blowing, and it came
from the moose to the men. Moreover,
it made a noise in the trees, and whis-
pering was therefore safe among the
hunters crouched in the snow. The
guide informed them that there were
three moose in the bunch. The judge
and the banker could see but two, and
these presented as fair a mark as ever
man found for rifle.

When the word was given the two
men fired, also the guide. There was a
movement among the moose, and the
hunters rushed forward to see the exe-
cution they had wrought. It was start-
ling. There in the snow, still kicking
and quivering, lay three large moose.
76

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<fl

£

H

3
H

Q
£

^ T

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S^

OS

78

OF THE MOOSE.

To the worthy judge and banker they
looked as big as oxen. All three were
in the throes of death.

There was great rejoicing in the de-
pot camp that night. The two friends
thought themselves favored by the gods
of the chase beyond their deserts. The
story of the great hunt was soon current
in the community in which the hunters
lived. The version of it given here,
with slight variations, is that of one of
the principals in the episode.

79

8o

S "i

H! K

_ 7

/~ >

X ^^

CHAPTER III.

ANECDOTES OF THE MOOSE. A LARGE BULL IN
THREE HOURS. MOOSE WILL ANSWER A CALL.
Two PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. FROM A GUIDE'S
STANDPOINT. CRACK SHOTS. A JACK, A MOOSE,
AN ACCIDENT. A NOBLE ANIMAL — BUT 'TWAS
JUNE. THE ABLEST ROMANCE IN MOOSE HISTORY.

pICTURE a hungry group at supper

around the camp-fire as night shuts

down, when the noisy jest and laughter

are suddenly interrupted by your guide.

Listen ! There it is again from over

the lake, — the fierce challenge of the

bull and the horn-like note of the cow!

83

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

I'll not try to record the many excit-
ing incidents of those glorious morning
and evening watches ; how this one saw
his lordship in broad daylight swagger
across the open, just out of rifle range ;
how that one, in the darkness of the
homeward trail, called a jealous bull
so near that he could hear him breathe
ere the tell-tale human scent turned his
course ; or how another stalked a cow
moose by mistake, and watched her
some time, vainlypioping her lord would
call ; for every hunter knows of these
slips, making success more pleasant
when it is yours.

I must tell you, however, of that still
October morning, of the faint mist ris-
ing from the lake, of the bright hills so
fairly mirrored by the clear waters, and
84

OF THE MOOSE.

of the rising sun so dazzling on the mist
and the water. Suddenly the guide and
I drop the half-prepared breakfast and
take to the canoe in haste. We had
heard that note of notes — the angry
challenge of a bull moose. The remem-
brance of that morning brings back the
sound as I heard it a few miles away
over the hills. Watch how the guide
is carefully following the course of the
sound. We soon reach the other side.
There he is, head on ! Wait ! he may
give a better shot. No ! he sees the
canoe. Shoot now or he will be gone !
Bang ! A miss, for he did not flinch !
The smoke hides him ! Bang ! Bang !
The guide has fired, too, but the smoke
hampers both. There he goes, crashing
through the thicket! Let's give him
85

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

another for luck ! He certainly was hard
hit, and in that event it was best to let
him go, for after a short period of time
he would lie down, become stiff, and
die. We paddled back to camp, finished
breakfast, and in about three hours
returned to the place from whence he
had entered the woods, and there we
found him, cold in death. He was a
monster ! A wealth of black, glossy
hair, a splendid bell, and massive ant-
lers, fit to adorn any mantel.

Three days later another fine bull
fell to my party. Just at sunset he
was called out from across a pond, and
strolled with that majestic woodland
swagger through the shallow water.
The first shot so confused him that he
turned and came directly towards us,

86

"Under full head of steam

^Summer <
Episode in the
Li/e ofajfoung
> BuIlJVoose A

Nearing terra firma^J

Photographed from Life.
88

OF THE MOOSE.

but soon veered off. At a closer range
this might have been interpreted as a
fierce charge of the dying bull, though
it was merely an aimless start of surprise.
He fell, with the ball behind his shoul-
der, and we found him quite dead. It
was a fatal one, though it failed to stop
him until he had gone fifty yards.

