248 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



sists of a series of low, deep grunts that end in a wild, loud, 

 prolonged, and hideous roar, which may be heard a distance 

 of two or three miles on a fine night. The males, on hear- 

 ing this, rush toward it from all parts of the forest; and 

 should they meet, dire is the result to some of them. The 

 female looks on during these Contests in the most disinter- 

 ested manner, then quietly strolls away with the victor, as 

 if to prove the correctness of the adage that "the brave de- 

 serve the fair." Some old Indian hunters are excellent call- 

 ers ; but it requires natural aptitude for imitating sounds, 

 and a long experience to become proficient in the art. The 

 best apparatus for "calling" is a tube or trumpet made of 

 the flexible bark of the birch. This is generally about an 

 inch in diameter at one end, and four or five inches at the 

 other, and is eighteen or twenty inches in length. One who 

 can use this properly may deceive any erotic male that runs 

 in the forest; but let the least false intonation be uttered, 

 and even the most unsophisticated youngster would detect 

 the imposition, and keep far away from it. One of the 

 great secrets in "calling" is to know how to modulate the 

 sounds so that the cautious lover may be lured to within 

 close range; for a person cannot afford to waste any lead 

 on him, or he might never see him again. 



The "calling" commences in September, and is practised 

 only on moonlight nights during the running season ; for 

 the animals will not respond to it in the daytime, and it 

 would be useless to try it on dark nights, as they could not 

 be seen in the gloomy forest at any distance, large as they 

 are. The weather ought also to be favorable, as the " call " 

 is then heard more readily, and the chances of getting a 

 good shot are greater. The males respond to it more 

 promptly in the earlier than in the later portion of the 

 season, and the young are more easily inveigled than the 

 adults, whose experience has taught them that " all that 

 glitters is not gold." The unsophisticated youngsters are 

 sometimes lured within range by merely striking a tree 

 with an axe or a rifle; but no old one can be deceived by 

 such a simple device. 



