XIV 

 MOOSE HUNTING IN THE BACKWOODS 



IT is difficult to exaggerate the startling appearance of the gigantic 

 North American moose largest and most powerful of the 

 deer tribe now extant when the spectator for the first time 

 encounters him in his native haunts in one of the wilderness tracts 

 of Northern Canada. 



A full-grown bull stands 8 feet in height at the shoulder, weighs 

 upwards of three-quarters of a ton, and has broad antlers which 

 commonly weigh 70 lb., and have a spread of nearly 5 feet. 

 He has a short thick neck, and legs rather strikingly slender for 

 his bulk. When in motion he often seems awkward in gait, clumsy 

 and inelegant ; but when he rears his stately head in an attitude 

 of attention, the majesty and grandeur of his appearance are most 

 impressive. When he is in the act of charging, or in one of those 

 fits of fury which frequently take possession of him, his aspect may 

 be described as almost terrific. At such times his eyes flash forth 

 a green blaze, and his short, stiff mane stands erect like the quills 

 of a porcupine. 



His haunts are not on forest trails ; he seeks more or less open 

 country, with a growth of small hardwood trees, whose tender 

 young shoots and leaves furnish his chief food supply. Lichens, 

 lily pads, and roots of aquatic plants, however, vary his diet in 

 summer. 



No wonder that the magnificent antlers of the moose are prized 

 as highly as the skin of a grizzly bear. Nor are they always obtained 

 at less risk of life and limb to the hunter, for the most sporting 

 methods of moose hunting put the nerve and courage of the sports- 

 man to as severe a test as he ever is likely to endure. 



Let me describe my first meeting with the noble quarry. It 

 was late in October. The Canadian forest had, as is its wont, blazed 

 into scarlet and gold and disrobed for the winter. On gusty days the 

 leaves were whirling at our feet like snowdrifts. My party consisted 

 of myself and two Micmac Indians. One of these was an expert at 

 camp cooking, and the bearer of our slender outfit. His crowning 

 quality was that he could make a fire in a few seconds, even during 



