The Moose 241 



down, and then crouching with its head so turned 

 that it can surely perceive any pursuer who may 

 follow its trail. We tried every method to outwit 

 the beasts. We attempted to track them; we beat 

 through likely spots; sometimes we merely &quot;sat on 

 a log&quot; and awaited events, by a drinking hole, 

 meadow, mud wallow, or other such place (a course 

 of procedure which often works well in still-hunt 

 ing) ; but all in vain. 



Our main difficulty lay in the character of the 

 woods which the moose haunted. They were choked 

 and tangled to the last degree, consisting of a mass 

 of thick-growing conifers, with dead timber strewn 

 in every direction, and young growth filling the 

 spaces between the trunks. We could not see twenty 

 yards ahead of us, and it was almost impossible to 

 walk without making a noise. Elk were occasion 

 ally found in these same places; but usually they 

 frequented more open timber, where the hunting 

 was beyond comparison easier. Perhaps more ex 

 perienced hunters would have killed their game; 

 though in such cover the best tracker and still-hunter 

 alive can not always reckon on success with really 

 wary animals. But, be this as it may, we, at any 

 rate, were completely baffled, and I began to think 

 that this moose-hunt, like all my former ones, was 

 doomed to end in failure. 



However, a few days later I met a crabbed old 

 trapper named Hank Griffin, who was going after 



11 VOL. II. 