There was one section I had not
visited, and this was to the east, in the
direction of the brook which had proven
too small for floating logs. So it was
that after pulling the cabin door to, I
made tracks toward the stream, which
I knew must be asleep under four or
five inches of ice and two feet of snow.

In half an hour's time I had reached
the bank and crossed over, keeping close
to it all the time. I had not gone far
89

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

beyond the ravine-like formation with
the brook hugging its lowest point,
when there were unmistakable evidences
of large game. Moose it was. Tracks
as large as a cow, great rents in the
snow crust, through which the brown
earth showed in spots ; these were some
of the traces. I went back across the
ravine and proceeded up-stream, follow-
ing the east bank ; saw several fresh
tracks, but they were cows, and along
in the afternoon, while travelling up an
old brook, I saw the imprints of a large
bull, and they were big ones, together
with a cow and calf. It did not take
me long to decide what to do, and as
they followed the brook I knew that
they had not heard me. The wind was
favorable and they were working up
90

Photographed from Life.
92

OF THE MOOSE.

into it. Finally they left the brook and
that necessitated more caution on my
part. I had covered about half a mile
and I heard the cow calling. Suddenly
she came into view. I worked up to
within forty yards of her in hopes to
find the bull, but ran into the calf, a
two-year-old ; luckily he did not see me.
Things were getting interesting, with a
moose on my left and another in front
of me. Working my way cautiously
along I heard the bull in the thick
growth. He was so covered that I
could hardly see him. By careful in-
spection, one antler and part of his
shoulder showed. Raising my rifle I
fired, at which he stepped into the clear-
ing and stood defiant. What a noble
looking fellow he was, and a monster in

93

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

size as he stood there shaking his head,
blood running from his mouth and nos-
trils. Once again I fired. As the last
one struck he went down, the shot
breaking his shoulder blade — another
victim of the 30-30.

The experience of a young New
Yorker will serve to exemplify both the
uncertainty of moose calling and the
manner in which it is prosecuted. He
was hunting in the Bear River woods,
accompanied by one of the most expert
guides of that section. Two nights of
calling proved fruitless. The sportsman
frankly told his guide he had no faith
in it, and that he did not believe a moose
would come to the call of a man. This
considerably ruffled the guide's conceit,
and he resolved, if possible, to make a

94

OF THE MOOSE.

lasting impression to the contrary on the
mind of his employer. That afternoon
an ideal place for calling was chosen.
The tent was pitched beside a giant
boulder, on one side of which a narrow,
open bog stretched away between wooded
banks, and on the other a sort of natural
park extended to the foot of a ridge
covered with hard wood. The guide
exacted the promise that his companion
would not shoot until he gave the word.
All arrangements being complete, as the
sun was nearing the western horizon,
the guide climbed to the top of the
boulder and sounded the call.

Almost immediately, from the ridge,
about two miles away, came the deep-
voiced answer of an old bull. A few
minutes sufficed to show that he was

95

.HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

coming at a rapid pace. The guide con-
tinued to call at regular intervals, and in
a few minutes another answer was heard
far down the bog, though this time from
a smaller moose. A few seconds later
brought a reply from a third, in another
direction. The sport was getting excit-
ing. The guide came down from his
perch on the rock and stationed his em-
ployer and himself behind a smaller
boulder, over which it was possible to
look while lying on the ground. The
guide thought the young moose would
not come up for fear of the larger ones,
and of course the one he wanted was the
monster that had first answered, In
that, however, he was disappointed. The
distance was considerable, and while the
big bull was still a long way off he was
96

BULL MOOSE IX CARIBOU LAKE.
Photographed from Life.

