HOW TO TRACK A MOOSE. 181 
the track of a moose; before it lies down, or stops 
to feed, it invariably doubles back on its own 
tracks, after going for some distance against the 
wind, so that anyone following would taint the 
wind, and in all probability pass the animal’s 
hiding-place. Coming on the trail of a moose 
that has not been disturbed, the hunter makes a 
circuit, to cross the track some distance ahead: if 
he has a keen eye, he readily detects the dots as 
he crosses them at right-angles. If he does not 
find the tracks, he concludes the moose has 
doubled back; by another circuit he returns to the 
track, and works up cautiously against the wind, 
until he discovers the hiding-place of the moose. 
Great care,and long practice too, is needed toenable 
a hunter to wind his way like a snake through 
the bushes, without cracking the dead branches. 
The flap of its great ear generally betrays the 
moose; large as the animal is, a hunter’s practised 
eye can alone make it out when ensconced in 
its lair. 
The top of the antlers and flapping of the ears 
are usually the only guides to determine the 
position of the body: the spot to aim at fixed on 
in the hunter’s mind, he fires into the bushes; 
then follows a crash, as the animal either falls, 
mortally hit, or dashes away through the crackling 
