MOOSE-HUNTING IN CANADA 141 



comes the difficult moment. I may say at once 

 that it is mere waste of time trying to creep except 

 on a windy day, even with moccasins on ; and it 

 is of no use at any time trying to creep a moose 

 unless you are provided with soft leather mocca- 

 sins. No human being can get within shot of a 

 moose on a still day : the best time is when windy 

 weather succeeds a heavy fall of rain. Then the 

 ground is soft, the little twigs strewed about bend 

 instead of breaking, and the noise of the wind in 

 the trees deadens the sound of your footsteps. 

 If the ground is dry, and there is not much wind, 

 it is impossible to get near the game. When you 

 have determined that the moose is somewhere 

 handy — when you come across perfectly fresh 

 indications of his presence — you proceed inch by 

 inch ; you must not make the smallest noise ; the 

 least crack of a dead branch or of a stick under 

 foot will start the animal. Especially careful 

 must you be that nothing taps against your gun- 

 stock, or that you do not strike the barrel against 

 a tree, for, naturally, any such unusual sound is 

 far worse than the cracking of a stick. If, how- 

 ever, you succeed in imitating the noiseless 

 movements and footsteps of your Indian, you will 

 probably be rewarded by seeing him presently 



