968 THE UNGULATES, OR HOOFED MAMMALS 



his native forests no one can fail to be impressed with the majesty and grandeur of 

 the male elk in all the glory of his spreading antlers. 



In Sweden and Norway elk are either hunted by being driven or 

 Hunting stalked. In the autumn of 1885 the elk in the forest of Huneberg, 



which had been preserved for thirty-five years, were hunted by a royal party, when 

 fifty-one head were shot; and in 1888 upward of sixty-six were killed in the same 

 forest. In America there are now three legitimate methods of elk hunting, namely, 

 stalking or still -hunting, fire-hunting, and calling; the wholesale slaughter of the 

 animals when imprisoned in their yards by the snows of winter having fortunately 

 been prohibited by the legislature. In the " Far West," the best season for elk 

 hunting is during the months of October and November; the first snowfalls occur- 

 ring in the mountains during the latter month, and the males being then incessantly 

 calling or fighting with their fellows. To be successful in elk stalking requires the 

 aid of an experienced Indian guide, as very few men of European descent can attain 

 that marvelous skill in tracking which appears to come naturally to the Indian. 



It appears to be only in the northeastern districts that the practice of calling 

 with a birch-bark pipe is followed, as the custom is said to be quite unknown in the 

 Rocky mountains. In regard to the mode of procedure, Mr. Ward says that "the 

 Indian, having selected a favorable position for his purpose, generally on the margin 

 of a lake, heath, or bog, where he can readily conceal himself, puts his birchen 

 trumpet to his mouth, and gives the call of the cow moose in a manner so startling 

 and truthful that only the educated ear of an Indian could detect the counterfeit. 

 If the call is successful, presently the responsive bull moose is heard crashing 

 through the forest, uttering his blood-curdling bellow or roar, and rattling his 

 antlers against the trees in challenge to all rivals. ' ' In other districts the call of the 

 male is imitated by drawing the shoulder bone of a moose against the dry bark of a 

 young tree, and any male that may be in the neighborhood advances to answer the 

 challenge of the supposed rival. In the Rocky mountains the male moose instead 

 of uttering the bellowing call mentioned above, only gives vent to a loud and pro- 

 longed kind of whistle, while the female is completely silent. 



Fire-hunting, or hunting by torchlight, is practiced, says Mr. Ward, by exhib- 

 iting a bright light, formed by burning bunches of birch bark in places known to be 

 frequented by moose. The brilliant light seems to fascinate the animal, and he will 

 readily approach within range of the rifle. The torch placed in the bow of a canoe 

 is also used as a lure on a lake or a river, but is attended with considerable danger, 

 as a wounded or enraged moose will not unfrequently upset the canoe. 



A favorite mode of moose hunting, when the snow lay very deep on the ground, 

 was by running them down in snowshoes. Accidents were, however, frequent in 

 this kind of hunting, more especially during the spring, when the snow is covered 

 with a thin crust. At such times, if the hunter happened incautiously to run too 

 near the moose, the animal would turn suddenly, and leaping upon his pursuer 

 trample him under foot. Mr. Lockhart also says that in British America, the In- 

 dians during the winter were accustomed in deep snow to make a kind of fence of 

 three poles, tied equidistant from each other, a little taller than a man, stretching 

 perhaps for two days' march between lakes, or a lake and a river, or between two 