OF TflE MOOSE.

interrupted and turned from his course
by another party of hunters. The little
one on the bog ceased to answer, but the
large one that had started last was, when
the sun went down, already quite near,
and coming steadily along. When the
moose was about breaking cover the
guide climbed partly up the big rock and
noted the direction from which he was
coming, satisfying himself the game
would appear on the side of the boulder
on which they were stationed. Another
call, and the bull's hoofs were heard
beating the firm ground as he trotted up
the slope toward the men. In full view
of the hunters, and about ten yards from
them, grew a bunch of sapling birches.
There the moose paused and began a
furious onslaught with his antlers. Hav-
99

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

ing tired of that, he turned toward the
hunters, and going down on his knees
plowed his horns along the ground some
distance, tossing them, well loaded with
vines, moss, and earth. With a snort,
he shook these from his head, the dirt
falling on and around the two men lying
behind the rock. The city man about
that time was enjoying his first acute
attack of moose fever. His teeth fairly
chattered, and the guide had to grip his
rifle barrel to prevent it from rattling
against the rock. Again the moose
came on and stood with his broadside
toward them, not more than twelve feet
from the muzzle of the rifle. That was
about as close quarters as the guide
cared for on his own account, so he gave
the word to fire. The moose went down

100

OF THE MOOSE.

with the shot, but immediately rose to
his feet again. Again the rifle spoke,
and down he went, only to rise again.
The third shot, however, dropped him
for the last time. Any of them would
have proved fatal, but the moose was too
close for the men to take any chances.

The sportsman was convinced a moose
would come at a man's call, and was so
excited over the fact that he slept none
on that night.

I recall an experience of mine with
an old bull on Pockwockamus Dead
Water (from my note book), Oct. 21,
1899.

I had gone only a few steps when I
heard the splashing of a moose around
the bend of the stream ahead. There
was a stretch of sand that led to an

101

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

island for which I made. There I con-
cealed myself in the brush. I could
hear the big fellow wading along and
ploughing through the reeds. I first
saw his antlers above the brush, and
then his majestic head appeared. That
was all he would show, as he suspected
a hidden foe and was on the lookout for
any apparent danger. For distance, he
was about one hundred yards from me
and close inshore. Finally an opportu-
nity presented itself, and I raised my
rifle and let go through the leaves where
his neck should be. At the report he
made a quick turn and disappeared in
the thick growth. I dashed through
the water, which was only about three
feet deep, up the opposite bank, and
pushed my way through the bushes to

102

COW MOOSE IN UMSASKIS LAKE.
Photographed from Life.

104

OF THE MOOSE.

where I had last seen him. There he
lay. My shot was fatal. As I appeared
he snorted at me and tried to regain his
feet, but his efforts were ineffectual. I
then put him out of his misery with a
shot through the heart.

Still another is worthy of mention.

At one time the guide and myself
were coming back to camp, just about
dusk, after a long tramp, and were within
sight of the tents, when we heard a
moose off to the right and close to the
trail. The guide tried to coax him out
of the thicket by gently sounding the
birch horn, which he had with him.
The moose turned with a crash and ran
towards us, grunting all the time. We
were crouched behind a pile of birch
brush. The big fellow kept coming,
105

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

until it seemed as if he might at any
moment jump over the brush pile and
appear before us. It was too dark to
shoot, so I slightly changed my posi-
tion, thinking I might see the moose
outlined against the sky. Just as I
moved, the moose turned, ran some dis-
tance back into the woods and stopped,
grunting again as if he was not certain
about it all ; but he was soon off, this
time silently.

The next morning I was out early
examining the tracks, and found it only
sixteen paces from where we were be-
hind the brush pile to where his lord-
ship had been standing. I could see
where he had barked the trees with his
antlers when he was first frightened.

It is fortunate for some of the sports-

106

OF THE MOOSE.

men who journey to the north woods
after big game in the fall that their guides
live so far away, otherwise their reputa-
tion might suffer. This concerns both
their personal traits and their ability as
hunters. Camp life brings out a man's
true qualities. The experience of a
sportsman during his first attempt to
lure a moose from his home in the
forest is related as follows : —

One of the party tried his luck at
calling. He left the guide at the camp.
Quietly hiding among some shrubs, he
gave a gentle but long-drawn-out call
and waited results. Hardly had the
notes died away than there was a tre-
mendous crash, the alders parted, and
the head of a large bull moose appeared
in the leafy frame within ten feet of the
107

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

hunter. This abrupt entrance dum-
founded the sportsman whose confusion
and consternation were pretty evenly
balanced at a moment when he needed
his wits. Who was the more fright-
ened it was hard to tell. At any
rate the caller returned to camp post-
haste minus his gun, horn, and hat, and
with an expression that was indeed
pitiable.

