THE SCANDINAVIAN ELK 131 



The accurate uncleaned weight of so huge an animal it is, 

 of course, impossible, for obvious reasons, to obtain, but it is 

 reported as having occasionally exceeded 1,400 lbs. Kx\ average 

 deer will yield from 600 to 700 lbs. of good meat, and a heavy 

 haunch turn the scale at 140 lbs.* The height of the bull at 

 the shoulders as compared with the length of his actual body 

 (the two measurements are nearly equal), the massive shaggy neck 

 (on which, however, there is no very conspicuous mane), the 

 enormously long head with its bunch of beard, huge hooked 

 nose and bulbous lip, the rather sloping hind-quarters, and 

 slender legs terminated by immense hoofs, combine to render 

 him a most awkward and ungainly animal to look at ; but the 

 rapidity of his movements and his total disregard of the worst 

 obstacles are at times astonishing, and nothing will strike the 

 sportsman more than the way in which, if the golden moment 

 for a shot be lost, the great deer will seem to suddenly and 

 silently melt away like a phantom into the forest. 



Another point on which some discussion has arisen is as to 

 what vocal sounds are produced by the Scandinavian elk of 

 either sex during the rutting season, and whether such sounds, 

 if any be uttered, are of habitual occurrence. Personally, 

 during six seasons' hunting, I have never heard an elk, either 

 male or female, utter any sound whatever ; but after long and 

 careful inquiry into the subject, which revealed more an- 

 tagonism of opinion than even the question of the horns, I 

 have made out, on the clearest evidence, that the bull daring 

 the said season gives utterance to a kind of cross between a 

 grunt and a snort, which is often repeated many times in suc- 

 cession, and is audible in still weather at a considerable dis- 

 tance, such sound being unmistakably an amorous call. It is 

 known in Scandinavia as the 'Lokketone,' or 'Lokton,'and 

 may be heard during the day-time. By equally certain testi- 



' Under contracts for elk hunting on private ground it is generally arranged 

 • the shooter shall keep the head, the hide if he pleases, and one haunch, 

 r'rst of the meat going to the proprietor or farmer of the land, by whom it 

 Itcd or smoked for winter consumption. But on State lands, the rights 

 hich are periodically sold by auction, the shooter retains the whole carcase. 



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