A guide, who had a well-known
preacher in the woods for a short time
one season, refused to take him the
following year. On being asked the
reason he said : —

" That man cares only for himself

and thinks his guide can be wound up

with a key to work like a machine.

He may be good enough to preach the

1 08

no

OF THE MOOSE,

Gospel, but he ain't good enough for me
to guide."

Many are the stories told by the
guides about the unsuccessful sportsmen
who lack the moral courage to go home
empty-handed. So accustomed have
the guides become to this sort of thing
that they take it for granted, unless
instructed to the contrary, that they are
to kill the game their employer is to
take home with him, provided he does
not meet with success in the early part
of the hunt.

Another guide has to say of visiting
sportsmen : " Some of them shoot all
right, of course, but others are regular
Spaniards. I had a fellow up this
way last fall that thought he was death
on anything walking on four legs, and

in

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

that his gun was the best shooting tool
ever turned out of a gun factory. 1
paddled him right up to a bull moose
standing in the water one day, and he
fired every shot in his magazine at it
without rumpling a hair.

" He did n't know enough to stop
pumping the lever when all his shells
were gone, and just about then I chipped
in with my rifle and put a ball through
the moose's shoulder that dropped him
handy to the bank. The sportsman
was in the act of pulling the trigger of
his empty gun, when he saw the moose
fall, and he did n't for a moment doubt
but what he had killed him. He felt so
good that he rose right up in the canoe
and yelled, and the next thing I knew
the canoe kind of slid out from under

112

BULL MOOSE IN CARIBOU LAKE.

Photographed from Life.

114

OF THE MOOSE.

us and over we went into four feet of
mud and water."

A New York sportsman had his guide
call a moose into the East Branch
thoroughfare one evening just before
dark, and the guide tells of his difficulty
in pointing him out to the sportsman,
who happened to be nearsighted. The
moose walked right out into the water
away from the concealment of the bushes
and stopped. The guide nudged the
sportsman and whispered to shoot.

" Shoot what ? " said the sportsman in
a louder tone than was prudent under
the circumstances. " I don't see any-
thing to shoot."

"Shoot the moose," he whispered
again, "there he stands under that
broken-topped spruce."

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

The lawyer craned his neck and
peered into every shadow but the right
one. Two or three rods below the
moose was a clump of bushes growing
out beyond the general shore line. The
lawyer finally singled this out as the
moose and opened fire. He was per-
fectly cool, and every one of his shots
went straight to the centre of the object
at which he was firing.

Moose are notoriously slow to start
when alarmed, provided they have not
scented the hunter, and the one in ques-
tion stood motionless until the sports-
man had fired five shots at his inanimate
target and had but one cartridge left in
the magazine. Then the moose turned
to escape, and, as luck would have it,
dashed directly into the line of fire.

116

BULL MOOSE IN ALLAGASH STREAM.

(St. John Waters.)
Photographed fiom Life.

118

OF THE MOOSE.

The lawyer saw it, and with his sixth
and last shot dropped the moose stone
dead.

On another occasion, a sportsman, to
show his contempt for Maine's prohibi-
tion law, got gloriously full every day
before ten o'clock.

The guide left him in the canoe one
afternoon while he went ashore to look
for some game signs on a bog near at
hand. As he was returning he saw a
nice moose step out of cover within
ridiculously easy rifle shot of the sports-
man. The sportsman at once opened
fire on the moose, but after many shots
the animal trotted off, untouched.

" 'T was this haway," said the bibulous
hunter, in explaining his misses, " when
that moose came out there was only
119

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

one, all right enough, but when I cut
loose with the old gun, blame if the
moose did n't double up into two. I
could n't shoot both at once, and while
I was pumping it into one the other
got away. Mus' ha' been I shot at the
wrong moose."

" You want to hear how my sports
shoot ? " said another native guide.
" Well, I '11 tell you a little story and
then you can judge for yourself. I
started out on the river one afternoon
with a man from Boston, to look for
moose. It was a nice, quiet afternoon,
and a good one to get game. We
dropped down stream with the current,
and the first thing we knew there was a
big bull moose right out in the centre
of the stream, sousing his head under

120

122

OF THE MOOSE.

water, and feeding on the lily roots.
Mr. A. was paralyzed at the sight, for he
never attempted to shoot. I held the
canoe by putting my paddle down to
the bottom, to give him a chance to
recover his nerve, and after a while he
realized what was expected of him,
raised his rifle and fired. The shot did
not go any where near the moose, and
the animal just raised his head and stood
there, looking back over its shoulder.
I whispered to Mr. A, : * You missed.
Shoot again.' As it happened, my pad-
dle slipped off into deep water, and we
were floating down on the moose and
getting a good deal closer than neces-
sary. Mr. A. raised his gun and shot
again, and then, as the moose started to
walk towards the bank, he got the action
123

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

limbered up and fired four more shots
as quick as he could work the lever.
None of them touched the moose, and
it moved off into the bushes, without
seeming to mind the racket very much.
The moose was n't nearly as rattled as
Mr. A. That man was completely pros-
trated with excitement. Nothing would
do but we must go straight back to
camp. He said his nerves were too
badly broken up to stand anything more
of the kind that day.

" Well, sir, we had n't gone more than
three hundred yards on our return trip,
when I saw another bull on the bog ad-
jacent to the stream. I paddled Mr. A.
within good, easy range, and he tried
his luck again, but the bullet struck the
water twenty feet to the right. With
124

MOOSE CALVES LEAVING WATER.

(Mud Pond Ui-tfion.)
Photographed from Life.

126

OF THE MOOSE.

that he began to swear, and he threw
his rifle down on the bottom of the
canoe, cussing it and everything else in
sight. The moose gave a sudden jump
and disappeared in the alders. I reckon
the swearing scared it more than the
shooting.

" We had n't more than a mile to go
to reach camp, when Providence, just to
tantalize that man, gave him another
opportunity. As we came around the
last bend, there stood a bull and a cow
on the bank, not a great way off. Mr.
A. shot twice at the bull, as he stood
there, and never touched a hair. ' T ain't
no use trying,' he said, ' I can shoot at a
paper target all right, but when it comes
to game it 's a different matter.' If all
the hunters who go into Maine could
127

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

shoot as well in the woods as they can
at a mark there would n't be a decent
head left in the State.

" Now, there is a sample of your city
sportsmen. That man fired nine shots
at those moose and he never drew blood,
and I could have hit the larger majority
of them with a brick. Yes, sir ; if I 'd
had a good brick I could have swatted
any one of those animals in the short
ribs."

One of the most amusing incidents to
others than the participants, and a most
painful one to them, was the experience
of two young moose hunters from far off
Oregon, who tried their luck in the lower
Dead River region of Maine with a jack.
The night selected was one of excep-
tional darkness, the scene, a large bog
128

COW MOOSE SWIMMING MOOSEHEAD LAKE.

Photographed from Life.

130

OF THE MOOSE.

about five miles from camp, and all con-
ditions pointed to a most successful first
attempt at this most unsportsmanlike
branch of hunting. Supper over, with
both eager for the fray, an early start was
in order, and soon the silent craft with
its over-anxious freight left the bank
and started down stream. The intense
stillness of an early summer night was
not broken save by an occasional musk-
rat hurrying to its home in the bank or
the ripples playing round the bow of
their canoe. Mile after mile was reeled
off, when suddenly a loud splashing was
heard dead ahead in the stream. It was
a simple matter for the man with the
jack to light it, but his experience with
the instrument in question was limited,
and he had not discovered the slide

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

arrangement by which the light is quickly
covered without extinguishing it. The
splashing continued, and both were un-
decided whether to back out of their
present position or light up and see what
the real cause of the disturbance was.
The man in the stern suggested that the
lamp had better remain in the bottom of
the canoe, while his friend in the bow
considered it far better to have a little
light on the subject and therefore be able
to get their bearings. By scratching a
match and connecting it with the wick,
the jack threw a strong light far ahead
on the silent waters. It required but a
second to see a large dark object ten rods
ahead, waist deep in the water, and stand-
ing head on. Moose fever had attacked
both of the men, and they sat motion-
132

TWO MAGNIFICENT TROPHIES OF THE CHASE.
The one on the left formerly held the Maine Record.

134

OF THE MOOSE.

less as the large black object cautiously
moved nearer, wondering at each step
who was challenging him in his woodland
retreat. By a superhuman effort the
stern man, in a voice scarcely above a
whisper, told his friend to extinguish the
light, as the animal would be upon them
in a short space of time. The animal,
which proved to be a large bull moose,
decided that a closer inspection of these
trespassers was in order. He was now
scarce a rod away, and the light from the
jack being exceedingly bright made him
somewhat bewildered, with the result
that he charged the canoe. The water,
being shallow at this point, favored the
men and prevented a possible catastro-
phe. His lordship jumped in and the
men jumped out of the canoe. They
135

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

crawled to the bank and secreted them-
selves as best they could under a neigh-
boring tree, while the animal made short
work of the frail craft he had suddenly
taken posession of. A reasonable time
having expired, the guides at the camp
became somewhat anxious as to the
safety of their charges, and started in
search. At the approach of another
craft the moose trotted off into the
woods, leaving the thoroughly frightened
sportsmen in their undesirable position,
where they were found and taken back
to camp, two sadder, and I might add,
wiser Oregonians,

136

YOUNG BULL MOOSE CAUGHT IN DEEP SNOW.

(Northern Aroostook.)
Photographed from Life,

I38

OF THE MOOSE.

A NOBLE ANIMAL -BUT 'TWAS JUNE.

The waters of Black Pond, which but
a scarce hour before had been lashed
into foam by a southardly breeze, were
silent. In the west the myriad tints of
a golden sunset were disappearing and
the tiny stars were beginning to peep
through their blanket of blue. Against
this majestic picture, in the foreground,
stood tall pines, rising like sentinels from
the bog in which for years they had
found their growth. Far out*on the lake
could be heard the solitary cry of a loon
calling to his mate. What can be more
sublime, more entertaining, to the true
sportsman than to be left alone with
nature in this paradise? A suggestion
139

HABITS, HAUNTS, AND ANECDOTES

from the guide that we skirt the shore
and see if there be any game in the pond
brought hearty approval from his em-
ployer, and seating myself in the bow,
we were soon under way. Such music
the tiny ripples make as they frolic and
dance at the bow, as the craft glides
noiselessly along, the whirr of many
wings, and a large flock of wild ducks
are up and away at our approach. The
moon is on the rise, and lights this wood-
land paradise with its shining rays.
Suddenly a loud splashing was heard
down the shore not many rods distant,
and the guide sheers off so as to approach
the forest denizen from the side. Again
the splashing, and twenty rods distant
can be seen a large moose, throwing the
water from off his sides, unconscious of
140

COW MOOSE ON SHORE OF ALLAGASH LAKE.
Photographed from Life.

142

OF THE MOOSE.

any human intruders. Such a picture as
he made, standing side on, fearless and
brave. The guide had stopped paddling,
and the momentum gained was carrying
us nearer every second. Suddenly, com-
ing into his line of vision, he turned his
head in our direction and showed us a
most magnificent pair of velvet-covered
antlers. In his eye was the look of de-
fiance, and, with his great head lifted high
in the air, the water still dripping from
his brown coat, he seemed to say, "Well,
it's June, what are you going to do about
it?" And so it was. We left him, and
slowly paddled back to camp, wishing
that the seasons for a scarce minute had
changed, — that October had been June,
that June had been October, — and most
of all that we could have used a rifle.
143

THE ABLEST ROMANCE IN

MOOSE HISTORY is THUS

DESCRIBED :

The man who tells it says
he was hunting in the moun-
tains of Nova Scotia, when he
saw a huge bull moose graz-
ing on a patch of moss, a
hundred yards away. He up
and fired but when the smoke
had cleared away, there stood
the moose grazing as before.

Again he fired, and again
he was chagrined to see that
the moose didn't seem to mind
it. A third shot, and the
moose disappeared. Much
excited, the hunter ran to the !
moss patch, and there, on
the further slope, lay three
dead moose. Pretty risky

story to tell in Maine.

THE END.

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